A/N: Wow, this turned out to be a really long chapter. I guess I had a lot to write about Anders' 17th birthday! I hope you guys enjoy it. Be warned, though - a large part of this chapter is centered around teenage (underage) drinking.

Anders' 17th birthday, and their second thing ever, wasn't the happiest for the Johnson brothers.

Mike had worked really hard to make sure that the day was special for his younger brother – he had taken on extra building jobs and more shifts around the clock to ensure that there was enough money to throw Anders a semi-decent 17th birthday party. Mike could have easily secured enough money quickly for the party by using his powers as Ullr, but since Rob's accident, Mike had sworn off any thought of using his powers. For good.

He had enlisted the help of Rob and Valerie to chaperone and help with food months in advance. Only Valerie was still around now; and she was still heart-broken. This party was also an attempt to get Valerie smiling again.

Anders was anxious because, as the youngest seventh former at his school, most of his peers were 18 already, and were therefore expecting alcohol to be present. Ever since Mike promised Anders a birthday party, the younger had been pressuring the elder to supply alcohol for the event. It had been the cause of many arguments, and they all went along the same lines.

"I haven't been working my arse off just to throw it all on teenagers who will piss it all away and not remember the next morning!"

"You just don't get it, Mike!" Anders would yell back. "I'm already close to being the laughing stock of the school as it is because I'm young and smart as fuck and that apparently makes me a target! Do you know what they'll do to me if I have a party with the whole year group and NOT have anything proper to drink?!"

"If you were truly that smart, you'd know that maybe you don't want to be hanging around people who care whether or not there's alcohol at an underage party! You're 16, Anders! The drinking age was only lowered back to 18 a year ago! Your 'friends' are lucky that they can even get a whiff of alcohol!"

"God, why are you such a lame-arse?!" Ty would retreat back to his room whenever an argument like this broke out between Mike and Anders (which was often) because it was too reminiscent of when his parents would argue, but Axl was braver. If Mike and Anders were arguing, he would stamp into the room and stand there with his arms folded and a very cross look on his face

"Stop it!" he would lecture. "Stop being mean to each other, and say sorry!" Most of the time, Anders would just roll his eyes and skulk off, and Mike would then try and distract Axl from their argument with the promise of tossing a rugby ball around outside. This time, however, Anders DIDN'T leave the argument.

"STOP YELLING!" Axl bellowed in his little six year old voice; but it was powerful, and it stopped Mike and Anders in their tracks. They both looked a bit stunned, but it inspired Anders to try a different tactic to sway his brother into achieving his goals. He swiftly adopted a sincere, apologetic tone.

"Look, Mike, I'm sorry about calling you a lame-arse. It's just – what happened to you, bro? If Rob were around you'd have no problem supplying the party with booze." Oh, that little fucker. The three younger Johnson brothers KNEW that Rob was a touchy subject with Mike, and the fact that Anders dared used Rob to further his agenda left Mike seething.

"Is that what you think?" Mike asked through gritted teeth.
"You need to stop what happened to Rob prevent you from living your life! You deserve a bit of fun! Valerie in particular looks like she could use a few beers. Rob would have wanted you two to enjoy yourselves. You don't always have to be the responsible one all the time. I'm growing up. It'll do you good to lighten up a little."

To anyone else, that little speech of Anders' and the kind, suggestive tone he used would have convinced them to do what he said. Mike, however, was used to Anders doing this, and had developed immunity towards it. He was instantly reminded of what his mother said to him on his 21st birthday about Anders: "He's so going to be Bragi."

"What does me and Valerie having a few drinks have to do with your little party and me buying beer for it?" If Anders so desperately wanted this party under his terms, he was going to have to fight for it.

"Well, what better way to do so than in a relaxed environment surrounded by family and friends?" Axl didn't know what was going on, but Anders sounded like he was being reasonable, and so he nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
"Family and friends are fun!" declared Axl. With a sideward glance towards Axl, Mike shifted on his feet.
"What makes you think that the rest of the family are going to be there? OR that I'd have fun with a bunch of school kids?"

"Well, obviously Axl's not allowed to be there, but come on, what about Ty? He's such a loner that I think it'd do him good to socialise with some proper human beings for once, instead of those losers he normally hangs out with."
"What?! I can't come to your birthday party?!" At Axl's age, this was considered the very height of betrayal and rudeness.

"Nah, you won't want to come anyway. It'll be a boring grown-up party," Anders answered casually.
Axl stuck out his bottom lip defiantly. "YOU'RE not a grown-up." Mike was enjoying Axl's contributions to the conversation, and he stuck his hand out to his baby brother for a high five.
"No, Axl, he's certainly not," Mike said meaningfully. "Anders, why aren't YOU the one using your powers of persuasion to get the alcohol yourself or with a fake ID like most kids do?"

"Because there's a downside to being brilliant, Mike, everyone ends up knowing that you are the guy who was moved up a year group. And they sure as shit aren't going to believe that I am suddenly 18 years old." Mike rolled his eyes.
"Fuck it. If you insist," he relented.

Axl was sent off to a sleepover at a friend's house for the night of the party, and Ty was allowed to stay on the condition that he was not allowed to drink. Ty didn't mind; the party meant that he was allowed to practise his piano without the rest of the family moaning about his playing. Anders would normally march in while he was practising and warble horribly (even though he actually had a decent singing voice) until Ty got annoyed and stopped.

Mike and Valerie had situated themselves outside where most of Anders' peers were hanging out. Ty could see them from the window, and it made him happy to see them smiling for once in Rob's absence. Mike had his arm around her and she was resting her head on his shoulder. The guests of Anders in the backyard were all behaving themselves; laughing and dicking around, but not causing any trouble. There seemed to be no apparent cause for concern, so Mike allowed himself to relax with his best friend.

Except – Mike either didn't notice, or didn't care, but Anders was noticeably absent from the backyard.

"TY!" The door burst open, with Anders and two giggling girls whom Ty recognised as the captain of the girls' hockey team, and the leader of the school orchestra (who he'd actually crushed on from afar ever since he started high school).

"What do you guys want?" Ty had hoped that the distraction of alcohol would make Anders forget about making Ty's life a misery for once. Anders, and the two girls hanging off each arm, plonked themselves down on Ty's bed.
"Ty," Anders slurred, "I want you to meet the lovely Lisa, and Maria." Lisa (the hockey player) was almost completely gone. She turned to Anders, laughing into his ear.

"THIS is your brother?! But he looks nothing like you!"
"Now, now, Lisa, this is my very most favourite brother. You be nice to him," Anders said, pressing his face close to hers. Lisa giggled flirtatiously, and then suddenly they were making out on top of Ty's penguin bedspread. Ty knew that Anders had been with girls before, but actually watching him kiss them like that was rather off-putting. He didn't know where to look; Lisa and Anders were hard to ignore.

Maria, however, seemed more sober. She had noticed how uncomfortable Lisa and Anders were making Ty, and she cheerfully tried to distract Ty by sticking out her hand.
"I know you! You're in the junior orchestra. You're really good!" Ty shook her hand and tried not to show his complete excitement as he blushed and muttered an embarrassed thanks. Thankfully for the both of them, Lisa and Anders finally stopped exchanging saliva to pay attention to the rest of the room.

"Ty, bestest brother oh pal, because it's my birthday, and because Mike is too busy trying to get into Valerie's pants, I have a little present for you." Anders, once he had detached himself from Lisa's lips, got up and stumbled out of the room, with Lisa still at his side. Ty was relieved that they had left, but he still was awkward as how to act in front of Maria. He settled for turning back to the piano and continuing his practice.

"That's really pretty. I love Debussy," said Maria from Ty's bed. He didn't know how to acknowledge her compliment, so he just kept playing. Before long, Anders and Lisa came back into the room with a massive bottle of vodka and a few joints.
"As it's my birthday, Tyrone, I want you to celebrate with me!" He opened the bottle and held it out to Ty expectantly while Lisa lit up one of the joints. Maria and Ty had equally shocked looks on their faces. Maria's was one of horror, but Ty's was one of an awed fascination.

"Anders…we can't give him any of that. He's only a kid." The pain of Maria's words pierced through Ty's heart like an icicle. She would never like him in that way, because he'd always be Anders' kid younger brother.

"He's in Year NINE. It's a very important time in a man's life. And what better way to introduce him to the party life than with his older brother?" Lisa pointed out. Anders stuck his arm around her shoulder.
"I like this one. You should try to score one of these girls," Anders told his little brother. Maria rolled her eyes and grabbed the vodka bottle out of his hand, taking a swig.

"I'll have some," Ty piped up. He was going to show Maria that he was more than just Anders' kid brother. Maria looked alarmed, but after seeing the broad smile of pride on Anders' face, she reluctantly handed the bottle over. Lisa let out a cheer.

"Yay, my brother isn't going to follow Mike's dorky footsteps!" Ty lifted the bottle to his lips. As the first sip of alcohol he ever tasted, it was horrendous. The bitter taste and the way it burned in his mouth was not what he expected. However, his will to appear cool and collected in front of the others was strong enough for him to hide his desire to spit the liquid out. Ty even managed to swallow a second mouthful. Anders and Lisa both let out whoops in celebration.

"Now we can have some fun!"

"HEEEEEEERE'S TO BROTHER TY, WHO'S WITH US TONIGHT. WE LOVE HIM, WE HATE HIM, TONIIIIIGHT WE CELEBRATE HIM. HEEEERE'S TO BROTHER TY, WHO'S DRINKING TONIGHT. SO DRINK MOTHERFUCKER, DRINK MOTHERFUCKER, DRINK MOTHERFUCKER DRINK!" The vodka was nearly finished, and Anders, Lisa and Maria were singing at the top of their lungs encouraging Ty to chug the last of the vodka.

Ty had found his momentum over the course of the night and had decided he actually quite liked the feeling that alcohol gave him – a warm, tingly yet numb feeling. It also made him feel braver talking to Maria. She had gotten over her initial reluctance of him drinking and was now giggling away as much as Lisa was earlier on in the evening. Ty finished the last drop of vodka and let the bottle tumble to the floor.

"Whoa, you actually finished it, bro! Good job!" Anders spoke too soon. Ty opened his mouth to speak and instead the alcohol expelled itself from his body – right over Maria's lap.
"Oh my God!" she shrieked, leaping up. Ty had no time to be embarrassed – he bolted to the bathroom, retching as he tried to stop himself throwing up again until he got there.
"Shit," muttered Anders and he rushed after his brother, leaving the girls behind in Ty's room.

Maria's shriek and the loud sound of Ty's retching caught the attention of Mike and Valerie, who hurried inside.
"What the HELL is this?!" Mike grabbed Anders by the scruff of his shirt and shoved him away from Ty, who had finally made it to the toilet and was throwing up violently. Valerie went to kitchen and brought back some warm water and paper towels to help Maria clean up her dress.

"Anders, send all your friends home right now and get your sorry arse to bed!" Mike barked over his shoulder to Anders. He had just smelt the marijuana, and he was positively livid.

"I'm so sorry Mike, we didn't mean for it to get this far," Maria tried to apologise; Lisa was nervously swaying, wanting to leave the scene as quickly as possible.
"Go home, girls," Valerie told them quietly, and Lisa pulled at Maria's arm, leading them both away. Ty was still vomiting, but he overheard Maria say in disgust to Lisa "I TOLD you we shouldn't have let the stupid kid drink the vodka! He's going to turn out JUST like Anders at this rate."

Anders heard her comment, and it angered him, but mostly because of the way she spoke about Ty. He knew how much Ty looked up to her, and it wasn't his all fault! He felt even worse when Ty switched from vomiting to just sobbing over the toilet bowl.

"Ty…I'm really sorry," Anders tried to call through the bathroom door.
"I'm calling a thing. We'll discuss this in the morning. Now get out of my sight," Mike growled. Valerie brought a glass of water into the bathroom for Ty, and the pair of them spent the night making sure he was okay. Ty eventually started feeling a little better, but the dread of knowing what Maria must be thinking was almost worse than the alcohol.

The next morning, no-one except Axl was in a good mood. Mike was grouchy from being up all night as well as being upset with his brothers, Ty had a hell of a hangover, and Anders was just feeling dejected. The thing promised to be a completely miserable and undesirable affair.

Axl had returned from his sleepover, and was blissfully unaware of the circumstances under which the thing was being called. He sat eagerly on the edge of the couch, kicking his feet enthusiastically back and forth.

Ty was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, slunk over so his face wasn't visible. He hadn't spoken a word to any of his brothers since the night before out of shame and embarrassment. The thumping headache and raw throat didn't help, either. He knew that he would get a huge telling-off from Mike, and he wasn't looking forward to it.

Anders stood at the door, leaning against the doorframe. He recognised the warning sign of Mike pacing the room, and he wanted to be able to scarper easily if he needed to.

"Sit down, Anders." Mike's voice was quiet, but it wasn't just in anger. There was also a hint of panic that he was evidently trying to hide. Anders obeyed, sitting himself on the arm of the couch next to Axl. Olaf followed Anders in (having just arrived to wish Anders a happy birthday for the day before), and he settled down on the other side of Axl.

"This morning, I got a call from CYF." Olaf's heart sank; he knew instantly that the thing was more serious than he had originally thought.
"What's that, a disease?" Anders tried to joke. Anders knew what CYF was, but Axl and Ty looked up at Mike with inquisitive eyes.
"No, Anders. Child, Youth and Family. They were responding to a call about the behaviour at your party. Whereabouts did you get that marijuana, Anders?" Anders looked trapped. He didn't utter a word, but he made an involuntary glance to Olaf. Mike slid his eyes towards Olaf, who had an equally guilty and trapped look on his face. Mike was incredulous, and it was difficult for him to keep his voice at an acceptable level.

"They think I'm a drug dealer, or that I'm supplying drugs to minors, and letting them get drunk under my roof! I am THIS close to being arrested and having all of you shipped off to foster homes!" He couldn't believe that Olaf would be so stupid as to give Anders marijuana. But he was more upset about how Anders could be so careless and also scared about how close he was to the family being torn apart again.

"Anders, you deliberately disobeyed me, you betrayed my trust and you disregarded the safety of your brother! I stuck my neck out for you putting this party together, and you go out and put this entire family at risk! Ty could have died from the amount of alcohol he consumed, and you could all have been taken away from here!" Ty started sniffling; he would have preferred that Mike just yelled at him for drinking alcohol. This was so much worse. Axl wasn't crying, but he had stopped kicking his feet and was watching his older brothers with a very serious look on his face.

"Well then, how about I leave! If I'm such a risk and a burden, I may as well shoot through now!" Anders frequently made threats to leave, but this one was more desperate. He knew how close the family was to breaking point, and it made sense that he should leave, seeing as he seemed to be the largest source of conflict. It's not like his brothers needed him, anyway, he thought bitterly.

"You will do no such thing. I promised Mum that I would look after you all until you're 21. She made me swear on her – her grave." Mike's hesitation was over the lie he had to maintain for his brothers' sake. He longed for the day when he could finally tell Anders the truth about their mother, and be able to share the secret with someone else besides Olaf, who was barely around.

"Please don't go, Anders." Axl always knew the perfect moment to speak up. For such a kid, he possessed a maturity beyond his years.

"Yeah, don't go, Anders," Ty croaked. The last thing he wanted to deal with after all they had been through was another family member leaving. He was angry with Anders, but he didn't want his brother to leave.

"I knew, that the minute you turned 16 that you'd seriously start considering leaving. Mum knew as well. But you need to promise me something. Promise me that you'll stay until you're 21. In fact, let's make things simple. Consider yourself grounded until then. There will be no smoking, no drinking and no social activities in this house unless I have first approved them." Mike had the hint of a smile on his face now despite the grim situation.

Anders had walked into the room expecting to be shat on and kicked halfway to Australia, but instead he had been subject to an intervention making sure he didn't walk out on his ridiculous family. He swallowed the lump in his throat and bowed his head humbly.

"If you apologise to your brother and make sure you don't EVER behave like that under this roof, next year I MAY be able to be negotiated with in discussing your 18th birthday," Mike told his brother. Anders looked up his brother and managed to muster a smile.

"Deal."

A/N: Sorry again about the really long chapter and the unhappy circumstances surrounding the thing. I can promise there will be some purely happy things in the chapters to come! And more Olaf. I feel like he's been too much on the periphery so far, but then again that may be how he was while they were growing up.

Also, some explanatory notes:

Year 9: first year of high school in New Zealand. Age-wise, it approximates to about 8th grade in the United States.
Seventh form: the old name given to the final year of high school in New Zealand.