The next day, Matt showed up to school with his duffle bag he had packed, excited for school to be over so he could go with his friends to the beach house. He went to Personal Finances to find Gilbert leaning on the wall by the doorway, with Ludwig by his side. "There he is." Ludwig said, and Gilbert grinned. "Great. Grab him." Gilbert responded, and Ludwig went and grabbed Matt by his arm. Matt was confused, and was even more confused when Gilbert and Ludwig started walking away from Matt and Gilbert's first period.

"Guys? Where are we going?" Matt asked. "We're going to Virginia Beach." Gilbert replied. He held onto Matt's arm as well, and was gripping it tight. "I thought we were doing that after school?" Matt asked. "Nope. Going right now. Captain's orders." Gilbert responded. "And who's the Captain?" "Captain is our driver. Jan. We gotta go now." Gilbert said, and Matt didn't know if he was okay with cutting school, but he knew Gilbert wouldn't let up, and that there wouldn't be a way for him to get to the beach house if he didn't go now. So, against his better judgment, Matt gave up and let his friends take him wherever they were going.

That ended up being the parking lot. They found Jan's car pretty easy- and Matt had to hold back a laugh when he found out it was a mini-van. He didn't get to laugh for long, though. He was quickly pushed into the back row of the van, where he sat with Lovino and Feliciano. They got out of the school parking lot easily, and got straight onto the interstate towards Virginia Beach.

It was a long drive, spent bickering over music and food, but Matt enjoyed it. However, by the time they had gotten to the beach, Matt was ready to get out and stretch his legs- and get away from the bickering Italians that sat beside him. (Lovino had complained the entire ride about being stuck between Matt and Feliciano.) So he gladly jumped out and approached the beach house. It had a great location; it was pretty isolated, the perfect place for a teenage party. It had a private beach, and a pool as well.

"Wow, is Antonio's family loaded or what?" Matt asked Lovino as they got out of the car. "Pretty much. His mom owns a chain of Mexican restaurants, so she makes lots of cash. They have a place like this in Barcelona, too." Lovino said, and Matt let out a low whistle. "Alright! Everyone grab something out of the back!" Ludwig boomed, distracting Matt from his thoughts. He walked to the back of the mini-van, and saw that it was stocked full of beer and food.

Despite the fact that he really didn't want to drink, he grabbed a 6 pack of Heineken and multiple bags of Doritos and lugged them inside, along with his duffle bag. He put the booze and food in the kitchen before flopping down onto the couch where Gilbert was sitting. "I love being blind. I never have to do any of the grunt work." He said, his feet propped on the coffee table and his arms behind his head. "Sounds great," Matt commented, before adding on, "Hey, Gilbert? Will it be cool if I don't drink?"

"Well, yeah, we won't bug you about it. The younger Vargas doesn't drink either. Can I ask why?" Gilbert asked. "Just, not a big drinker. I was hockey captain at my last school, and wouldn't risk it. Never got into drinking." Matt said, kind of embarrassed. He was afraid of coming off as a buzzkill. "You aren't a hockey captain anymore, are you? You should at least give it a shot. No pun intended." Gilbert laughed, and Matt laughed back. "That pun was definitely intended, and we both know that." "Yeah, okay, it was. You better have a beer before I make some more horrible drinking puns," Gilbert smirked, and Matt let out a long breath. "Yeah, okay. I'll try it, later on."

Within 30 minutes, the car was unpacked, and the kitchen was a buffet of junk food and alcohol. "Well, let's get this party started! Someone get me a beer!" Gilbert shouted. "It's noon, bruder. We aren't drinking yet." Ludwig said bluntly. "Pulling the blind card! Get me beer!" Gilbert shouted again. "That doesn't work on me and you know it. Drink as much as you want later, but we aren't drinking now." Ludwig replied, and Gilbert huffed, but accepted it.

"Well, I'm going out to the beach. You guys make yourself at home!" Antonio said cheerfully, and went outside, with Lovino following him. The rest of the group all went outside, except for Matt, Jan, and Gilbert. "Aren't you all coming outside?" Jan asked. "I will immediately get skin cancer, so, I'll sit inside." Gilbert said. "I'm a Canadian. It's like 35 degrees outside, no thanks, I'll melt." Matt said, and Jan gave him an almost relieved look. "God, it's good to hear people use Celsius." He shook himself out of it, and added, "Well, I'll be outside if you need me."

That left Matt alone inside with Gilbert. "Now that we're alone, how about you go and get me a beer, Mattie boy?" Gilbert asked. "No way, your brother has muscles the size of my head. I'm not getting on his bad side." Matt laughed. "You know, I'm not totally blind, I bet I can find the beer on my own," Gilbert said, and got off of the couch to tap his way to the kitchen. He came back with a bottle in his hand, and flopped beside Matt.

"See? Told you." Gilbert showed the bottle to Matt, and Matt had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. "Gilbert, that's hot sauce, you dork." Matt chuckled when Gilbert's expression turned shocked. "Can't even get a beer in this house." The albino grumbled, and dropped the bottle. "You'll be able to drink soon enough." Matt said, and turned on the TV to pass the time until it was cool and dark enough for him and Gilbert to join their friends outside.

The time didn't pass quickly enough, though, and by 4, Gilbert had slathered on enough sunscreen for 3 people, and demanded that Matt help him get outside. Though he wasn't eager to go out in the 90 degree weather, he accompanied his friend to the patio by the pool. Gilbert immediately jumped in the pool where his brother and Feliciano was, but Matt decided to hang out at the patio with Jan, who was grilling burgers for everyone.

"So, how do you take your meat?" Jan asked. "Pink as you can get it." Matt replied, and Jan made a disgusted face. "What? I was raised by a Frenchman. I'd eat it raw if possible." Matt said, and Jan just looked at the food he was cooking. "Well, here. It's pretty pink." Jan said, and flipped a burger onto a bun for Matt. Matt took it gratefully, and took a bite. "You're going to get salmonella." Jan said, raising his eyebrows. "Nah. You get E. Coli from beef. Salmonella is chicken." Matt said, and Jan raised his eyebrows. "Goddamn Frenchies," Jan complained, and Matt laughed. After a second of keeping an annoyed façade, Jan started to laugh too.

Matt hung out at the grill with Jan until the other burgers finished cooking and the Dutchman beckoned for everyone to grab one. The first person to get his burger was Gilbert, who stumbled blindly out of the pool to Jan. "Lud, I'm having a beer with dinner, you can't stop me!" He shouted to his brother. "Good luck finding them," Ludwig said, smirking slightly. Matt laughed, and grabbed Gilbert's arm. "You've waited long enough. Come on."

After dragging Gilbert to the fridge, Matt grabbed a beer for Gilbert and opened it. "Danke schoen, mein Freund." Gilbert said with a smile. "De rien, mon ami." Matt replied. Gilbert made a disgusted face, and it caught Matt by surprise. "Fucking Frenchies," he said, though Matt could tell he was joking. "Is that the general consensus in this group?" Matt asked, and Gilbert nodded and took a drink from his beer. "Ja, ja. But, I mean, fuck the Italians, Dutch, and Spanish, too. Only race that's worthy is the German race," Gilbert said, and Matt looked at him with a bit of shock. "Wow, that sounded very Hitler-esque." Gilbert looked to be in thought for a moment before shrugging and taking another drink. "I'm not a Nazi. Roderich's a Jew."

Ludwig walked in right when Gilbert said that, and looked flustered. "Is he being nationalist? Because he acts like that sometimes, as a joke, we aren't Nazis-" Matt cut him off with a laugh. "I'm sure if you were Nazis you would have already killed this one off," Matt gestured to Gilbert, "It's cool." Ludwig nodded, and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. "If only. Help yourself out to a beer." He said, and grabbed another bottle of Heineken for Matt. "Uh, I'm not really sure-" Matt stammered, before being cut off by Gilbert. "Come on Mattie, you told me you'd at least try!"

Oh yeah, Matt had told Gilbert he would try. So, with that, he gave into the peer pressure, and took the beer from Ludwig with a quiet "Thanks." He twisted off the cap off, and raised the bottle to his lips. He took a drink… and almost spit it out. "Oh my god- this is disgusting! How could you Germans make something so gross?" Matt spluttered, and put the bottle down. "Actually…" Gilbert started, and trailed off. "Actually what?" Matt asked.

"Actually, Heineken is a Dutch beer," Jan boomed from behind Matt. He approached the table and grabbed the beer Matt put down. "And if you don't like it, I'll gladly drink it." Jan raised the bottle to his lips and took several large gulps. "We've got any kind of alcohol you want, if beer isn't your thing. Though, I don't understand why you wouldn't like beer… Canadians like whiskey, right?" Ludwig asked while rummaging through the cooler that was filled to the brim with various bottles. "Uh, I guess?"

Ludwig poured a shot out for Matt. "Either way, this is a high proof. You'll be drunk before you taste it." He pushed the shot to Matt. Matt laughed and picked it up. "I thought you were the responsible one?" He asked, eyeing the amber liquid in his glass. "I just try to keep my brother from causing any more physical or emotional harm to himself than he already does. Doesn't mean I can't have a few beers every once in a while." Ludwig shrugged, and chugged the rest of his beer. "Bruder, you and I both know you'll have more than a few beers," Gilbert smiled.

Matt laughed nervously, still eyeing his whiskey without drinking it. A hand rested on his shoulder, which startled Matt. "Are you going to drink that, or will I have to drink it too?" Jan said in his ear. "No, uh, I'll- I'll drink it." Matt stuttered. "Good," Jan said, and went to lean on the counter beside Gilbert. Jan smirked at him, and Matt shot back the whiskey before he had a chance to continue worrying about it.

As soon as he had drank his shot, Matt coughed. Hard. "Fuck! That burns!" He said, slamming down the shot glass. "Here, chaser." Jan tossed a Coke to Matt, who opened it and drank it gratefully. "That was so fucking disgusting! Pour me another shot." He passed the glass back to Ludwig, who filled it without question. "I don't think I've ever heard you drop the f bomb, Mattie," Gilbert laughed. Matt took his second shot, chased it with Coke, and gave Gilbert a look. "You've known me three days," He said, and everyone laughed.

By the time it was dark outside, everyone was at least a little tipsy, if not shitfaced drunk. Matt was shitfaced. He sat outside with Jan at the beach, sitting on the sand as the tide came in. They were both sopping wet, and giggling each time the tide hit them. "God, you know, this is the first time I've ever been to the ocean. It's pretty great," Matt slurred. "Yeah? You're beautiful- I mean, shit, you're right, it's beautiful," Jan stammered, and Matt laughed. "Jan van der Heide, you are drunk." Matt said. "Matthew Bonnefoy-Kirkland, you are drunk," Jan countered. "You fucked my last name up, it's Kirkland-Bonnefoy." Matt giggled.

"Sorry, not like I know you very well… Tell me about yourself, Kirkland-Bonnefoy." Jan asked. It caught Matt by surprise, but, he started rambling on anyways. "You already know my story, Jan. I'm a brand new American, just like you," Matt hummed, swaying his head. "No, that's not your story. Tell me about what you like, what you do, that shit. Tell me about like, how you lost your virginity, not about being from Canada, that's almost as boring as being from the Netherlands." Jan laughed. "I'm actually the biggest fucking virgin in the world, which is crazy, because I was like, the most popular guy in school back in Calgary. Man, I had the hottest bod, too. I had girls and guys falling all over me- and I didn't do shit, because I was waiting for the right one." Matt laughed.

"Aw, how sweet. You're a fucking Canadian stereotype." Jan giggled. "Oh, yeah? How did you lose your virginity?" Matt asked defensively. Jan giggled again, and leaned his head back. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He said. "I had like, 6 shots of whiskey, I'll believe anything." Matt hummed. So, Jan leaned close to Matt's ear. "I'm a virgin too," he whispered, and Matt and Jan both broke down laughing. Once they had calmed down, Jan sighed. "But enough about where our dicks haven't been. Tell me more about you." Jan said. "There isn't much about me besides hockey and virginity. Sorry if you think I'm more interesting than that," Matt laughed. "Don't worry. There's not much more to me than football and virginity," Jan laughed right back.

"You're on the football team with my brother and Ludwig?" Matt slurred, and Jan sighed. "You're metric on the outside, but full imperial inside," he said, shaking his head. "What the fuck does that mean?" Matt asked, utterly confused. "You talk in Celsius, but you think in American football, babe." Jan said, raising his eyebrows and smirking. Matt just gave him a confused look. "Soccer, Matt. I play soccer." Jan finally explained, and Matt nodded in understanding.

There was a pause in the conversation, during which Matt fell to his side, his head falling into Jan's lap. "Jan, I'm shitfaced." The tide came in, and splashed Jan's lap and Matt's face. He coughed a bit, and spat up salt water. Jan laughed, and pulled Matt out of his lap. "You aren't going to drown in my lap, Matt, get up." As soon as Jan had pulled him up, Matt fell back down, on Jan's shoulder this time. "Come on, Mattie. Keep off me," Jan tried to keep Matt up, but he started to fall again.

"Here, I'll keep you up." Jan wrapped an arm around Matt's shoulder tightly, and that kept him up. Matt giggled and leaned into Jan's embrace. "Look at us, all cuddled up on the beach at night. It's almost romantic," Matt teased. And then he abruptly fell onto the sand. "What?" He turned over to see that Jan had jumped up, and was standing above him. "Shit, that wasn't the right thing to do. I, uh, thought that there was a crab." He sat back down next to Matt and put his arm back around him, a little less tightly that time.

"I didn't see any crabs," Matt drew out the last word, "Maybe you're just nervous about holding a pretty boy like me, Virgin Boy Wonder." Matt slurred, and he looked over to Jan. "You're one to talk, Captain Virginity." Jan said, and Matt laughed, and then let his head fall on Jan's shoulder. "Fuck, I'm gonna pass out. Soon." Matt said. "Well, go inside. I'm not gonna let you pass out in the surf," Jan said, pushing Matt's head away. "I can't get up. You gotta help me," Matt whined, which made Jan sigh. "Yeah, yeah, come on." He said, and helped Matt up and into the house.

It took some searching, but Matt and Jan managed to find an empty room. Jan dumped Matt onto the bed and fell in beside him. "Hope you don't mind if I pass out in the same bed. I'm not risking finding another half-naked Italian in any of the other guest rooms." Jan said. "I don't care, it's a king," Matt said and laid down on his back. "Ah, ah. Sleep on your side." Jan pushed Matt onto his side, and before he could protest, he was asleep.