25th July 2021

I woke in a panic, disorientated by the foreign walls, staring back at me. It took my groggy brain too long to process that I wasn't at home but asleep in my childhood room at my parents'.

I scrubbed a hand over my face, feeling the day old stubble against my fingertips. The night before was coming back to me in drips and drabs.

I remembered going back to the party but avoiding Tori and Jaxon. I think I spoke to Hazel, and she was mad, only I wasn't sure who she was mad at. Then I had several colourful shots and the rest of the night was a bit of a blur.

I cursed myself and lifted the covers, realising I'd slept in the same clothes I'd gone to the party in.

The room spun as I trudged my way over to the door. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth and felt like sandpaper against my teeth.

How much did I have to drink last night?

The rest of the house was suspiciously quiet as I stumbled down the hall and through to the kitchen.

I stopped in my tracks when I saw Hazel and Jaxon's Nanna rummaging around my parents' kitchen cupboards.

Her white mop of hair bobbed as she spied me by the door.

"Ahh, another one. Don't you worry, my boy, Nanna'll sort you out." She reassured me, though I wasn't sure what was talking about.

I watched her pulling the cupboards apart until she carried three large glasses of questionable contents.

"Come on, Raini's on the patio." She said, speaking about my abuela.

I followed her outside, cringing when I caught the smell of pot on the wind.

"You know Dad will kill you if he catches you smoking that." I pointed out, as my abuela let loose a large puff of smoke when she realised it was just me.

"Medicine use." She was quick to explain.

"Right." I drew the word out, raising my eyebrow.

"Us old ladies got to have a few things to keep these old joints in one piece." Nanna Pat placed the glasses on the table and took the joint from my abuela, placing it between her own lips.

"Drink this," my abuela demanded.

I took the offered glass gingerly. "What is it?" I sniffed and recoiled. It smelled faintly of rotten eggs, though I knew she hadn't put any in.

Nanna Pat smacked my knee and scowled. "That is my famous hangover cure, and don't be telling me you don't need it." She smirked at me as if she could see the way my skull was tap dancing on my brain.

"Like this." My abuela put one hand on her nose and the other poured the entire contents of the glass down her throat in one go.

I stared at her, speechless, as she burped and put the glass back on the table.

"Now that's the way," Nanna Pat commended before doing the same.

Not wanting to be outdone I followed their example. It was a mistake.

As soon as the first drop hit my tongue, I knew I was in trouble. If the smell was revolting, then the taste was a hundred times worse.

Forget rotten eggs. I was convinced I was drinking fish guts that had been left out in the sun with just a hint of tomato juice.

I spluttered and choked, leaving over half of the contents still in the glass.

"More. More," my abuela urged, but I resisted.

"I think you're trying to poison me," I said, putting the glass back on the table.

"Don't be silly, boy. Why would we want to poison you when we want to talk to you." Nanna Pat laughed at my skeptical expression.

"What happening last night?" My abuela was quick to ask.

"Nothing," I said.

"Bull." Nanna Pat passed the joint back to my abuela. "Me and Raini saw it all, so don't be trying to tell us no lies. What were you arguing with my grandson and Tori over?"

It crossed my mind to lie, but only for a split second. Even if my lying skills were gold standard, those two amateur sleuths would have still sniffed out the truth.

My options were few; lie or come clean.

"They set me up on a date," I admitted.

"That slim chica," my abuela questioned.

"Yes."

"I love my grandson, but he should not be offering anyone dating advice. That girl was not right for you." Nanna Pat took my discarded drink and took a sip. She grimaced but forced more of the foul smelling liquid passed her lips.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one suffering this morning.

"What if I know the right girl, but I can't have her?" I hedged.

My abuela snorted. "Can't have her? Life no work that way. You want, you go get." She banged her stick against the floor.

"Raini is right. You take it from us, life is complicated and confusing but that just makes it all the more reason to go for what you want," Nanna Pat reasoned, taking the offered joint back from my abuela.

I scrunched my hands together. "And if I don't know what I want?"

My abuela's keen eyes raked over my face, her eyes a light with an emotion I didn't know. The same look was reflected in Nanna Pat's.

"Sounds to me like you've already got your choices in mind."

I cringed under their unflinching scrutiny. "Maybe," I admitted.

"I knew it." Nanna Pat cackled. My abuela whacked her stick against her friend's shin, making her wince.

The two women glared at each other before my abuela turned back to me.

"A dos chica problema?" My abuela always slipped into Spanish the more excited she got.

"Now this is getting good." Nanna Pat rubbed her hands together, grabbing my abuela's stick before it could be rapped against her legs again.

"It's more complicated than that," I added.

"Isn't it always?" Nanna Pat got a faraway look in her eye.

"A choice you make. To the one who steal your heart." My abuela nodded her head solemnly.

"But I don't know. The choice it's...too hard."

"The choice is always a hard one." Nanna Pat rested a hand on my leg. "Your abuela loved one man her whole life."

"It were hard but he always worth it," my abuela joked, but her eyes were misty as she thought about my abuelo, a man who had died before I could get to know him.

"But that doesn't always work. Some of us aren't limited to just one love." Nanna Pat winked as my abuela puffed.

"Not you." My abuela snatched the shrinking joint and placed it between her lips.

"Not me," agreed Nanna Pat. "My heart fell and fell and fell again. And I would never have changed a second of it."

My abuela placed a gnarled hand over my heart. "It knows. Trust it."

I wanted to argue with her. My heart? The most unreliable organ I owned? The last thing I wanted to do was trust it. Most of the time, I didn't even want to listen to it.

"Raini is right. Your head confuses things, but your heart, it knows. Maybe you can't hear it yet but you will."

Nanna Pat seemed so sure, and I hoped she was right. Because right now I couldn't tell you what my heart was trying to tell me.

"Now go make up things with my grandson and future grandson in law. Because us old ladies don't want to see moping faces around the place. There'll be enough of those when we die."

I chuckled and agreed, leaving the two older women to their smoke and jibs.

I was lucky enough to catch one of the few buses running on a Sunday since I'd left my car at home. But it didn't save me from the three-mile walk from the bus stop to my house.

With my wrinkled clothes and the taste of Nanna Pat's hangover cure still on my breath, I looked no better than any other guy doing the walk of shame the day after.

A few people peered at me curiously, but kept their distance. It gave me the space I needed to plan what to say to Tori and Jaxon.

The anger I felt previously had reduced to a simmer. It was still there, but it wasn't as close to boiling over as it had been. That didn't mean that I wanted to forgive them, but neither did I want to carry on arguing.

I let myself in and was immediately confronted with Hazel standing at the door, her hands on her hips.

Generally, Hazel was a relaxed person but with her steely glare and pregnant belly, I'm not ashamed to admit that I wanted to run for the hills.

"You all need to fix what happened," she demanded. "I can't be dealing with all this stupid in one house."

"It wasn't my fault." I pointed out and then leaned back when she threw her arms around me in a tight hug.

"I know," she mumbled into my chest. "Tori and Jax are idiots, but they do care, Sam. Please talk to them."

What really undid me was the sheen of tears in her eyes.

I patted her back. "Okay, just try not to stress my godchild out too much."

She wiped at her eyes and smiled. "Good, I've already started breakfast." I gulped, and she saw my nervous expression and scowled. "It's just scrambled eggs."

"And you're not adding anything to it?" I queried, waiting for something.

She paused and shifted her feet. "Tuna," she admitted.

I sighed. "No tuna for me, okay. I've already had to suffer your Nanna's hangover cure."

She clicked her fingers. "I knew, I knew that smell."

I hung my head and followed her into the kitchen. I helped the best I could, though mostly stuck to getting the plates out and washing the cooking utensils she discarded.

Footsteps on the stairs made me drop the glass I was washing into the sink, splashing the front half of me in soap suds. I quickly dried myself off and turned to find Tori and Jaxon watching me from the doorway, both in their pjs.

"Fix this." Hazel rounded on all of us, taking her plate and escaping to the living room.

I balanced the three plates in my hands and placed them on the table. The silence was thick as we each took a seat, Tori and Jaxon sitting across from me.

Not a word was said whilst we took a few bites of Hazel's food, though it could have been sawdust for all I knew. My stomach was too nervous to eat and my mind was too focused on my friends to register the taste.

"Look Sam, we're sorry we dropped you in it last night." Tori was the first one to break the silence.

"We really were only looking out for you, we promise." Jax was quick to add.

I placed my fork down and looked at them, noticing the bags under their eyes. "I know. I shouldn't have flown off the handle like I did. It's just Evie..." I trailed off, not knowing how to finish my answer.

"We know how defensive you are when it comes to her. We should have been more delicate."

"Tactful!" Hazel shouted from the living room, obviously listening in on our conversation, making me smile.

"Yeah, tactful," Tori agreed. "We didn't mean to push you so far. We know you're not ready."

I wasn't ready, but then I also didn't know what I was supposed to do with my feelings about Genny either. Now they had pointed them out, I couldn't just ignore them.

"I know you were just trying to help, but I'm just so confused. I just feel so guilty because you were right. I think I like Genny, but then I still love Evie. This is so messed up." I placed my head in my hands.

"I knew it," Jaxon cheered. "Ouch."

I looked up to see him rubbing the back of his head where Tori had hit him.

"No one said love was easy," Tori reassured me.

"And you definitely haven't made it easy on yourself. A ghost and a recluse, what a decision to make." Jaxon smirked, dodging Tori's hand as he went to hit him again. "You missed."

"Next time I won't," Tori promised. "So what are you going to do, Sam?" His attention returning to me, though I could still see him glancing at Jaxon from the corner of his eye, waiting for the next stupid thing to come out of his mouth.

"I don't bloody know," I sighed.

"You could keep talking to Genny and see where it goes from there. You might be feeling guilty for nothing. Maybe you and Genny will just end up being really great friends," Jaxon said, flinching as Tori raised his hand to his head. But the smack never came.

"Actually, that's not terrible advice," Tori grudgingly admitted.

Jaxon smirked in triumph. "I've been known to give some good advice."

"Like the time you told Hazel she should dye her hair to look more edgy," queried Tori.

"Or the time you said anyone could surf and then processed to force me to learn." I pointed out.

"Anyone can surf," he defended.

"I almost drowned!"

"Psh, you're being overdramatic."

"The lifeguard had to rescue him because you were laughing too much," Tori reminded him.

"The water was only like three feet deep. It was epic," chuckled Jaxon.

"Not my fault the surfboard hit me in the head."

"I forgot about that part." Jaxon cracked up, me and Tori joining in. It really had been like a disaster film the way the board seemed intent on injuring me. You would have thought it had a grudge against me.

But in my defence, I was a musician, and I never proclaimed to be a surfer.

"Now this is what I wanted." Hazel entered the room, nodding her head approvingly.

Tori got up and took his dish, giving her a good morning kiss. You knew it was love when he didn't even cringe from her fishy breath.

"We came to an understanding," assured Tori.

"And what is that?" She quirked her eyebrow.

"That we'll let Sam decide who he should be with."

"Yeah, whether that's Evie or Genny," Jaxon added.

Hazel screeched, her head whipping to look at me. "Genny? Since when was she even on the playing field."

I flashed Jaxon a dark look, and at least he had the decency to look guilty.

"Look Hazel, it's nothing. She's on the other side of the world for a start. I think I'm just going to take Jaxon's advice and try not to think so hard."

"That is one of my brother's limited talents," she agreed.

For a second Jaxon smiled before he pouted. "Hey!" We all chuckled at his disgruntled expression. "What is this pick on Jaxon day?"

"What did you do this time?" asked Tye, making us all jump. He was the only one of us who looked even remotely human.

"Absolutely nothing," defended Jaxon, giving us all evils.

"Yeah, that's totally believable." He silenced Jaxon's complaining with a kiss before stealing the rest of his food. Jaxon was too loved up to complain.

I took in Tye's sandy clothes and cursed. The beach clean-up crew; I'd completely forgotten about it.

"Sorry Tye, I should have called this morning when I couldn't come." I tried to apologise, but Tye just brushed it off.

"Don't worry about it, Sam. After what you drank last night I'm surprised you surfaced before lunch." He chuckled, and I groaned when everyone joined him.

"I don't know what I was thinking."

Tori patted my shoulder. "It happens. Love makes fools out of all of us."