Cameron and I were the last to step onto the party vessel before it pulled up anchor and set sail.

We took in the two levels ahead of us, of partying passengers, half of which were Nomikos by blood, and we both turned slightly and looked back to see if it was too late to disembark.

Cam took my hand "Well bird... it looks like we are stuck"

I tickled his palm with my finger tips. "don't leave me alone at any point you hear me"

"I promise" he says with a nod.

I look him up and down in his crisp white shirt and light tan pants, his loafers are perfect and his pants are rolled up a little on the ankle. His fair hair is immaculately swept over and cut nice and sharply. At some point Cam had truly physically transitioned into his true form. Cam had always been male inside, and to me he had been also, but now to all who saw him as the adult, he was without question a male. A trans man out in the wild, living as his authentic self. I loved this for him.

Cams added testosterone had paved the way at first, as his stubble grew in with fuller coverage at eighteen, and his well looked after and muscular frame developed broadly. The top surgery before Christmas had been his first time actually having surgery. I worried about him constantly during that time, but even in the pain he was in, with drains coming out of his chest, and his Mom looking after him... he was still in such a place of relief to have the body he knew was his. The weight I saw leave his shoulders... the day he had the drains removed and finally got a glimpse of his flat chest... it was a moment i'll never forget. My best friend, my favourite person in the world... that day, and in that moment... he was reborn. I was blessed and so very honoured to have him let me be there.

He squeezes my hand and looks down "you okay bird"

I lean against him affectionately and bump his arm "I just love you is all... you look so damn handsome"

"And you look so damn beautiful" he says lovingly in return.

Thea appears out of nowhere and points her finger between us "this a thing I need to know about" she asks with squinted eyes.

"No" Cam and I both argue as we screwed up our faces and parted hands.

Cam remembered his promise and grabbed it back "Thea she's like my sister" he reminds her.

"And I'm still a lesbian" I add, before Cam tugs me away toward the bar.

Mom is getting herself and Mama a soda as we appear beside her.

"My favourite twosome" she says leaning in and kissing my forehead. "You both look incredible" she observes as she looks to us with affection.

I had put on a little summer dress, it was white and sleeveless. I knew my Mama would be spitting feathers to see tattoos on display on my arms, but I was twenty now and I had to own it. This was me.

"Not drinking tonight Teddy" Cam asked, gesturing to the sodas she lifted from the wooden bar.

"No Cam, my wife is allergic to alcohol and I intend to do things with her tonight that require my tongue ..."

"Moooom" I protested, as she laughs.

"Kiss her Wren... kiss her" she teases "jeeze" and she wiggles her eyebrows and heads in Mamas direction. She is dancing with Josie.

"Your Moms are so cute" Cam comments as we both watch them from afar. Mama takes Moms hand and drags her onto the dance floor.

The music on the boat cuts off, and the sudden silence has everyone look to the DJ set up.

Thea is sat on the DJs lap and instructing him. Two seconds later the familiar tune of Gold digger starts, and Mom and Mama are laughing and cursing her at the same time.

"That was one of their wedding dance songs" I inform Cam. "Thea is being a tease"

"Well it got everyone up" he muses, and he takes my hand and pulls me onto the dance floor.

"I ain't saying she a gold digger..." We sing loudly as we grind.

Olympia and Josie are jumping up and down beside us getting into it.

Bastion tugs on my arm to join in and I leave Cam to take Bash's hands instead and dance with him. When I look again, Olympia is in my place, and her and Cam are dancing and laughing with Josie.

The ouzo flowed, and the scenery got more and more stunning as we sailed around the island. There was dancing and singing and then after an hour... there was food. We all headed to the top deck to gorge on Greek food. My family's favourite past time.

The tables were set with white table cloths and silver cutlery, and the wine was sat in jugs on the middles of the tables. Red and white local wines.

Mama and Mom were beside Cameron and I with Olympia opposite, Josie and Bastion. At the other end of the long table was Demitra, her husband Tony, and Clio and Alexi.

The table behind us houses Thea, her ever suffering husband Harry, Athena, Matthias, Yia Yia and Callie with Alexandra and Apollo.

There were two more long tables with other travellers on but ours were the loudest by far.

"I don't understand what any of you are saying" Cam whispers into my ear.

I stick my fork in a shrimp and lift it up for him to taste. He takes a bite and hums his approval.

"I would have expected you to pick up some Greek by now... it's only been fourteen years Cam"

Mama leans in, her red hair falling over her shoulder as she does so "It's Twenty years for me Cam and I still don't know all of what my wife and children are saying behind my back"

"Only good things agápi mou" Mom promises, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles.

Josie and Cam begin a debate on some book they had both read at school in English lit. I didn't even remember it but Cam did.

"So, Jade wasn't that for you then" Josie asks. "Someone you could see your future with"

Cam takes a sip of his wine "It's wasn't that... I've just had a lot on the last four months and I didn't want to start something when I didn't have the time for it"

"So, will you ask her out when you get back" Josie asks.

I had to admit, I was enjoying Josie asking the questions, they were things I didn't mind knowing myself. Cam had kept it all close to his chest recently.

"No" he answers with certainty.

That stopped the fork of Greek salad entering my mouth. What?!

"Why" came Olympia, entering the chat on cue.

Cam shrugged his shoulders and wasn't going to say more.

"Girls" Mom says looking round at us all "leave Cam alone..."

"No" Olympia replies stubbornly. "He's holding back and we don't do that... right Wren" she asks me for back up.

I nod and turn in my chair to face him fully, my wine filtering down my throat "Since when did we keep secrets on our love lives"

"Bird, you keep the secrets ...not me. Don't think I didn't hear what you did and failed to mention to me"

I look upward searching my mind for a second, I didn't realise I had kept anything from Ca-. Oh shit. He knows.

"Who did you do" Olympia asks me.

"Wren ... is Millie coming back" Josie adds excitedly.

Mama and Mom stop talking at the mention of her name and spin around "Millie" Mama asks with a hopeful smile.

"I miss Millie" Bastion says, looking up from his game on my Moms phone.

"We all do" Demitra announces, appearing from the end of the table with her hands placed on the back of Olympias chair. "Any chance we will see her again Wren"

Cam makes an awkward face, he hadn't meant Millie. I kick him under the table.

"I don't know" I answer honestly.

Thea appears with a glass of wine in hand and has a slight drunken wobble on her feet "she's an absolute solid ten ... wife her off anipseá"

I stand up from the table, wanting to exit stage left before anyone else mentioned her name.

"Arketá" Mom said loudly "it's Wrens business.. let's stop the grilling"

I sat back down slow. Callie pushed her chair back behind mine and kissed my cheek lovingly "We just loved to see the way she looked at you... that's all Wren. We love you. Whomever you date...and end up with one day, as long as they look at you like that... they will have my blessing"

"So, whose the girl" Demi asked Cam as we all circled back to his grilling and not mine.

"Yes Cameron" I add "is there someone" I ask a little put out to not know this.

He rolls his eyes "you guys get a whiff of blood and you pounce"

"I met someone" he finally reveals.

"When" I ask, absolutely stunned.

"Her family moved in next door to Moms just before the end of school, and we hung out a couple times at first..." he reveals, to a table of Nomikos who were hanging on his every word right now. "I showed her around town and stuff.. and then we just started spending more time together"

Mamas face lights up "What's her name"

"Camilla" he says after a little hesitation.

"You didn't think to tell me you had met someone" I ask him.

He leant in and whispered "and You didn't think to tell me you had slept with Montgomery"

Shit, he did know.

"How old is she" Olympia asked, breaking Cams and my stare off.

"Who" we both ask.

"Camilla" she says annoyed at our whispering. "And did she go to Julian high school"

"She just had her eighteenth birthday" Cam reveals. "And yeah, how did you know"

"Camilla Delgado" Olympia practically shouts.

I had to admit I had no idea where this was going but it didn't look promising.

"Yes, you know her" Cam asked.

"I played against her...she's on their basketball team..."

"I'm lost" Demi admits.

"Cameron's just announced he's been seeing my rival...and I'm pissed about it. That should catch you up" Olympia said angrily and she stood up and stormed off.

"I'll go" Mom said standing.

"No" I say, jumping up and placing my hand on moms shoulder as I passed "i'll go"

Cam followed behind me. I couldn't believe this had turned into death on the Nile so quick. Olympia was at the end of the boat, leaning on the edge and nursing a drink that I knew wasn't soda.

"O" I say gently, approaching her cautiously.

She turned and clocked Cam behind me "go away" she directed at him.

"No" he threw back "Lym I didn't know you knew each other I'm sorry"

"Maybe if you were open with us" I start "she could have told you before you got into this girl"

"I'm not the only one whose kept secrets" he reminds me.

Olympia looks to me now with her brown eyes narrowed "and what is it you haven't told me either"

"Nothing of importance" i stress as I take the glass out of her hand and down its contents.

I widen my eyes as the spirits hit my tonsils, and swallow hard. "That's vodka" I chastise.

"Camilla Delgado required a vodka... so I could cleanse myself from that sickening thought" Olympia said, taking the glass back from my hand.

"Why don't you like her" Cam tried to understand as he came closer.

Bless Cameron, completely none the wiser about my sisters little crush or the way in which he had just hurt her

I saw it though. She wasn't hurt because this girl was a rival... she was hurt because she wasn't her.

"Because I don't" was all she could say.

"I'm sorry Lym. If I had known sooner I wouldn't have taken her out" he begs. His blue eyes search hers for forgiveness and understanding. "Please" he asked "don't be mad at me. I can't stand it when you look at me like that"

"So, you're dating her then" she asked, finally looking back to him.

"Yes... I'm gonna ask her to be my girlfriend"

"The fuck you are" I say, surprising even myself in the way it came out.

Olympia and Cam looked to me like I had two heads. Olympia because I probably read her mind, and Cameron because I was sounding completely out of order.

"I mean..." I say a bit more calmly "not before I meet her and she passes the friend inspection"

Cam looks relieved. "Of course. When you get back i'll arrange something. I can't wait for you to meet her bird"

How had Camilla become that important to Cam in a matter of months... and how didn't I know about it. Had I been that distant and self obsessed that I had missed my best friend finally meeting a girl he was falling for.

"She doesn't shorten her name does she" I asked him.

He laughs "no"

"Good because I'm not gonna start calling you both Cam Cam plural"

"I don't know...it could be cute" Cam says with a small smile.

Olympia rolls her eyes...hard "Cute... try nauseating..."

Cameron wraps his arms around her protesting and holds her tight, with a kiss to the forehead "Lym you don't have to worry... you are going to like her outside of the court... and she's going to like you too. She has to. You girls are my best friends"

"Tell me what Wren did and i'll forgive you" she asks him manipulatively, pulling out of his arms and looking at me with narrowed eyes again.

"Don't" I beg Cameron.

He looks to me with a regretful expression. "Don't" I say again, getting ready to move fast.

"She slept with Ava" he reveals, to get out of his own trouble.

Olympia goes wide eyed and her mouth drops open "you did not" she asks pointing at me accusingly.

I hide my face in my hands. I did. I fucked up.

"We were drunk" I try and explain.

Olympia grabs my hands and pulls them from my face "is that why Millie left" she asks me.

"No, god no" I say shaking her off. "It was after... ages after. It was a mistake"

"That's fucked up Wren. You need to stop drinking, and wake up. You just lost the girl of your dreams and fell into bed with the girl who broke your heart. That's some kind of self harm shit and I'm not gonna let you do it again"

"I wouldn't, believe me"

She shakes her head. "So, you're both sleeping with girls of questionable morals" she muses, looking at Cam and I judgementally.

"You guys suck" she says pushing me toward Cam.

As I bump Cam he bumps the wooden railing behind him, and the lock on the embarking gate becomes dislodged and opens with our weight as we fell back through it.

Luckily the boat was coming into the harbour, because within two seconds both Cam and I were hitting the waves beneath us and scrambling to swim upward against the current.

"Wren" Olympia called frantically from above. "Wren" I could hear as we both burst out of the water.

"Man overboard" Apollo noted loudly as everyone stood from their tables on the top deck.

"Olympia pushed Wren and Cam in" Clio shouted.

"I'm sorry" Olympia shouted back over the water as the boat moved away from us toward the lights of the town. I could hear a commotion as everyone joined her on the end of the boat, realising the situation a little too late.

I wiped my hair from my face and used my arms to keep me afloat. Cam took my hand and tugged me through the water and onto his back. "Hold on" he said gesturing to his neck.

"She just pushed us overboard" I said through hurried breaths.

"She didn't mean to" Cam reminded me.

Typical Cam, defending her whilst he tried to keep from drowning at her hand.

The boat circled back slowly, and Cam and I bobbed up and down trying to keep afloat as the faces of the entire clan passed over us and my moms hand came down to assist me back up.

"You just gave us a heart attack" she chastised as she pulled me up and against her tightly. She kissed my wet forehead "I love you ... but why do you guys do this to us"

Apollo and Harry helped Cam out and back onto the boat.

My mama held me so tightly I thought she wouldn't ever let go. "You and your sister are going to push me into buying pharmaceuticals out of the trunk of a car at this rate"

Olympia looked completely sheepish stood behind everyone. "I didn't mean for that to happen" she said slowly walking over.

My Mom pulled her over toward us more quickly "Olympia you're going to basketball camp as soon as we get home. I know you said you didn't want to go this year but I don't care... I need you to go be somewhere you can't get in trouble and I don't have to worry about you"

"Mom, no. I wanted to spend it with Daisy" Olympia protested.

"Not up for debate Olympia Maria... this kind of thing happens way too often with you. I don't care if you meant to do this or not... you pushed your sister and Cameron into the ocean. If we had been further out that could have ended badly. You are always at the centre of it all"

"We were a little aggressive with each other as teenagers" Demi thought back "but none of us threw each other off of a moving vessel into the ocean" she muses.

"It was an accident" Cam defended her.

"It doesn't matter" my Mom says a little more pissed than she ever sounded.

"You girls need to calm down... me and Mama don't need a summer with our hearts in our throats... Wren you are going to say yes to the extra soccer coaching this summer and Olympia you are going to say yes to basketball camp. Let your sport be your girlfriends this summer. Drive, ambition and determination. Throw yourselves into it and put all that fire and spirit into something that will benefit you... and not the demise of each other"

"I sent your Mom off to Camp with Willa for that very reason" Yia Yia reminds us. "She got boys on her mind and it was no good. Too much distraction and naughtiness, focus is what you need"

Thea sniggered "Little did Momma know boys would be wiped off of Theodora's mind completely"

Yia Yia tapped the back of Thea's head, with a scowl on her face, making Thea squeak.

"Thanks O" I say sarcastically. "You just locked us up for the summer"

"Well good" she threw back "I think you need it"

"As do you" I managed, before my Mama placed her hand over my mouth.

"Enough" she whispered.

Mom and Mama shared a look. I think it translated to "why did we have kids"

"I got the whole thing on video" Josie said, almost hiccuping with amusement.

"Lemme see it" Clio and Athena said joining her for the viewing.

The whole family watched it back, and now that we were safely back on board it became something to laugh about. For everyone but Mom and Mama, they were not happy at all.

My summer was about to take a turn. I wouldn't be spending it lazing by the pool or watching trash on tv. I would be attending the soccer training that was offered to me by the National soccer organisation. It was a soccer training camp for those who played semi professional, and not just for fun. I guess the only positive was that I could refocus back on my game, and return to the team in August with a renewed passion and hunger for a win.

Soccer training would do exactly what my Mom planned, it would focus me and make me work on myself, body and mind.

No drinking, no casual sex, and no hiding or running from myself a moment longer. It was time to strap up my cleats, pull up my socks...and get back to it.

The only downside was, that whilst I had time to think ... without distraction...I would realise that Millie was all I ever thought about.

I miss you.