As someone who prefers to write in both past tense and present tense in the same stories, this might not be easy 😬 but it's only flashbacks, so you'll get it.

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I was at my godson's footie game when it happened again. The same thing that has been happening to me for months.

July 1st, 1979.

I was running around the front yard of my friend Aitch's house playing tag, our other friend, Grayson, chasing after us.

"I'm gonna get you!" Grayson exclaimed, reaching his hand out to touch Aitch when he got closer to him.

"No you're not!" He exclaimed back, and ran faster.

"Boys! You're too old to be playing tag." His mother came outside, saying. She was wearing an apron and had her hair tied up in a bun.

"No, we're not. We're only 13! Aitch stopped and responded back to her, causing Grayson to finally catch up and tag him.

"Now I've got you!" He bragged, and dashed away running.

"Still old!" She continued. "And it's time for dinner, so come on inside." She ordered, and walked back inside the house.

"Must be the— the— courgette salad— and chicken soup again. I can smell them from here." I said breathlessly, leaning over to catch my breath.

"I kind of like the salad. It's not that bad to be quite honest." Grayson defended, pulling out his inhaler and taking a breath from it.

"Well, you can eat. Aitch and me are gonna keep on playing." I tell him with a smirk.

"Aitch and I, you mean." He corrected me. He had a habit of doing so, which I loved about him.

"But his mum said it's time for dinner." Grayson replied, and I shrugged, ignoring him.

"It will only be for a minute. Come on, Aitch. We're gonna try to climb the tree again." I grabbed his hand and lead him over to the tall tree that was in front of the bin.

All seemed to had been going great at first. We were almost at the top of the tree, when a crack was heard.

It all happened so fast. We were climbing, then the next thing I knew, the tree branch broke and Aitch was falling to the ground.

"AITCH!"

(Present-1988)

"Louis? Helloooo? Lou? Louis!?" I jumped up startled when my friend, Jack, snapped his fingers in my face, taking me out of the flashback. The sounds of parents cheering made me remember my surroundings.

"What?" I questioned, clueless, blinking a few times.

"You zoned out for a second there, mate. You alright?" He asked worriedly.

I nodded and replied, "Yeah, just tired."

I had another flashback. I've been having them for a while. At first, not knowing the reason why. It would always be the same ones, or different. All were of Aitch. It's been almost 9 years since his passing, and since then, I've been drowning in guilt. Guilt that has haunted me since that day.

His mother hasn't spoken to me since. Not even his sister. His dad couldn't even look at me at the funeral. It was my fault, and what hurts the most is that I can't go back in time and change it.

"You haven't been studying all night again, have you? The LSATs are only a month away." He reminded me.

"I know, I just have to make sure I study hard enough to ace it." I replied, watching Alfie kick the ball into the net.

"Way to go Alfie!" Grayson cheered, clapping excitedly.

"You'll do excellent. You've been studying hard enough and should get some rest." He suggested, swatting away a fly that flew into his face.

"Yeah..."

I was studying to be a lawyer. It wasn't my first choice to study. My first option was studying technology, but it was quite boring. Not boring as in the class was boring, but boring as in it wasn't what I had expected it to be. I wanted to try something more challenging. More harder. So I dropped the course and decided to do law, which is quite challenging for many. It's where me and Jackson met.

"Oooo, look at her."

"Who?" I questioned, trying to see who he was looking at.

"Blondie over there. Isn't she beautiful?" He complimented, not taking his eyes off the tall woman with the curl and perm hair.

"Don't you have a girlfriend? What happened to the American girl you were dating?" I asked him curiously.

"She was older than she had told me. Only lied to be with me. Like— who does that?"

"Americans I guess." Grayson chimed in.

"Not all Americans are bad." I defended, and began clapping when Alfie hit another goal.

"I know but—" He sighed. "Well I guess you're right. Only one bad experience couldn't mean all of them are the same way." Jackson agreed. He groaned in annoyance when another fly began to attack him, swatting it away.

"I'm going inside the car, I can't stand these bloody flies!" He complained, swaying his arms around and almost hitting someone in the face, the person staring at him deadly.

"Sorry, ma'am. Let me know if his team won." He tells us, and walked off to the car.

We continued watching Alfie play, cheering each time he made a goal.

"Have you talked to your parents? I haven't heard from them in a while." I asked Grayson.

"Uhm....I barely talk to them these days. They don't answer my calls whenever I call them, and I might be thinking too much, but they might just see me as a disappointment." He frowned, saying.

I shake my head in disapproval. "You aren't a disappointment to them, Gray. They love you, you're their son."

"Yeah, their son who became a dad at 17." He frustrates, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Look....I'm not someone who supports these kinds of things, you know that, but you're my friend. My best mate. I care about you. Everyone cares about you."

"Yeah, well, some people do a really good job of showing it." He mumbles sarcastically, frowning deeper. I sighed and gave up on trying to comfort him.

The game ended shortly after, Alfie's team winning.

"Can we get ice cream, Papa? I won!" He chimed excitedly, holding onto his father's hand.

"Not today, bubba, it's a school night." Grayson declined, and opened the car door for him.

"Did they win?" Jack asked as we hopped into the car.

"As always." Grayson answered proudly.

"What about my ice cream?" Alfie whined.

"Maybe just grab one to go? It's only seven." I suggested, putting on my seatbelt.

He sat and thought for a moment, before nodding and saying, "Okay, and then you go take a bath and eat dinner."

"Sounds good, buttercup?" I asked Alfie, and he nodded quickly.

"Perfect! Let's go. I might get myself one too." I said, putting my seatbelt on and leaving.

___

"Those were the best days of my life! Ohh yeah! Back in the summer of 69!" A wasted middle-aged man, possibly in his 40s, sang his heart out to the radio playing Bryan Adams.

"I can tell he had a brilliant summer of 69 by the way he's singing." Jackson teased, and took another drink of his beer. He was a tad wasted as well, his words slurring.

"Reminds me of when my parents sang I Will Always Love by Dolly Parton at karaoke once. They were so pissed, they ended up getting the words wrong and sang an Elvis song." Grayson responded, tapping his finger to the beat of the music on the table, holding a half drank glass of whisky in his hand.

He was a light drinker who only drinks one glass of alcohol. He used to be a heavy drinker though, drinking at parties and getting wasted. He stopped doing it when his girlfriend got pregnant with Alfie.

"How does that even happen?" I chuckled, subconsciously eying his drink for a second before looking back up at him once I realised.

"Wasted parents is how." He chuckled, and finished his glass and sat it back down.

"I'll be right back. I'm gonna go to the loo." I tell him, standing up.

"Alright, mate. Hey! Don't go in there to drink anything like you did last time!" Jack ordered, and I rolled my eyes as I walked away.

I came back after a while and sat back down. I rubbed my face and rested my elbow on the table, my palm against my cheek. Not a second later, I looked over to see two young lads walking towards us.

"Hey! You!" One of the men yelled, his face filled with anger.

"Is something wrong, sir?" I questioned, raising my brows in confusion.

The man scoffed. "Don't act so innocent. You know what you did."

Huh?

"What did he do?" Grayson asked, him too being confused.

"He looked at my girlfriend!"

I'm gay, I was looking at the lad beside your girlfriend you wanker. Preferably your friend.

"I wasn't! I didn't look at anyone." I lied, hoping he would believe me.

I'm not really scared of him, but I did find it funny that he thought I was looking at his girlfriend, when I actually wasn't.

"You're honestly going to lie right now?" His friend spoke.

"Lads, listen, nobody was looking at anyone, alright? Come on, let's not make such a big deal out of it if he did look or not. We do have eyes after all. You can't control where you look unless you want to." Jackson defended me. His words were slurred, but barely where I could understand him.

The man leaned closer to my face and stared me dead in the eye, and said, "I know what you did, and you aren't getting away with it." It was the last thing he said before walking away with his mate by his side.

"Those blokes are wasted. Someone can't possibly take something like that seriously. It's a tad rubbish really." Grayson said, shrugging.

"Whatever. He wasn't that threatening. Besides, I was staring at his fit mate." I replied, making them both roll their eyes jokingly.

"Of course you were, there's not a place we go where you don't look at some handsome bloke." Jackson retorted, drinking his fourth beer of the night.

Grayson checked his watch and then grabbed his keys. "We gotta go, lads. I have to pick Alfie up from my brother's."

"Okay, but you're gonna have to carry me, mate." Jack slurred, almost tripping over as he stood up.

Grayson wrapped Jackson's arm over his shoulder and began heading out to the car.

He opened the door and carefully placed him inside. He grabbed a plastic bag and placed it on his knees, before closing the door and heading to his side.

"Oh, Lou, I almost forgot. I got you these." Grayson said, and threw me a bottle of pills.

I read it and furrowed my brows. "Sleeping pills?"

"To help you sleep at night so you don't stay up studying." He tells me.

"Oh...thanks. These could really help." I thank him, and he smiles warmly at me.

"No problem, anything for a best mate." He gave me one last smile before getting into the car.

I looked at the bottle again, placed it in the pocket of my trouser, and then hopped into the car.

First two chapters are up! I'm still planning this book, but I signed up for a cover and got it, so now I have to publish it😂

I hope you guys will like it🤗

Little disclaimer: I am in no way promoting teen pregnancy with this story. I do not support it and it's only for the plot.

Make sure to vote, comment, and share!.xX