Later in the day, I was in my room, sitting at my desk with my feet propped up, chewing the end of my pen. I wanted to write songs, and I was feeling inspired, but all that was coming out was shit.

Just after I screwed up my eight piece of paper into a crumpled ball, there was a knock on the door. I twisted round to see Alice furtively peeping around the door at me.

"Hi," she said in a soft voice. "Can I come in?"

I nodded and put my pen down, staying sitting in my chair but spinning around to face her. Alice perched on the edge of my bed, fingers knotted together nervously. I waited for her to speak, and at last, she did.

"So, I talked to Dylan," she said, looking down at her hands.

I raised an eyebrow. That wasn't what I was expecting her first words to be.

"I apologised for lying to people about our breakup." She sighed and closed her eyes for a second. "Ana, I swear, I wasn't, like, actively lying to people, I just–" Alice broke off and sniffed slightly. "You were the first person I told, and you just looked so sad for me, and... I just couldn't tell you the truth, because I knew that you would hate me."

"Alice–"

"No, wait, I'm not finished yet." She took a deep breath and carried on. "I... I loved him, Ana. I did. And honestly..." She frowned slightly at her hands, swallowing. "I think I still do. And I know, it's been a while, but... that's why I got so upset at the party. I told him how I still felt." Alice shook her head to herself. "So stupid. He said he was... over me. He wasn't even nasty about it. I was just drunk and sad, and I thought that there was maybe still a chance for us, even though he'd gone back to being a player. But I realised that night that there was no chance for us. That was it." She finally looked up at me, her eyes glistening with tears that hadn't fallen. "I'm so sorry I lied to you, Ana. I shouldn't have. And there are no excuses for it."

I exhaled slowly and went to sit next to her on the bed. "It's just... I treated Dylan like shit. We used to be such good friends."

"I know, I know." She rested her chin in her hands. "I'm a terrible friend. And human being."

"Alice, you're not a terrible human being." I shook my head at her slightly. "You screwed up. Everyone screws up." I'd screwed up, that was for sure – I had feelings for her brother.

"Yeah, but most often not as bad as I did. I'm on the high end of the screwing up scale." She sighed. "I'm also a shit sister. Joseph is going to kill me."

"Because of Callum?"

"Yeah." Alice rubbed her face. "We're not as close as we used to be, but he's still protective."

"So you're going to tell him?" I asked.

"I think I should." She clapped her hands together. "Okay. This is going to be a new start for me. I'm going to be honest with everyone. I'll tell everyone the truth of what happened."

I nodded. I knew it was going to be seriously difficult for her, but she did have to. "Well, you can tell Ellie on Saturday. We're going over to her house for dinner."

Alice looked at me in confusion. "We as in...?"

"All of us. All the Moores. Apparently Ellie's mum is trying to be better."

She rolled her eyes. "Like we haven't heard that before. Wonder what Ellie thinks of all this."

I shrugged. I hadn't spoken to Ellie that much recently, and in the back of my mind I wondered if it was because she was spending so much time with Sam. "I can't imagine she's too happy about it."

"No. Well, she did mention that the new boyfriend is super rich, so that's a little bit of a plus. He takes them out for meals and stuff."

I wrinkled my nose. I couldn't imagine Ellie wanting to do that. But maybe, like her mum said, maybe this one wasn't so bad.

"Okay, well, anyway." Alice turned to me and reached out for my hand, holding it in hers. "Ana, I really am so sorry. I'm going to do everything I can to make it up to you." Her expression became uncertain. "Do you forgive me?"

I half-smiled. "Yeah, I forgive you." I didn't really have a choice to be honest – living with somebody made it hard to hold a grudge against them.

Her face broke into a grin. "Oh, thank god. Okay." She grimaced. "I'm going to talk to Joseph and get it over with now."

I nodded and she got up, pulling her hand away from mine. "Good luck."

Alice smiled at me. "Thanks. I'm going to need it."

***

As Alice had told Joseph what had happened, I'd heard some raised voices for sure, but eventually I hadn't been able to hear them from my room anymore. Dinner that night had been a little tense, but I could tell that although Joseph had been mad, he was pretty much over it.

The week passed relatively quickly. My mind was kept busy by work at Melissa's, my friends often coming to see me – Alice and Ryan more so than Ellie and Sam. I knew that they were a new couple and in their honeymoon phase and all, but it still irritated me. They were both my close friends and I still wanted to see them. But I tried to be tolerant.

I spent a lot of time with Joseph when the rest of the Moore family weren't here. There was an unspoken agreement between us that the rest of his family probably shouldn't know how close we'd become. I was, after all, his younger sister's best friend, and the fact that I was almost spending more time with him than Alice didn't quite seem right. But that didn't stop me. Joseph and I were both often up late at night, either in the living room or his room or eventually my room. We spent all this time together and so many times I wanted to kiss him but every time I stopped myself. I was seeing Harry, and I couldn't really do that to him.

Harry and I went on a couple more dates. They were fun and easy, and I did enjoy myself with him. Nothing more than kissing had happened between us, but I could tell he wanted to do more, but he was respecting my reluctance. I liked him, and I was attracted to him, but I just didn't feel like I trusted him enough yet.

The day came when we were going to Ellie's house for dinner, and I'd heard from Ellie that she was dreading it. Family meals at their house never tended to go well.

It was supposed to be a smart dinner, so I was making an effort. It was a warm evening, so I was wearing a pretty light green sundress accompanied by summer sandals with a slight heel. I'd been feeling pretty good today – so much so that I'd even curled my hair, and it fell past my shoulders in loose, dark waves. My makeup was light and shimmery, making my skin glow. I gave myself a small smile in the mirror. I thought I looked nice.

"Hey, Ana, can I borrow a pair of shoes?" Alice appeared in my room, looked me up and down and whistled. "Ooh, Ana, you look amazing. Who are you trying to impress? Thirteen-year-old Blaine?"

I rolled my eyes at her but smiled slightly. "I'm not allowed to look nice without impressing someone?"

She held her hands up in innocence. "Well of course you are. Blaine's always had a bit of a crush on you, though. He's going to go mad."

I picked up my pillow and threw it at her. "Yeah, yeah. What shoes did you want to borrow?"

"Um..." Alice made her way over to my wardrobe and rifled around in it. Then she held up a pair of white flats. "These, please."

"Sure, sure." I waved my hand in dismissal, taking a last look at myself in the mirror. "Okay, I'm ready."

Sam and Ryan were coming to the dinner as well, but Mark and Catherine were the only parents invited. Even though Ellie's mum, Jennifer, was pretty chaotic and absentee, she'd known Alice's parents for years, so they were good friends. Them and my parents often used to meet and go out together, whether it be dinner out or sailing.

I swallowed at the thought. I missed my parents. So much. It had been two months now since they had... died. In fact, two months exactly. I was counting the days like it would make it better. At points I thought it was getting easier, but then suddenly I would have a bad day and it would feel like it was just yesterday I had lost them. On bad days at Melissa's, I barely functioned – just enough to work and serve the customers, but I would hardly talk to anybody. Those evenings were hard, because I would try to put up a front for Alice and her parents, but when they were all asleep I would break down. Sometimes Joseph was there for me. Sometimes I didn't want to burden him. But he kept telling me that I wasn't a burden and that I could always cry on him. That made me feel a little better.

Mark drove us all over to Ellie's with Alice sitting in the middle, chattering away. Tonight I was feeling okay – it had been a better day, and I was looking forward to seeing everyone. Joseph was looking uncomfortable. He didn't really know Ellie's family, but his parents forced him to come. I had just rolled my eyes when he was grumbling about it and said to him aside, "Just be your usual charming, friendly, charismatic, loving self and you'll be just fine." In response he flicked me.

Despite the fact that I knew Ellie was dreading it, she was very welcoming and chatty, ushering us all inside and offering to make drinks.

"Pimms, Ana?" she asked, giving me a wink.

"Of course," I said. "Thank you. You need help?"

"Mm..." She glanced around the kitchen. "Sure. Cut some cucumber for me?"

While I helped Ellie, Alice and her parents chatted to Jennifer and her new boyfriend, who actually seemed quite nice. Blaine had taken one look at Joseph and immediately latched onto him, showing him some sort of gaming console. Joseph to his credit was doing well, making an effort to look interested.

"I think your brother likes Joseph," I commented as I carefully sliced the cucumber. I wasn't good at cooking, but I was pretty sure I could cut cucumber.

"Well, who wouldn't?" Ellie looked over at him, her eyes gleaming while she poured Pimm's and then lemonade into a jug. "I saw him on Ryan's birthday and thought he was hot, but I'm getting a better look at him now and..." She held the back of her hand to her forehead in an exaggerated gesture. "Bloody hell. I don't know how you can live with him and not jump on him."

I felt a twinge of irritation but didn't let it show on my face. "Oh, um, well, he's Alice's brother. I don't think of him like that." Such a lie.

"Sure you don't." Ellie gave me a look. "I saw you guys go off on a little walk together at the beach, remember?"

I quickly glanced at the Moore family to make sure they hadn't heard. "That wasn't anything. Joseph was just helping me out."

"Mm-hm." She grabbed some strawberries from the fridge and started cutting them up. "Whatever you say."

I bumped her with my hip and she just laughed. "Anyway. You probably shouldn't be talking about other guys like that, right? What with Sam and all?"

Ellie just shrugged. "We're not technically exclusive, so... I still can."

"But you want to be exclusive?" I prompted, noticing the conflict in her expression.

She sighed. "I don't know. Sometimes I do, but also... I don't totally trust Sam. I know what he's like. You know what he's like." She shook her head. "I don't think he'd do well in a proper relationship."

I heard the front door open and male voices chatting and laughing. Ryan and Sam appeared, both grinning as they greeted the parents. I nodded in their direction. "Speak of the devil."

Whatever Ellie said about Sam, she lit up when she saw him. Sam noticed her too and strode over, placing a kiss on her cheek and then pulling me into a hug. "Hello, you two. Both looking lovely."

"Why, thank you." Ellie took hold of his chin and pressed a kiss to his lips. "You've also cleaned up well."

"I know, right? Isn't this outfit making you want me–"

"Okay," I said with a light laugh. "That's my cue." They barely even heard me. I left them to the Pimm's and gave Ryan a hug.

"Hey, Ana. Ellie and Sam being insufferable as ever?" He wrinkled his nose at them.

I glanced back in their direction. They were being very affectionate and cutesy, and Ellie didn't seem to mind at all that her mum was right there. "It's the honeymoon phase. They'll get over it."

"If they're like this when they're not even a real couple, I dread to think what they'll be like when they're official, or whatever. I don't really understand what's going on with the whole labels thing."

I patted his shoulder sympathetically. Ryan had such pure intentions, but he was often very oblivious and had no idea what was going on. "That doesn't surprise me."

Everyone stood around chatting for a while, sipping on drinks. I briefly talked to the new boyfriend Michael for a bit, and he honestly seemed very nice. He was friendly but respectful, not prying too much. Jennifer soon steered us all to their dining room to sit down, and shortly after started serving out food. I 'coincidentally' ended up next to Joseph, except I suspected it wasn't coincidental – I had sat down first with Ryan and Joseph sat on my other side. Of course, it may have just been that I was the only person outside his family that he knew well, so he may have felt more comfortable being next to me. Either way, I didn't mind.

Once everyone was sat down, Jennifer unexpectedly stood up and raised her glass. She smiled down at Michael who took her hand, looking up at her admiringly. "So, there was a reason we invited everyone over tonight."

I glanced at Ellie on the other side of the table. She was frowning at her mother. Clearly, she did not know what the reason was. And then something seemed to click in her brain, and her expression became stony.

"We have a big announcement to make." Jennifer seemed to take a deep breath, composing herself, but she also couldn't stop herself from smiling. "We're getting married!"