I Found You, Something Told Me To Stay - (Jason/Zacky) Version Two.

Chapter Seventeen.

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**

Having never had imagined myself in a situation where I’d been bonding with a load of new people that were now family to me, I was unsure as to how the rest of the barbecue would go—especially after my encounter with Zacky in the bathroom.

I found myself completely at ease with everyone. It felt like I’d known them for years as I spent practically the rest of the afternoon lying on a blanket with the two girls that were now my cousins, and the flowing conversation never stopped. It was nice to actually have some female interaction, as I realised that I hadn’t had much in a long time, and I found myself loudly laughing throughout most of it. I also got a brief yet warm introduction with my dad’s brother, Matt—Or MB, as he’d told me to call him—who had quickly popped in to see everyone, before leaving not long after, as he’d had other arrangements.

Whilst we ate in the garden, and after everyone had gone inside once it had started to get dark, everyone had made an effort with me. It almost felt non-stop, the way different people kept coming over to talk to me, but I didn’t mind a single bit. Zacky, of course, didn’t bother at all. He’d stayed silent in the corner for a while, before standing up and announcing that he was leaving early. Matt and everybody else joked about how hard his hangover had hit him, though I knew that it had nothing to do with that.

It ended up being another late night, and by the time my dad and I had finally gotten home, my eyes were practically closing as I walked into the house and immediately dragged my feet up the stairs. I called a tired goodnight to my dad, but I fell asleep before I could even hear his reply.

*

It felt like I’d barely been asleep before I was woken by my phone ringing, though as I sat up in bed and squinted, running a hand through my hair, I noticed the sunlight pouring through the window.

I glanced at the clock, blinking in surprise at the realisation that I’d slept in until just past noon. I reached over to the nightstand to answer my phone, only to realise that the ringing was coming from inside my jacket pocket, and I reached in and quickly answered the call before it could ring off.

“Hello?” I groggily murmured, rubbing at my eyes.

“Good afternoon.” A chipper voice with an American accent spoke back to me—it took me a moment to realise it was Linds, and I vaguely remembered giving her and Charlotte my phone to put their numbers in before my dad and I left Matt’s.

“Hey,” I yawned, forcing myself to stretch and clamber out of bed, “What’s going on?”

“Charlotte’s here.” She answered, “And if you’re not doing anything today, we’re going to the beach. We’d like you to come.”

“Sure.” I made my way over to my bags as I spoke, rifling through and looking for something to wear, “I’ll just get ready.”

“Alright. We’ll pick you up in an hour. See you then.”

As the call cut off, I grimaced down at my bag. I thought I’d packed a decent amount of clothes to take with me to Huntington Beach, considering the rush I’d been in when I’d packed them, but the sight in front of me was proving me wrong. In actual fact, most of my luggage had been taken up by toiletries, and the small amount of clothes I had brought with me weren’t doing me much good in this heat.

Shrugging that off, I carried a t-shirt and a pair of shorts into the bathroom with me and started to get ready. It felt good that I was free to go out now, without worrying that I still had somebody to track down and that time was quickly ticking by. My dad poked his head round the archway to the foyer as I got to the bottom of the stairs once and I was ready, and taking one look at me, he chuckled.