My best friend's brother and my brother's best friend (2016)

I guess summer's over

I gaze blankly out of the smeared hospital window, my mind completely lost as my mum witters on in the background and packs up my things. After another couple of nights of recovery, they'd decided to discharge me with an irrevocable enthusiasm. Apparently Alex was still completely comatose though he'd shown encouraging signs. Well, encouraging to some maybe.

While speaking with the police I'd found out pretty much the full story. Alex's family had been involved in organised crime right from his grandfather's early days. Mason had chosen the wrong family to borrow money from, not that other loan sharks were good news either, and I'd chosen the wrong person to break up with. I guess you could argue that Alex was merely going into the family business. After finding out about this and a history of anger issues, the last shred of strength I had left was completely shattered.

Once I knew that Jeremy was stable and on the mend, I decided the best thing to do was head back to Cambridge. Newquay would always be a second home for me but I knew that right now I needed some distance to clear my head and for the flashbacks to cease. My Grandad was on his way right now all the way from Cambridge to pick me up, once my mum told him what happened he insisted on driving over himself.

"Well, I think ... that's everything," I hear my mum sigh in relief, pausing to do another once over of our bleak surroundings.

"Great," I reply with a false smirk, not making eye contact and staying focused on the faded blue and white tiled pattern on the floor.

"Hey, let's go and see your brother and say goodbye," she grins supportively, cupping my chin with her smooth hands.

"Sure," I whisper back, slinging my bag across my shoulder and crossing my arms tightly over my jumper before following her down the now familiar corridors.

"So you're abandoning me then?" He laughs as soon as I set for inside Jeremy's room. "Can't handle that I'm more injured than you?" He teases with his usual charming grin.

"I'm not that easily threatened, I know I'm already the favourite child," I smile back weakly, carefully plopping myself down onto the bed next to him as he wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into his unharmed side.

"Careful not to hurt his pride, that is his battle wound," Cara laughs, perching on the other side and munching on the grapes that I'm pretty sure were left for my brother.

"See?" He teases again with a wink, stroking my hair lovingly.

"Dad!" I hear my mum sing happily from behind me and I can't help but beam from ear to ear when I hear my grandad's Santa laugh as he pulls my mum into a tight embrace.

"Hey grandad!" Jeremy calls out with a wave as I leap up from the bed and throw my arms around my grandad Tom's strong frame and breathing in his usual soothing smell of tobacco and Dove deodorant.

"Whoa kiddo! Don't knock the old pensioner over!" He trills cheerily, returning my desperate hug while I keep my face buried in his ancient padded jacket.

"Thank you so much for driving over dad," I hear my mum mutter, her voice laden with gratitude.

She's doing that thing again where she's trying not to cry.

"Well, Martha might be disappointed but my granddaughter's more important than a Samba class," he assures me, pulling me away and holding me at arms length.

"You take dancing classes?" I surprise myself with a genuine laugh.

"You broken anyone's feet yet?" Jeremy asks with concern, trying to hide his mocking smile.

"Don't listen to them Tom, I say good for you! Ladies love a fella who can dance," Cara insists, batting at my brother dismissively.

We hang out in my brother's room for a while longer until a very tired nurse comes in and informs us that visiting hours are over. I give my brother one last big hug and press a firm kiss against his cheek before grabbing my bag again and tearing out of the room, quick and painlessly like a plaster. I carry on marching down the corridor as the echoes of everyone else saying goodbye become distant echoes and jolt down the stairs towards the main reception and the car park.

It feels like forever since I'd been in direct sunlight, my eyes squinting protectively against its harsh glare before I unlock the door and clamber into the back of my mum's car. It takes another few minutes before everyone else arrives, piling in and I'm squashed between Cara and Al. They buzz around me, alight with conversation all the while I stare straight ahead, my hearing completely dampened. Before I know it, we're pulling into the driveway and all scrambling out onto the crunching gravel. My grandad winds his arm around my shoulder as we all troop inside and my mum mutters something about grabbing my case.

"I can't believe you're going already!" Cara whines as we all congregate by the stairs and she throws her arms around me.

"I know but I'll see you in a few weeks when we start uni," I assure her sincerely.

"Screw that, we're FaceTiming everyday especially when we get our A level results," she insists, squealing slightly with a nervous excitement.

"Alright then!" I laugh, holding out my hand to make a pinky promise.

We have another elongated hug before I'm swept into Al's soft arms. It only just dawns on me that I'm actually leaving when I see my mum descending the stairs and clunking my big case down with her.

"Where's Eli?" I ask with a sudden panic as I realise he's nowhere to be seen.

"I ... uh ... don't know," Cara replies with genuine confusion, looking all around us as if he'll just appear out of nowhere.

"It's Ok ... I think I know," I respond. "I won't be long."

I dismiss their puzzled expressions as I bolt out of the house, letting the door swig shut behind me and taking off towards the beach.

I make it to the beach hut, my hair windswept and billowing out behind me in a tangled mess. I peek in the window but he's not there however glancing out towards the sea, I can see a tall silhouette hovering against the setting sun. I've barely even seen him since he, Jeremy and Tyler came to rescue me. Sure he'd been at the hospital but he'd barely said a word and had a distant glint in his eyes.

"Hey," I whisper as I slowly approach him from behind. He's stood straight straight with his hands firmly in his pockets.

"How'd you know where to find me," he replies with a fond smile, turning to face me.

"Are you kidding? This spot is historical! You remember finding me just over there when I had that jellyfish sting?" I grin, indicating to the sturdy rocks I'd cowered in as a child. "And here ... I found that purple shell ... and you told me that we had a special bond."

"Oh yeah!" He returns my smile, obviously remembering that day, years ago. "Well, I may have been a stupid kid then but I was right."

"I know you feel guilty about what happened, I don't know what logic you're using to convince yourself of that but what happened wasn't your fault."

"Dani! You were with me and I just fell asleep while you got taken by those thugs!" He shouts suddenly, his eyes darker than normal.

"Exactly! Those thugs! Not you and actually you're the one that saved me and Jeremy," I insist, stepping closer to him and taking his hand.

"I know ... I just need time that's all," he mutters looking reluctantly at the floor. "I'm guessing that's what you came out here to say too?"

"I came out here to say goodbye!" I smile, staring back at the sky that's exploding with various colours from the setting sun. "But yeah ... I can still see everything when I close my eyes."

He nods sadly as we both meet our gazes again.

"I'm not saying that this is it for us," I start again, "but I think I just need time ... I need to focus on starting uni and getting back to who I was before ... well before what happened."

He turns the corner of his mouth up gently, acknowledging my explanation. Before pulling me towards his tall frame and wrapping his arms tightly around me as I breathe in his familiar aftershave. Looking up at him again, I hold out my hand into half a heart shape and he doesn't fail in quickly doing the same so that we make a full heart shape and the secret symbol that we came up with years ago. Somewhere in that moment, I know that this isn't the end.