**New Years Day**

"Ready to go on this search?" Logan asks as I put my many bags in the back of his truck. "More than ready." I smile.

"Okay, well get in and we will get started." He says and I get in.

Gracie called shotgun, Sophie is in the back with me to her right and Aaron to her left. Logan turns the radio on and starts driving. "Okay, so I'm going to tell you the instructions. In one of my flashbacks, I saw kind of how to get to my house." I tell Logan where we need to go and what to look out for.

And now we are on our way to my house.... This should be interesting.  Twenty minutes later we pull up outside a house which automatically becomes known to me.

My flashbacks stopped a month ago, but I do remember seeing this house in them every once in a while.

The house is a creamy kind of white, the door is tinted soft pink, and there are three windows; one on the right and one on the left of the door, and a triangular one near the roof; for the attic, maybe?

There are a bunch of flowers right besides the four-step staircase leading up to the front porch. Rocks scatter across the entire yard.

The window on the right of the door has a sign, reading, 'Beware of Dog.' The left window also has a sign that reads, 'Just Kidding. Welcome!' Where do they find these signs? Anyways, Logan interrupts the silence asking, "You ready?" I nod, "Now or never." I get out of the car and as does everyone else.

I walk up the stairs and give a light knock on the door, hoping someone's home.

Nothing. I knock again, but louder this time.

I hear footsteps, and step back slightly. Here it goes. I watch as the door handle twists and the door whips open. Aaron and Logan take their place behind me to prevent me from running. Gracie stands to my left and Sophie to my right. "Lex?" The man who opened the door asks.

He has graying hair, and is probably a foot or two taller than I am. I've seen him before though, oh yes! He was in my very first flashback. "Hi dad." I say smiling nervously.

"Lex?" He repeats as if not able to process it. His eyes are kind of puffy like he hasn't been sleeping and he's wearing a stained and worn out pair of clothes; a dull green shirt with khaki knee-length pants.

I nod my head. He furrows his eyebrows a bit before saying, "Come in, come in." He opens the door wider and steps aside.

I nod at my friends and step inside, "I need to do this alone. I'll call you once I'm done." Sophie replies, "We'll wait outside for you."

I nod my head knowing I wasn't going to be able to convince them otherwise and continued on inside.

My dad shuts the door behind me and gestures me towards the couch. I sit down and ask, "Where is everyone?" He replies, "Your brother is upstairs, with Max. Kate is in your room." I nod my head. Kate is, or was, my best friend; Max is my brother's best friend.

"And mom?" I haven't had any flashback with my mom in them. He suddenly freezes up, "Um..ah..your mom? Sweetie, I'm sorry, um, your mother, she.." He sighs, "She died of cancer when you were four years old." I feel tears forming in my eyes.

My mom died. My mom is, my mom is dead. No, I'm not going to cry. This is supposed to be a happy moment. "Oh." I purse my lips.

My dad nods his head and takes a seat on the couch, beside me. "Sweetheart, where in the world were you these past few months?" He asks.

I smile nervously, "It's a long, long story......." I tell him everything about what happened. The crash, the people I met, the experiences I've had, everything. He smiles, "I'm so glad you're alright, but why didn't you come back in February, when they found you?" He asks.

I explain to him that I just wanted to spend some time in California first, and have some time to think before coming back.

He surprisingly took it well, "I'm so glad you're back, honey." We hug each other and then pull apart as he asks, "Do you want to talk to Kate and the guys today, or do you need a bit more time for them?" I shake my head, "No, dad. I need to talk to them, but Tommy first, please."

He nods, "Sure thing, sweetheart." He whispers and then shouts, "Thomas! Come down here a second, will you?" I hear a door open and close upstairs as he makes his way down. I have seen Tommy quite a few times in my flashbacks so I instantly recognized him. "Yes, dad? Woah. Wait, Lex, that you?" He asks, stepping into the living room.

I stand up from the couch, "Hey, bro." I smile nervously. "Alexa! Where have you been?" He asks hugging me.

This question results in me sitting back down on the couch and explaining everything once again, now I'm thinking I should have just talked to them all together.

"Alexa, I was already planning your funeral, you know?" He asks. "Gee, thanks, bro." I replied punching his arm softly.

"Well, Kate and Max are upstairs. I'll tell Max for you, if you want. But, Kate is your problem." He says. "Thanks, wait, are you still drooling over Kate?" I ask saying the last part only for him to hear.

He shakes his head, "Nope. I moved on, I'm dating this girl named Alyssa." He smirks. "Okay, when do I meet her?" I ask wiggling my eyebrows.

He shakes his head, "One day."

"Okay, you go talk to Max and I'll go to Kate." I say heading up the stairs.

He nods his head and follows me up the stairs.

I go into my room to find Kate laying down on my bed staring at her phone, with earphones plugged in.

I shut the door behind me and make my way over to her. Still, she isn't aware of my presence. I stand behind her and quickly take the earphones out of her ear. "What Max?" She irritatedly asked not turning back to me.

"Hey Kate..." I reply. She gasps and throws her phone to the other side of the bed; jumping out of my bed and squealing when she sees me.

As soon as she stops squealing and jumping up and down, she wraps her arms around me, and I hug her back. "Where have you been?" She asks. I sigh and roll my eyes. I sit down on my bed and gesture for her to sit down next to me, "Well..."

Twenty minutes of explaining later...

"So you aren't going on a date with him?" She asks. I laugh, "Nope." She smiles, "I'm really glad you're back, Lex. Last year has been a huge pain without you." I begin smiling, "But, where were you when I woke up in the middle of nowhere?" I ask.

"According to Alyssa, I was found in the ocean. She found me, and I didn't suffer as bad as you, I still remembered everything. Maybe, because I didn't loose as much blood as you said you did?

Anyways, she brought me home and then in June she began dating Tommy." She replied. I nod my head, "I'm glad I'm back. Did I miss too much?"

She shakes her head, "Not really. Tommy and Max, still inseparable. I was still Miss Lonely, may I add that I was even lonelier without you by my side?"

I laugh, "You don't have your eyes on anyone?" She pouts, "Everyone I had my eyes on, have girlfriends."

I laugh harder, "I'll take you to the parts of Cali, that I've never seen before. Logan and Aaron know like three thousand single guys there." She widens her eyes, "Really?" I nod my head and act sorry for her, "Yeah."

We both start laughing and it just feels like the good old times.

"Okay, want to go out and meet the guys?" I ask. "Yeah, let's go." She nods, "Let's take our bros with us too. I mean, they missed you too." I nod my head. We knock on Tommy's door and the door opens for us to find Max standing behind it. "I can't believe your back, Lex!" He shouts and hugs me. "Me neither." I reply.

"You guys up for a milkshake?" Kate asks. They instantly nod and we all rush down the stairs. I go up to my dad before leaving. "Dinner tonight, just me and you?" I smile.

He nods his head, "Sure, sweetie. Be safe, okay? And come back this time." I laugh and hug him tightly before heading out the door.

"Hey Lex, who are they?" Sophie asked nodding towards Kate, Max and Tommy.

"This is my best friend Kate, my brother Tommy, and Kate's brother, also Tommy's best friend, Max." I reply pointing at each one as I say their name.

"And this is Sophie, Aaron, Gracie and Logan." I continue pointing at the others.

"I already know Soph and Aaron. Hey, guys, this is the one I was going to bring to your cabin on the day of the accident." Kate says, as they hug her, then she whispers into my ear, "Now I remember why you like Aaron. If you don't go on a date with him, I will." I shake my head at her.

"So, where are we heading now?" Logan asks. "Milkshakes." I smile, "Please?" He nods his head. "Some of you will have to sit on the back with the bags." Logan replies.

"I'll sit on the back." Aaron says and heads to the back. Kate gives me a look, I whisper, "What are you up to?" She smiles, "Yeah, I don't mind sitting on the back." With that, she runs to the back of the truck and carefully sits down next to Aaron. I narrow my eyes at her and she sticks her tongue out.

I laugh as Tommy says, "I'll sit at the back too." After a few more minutes, everyone is in or on the car.

Kate, Tommy and Aaron are on the back of the truck, Logan is driving, Gracie is riding shotgun. I'm in the back in the middle of Sophie and Max. "Okay, let's go." Logan says, pulling out the driveway and heading towards Delia's Diner.

As I got out, I tripped on the car's floor mat and landed square on my face on the paved ground.

And, oh boy, did it hurt.

As much as I wanted to sit up and check if I was bleeding, I just lay there, eyes closed and left cheek pressed to the ground.

"Oh gosh, Lex, are you okay?" Max asked, and I heard him jump out the truck. "I'm fine. Just examining the ground." I mumbled.

He helped me up and I felt a whole lot of pain in my right knee and left cheek. "Oh crap, you're bleeding." Sophie said. I sighed, "Perfect. Just perfect."

"What happened?" Kate asked getting down from the truck, Aaron and Tommy following after. "This one tripped and fell face first onto the pavement." Gracie said running to where I was, from the other side of the car.

Logan got out from driver's seat and quickly walked to the back of the truck. He pulled out something and then started walking back to us. He was carrying a First-Aid kit.

Ten minutes past, and I had my knee bandaged up, my cheek just had some polysporin cream on it. "Thanks, Lo. Gonna become a doc?" I ask him.

"Possibly just a nurse. Already going to study it next year." He replied. "Good for you." I smiled.

We walked into the Diner and had to push two tables together to have enough space for all eight of us. Everyone around me just started having a conversation to get to know each other, normally my area of expertise, but right now, for some unknown reason, I was quiet as a mouse.

****************
How did you guys like this chapter?