"TAMSIN! GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED OR WE WILL BE LATE!" I jolted awake and opened my eyes to find an amused looking Bronte at the side of my bed.

"Why the face?" I questioned, eyeing her wide smirk and her raised eyebrows.

"Why the face?" She mimicked, and it took me a minute to understand what she was talking.

Oh! I was smiling! Right...

"Shut up!" I groaned, sliding out from under the covers.

"How much time do I have?" I asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. My brain was only focussed on one thing, well one person actually.

"You have twenty eight minutes," she smirked more and I groaned more.

It turns out I didn't really need to do much other than get dressed and go downstairs, so I had more time than I thought.

Bronte followed her morning routine which was very elaborate compared to mine. She ate breakfast, straightened her hair, decided what to wear - which took twenty minutes and packed her bag.

All I had to do was get dressed, so I sat on the single bed again, playing with my phone and looking at nothing in particular.

All I could think about was how badly I wanted the day to be over so I could go to Alec's.

Whenever I thought about Alec my heart beat faster than the butterflies in my stomach fluttered.

Why did he have this affect on me? He was just a boy...

No, he wasn't just a boy, he was Alec.

When Bronte entered the room again, this time to straighten her hair, I realized that I needed to call my grandma.

I picked up my phone and dialed the familiar number, Gran picking the phone up.

"Hi Tamsin, how are you?" She asked, worried about me as always.

"I'm good actually. Sorry for worrying you, I was upset and angry, but it's all sorted now..." I trailed, hoping she would see how sorry I was.

I really hated worrying her.

"I'm happy that you are happy. I need to get to work and you need to get to school. I will see you when you get home from Alec's," she ended, and I'm sure she was smirking on the other end of the line.

"What?!? How do you know I am going to Alec's?" I asked, very confused and slightly worried.

"Alec texted your brother this morning," Gran rushed, and I raised my eyebrows suspiciously.

"Anyway! I really need to get to work!" She continued, and I smiled.

"Say hi to Sandra for me! Love you Gran!" I ended, and hung up the phone.

Sandra was one of Gran's clients, as my grandma was a caregiver. She went to people's houses and helped them get ready for their day, and in Sandra's case, take them shopping and for walks. Most of them have a disability.

Sandra is blind, and has been since birth. She is 68 and has a grand daughter, Lucy. It is very hard for her because she can't see Lucy, and we can't describe her to Sandra, and she has no idea what the world looks like.

I had gone many times with Gran to see Sandra, and I loved it. Sandra was always nice to me and I loved helping Gran at work.

"Tamsin! Snap out of it! We need to goooo!" Bronte whined, snapping me out of my daze.

"Ya, sorry..." I replied, retrieving my bag from the floor and making my way to the front door.

Bronte just laughed as she walked ahead of me to her car.

We got to school in less than ten minutes, arriving just before the bell rang.

I had Ed Sheeran's 'Kiss Me' in my head, and I was humming it as I walked to my locker.

I got to the bridge, when someone started singing along quietly behind me.

"I'm falling for your eyes, but they don't know me yet," he sung, and I turned to face a smiling, tired-looking Alec.

"Hey," I laughed, closing my locker and turning to face him.

He really does look tired, and it's because of me!

Okay, if anyone heard that sentence out of context it would sound really wrong....

"Shh! Too tired to talk," Alec whispered, dragging his feet along the ground as he walked, proving a point.

"You should probably sleep then!" I exclaimed, ruffling his hair.

"Ya..." He trailed, and slumped into one of the chairs in our English class. I dropped into the chair beside him and the class began.



The rest of the day went by really slowly, and soon enough it was time to go to Alec's.

I walked quickly to my locker from my class, happy to see Alec standing there waiting for me.

"Hey," I smiled at him, and he smiled back, his dimples showing on one side of his face.

Wow...

"Hurry up!" He groaned, leaning against the locker beside mine, closing his eyes.

He looked so peaceful when he did that, and I found myself staring at him, content.

I looked back to my locker seconds before his eyes re-opened, a tired smile covering his face.

We walked to his car and I got in, fastening my seat belt as Alec did the same.

'Kiss Me' came on the radio, and we looked at each other and burst laughing. We sang the first verse normally, but when it came to the chorus, Alec decided to try something different.

"KISSS MEEEEE, LIKE YOU WANNA BEEEEEE LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVED," He started singing, really loud, and really bad.

"Alec!" I scolded, but he continued.

"THIIIIIIIIS FEEEEEEEEELS LIKE FALLING IN LOOOOVE."

I hit his arm, and he yelped.

"Tam! What was that for?" He rubbed his arm where I hit him and I laughed at the face he was making.

As if it actually hurt!

"You were singing like you had too many drinks at a Karaoke bar and decided to sing a really slow song just to give everyone the opportunity to throw their drinks at you!" I ranted, and Alec almost immediately laughed.

"Good analogy..." He trailed, and we stayed silent for the second verse, thinking to ourselves.

Then a thought popped into my head that had been bugging me all day.

"How do you have my brother's number?" I asked, and a strange smile appeared on his face as he turned to look out the window.

"I dunno.. We're friends..." Alec muttered, and I didn't believe him for a second.

"Suuure," I said, exasparated, and looked out my window too.

I was about to argue further, when Alec's phone beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket after stopping on the side of his driveway and looked at it.

He smirked mischieviously as he turned to look at me, his eyes gleaming.

"What...?" I asked hesitantly, and he started laughing.

"You know at the bonfire how you were going to tell me why you wouldn't answer the truth, 'out of everyone here, who would you kiss'? Well, that reminder just popped up on my phone. I must have entered the wrong date as it has been way over three weeks and you need to tell me missy!" Alec explained, still smirking.

I gulped.

"So... who was it??" He asked, excitement lighting his eyes and curiousity burning in them.

"I don't want to tell youuu!" I groaned quietly, putting my hands over my face.

We were still parked on the side of his driveway. I could probably get out of the car and run. But I didn't.

"Come on!" He groaned, and I sighed, shaking my head slightly.

Just as I was about to tell him, he spoke first.

"Fine! If you tell me I will answer the same question. I mean, I was thinking about who I would kiss when Mase asked you that question anyway, so it doesn't really matter," he offered and I smirked.

I am about to get more out of this then I bargained for! Yay!

"Fine. If you really want to know who it was then it was you. Happy now?" I blushed from ear to ear, so I looked out the window, determined this time not to let him see.

"Really?" Alec asked, shock apparent in his voice. I turned back to face him, hoping my face had gone back to it's normal colour.

I simply nodded and he smiled a genuine smile.

"Me too," he whispered, and a chill ran up my spine. I was going to answer something sensible, but I thought I would be a smartass instead.

"You wanted to kiss yourself too? Don't you think that's a little strange?" I smirked, and he rolled his eyes.

"Idiot," he muttered, as he started the car again.

We drove the final hundred metres to his house in silence. Alec stopped the car and we got out, still smiling.

"Hey Tamsin!" Sam appeared in the doorway a second after his voice reached us, and I smiled at him.

"Hey Sam!" I smiled, and rushed up the stairs. He pulled me into a quick hug, and I was reminded how much I loved Alec's family.

Ally and Jack ran into the room seconds later, both hugging me too.

"How are you? Did you enjoy camping over the weekend?" Ally asked me, looking between Alec and I smiling.

"I'm good! And yeah, camping was so much fun!" I exclaimed, remembering the trip which seemed like much longer ago than two days.

"I heard..." Jack smirked, and Alec punched him on the shoulder.

"What the hell, man?" Jack whined, rubbing his shoulder.

"Sorry, slipped," Alec mumbled, and he seemed to have something on his mind. He ran his hand through his hair, something he was doing more often now, which was really a pain because I had to keep myself from drooling.

"Do you want to go play cards? Where's Hayley?" Alec asked, looking around for his 'kind of cousin'.

"She's on the porch. Come on, we'll go play out there." Jack answered, and led the way to the porch.

I was a little nervous, as I always was when meeting new people.

The nervousness melted away when I saw Hayley smiling at me. I suddenly gained the confidence that I was usually masked by, and smiled back.

"Hi! I'm Hayley! And you're Tamsin, right? It's great to meet you, I've heard so much about you!" She greeted me, and Alec death-stared her.

"Hey! Yeah I'm Tamsin, nice to meet you too," I replied, still smiling while Alec was still glaring at Hayley.

"Come on, Alec. Don't be mad at Hay for telling the truth!" Jack whined, and went to sit beside Hayley on the opposite side of the table.

Hayley put her arm around Jack's shoulders and looked back up to Alec.

"Yeah! Don't be mad at me for telling the truth!" Hayley mimicked, smirking, and I already knew we would get along well.

"Stop talking, please?" Alec pleaded, taking a seat next to me, across from Jack and Hayley.

Sam and Ally were at one end of the table, and Grace appeared from around the corner.

"Tamsin! It's lovely to see you! How are you?" She greeted me, and I stood up to give her a hug.

Everyone in this family loved hugs!


"I'm good!" I replied, then sat back down.

"So, what are we playing?" Alec asked, looking around to his family for an answer.

Ally smirked at him and Sam, and replied with what I was hoping. "Bullshit."

I burst laughing, along with Ally, Jack and Grace. Sam and Alec looked annoyed, and Hayley looked confused.

"When Tam played last time she kicked their asses. They still need to redeem themselves actually.." Grace explained, smirking at her two older sons.

Hayley began laughing at them, and we all started laughing with her.

I dealt the cards and we began playing, Alec on my right going first.

"Two aces," he called.

"Three twos," Sam stated.

"One three," Jack said, smirking fakely.

"Two fours," Hayley called, but her eyes were moving too much for it to be true.

"Bullshit," I smirked, and she picked up all the cards as I laughed.

"See? She's too good!" Alec whined, and I ruffled his hair.

"Awh! Poor Alec, can't beat a girl in cards or pool!"

He ignored me and faced away from me, acting like a three year old who didn't get his way.

"Oh stop being a baby!" Grace exclaimed, earning everyone's laughter.

"One five," Grace started again.

"Three sixes," I called, and smirked, trying to convince them that I was lying.

"Bullshit!" Alec called, and the grin on my face stretched from ear to ear. He picked up the cards and his face fell.

"Damn it!" He exclaimed, re-organizing his hand.

"Four sevens," Alec stated truthfully.

"Two eights," Ally continued.

"One nine," Sam added.

"Two tens," Jack said, and I knew he was lying, I was just feeling nice so I didn't call anything. I just winked at him to let him know that I knew.

He mouthed thank you to me, and I smiled.

We continued playing for a while until everyone was tired of Jack and I beating everyone. Jack and I teamed up, meaning I told him when people were bullshitting and he would call it. We also wouldn't dob each other in for lying.

Everyone dissapeared to the lounge room, while Alec and I stayed in the pool room, listening to music and talking about nothing in particular.

We were laughing when 'Fix You' came on, and I instantly froze.

No. Not this song! Anything but this song!

I must have turned white, as Alec looked concerned.

'And the tears come streaming down your face'

"Tam, are you okay?"

'When you lose something you can't replace'

"Tamsin, what's wrong?"

'When you love someone but it goes to waste'

"TAMSIN!"

'Could it be worse?'

"Excuse me," I whispered, the tears almost spilling out of my eyes.

I ran away from the room, the music, Alec.

I took the stairs two at a time, my vision going blurry.

I made my way to the small room that led to the roof, closed the door behind me and crawled out the window.

I felt the hot tears streaming down my face as I collapsed onto the floor on the roof.

The song continued in my head.

'Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you.'

My heart burst into a thousand pieces as they had the day I found out.

The memories came rushing back.

"I'll be back soon! I love you!"

"I miss you, Tim Tam!"

Explosion.

"DAD!"

Silence.