I try to open my eyes and immediately curse when I see how bright the room is. It takes me a moment to realize I'm lying on Lisa's sofa and that the sound that woke me up is my phone ringing.

"Hello." My mouth is so dry it's making me sick.

"How bad is it?"

"Greg?" I frown, looking around.

"I knew you girls you'd get drunk!" He chuckles. "Looks like some things never change."

"Ugh." I try to reply to his comment but a weird noise is all that comes out of my mouth.

"I'll be there in twenty with breakfast," he says before hanging up.

I look around the room and realize I'm alone. I try to stand up but I'm so dizzy I fall back on the sofa. I close my eyes for a minute and when I open it again I feel Greg touching my arm."

"Hey," he whispers.

"I feel sick." I close my eyes again.

"Do you think we should take her to the doctor?" I hear Lisa asking, but I'm too weak to answer.

"I don't know..." Greg answers.

"No hospital. Sleep." It's all I think I'm able to say before falling asleep again.

*****

I feel something cold on my forehead and I open my eyes. Lisa is sitting by my side, touching a cold cloth to my face.

"Hey there." She smiles.

"Hi," I try to stand up but my head is killing me. "How much wine did we have last night? I feel so bad."

"Me? Half a bottle, maybe? You? Do you really want to know?" She smiles and I growl.

"Yeah..." she chuckles. "Here. I brought you some toast and orange juice. It's late... we were afraid you were dying on us.

"We?" I murmur.

"Still a lousy drinker, huh?" I hear Greg laughing.

"Dear God!" I bury my face in the pillows.

"Come on, you should eat something," Lias says, and I feel my stomach getting upset.

I turn my body to her, and the moment I look at the food, I feel like throwing up.

"Oh no, get the bucket, Greg," she says and Greg hurries to thrust it on my face. And It feels like forever until I finally get control of my body again. I think I've never thrown up so much before.

"Jesus Christ, I feel sick." I hear Greg say.

"Sorry." I chuckle, taking a wet cloth from Lisa's hand.

"I'll-uh-" Greg mumbles, heading to the kitchen.

"I'm so sorry, Lisa." I stand up feeling somehow better and get the bucket to go to the bathroom. I clean the mess I made in the living room and then take a shower, brush my teeth twice and go to the kitchen where they both are.

"Hey." I give them a small smile.

"How are you feeling?" Greg asks.

"Like I was hit by a truck." I get myself a glass of water.

"I was thinking we could have breakfast... are you feeling better to eat?" Lisa opens a brown paper bag and I frown.

"Not really. You bought us food?" I smile at Greg.

"Yeah, little did I know you'd be going all exorcist on us." He pulls the ends of my hair. A move he's done a thousand times before and I smile at him, slapping his hand away.

"You guys eat." I turn to Lisa and tilt my head to the side. She is giving us a weird look and I raise my eyebrows at her. "What is it, girl? Are you okay?"

"Nothing. I'll make us some coffee. The one Greg brought us is probably cold." She gets the things ready and I narrow my eyes at Greg who is looking down, avoiding my eyes.

"Okaaay." I head to the living room to get my phone. I need to let my parents know I'm in town for the weekend and maybe try to arrange to see them later.

For a moment, I think about calling Lucas and telling him I'll be spending the weekend here. But then I force myself to push the thought aside. Deep down I know he'll worry if he realizes I'm away, but the saddest thing is that I want him to.

I want him to miss me as much as I miss him. I want him to call me, to text me... I want him to want us again. It kills me he threw it all away because of fear of what us being together means.

Sighing, I get my phone and call my mom, who answers after the third ring, "Hey sweetie."

"Hi, mom! How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Your dad was just talking about you. How he already misses your face." She laughs.

"Well, guess what? I'm at Lisa's". I smile when she squeals.

"What? How? Honey, Alexia is at Lisa's," she shouts and I hear my father mumbling something in the background.

"Oh, yeah... Uh... Sweetie, your father is demanding we have a late lunch together today. Why didn't you say you were coming?"

"It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. So, lunch?" I ask.

Just the thought of getting myself around food makes me sick, but I know she won't change her mind.

"Yes, please! Invite Lisa to come too. It will be fun," she says, and I can picture the smile on her face.

"Yeah. Sure. How about we meet at Gino's at two?"

"That's perfect! See you soon, sweetie."

"See you." I hang up.

*****

A couple of hours later, we arrive at Gino's. It smells of home and sauce and I immediately feel homesick, even though I'm right here. I've been to this little Italian restaurant so many times that many of my memories are linked to this place.

Greg brought me here on our first official date. My parents and I came here so many times to have lunch on Sundays that they already knew our orders by heart. Lisa's and my sweet craves were always solved here... This place is truly a piece of home for me.

Smiling, I open the door of Lisa's car and head to the entrance. Both of them following me. Yeah... Greg decided to tag along.

"Look, my parents are over there," I say, making my way to the terrace. It's a beautiful day, and I knew they would prefer to sit outside.

"Boo!" I hug my father from behind.

"Hey, baby girl!" He stands up and hugs me tightly. "You're living too far away," he murmurs, kissing my head.

"I miss you guys too." I turn to kiss my mother and sure her eyes are on Greg.

"Greg?" She smiles, looking from him to me. I can see the question forming on her lips, so I cut her with a look.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Grey." He shakes my father's hand and kisses my mom's cheek.

"Always so formal with us." My mom chuckles.

"I bet he's still afraid of your husband's threats of breaking his legs." Lisa hugs my parents.

"Har Har." Greg rolls his eyes and we all laugh remembering how pale he got when he went to pick me up for our first date and my father went all Huck on him, telling him he'd break Greg's legs if he broke my heart. If only my father followed his promises... I shake my head as we all sit down.

"So Alexia," my father prompts, "what brought you here? Not that I'm not happy to see you but..."

"Can't a girl miss her hometown?" I smile at him, but he obviously doesn't buy it. It's Lisa's choice to talk about it with them or not, so I just evade his question.

"How long are you staying?" My mom asks.

"I have to go back to work on Monday, so I was thinking about catching a late plane on Sunday."

"What about Lucas? Couldn't he come with you to spend the weekend?"

"Uh..." I feel all eyes on me. I haven't really talked about Lucas with anyone but Lisa so far, and in a way, I wish I didn't have to.

"We are kind of...in a break right now." I opt for a little lie.

"Oh?" My mom frowns and Greg's eyes widen like he can't stop the surprise from his face.

"You know, normal couple stuff." I dismiss her attempt to force me to elaborate by giving her a pointed look.

"Well, I'm starving." Lisa clears her throat, grabbing a menu from the table.

"You know you're going to get the Bolognese lasagna." I wink at her, silently thanking her for changing the subject.

"Yeah Yeah, I know what you guys love and eat every time we come here." My father signs to the waiter, giving me and Lisa a warm smile.

We make small talk until they bring our food, and the moment I smell the garlic and meat coming my way, I know something is wrong. I feel nauseous and dizzy, my body breaking into a cold sweat.

"Oh my God," I whisper and my father turns to me.

"Alexia!" I hear him saying before the world goes black.

_____

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