It was a bright summers day. Our first year of university was coming to a close, and I'd just finished writing my last exam for the year. I was feeling pretty good about myself as I walked out of the hall, grinning at nothing at all.

I made my way through the huge Stanford campus and walked onto the grounds, where a bunch of students were hanging out and celebrating the end of exams before going home. A lot of the dormitories had emptied by now, with everyone's exams ending at different times. Luckily enough for me, my friends were still here.

I walked towards where they were sitting on the grass, laughing about something. Megan, Shawn, Dean and Sabrina were all there already. Megan was the first to notice me and she waved, patting the ground for me to sit on.

I took a seat between her and Shawn, as everyone greeted me. "Hey Alex! How was the exam?" super smart nerd Dean asked first.

"It went really well. I'm glad."

"I knew you could do it." Shawn smiled at me. We'd been together for like a year now, and things were going great. Sure, we got into fights sometimes, but we always worked it out for the better. After all, that's how relationships work right? Despite being together for so long, it still almost felt like the honeymoon phase, and that was awesome.

"I can't believe we get to go home tomorrow." Sabrina spoke. She spoke with an accent, since she was from Texas. She was also my roommate, and we'd just clicked together from day one. The five of us hung out in our own little group. I'd ran into Dean Allister from back home on the same day, and we'd all pretty much been friends ever since.

In fact, Dean and Shawn have become complete best friends now. They even have that whole bromance thing going on that I always tease Shawn about. It was honestly adorable.

"I can't wait to see everyone. I hate to admit it, but I actually miss my sister." Dean replied. "Don't ever let her know I said that though."

"I'm super excited too. Although, it's going to be pretty awkward in my case." Megan said. I nodded as I knew what she was talking about. Unfortunately, her and Ezra were officially broken up. After they moved to go to different colleges, they tried to have a long-distance relationship. However, after two months, they both realized it wasn't working and ended it. It was awful. They haven't spoken to each other at all since then.

"Summer in Texas is always chaotic." Sabrina resumed. "Y'all are lucky to have such simple families. Mine are gonna go crazy once I arrive."

Shawn looked down at the ground, trying to conceal his disappointment. He wasn't too excited to be heading home, as it meant being stuck with his father again for two months. I squeezed his hand.

"Hey. You can stay over at my place anytime you like, okay?" I told him softly. He smiled. "Thanks."

After a hasty day of packing and absolute chaos, the four of us headed to the airport. We'd booked the same flight since we live in the same city. Sabrina's flight had left earlier in the morning since she would be flying to Texas.

I sat next to Shawn on the plane, and ended up falling asleep on his shoulder. I apologized to him twice but he just laughed and said it was cute. Just Shawn things I suppose.

I took a cab to my house, smiling as I looked around at the familiar roads. Ah, home. It was a comfort I didn't realize I missed so much.

I paid the cab guy and got out, looking up at the same old house I hadn't seen in months. I loved this part.

Dragging my luggage behind me, I walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. I was greeted by my mom who opened the door, enveloping me in a rib crushing hug.

"Alex honey, I'm so glad you're home! We missed you around here."

I grinned. "I missed you too, mom."

"SIS!"

I turned towards the right as a blur of red and black tackled me out of nowhere, hugging me tightly. I laughed. "Hey lil bro. Missed you too."

I managed to pry him off me to see that he'd grown at least three inches taller. The asshole was a little taller than me now. So unfair. Of course, he had to notice it.

"Ha! I'm taller than you Lex. Suck it."

I hit him on the shoulder, and looked around to see a man with straw coloured hair standing in the corner. He smiled at me and walked forward, holding out his hand.

"Hey Alex, nice to meet you. I'm Paul."

"Oh yeah, hey." I took his hand and shook it. My mom had told me about her new boyfriend over the phone. I just didn't expect him to be so... nice and good looking.

After that, I went upstairs to put my stuff in my room. I closed my eyes and breathed in the scent of it. Damn, you don't really realize how much you're going to miss home until you leave it.

I hung out with my mom and Nick for an hour or two, and then decided to go visit my dad. He'd moved into this really cool studio apartment, although I've only been in it once. He seemed to be doing okay for himself. Both my dad and my mom seemed to be a lot happier now. Happier than they ever were together. While it was pretty hard for me to accept their divorce, I can see now, that it was the right thing to do.

I rang the doorbell and he opened it a few seconds later, chewing on a slice of pizza in his hand. His face lit up when he saw me. "Alex!"

He pulled me into a hug, the smell of pepperoni wafting past my nostrils. I smiled. "Hey dad."

"Come in, come in. I thought I wouldn't see you till tomorrow."

I shrugged. "I decided to come over today. Hope you don't mind."

"Hey, of course Alex. You're welcome here anytime. You want some pizza?"

We sat on his couch and ate pizza, while I told him all about my college life and he told me all about work. It was nice. Felt like a normal father-daughter relationship.

I drove home around ten and changed into my pajamas. My mom was already asleep. I fixed myself up with some orange juice and went up to my room. I checked all my text messages. I had some in the group chat from my friends, about all of us meeting up at Loco Latte tomorrow. I can't wait to see Tyler, Ezra and Ronnie again. It's been way too long.

My phone dinged with a notification from Shawn-

Hey Pierce. How's it going over there?

Pretty good. Hung out with my family the entire day. Wby?

Eh it's all right. My dad gave me a nod and then ran out to meet some client.

We talked for a while until I felt my eyes start to betray me and droop from sleep. I said goodnight to Shawn and went to bed.

The next morning, I woke up a little early, since my body was still used to Stanford time. I worked out for a bit, ate breakfast, and then ran out to meet my friends.

I pulled into the parking lot at Loco Latte, grinning as I spotted Tyler in the window. He spotted me too and ran out, both of us running towards each other like crazy people.

"ALEX!"

"TYLER!"

I laughed as we both almost fell over in a hug, ecstatic to see each other. We just spun around in circles like drunk people, smiling and laughing. "Damn, you really missed me huh?"

"Oh, shut up. You missed me too."

We both walked inside together, sitting at our usual table. Our friends arrived moments later, and I crushed Ezra and Ronnie in a hug too. Megan walked in after them, her eyes trained on Ezra.

"Hey." She said hesitantly.

Ezra nearly froze. He recovered quickly though. "Hey, Megan."

Well, this is awkward.

Tyler cleared his throat, and the rest of us decided to order our food. We started talking and doing silly things like always, and soon enough it felt normal again. Tyler and Ronnie were still a couple, since they went to different colleges in the same city. So, it wasn't too bad.

We were just talking about some crazy girl at Veronica's college, when Ezra got a sudden idea. "Hey! Do you guys wanna try going to that watering hole we went to during school?"

"Oh, yeah! I forgot about that place. I wonder if it's still there though."

"Let's go find out!"

We all pilled into two cars and took off. After picking up some towels at Veronica's place, we headed to the watering hole. I couldn't believe my eyes when I found it was still there, perfectly preserved. Amazing.

I grabbed Shawn's hand, running to the top of the mini waterfall. "Woah Pierce, slow down!"

"Sorry." I spoke, giving him a small kiss. "I'm just excited."

He smiled. "Do you remember the first time we came here?"

"Yeah. You pulled me underwater by my leg."

"You used to hate me so much back then."

"I did not hate you."

He raised his eyebrows. I sighed. "Okay, maybe a little."

He grabbed my hand again and we jumped, our friends cheering as we landed with a splash. The rest of them joined it too, and it was so fun. It felt so natural. So normal.

I couldn't help but grin as I sat by the water, watching all my friends act like a bunch of kids with each other. I just know I'm never going to forget these people. No matter how old I am, and no matter where we all are. Things like this are worth holding onto. If you find it, you got to grab onto it with both hands and never let go.

Because sometimes, home can be people too.

                                                               *****************

                                                                      THE END