Palas 3

21 - "Are you being real?"

I live through the rest of the day in some sort of haze. Everytime my phone buzzes or rings I expect it to be Harry to admit to me his undying love, but nothing happens. It is either Sage or Tessa both racing against the clock for everything that needs to happen for the wedding next week while they struggle with the afterpay of drinking until five in the morning. 

For some reason my head feels rather fine after two bottles of water and some aspirin. The shower at the hostel completed it all. I didn't change my shirt, only the rest of my attire, knowing I'm well underdressed but I hope that the skirt, where I tucked Harry's shirt in, will make people forget about that. 

Right in time I arrive at the venue where we will be served five courses of strange food that I don't want to eat at all, but will out of politeness. I'm glad that Tessa is here by herself as well and quickly find my seat next to her.

"How are you feeling?" I whisper to her and she only nods her head as if not to speak to her. Since she was so talkative last night I feel it's right to return the favor. "How come you don't have a date for tonight? You had someone for the wedding right?"

"A friend yes. Took me ages to convince him to come let alone this thing. Who are those people anyway?"

I look around the room to see many people I don't recognize. Our family isn't that big, it was only my father and Sage's father. There's some people I know who are family from Sage's mother side, but a large group situated to our left is unknown to me.

"It must be Nick's family."

"Well, they're fucking loud," she says, burying her head in her hands. 

Not much later the dinner starts and we both enjoy it in almost complete silence. There's some small talk here and there, but we both aren't in the mood for real chit chat. By the time they're serving the coffee, I'm glad to leave the table and head over to Sage. I figure that a hangover is a great excuse to leave early. 

"Lovely dinner," I whisper in her ear as she's entertaining some people I don't know. "I'm going though."

"What why?" She whispers while smiling to her guest.

"A hangover the size of Russia. I'm about to die and explode from all that food and the throbbing in my head."

"Oh well, I guess it's okay," she says turning away from her guests. "Come by tomorrow? You haven't seen our new place."

"Sure, text me," I tell her and give her a kiss on her cheek. 

As I walk away I try to picture leaving everyone behind again. Sage is besides my niece also my best friend and I didn't know I missed her this much. I used to think of Ava as Sage but I know that she'll never judge me no matter what I do. Not like Ava does. Sage is getting married and eventhough I'm no where near that point she includes me with everything and never thinks about it hurting me. 

She knows it won't although the last time I lived in England I still very much believed in marriage and thought I was going to share the rest of my life with James. I changed while being away from her for the better part and still she knows me better than Ava ever did. Before I moved permanently to Palas I thought I had family there, but I was wrong. My family is here and always has been here. 

The restaurant where the dinner was is closest to the hostel so I return there, ready to sleep a full ten or twelve hours. Unfortunately the door to our room is open and there I find Liam and Nina, lip locked.

"Well, I be damned." They don't even hear me as I close the door loudly. "Excuse me?"

"Oh shit," Liam mumbles as he pulls away from Nina, making space between them as if their life depends on it. "I didn't think you'd come back here."