The flight was short, after about an hour we had landed. My aunt, my dad's sister, would pick us up and drive us to my house.

It was a three-story building, where on the ground floor me, my mum, my sister, and our stepdad lived. The middle was occupied by my uncle, my mum's brother, his wife, and their son. While on the top floor lived my mum's parents. The drive from the airport was not long and after 15 minutes I noticed the familiar white three-story building at the foot of the green and gray mountain. On the front door everyone was waiting for me. Me and Henry walked through the garden to get to the house, but my little cousin met us halfway. Last time I saw him he was 4 years old and was still mumbling his words. Now he has grown taller and mumbled no more. My grandma would always video call us when she was babysitting him so he wouldn't forget our faces. Something which clearly worked.

"Mia, Mia!" He shouted, running towards me, lifting his arms up in the air so I would hug him. I let my suitcase down, getting down to my knees to get to his level. He crashed onto me with such force that I almost lost me balance, but I hugged him really tight. Wrapping my arms around him I carefully lift him up. He was heavier than the last time I did this. I was planting small kisses on his cheeks and neck making him giggle. "Mia, who is this man?" he asked pointing at Henry. "He's my friend Henry, but he doesn't speak Greek, so why don't you show him what you've learned?". My uncle and his wife were teaching him English since last year and he already knew the basics. "Hey, Henry" he waved at him, now speaking in English. Henry seemed taken aback by my cousin's sudden change in language. "Hey there, what's your name?" , Henry couldn't help the smile forming on his lips. "I'm Michael." the 6-year-old smiled brightly, proud of himself for being able to understand what the tall curly-haired man said. My uncle's wife then stepped forward introducing herself "I'm Monica, that's my husband George, my mother-in-law Demeter, and her husband Michael as well." she offered her hand in a handshake, something which Henry returned. "Nice to meet you, so did you name your son after your father-in-law?" Henry asked confused. We all nodded "that's common here, kids get their grandparents' names'. I have my grandma's name on my dad's side, while my sister has this grandma's name." I explained pointing at my blonde short curled grandma.

Everyone took their turns hugging me, and saying how much they missed me. They also gave me condolences, letting me know that they loved Steph like their own and couldn't believe that she's not here anymore. "Okay, we'll leave you two to get settled and we are going to be waiting for you upstairs for dinner." My grandma kissed my cheek "Ohh, also your mum and Demeter are coming tomorrow." She exclaimed before turning her back at me and walking away towards the stairs.

I didn't know they would be coming. How did they find out? Did my mum talk with Martha? I hadn't talked with my mum since I left. I bet she would be angry.

Henry wrapped his arms around my waist, gently rubbing my back, something that snapped me back into reality. "You ok? I lost you for a second there." he asked concerned. I nodded my head in agreement "yeah, I just found out that my mum and sister will be coming tomorrow as well." Confusion settled on his eyebrows "and why is that a problem?". I huffed at the thought "I just haven't talked to her since I left for Hungary and we had an argument as I was about to leave." I let out a big sigh getting my keys and unlocking the door. The sudden cold breeze hit my face as soon as I entered.

I walked in and I'm surprised that the house was still intact after all these years. The beige and black walls making a great contrast with the grey marble floor. On my left, the living room, with the two black corner sofas , and the wingback chair. In the middle of the living room a wooden framed coffee table with clear glass on top. In the middle of the wall the black TV was standing on a wooden stand. Underneath it, was enough space for the turntable and my step dad's old records. Next to the Tv on both sides were standing two wooden display cabinets. Filled with cutlery, glasses, and plates for special occasions. Many were porcelain and crystal. On the other corner of the wall a 7-foot wooden bar was resting, still filled with all kinds of drinks.

On my left side, there was the dining room, separated from the living room by two black columns. The dark oak dining table, that was usually filled with food and people, still had all 8 chairs but it was now empty. Another white sofa and wingback chair were laying there, but this time they were white. Opposite the sofa, there was the giant fireplace, now scrubbed clean from all the dirt. Walking in further to the dining room, I reach the kitchen, now two white marble columns separating it from the dining room. The grey marble countertops were now empty, and everything was organized in the wooden cabinets.

I walk out of the kitchen towards the narrow hall. My sister's bedroom was the first one to encounter. The bubblegum pink color so bright like it was painted yesterday. A bunk bed against the wall, with a blue sofa that turned into a twin bed on the bottom. Her wooden wardrobe on one end while her office and computer were on the other.

Walking further into the hall I reach my room. The planning similar to my sister's only it was painted orange, as they wouldn't let me paint it black, and it was filled with white wardrobes and light oak bookshelves. The white on the wardrobes was barely visible as it was covered by all the posters I had put during the years. Letting out a big sigh I sink into my blue sofa under my bunk bed. Henry followed me shortly after "is this your room?" he asked gazing at every corner. I nodded my head in agreement before getting back up and walking out of my room. Just on the other end was my mum's room. A bright purple filling the walls, with wardrobes all over. In the middle a double-sized bed, with two white nightstands on each side. I remembered the last time I was here. I was with Steph and she would be spending the night, and since my mum didn't come we decided to share the bed and sleep together. We ended up laughing the whole night and barely getting any sleep. I started to tear up so I walked towards the bathroom.

Beige tiles were filling the giant bathroom as the two white sinks and wide mirror made the perfect contrast. I turned the water on and splashed my face trying to get my shit back together.

"You okay?" Henry asked concerned. I shot my face up, looking at the mirror, where I see him resting himself on the door frame.

"No." I shrug my shoulders at him before resting my eyes on the running water once again.

My mum with my sister came yesterday. Demeter was so happy to see me as I was for seeing her, and she ended up hanging around with Henry a lot. My mum wouldn't talk to me and she would just shoot death glares at me and Henry.

Today we would be going to Steph's house before going to the church for the church. Steph's house was only 5 minutes away so we all decided to walk there. My nerves were high and Henry would just keep his hand in mine giving me reassuring squeezes. We reached the white metallic door and my heart dropped. It felt wrong having to knock when I was used to just burst in and make myself a cup of coffee. I slowly knocked on the door and Martha opened after a while. Her usual lively self was torn down. She would always take care of herself, I was always jealous of her rich brown hair but her grey roots were now showing, along with her ribs from not eating properly. The light in her eyes was now gone. She managed to crack a smile and embraced me in a weak hug "Mia, I'm so glad you're home." she whispered as she rubbed my back ushering me inside. Walking in I saw Sophie, Christopher, John, and Nicholas and as soon as they realized I was there they run to hug me, not even waiting for their turns, they all just crashed into me at once. I missed them so much, Sophie couldn't control the tears streaming from her face as she kept whimpering how she missed me and how much she would miss Steph. I introduced everyone to Henry while I excused myself and went upstairs. I went into Steph's room. Everything was exactly like I remembered, the only thing missing was her. I walked around, seeing all the photos she had on her wardrobe, many were with me, her and the group, while the others were with her family and the new friends she found at university. I walked past the full body mirror only to turn back and have a good look at myself. No matter the concealer I put on the dark circles under my eyes were still visible. For the past week, I've only been able to sleep for about 5 hours in total and my eyes were red and puffy from crying. Looking at myself in the mirror I remembered the countless times me and Steph were at this exact spot and I was braiding her hair since she couldn't do it herself. I was snapped off my thoughts when Henry knocked softly on the door and coming behind me he wrapped his arms around my waist kissing me softly on the neck "it's time we got to the church" he murmured. I nodded at him, taking his hand in mine and started walking towards the church which was at the end of the road.

While in the church the air got so thick that I could barely breathe, I kept clutching at Henry's hand but that didn't seem to work. "Pathetic." I hear my mum whisper from next to me and I shoot my head up to glare at her. "What is pathetic?" I asked wrapping my hands around my middle. "You. Your best friend just died and you brought your boyfriend. You always did this. Is your little boyfriend more important than your best friend? Have you no respect for her?" She hissed at me, never meeting her gaze with mine. "Are you fucking serious right now?" I let out a small growl. "You know what?" I gave up trying to make her look at me "I'm done with all these shit. You always make me feel guilty for whatever I do and I won't take this anymore." I put up my hands in surrender and started walking towards Martha who was now kneeling in front of the empty casket sobbing and murmuring. Getting closer to the coffin I see that it is filled with Steph's stuff. Either that was books, photographs, clothes, and even her notebooks from the university. I looked down at my wrist seeing the bracelet she had bought me. She didn't have hers anymore. I take it off and place it on top of her favorite My Chemical Romance top. I gave Martha a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder before kneeling down next to her. Something which only made her break down even further. She wrapped her arms around me, burying her face on my chest wailing. "She loved you so much you know, she couldn't imagine her life without you. You made her happy. Thank you for being part of her life." I was trying so hard to stay strong for her, be her shoulder to cry on but I broke down on her words. "I loved her too." I managed to murmur through the whimpers before storming off the church.

I placed my hands on my chest trying to control my breath, I look up to the sky and I realize that everything starts spinning faster and faster and my breathing followed along. My vision got blurry when I felt gentle hands around my waist. Spinning me around I see Henry's blue eyes. Cupping my face he caressed my cheeks softly while whispering come back to me.

I wrapped my hands around his neck with need "Take me home. Take me back to England."