When I went to sleep, Rob and Liam were still watching TV, but when I woke up in the morning, my living room was empty. There was something scribbled on a piece of paper on the coffee table. I could just about read Rob's messy writing. It said 'Ivy, it's Alice's birthday tomorrow and we're having a BBQ. Hope you and Liam can make it. Call me when you wake up'.

I picked up my phone and called Rob, while I went to make a cup of tea. He answered the phone almost immediately.

"Hey, are you coming today?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I said, annoyed.

"Uhh... what?" Rob asked, confused by my reaction.

"Why didn't you tell me yesterday? Or a week ago? What am I supposed to buy for her? What have you bought for her? How old is she?" I quizzed, talking a lot faster than normal.

"Ivy... what's wrong with you?" Rob laughed. "She's my girlfriend, you don't need to worry about gifts or anything, she just wants you to come to the barbecue today, and she's looking forward to meeting Liam."

"Oh my God, you're useless," I sighed. "What time should we be there?"

"Any time after one."

"Okay, see you later," I said and hung up the phone.

"Where are we going?" Liam's voice asked from behind me, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin.

"Jesus christ! Don't sneak up on me like that," I laughed. "And Rob's invited us to his house for a barbecue, it's Alice's birthday."

"Oh, cool," he smiled.

"If you don't want to go, we don't have to," I said. "I mean, we only have today really, then you need to go back tomorrow afternoon. If you wanted to do something, just the two of us, we can-"

"Ivy, I want to go to Rob's," he replied. "We don't only have today, you know you're kind of stuck with me now, right?"

I laughed and hugged him.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"So what's for breakfast?" Liam asked, looking in the fridge.

"You wanna go down to Tom's?"

"Sure, I'll go get dressed," he said, walking out of the kitchen. "You're so lazy."

I grinned at his comment. At that moment, I was too lazy to make breakfast, but luckily he didn't mind. When he moved here permanently, I would be cooking for him all the time, but we only had another day together now so I didn't want to waste it.

I went to my room and changed into some sweatpants and a t-shirt to go to the coffee shop. I brushed my teeth and pulled my hair up into a ponytail, then went back out to the living room.

Liam must have been hungry, as he was standing outside with the door open, smiling at me.

We went down the the coffee shop, which was full of people, and managed to get a table by the window. Tom saw us when we walked in, and made his way over to us after finishing with a customer.

"You must be Liam," Tom said, shaking his hand. "I'm Rob's dad, Tom."

"Nice to meet you," Liam smiled politely.

"What can I get you both? It's on the house."

Liam and I ordered breakfast, and Tom left the table to prepare it.

"Rob looks just like him," Liam laughed.

"I know," I smiled. "He asked me if you would want to work here when you move here full time."

"Really? I can get a job?"

"Not too many hours a week because of school, but yeah, you can earn yourself a bit of money if you want to."

"That would be amazing," he replied. "I wonder how long it'll take before I can move here."

"Not long hopefully, I can't wait," I said, smiling at the thought.

"There you go," Tom said, putting our plates in front of us. "Mind if I join you for five minutes?"

"Sure," Liam smiled.

We ate, and chatted with Tom for a while, until more customers came into the shop.

"Will I see you at the barbecue later?"

"You will," I replied. Tom smiled and walked back behind the counter to serve customers.

We finished our food, then headed back up to the apartment. I showered quickly, and got changed into a short, red floral, strapless dress. I dried my hair, and put on a little bit of makeup, then put my white converse on.

I walked into the living room and found Liam waiting for me with denim shorts and a white t-shirt on. We still had a couple of hours before the barbecue but I asked Liam to get ready so we could go shopping to find a gift for Alice.

"You look nice," he said.

"Thanks," I smiled. "Are you ready?"

He nodded, and we went down to my car. I drove to the mall, and we started to walk around the shops.

"What about perfume?" Liam suggested, while we were looking for a gift.

"Good idea," I said, pulling my brother into a fragrance shop.

After ten minutes or so, I found a nice bottle of perfume, and paid for it. We went into another shop and bought a gift bag and a card.

"Let's go buy you some clothes," I said, pointing at a menswear shop.

"I have clothes," he laughed.

"You can never have enough clothes."

Liam rolled his eyes, and followed me into the shop. After about an hour, he had chosen an entire new wardrobe, and a couple of new pairs of trainers.

"Are you sure you don't mind buying all of this?" He asked.

"Of course I don't," I replied. "We better go and pay, don't wanna be late for the barbeque."

We headed to the checkout, and after waiting in line for a few minutes, we paid for everything and headed back to the car.

I found a pen in the glove box, and wrote the card from both of us, then drove to Alice's house.

There were a few cars parked outside the house. I pulled my car up at the side of the road and grabbed the gift bag from the back seat. We walked to the house and I knocked on the door.

"Hey," Rob said happily as he opened the door. "Come in. Can I get you drinks?"

"Double vodka and orange, please sir," Liam joked. I shot him a disapproving look, and he just laughed.

"Non alcoholic for both of us," I laughed.

Rob pulled two cans of coca-cola out of the fridge on the way out to the garden.

Alice was outside talking to a few girls I recognized from the gym. Tom was in charge of the barbecue. He was talking to another man, who was helping him with the food. He waved when he saw us.

"Come on," I said to Liam, taking him over to meet Alice.

"Happy birthday," I grinned as we approached her. I handed her the gift bag, and she hugged me tightly.

"Thank you, Ivy. I'm so glad you came," she said, then turned to Liam. "It's lovely to finally meet you Liam."

"You too, Alice," Liam replied. "Happy birthday!"

She hugged him quickly, then started to introduce him to her friends. I looked around the garden to see everybody enjoying the beautiful weather. There were a few children playing in an inflatable paddling pool, Tom and his friend were laughing and joking by the barbecue. Rob was sitting with some friends drinking beer, waiting eagerly for the burgers to cook.

I heard Liam introducing himself to Alice's friend as my brother, and he sounded so happy to be here, too.

"Hi Liam, I'm Larissa."

I heard her voice, and butterflies appeared in my stomach instantly. I slowly turned around to see her.

Larissa was sat amongst Alice's friends, with Liam standing in the way of my line of sight. There were quite a few girls, but I didn't know how I didn't see her before. She was smiling at Liam, who tried to hide the fact he knew anything about her. He quickly moved on to talk to someone else.

Her eyes met mine when Liam stepped aside, and I wasn't sure what was going through her head. She looked happy to see me, the corners of her lips curled up, only slightly, into a small smile. She was wearing white denim shorts and a strappy black vest. Her hair was up in her usual messy bun, with her sunglasses resting on the top of her head. She was perfect, as always.

I didn't want to make her uncomfortable around her friends, so I decided to wait until she was alone so I could talk to her. I gave her my best smile, before breaking eye contact, and walking to where Rob and his friends were.