"Oh my god."

"Oh my god, what?"

"Oh my god, I got an unconditional offer."

"What?"

We were sat around the kitchen table, my family all watching as I stared at my laptop screen.

Everything happened so quickly, I could barely process it. My Mum had leapt up, grabbing my shoulders to pull me up before wrapping me in a tight hug. The next thing I knew, the rest of my family were swarming around me, all rambling in Dutch.

"This is great, Luca!" My Dad exclaimed. "You must be so happy!"

I was. But I was also ignoring the nagging feeling of worry about how far away I'd be going. It was up north. Snuggled just below the border of Scotland. I'd be leaving everything behind. My friends, my parents, Theo. But I gulped that all down and tried to ignore it. I applied there for a reason. Good course, good campus, good grades. I'd be an idiot not to take it.

"Yeah." I laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, I'm really happy."

"Why don't you invite your friends over to celebrate with us?" My Mum suggested. "We can open some prosecco." She winked.

"Uh, I don't know, maybe-"

"Oh, come on, Luca, we won't embarrass you!"

I rolled my eyes, reluctantly plucking my phone from my pocket, "Fine." I sent a group text to Phoenix, Daya and Tommy. I didn't bother with Sam. We'd been completely ignoring each other at school and with exams coming up, I'd retreated to the library almost every lunchtime. I'd barely seen her.

I wanted to invite Theo. This was the perfect opportunity to get them all together, but something was holding me back. I didn't want him knowing I was moving away quite yet. Our relationship might just collapse. It was too fragile - he was too fragile.

The second I opened the door, Daya flung her arms around me, locking me in a bone crushing hug. "Ahh, Luca, I'm so proud of you! I knew you'd get in!"

I waved her off as we all trekked into the kitchen, dismissing Phoenix and Tommy's similar congratulations. After the polite greetings from my parents and sister, my Mum poured six glasses of bubbly prosecco, handing them to everyone but Vera - who had a can of lemonade instead. "Where's Sam?" My Dad asked.

"Busy." I shrugged, gulping down a large mouthful of my drink to avoid further questions. The others all exchanged side glances, but said nothing. They knew exactly what happened. And they were all on my side.

"Where's your other friend? Teddy?" He inquired further.

"Work." I replied. This was less suspicious since Theo was actually at work today. "Sorry for taking you guys away from revision."

Phoenix snorted, "Any excuse not to stare at chemical equations all day."

"Your fault for picking such difficult A levels." Daya retorted.

"Paid off though, didn't it? I'll be off to medical school in September."

"Where're you going next year then, Phoenix?" My Mum asked curiously, waving my sister off as she pestered her about something. Vera rolled her eyes, sulking off into the other room to watch TV.

"St George's in London." He replied with a proud smile. It'd been Phoenix dream to be a doctor his whole life. His second dream was going to uni in London. He'd achieved both.

After my parents drilled him with questions and showered him in compliments they turned to Daya, "Sheffield." She smiled politely. "I hear the psychology department is great."

My Mum started blabbering about a long lost friend who'd gone there, before finally shifting her attention to Tommy, "What about you, Thomas?"

"Oh, I'm actually staying here. I got a few offers but I've deferred them." He shrugged in disinterest, taking another sip of his drink. "I think I need some time to chill out before I got to university."

"God, Luca, you're going to be even further away than me!" Daya pouted, dropping her head onto my shoulder affectionately. "What about Teddy?"

"He's a year younger than us, remember?" I sighed.

"Aw, well, at least you'll have someone to keep you company!" Phoenix nudged Tommy's shoulder playfully.

I zoned out as my phone vibrated in my pocket, gripping my attention. I dug it out, glancing at the caller ID. "Speak of the devil." I muttered, subtly drifting across the room to answer the call, "Hey."

"L-Luca? Where are you?"

"At home, why?" I frowned.

"Um...d'you remember ages ago...w-when someone graffitied the store?"

"Shit, did it happen again?" I asked in alarm.

"Uh...kinda. I-It's a little more specific this time."

"What d'you mean?"

"Can you come over? P-Please?"

I twisted around to face my chatting friends and family, "Yeah, sure. I'll be over soon, okay? I'm gonna bring my friends. They'll help."

"W-Wait, Luca-"

But I'd already hung up, stuffing the phone back into my pocket to face the others. "Were going out." I announced to my parents. "I can drive, right? I only had one sip."

My Dad scowled warningly, "I suppose so, but be careful. Where are you going?"

"Just out." I shrugged, tugging on Phoenix's sleeve, pulling him after me as the other two trailed behind. "Okay, Theo needs help." I announced once we had all loaded into the car.

"Sure." Phoenix nodded.

I started driving towards the pet store, "A few months ago, someone spray painted his parents' shop and we were there for hours clearing it up. He said it happened again."

They were all silent for the rest of the short journey. Once we pulled up, my eyes snapped straight to Theo - leant against the door, nibbling his fingernails in anxiety. Then my gaze drifted to the words sprayed in red across the shop.

BAKERS A FAGGOT

My name was spelt wrong and the punctuation was lacking, but the message was crystal clear. I gulped, my throat completely dry as I marched towards Theo, pulling him forward into a short hug before pecking him on the forehead. "Are you okay? Did you see anything?"

"I-I'm so sorry, Luca." He apologised frantically, "I never wanted to d-drag you into this, I'm so-"

"Hey, it's okay." I murmured comfortingly, tucking some of his platinum hair behind his ear.

"Fucking hell." Daya announced dramatically, "Who did this?"

"No one knows about us but you guys." I turned to the tight trio.

"And Milo." Theo reminded me softly.

"It was Sam." I clenched my fist tightly at my side, my other hand slipping into Theo's.

"B-But we thought it was Eddie last time." He pointed out. "It's the same paint. H-How would he know about us?"

"Who's Eddie?" Tommy asked curiously, his eyes fixed on the letters painted across the store's front.

"A kid from Theo's old school." I supplied. "Bit of a wanker by the sounds of it."

"So, we think it's him?" Phoenix queried.

"I don't know." I sighed heavily. "Let's just get it cleared up before Theo's parents see it."

We grabbed a couple of buckets and a handful of sponges before setting to work. My friends started bombarding Theo with questions as soon as we started scrubbing at the stubborn letters. Apparently they wanted to know every little detail about his life since we were dating. I had to intervene with almost every question sent his way, some of them were far too intrusive.

And so, that's how the remainder of the day fell away. Our hands drenched in soapy water as Theo apologised over and over, before thanking us over and over.