“You’ll see,” he says with a wink over his shoulder. Bastard.

Jesse’s friendship is a breath of fresh air, grounding me, filling my lungs and allowing me to breathe. I scramble off the bed and race down the stairs behind him. I haven’t eaten yet, and I still haven’t turned my phone back on to return the phone call from this morning. Regardless, this is my best friend and if he has plans I will tag along, no more questions asked. When I get to the front door I slip on my boots and grab my coat.

“Your chariot awaits my dear,” he mocks, holding out his arm like I’m a princess leaving a castle.

“Dickhead,” I laugh and walk out the door.

I’ve known Jesse all my life, well for as far back as I can remember anyway. He was best friends with my brother, and when Kyle passed away Jesse kind of took me under his wing. I think I may have even stayed with him and his mum for a little while there.

I was only eight when my life turned upside down and even though the boys were only three years older than me, they had always been the ones I looked up to. Dad was always busy at work and Mum seemed to always have somewhere she needed to be. I sigh at the memory of my childhood and a knot begins to form in the pit of my stomach. It’s all such a blur, but I do remember spending a lot of time with Jess and his mum. I don’t know how I would have survived without them when I lost Kyle.

Jesse pulls me out of my thoughts. “Here, these are for you. I’m guessing you haven’t eaten yet?” He passes me a box from my favourite bakery. I can’t hide the smile on my face when the smell hits me. I grab out a croissant for myself and wave another one in the air. “Open.” I tease and shove one into his face.

We both laugh, except Jesse’s is muffled by the pastry. I put on my seat belt, wriggling to get comfortable in my seat. I have no idea where we are going, but I do know where I don’t want to go. Thirty minutes into our trip I realise where the road is taking us, and sure enough it’s exactly where I didn’t want to go. I should’ve known Jesse would want to come here today, we do every year.

Glancing over my shoulder to the back seat, there are a bunch of flowers and an esky. “Tell me there’s beer in the esky, Jess.”

He raises a brow, now knowing that I know where we are going. “There’s beer in the esky,” he sighs.