Here I am, crouched in the back seat of Joe's car, trying to catch a glimpse out the window. Soph and Joe are standing outside of Nick and Pri's front door, waiting for the two of them to open the door. Joe wants to tell Nick that he has something heavy in the back seat and needs his help and then tada, here I am sitting in the back seat.
Through the windscreen I see the two of them coming towards the car. I have to laugh already and duck down a bit further. Shortly afterwards the car door opens and I shout "Surprise!". Nick looks at me with wide eyes. He is speechless. Nick is speechless. "Nicky! Your best friend is here." I crawl out of the car and walk towards him, grinning. Just then he seems to realise that I'm really there. Nick turns to Joe and says "Can you pinch me please?" Joe doesn't need to be told twice and pinches hard. "Ouch. Are you dumb?" Nick grimaces painfully and finally looks back at me.
"Oh my god Lia! I missed you so much!" He pulls me out of the car, gives me a kiss on the forehead and hugs me tightly.
"Oh Nicky, I missed you so much and I'm glad to be with you" I don't let go of him and look up at him with my chin against his chest.
"What's taking you so long" I hear Priyanka call out and immediately Nick lets go of me. Pri walks towards us along with Sophie. " So Joe, so much for you needing Nick's help. Who do we have here? Hello Lia." She smiles at me and gives me a quick hug.
"Pri, Lia's back. What a surprise, isn't it?" Nick smiles at Pri and kisses her briefly. "What a surprise," she whispers more to herself and puts on a fake smile.
I immediately feel uncomfortable and look sadly back and forth between Nick and Joe. Nick rubs the back of his neck with his hand and avoids my gaze. Joe walks up to me, puts his arm around my shoulder and smiles at me.
"Do you want to come in?" Nick still doesn't look at me and scratches the back of his head. I quickly shake my head. " No no, we just wanted to say hello. I'm really tired and I really need to eat something"
"Oh okay too bad. We would have been looking forward to it.", Nick looks briefly at Pri and then at me, looking really disappointed.
" Well, we'll see you again tomorrow for the 4th of July celebration" Joe says cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood. We all nod in agreement. "See you two tomorrow then.", I smile to Nick and Pri and wave to them both. "See you tomorrow Lia!" Nick looks at me as I get back into Joe's car.
" Ugh, Pri is really giving you a hard time" Sophie sighs and looks to me in the back. I don't look at her and just nod. "I don't want to talk about it right now, please don't be mad at me. I'm really tired and hungry and I just want to go to your sofa.". I yawn and they both laugh. "So pizza and Netflix?", Joe looks at me questioningly in the mirror. "Yesssss." My mood immediately lifts.
Arriving at Joe and Sophie's villa, we unload my suitcases, take them to my (guest) room and then order pizza. With our pizzas, we make ourselves comfortable on the sofa and watch TrashTV. Besides, we talk about my time in Germany and their careers. At some point I get so tired that I slowly fall asleep on the sofa. I feel someone pick me up, carry me up the stairs, put me in my bed and cover me. "Good night pumpkin. Everything will be better soon!"