Nico was the first to get home, early on the Sunday morning, his face sun kissed and glowing. He woke me up at the crack of dawn by planting himself squarely on my stomach.

"Ow," I yelped as in my drowsy state I felt a large weight shift onto me. Automatically my brain went into panic mode thinking through who it could be.

"Wake up sleepy head," Nico's voice woke me straight up and sent all thoughts of fear out of my mind. I couldn't help the wail of excitement that left my mouth as I threw my arms around him, I'd never been so glad to hear a voice in my life.

"Nico," I held him so tightly I thought my arms would never let him go, I wanted to hold onto him forever and ever and feel the smooth linen of his shirt on my cheek and the exotic fragrance he oozed.

"Cara," Nico hugged me back equally as tightly, "I've got to say this is a far better reaction than I've ever received from any of the boys."

"You're never leaving again," I instructed, "it was awful without any of you this entire week."

"I'm all yours," Nico promised, "tie me here."

He retracted his arms from around me and offered me his wrists as if to allow me to handcuff them.

"I was hoping you'd stay of your own free will rather than me having to tie you down," I joked but there was a hard edge to my voice.

"Of course," Nico teased playfully ruffling my hair, "I promise I'm here to stay."

"Good," I nodded, "because I need to live vicariously through your stories about Argentina."

Luckily Nico was more than willing to share his experiences in Argentina and was actually an excellent story teller with a joke to crack with every line and a thousand wild and wonderful stories he would animatedly act out for me as we sat in the dining hall together eating breakfast. I heard all about his scatterbrained great aunt who was convinced she could talk to the dead and would often have conversations with her dead cat, his rebellion cousin who had just got a new armful of tattoos and was bringing shame upon the family and about his domineering grandma who could smell an untidy room from miles away. He mentioned all these wacky characters from his family and gave each of them their own unique voices and gestures that had me clutching my sides with laughter. But never once did he mention his dad. It had taken me a while to notice his absence from all the stories but once I did it was the only thing I could focus on, like there was this great hole in the tapestry of the story Nico was weaving. I didn't dare mention anything though, I'd let him bring it up in his own time.

Nico was halfway through a story about how his uncle got tied to the back of a pig and was dragged across a field when a voice cut in behind me.

"Cara Collins," it was booming and unexplainably deep and authoritative.

"Mitch!" I leapt straight out my seat and raced across the canteen directly into Mitch's open arms. He was handsome and beaming, he seemed to have grown even more in our week apart if that was possible, and towered over me more imposingly than ever but once I was in his arms I was safe.

"Missed me?" He chuckled at my reaction to his return.

"More than you could ever imagine," I clung onto him like a drowning person to a life ring.

"Hey Vegas what about me?" Nico teased but there was an edge of hurt to his tone.

"You already got your welcome," I reminded.

"Yeah it's my turn for Cara-time," Mitch grinned.

"Cara-time?" I raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Just made it up then," Mitch shrugged one shoulder, "but I think it's going to stick."

"What so you all get designated parts of my time?" I joked but Mitch's face remained serious.

"And your time is up," Nico cut in, "I need to finish my story about The Rampaging Pig."

"Bet it can't beat my story about The Stalking Alligator," Mitch countered and immediately the tension vanished along with my panic as Mitch plonked himself next to me at the table so I had a Silent boy either side of me.

As it turns out Mitch's stalking alligator story did beat Nico's rampaging pig story but then Nico came in with a story about a curry gone wrong that trumped them all.

I had tears streaming down my face with laughter and a stitch running up my side when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket a hour later.

I immediately felt my heart beat a little faster when I saw the caller ID on my screen. I pressed it to my ear with anticipation and excitement in my throat.

"Hey stranger," his voice came through the phone thick and soothing.

"Hi," I smiled unconsciously.

"I won't be a stranger for much longer, meet me outside, I'm nearly there," he instructed.

"See you soon stranger," I grinned.

Leaving Nico and Mitch in the food hall arguing over who had the better story I raced to the front drive of Kings Bridge just in time to see a taxi appearing through the gates. I waved frantically as it rolled towards me.

Sawyer already had the taxi door flung open before it had actually stopped and he burst out, his arms open wide to embrace me. Immediately he tucked me into the comforting cocoon of his chest and I was immersed in his smell of warmth and cinnamon.

We hugged for so long and so tightly it almost felt as if our bodies were merging into one, I no longer knew where mine ended and his began. It was only the impatient clearing of the taxi drivers throat that caused us to break apart.

Sawyer looked flustered and had a pink tint to his cheeks as he quickly spun around to pull a rack sack out of the taxi. He was in such a rush to get out of the irritated taxi drivers way he didn't notice the top was unzipped and as he swung it out the contents of the bag went spilling out all over the gravel. And its contents were sheet music, handwritten scrawled pages upon pages of notes pencilled onto paper.

"Shit," Sawyer immediately turned a deeper flush and frantically crouched to his knees and started scooping the sheets up in a much more panicked gesture than necessary for the task. I bent down to help him.

"It's fine I've got it," he snatched the sheet I'd just retrieved from me but not before I saw the title carefully enscribed in cursive along the top of the page;

Cara's song.

My heart squeezed.

He'd written me a song, I hadn't heard it yet but I already knew it would be beautiful. I was flattered, no one had ever written me a song before but at the same time as being flattered I was afraid. I was afraid of what him writing me a song meant. Had he spent hours pouring over the pages and pondering the right notes? Had he hoped to play it to me? Did he want to give it to me as a gift? What did it mean that he'd taken the time to write an entire song for me? About me?

Cara's song, something that was all mine.

"How was Mexico?" I ask in order to hide the fact I'd seen his song, I didn't want to make things awkward especially since he'd only just got back.

"Beautiful," he beamed, much calmer now all his music was returned into his bag.

"Mitch and Nico are already home, do you want to see them too?" I offered.

"Of course," Sawyer nodded but it wasn't met with the enthusiasm I'd expected, he seemed almost reluctant.

Mitch and Nico were still play arguing when I returned with Sawyer and they greeted him with claps on the back and grins but not in the same way they'd all greeted me, with hugs like they never wanted to let go.

"Only one more left now," Mitch commented staring at the empty seat on the table. Grey was still to get home.

The boys must've been stupid if they thought I didn't notice the worried looks they all exchanged. There was something they weren't sharing with me. Where the hell was Grey?

He must've read my mind because at that exact moment just past Mitch's head I watched the dining hall doors swing open and with his usual cocky charm Grey swaggered in. I inhaled sharply.

I didn't remember him being that handsome or his eyes burning that violently or his face being that dark and brooding. He looked scary. I was almost afraid of him for a moment before that irrational thought vanished and I saw the Grey I knew once more.

As I was getting up I again saw the non verbal exchange between the three boys, a mixture of relief and concern that troubled me. Grey may be here but they were still worried.

"God I've missed you," Grey scooped me up into his arms and spun me around the second he reached me. I laughed as he continued to spin me delightedly, I was so happy to see him.

I reached out to wrap my arms around him but as my fingers touched his chest, even lightly, his face twisted in pain and he flinched back ever so slightly but I was so in tune to him and the rest of the boys I noticed instantly.

"Are you okay?" I asked as Grey released me, his eyes flickered in vigorous flames.

"Of course," he reassured, it was convincing but I wasn't convinced. I reached out to poke his chest again and he flinched away in pain as my hand barely even touched him. "I'm fine," he hissed through gritted teeth.

He turned away but as he did the left side of his shirt rode up so in the gap between his jeans and his shirt I could see a patch of mottled bruised skin.

I gasped unable to control myself, what had happened to Grey?