Shu woke up feeling really disoriented and had a major headache. He soon found that he was still wearing his clothes from yesterday and his breath smelt weird.

The last thing Shu remembered was that he was in that restaurant drinking that really weird tasting orange juice. Had he fallen asleep?

Shu went to take a quick shower and change clothes. Then he went downstairs for breakfast.

Sora and Kirika were watching the talk show. Kirika kept giggling at the answers.

"Good morning Sora. Morning Kirika." He patted Kirika's head.

"Shu, how was the outing yesterday?" asked Sora.

"Okay..." said Shu. He wasn't sure who took him home, but he hoped that Sora wouldn't hear about him freaking out at the restaurant.

"Good. I want to focus on wedding planning today. Matt and I are going to talk about the colour scheme, and I want to know if you would like to invite your friends to the wedding. Even with two extended families, I feel like we could use more people."

"Can we invite Valt?"

"Sure. I know how fond you two are of each other. Kirika wants to invite her friends Yuki and Amber. So naturally Lui is coming too."

"Sure. I will tell Valt later."

After breakfast, Shu called Valt.

"Hey Shu," said Valt. "Are you alright now?"

"Er... Why wouldn't I be alright?"

"You don't remember what happened last night?"

"All I remember is that I was on that talk show, I went to dinner with you and the others, I went out feeling upset and talked to Rose for a while, then I went back in, I drank nasty tasting orange juice, and the rest is blank."

"Shu... That wasn't orange juice."

"Really? Then what was it?"

"It was a cocktail."

"What?"

"Wait, you spoke to Rose? Like for real? Are you certain that she was really Rose?"

"Of course she was Rose," said Shu. "Do you think that I don't know my friend?"

"When did you see Rose?"

"When I ran out crying. She was at the restaurant with her family, and she helped me feel better."

"Oh, thank goodness. I thought that..."

Valt's words sank in. "Hold on, did you say that I drank... Alcohol? I'm underage!"

"I know. It was an accident. That was why your orange juice was bitter."

"How did you know it was bitter? Did you drink it too?"

"No, you called it an orange bitter drink."

"I don't remember that."

"You were drunk! Of course you don't remember."

"Valt, what exactly did I do?" asked Shu.

"You were like a little kid," said Valt. "Lui asked you about Yuki, and you called her Princess Snowball. You saw some random fangirl and mistook her for Rose."

"I did? Please tell me that she didn't know who I was talking about."

"No, she did not. But here's the thing. You called Rose the love of your life."

"W...w...what?" Shu started blushing furiously. "Who...who heard that?"

"The fangirl did, but she was just confused. However, the whole group understood who you were referring to, and boy were they shocked."

"Oh no oh no oh no! No one was supposed to know..."

"So you do have a crush on Rose!"

"Don't tell her! I'm not ready for another relationship and you know it!"

"What if any of our friends tell Rose? I think that you should explain it to them."

"Explain what? That I have a crush on a girl I said that I have no romantic interest in? Akeno will make fun of me until the cows come home."

"Huh? Do Akeno and Fubuki live in a farm?"

"No. Until the cows come home means for a very long time."

"Oh, sorry. Well, what do you plan on doing about it?"

"I... I don't know. If anyone finds out that I am in love with Rose, she might get harassed. I can't put her through this. And what would she think about this?"

"Talk to Rose about it!"

"I can't. I just... Can't."

"Shu..."

"We have been through this a million times. I am not ready for a relationship."

"What are you so afraid of? You know that Rose isn't like Sei..."

"Don't talk to me about her!" yelled Shu and then he hung up. Then his anger faded and he started to cry.

Deep down, Shu knew that Valt had a point. But he wasn't sure why he was still afraid. He loved Rose, but he was certain that she didn't see him the same way. But the real reason he had gotten mad at Valt was because he hated being reminded of Seina.

Any mention of Seina made him shiver with fright. He didn't understand what was wrong with him. Seina still visited him in his nightmares, and honestly it terrified him.

Shu had begun to heal yesterday when Rose had comforted him, but now the wounds had reopened and he felt just as trapped as ever. Honestly he had no idea what to do.