Restart (The Revival Series) by Claire Thake

lost Ian, but even though he hasn’t lost Lacey, in the same way, he isn’t moving on either, although he doesn’t realize it.”
    “It must be so hard for Mia, you know, not having both her parents around,” Leah muttered, thinking about how it would be for her own kids if she and Ryan parted ways.
    “Well we both know about that don’t we. Growing up without Fathers I mean. Our mums did fab jobs though I must admit as we turned out fantastic.”
    “I wasn’t fatherless, not really. Mum married Matt when I was eight.”
    “True, but that was still eight years without one.”
    “I don’t want my kids not to have their father Carrie,” Leah said, tears beginning to stream down her face.
    “Oh, Leah,” Carrie put down her glass and took Leah’s out of her hand and did the same with it, before pulling her friend into a hug.
    “Leah, sweetheart, what is going on? This isn’t right, you need to talk to Ryan, you shouldn’t be like this, and it’s going to make you ill.”
    “Maybe I am ill Carrie. I keep wondering if I am the problem here, maybe I need go and see a doctor, but what if they think I’m not safe to look after my own children?” By now Leah was beginning to heavily sob, and Carrie struggled to understand the words coming from her mouth.
    “Leah, no one will take those kids from you! You are an amazing mother, you are just going through a rough patch and you can pull through this. You just need to talk to Ryan, please, it’s the only way you will repair this.”
    Leah nodded, and tried to compose herself, she knew talking was the answer, but starting the conversation and getting Ryan to talk was harder than it seemed. She knocked back her glass of wine and smiled at Carrie. “Stuff it lets get drunk and have some fun, I’m grabbing the vodka!”
     
     
    A few hours later, after several more glasses of wine and vodka shots, the pair of them were giggling like school girls and not forming coherent words anymore.
    “By now the television was on, switched to the music channels and Carrie was dancing around the room, barely staying on her feet.
    “Leah, do you remember when I first went on that date with Ian, I was so damn scared and then you dropped your dinner in your lap” Carrie was beginning to laugh so hard at the memory she couldn’t get any more words out.
    “Hey, I did not, it was Greg, and he caught my plate with his elbow! Do you remember the look the waiter gave us? Why on earth did we think that it was a good idea to go to a posh restaurant at fifteen?”
    “It was funny, though, seeing Gregory trying frantically to try and help you, and at least, he let you borrow his coat to hold over the front of you to walk home.”
    “Yeah that was sweet; it was so cold that night too.”
    “I wonder what he’s doing now.” Carrie wondered, and Leah tried hard to keep a neutral look on her face.
    “Who knows? Probably happily married by now, like most of us.”
     
    Eventually, after midnight, Carrie put on her boots and drunkenly tiptoed across the courtyard, trying her best to walk in a straight line but not making a very good job of it.
    Leah laughed as she watched her friend until she could no longer see her, and shut the door, returning to the living room and flopping on the sofa. She grabbed her mobile and unlocked the screen, not surprised to see no signal as usual, but she opened up the photos and started flicking through them.
    At the beginning of her photos, was a picture that Emma had taken of Leah and Ryan. Leah had her head leaning on Ryan's' chest, and Ryan had his arms around Leah protectively, they looked happy, and in love. The photo was only a year old. How was it possible that things could change that much in a year?
    Eventually, Leah passed out from exhaustion and alcohol, on the sofa.
     
    The next morning came around, and Leah woke up feeling sick and stiff. Sleeping upright on the sofa was not the best idea and she was surely feeling it, along with the effects of