"Surprise!"

"Surprise!"

"Supwise!"

Dil and Tabitha stood in the doorway, their suitcases in hand, looking very surprised at the sudden appearance of their two house-guests and son, dressed smartly in shirts and suit trousers, enthusiastically greeting them.

"Welcome home!" Dan grinned, holding Dab in his arms and Dab clinging to his side.

"Thanks," Tabitha smiled with a laugh.

"No problem," Phil replied, "Thought we'd give you a warm reception back!"

"How was it without us?" Dil asked, propping his suitcase up against the wall as he closed the front door behind them, "Did you manage alright?"

"We managed… OK…" Phil nodded. It wasn't really a lie: the house didn't set on fire and nobody was dead so technically everything had been fine.

"That's good, we were starting to worry about you after a day or two," Tabitha mentioned, "But we were also sure you could handle everything – you both seem quite capable. How are you all, anyway?"

"We're good," Dan said, turning to Phil with a shy smile.

"Had a bit of a strange run-in, but I'll tell you about that another time. How have you two been? Enjoy your holiday?"

"We certainly did," Dil nodded, "I spent our free time watching your whole Sims series on my phone; you guys are so great!"

Dan and Phil both gave awkward laughs,

"Glad you think so," Dan said, putting Dab down on the floor so he could greet his parents.

"I think you two deserve a break after all of the work you've done," Dil smiled, addressing Phil and Dan, "So we thought we'd give you some cash so you could both go and have a nice relaxing time at the spa. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great!" Dan exclaimed, cheerily.

Phil nodded his agreement,

"I could do with some R&R, too," he chirped.

"Well, why don't you two go and do that whilst Dil and I get settled again?" Tabitha suggested, kindly, patting her child on the head.

Dan immediately acceded and hurriedly made sure everybody was comfortable, making cups of tea for his friends as quickly as he could because the faster he could get everyone settled, the faster he could go and relax with some cucumbers over his eyelids.

Dil and Tabitha seemed very grateful for their help and happily handed over some spare cash and waved them out of the door.

It was a chilly day outside but still sunny. Not as cold as the other day when they'd taken Dab down to Magnolia Promenade, but still not warm.

"Come on, then, off we go," Dan smiled, cheerily, as they started along the road down to the spa.

Phil had taken the plaster off his cheek just before they left the house and thankfully neither of his sims had noticed or been bothered to ask questions.

His scar had healed a bit overnight after Dan had cleaned it out and it didn't look too bad anymore. It wasn't so much a scrape as it was a gouge – like a little hole – but it was mending pretty fast.

As he and Dan made their way along the path, they spied a familiar face across the road from them, walking the other direction. A figure they knew too well with red hair, a green blouse and black-rimmed glasses resting on the bridge of their nose.

Dan and Phil considered turning the other way and going the long way around but Dan reasoned that purposefully avoiding Eliza might only make the conflict worse.

They made a bit of awkward eye contact with her, but apart from that, they managed to steer clear of her. They were on a mission to have a nice relaxing afternoon and not even an encounter with their crazy stalker was going to bring down their mood.

And they carried on.

They acted as if nothing had ever happened: no disagreement, no fight – nothing. And maybe they were better off after their dispute; they actually seemed even closer.

Because the thing about most situations is that you don't realise what you have until it's gone, and if you can get that thing back, you become finally grateful and recognise what you have.

Friendship is one of the worst things to lose; both Phil and Dan acknowledged that. They were fortunate to be back together again, they knew, and even though they didn't say it, they were both filled with a feeling of euphoria.

Even as they just walked down the street, they kept close to keep each other warm.

And in that moment of togetherness but also being alone, that was when they trusted in each other at last. And all it had really taken was a few reassuring hugs and a hand on the back to make them happy again.

But not just as some people define happiness, you see, because happiness is a hard thing to put into words.

Happiness is what happens when you feel alone and sad and you know you've done something you shouldn't have, and you're desperately sorry, but a friend comes along and wraps you in their arms and tells you it's OK - that you don't have to worry - that they forgive you.

It's the feeling of those arms around you and the gentle comfort as you find yourself smelling that familiar smell that they always have and always have had: the smell of that one laundry detergent they've used for years that you can only smell on them: the smell of warm, some might put it…

And just that reaching, that gesture, the impulse of wanting to have what's warm close to you – whether that be something or someone – and the feeling you get when you do that is a feeling of being safe; safe in a familiar surrounding that you've grown to know and love.

That's happiness.