Home. Well, hotel.

Oh, how I needed this.

I told Axel the other day that I'd been pretty down. Having read my blip, he already knew this, and when I asked if I could come visit and stay overnight, he of course welcomed me into the flat that he and Alex have been staying in... it has been something of a hotel from what I understand, friends constantly coming and going to see those stragglers still working or living in Leamington.

As it happened, Shane was down for the evening as well, he also fancied a visit, and Tom was around, and Stana was still working on campus... so all in all, not a bad gathering!

I got to Axel's tired and hungry - used his shower, and then he made a whole load of pasta for me to have with salmon (yum - and I think Axel's obsession with salt makes his pasta especially delish!) and for him and Shane to have in an epic leftover-y bake (this was Axel's last week on his internship and he had a lot of food to finish!)

After a satiating sit down and a meal, we vegged out in front of the TV watching the kind of American sitcom crap I love (Thursday, so... Suburgatory and Don't Trust the B!), which Axel and Shane seriously disapproved of, and I think they were slightly worse episodes than usual cos actually they're usually both pretty clever...

Then some British humour in 'Not Going Out', which Axel actually loved. What!?

When Stana got to the flat we headed out to the Grand Union, had a quick drink as their outside terrace was closing, and then down to You Know Where, with Tom bumping into us on his bike just as we left GU and cycling zigzags across the empty street on the way to the old girl.

Soon enough we were getting rounds of Eliminator in, and queuing Blurred Lines and the like on the jukebox, and Alex even turned up when he was finally back from his shift, so we made a good night of it!

Then back to the flat, where I basically zonked out on the sofa while the others watched The Hangover (bleuch), and then gallantly took the smaller sofa for a bed at around 4 in the morning. Not only an excellent night, but a much needed escape. As soon as I saw the train pull into Leamington, actually, a huge smile came across my face and I couldn't rid it - I suddenly felt at ease!

So grateful for Axel spending his last night or so with me and the others, and for his and Alex's hospitality... that morning I said goodbye to Axel, this time for good - at least for the next couple of months - and to Stana, after a chat/lie in in Axel's bed once he'd left!

Hung about with Shane in the flat before heading in to town for a lovely jacket potato, from the stand on the Parade that I hadn't been to in my year of living there, a sit down in the park, and then reluctantly home...

Writing this in hindsight I know it was really the end of an era by then. I've been back to campus since and already felt like an outsider. And I teared up while reading Axel's post for the next day - Leamington feels like a home because of this nostalgia, but I wonder if it'll ever be so when I visit again.