A/N: It's been a while, so Hi.

Welcome to the sequel to Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Just a heads up, this story is extremely strange. There are both major and minor time skips between the chapters but they all link in together. If you haven't read the first story (Absence makes the heart grow fonder) then I suggest you go do that first, because otherwise some of this will probably make absolutely no sense to you whatsoever.

Anyways, here it is. A very short chapter one. Hopefully you'll enjoy it, but either way please review and let me know what you think. Both positive and negative feedback is encouraged and welcomed.

Enjoy x

DISCLAIMER: ALLY CARTER OWNS THE GALLAGHER GIRLS SERIES, AND THE CHARACTERS. I, HOWEVER, OWN THE PLOT.

It was midnight, and Macey McHenry was stood on the balcony of her apartment in Washington DC with a cup of coffee in her hand. The fourth of July was her least favourite holiday, it always had been. So she had decided to spend it alone. She'd spent the day curled up inside on her couch watching TV, and she'd planned to sleep for the entire evening. But the fireworks had disturbed her and she figured that if she was going to hear them, she might as well see them too.

As she watched the sky explode with burst of vibrant colours, she thought back to the one and only time that she had enjoyed this celebration.

It was fifteen years ago, Macey was 14. Her parents had thrown a huge party at their old house to celebrate independence day but Macey had snuck out away from the gathering inside and decided to sit on the roof. For around 10 minutes, she was sat up there by herself but then she heard footsteps approaching. She turned around, confused as to who would be coming up there, to be greeted by the face of Preston.

"I wondered where you'd gone." He said, taking a seat next to her.

"Well you're the only one stupid enough to realise that I was missing."
"That doesn't make me stupid, it makes me observant."
"Whatever. How come you're up here anyway?"

"Just because."
"You better not be stalking me, because it really won't take me long to file a restraining order."
"You don't hate me that much."
"I believe you may have misjudged my character."
"No. No, I don't think so." He said, staring directly into her icy blue eyes. "I think you're too used to being misjudged that you expect it. And you don't hate me, so don't play that crap."

"Why don't you become a psychologist when you leave school? Then, you'd get paid to get inside of people's heads."
"Oh you're hilarious."
"I try my best. Even if it's not always good enough." She mumbled the last part, and Preston shot her a concerned glance.

"Don't say that."

"Why not, it's true? Just ask my parents, or your parents for that matter."
"Hmmm. Two politicians and their wives who make money off the back of them. I'm sure their opinions are extremely valid."

Macey laughed. "Promise me that we're not gonna end up like our parents. Because if I end up like that then please just shoot me."

"We can shoot each other."

"That's a little bit too modern day Romeo and Juliet, don't you think?"

"They died because they loved each other, not because they had turned into assholes. So unless you plan on falling in love with me any time soon, we're gonna have to find a different title."

Macey looked at Preston. She didn't just look, she admired every detailed feature of him. His eyes, and the way that they would sparkle slightly when the light hit them. His complexion was pale and soft, but not as pale as her. It was strange, what she felt for him. He was a complete dork, in every sense of the word. If his appearance wasn't enough to give that away, all you had to do was take one look at his spiderman wristwatch to be convinced.

"Macey?"

"I have a confession to make." She stated.

"Go on?" Preston said, just as the first of many fireworks went off. The sky was afire with light as the bursts of colour exploded around them. "Macey? You were gonna say something?" He called out over the bangs and crashes.

Macey shook her head, she didn't want to have to say it let alone shout it. So she did the only thing that she could think of. She leaned in slightly and kissed him. Expecting to be rejected by the boy beside her, her heart began to beat out of her chest when he kissed back. She had done it. Her walls were crumbling, her defences had come down and it had been done. Macey McHenry had let someone in.

Macey was startled out of her daydream by the sound of her doorbell ringing. She looked up, sighed and went inside to answer the door. When she opened it, Zach stood in front of her.

"Macey..." He started, with a strangely sympathetic look on his face.

"Zach? What's up?" Macey questioned, confused as to why he was at her apartment so late at night.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry..."

"Zach, you're confusing me. Are you okay? Is Cam okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine, and she's fine. She's on her way up."
"What's wrong then?" She opened the door fully and he walked in.

"Look, before I say it. I did tell him that it was a bad idea..."
"What? Tell who? What are you talking about Zach?"

"Preston joined the army." Zach sighed, and a long silence began. Macey tried to process what she'd just heard, but she couldn't. It had been four years since she'd last seen or heard from Preston. So why did she care so much?

"Macey? Macey, say something." Zach said, breaking the silence that had gone one for nearly 5 minutes.

"He joined the army." Macey stated plainly, as if the statement hadn't already been said.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I don't care."

"That's not gonna help."
"What do you want me to say Zach? You want me to break down in tears and cry about how I may never see him again? I accepted that fate 4 years ago. And don't tell me that it's different, because I know that."

There was another knock at the door, and Macey opened it to find Cammie.

"Macey..."

"Don't. Don't give me the pity look. I don't care. Preston joined the army, and I don't care."

"That's just your problem Macey, you care too much."

And that was all it took. Macey McHenry wasn't generally one for crying. Not anymore. The last time she had cried was her second miscarriage, 4 years ago, and she hadn't cried since. But now, she stood there in front of two of her closest friends and burst into tears. No matter how many times she told herself that she didn't care, she knew that she was only lying to herself. Cammie and Zach stayed with Macey that night, just until she had fallen asleep. The crying had knocked all the energy out of her and she drifted off with tear-stained cheeks and muddled thoughts. Did she care? Of course she did.

AN: So there it is, chapter one.

Hopefully it wasn't too terrible, or at least not as terrible as I think it is.

Thank you for reading :) x