I'm back people! Oh yeah! :D

I had written this first chapter days ago but I knew I wouldn't find time to write more so I had to wait. I've just finished the second one and I'll try to write another soon very soon.

I had talked to a friend and told her I'd write a story for her... So, Vicky, be a bit patient, I will write your story ;) I just wanted to write this one first, then write yours.

By the way, I'm also translating 'Learning To Live' to Spanish, it's fun haha.

Enjoy and please review. I hope some of you are still reading my stories!

I'd never thought she would come back, not after so many years, and I'd even stopped thinking about her years ago, I was sure I'd never seen her again; she hadn't called, she hand't sent any emails, no messages, no letters, nothing, she'd just disappeared and nobody had ever plained me why, nobody ever mentioned her again. I was incredibly surprised to see her there, it was like a dream. I didn't know what to feel, what to do or what to think. Should I talk to her? Should I be angry that she left without saying a word? Should I be happy that she was back after about 6 years? Should I stop staring at her like all the rest of the people who had ever met her? Should I ask someone if I was dreaming or this was really happening?

She was wearing dark clothes, just like anybody else in the room; today was my grandpather's funeral. I was upset because he'd always thought that funerals were cruel, that death shouldn't be a business, but my uncle had ignored how his father had felt about it and he'd organized the funeral anyway... I was just sitting in a corner with a white shirt and black trousers, staring at Anna, trying to decide what to do. She was my cousin but we had never looked similar at all; my hair was blond, hers was dark, my eyes were blue, hers were green, my skin was regular, she had fleckles... Not even our personalities had ever matched; I was shy, she was outgoing, I loved music, she loved reading, I was dumb, she was smart, and the list goes on and on... The only thing we had on common was the we were both losers at school, freaks, and we had the same blood, Poynter blood, running through our veins. She used to be more than just family to me, she was my best friend and I'll never understand what was so important that made her leave all of us just like that. Didn't she have time to say goodbye?

"What are you doing here?" my uncle Daniel said, kind of shouted actually, when he saw her. Mum had asked me never to ask my uncle anything about Anna and he'd never talked about her again. I'd figured out that he was just angry because she'd left for no reason. Anna looked at him calmly, but her eyes were just as full of cruelty as his.

"I've came to say my goodbyes to my grandpather" she said.

"You are not welcome here" his father said "Get out of here, Abrianna! NOW!"

"What is going on here!?" my mum said as she walked in, she seemed annoyed, but her face changed completely when she saw my cousin "Oh, my God, Abrianna... You're back..."

"And she's also leaving" my uncle said coldly. I wanted to say something, but I didn't know what, I certainly did not want her to leave again and she didn't look like she wanted to either...

"This is my house, Daniel" my mum said firmly "I decide who stays and who leaves, and she's definitely staying"

My mum's brother looked at her with anger for a moment "Fine. Then I'm leaving"

Everybody watched as my uncle left the room with his wife, who didn't even look at her own daughter, but Abrianna didn't look at them either. Uncle Daniel closed the door loudly behind him and my cousin just avoided everbody's stare, including mine, I don't think she'd even noticed me yet. I wanted her to look up at me, I wanted her to notice me, I wanted some kind of explanation.

"You" my mum said, pointing at Anna with a finger "Kitchen, you and me, now. The rest of you go back to... Whatever you were doing"

As soon as everybody was back to talking about how great my grandpather had been, my little sister Jazzie ran to me as we both stood behind the kitchen's door. She was no longer crying, she seemed as surprised and confused as me.

"What the hell is she doing here, why now?" she asked "Why didn't you say something, Dougie?"

"Me? What was I supposed to say?"

"I don't know, you shouldn't have let uncle Daniel talk to her like that"

"He's her father, Jazz."

"Oh, he's a jerk"

"He's got his right to be angry... She's the one who left us, remember?"

"She must have had her reasons, Dougie"

"Couldn't she had said goodbye at least? I waited... I mean we waited for her for months!"

"Don't get angry before listening to her explanations"

We couldn't hear anything from inside the kitchen, the door was too thick. Two minutes later, mum opened the door and I hit my face against it.

"What were you doing behind the door, son?" she said.

"I just... Nothing, forget about it"

"Anna wants to talk to you" she said and then looked at Jazzie, who was about to go to the kitchen "I meant Dougie, honey"

"Oh, dammit" Jazz whispered "Hurry up, Doug"

I entered the room a bit awkwardly and closed the door behind me. Anna was staring at me the hold time, looking calm and really sad, she looked cuter than ever to me. I held back my urge to hug her and leaned against the door to make sure nobody came in and interrupted us. My mind was full of questions and things I wanted to say, yet I couldn't speak my mind, my feelings were all mixed and I couldn't choose which question I should ask first.

"You've grown a lot" I said calmly.

She laughed ironcly and crossed her arms over her chest "You haven't seen me in about 6 years and all you've got is 'you've grown a lot'?"

"Well, what did you expect me to say?" I said annoyed "That I waited for you every single day? That I'm upset because you left me on my own? You knew I didn't almost have any friends. You want me to tell you that I even dreamed about you coming back?"

"Dougie" she said before I could say anything else, and took my hand "I'm sorry. I am. I had to leave. I knew my father would think I would come to you, that's why I didn't come here, he would have found me too easily. I didn't want to leave"

"Then why did you leave? What the hell happened?"

"Haven't your mum told you?"

"No! Nobody's told me anything, they just stopped mentioning you years ago, like you never even existed. Mum asked me to stop asking about you because your dad had asked her to keep the secret"

"Well, I..." she blushed and looked down, I could tell she was feeling uncomfortable "This makes it more difficult, I thought you knew"

"Knew what? Just say it, dammit!"

"Will you promise not to hate me or anything like that?"

"I don't know, Abrianna... I just think I deserve to know, dont you think?"

She sighed and took my other hand too. She caressed it for a moment, then talked "I know it was a very stupid thing to do, alright? I was just... So sad... Lost. You knew me, you knew I didn't fit anywhere, I thought there was something wrong with me... And I kind of took some drugs-"

"What!? Drugs!? For Christ's sake, Anna, we were 15!"

"And you don't think I know that? I didn't know they were that strong! I wasn't thinking, Dougie! And they saw me, dad saw me... You know how he feels about that stuff"

"That was the most stupid thing you could have ever done, you know he's obsessed with religion, he hates that kind of things"

"He wanted to send me to Italy, to a church or something like that. Dougie, he was going to make me become a nun. I can't be a nun! I don't even believe in God! I had to leave. I knew I could come back by the time I wasn't underage anymore... And here I am. I've thought about you all these years, I wanted to come back, I swear, but I was afraid. I missed you"

"I missed you too"

She put her arms around me, probably hoping I would hug her back, and I did. It was so good to have her in my arms again, to be closed to her. I didn't know if I was still upset or not, but love always wins over hate. I sighed and let go everything I was feeling, inlcuding my thoughts too. I finally had what I wanted, my bestfriend was finally back, I would get angry later, but I just wanted to injoy being with her at least for five minutes after 6 years of waiting.

"Promise me you'll never leave again" I whispered.

"I promise" she whispered back and smiled.