This is my first fan fic for Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants but I've loved the books for years! Please read and review!

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Summer had come again. It was the time of the year me and my friends thought was special, but this year there was a lot of apprehension. For the past 4 summers we had each done our own thing, visiting relatives, going to soccer camps, taking summer classes and falling in and out of love. We were all bonded during this time by the magic that was the travelling pants. Carmen found them in a thrift store at the beginning of our first ever summer apart. We knew they were magical when they fitted us all perfectly, even though we are all very different in appearance. There's Bridget, or Bee, who is tall, long legged and slim. Then there's Tibby whose much shorter and Carmen, who had a Puerto Rican bottom inherited from her mother. Finally there's me, Lena, my friends say I'm pretty and there was a time I belived them, when I was in the company of a certain boy, but I like to think they are just saying that. Being shy means I don't want to draw attention to myself. We decided to share the pants and so that summer they had travelled with me to Greece, Baja California with Bee, South Carolina with Carmen and home in Bethesda, Maryland with Tibby. They kept us together during that summer and then the next three summers until last year. Last year my younger sister, Effie, took them to Greece without my knowledge and promptly lost them. My three friends and I travelled there and searched high and low for them but no success. So now we were facing summer without them. We made a rule back in January that we would all stay together this summer. Having been apart all year at various colleges, we felt it was right to spend summer with each other. But as always, our plans quickly changed.

As usual at the beginning of summer, the four girls broke into Gilda's for their traditional evening. This year was different though. Carmen wasn't carrying a bag that had the pants in. As Lena laid out the food, Tibby sorted out music and Bee sorted out drinks, Carmen looked around the room, thinking of how they had come to be a group. If it wasn't for this place and their mom's deciding to to do pre natal yoga, they woudn't be the Septembers.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Lena, as this was the part where they normally gathered round the pants and reread the rules that were embedded in their brains. She had got home from RISD a couple of days before after deciding against summer classes this year, she needed time to relax and not be in a school environment.

"We're still the sisterhood," pointed out Carmen, "just without the pants, so we could still receit the saying," she suggested. She had returned from Williams college only earlier that day, she had stayed on a while to take part in an end of term play. She had been offered a summer play as well but wanted to have a rest.

"It's not the same is it?" asked Bridget, who had gotten back from Brown a week ago and had spent the week bonding with her twin brother. After last summer things had really changed and her house was now a welcoming place rather than a place to avoid.

"We said at the end of last summer that we didn't need them, we'd still stay together even when apart. We've managed all year, this summer shouldn't be any different," replied Tibby. She had gotten back from NYU the day before and was missing it already. She and Brian had their own apartment and now living at home seemed strange. Plus she was already being lined up by her parents for some babysitting.

"Tibby's right, we may not have the pants, but they'd taught us the lesson they had wanted so it was time to move on," said Carmen.

"Yeah and we've already done okay without them, we've kept in contact all year and made time for each other," pointed out Bee. They had all spent Thanksgiving at home in Bethesda and then returned once again at Christmas. Spring Break was spent apart with Bridget in Alabama visiting her grandmother, Carmen stayed at Williams for rehersals, Tibby entered a film festival in New York and Lena went on a college trip to look at art galleries in Paris.

"We don't need the pants, we just need each other," decided Lena.

"So, what's the plan for our first week of freedom?" asked Bee.

"Well I have to get a job, apartments in New York don't come cheap," moaned Tibby.

"I've got some catching up to do with my gorgeous little brother," smiled Carmen.

"I thought I might try and get a waitressing job," said Lena.

"Sounds like a fun summer," said Bridget.

"What about you Bee?"

"Spending time with Perry and dad," smiled Bridget. Last year she had made a major breakthrough with her twin brother and her dad, forcing them to realise they are still a family, no matter what happens. "Eric is spending the first few weeks with his grandmother in Mexico and then coming here," she added excitedly. Their relationship had now lasted 2 years and they were stronger than ever.

"Shall we still honour the sisterhood?" asked Lena tentatively.

"I think we should," voted Bee. She held her hands out and Carmen and Tibby each grabbed one, offering their other hands to Lena. Sitting in a circle, with an empty space in the middle of them, they said together,

"To honour the pants and the sisterhood, and this moment and this summer and the rest of our lives, together and apart."

"What did you want to tell us that couldn't wait until tonight?" asked Tibby as she met her friends at the local park with Katherine and Nicky in tow.

"Well, I know we said we'd all stay here this summer, but," started Bridget.

"You're leaving?" asked Lena, knowing it was true but asking anyway.

"Greta just called and she's had to have a hip replacement. She needs someone to look after her until she's fully recovered so I figured I could go and stay with her for a while, she hasn't got anyone else," explained Bridget.

"When do you leave?" asked Carmen.

"Tomorrow morning. You know the best part? Perry's coming with me! Can you believe that? Last year he was a social recluse who hardly left his room and now he's coming to Alabama to see the grandma he hasn't seen in years!"

"That's great Bee," smiled Lena, pleased that things were looking up for Bridget's family, despite the whole hip replacement thing.

"I'm sorry I'm messing up our plans," sighed Bridget.

"Don't worry, when has a summer ever gone to plan?" laughed Carmen.

Arriving home, Lena let herself in and made her way to the kitchen to get a drink.

"What's going on?" she asked as she saw her younger sister Effie sat at the table with her mother and father.

"I'm going to be a CIT at Camp America," said Effie happily. She had applied back in the winter but been told there weren't any spaces. "It turns out someone had to drop out and I was top of the waiting list," she explained.

"That's great," said Lena, knowing this was something her sister had really wanted to do. She looked at her parents who looked much less enthused. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"We were relying on Effie to go spend the summer in Greece with Valia," explained Ari, Lena's mom.

"I'm sure she'll understand why Effie's not going," offered Lena.

"But we wanted her to go and keep her company. I know I agreed to let her go back to Oia but I worry about her and knowing she'd have family there all summer was comforting," explained Lena's father.

"She has friends there, they're like her family," replied Lena, before leaving the kitchen and going upstairs. She knew what her father was thinking. He wanted Lena to go to Greece to spend the summer with Valia. Half of her was saying go, she loved the island. But another part was saying no because of fear. Going to Greece would probably mean seeing Kostos again and seeing him would reignite all the feelings she had worked so hard to push to the back of her head. Seeing him would mean she would fall in love with him again, which would then mean leaving him again and coming back here and dealing with it all over again. But then she couldn't help thinking of the last words he had spoken to her. "Someday," he had told her in Greek. She knew he wanted the same as she did, for them to be together, but things never seemed to work out. She first spent the whole summer trying to avoid him before admitting she liked him and kissing him on her last night in Greece. Then he had come to America only to have to go back when his ex girlfriend announced she was pregnant with his child. When Lena had gone to Greece for Bapi's funeral, she had found out they were married. He had then turned up at her dorm room last summer with plans to be together forever but it was the wrong time for Lena, she was struggling to work out her feelings for someone else. When she had gone to Greece to look for the lost pants they had met up at their olive grove and sorted things out between them. He had forgiven her for being angry earlier in the summer and she had forgiven him for all he had done. He had left her with the words that he would always love her and someday, which she could only take to mean someday they would be together. Carefully, she knelt on the floor and retreived a painting she had put under her bed when she had moved her stuff from her dorm to her room. It was the piece she had done her first summer in Greece, in her room there looking out over the Caldera. It was of him, Kostos. Last year, after returning from Greece, she had added to it. Above his head now, in what was white space, was the word "Someday," in both Greek and English. She had looked at it now and then over the past year and figured out he was probably the only guy she would love this much. Now she was faced with putting her heart on the line and hoping it wouldn't get smashed. What if she returned there and he was with someone else? What if he had forgotten about her? She remembered how he had said he'd always love her, but how could she be sure?

At dinner time she went back downstairs and took her normal seat.

"So, Effie, where are you going?" she asked, knowing that Camp America had camps in more or less every state in America.

"Colorado," replied Effie. "I can't wait, I leave in a week."

"Lena, your mother and I have something we would like you to do for us," said her father once they had all finished eating.

"You want me to go to Greece and spend the summer with Valia," replied Lena, watching the surprise on her father's face.

"Yes. Effie's ticket is still valid for the day after tomorrow. I know you wanted to spend the summer with your friends but we would really appreciate it. She loved having you there for a short time last year and really it's because of you that she's where she loves. She'd love to see you."

"Okay," said Lena quietly. She didn't know what she was letting herself in for, but knew she had to take a chance. "Can I be excused, I need to go call my friends and let them know."

"Have you spoken to Kostos since last summer?" asked Tibby. They were walking to a local restaurant for Bridget's leaving meal, which had turned into Lena's leaving meal as well.

"No. Not since the olive grove."

"But you've thought about him?"

"Everyday," sighed Lena.

"What if you went there and got together with him?"

"How could I do that, knowing it would have to end at the end of summer? We tried the long distance thing before and it didn't work. We need to at least be on the same continent!"

"So you don't want to get together with him?

"I didn't say that," replied Lena.

Dear Carmabelle

I'm currently flying over the Atlantic Ocean and know how you love flying so thought I'd write to you. I'm so nervous about what I'm going to find in Oia. What if he's moved on from me? There are so many what if's going round my head right now. I'm excited about seeing my grandma though and getting to paint the wonderful views. Wish Bapi would be there though as well. Hope Ryan's okay and that you and Tibby are having fun babysitting together.

All my love,

Lena xoxo