Ghosts of Yesterday
By Misha

Disclaimer- Not mine, so please don't sue.

Author's Notes- This is sort of a sequel to "All Grown Up" (which isn't finished yet), more its set in the same universe, just several years later. The events of one story don't really affect the other, except only slightly. My basic timeline is assuming that the events of BSC books took place in 1990-1992 when I started reading them, then "All Grown Up" starts in 1998 and this story starts in 2010, so about twelve years later. The same changes I made to character ages in "All Grown Up" apply to this, so if you're confused, look at the chart in the first chapter. This idea, plus another subsequent story that I may or may not write, came to me suddenly and I couldn't resist writing it. I hope you enjoy!

Rating- PG-13.

Summery- Six years ago, she left without a word, now she was back and had to face everything she left behind. Sequel to "All Grown Up).

Part One: A Long-Awaited Homecoming

The whole time she'd be preparing to move back to Stoneybrook, Karen Brewer wondered how long it would take before she came face to face with the past.

Turns out it only took one hour. One hour before she ran into a member of the Pike family, ran into the man who would have been her brother-in-law if things had been different.

She'd known such a meeting was inevitable, had known the second that she decided to move home that eventually she'd have to face them all. That she'd have to deal with the consequences of her actions and face the people she'd hurt so desperately when she'd left Adam at the aisle all those years before.

However, she hoped that she'd have some time to prepare herself before she had to do so. But it was not to be because an hour after she arrived at the house she had bought in the neighbourhood she had grown up in, well the neighbourhood her mother had lived in anyway, she met her new neighbour. Who was none other than Nicholas Pike.

"Nick." She whispered in disbelief at the sight of his all-too-familiar face.

Of course, he had changed in six years. But then, so had she.

"Karen?" He asked in disbelief, his face still frozen in shock.

"Its me." She answered, not sure what else to say.

Of all the Pikes, Nick was the one she had been the least comfortable with, because they had their own history. And yet, in some ways, that made him the one she was least afraid to run into. Any awkwardness between her and Nick had been there for years and had less to do with Adam, than with their own history.

"You're back."

"Yeah." She agreed, pushing back a loose strand of her long blonde hair. "I thought it was time for me to come back home. I've been away too long."

"Six years." He acknowledged. He was quiet for a long moment, then smiled. "You look great."

"Thanks." Karen said softly. "So do you."

It ws true. Nick had always been good looking, but at twenty-nine he was all grown up and was very easy on the eyes indeed.

"So you live here now?" She asked, wondering about the fates that had her buy the house next door to Adam's brother. So much for trying to keep a low profile.

"Yeah." NIck said. "And you just bought..."

"Yeah." Karen confirmed. "I was offered a job in Stamford and it made sense for me to come back to Stoneybrook. Elizabeth's here and Andrew and Kristy and her family are here too. Charlie and his family are in Stamford and Emily's in school there now. Plus Sam and Stacey are only in New York, so..."

"You thought you'd come back and be near them." Nick filled in for her when she trailed off.

Karen nodded. "Yeah." She paused and then smiled ruefully. "I figured I had to come back some day, so why not make that day now."

"Yeah, you did." Nick agreed quietly. "Well, welcome home Karen. It's been too long."


After an hour of debating, Nick picked up the phone to call his brother. He had argued with himself over whether or not he should do it, because technically it was meddling.

However, he had finally decided that Adam had a right to know, and as soon as possible. Far better that he meddled than that Adam run into Karen by accident without being warned.

So, after much thought, Nick dialled his brother's number.

"Hello?" Adam answered, sounding cheerful.

Nick cursed himself for having to ruin that cheerful mood. "Adam, it's Nick." Nick said and then he took a deep breath. "I have something to tell you."

"What? What it is?" Adam asked, sounding alarmed as he obviously picked up on Nick's hesitancy.

"It's Karen. She's back in Stoneybrook, in fact she bought the house next door to mine." Nick said in a rush, not sure how Adam would react.

There was a long silence on the other end.

"Adam?" Nick prodded after a long moment.

"How does she look?" Adam asked finally.

"She looks good." NIck said truthfully. In fact, she looked amazing, but then Karen had always been a beautiful woman. Six years hadn't changed that.

"That's good." Adam said quietly. "Thanks for letting me know, Nick."

"No problem." Nick said quietly. "I'll talk to you later."

He hung up the phone then, figuring that Adam wasn't in the mood for conversation. Not that that Nick could blame him, he was sure it was a lot to process.

Six years ago Adam had been going to make Karen his wife, but she'd disappeared without a word, and now she was back. Her return was sure to reopen a lot of old wounds.

After all, Nick wasn't sure that Adam had ever really recovered from Karen's betrayal. Oh, he had put himself back together and started dating again, he even had a serious girlfriend now, and seemed to have moved on his life.

But, Nick was sure that there was still some hurt there that he hadn't gotten over and now Karen was back to stir things up all over again. Nick wasn't sure how he felt about her return, let alone Adam...

Nick chuckled ruefully, if nothing else, at least things were about to get interesting...


As she started to unpack, Karen couldn't help but think about her encounter with Nick.

It hadn't been as awkward as she feared. Though, she still had nine more Pikes to face. Well, eight, since she'd been in contact with Margo since she'd left Stoneybrook.

The year after she'd left Adam, when things had started to settle down, she'd contacted her best friend. Adam's sister hadn't been thrilled with the way she had handled things, but when it came down to it, Margo was still her best friend.

She was one of the few people who knew why Karen had left, though she hadn't entirely approved, in a way she'd understood. Margo hadn't shared Karen's reasons with anyone, stating that Adam deserved to hear it from Karen, not from his sister, so it didn't surprise Karen that Margo apparently hadn't shared her decision to move back to Stoneybrook with the rest of her family.

Karen sighed, wondering if she had made the right decision.

Stoneybrook was her home. It was where she belonged, yet did she really have any right to come back? She'd burnt a lot of bridges, cut a lot of ties when she left town and why had she fooled herself into thinking she could come back without causing any problems?

Yet, how could she not come back? For six years, she'd longed for home and the time had seemed right for her to come back, but maybe she'd forfeited that right along with many other things.

Karen sighed again, she'd just have to deal with the consequences of her actions. It was her penance for the choice she had made all those years ago.