Hey, this is my first attempt at a multi-chapter story. The first few chapters are always the most difficult to write, so please share hints and advice! Hopefully you'll enjoy it, but who knows. If you have any questions or complaints of any kind, don't be hesitant to ask or share them with me.

Clare

I walked into my house through the front door that my mother was holding open for us. I mumbled a thanks and finally dropped the laundry baskets I was carrying. I looked back behind me and saw Jake and Glen hauling my furniture inside.

"Thanks guys." I said as I sat down on the couch. It was finally summer! Now that my sophomore year of college was under my belt, I was officially half way through my college career. Only two more years until the journalism degree was mine and I could get a real job and move into a small apartment.

My mother sat down next to me on the couch and curled her feet under her legs, turning towards me. "Honey, I'm so glad you're home! I haven't seen you since winter break!" she told me, her eyes glistening. I had spent spring break with my boyfriend, Zachary, at his lake house.

"Yeah, sorry mom, I've missed you." I reassured her and watched as Jake and Glen also sat around the living room.

"Oh, it's fine, sweetie. You just have so much to catch us up on! How has UT been? How were your classes? When is Zach going to pay us a visit?" My mom asked me, rushing her questions, acting as if she didn't ask them now, she'd never have the chance.

I decided to give her some abridged answers, matching her pace, but lacking her enthusiasm. "It's been good, they were pretty hard, and I think he'll be coming up next week, is it okay if he stays with us for awhile?" My lips slightly turned upwards at the last part, forming a hopeful smile. My family had yet to meet Zach in person, they've only seen him in the pictures I send and the brief appearances he's made in our skype calls.

"Yes, that sounds great!" My mother happily replied, clasping her hands together near her chin. "Glen, do you think you could get the guest room painted by then? We also need a new chair. And a new bed spread wouldn't hurt..." She went on, planning a trip to the store to remodel the old guest room, still painted a shade of purple from when it was my bedroom. After Darcy moved to Kenya, I took over her room and a few years later, Jake took what had been our guest room.

I looked around the living room, ignoring my mom's list of improvements and I noticed a lot of the pictures hanging around in frames had been updated. The picture of me and my mother at the beach when I was 14 had been replaced by a picture of all of us in front of the Christmas tree this previous winter. A recent photo of Darcy next to new born calf had replaced a picture of her and my dad on her 7th birthday. There was one new replacement that caught my interest, though. Instead of a picture of me carving a pumpkin on Halloween, there was an awkwardly cropped picture of me laying underneath a tree in the backyard. I was wearing a dark gray dead hand shirt and I instantly remembered the full picture. Eli and I were laying under the tree, my legs lay over his lap, which explained why the picture cut off at my knees. I was laughing. I was happy. It was the summer before my freshman year of college. Six months before we broke up.

I was suddenly upset. Why would they have this picture up on the wall? Even if he was cut out of it, why would they even put it up? "Why is that up there?" I asked with venom to match my scowl.

Everybody looked to what I was glaring at. "Well, before you deleted your facerange account, I thought it would be nice to print out some of my favorite pictures of you." My mom explained, trying to calm me down. "It was just such a pretty picture of you. Besides, I always loved candid photos of you. I know I shouldn't have even snapped the picture in the first place, but you guys looked so happy and I couldn't resist. I just loved the way you were smiling in this and I really wanted to put it up, so I cut him out..." She eventually stopped talking.

I rolled my eyes and decided now would be a good time to start taking some clothes up to my room. I grabbed one of my laundry baskets and started to walk up the stairs. "Take it down." I managed to say before I disappeared into my room.

Once inside my room, I shut the door. I started hanging up my clothes as a few tears escaped my eyes. Still, after more than a year, he manages to have such an effect on me. Maybe I'm just bitter.

Eli

I paid the Taxi drive after he stopped in my driveway. "Thanks" I said as I handed him the money before I got out and opened the trunk. I started picking up my suitcases and helped Cassie with hers. Once we were unloaded, I shut the trunk and the taxi driver drove away. Cassie and I grabbed our suitcases and walked towards my front door.

Cassie is my girlfriend. We've been dating since the winter of this year. She was also a student at NYU, except she was a year younger than I am, so she just finished her sophomore year.

We reached my door and I set down one of my bags to slowly open the door. Cece and Bullfrog wanted to pick us up at the airport, but I decided it might be best if they waited at home so I could make sure Cassie felt comfortable.

The door was about halfway open and I looked over at Cassie, she raised her eyebrows, daring me to completely open it. As soon as the door was wide open, Cece came running up in her high heels, with Bullfrog trailing behind.

"Baby boy! I've missed you!" Cece complained in my ear while hugging me tightly. She stepped back and let Bullfrog give me a quick squeeze. "Stayed out of trouble, I hope." He said before they both turned their attention to Cassie.

"I've missed you too, guys." I told them both before introducing my girlfriend. "This is Cassandra, but you can call her Cassie." I said before she cut me off saying, "Actually Cas is fine."

Bullfrog and Cece both said hello to her before they lead us inside and helped us bring our bags to my room. Cassie lives in New York with her sister and decided to bring her furniture back to the apartment before coming up with me, whereas my parents and I decided it'd be easier to buy cheap furniture every year and toss it when school ends, instead of having to pay to ship it back and forth. So we both had suitcases of clothes and I had one or two more filled with personal items.

"We can go out to eat somewhere or eat here if you'd prefer." Cece told us, smiling wide.

Cassie ran a hand through her bleach blonde hair, revealing her bottom layer of black hair. "Where's the bathroom?" She asked and I pointed her toward the door connected to my room. She walked towards it, but turned around to say, "Whatever is fine."

"I'm up for anything." I said as Cece thought for a bit.

"Why don't we try Little Miss Stakes? It's been forever since we've been there!" She took turns looking at me and Bullfrog. We both nodded in agreement. They soon headed to their own room, claiming they were going to go change and gussy up.

I walked over to the bathroom door and knocked. "Cassie, we're going out to eat in a bit. Would you mind if I took a quick shower, I smell like airplane."

Suddenly she opened the door and pulled me in. "How about we take a shower together?" She suggested, raising her eyebrow. She had changed her nose ring from a small diamond to a small hoop in the small time she's been in the bathroom. "Cassie, I'm not sure if th-" I started before she cut me off.

"Cas. Eli, cut it with the Cassie shit." She ordered me before delivering a few quick kisses to my neck.

"Cassi- Cas. I'm not sure it'd be such a great idea to get it on right before we go out with my parents." I stammered. It was hard to reject her offer, her kisses up and down my jawline were rough, yet very seductive. "Cas, seriously, we need to get ready." I tried again, slightly slinking away.

"Fine." She said angrily as she backed up and left the room to get her makeup bag. I let out a sigh and took off my clothes as I stepped into the shower. I turned on the hot water and relaxed as I heard her reenter the room. "You could wear a cute dress and curl your hair." I stated as I reached for he familiar shampoo.

"Ha. Yeah, as if I'm going to wear a dress. All my dresses are for clubbing, you want me to wear one of those?" She snorted as I heard her ruffle through her makeup bag.

I thought of all the dresses I've seen in her closet and immediately shuddered at the idea of her wearing any of them in a family-friendly restaurant. Perhaps her barely-there dresses wouldn't make such a great first impression on my family. "Okay, fair enough." I said as I took hold of the soap.

When I was finished showering, I wrapped a towel around my waste and stepped out of the shower. Cassie was putting her makeup back in her bag and turned around to give me a quick kiss on the edge of my lips, her red lipstick leaving an outline of her puckered lips. I brought a hand up to wipe the mark away.

I took a quick glance at her and had mixed feelings. I was glad she was remaining herself to meet my parents, yet I felt a bit annoyed that she didn't tone her makeup down even in the slightest. Her eyeliner circled her eyes and her pin-straight hair fell in front of a side of her face. "You look pretty hot." I told her before exiting to my room to throw on some clothes. She soon came scampering out to change too and soon we were waiting on the couch for Cece and Bullfrog.

They came downstairs and Bullfrog grabbed the keys as Cece led us out the door and turned around to tell Cassie, "Cas, honey, I can't wait to get to know you."