Author's Note: I have finally edited this story slightly, mostly just removing all of my annoying ANs like this one. Also, after being told by a reader that a Freanch college education is either 3 or 5 years, I changed that into Taylor going to school for 5 years instead of 4 years, and one year working. It fitted much better with the story anyways. Those changes are pretty much it, so if you've read this story before, you don't need to read it again if you don't necessarily want to. If this is your first time reading this story, I hope you enjoy it, and that even if it is now completed, please review. No matter your opinion of it, I'd still love to hear it.

Chapter 1: Intro

It was now five years ago since Ryan had gone on the train that would take Taylor to Paris. Back then, he had still been in love with her and would've done almost anything to keep her with him, but he had realized that he had to let her go. They both had to live their dreams and be one on their own before being able to be one together. They both realized that they would never be able to make the relationship work with him being in Berkley and she being in Paris as they would hardly ever see each other. That being said, it hadn't made him miss her any less. Though they were very different and had only dated for a few months, he really had loved Taylor. Maybe more than he had ever loved anyone before.

After Marissa's death, he had gone deep into himself, cutting off his family, friends and emotions to hide away from all of the pain, but Taylor brought out the part of him that he never thought anyone but Marissa ever could: she made him happy. She was quirky, eccentric, a little insane and nothing like he ever thought a girlfriend of his would be like, but he had found himself liking her more and more, eventually loving her more than he ever thought he could love anyone again.

Maybe it was the fact that they were older and more mature than in high school, but he felt that his relationship with Taylor had been more real than the one he had had with Marissa, where they had mostly been dwelling on high school drama. Taylor made him laugh and with her things weren't tragic or depressing, and he had found himself really liking that and at that time, he really needed it. With Taylor, he was happy for the first time in a long time.

He had found himself struggling to say the three little words, but only because he wanted to be completely sure when he spoke them that they weren't rushing things, as their relationship had meant so much to him. But at last, on her birthday, he had told her, and the earthquake if anything, just made him realize even more so than after Marissa's death, how important it was to really say what you feel, 'cause one day, it might be too late.

He matured a lot in his relationship with Taylor. To be honest, she saved him, and made him feel safe once again and for that, he would always be thankful to her. And though they were so different, it had been amazing when it lasted.

But their happiness hadn't lated for long, because eventually they had both felt that they were too different, and they wanted so different things for the future, that they had split up around May 2007 and she had headed for Paris. But seeing her again that fall for Julie's canceled wedding, he and Taylor both realized they still loved each other.

However, with both of them going off to college- he to Berkley and she to Paris's Sorbonne- they realized that they would never be able to make the long distance thing work, as they would hardly ever see each other. He followed her San Bernadino, but further than that he couldn't go, and they had tearfully said their good-byes on the train. Ryan remembered her words like it was yesterday.

"Ryan…I love you, but I don't want to be feeling like I'm holding you back when you go off to Berkeley. I'll be in another country for gods sake. So many people find themselves in college and you should feel free to do that. I want you to be free to do whatever you want, be with whoever you want…I don't want to be the jealous girlfriend in Paris who's always wondering what her boyfriend's up to". She had spoken in a soft voice, looked at him very sternly, and he had only nodded, agreeing with everything she said. Even though it hurt, she was right. As always, she was right.

"You should be happy, you deserve to be happy, with whoever makes you happy. And if that's me, if we really are meant to be, 4 years apart will only be confirmation of that and it won't seem like such a long time. It will only make our love stronger."

Again he had only been able to nod, because again her words were so true.

He had smiled. "I'll be seeing you. I love you."

They kissed one last time, and it was with so much passion that the imprint still lingered in his body when he recalled the memory. She had smiled as they pulled apart, then he had stepped off the train and they'd waved good-bye. As the train started, she had blew him a kiss and mimicked 'I love you'.

But that had been almost five years ago now, and he hadn't seen her since. They had decided not to keep in touch since it could only be awkward. If neither of them dated anyone new, it would feel like they were still together, and if one of them did date someone else, would the other be jealous? It just hadn't felt like a good way to get a fresh start for either of them, so they decided against it.

He knew a little about Taylor's life through Summer and Seth though, as they both still kept very close contact with her. Summer had traveled to Paris twice to visit her friend, and whenever Taylor had come to visit her mom in Newport for breaks, she had always made a point of staying in Providence for a few days to catch up with her friends Summer and Seth.

He knew Taylor had since long moved on. During the first two months after her return to Paris, he had checked her blog obsessively, and had read all about her sexual escapades with different French guys every night. He knew he had no right to as they had left each other completely free, but back then, he was still in love with her, and reading about her adventures were just too painful, so he soon stopped. He had to admit, that he seemed to have had a lot more difficulty getting over her than she had with him. It had taken him a very long time before he stopped constantly thinking about her, and for several years, he never even looked at another girl because he just wasn't interested.

Now however, Ryan hardly ever thought about Taylor and he thought it safe to say he was completely over her. He hadn't seen or spoken to her since that day on the train almost five years ago, and having just started his last year at the Berkley Architecture program, he kept busy with school, his family, some new friends, and most recently, his girlfriend, Sarah.

Sarah was another Berkley Architecture student, and having been in almost all the same classes, they had soon began talking, and eventually she had asked him out. Thinking of Summer and Seth's continued teasing of his celibacy, he decided to accept and had found himself enjoying her company more than he thought he ever would. Now they had been dating for almost six months, and things were going well. He really liked her, as did Summer and the Cohens, who were all happy that he had finally met someone.

That day, he was busy remembering that he had to stop by and leave the gift that he had bought for Sophie's birthday at Summer and Seth's apartment, and being completely unaware of her return, he didn't have Taylor on his mind, and he was about to be rather surprised when he met her…

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Taylor shut her eyes with a sigh. She was exhausted after hours of flying and was anxious to get home. Only home wasn't where she had left it at all. For the past five years she had been living in Paris, only making occasional visits to the country she was born and raised in- but did that make the country her home? Taylor wasn't so sure anymore.

Though she had always planned to go back to the States after graduating from Sorbonne, she was now getting nervous. It scared her that she was back to stay for good, and it was exactly that fear that had made her stay another summer in France after graduation, highly over-educated to be working as a tourist guide. She now felt she knew Paris better than she ever knew California, and her French was now so brilliant that she almost felt it almost surpassed her English.

She had gotten so used to the sophisticated French life style, that being back in good old America felt slightly intimidating. If it wasn't for Summer and Kaitlin's obsessive nagging and the fact that she missed them and her mom so much, she might never have decided to go back.

She hadn't told anyone that she was coming back until right before she got on the plane, because she didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but at least Summer and Seth had promised that they would pick her up from the airport.

She opened her eyes to look at her watch, it felt like she'd been flying forever. "Oh great", she muttered to herself. "Only five more hours to go before I'm back in California." She closed her eyes again. She might as well get some sleep before getting there.

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"So how does it feel to be back home?" Seth asked, watching Summer stuffing Taylor's luggage in the back of their car.

"Um…to be honest, it feels a little weird. Good, but weird." She didn't really feel like talking about it, so she quickly changed the subject. "So is Julie and her son really living here in Berkley now?"

"Yep. They moved out here just after Julie's graduation, but Kaitlin's finishing her senior year at Williams, though", Summer answered. "She spent all of summer break here, and she's doing really well. Ever since her last high school year she's been on the top of her class in everything, made valedictorian, and has been involved in all this extra stuff. And she actually has a steady boyfriend too, Jake, we met him a few months ago and they're totally in love. He's kinda dorky, but sweet, and they're really cute together. Kinda like Cohen and me."

"Yes, I'm so happy you guys are finally engaged! It was about time! Have you guys set a date yet?"

"No, but Summer wants a spring wedding, so it'll probably be somewhere around there. Now that we've both graduated, it's not like we have school to worry about, and at least we have Dr. Roberts blessing this time."

"And he bought me an actual ring", Summer smiled holding out her hand.

Taylor happily inspected the classy diamond Summer carried on her ring finger, next to the glow-in-the-dark one Seth had proposed with the last time. Back then, neither of them had been ready to get married, but they were now, and it really showed on how happy they were together. And Taylor hated being the one to intrude on that by becoming their house guest.

As they hit the road, the couple brought her up to speed on all the latest changes in everyone's life, and Taylor couldn't help but to feel slightly depressed. Everyone were so happy with their lives, and though she was happy for them, she felt a sting of jealousy. Here she was at 24 with no home, no boyfriend and no idea what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.