Sequel to The Next Best Thing (which I suggest you should read first to familiarise yourself with the OCs and the plot of the story - warning it is long!!). Thanks to all who reviewed, it hit over 100 reviews!!
Allie gets the shock of her life when she receives a 'blast from the past'. A past she thought could never return. What does this mean for her and Fulton?
Timeline is approx 2-3 years after the end of The Next Best Thing.
Allie Taylor was relishing a rare quiet moment as she stared at the pile of clothes on her bed and the empty suitcase next to it.
It was always during these quiet moments that she found herself missing her first love the most. She often wished that she had've woken up from her coma following the accident much sooner in order to at least say goodbye to him. She knew it was beyond her control but it still didn't stop her from occasionally playing the 'what if' game.
What if Dean Portman hadn't died after the car wreck? What if Dean's mother hadn't hated her with every fibre of her being? What if his father hadn't tried to kill the entire family? What if her parents never divorced and she had to stay in New York?
Stop it! she told herself before she got too out of control. Once she started playing the 'what if' game it was sometimes hard to stop.
Besides, it wasn't fair to Fulton.
Fulton Reed, the new love of her life. He'd been there for her in ways she could never thank him for. He'd been there for her when Kate Portman accused her of murdering her husband, he'd been there for her when she woke up from the coma, he was the one to tell her Dean had gone, he was there for her before, during and after that horrible funeral, he was the one she told about her pregnancy, he was there for her when she was undergoing a custody battle for Sarah and now he was there for her as her boyfriend.
It's a bloody long list when you really think about it! Allie joked to herself.
That snapped her out of her daydream and she turned back towards the stereo on the shelf and briefly looked through her CD collection.
Picking out the Rolling Stones' 40 Licks she played the disc into the player and selected an old song her and Hayley used to listen to, well listening wasn't really the right word for it, more like dance around like a bunch of idiots was more like it.
"I see a red door and I want to paint it black" she sang turning her attention back towards her packing task.
"No colors anymore I want them to turn black" she continued as she folded a pair of jeans.
"I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes"
"I have to turn my head until my darkness goes" she continued throwing a little head banging into the mix.
She didn't hear the door open and close downstairs.
It wasn't until she heard another voice behind her
"I see a line of cars and theyre all painted black
With flowers and my love both never to come back"
"Argh don't do that!" Allie laughed as she whipped around startled to see Fulton standing behind her grinning.
"I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a new born baby it just happens every day"
Fulton continued singing as he half danced, half wiggled his way towards her and kissed her hello.
"You are such a dag, where are the kids?" Allie asked grinning as he enveloped her in his arms and squeezed her gently.
"Sarah's enduring Bob the Builder with Deanna. That kid has the patience of a saint!" Fulton reported.
"She's not a kid anymore Fult, she's sixteen in three months" Allie reminded him.
"I know but to me she's always gonna be the little girl who followed me and her big brother around" Fulton replied.
"Aw!" Allie teased placing her head on his chest.
"Baby why do you smell like a happy meal?" Allie asked when she caught a whiff of the inmistakable scent of a McDonald's cheeseburger. It was one of the many things she craved whilst pregnant with Deanna.
"Oh that, well your daughter it seems has inherited the Portman ability to throw food in a public place" Fulton grinned. In his eyes, Deanna could get away with murder.
"Hey I heard that!" Sarah called from downstairs.
"That girl has the most incredible hearing ability ever" Allie whispered.
"I know" Fulton whispered back.
"Anyway, what do you mean the Portman ability? I remember when YOU pushed Hayley's icecream into her face. What happened to, what was it that Dean said? Oh yeah 'The master of food throwing'?" Allie laughed.
"He said that?" Fulton beamed.
"Yep, he sure did" Allie smiled. Fulton got excited at the littlest things. It was one of the things she found cute about him.
"Hmm" Fulton looked proud that his best friend would have said that.
"As much as I'd love to stay here like this all day, I really have to finish packing" Allie peeled herself off of Fulton's chest and stepped out of his arms.
"Do you have to go?" Fulton pouted trying to reel her back in.
"Yes, its Hayley's first show" Allie reminded him.
Hayley had graduated from FIDM in LA and had been selected to showcase her line as part of a show for LA's 'hot up and coming designers'. Hayley had especially been excited and had immediately called her best friend begging her to come.
"She'll have others, wont she?" Fulton replied cheekily.
"Oh you are so mean!" Allie poked him laughing. Fulton and Hayley did get along these days but there was a time when they hated each other's guts. Granted, it was because they nearly had a fist fight during their break up. A break up that was legendary around Eden Hall's gossip lines.
And the story of Allie Taylor and Dean Portman reuniting in the rain ran right along side it.
"But I'll miss you and the kids aren't home, it'll be a whole week just to ourselves!!" Fulton wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Guys that is so gross!" Sarah Portman poked her head through the door.
"Yeah gross!" three year old Deanna Taylor-Portman mimicked. She loved repeating everything her older sister said.
"You wanna see gross, I'll show you gross!" Fulton laughed and shoved his finger up his nose.
"EW!" Sarah screeched and Allie doubled over in laughter when Deanna started doing the same thing as Fulton.
"Babe, we shouldn't show Dee things like that, next she'll be eating it too" Allie laughed.
"Nope, already taken care of" Fulton laughed when Deanna promptly stuck her finger in her mouth.
"Mommy, when do I go see grandpa?" Deanna asked in her three year old voice. Obviously it didn't come out sounding like that but that's what she was meaning. She'd started speaking actual words that were distinguishable just after her second birthday
"Tomorrow, and we get to see Bash and his brothers and sisters too" Allie replied looking forward to seeing Bash again. She was thinking about bringing the dog back to Boston on the return trip home now that Deanna was old enough to know how to behave around such a large dog.
"Sarah are you packed for Amy's?" Allie asked. Even though Sarah begged and begged Allie to take her to LA with her, Allie had declined since Sarah had school. But she did promise the girl that she'd take her during her spring break. Even Fulton agreed to visit the West Coast with them.
"Yeah, can you bring me back something cool?" Sarah asked hopefully. Obviously she was itching for more of Hayley's designs. Hayley always sent over anything that wasn't sold and out of season across to Sarah and Allie. She always sent over the first of anything too. Hayley liked to have her best friend's opinion on anything she was doing.
"I'll see what I can do!" Allie replied eying Fulton slyly.
The pair had a plan to buy Sarah a car for her 16th birthday and Allie was going to start looking around in LA for some prices and models whilst she had the opportunity to do so without Sarah finding out.
"Cool, come on Deanna mommy has to finish packing. Lets go play outside" Sarah suggested.
"Be careful" Allie warned. It was a warning she issued each time they went outside but she felt it was necessary with the complex having a communal backyard. One day her and Fulton would get a proper house with a real backyard for them to live in but it just wasn't possible at the moment.
"We will!" Sarah called back
"We will" Deanna copied.
"She's such a little smartass!" Fulton exclaimed when the partners in crime had left.
"Who Sarah or Deanna?" Allie grinned.
"Well I was gonna say Deanna but both!" Fulton laughed kissing his girlfriend on the cheek and letting her get back to her packing in peace.
"Hmm and I wonder where they get it from" she said softly to herself smiling as she placed a sweater in the suitcase.