Wooooo, this is my first ever fic so please go easy on me! Hope you like it! :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Apart from my OC's.

Chapter 1: The Past

Happiness…

The one thing Skye remembered most about this place. She was always happy here.

17 years ago…

Layla Skye Ryan was born on the 5th of July 1988 and found by Katherine and Jacob Ryan two weeks later, on the doorstep of their home in the early hours of the morning. No note visible, just a bracelet with a single heart shaped charm attached to it, engraved with the letter P, tucked away safely beside the infant.

Katherine saw the beautiful baby girl as a gift from God as she had recently been told that her chances of having a child were slim-to-none- something about having a hostile womb. Jacob however was a little more hesitant in accepting the infant as his own, trying to reason with his wife but she wouldn't budge. That's just how she was- thinking with her heart instead of her head, he on the other hand was the complete opposite. Being a neurosurgeon, he had learnt to switch between the two when the situation called for it, not wanting his emotions to cloud his judgment.

After a few minutes of contemplating what to do, he decided that going to the police would be for the best. Although Katherine was not thrilled with the idea of having to give the child up so soon after convincing herself that she was finally going to be a mother, she knew it was the right thing to do.

Katherine insisted on staying with the child until she was sure that she would be put into the best care possible. When it came time to give her statement to the police she handed the baby girl to her husband, he in turn reluctantly took her, not wanting to wake her up. However it was too late for that. In his attempt to hold her in a comfortable position, she had begun to stir, slowly fluttering her eye lids until she was fully alert. Jacob braced himself for the uncontrollable sobs, but they never came. Instead she looked right at him with her green eyes and he could have sworn she smiled at him. From that moment on he was hooked and promised himself that he would do everything in his power to keep her right where she was- safe in his arms.

The following months were brutal. They named the baby girl Layla Skye Ryan and in addition to finding out that the she was stolen from the hospital two week prior to them discovering her on their doorstep- most likely by the mother who could not deal with raising a sick child, she was also born with congenital heart defects or 'a faulty heart' as Kate would put it. Jake having some knowledge of Layla's condition set to work on finding her the best cardiologist's and treatment available, constantly reminding himself of the promise he made the moment she looked into his eyes.

At three months old, Layla had her first surgery with Jake looking on in the operating room. It went smoothly and with luck she would never need to have another operation for the rest of her life- allowing her to grow up normal.

8 years later…

Layla always knew she was different, not because she didn't fit in at school or have any friends- she loved school and her friends, but unlike them, she was adopted, and for that- she was always grateful.

In the small town of Ipswich, Massachusetts made famous for its witchcraft trials and stocking mills, where everyone knew each other, Layla stuck out like a sore thumb, and she loved it. People treated her differently, not because she was a girl of south India decent living with white parents, but because she along with her four best friends were the resident trouble makers, and being the only girl amongst the group made her shine just a little bit more. She was the thorn in the side of every candy and ice-cream shop owner in town, yet they never turned her down when she'd come by for a free treat. All she had to do was flutter her long eye lashes and smile, and with that she could worm her way into just about anyone's heart.

Laughter…

It was all the residents ever heard as the five of them rode their bikes through the streets of the little town.

Laughter…

It was the absence of it that left questionable looks on the faces of all those who were so used to hearing it...

Skye hadn't heard from Caleb, Pogue, Tyler or Reid in two days and that just wasn't like them, for as long as she could remember, they were all best friends and practically inseparable. She wasn't one to worry. They always did enough of that for her, yet she couldn't help feeling that something was wrong. She hoped it was nothing, no…she knew it was nothing. She was just being paranoid. They were probably arguing about who got to take Madison Clark to the dance next week. Personally, she couldn't see why they liked her. She was stuck up and wore way to much pink, sort of reminding her of a giant marshmallow…wait no, scratch that. She like marshmallows and she definitely did not like Madison Clark. She would think of something else to compare her to later, but for now she'd find out why none of the boys had been by her house to play catch or ask her how to talk to girls. The longest they had ever gone without speaking to each other was a couple of hours, and that alone was torture, so where were they? Her thought's came to a halt when she reached the front gates of the Simms estate.

She buzzed the intercom and was greeted by the Simms' chef.

"Hello?"

Skye smiled at the older mans warm voice. "Hey Manny, it's me Skye. I was just wondering if Tyler and the guys were here."

He chuckled to himself, having just realized that he hasn't seen Skye in two days. "Yeah, come on in honey. I think they're out back in the garden."

With that, the gate began to swing open. As she walked around to the back of the Simms household, she kept going over all the reason they haven't been in touch with her. Maybe they forgot about me? She giggled at the thought. "Like that would ever happen." Her smile soon began to falter when she heard shouting. Speeding up her pace, she rounded the corner to see all four of the boys facing the pool house wall. She was about to call out to them when she saw Pogue raise his hand- it was shaking.

What were they doing? Yeah, they could be weird at times but she never gave much thought to it. She always blamed it on them being boys, simple as that. He stood there for a couple of seconds before dropping his hand and easing the tension in his forearm.

Reid smirked at this. "You're obviously not doing it right."

Caleb came to stand in between Pogue and Reid. "Ignore him. Let me show you. You're thinking about it too much."

Skye stood there in silence, taking it what she was seeing. Caleb's eyes had turned pitch black as he, just like Pogue- raised his hand. Suddenly out of nowhere, Caleb seemed to be emitting some sort of invisible force from his hand, and with that sent a trash can flying from one end of the garden to the other. Skye gasped, loud enough for them to hear. She saw them all turn and face her. Shock and fear written all over their faces. Tyler took a step towards her, she instantly reacted and took a step back. She was scared, her breathing becoming much heavier, almost starting to hurt. "Caleb what's going on?"

He just looked at the three other boys standing beside him and then at her, not saying a word.

She began hyperventilating, finding it increasingly difficult to breathe. It had happened before but Jake was always there to calm her down or give her something for it. The pain was never this bad. She could feel her knees about to give in and clutched her chest. She started crying as soon as she felt her knees make contact with the ground and heard hurried footsteps coming towards her. They were all shouting.

"What's happening?" Reid screamed as Pogue knelt down beside her, pulling Skye closer to him, cradling her in his arms.

"It hurts!" Was all she managed to say between the sobs.

Everything was spinning. The last thing she remembered seeing were the tears that spilled from the eyes of her four best friends.

They spoke in hushed voices. Caleb, Tyler, Pogue and Reid sat in the waiting room of the Benjamin Stickney Cable Memorial Hospital with their parents, all of whom were close friends with Jake and Kate Ryan, and were especially fond of the young lady currently lying unconscious in one of the many hospital beds. The four boys had not said a word since arriving at the hospital. No one had been able to get them to open up about what happened. Hell, they were a bit fuzzy on the details themselves.

"This is our fault." Caleb muttered under his breath, airing the one thought that plagued all of them.

William Danvers walked up to the four adolescents, putting a reassuring hand on his sons shoulder while looking at them all. "There's no need for you boys to beat yourselves up about this. There's no way you could have known this was going to happen."

Caleb tried to take in his fathers words but they did nothing to ease his guilty feelings. "Dad, you don't understand!" He shot back at his father, releasing him from his strong grip and standing up. "If it weren't for us she'd be fine! We did this to her!"

William moved to stand in front of Caleb, grabbing both his shoulders this time, trying to calm him down. "Son, calm down. Just take a deep breath and calm down."

Caleb did as he was told before his father carried on. "Now, why don't you tell me what happened?"

Caleb looked from his father to his friends, not able to say a word.

It was Tyler who spoke up. "It happened so fast, one minute we were practicing, the next we heard a noise and when we turned around, there was Skye, looking at us as if she'd seen a ghost."

The older man looked at them in confusion. "Practicing?"

It was Reid who answered this time. "Yes sir…we were Using."

William's eyes widened in shock and realization. He knew of Skye's heart condition but never gave much thought to what triggered her reaction. It quickly dawned on him that Caleb might be right. "How could you boys have been so reckless?"

But before any of them could answer, they saw Jake and Kate walking towards them with tired expressions. Tyler's mother Molly was the first to reach them. She had been the one who found the boys and Skye outside after hearing the commotion. "How is she?"

Jake looked at his friend, grateful that she had got Skye to the hospital so quickly. "Stable.", was all he had in him to say.

Everyone let out a long awaited breath of relief. Kate walked over to her friends, tears threatening to betray her calm exterior. "Would it be alright with you all if I spoke to the boys?"

They looked at her warmly and nodded.

She made her way over to the boys who she had grown to love. They always looked out for Skye like a sister. She sat down next to Pogue as he was the closest, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and smiling at them. "Hey, how you guys doing?"

Pogue who had remained quiet all this time felt like the weight of the world had been placed on his shoulders and couldn't take it anymore. "We're so sorry Aunt Kate! We didn't mean for this to happen! It's all our fault!" He sobbed into her shoulder.

She rubbed reassuring circles on his back, trying to calm him down. "Hey, hey, don't say that. None of this is your fault. Skye has been sick for a long time, you guys know that."

But Pogue wasn't having any of it. "No it is our fault! She saw us…"

Kate looked at them, her face showing signs of confusion and worry. "Saw what?"

Caleb quickly answered before Pogue could. He knew that the truth would only make things worse for everyone. Plus none of them could even be sure just how much Skye had witnessed. "Arguing… she saw us arguing and tried to stop us, but we didn't listen to her. The next thing we knew she was laying on the ground crying, saying that she couldn't breathe. If she hadn't seen us then she wouldn't be here." There was some truth to that lie.

Kate's expression turned softer, she now understood. "Now look at me…all of you. You four have always been so good to Skye. She loves you guys and would hate to see you beating yourselves up about this. So I want you all to promise that you'll stop blaming yourselves! If not for me, then do it for Skye…please?"

They looked at the desperation in her eyes and nodded. There was no turning back now.

Once she and William returned to the other parents, none of the boys said anything. Caleb saw the glances his friends and father had given him, but neither of them tried to stop his lie. So that became their story, and whether or not they liked it, they were going to have to stick by it.

Skye woke up three days later and much to everyone surprise, apart from Jake's, the last thing she remembered was buzzing the intercom of the Simms estate and briefly speaking to their cook Manny. The boys filled her in on how she ended up at the hospital and luckily enough for them, she seemed to bite. But her memory loss was the least of her worries. Turns out that over the past couple of months, a series of narrow veins in Skye's heart had begun to form. This meant that less blood was being pumped to her heart and as a result there was a lack of both blood and oxygen traveling to the organs in her body- which explains her memory loss as her brain was not receiving enough oxygen.

Skye didn't care much for the details, she only wanted to know one thing. Was she going to be alright?

Her father's answer- "yes", but it came at a price- her home, her friends, her life, and she was not willing to pay.

Her mother tried to reason with her. "Come on Skye, don't you think you're over reacting? You're only 8 years old. You'll make new friends. Plus we'd be moving to an entirely different country! Do you know what people would give to have that kind of opportunity?"

Skye just stared at her mother. What was wrong with her? Couldn't she see she was ruining my life! "Well I'm not like most people and I don't want new friends. I want to stay right here where I'm happy! Can't you see that I'm happy?"

Kate sympathized with her daughter but she would also do anything and everything to ensure that she lived a long and healthy life, even if it meant Skye hating her for the rest of her life. "Darling, Dr Patel is one of the best cardiologists in the world! He's your best shot at getting better and not having to worry about when you're next surgery will be!"

Skye was not backing down. "But London Mom? Why can't he come here?"

In time, Kate knew that Skye would some day forgive her…or at least she hoped. "That's not how it works Skye! Now we're doing this for you and I'm sorry if you can't see that right now but the decision is final. We're leaving next week. I'll help you with your packing as soon as I'm done with my own."

With that, she left the room and Skye was reduced to tears. Her parents refused to understand, so she ran to the only people she knew who would, her friends.

Evelyn Danvers rushed to answer the front door of her house as she heard persistent knocking. She opened it to reveal a crying Skye. "Skye honey, what's wrong?" kneeling down to her level and pulling her into a tight hug.

Skye sobbed into the shoulder of the older woman. "They're making me leave Aunt Eve! I don't wanna go!

Evelyn knew exactly what Skye was referring to. She had sat down with her friends- Kate, Jake and the rest of the parents to discuss what would be in Skye's best interest. No one was fond of the idea of the Ryan family packing up and leaving everyone else behind but if it meant helping Skye, they would all be supportive. Nevertheless she still felt sorry for the young lady in her arms. "Its okay honey, everything is going to be okay." She wiped the remainder of Skye's tears with the pad of her thumb and called for Caleb. He ran down the stairs and immediately grabbed Skye's hand upon seeing her. He took her to the one place he was sure would cheer her up- their tree house.

Reid, Tyler and Pogue soon arrived, and before too long none stop laughter could be heard all the way from the front of the house. Hours had gone by as Evelyn stared out the window of the kitchen to see candles burning and animated shadows. She dialed the Ryan residence and was greeted by Kate.

"Hello?"

"Hey Kate its Eve, just wanted to let you know Skye's here and she's fine. I'm actually quite surprised that you hadn't phoned to check up on her earlier."

Kate smiled to herself. "Actually I phoned Molly about 15 minutes after Skye left. Apparently Caleb sent Tyler, Reid and Pogue an S.O.S, and they were out the door before she could even ask where they were going. That could only mean one thing." She laughed.

Evelyn chuckled to herself as well. "It's a wonder what those boys are going to do without Skye to keep them in line. Anyway, I was just thinking that Skye could stay the night and you could come get her or I could bring her home in the morning, if that's alright with you?

Kate thought it would be best to let Skye spend as much time with the boys as possible before leaving. "Yeah, that's fine. I'll come by around noon tomorrow and get her."

Evelyn smiled knowing that this would make Skye happy. "Sure thing Kate, I'll see you tomorrow, bye." And with that she put down the phone.

Evelyn made her way out to the tree house, carrying as many pillows and blankets as she could. If Skye was spending the night, it meant everyone else was to. She reached the top of the ladder to find all five of them sound asleep. She could have woken them up and shooed them to the bedrooms but they looked so peaceful. She placed the pillows to one side and covered them with the blankets, realizing that this would be one of the last times they'd all be together.

All four of the boys were wide awake by the time the Sun had come up, wondering what their lives would be like when Skye was no longer there. They had known for a few days that Skye and her parents were leaving soon. None of them really liked it but as selfish as it may seem, they were also somewhat glad. It meant they wouldn't have to hide who they truly were and what they could do from Skye, as well as avoid putting her through that much pain ever again. They would still miss her terribly though and knew that when the time came for her to leave, she would take a tiny bit of each of them with her.

Reid was taken out of his daze when he saw Skye begin to shift and open her eyes. "Mornin' dork." He said smiling at her.

Skye chuckled to herself. "Shut it Garwin."

Tyler reached over and ruffled her hair. She tried to smack his hand away. This only seemed to excite him further as he pulled her under his arm and gave her a noogie.

Pogue laughed at this, glad that she seemed to be happier than she was a couple of hours ago. "Come on guys, knock it off, before one of you falls out."

Skye finally managed to release herself from under his arms. "Yeah Tyler, knock it off.", trying to imitate Pogue in the process.

He just smirked at her.

They all just sat in their spots for a while, no one really knowing what to say. She thought it best to break the awkward silence. "So I guess you guys know, huh?"

Caleb answered. "We're sorry we didn't tell you Skye, our parents made us promise to keep it a secret. They said that it should be your mom and dad who broke the news to you."

Skye just smiled at them. "Don't worry about it, I understand…still sucks that I have to leave though!"

Reid tried to make light of the situation. "Maybe it won't be so bad. I mean you'll make new friend and you'll be getting better."

Skye was a bit frustrated at that point. "God, you sound just like my parents!"

Caleb and the others weren't trying to make her feel bad but they had to at least try and make her understand that it was the right thing to do. "C'mon Skye, don't be like that. Everyone's just tryna' do what's best for you." He stated calmly.

She was on the verge of tears. She thought that they- her best friends, of all people would understand and want her to stick around. She was wrong. They probably wanted her gone so they wouldn't have to put up with her anymore, or so she thought. "Whatever! You guys probably don't wanna be hanging around with a girl anymore…I get it.", and with that she climbed down the ladder and headed towards the house.

She heard them call after her but she just ignored them. They were probably feeling sorry for her and if they didn't want to be friends anymore, then she wasn't going to force them. She stepped into the house and was greeted by Caleb's mother. "Hey Hun, you're Mom's coming by in about an hour to pick you up. Do want some breakfast while you're waiting? I could make you some French toast? I know it's your favourite."

Skye just smiled at her and nodded her head. Some things would never change. She sat in silence as Evelyn whipped around the kitchen, making breakfast. They ate together and when the boys finally came in from the tree house, she ignored them and they didn't push her to speak, not wanting to upset her any more.

Kate rounded the corner in her car and came to a stop in from of the Danvers' Estate. She buzzed the intercom and Evelyn answered. "Hello?"

"Hey Eve, its me."

Evelyn recognizing the woman's voice as Kate's, pressed the button for the gates to open and heard her car hooter from outside. "Skye, you're Mom's here." She called from the front door.

Skye hopped of the bar stool in the kitchen, not looking back to say bye to the boys. They just watched her exit the kitchen from their seats. Skye made her way out the house to her mother's car and saw the two women having a discussion. She simply hugged Evelyn goodbye and got in the passenger seat of the car. As they drove away, she looked at the rear-view mirror to see the four boys standing at the doorway to the house, just watching them drive away. Their eyes made contact for a second before Skye looked away and kept her eyes focused on the road in front of her. The ride home was silent.

A week later, Caleb, Pogue, Reid and Tyler stood with their parents, in the Departures lounge of Boston Logan airport, waiting for Jake, Kate and Skye to return from the international check-in desks. Skye hadn't spoken to any of the boys since the day she slept over. They tried calling her and going over to her house but she refused to see or speak to them. There was no more they could do, she was leaving and they hadn't had a chance to make everything right.

"British Airways flight BA106 to London, Heathrow is now boarding. Passengers please make your way to gate 12. Thank you." They all heard from the announcer.

Kate, Jake and Skye had just enough time to say their goodbyes. It was an emotional farewell as all the older women cried. Skye turned to the boys with an expressionless face after being dragged from hug to hug by all the elder men and women. She looked at them for a second before speaking. "Goodbye."

Nothing more, nothing less…

She turned back to her parents, taking her fathers hands as they walked towards the security check. Once they were through, she looked back at all the people waving and stared at her best friends, a rush of emotion hitting her. What was wrong with her? They were just trying to make her feel better. She let go of her father's hand and sprinted towards them. They saw her coming and caught her in a group hug. They stayed like that for a few seconds before Skye broke away. "I'm gonna miss you guys so much!"

"Ditto" was all they said, smiling as they watched Skye make her way back towards her parents and take her fathers hand.

Everything was the way it was meant to be.

Well there you go guys. I wanna thank everyone who took the time to read this. I plan on making it a mulit chapter story- if anyone hadn't realised. I'll try and update regularly but exams are nearing so I'm apologizing in advance- incase I mess up! Also I'd really appreciate any feedback- comments, criticisms, suggestions...literally anything lol, so please please please R&R!

Until next time...

Siran :)