This was inspired by my probably new favorite show premiering in the fall on Fox, "New Girl" starring Zooey Deschanel. Also this has a lot of similarity to MelissaIsLame's story "The Roommate" and I swear I'm not trying to take the idea from her! Her story was amazing beginning to end! So I dedicate this story to her and hope to make it my own. :)

I needed to write a different story and start fresh because Don't Panic pt. 2 made me so mad that I can't bring myself to update any of my previous stories right now. I WILL finish them but this idea hit me like a comet (wink wink) and I just needed to do it.

Story title: In the Sun by She and Him

I hope you enjoy! Please review!

Clare Edwards grabbed her final box from the apartment and closed the door behind her in a huff, not bothering to look back at the man who watched her leave. It was only yesterday that she found out that her now ex-boyfriend Owen had cheated on her with a model he was working with. Now she was homeless, moving to her friend's place down the street temporarily until she could find her own place to say.

She didn't have a great paying job as a new writer for the local newspaper but she did have some money coming in from her first published book. It was a short little novel that didn't get much recognition but it was still being distributed around the area and it kept some money flowing in. She was also a TU student in her second year. She didn't know her next move after college, only imagined herself with Owen afterwards.

Clare smiled weakly at her best friend Alli when she showed up at her place for the fourth time that day and brought her things to her temporary room. She sighed and set the box down in a corner and didn't bother to unpack anything just yet.

"You know you can just stay here," Alli told her.

"No, I can't intrude on you and Dave for longer than a few days Alli," Clare replied. "You live with your boyfriend. I doubt he'd enjoy it if your best friend crashed the party."

Alli tried to fake enthusiasm but her face fell. "Yeah, you're right. I just hate seeing you like this. Owen is an asshole. Do you know who it was?"

"The girl? Yeah, wait…" Clare looked through one of her boxes and flipped through a copy of a magazine. "Aha, here." She handed it to Alli and Alli gasped.

"Owen cheated on you with her? Imogen Moreno? That little skank. I've worked with her before. Total biotch."

"Yup," Clare said. "I'm such an idiot. Look at her. She's gorgeous and I'm just….this."

"Clare, shut up. You're beautiful. You get hit on more than any person I know and that says a lot since I work with a lot of models," Alli assured her, sitting beside her on the bed.

"I should really get more friends," Clare rolled her eyes. Most of her friends happened to be models. She knew Alli before she booked her first modeling job and supported her through it all, keeping her grounded. Through this, she met Owen Milligan and after several months of dating they ended up moving in together. Little did she know that just a month after they got their apartment, he had started to see Imogen and this went on for two more months until Clare finally found out.

"Maybe we could look online and see places around here that maybe you could rent. Maybe someone's looking for a roommate," Alli suggested.

"Could you look for me? I wanna go for a walk right now, clear my head," Clare smiled weakly again. Alli nodded and Clare walked out of the apartment, not bothering to bring her jacket with her.

She started walking down the sidewalk aimlessly, not paying much to her surroundings. She thought of what made Owen cheat on her. Was it because she was boring? Was it because she was staying pure until marriage? That had to be it, right? Owen was notorious for being a playboy but when Clare and him got together, he seemed to tone down his ways. He was a gentleman to her and she believed the act. He always said that he didn't mind waiting but that was obviously not true since he was sleeping with the famous Imogen Moreno behind her back.

Clare had no idea what happened but suddenly someone was pulling her by the waist out of the street and a car honked loudly past her and she realized now that she almost got run over. She was so lost in her thoughts that she had no idea that she had just walked in the street without looking left and right.

"You okay?"

Clare turned her head to thank her hero and was taken back at the beautiful man who had his arms still protecting her.

"Yeah," she said nervously. The warmth left her as he let her go. "Just thinking too much, wasn't paying attention."

"I see that," he joked. "Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Clare smiled. "Thank you."

"No problem. Hope you can resolve whatever you were thinking about," he smirked and Clare felt herself blush. Suddenly her mind was clear, she truthfully couldn't even remember what had been plaguing her mind. All she could think of was this guy, green eyes and a beautiful face, and risked his own life to save her.

"Yeah, I can't even remember what it was," she admitted to him nervously laughing.

"Good," he smiled. "Unless it was really important…"

Her phone rang and it flashed Owen's name. Oh…right. "No, it wasn't important," she told him, silencing her phone and putting it away. "Something dumb."

They looked at each other for what seemed to be a long time. People were walking past but Clare couldn't tear her eyes away from him. She didn't even know his name and she was already smitten by him.

"I-I have to go," she finally said and she looked away embarrassed, not realizing how long she had stared. "Thanks again. See you around?"

"Guess you will," he stuffed his hands in his pockets and smirked, walking away from her. She saw him look back at her one more time, the smirk still on his face, and she felt her heart sigh.

She didn't catch his name and she was sure she wouldn't see him again but she no longer felt sad by Owen's betrayal. Having this moment with a stranger made her realize that she could move on and had the strength to.

If only she'd gotten his name.

Clare stopped at a coffee place and sat near the front window sipping her coffee and reading one of the recent magazines at the shop. She saw Imogen's picture again, the one she had shown Alli earlier, and she rolled her eyes and angrily turned the page. There was tapping on the glass in front of her and she smiled brightly at who it was.

He was in front of her in a split second and she hugged him tightly. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd never leave Muskoka!"

"Transferred to TU this year," Jake Martin answered, Clare's childhood friend and still talked everyone once in a while. "Would've called you but you changed your number. Can't believe it took us this long to cross paths."

"What are you studying?" Clare asked, motioning for him to take the seat beside hers.

"Architecture."

"Of course," Clare laughed. "You're not living on campus, are you?"

"Oh no," Jake said. He lifted up the papers in his hands. "I'm in an apartment with two others. We're actually looking for a fourth roommate. The place is awesome but with just us 3, we can barely make it."

"Actually…" Clare said slowly. "I'm in need of a new place."

Jake raised a brow. "I would think that Clare Edwards would have a place to call her own, especially with her being a famous published writer and all."

Clare scoffed. "Not famous."

"You might as well be in my place. One of my roommates loves your book. I think he might pass out if I introduced you to him," Jake nudged her playfully. "And if you're really interested, I could show you around the place and see if you like it. Might have to talk to the guys about having a girl as the fourth roommate but if you can make rent then I don't think they would mind."

"You mean, I'd be the only girl?"Clare asked unsurely. Sure she already lived with one guy but that guy was her boyfriend. Three guys? At least she knew one…

"They're both awesome Clare. You'd really like them. I'm pretty sure you're wondering so I'll just say it. One has a girlfriend, the other doesn't really date, or so he says. But if it's too weird then…"

"No, I think I should see the place before I make my decision," Clare said quickly. "Besides, I'm kind of in a tough place here. I need a place fast and I don't really want to waste my time looking."

"Well…then wanna go see it now?"

Clare nodded and soon they were in the elevator. Jake was chatting away about finding this apartment when his roommates Eli and Adam were looking for another roommate. Jake was working at a hardware store when Eli and Adam were talking about it and after a week or so, Jake became their roommate.

"It's a really great apartment, I think you'd really like it," Jake said as they approached the door.

"The building is lovely," Clare commented. "Looks more like a hotel than an apartment building."

"Well you can really call it a loft," Jake said. He opened the door and allowed Clare inside first and for the second time that day, her breath was taken away.

It was a modern yet rustic looking place, a wall made of bricks the living room which matched perfectly with the dark red walls and dark wooden flooring. The living room could be seen from the large kitchen with stainless steel appliances and beside the kitchen was a dining table fit for four and a chandelier hanging above it.

Things were strewn about in the living room, on the couches, on the coffee table, and an impressive dvd collection was surrounding the even more impressive entertainment center.

"What do you think?"

Clare turned back to Jake who was smiling, hopeful for a good reaction from her. She let out a breath and started to stutter. "It's…it's beautiful!" she finally sputtered out. "Like a dream!"

"Well there's only 3 bedrooms and we were thinking that the roommate would share with me but I'd be okay with rooming with one of the other guys if they're cool with it so you could have your own," Jake explained. "I'll call them now if you want. Explore the rest of it."

Clare walked through one of the hallways and saw a tidy bathroom, a shower in it as well. Then she peeked through another door and saw a room covered with superhero and movie posters. The bed wasn't made and clothes were all over the floor. Typical, she thought. But she smiled. It was like a teenager's room but also simple.

She walked to another room and immediately knew it was Jake's. CD's were everywhere, a few guitars were on the walls, it was tidy and very blue- his favorite color. The desk had paper, pencils, and rulers. She smiled at the sight of a picture of his mom that was beside his bed. She passed away when she and Jake were kids and Clare was close to her and knew Jake was as well.

Finally she walked down another hallway and saw another bathroom and then what she presumed to be the master bedroom. It was dark looking, painted black with red curtains, some band posters on the wall. It was spotless, even more so than Jake's, and the bathroom door connected to the room was open. There was a large bookcase also and she wondered if this was the roommate who liked her book.

"Clare!"

She walked back to the living room and Jake was just putting his phone on the kitchen counter. "Good news, they're both cool with it. Said you're a childhood friend in need of a place and neither hesitated to say yes. Adam offered to share with me and Eli said you could take the master bedroom and he'd move his stuff into Adam's."

"Oh no, that's okay, he can keep the master," Clare said. "But I'm definitely in. As long as the rent is…"

"$310," Jake answered.

Clare sighed in relief. "Good. That's less than I was paying for in my old place. I'm in."

"Perfect!" Jake hugged Clare and went off to call the roommates back and Clare took out her own phone.

"Alli, guess what?" Clare said excitedly. "I found a place!"