A/N: Hey everyone! This is my new fanfic Time, Fate, and Love and it is the sequel to Ryan and Justine (A modern-day Romeo and Juliet), which so many of you faithfully read. Thanks to all of you guys that continue to support me!

I am sorry that it has taken me forever to update my stories, but I have been so busy these last few months. This summer, and into next year, I will try to update more often!

And hopefully, this is long enough to sustain you while you wait for the next chapter.

Disclaimer: This is MINE! I own all of these characters, as well as the plot!

Previously in Time, Fate, and Love:
I put my bags down in the entryway, and flipped the light switch. Suddenly, the whole house was lit up like a pumpkin at Halloween, and then my friends and family were jumping out at me shouting "Welcome home!"


Chapter Two

Justine POV:

Natalie rushed forward and gave me a huge hug. I hugged her back, and then we both started talking at once.

"You first," she said, leading me farther into the house.

"No, you first."

She smiled. "So Mark and I have been dating for a while now, right?"

I nodded, and then realized where she was taking this. "Oh my God!" I exclaimed, forcing myself to remain grounded. "For real?" I felt like I was in high school again and Mark had just asked her out for the first time. "When?"

"Last night," Natalie replied, holding out her hand for me to see the ring. The princess cut engagement ring shone as it caught the light. The center diamond sat in the middle of two smaller cut diamonds.

"Speaking of which, where is Mark?"

Just then, the front door opened and the groom-to-be walked in.

"Speak of the devil," Matt said laughing.

Mark smiled, and wrapped his arm around Natalie. "So… how does it feel to be out of college?"

I smiled. "Absolutely wonderful," I replied and everyone agreed.

"Great. Now, let's get this party started!" Mark said, walking over to the stereo system and plugging his iPod in.

Later that night, I fell into a deep sleep dreaming about the past…

His fingers were laced through mine as we walked down the hallway at Verona High School. Natalie and Mark and Ben and Rachel and Matt and Laura were around us, laughing and were all having a good time…

Pictures of our Florida vacation flashed in my head. Bits and pieces of our cannonball contest replayed, as did our hot-tub fiasco.

Once we had all congratulated each other for the cannonball contest, we climbed out of the pool, and into the bubbling, warm hot-tub.

Ryan put his arm around me, and kissed me. His wet lips tasted like chlorine as we explored each other's mouths.

Meanwhile, everyone else had started kissing too.

A little bit later, I heard a voice clear its throat, so I pulled away from Ryan and looked up. "Hi Mom!"

I woke up with a start, almost forgetting where I was. I looked around my unrecognizable room out the window, towards my closet, and at my digital clock on my dresser, which read 3:25 AM.

I groaned and rolled over thinking about my dream. I was dreaming about the past…why? Why was I dreaming about Ryan and high school? Do I want to relive all those memories? I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled the blankets over my head. Justine, stop being ridiculous, I told myself. You don't love him anymore. You don't love him…

I woke up for the second time around eight, and changed into my black running shorts and a red tank and headed outside into the warm sunshine for a jog. I ran up the road, past Rachel's house and turned the corner. I ran past the tree-lined neighborhood streets, and down to the ocean, where I took off my sneakers and carried them loosely in my hand.

As I walked along the sandy beach, the water breaking at my ankles, I thought more about my dream.

"Why am I dreaming of the past?" I asked aloud. "I want to move forward, not backwards," I told myself as I turned to look out to the ocean.

The early-morning sun reflected off the still water, making it look more like a mirror than water.

I watched a sailboat move across the glistening water, its reflection moving invertedly along.

I turned away from the water and continued walking up the shore. I passed by the houses until I reached the open field where people like to play Frisbee and soccer on warm days.

"…Justine!" A voice called from behind me. "Justine! Can you slow down?"

I stopped walking, but didn't turn around. That voice sounded very familiar, but it was different somehow.

"Justine," the voice said again.

I turned around and looked down at the sand in front of me. I drew a circle with my toe. "What are you doing here?" I asked sternly.

"I saw you walking…"

I looked up to the blue-eyed, blond-haired guy in front of me. "O-kay," I said slowly. "And…"

"And I…" He let his voice drop. "I… you look like you need someone to walk with."

I looked at him. "Um… ok. Did you want to walk with me?"

"Sure. Where are we going?" He asked.

"Not sure. I'm just walking aimlessly."

"Alrighty then. That works." He laughed.

"What?" I asked, hitting him lightly on the arm.

"Nothing," he replied.

We were silent for a while as we walked through the field and then he said, "Come with me."

I followed him around a bend, past a park full of little kids, and over a short foot bridge. "Where are we going?" I asked. He didn't respond. "Where are we going?" I asked again. No response. "Ryan!" I giggled, "Where are we going?"

He sighed. "You'll see."

"That's not fair."

"Yeah, well, life's not fair."

I smiled and continued following him in silence. I could feel sweat on my back as we walked down a small dirt path.

"Alright, here we are," Ryan said, holding back a tree branch.

I looked past the trees into the opening. A lighthouse stood in front of us, standing over us, almost protecting us. Like how a mother protects her babies.

"Ryan," I said.

He led me forward, closer to the lighthouse. "What?"

"This is…" I stopped. "I can't do this."

"Do what?" He asked, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"No," I shrugged his hand off, "I can't. We can't."

"What, we can't be friends?"

I crossed my arms in front of my chest. "I didn't say that." I took a deep breath and looked at the lighthouse.

Ryan placed both of his hands on my hips and pulled me closer to him. I could feel the heat from his body on mine as he held me close. "Then what did you mean?" He whispered.

I held him at arms' length. "I don't want to do this again. I don't love you anymore Ryan."

He pulled me into a hug. "I didn't bring you here to try and get back together with you."

"Then why did you bring me here?" I asked keeping my head at his shoulder.

"Because I know how much you love it here," he replied releasing the hug. He took my hand and brought me closer to the lighthouse.

The red stripes had faded from the years and now looked more like pink than the dark red they used to be.

"This used to be your favorite place."

I nodded and looked up into his blue eyes. "Yeah, it used to be."

"So, what happened?" he asked, sitting down on the stone step.

I sat down and looked at my hands. "Brian and Me. You and Me. And then everything got messed up and… well, things are different now."

"So…" he asked nonchalantly, "are you seeing anyone?"

"No. Are you?" I asked, looking at him again.

"Nope."

"Why not?" I asked.

He laughed. "I don't know. Just haven't met the right person I guess."

I smiled. "So, what have you been doing lately? You didn't come to my party last night."

"I wasn't invited."

"Well, that's not much of a surprise knowing my mother," I said with a smile. "Do you remember that night in the hot tub?"

He smiled. "Yeah. Or that time in the bathroom?"

"Yes! Oh, that was embarrassing. My dad came looking for you while we were making out. I was sure we were going to get caught."

"But we didn't."

"Yeah, thank God," I said with a giggle.

"So, what have you been up to? I didn't hear from you once while you were at Syracuse."

"I know. But you weren't exactly the first thing on my mind."

"Oh?" Ryan said with interest. "Then what was?"

"All of my classes and activities. And then you add in all the drama and everything else…"

"Ah."

"Yeah. So, what about you? What have you been up to?"

"Well, since I got home, I have been working a little. Nothing big, just for my dad."

"And you are going to law school soon? Is that what I heard?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah. I leave the end of August to go back."

"I still can't believe that I'm done. The past four years feel like they flew by."

"I know what you mean. It feels like yesterday we were graduating from this place," Ryan said looking around.

Ryan POV:

I looked away from Justine, out to the water. The mid-morning sun was getting hotter and the wind was starting to pick up. The water was getting choppier, distorting the clear, still image.

"So, are you going to stay here after you get your law degree?" Justine asked me.

I looked at her but couldn't find the words to say. "I… I um… What?"

"Are you staying in Verona after you get your law degree?" She repeated.

"I don't know. I guess if I can get a job here, then I will. But otherwise, I'll go elsewhere."

She nodded.

"What about you?" I asked, looking into her brown eyes.

"I'm hoping that I can get a job here," she said, "at the Verona Free Press. I'm going over there tomorrow to see if I can talk to Jamie."

"Good luck with that then," I said.

"Yeah, thanks," she said looking up to the rising sun. "Well, I guess I should go."

"Um… yeah. Sorry. I didn't realize that it was so late."

She smiled a beautiful smile. "It's not your fault," she said standing up. "Besides, I really enjoyed catching up. We should do it again sometime."

"We should," I said standing up.

"Okay, well, I guess I should get going. I haven't eaten, or even taken a shower yet." She smiled and then said, "Bye."

I watched her walk away, her long hair blowing slightly in the wind. "Justine?" I called to her.

She turned around with a smile on her face. "Yeah?"

"You want a ride from my house?"

"Yeah, that would be great. Thanks!"

I hurried up to her, and we walked back through the trees, and through the field, until we reached the beach.

"Race you," she challenged, getting a head start.

And so we chased each other down the beach, back to my house. I let her beat me there, and when I caught up to her, I picked her up by the waist and spun her around.

We made our way inside the house, and to the kitchen. Justine walked over to the sink, and looked out to the ocean, just as she was five years ago.

"Do you remember that?" She asked me.

"Yeah," I said. "I was thinking about the same thing."

"That day feels like it was yesterday," she said turning around to face me.

"I know what you mean," I said crossing from the island to the sink. I placed my hands on her hips and gently kissed her lips.

"Ryan," she said softly, breaking the kiss.

"What?" I asked kissing her again.

"Ryan," she said pushing me away.

I looked into her eyes, and knew that this is what I wanted. I wanted to be with her forever, to hold her and kiss her and love her. When I held her that afternoon, I knew that I loved her; I hadn't stopped loving her.

"What?" I repeated.

"We can't do this?"

"Why not?"

She looked away from me, avoiding my eyes. "Because you said that you didn't want to get back together with me."

"Did I?" I asked innocently.

Justine nodded. "Remember when you said, 'I didn't bring you here to try and get back together with you.'?"

I nodded.

"Well, I believed you."

"Good, because I wasn't lying to you. I didn't bring you there to get back together with you. But now, standing here, with you, like this…" My voice trailed off.

"Ryan," she said walking away from me.

"No, let me get this out. Being here with you, right here, right now, made me realize that while I can live without you, I don't want to."

"Ryan," Justine said once again. "I meant what I said earlier. I don't love you anymore." She looked at the floor, once again, avoiding eye contact. "I'm sorry, I just… Things are different now. I don't feel the way I used to. Things change, Ryan. People change."

I looked out the window. The waves were choppy, colliding with each other, hitting boats head on.

"Ryan," Justine said softly. She crossed the kitchen to where I was standing. "I'm sorry," she said. She kissed my cheek, "I'm sorry."

(A/N: Oh my god! I am so excited to find out what happens next. Okay, well, I have a general idea, but who actually knows… I guess we'll find out soon enough! Please Review! It means a lot to me. Tell me what you liked, what you didn't. Any ideas that you have for future chapters! I will try to use what you give me to improve future chapters. Thanks to all of you that read my writing! It gives me a lot of support!)