Willow's POV

"Willow Parry," Caleb said, once he had gotten around to picking his jaw off the floor.

"Caleb Danvers," I replied, trying to sound as serious as possible. That didn't last long because once the words left my mouth, he rushed me into one of his famous hugs, lifting me off of the floor.

"Hey, no fair," a voice said interrupting our fun. "I should have gotten first hug."

Caleb put me down and we both turned to Pogue.

"No way, I'm first born, I definitely had the rights to the first hug," Caleb quipped.

Pogue replied, obviously annoyed, "Well excuse me oh fearless leader, but I'm pretty sure that blood trumps birth right any day." He walked to me and gave me a brotherly hug.

"You know he's right," another voice interrupted. "Willow is his cousin," Tyler said walking over to me.

"Tyler!," I exclaimed. "God I missed you." Then I pulled him into a bone crushing hug. I stepped back to take a good look at him. He was grinning, obviously stoked that I had shown up. I playfully punched him asking, "When the hell did you get so tall?"

He laughed, joy lighting up his face. "Oh, sometime over the last six years. Probably around the same time you got so hot." That was my Tyler, I was worried that he wouldn't be the same, I had heard from the others that he had become one of those shy guys. Heck, I even picked up on it from all the emails he sent, he was definitely not the ladies man that the others had evolved into. I hoped that he wouldn't be like that around me, I really wanted to go back to being partners-in-crime and it looked like I would be getting my wish.

"Hey that's my cousin you're talking about. I know that you're my brother, but I have no problem kicking your ass," Pogue threatened.

"Oh cuz," I said, walking over to give him another hug, "I can't say that I missed the over protective attitude."

"Who cares, so long as you missed something about me," he countered.

"Speaking of missing someone, you guys never answered my question," I whined.

Caleb laughed, "Willow, you've been gone for six years and we haven't seen you at all since you've left. Of course we miss you."

"Yeah, what kind of question is that?," Tyler added, coming in for another hug.

*Ahem*

I pulled away from Tyler so I could see the person that had not-so-subtly asserted herself. "Kate!," I squealed, unable to stop myself.

"Willow!," she squealed right back, as she ran down the steps to get in on the hug action. "You know I was waiting for you to notice me, it took you long enough," she joked as she pulled away. "And for the record, I missed you too."

"Good because I feel exactly the same about you. Gosh, if it wasn't for those pictures Pogue sends me, I never would have recognized you. You look amazing."

"Why thank you, you don't look too bad yourself. I'm so glad you're back. Ugh, I can't believe Pogue kept this from me," she said shooting him a pointed look and hitting his shoulder.

"No don't blame Pogue," I interjected, trying my best to protect my cousin. "Keeping this whole thing a secret was my idea, so there's no reason to be mad at him."

Pogue laughed. "I knew there was a reason you were my favorite cousin," he sounded relieved.

"Pogue, I'm you're only cousin," I deadpanned.

"True," he conceded. Then he nodded toward Caleb. "I think he has someone he wants you to meet. You should get to it before he spontaneously combusts."

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed as a sudden wave of realization hit me. I turned to an unfamiliar blond standing between Kate and Caleb. I'm so sorry, I totally forgot that you don't know who I am. I'm Willow Parry, you must be Sara." She nodded. "Kate and Caleb have told me so much about you," I added as I held out my right hand.

She took my hand and smiled, "Only good things I hope."

"Definitely, these two like you too much to say anything else," I replied, gesturing between Caleb and Kate. "I'm so glad to finally meet you."

"Same here, the guys talk about you non-stop whenever they take a stroll down memory lane," she joked.

"Now I know that those stories don't contain all good things." I looked around to Tyler, Caleb and Pogue, "You guys are lucky I love you because otherwise you would seriously be dealing with my wrath."

"Oh, scary," Caleb cut in and we all broke out laughing.

Once we had gotten control of ourselves, I noticed that the guys were giving each other pointed looks. When Tyler looked at me, I scrunched my eyebrows and titled my head in confusion. He only lifted his chin toward the top of the steps in explanation. I instantly understood, so I took a deep breath and started toward the top of the stairs.

And there he stood, in all his 5'11 blue-eyed glory with a smirk on his face. Confidence was definitely not something that this kid was missing. Oh how I wanted to smack that smirk off his face.

"Hi, Reid."

"Hey Willow, long time no see," he replied, still looking smug.

"Yeah, too long," I said. Then he drew me into a hug that made up for my six year absence.

"It's freezing out here let's get you inside." Pogue interjected. Stupid overprotective cousin of mine, gosh I love him. "Hey Will, I have your parking permit so if you fork over the keys to that awesome bike of yours I can move it to the lot for you."

"Cool thanks," I said as I tossed over my keys. "Just remember that it's a Harley, not a Ducati. Show it some respect." He laughed as he turned the key and sped off toward the lot while the rest of us headed inside.

My five tour guides led me up to my room, which happened to be sandwiched on the floor between Kate and Sara's and Tyler and Reid's rooms. Thanks to the last name and some string pulling, I walked into a single with a nice view of the front steps. I was glad not to have a roommate to bother whenever I had one of my restless nights.

Once in my room, it became painfully apparent that it was late and everyone was tired, so we exchanged 'goodnights' and I sent them on their way for some sleep with the promise of conversation tomorrow. That left me alone to gain my bearings in an unfamiliar room. It took me a while to locate my night clothes, as my uncle had hired someone to unpack all of my boxes which I had sent ahead of me. After I was changed, just as I was getting ready to enter dreamland, there was a knock at my door. I walked over and opened it slightly to see who it was.

"Hey I just wanted to bring back your keys so you didn't think I was joy riding on that amazing machine of yours," Pogue said smiling as he stepped into my room.

"Thanks," I said. "Did you want a place to crash? There's plenty of room here."

"Nah, I'm good. I need to head back to my apartment. So is everything cool? Did my dear old dad's movers set your room up to your liking? Is there anything you need?"

"No I'm okay, everything's great. I may have to make a store run though, seeing as I have a mini-fridge but no food. Other than that though, I should be fine. I have to remember to call Uncle Nicolas and say thank you," I replied.

"Well that shouldn't be too hard, I can come by tomorrow to help you, just in case you've forgotten your way around Ipswich," he joked.

"That'd be great. Do you think you could come by in the morning some time? I promised everyone that we'd meet up for lunch in the cafeteria, it was the only way I could get them out so we could all get some sleep. I know that I'm in for a lot of talking, so I was hoping to run my errands before that."

"Sure, no problem, I'll meet you out front at about 10, does that sound good?"

"Perfect…Hey listen, you better get going, it's late."

"Yeah, you're right, I'll see you tomorrow morning then?"

"Yup," I answered while trying to bite back a yawn.

"Cool…Willow?," he hesitated before adding, "I'm really glad you're back."

"Me too cuz, me too," I responded pulling him into yet another hug. And with that he turned to leave as I closed the door after him and hoped to gain some sleep.

____________________

A/N: OK so I think I have a pretty clear idea of where this is going, so I should be able to write it fairly quickly. I promise, it will get better in the next chapter or two, just hang in there with me.

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own anything related to the original movie, Willow is the only thing I can lay claim to.