Hello lovelies! Long time no see...

It's been forever since I last uploaded any fan fiction and I kind of feel like I just abandoned you all. I'm sorry. I wrote my fan fiction while I was in college, and it sort of just fell away after I got a job and life got busy. But in 2015 I started writing again... I wanted to share the first book I ever wrote for myself with you all. I think you're going to love Landon Peters... He's seductive, downright naughty and yet somehow still a perfect gentleman.

Aurora's POV

"I'm back!" I hear my best friend call down the phone at me as soon as I answer her call. Her voice has a ring to it; almost like she's singing the words at me.

She's driving. I can hear the sound of the engine in the background as she speaks to me through the car's sound system.

"What do you mean you're back?"

I'm confused. She can't possibly be back. It's the middle of November. She should be sitting in a classroom, learning all about… well, whatever artist types learn about at University.

She'd been so excited when she left at the end of the summer to go to Brighton for her masters. She'd been like a small child, her eyes dancing with all the possibilities that her future held as she packed up her car and drove away.

"I've come home," Tallulah replies quickly. Too quickly.

Home? Why? What on earth is she talking about? She can't come home. What is her brother going to say?

"What about your course?" I ask because it's not like Tallulah to quit anything, least of all her education. Not when her elder brother had worked so hard to help her pay for it. Heck, he'd risked his life to get her on that course.

"I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to even think about it."

I can't help but feel worried. It's not like Tallulah to not want to talk about a problem. A quiet Tallulah is usually a bad sign. Something has gone wrong. And it's bad. Really bad.

"What's wrong, Lou?"

I know I probably shouldn't ask but I can't help it. She's my best friend and I feel responsible for her. I'm her family. Almost all she has, except for her brother, Nathan.

"Absolutely nothing."

She's lying.

I can hear it in her voice. The singsong lilt has gone; her voice is timid and slightly cracked. It's very unlike her but I won't press her.

I know better than that.

She'll talk to me when she's ready. She always does in the end.

"So, I was wondering, did you ever replace me?"

"What do you mean?" Replacing Tallulah would be impossible. There's no one in the world like her.

"In the flat," Tallulah explains, "has someone else taken my old room?"

I chuckle.

"No one could ever replace you, Lou. The room is still yours, if you want it."

The truth is I haven't even thought about getting someone to take Tallulah's room. It's not like I need the rent money and I always wanted her to have somewhere to stay when she visits.

She's family and this is her home. She's sometimes more like family than my own flesh and blood.

"Great! I'll be over in twenty minutes."

Tallulah hangs up without a goodbye.

I'm sitting in the living room of my three-bedroom flat. The one my parents insisted on buying for me when I started university.

It's a beautiful apartment; far too nice for typical student living. We're just around the corner from Battersea Park in an affluent area of London.

Not that far away from my parent's townhouse. Not that they are ever there. They spend most of their time in Surrey.

The sliding doors are open, letting in a gentle breeze from the terrace, surprisingly warm considering it's the beginning of November.

The room is open plan with a large sitting area in the centre, a kitchen alone one wall, partitioned off from the rest of the room and a dining area to the side. The television is on mute and there are study books and lesson plans all over the coffee table.

I studied English for my degree and had just started my training to become a teacher a month ago.

Glancing at my watch, I wonder if I can finish my year eleven Frankenstein lesson plan before Tallulah arrives. I sigh with defeat before gathering up all the pieces of paper and notebooks.

Although there is probably enough time to get it done, I'm not convinced that I'd be happy with the finished product. Knowing me, I'd end up doing it again tomorrow anyway. Ever the perfectionist.

"Calling it a day already? You've only been at it for half an hour."

Cameron chuckles as he walks into the room wearing his gym shorts and a green t-shirt that shows off just how defined his muscles are, with just the hint of a tattoo visible under his left sleeve.

He's somewhat flushed and his dark hair is slightly damp from sweat.

Making his way into the sleek kitchen area that although clearly expensive, looks more like a student kitchen than anything else in the flat, he opens the fridge.

There are dirty dishes in the sink and a pile of letters on the side left unopened, not to mention silly magnets on the fridge.

Pulling out a cartoon of milk, he pours himself a glass because he knows I hate it when people drink from the bottle. Only of the many Stone family rules I'd grown up with.

"Tallulah called," I reply as I turn to face him. "She's back in town so she's moving back in."

"When?"

Cameron gives me a blinding smile.

"In about fifteen minutes."

I grin back at him. Inside, I'm jumping up and down and doing a little dance with excitement, but Cameron doesn't need to know that.

I've had a bit of a crush on him ever since I first met him in the very first month of my degree when he moved into the flat. His bone structure is practically perfect and he has the most incredible blue eyes. Even though I'm ridiculously excited about my best friend coming home, I keep myself from any sort of overly demonstrative displays of enthusiasm.

"No way." Cameron takes a seat on the edge of the sofa looking thoughtfully at me. "What about her course?"

"She didn't say." I frown. "She didn't want to talk about it."

I wonder if she'll transfer. She wouldn't just drop out… Tallulah would never do that, I worry internally.

"That's not like Lou."

Cameron's voice is laced with a concern that matches my own. In many respects, he's become like a big brother to Tallulah and me. One that I think we've both needed from time to time.

Tallulah lost her parents when she was nine years old and her brother, Nathan, had been eighteen. He'd jumped into the role of guardian without any trepidation regardless of how young he had been or what it meant he would miss out on.

However, while Tallulah had gained a responsible parental figure in her life, she'd lost her fun-loving big brother, a gap Cameron was more than happy to fill for her.

Cameron had no siblings at all and so he'd quickly taken us both under his wing when he moved in. Although I knew very little about his family, I'd met his mum once or twice.

She was nothing like Cameron. She was a very shy, retiring sort of person, almost fearful.

I'd had countless questions after the first time I met her but I hadn't voiced them. Cameron didn't talk about his family and so to bring it up at all felt like an invasion of his privacy. I've always considered myself the fortunate one of our little trio, but truth be told I have my own family issues.

I shake my head, trying to shake off my unease.

"I'm sure she'll tell us eventually. How was your run?"

"Great. Thanks." Cameron's grin is infectious. "I need to get all my gym stuff out of Tallulah's room before she gets here or she might just kill me."

"You've been using my room as your own personal gym? Seriously?" A sarcastic voice calls from the hall, as we hear the door being pulled firmly closed behind her. "What's wrong with you? It's going to smell like disgusting boy sweat. EWW!"

"Hey!" I jump to my feet and grab Tallulah as she enters the room. "I've missed you!"

Looking her over, I know something is definitely wrong. She's thinner than last time I saw her; her clothes are fitting somewhat looser. She must have gone down at least a dress size, if not two.

There are bags under her eyes that normally wouldn't be allowed to grace her face. But other than that, she's still the same old Lou; blonde, bubbly and perhaps completely mental.

"I've been gone a month."

Tallulah hugs me back before falling down onto the sofa in a flop, her straight hair over her face. She blows it out of her eyes before smirking at us both.

She's always been almost childish in her mannerisms.

"It was a long month." Cameron is laughing. "I think we need to celebrate. Perhaps we should go to a bar, do some tequila shots, cocktails, a few beers for me. What do you think? I mean, you're clearly not studying Rory."

He winks at me in a way that could make any girl swoon.

Tallulah doesn't respond. She's looking at the screen of her phone, scowling.

I push my curiosity aside and reply to Cameron, "Alright. I like the sound of that."

Wrapping an arm around Lou's shoulder, I perch next to her on the arm of the sofa.

"What do you say Lou?" I ask.

She looks up at me like a deer caught in the headlights before catching herself.

"I'm in if you're in." She's smirking now. "You're the perfectly behaved one. Not me."

"Ha ha."

I pout jokingly but secretly I'm thinking just how right she is.

Everyone calls me perfect; the perfect daughter, the perfect student, the perfect friend. Practically perfect in every way; I might as well be fricking Mary Poppins.

I was brought up on a list of rules longer than the Empire States Building is tall and I don't remember the last time I broke one. I even live in this flat because it's what my parents expect me to do.

I've got the list of rules memorised – no small feat considering the length of the list.

Don't drink to excess and never get drunk, perhaps the most ironic of the rules considering my mother's secret drinking problem.

Don't do drugs; not even just to try it, just don't do it. I can still remember that rather long conversation with my father when I first started secondary school.

Don't lie. Never cheat on a test. Always be the best, get the best grades, be competitive but be generous and gracious.

Don't do anything that might put you in danger.

Work hard. Be selfless. Don't dress inappropriately; only wear skirts that fall below the knee. Go to church. Sing in the choir. Find yourself a 'nice Christian boy' and settle down, get married and have children… and above all else never ever have sex outside of wedlock.

I've kept every single rule my parents have eve given me. My little sister is the one who breaks the rules, not me. But sometimes, I get really jealous of her because I want to be the rebellious one.

"Right, well… If we're going out, I better go have a shower. I've been in a car for the last three hours. I probably smell almost as bad as you do, Cam."

Tallulah leans forward, sniffing Cameron while suggestively giving him the eye.

"Definitely almost," she adds before jumping off the sofa and flouncing out of the room before he can react.

Cameron leans back, resting his head on the back of the sofa.

"I'm so glad she's back," he says with a sigh.

"Me too."

I lie down next to him, putting my feet in his lap and he automatically picks them up and starts kneading the sole of my left foot.

"I'm surprised you're free tonight," I say casually.

Cameron is studying medicine, so he spends most of his time in the library and when he's not in the library, he's usually with whatever girl he's found on campus that day.

"Nothing I can't cancel."

Cameron shrugs unapologetically.

"Really?" I laugh at his offhandness. "What's her name?"

"Katie."

"Where did you meet her?"

"Class," Cameron replies. "She's the girl who keeps offering me sweets during lectures. I'm convinced she's trying to get me fat."

"Chance would be a fine thing."

We're quiet for a few minutes. My thoughts are all over the place as I consider the differences between me and my friends.

Both Cameron and Lou go after what they want. Tallulah moved half way down the country – well, okay maybe not, but she moved two counties away – to follow her dream of being an artist and Cameron… Cameron is never scared to do what he wants; whatever he wants when he wants. It's almost like flipping motto.

They don't ever worry about what everyone else thinks or anything.

I envy them.

Breaking the silence, I ask, "Are people serious when they call me perfect?"

"Damn right they are. You're my little school teacher, after all," Cam laughs before glancing my way seriously, "but Rory that's not a bad thing."

That's what I love about Cameron. He never judges me, unlike my family.

"It feels like a bad thing," I admit shyly. "I better get ready. I've got to look my absolute perfect best."

I'm ashamed to hear the bitterness in my voice. I get to my feet and walk towards the door before turning back.

"How many of my parents' rules do you think I can break tonight?" I ask with an easy tone that most people wouldn't recognise for the lie it is.

The laughter has returned to Cameron's eyes.

"Let's see… at least five or six."

He's not serious. We've had this conversation so many times. He doesn't expect me to break a single rule tonight. He's only humouring me and that leaves me feeling strangely disappointed with myself.

"As long as I don't break the fricking golden rule."

I laugh tightly, feeling that bitter disappointment in my chest as if it were a heavy weight that could cause me to sink to the bottom of the ocean.

"See, you're so perfect you can't even swear properly," he teases me.

"Fricking is a swear word."

"No, it's not. It's what mums say instead of swearing when they are sitting in the car with their kids."

"That is so not true."

Is it?

"Is too!" Cameron winks at me before pulling his shirt over his head. "I call dibs on your shower."

"Fine," I force my eyes to stay fixed on the blue spheres of his eyes instead of staring at his chest, "but you better hurry because I want a shower too."

"You could always join me," Cameron retorts, "knock off a rule from your parents' list."

I blush scarlet.

"I probably should work my way up to the golden rule. Start with something small. Get drunk on tequila or something."

"Sounds like a good start," Cameron calls from my bedroom as he enters my ensuite.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. I miss you guys! xo Want to find out more about what I've been up to since you last heard from me? Check me out by searching for Hanleigh Bradley.