It's not my fault I swear! My computer got a virus and has been broken for the past two weeks. My dad brought in his lap top and so now I can finally update. Good things that have come out of no computer: new idea for the best fanfic EVER, extra time to practice bass (verdict: I still can't play anything harder than anything easy), driving (cuz I finally got my license!), and get into some new music (Kaiser Chiefs are my new find, my favorite song by them is Everyday I Love You Less And Less). Anyways, you don't care about what I've been doing, you care about the story. So here it is. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long to be posted.-

Sean walked into the living room and threw his keys on the coffee table. He was taller than Clare, but shorter than his dad. He must've only been about 5'10. His hair was a mixture of light red and blonde, but it wasn't quite strawberry blonde. Freckles covered his nose, and his skin was pale, but not extremely so.

He stared at Clare and didn't say anything, which made her very uncomfortable. She stared at the floor; it was one of the things she did best. Zack noted the tension and introduced them.

"Sean, this is Clare, she'll be living with us. And Clare, this is my son Sean. He'll be driving you to school every morning. Now, I'm going to leave, and you two can bond over dinner…or something."

With that, Zack took his own keys and left without another word. There was an awkward silence for a moment, but Sean decided that he would try to be courteous. "Hey. What's your favorite food, cuz I can make it for you."

"Uh, I guess it's beef stroganov."

"Well, I don't think you know yourself too well. I think your favorite food is Easy Mac."

"I think the only food you know how to make is Easy Mac."

"This is true," Sean said as he sorted through the pantry. He found the Easy Mac and put it in the microwave. The awkward silence came back. Clare was about to say something when the microwave beeped.

"Dinner is served!" Sean said, taking the bowls and putting them on the dining room table. He wondered why this girl was randomly living with him and his dad now. Zack hadn't told him anything except that a girl, two years younger than him, would be living in their house from now on. He casually asked, "So why are you living here with me and my dad?"

It wasn't the right thing to say, and he could sense it immediately. Clare's eyes began to water, and she barely mumbled, "Excuse me," before fleeing the table and running upstairs to her room. Sean would have to ask his dad more about this girl when Zack got back. Meanwhile, having nothing else to do, he ate his Easy Mac and then headed up to his room.

Clare was sitting on the bed in her bland room, crying her eyes out. The pain was so fresh, and she couldn't handle a simple question like that yet. Her tears were beginning to stop, and she unlocked her door. Clare went to the bathroom across the hall and got a tissue. As she was blowing her nose, she heard something. It was music.

It wasn't very loud, but she could hear it. Clare wandered to the small den and looked at the stairs that led to Sean's room. A light was shining, and the music was coming from there. She didn't really listen to very much music, it had never really been her thing, but she could recognize the sound of a guitar. It was playing fast, something that sounded like it might be difficult to play. She was drawn to it.

She stood in the middle of the den, just listening. The guitar played the same thing over and over. Soon, she heard a voice floating faintly through the air, just loud enough for her to hear.

"What'll you do when you get lonely, when nobody's waiting by your side? You been running, hiding much too long, you know it's just your foolish pride."

The voice was weak, and it wasn't good. But it didn't matter, because Clare was captivated. Suddenly, the guitar stopped. The light went off. Clare practically ran to her room, wiping her nose again with the tissue. She saw Sean coming down the stairs. He walked over to her room to check on her.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I shouldn't have pried."

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so emotional. It's just, I haven't gotten used to it yet."

Sean didn't bother to ask what it was that she hadn't gotten used to. He knew that it would be bad idea. He felt the need to console her, but he wasn't good at that sort of thing. Not really knowing what to do, he asked her if she wanted to watch Family Guy with him. She sniffed once more and then followed him to the downstairs den, where he put the Family Guy DVD in.

Clare had never watched the show before, but it was actually pretty funny. She found herself almost laughing at one point. It had definitely cheered her up. But she could feel a headache coming on, so she took an aspirin and went up to her room, leaving Sean to watch the show alone.

She plugged her stereo into an outlet and put on her Killers CD. The first track came on, but she didn't want to listen to it. She skipped to track five, her favorite on the whole album, and laid back on her bed, her eyes closed.

Sean turned off the DVD and listened to the music that Clare was playing. He'd never heard it before. It was probably something new, and he only listened to older music. The newest bands that he had listened to were Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Guns n Roses. He went up the stairs slowly and peeked inside Clare's room. It was so strange to have someone in that room. It had been empty since, well, forever.

Clare was lying on her bed, mouthing the words to the song that was playing. Sean climbed that stairs up to his room and sat at his computer, bored, and having nothing to do. He didn't want to disturb his new house mate, but he really needed something to do. He could go somewhere, but there was nowhere to go right now.

He went back down the stairs again and looked at Clare again, but couldn't bring himself to making her aware of his presence. Instead, his curiosity got the best of him, and he called his dad.

"Hey Dad? What happened to Clare? Why did she move in with us?"

"Her mom died. And me and her mom used to be really close. I hope you didn't say anything to make Clare feel bad."

"I kinda did. But now that I know, I won't say anything about it anymore."

Please review! I'm really going to try to update this story faster!-