A/N: I finally got around to updating this! Special thanks to Adeeba {AdeebaLovesHHH} for going over the story with me for the millionth time and dealing with my annoying ass. Anyways...As always, please remember to to review at the bottom of the page. It let's me know that you want more of this story. Enjoy!

Traveling wasn't exactly Paul's favorite thing to do, or maybe it was just the fact of coming home that put a bad taste in his mouth. Either way, the flight had landed and the prodigal son was finally back home, with a girlfriend, whom no one knew about. Wow! That did have a nice ring to it, he thought. It was finally time to face the music, and the consequences, of course. Therefore, despite the wariness, Paul stood up, crowding the tiny walking space with his massively built physique. With a swift move of his arm, he grabbed the overhead luggage and began to pull it down, when his gaze rested on his girlfriend, who hadn't moved a muscle since the steward announced their arrival.

Judging by Lauren's earlier excitement to meet his family, Paul was guessing there was something on her mind. Guess he wasn't the only one who was now having second thoughts about this.

"Are you okay?" he asked his stiff girlfriend while sitting back down beside her.

Lauren continued to stare directly ahead, "Is it too late to go back to New York?"

Paul was himself worried about this whole thing, but at the back of his mind he knew they had to do this. Now was as good a time as any to bring his girlfriend home. They couldn't back out, not now. They had no reason to. Not yet, at least.

"Well, since we just landed in Greenwich, I'd say your chances of going back home now are slim to none." He chuckled at his own response, trying to ease the moment, and waited for her to laugh too. Yet, no laughter came.

He had his own reasons to be tensed about this, but he had no idea what was worrying her.

"What's the matter? Why do you want to go home, now?" Paul inquired.

Lauren finally turned to him, "What if they don't like me, Paul? What if they are expecting someone different?"

Someone like Stephanie, Paul thought, and realized that's what he was afraid of, too. Someone like Stephanie was exactly what his family would expect. He hadn't even told his mother he had a girlfriend, let alone that he was bringing one home with him. He feared that the moment they heard he had a girlfriend, his family would judge her. His sister would say that she wasn't as sweet as Stephanie. His mother would say her cooking just wouldn't compare to Stephanie's. And his father! His father would say that she couldn't possibly be as beautiful as Stephanie. Paul knew that they wouldn't accept her by the mere fact that she couldn't stand on equal grounds to his ex-girlfriend. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he wished he could go back home.

"Don't worry that pretty little head of yours. I'm sure they'll love you just as much as I do." Paul lied, while caressing her hands. He figured there was no use of sharing his own fears with Lauren. It definitely wouldn't help if he had told her the truth.

Lauren finally looked over at him, this time with a bit of hope in her eyes,"You really think so?"

"Of course," he reassured her.

She sighed and stood up, ready to face whatever his family had to throw at her.

Stepping off the plane, Paul squinted as the sun's light hit his eyes. He had just enough time to recover as he heard his name being called from the barricade.

"Paul! Over here!"

He looked over to see his mother and grandmother smiling and waving at him. He returned the smile and walked down the air stairs and turned to wait for Lauren. When she finally made her way down to him, he grabbed her hand before making his way over to his family. He noted that the moment he went to hold Lauren's hand, the smiles on his mother and grandmother's faces dropped.

"Mom, Grandma, This is my girlfriend, Lauren." Paul said gesturing to her. "Lauren, this is my mom, Patricia, and my grandma, Marie."

Lauren smiled and extended her hand, "Hi. I'm so excited to meet you."

His mother and grandmother were frozen with shock, to which Paul expected.

"We weren't aware that Paul was bringing anybody with him." his mother stated, looking Lauren over.

Lauren dropped her hand when she realized that no one was going to take it, "Oh, well, I've heard a lot about Paul's family and I just wanted to meet you guys."

Marie snickered, "That's funny, because we haven't heard anything about you."

Lauren's mouth gaped open at the comment.

Patricia stepped in, "It's just that we didn't know he had a girlfriend. He never mentioned you on the phone."

Lauren turned to Paul and slapped his chest, "You didn't even tell them about me?!"

"I wanted it to be a surprise." Paul lied rubbing his sore chest.

"Well, we better get home. Your sister is waiting." stated Patricia as the group walked to the car.

The ride home was quiet, allowing Paul's mind to drift back to the last time he traveled this road.

The ride to the airport was silent. Stephanie had not said anything to him after his graduation party where he announced his acceptance to NYU. He couldn't say he blamed her. He's the one who caught her off guard and basically ended their relationship. Yet, even after all that, she still wanted to come see him off. It almost made him want to stay here with her.

He reached over and took her hand. She still had yet to look at him. The rest of the ride was silent.

Paul grabbed his luggage out of the trunk, pulling up the handle up and setting it down on the side walk. He used his free hand to take Stephanie's as he began to walk into the airport.

"So you're not going to talk to me, then." he said as he continued to walk.

There was no response.

He sighed, making sure everything was in order before his flight would take off. Sitting down on a bench with her beside him, he began to think. He didn't want this to be the way it ended. He wanted his relationship with Stephanie to end like it began, with care and compassion, but he knew he had hurt her too much. He never really took a step back and saw everything from her perspective. How would he feel if she had told him on the night of her graduation that she was leaving? That the person he planned to have a future with was packing up her life and walking out of his? Paul imagined he would be worse off than her.

"Stephanie, I…" he started.

"FLIGHT 216 TO NEW YORK, NOW BOARDING."

He got up, grabbed onto his luggage and was prepared to walk to the terminal.

Before he could take a step, he heard her voice.

"Please….don't go." the choking whisper escaped Stephanie's mouth. She looked so broken, sitting alone, looking at her hands with her hair covering her tear stricken face.

He turned around and kneeled in front of her, pushing her hair behind her ear, trying to catch a glimpse of her face, "I have to go. You know I can't stay."

Watching the tears continue to roll down her cheeks, he reached up to wipe them away.

"I don't want to say goodbye." she managed to get out.

"Then don't," he began, reaching under her chin to bring her gaze up to him, "goodbyes are forever. We'll see each other again. So instead of 'goodbye' say 'see you later'. It's closer to the truth."

She nodded, sniffling back the tears.

"Before you know it, my four years in New York will be over and I'll be right back here with you."

She looked at him with hope in her eyes, "you mean it?"

Nodding, he turned his head to hear the final boarding call for his flight.

"I guess this is 'see you later'" Stephanie said softly.

"See you later"

With that, he gave her one last kiss before walking down the terminal to board his flight, fresh tears streaming down his face.