A/N: Oh my goodness! Thank you everybody who read and reviewed. You guys are awesome! Sorry for making you wait so long for this chapter, but I finally got it done! The next one will come a lot quicker than this one did. ^.^

Chapter 2 ~ Goodbye, Ireland

Rory stuffed one last pair of socks into his suitcases and sighed. The moment was finally here. After weeks of waiting, he was finally going to America, the land of Chinese food and nachos. So what if Ohio was nowhere near New Jersey, Rory was just excited to get to meet his new "family."

Sam Evans' e-mail had been included in the acceptance letter so the two boys could get to know each other a little bit before meeting. From what he had gathered, Sam was not very good with words, (his first message had read 'hi I don't no what 2 say my mom just told me to emial u bcuz your going 2 b living with us.') but he was quite fond of Star Wars and some movie called Avatar that featured a bunch of "awesome blue badasses." Rory was a bit worried that he would be an outcast around the Evans household but tried to have a positive attitude.

"Ma, I'm done packing!" Rory shouted down the stairs.

"Don't remind me!" his mother screamed back.

He rolled his eyes and dragged the last bag downstairs. As soon as he rounded the corner, he was tackled by his brother, Seamus.

"Rors, please don't leave! I'm really gonna miss you! Who else is going to buy me ice cream after school every Friday?"

Rory chuckled softly. "Would it make you feel better if I left you some money so you can?"

Seamus' face instantly lit up. "That would be awesome! But I'll still miss you. I'm scared of the ice cream man. He has a creepy beard."

Rory laughed genuinely this time and ruffled his brother's hair. "You'll be fine, buddy. He won't hurt you."

"OK!" Seamus yelled.

"I'm gonna miss you, kid. Bye." Seamus hugged his big brother again before running off to his room.

Rory walked to the kitchen and then asked his mother, "Are you ready to take…" Rory stopped mid-sentence as he saw his mother crying. Margaret Flanagan, known as the "Woman of Steel" in the town, was actually crying. Rory did not know what to do.

"M-ma," Rory stuttered, "If we don't go now, I'm going to miss my plane."

"Son, I really don't want you to go. I don't know what I'll do without you."

Rory stepped over to his mom and was enveloped in a huge bear hug. "It'll be okay, ma. You'll still have Seamus."

"I know," his mother replied, beginning to dry her tears. "I just want you to be safe in America. There are lots of bad people over there that could hurt you and I just don't think I could deal with my baby boy getting hurt in a foreign country with me nowhere near him to protect him and…"

"Ma, it's okay. I'll be living with the Evans family and that Sam guy looks really muscular so I'm sure if I ever got into any trouble, he'll protect me."

All of a sudden, there was an awkward silence. Rory's eyes widened and he twiddled his thumbs for a moment.

"Umm, anyway son, I can be strong for you and let you go. Just be careful, all right? I don't know what I would do without my boy."

"I'll be fine, ma," Rory said, mentally wiping his forehead for not getting in trouble for his slight slip earlier.

Margaret Flanagan wiped her eyes one final time and said, "Well, get your last bag out to the car and I'll take you to the airport. Have you told your brother and father goodbye?"

"Seamus, yes, but not father."

"Well, you really should. Even though he's not happy about you going, he will still miss you."

Rory rolled his eyes and received a smack in the back of the head.

"Don't be rude, Rory. Go tell him goodbye."

"Yes, ma'am."

Rory strolled up to his parents' room and reluctantly knocked on the door.

"Come in," a voice boomed and Rory entered.

"Hey father, it's almost time for me to leave to go to America."

Rory's father nodded his head absentmindedly while staring at the television.

"I just thought I'd say goodbye."

"OK, goodbye Rory."

Though Rory had not expected much, he really would have enjoyed a hug or even a glance from his own father. The relationship the two men had had was always strained. Ever since Rory had voiced his desire of becoming a singer instead of taking over the family convenience store when he grew up, his father had sort of distanced himself from his son out of contempt. Rory did truly feel bad about disappointing his father but his mother had always told him to follow his dreams. That's why he was going to America. He thought it was the best place for him to get started on pursuing his dreams.

Rory sighed and walked back downstairs to see his mother waiting at the door.

"All right, let's go, dear."

"OK, ma." Rory took one last look into his house and followed his mother out the door.

The ride to the airport was silent. Rory was left alone with his thoughts and suddenly he felt a pang of anxiousness take over. He had never really thought about the fact that he was going to be away from his family for a whole year. He would not be able to play game with his brother or get advice from his mother on a regular basis. A chill overcame him and he sat in a daze until he was shaken by his mother.

"Rory, dear, we're here."

Rory snapped out of his stupor and began to tear up a little. His mother got out and began taking her son's suitcases out of the car.

"Son, you better come and help or I'm going to just take you home."

At that moment, it took a lot for Rory not to just sit there and be driven home.

"Sorry, ma, I'm coming." Rory took a deep breath and got out of the car.

The pair walked to the ticket counter in silence. Every time Rory looked over at his mother he could not help but feeling guilty for making his mother so sad but he knew that deep down his mother would be happy for him having an opportunity like this.

"OK, son, I can't go any farther." The Woman of Steel began crying again, as did Rory.

"All right. B-bye, ma. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Rory. I love you."

When Margaret did not show any signs of letting go Rory had to tap her shoulder to get her to let go.

"If you don't let me go, I'll miss my flight."

"I don't care. You don't need to go. You can stay here and be my little boy forever."

"Ma, we've been over this. You said you finally got over the worry you had of me going. I'll be fine. I'm sixteen and I'm growing up. I'll be fine."

Rory's mother wiped her eyes and replied, "I know, it's just hard. You don't realize what it's like for me to lose a son like this. Especially when I told you not to apply for this silly exchange program anyway."

"Ma, you're not losing me. I'll still be able to call you on that international phone thing you got me."

"That better not be used for any other reason but talking to me, by the way."

"Yes, I know, ma. Anyway, I'll call all the time and send you pictures so it'll feel like I'm always right there, OK?"

"All right, son. Now go before you miss your flight. Have a wonderful time and you better call me as soon as you land or so help me God I will fly there myself and come and get you and then ground you for not listening to me and make you sorry for ever going-"

"Ma!" Rory yelled. "Calm down."

"Sorry, honey."

The two hugged one last time before Rory kissed his mother on the cheek and walked away.

Rory slugged through security and then plopped down at his gate. The anxiety started to intensify the closer it got to his departure time. He broke into a cold sweat but tried to calm himself down by doing some deep breathing exercises he had learned from his mother.

"Flight 324 to Ohio, USA now boarding."

Rory took one last deep breath and got up to board the plane. Once on, he picked a seat near a window and took out a book to read. He had not expected the plane ride to take so long and his book did not entertain him for long. He got scolded for getting up and walking around so he just sat and decided to sleep for as long as he could.

Rory was awakened by an announcement over the intercom. "Passengers, we will be landing in roughly ten minutes. Please return all seats and trays to their upright and locked positions and remember to strap yourself in. Thank you."

Rory heeded the flight attendant's orders and immediately began to feel nervous. What if the Evans' don't like me? What if I get made fun of? What if I don't fit in? Rory was jolted out of his worries by the plane skidding along the ground. He had to begin his deep breathing exercises once again to calm himself down.

When the plane reached its gate, Rory was thankful to be able to get up and stretch. He slowly gathered his things and walked out of the plane, thanking the pilot on his way out.

Rory was worried for a split second that he had been forgotten until he turned to the left and about fainted.

Sam Evans was the most beautiful man he had ever seen.