Title: Welcome Life

Fandom: Everwood

Setting: Future fic

Rating: PG but might change ;)

Genre: Drama/Romance/etc
Pairings: Delia/Bright, naturally
Status: WiP

Summary: Delia Brown is still living in Everwood carrying a big secret on her shoulders. Bright Abbott on the other hand is leading a wonderful life in New York and to him, coming back to Everwood because of her mother sounds almost the most stupid thing he's ever done… Till he meets all grown-up Delia. D&B!

A/N #1: I blame F and the lovely people back at FanForum. It was them that made me want to write, but it was F that in the end got me into writing this. Granted, it was me who told her Bright and Delia would make such a great couple in the future but… it was her who told I should give it a go when I said I had been thinking of writing a fic. So, whatever I say or do… blame F, ok? And since I haven't seen the episodes of third season yet, I'll go with what I know from season 2. Therefore, Hannah and others that I don't know yet cannot be seen here. Well anyway, I wanted to try and write something different from what I've written so far and here it is.

A/N # 2: Both Delia and Bright have changed a lot, but you can't really expect people to stay the same year after year.

Prologue

To Delia Brown every day just slowly floated by and all she could do was hang in there, pretend it was what she wanted. Every day was a copy of the previous one but hey, it was Everwood so what else could you really expect? People lived their own lives, interfered with others', acted stupid and made a mess… and that was pretty much it. Still, life wasn't as simple in Everwood as outsiders thought, in fact it was much more complicated than they could ever possibly imagine. People had their issues but yet, it was slow in there. Slow and unsatisfying – at least for someone who wanted so much more from her life than this.

She had no one else to blame than herself, though.

When she had been little she had always thought she'd become someone important; the first female president of her country or something similar. An astronaut. She'd be someone. She'd go traveling and see the world, adventure, go to college… and fall in love. Have a family of her own and tell her kids amazing stories of all the fascinating trips her mother had gone through and they'd want to be just like her. Only now it seemed it was something she'd never get and it was all her fault.

She wasn't unhappy in the true sense of the word, just restless. Granted, she would have plenty of time to make her dreams come true in the future but still, at the age of 18 she had already felt like she was trapped in there, trapped into the little town with no way out and that was when the problems had started to knock her door. She had dreamt of going to college some day and her father had already promised he'd pay for it… but then, something had happened. Something even her father didn't know and she sure as hell wasn't going to tell.

Now, after few years – at the age of 20 she had finally found her way though every now and then the same old feeling of being trapped came back. This was one of those moments.

All the money her father had promised to Delia… she had lost. You know how you go out to have fun with your friends and they get you to do something stupid? Yeah, it was exactly what had happened to her… only no one had pushed her into doing it. No, actually it had been her idea and her friends had told her not to. No, Delia, gambling isn't a good idea… Think what you might lose. Her father, Andy Brown had naturally been unsatisfied with her decision to "postpone" her college studies but the truth was she had no other choice. To her father she had said that it was her own decision to make after all and that lately she had felt college just wasn't for her. It was a lie, of course but needed one. Besides, Andy had wanted her to go to Denver so she'd be near… but if she was going studying, she'd at least go as far away from Everwood as possible. She loved Andy of course, but there was no reason good enough for her to want to stay. Not anymore. Not after everything.

Naturally, Delia could've told the truth; she could've asked him to give her more money but she couldn't. She had her pride, too. So instead she had decided to get the money back on her own, even if it meant postponing her studies with few years. She had had summer jobs, part-time jobs here and there, but this was her real job after graduating and it felt good to do something, even though it wasn't quite what she had wanted to do in the future. This was her one-way ticket out… the only way out, actually.

She had come up with an excuse, too. Her father thought Delia had decided to go to Africa no matter what it cost before continuing her studies. In some level he was proud of that 'decision' and it made Delia feel nothing but guilt. She had said it was a dream planted by Linda Abbott, doctor who had spent years in Africa trying to help those in need of it. Now, getting money to make that "dream" come true was another story to tell… so she had explained that she could've used her father's money of course, but it would've taken the excitement out of it, erased the satisfaction. So, instead Delia had found a job with what to pay her trip and that was what she wanted Andy to believe. And that was what Andy did believe.

If Andy had even known half of it… She liked working in that small café, it was ok, but her part-time job as a tattoo drawer in Denver was what she really loved to do. She didn't know what it was with tattoos that made her love them so much, they were just fascinating somehow. Every tattoo had a story to tell no matter how small and insignificant they seemed through a stranger's eyes.

Yeah, the sweet and innocent Delia Brown had truly grown up to be something different from the others. She had grown to be something very different from what they all had thought her to be, actually. Andy had always imagined her little girl being stubborn, but sweet teenager and right after her 13th birthday, he had realized just how wrong he was. Delia had been stubborn, yes, but also unstable, rebellious and wild. If there was a trouble, she was usually the main cause or at least part of it. Maybe that was part of the reason she wanted leave the town behind. Every mistake of hers, every stupid thing she had ever done… people remembered and reminded. You think things would go by quickly in a place like that but it was actually the opposite. And it wasn't just that but the fact she still kept doing those stupid things over and over again. Her life simply needed a new direction and as long as she was there, it wasn't going to happen. As long as she lived there, she kept being trapped. Dead inside.

Sometimes she felt like she was Belle from the Beauty and the Beast. Living boring life in a little village where she was supposed to do what others expected her to. So, where was her beast?

When had it come to this? At first Delia had loved the town from the bottom of her heart even though she never got that pony she was promised, and she knew her father had done the right decision to move there but now… Somewhere between Ephram's leaving, her father's new girlfriends and all her ex-boyfriends making her life harder it had changed. Everwood was her home and would always be but it just wasn't enough.

Thank God she was so close… If nothing went wrong, just another few months and she'd be done. She'd have enough money to pay her studies and move out. Bye, bye Everwood; welcome life.

Bright Abbott knew who it was on the other end of the line even before he answered his fancy cell-phone. It wasn't that hard to guess; it was the time of the year for Rose, his mother to start calling him, asking if he'd come visit Everwood someday soon. It was natural for Rose to ask such thing, especially now as it'd been almost two years since his last visit. Why? Why so long? He didn't know.

"Abbott."

"Bright!" As he had guessed, it was his mother's delighted voice that answered him back. Bright smiled, pacing through his large white living-room towards the balcony. "Hi mom, how's things there?" He opened the door with one hand and stepped over the threshold into the fresh air. He left the door behind him open, just in case.

"Oh everything's fine, I just felt like calling you."

He swallowed the sigh climbing up his throat. "Yeah, look mom, I'm sorry I haven't kept touch, I've been just damn busy with everything." It was true, wasn't it? He had his job, his friends, his parties, his life.

"No, it's ok dear, I know you are… honey, your father and I were wondering if you're coming home soon? We haven't seen you for so long and…"

Now the sigh escaped his lips. Of course he wanted to see his parents again and his sister Amy but still going back to Everwood didn't sound tempting. That little town brought nothing but sad memories to his mind, all the good ones had seemed to fade away. "I don't know…" He said closing his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I gotta think about it."

His mother's voice got much sharper tone. "Bright, you can't run forever." It was almost like a demand.

His eyes snapped open. "What, I'm not running", he replied hastily, too hastily to even convince himself. Maybe he was running then, so what?

"You proved us wrong already, ok? You are a successful business man, manager of many known talents and we're proud of you. So get your ass back home, you're not a child anymore and you don't need our approval."

"I got the hint, mom, I did", he said smiling. Alright, maybe it truly was time to go back as a changed man and show everyone how wrong they had been. "How bout if I come down there for the summer? I mean, I've earned a holiday and I can take care of business from there too. I'm practically married with my phone anyway."

"Really?" Rose sounded more than surprised. "Wow, I didn't think it'd be this easy."

There was a distant knock on the door that caught Bright's attention. "I gotta go mom, someone's at the door." He turned around and walked through the living-room towards the door. "Alright then. Let us know when you'll be coming, ok?"

"I will." He opened the door with one hand, still holding the phone on his ear. "See you soon, mom." A girl wearing tight white boots, black miniskirt and white long-sleeved shirt shut the door, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before passing him by and threw herself on beige sofa eyes on him.

"You too." Rose was the first one to hang up after which Bright dropped the phone on top of the drawer next to the door and turned to look at the figure behind her. There was a seducing smile plastered on her lips and he couldn't prevent his arms folding and his knuckles touching his lips to hide the amused smile. The girl just didn't know when to give up.

"Nicki, how nice of you to come visit me like this", Bright greeted with laughter in his voice.

"Well you didn't leave me any other choice", she replied sounding more than accusing. The smile was already gone. Maybe she truly had thought he would've changed his mind in two days? Not a chance. "I'm sorry, but I thought I made myself clear when we last spoke. I wasn't kidding Nicki, it's over. Really."

Her bottom lip was trembling dangerously. How pathetic was she? "Nicki, you ain't the right one for me and I'm certainly not the right one for you. We have nothing in common!"

"You're wrong", she stated, "We have more in common than you're willing to admit. Don't do this to me, give me another chance." Nicki got up from the sofa and it only took few steps for her to close the space between them. She grabbed his arms staring at him right in the eye but the gesture only made him more amused. "Please Bright." He had never thought Nicki Sterling; the rich little girl who was used to get what she wanted, was one to beg but apparently she was. It wasn't the first time he had been wrong.

"Nicki, you're making a fool out of yourself", he managed to keep his voice firm while saying so and pushed her farther away. Why couldn't she just understand that it was over between them? The little they had had was now gone for good and the best thing for her was to just accept it.

"You're a beast!"

"Maybe so", he laughed, "but it doesn't change how I feel. Now please go and stop acting like a brat."

"I'll make you pay, Abbott, be sure of that." Within two seconds the door slammed shut violently and Bright was left alone in the middle of the room. Going to Everwood didn't sound all that bad anymore.

A/N: Reviews feed my soul. As always.