A/N This story has been circling my head a lot so I decided to finally write it down! I try to write as much as possible but I also want to continue on two other stories that I've been working on that you should see soon, but for now I'm going to try an update this one as soon as I can. Don't forget to hit the review button and tell me what you think!

Chapter 1

Lee sat in the driver's seat of the silver Honda as he checked his watch for the third time. It was 2:59 and as the small hand on the watch turned to 3:00, he stepped out of the car and stood on the sidewalk in front of the brick school, leaning against the car. A few minutes later he heard the bell ring from inside the school and his eyes scanned through the crowd of students filtering out of the school in different directions, searching for one person. Soon he saw her, with her short curly black hair, a school uniform consisting of red polo shirt, navy blue skirt, stockings and black Mary Jane's and her pink backpack slung over her shoulder. Clementine quickly spotted her father and started running towards him. Lee smiled, bending down and opening his arms as the little girl ran into them.

"Daddy!"

"Hey girl! How was school?" Lee asked as he pulled away to look at her face.

"Good. I got a gold star on my homework and on Friday we have a trip to the aquarium!" She replied enthusiastically as Lee opened the car door for her and she slipped in, strapping herself into the backseat on the right. Lee looked up and noticed Kenny across the street with Duck and waved to them before getting back behind the wheel.

"That's wonderful sweet pea. I'll sign you permission slip when we get home." Lee praised Clem as he pulled away from the school and drove home while listening to Clementine talk about her day. As they pulled into they're driveway, Lee let out a laugh under his breath as he noticed that Kenny's dark blue truck was already parked in the fisherman's driveway and he was already helping Duck get out. As Lee parked he honked his horn twice to get his friends attention.

"I'll never get how you always beat me home." Lee joked while walking over to Kenny and Duck after helping Clementine out of the car.

"Just got a better sense of navigation. Comes with the territory of being a fisherman." Kenny gloated before his look turned concerned.

"You okay today man? I thought you were gonna let us pick up Clem. You know it's no trouble." He said softly so the kids wouldn't hear.

"It's okay Kenny, I just needed to get out today, God knows I needed it. I just needed some time after..." Kenny didn't need to hear the rest to know what he was talking about.

"Okay man. Just remember we're always here if you need anything. I don't know how you're feeling right now but I know it must be hard."

"Thanks Ken. I appreciate everything thin you guys have done. I'd don't know what I'd do without you."

"Don't mention it. You'd do the same for any one of us." And with that, Kenny led Duck into the house as Lee walked back across the street with Clementine and inside their own house to continue with the rest of their day.

The day had died hours ago when the sun left to return tomorrow and the moon had taken its place. It was late in the night and most people were fast asleep in their beds, except for Lee. He sat at the table in the dining room with the light on, pouring through the mail that had piled up over the last few months. As he opened more mail, he took note of the bills that were due while budgeting and taking the amount needed to pay each bill out of what he had in his savings. He dropped his pen and leaned back in his chair and ran his hands over his face, growing frustrated with the number on his notepad that kept getting smaller and smaller every time he opened another envelope. He was smart enough to have his house fully paid off as soon as he could and to have emergency savings in the first place, but he knew that their savings would not last them long and he hoped that it would at least last long enough for him to find a new job.

"All in one year. One stupid fucking year."

He stood up from his chair,, turned off the dining room light and walked to the living room closet, deciding to try and sort out the bills after a good night's sleep. He took out a red pillow and blanket and threw them on the couch before stripping down to his boxers, setting his alarm on the side table, curling up on the couch under the blanket and drifting off to sleep.

But he found no peace in his dreams.

Carley leaned forward into the taxi window and gave the driver a 20$ bill, telling him to keep the change. As she stepped back away from the cab she thanked the driver one last time before watching him pull away from the curb and drive down the street out of sight. She took a deep breath as she turned around and looked up at the tall building in front of her. The building was in the shape of a giant square, with windows covering most of it, making it look as if it was made of glass. In front of her, the words "Drayton Tower" were spelled on top of a stone slab the stuck out on top of the front door like an awning.

"I hope she's still around." she mumbled to herself as she walked up the stairs and into the building, dragging her rolling suitcase behind her. She entered into the lobby and headed straight for the elevator, not wanting to waste any more time than she had already. As she entered the elevator, hit the 9th floor button and watched as the doors closed and the elevator started to rise, doubts began to plague her mind again.

"Oh god she might not even want to see me. I wouldn't blame her anyway..."

Her worries continued to fill her mind as the elevator ascended higher and higher. Soon, she was so caught up in her own thoughts that she jumped when the familiar ding went sounded and the elevator doors opened onto the 9th floor. Clutching her suitcase tighter, Carley exited and walked exactly four doors to the left and turning to the apartment door on the right, not bothering to even look at the apartment numbers. She stared down at the ground, her hands trembling and her knees shaking.

"Come on girl, you can do this." Carley took two deep breathes before slowly lifting her still shaky hand up into a fist and held her hand next to the door, about to knock on it. Her arm froze in that position and she took two more deep breathes before dragging her fist down against the door and knocking four times. She stood stiff as a board as she waited for some sign of life from behind the door. After a minute of silence, she knocked again, this time hearing what sounded like footsteps getting closer and closer. The door swung open and Carley came face to face with a woman only slightly older than Carley, dressed down in a hoodie and sweatpants with her dark brown hair reaching a little past her shoulders, scowling.

"I told you I'm paying the rent tomo-" The woman cut herself off as she realized who was standing in front of her. Carley gave her a small, shy smile.

"Hey Lilly."

"Carley?"

"Yea, it's me. I'm back."

An awkward pause, random tight wound hugs and some tea and quick cleaning around the small one bedroom apartment later, Carley and Lilly were seated at the small dining table in the kitchen with their mugs of tea in front of them. Carley was greatly surprised at how welcoming Lilly was after seeing her pop in after being gone for so long. But soon, as she had expected, Lilly began to question her on her whereabouts for the last two years.

"Everyone thought you just dropped off the face of the Earth." Lilly commented before taking another sip of her tea. "What happened?"

"Well, you know how I told you I needed to get away for a while? That's exactly what I did." Carley replied, hoping to skate around Lilly's temper.

"By getting away I thought you meant a vacation, not packing up all your things and going away for two years! Plus you told no one where you were going and didn't keep in touch with anyone! No one knew where you were, what you were doing, if you were okay! Nothing!" Lilly's voice grew louder as she continued. Carley sat there and listened, looking into her mug of tea. She's dealt with Lilly's temper before and knew that the best way to get through it was to wait for her to calm down and not say anything. She also felt that her anger was justified.

"I know Lilly. I feel bad for not telling anyone anything and to be honest I wish I did and I wish I could explain things to you but I can't. I just needed to disappear for a while and I wasn't even planning on coming back so soon. I really can't tell much more than that." Lilly looked at her skeptically but noticed a flash of anger and maybe sadness when she talked and decided to leave it at that. She knew Carley would tell her when she was ready.

"Okay, I'll take your word for it. But if you weren't planning on coming back then why did you?"

"I heard about Lee."

"Oh yea, I did too. I wasn't sure if it was the Lee you always used to talk about though. He's the reason you came back? Why should you care? He's a murderer."

"He was acquitted, they ruled self-defense. He was such a great friend and he was always there for me, I feel bad for at least not checking up on him after everything that happened."

Lilly sighed and shook her head. "Whatever, I can never understand you anyway Carley. I'm just glad to have my best friend back. Things weren't the same without you."

Carley smiled brightly. "Thanks. To be honest, I'm glad to be back."

"I just have one condition for you since you're staying the night."

"Sure, what is it?"

"You have to buy breakfast in the morning."

"What? You think I can't cook?"

"I know you can't cook."

"And neither can you!"

"And that's why you're buying it."

Carley laughed. "Whatever."

A/N I'm going to try and put as many of the characters as I can in this story so look out for them! Again, remember to review please!