I've had you once, oh, I can't forget that.....

[Dani]

Brandie stood next to her brothers at the baggage claim, anxiously awaiting the arrival of luggage. She knew that the next hour or so would be full of chaos. First, there would be the struggle to collect their belongings without getting stampeded by the large herd of strangers. That would then be followed by the difficult task of flagging down a cab to take them to the beach house where her mother and siblings lived, which would be further complicated by the fact that she had no clue whatsoever where she was going.

Since both Cori and JJ were preoccupied with their video games, she decided to amuse herself by doing a little people watching. Having spent the last six months in the seclusion of her father's house, it had been a long time since she was surrounded by a lot of people. Well, people that mattered, anyways. After all, Riverside would be her home for the rest of the summer. From what her siblings told her, it was even smaller than Mabtown. There was a very good possibility that she might see some of these people again.

[Meggers]

Kaden stepped into the arrival gate with a quiet sigh, casting a quick glance backwards to check that his family was still following behind him. His mother was carrying little Connor, and she looked tired, his sisters even more so. Wyatt had pulled his hood over his head and was tugging on the strings of his sweatshirt to make it constrict around his head. Gavin and Noah were both staring straight at the ground, avoiding eye contact with everyone they passed, and Liam just looked aggravated, like usual. Kaden brushed the hair out of his eyes and continued forward, trying not to look as lost and down as he felt.

Things were not going great with the family at the moment. The recession had a huge impact on their large family, and coupled with his fathers recent layoff, the Shanahans had been forced to search for a new place to live. His brothers and sisters had all ready had it rough with the loss of all their friends when they had to move for the first time, and now they had to move again, and since Mabtown had been destroyed, there was not even anything for them to come back to. Everyone was taking it terribly, even Gavin had lost his usual spunk.

Kaden took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, hiking his backpack further up onto his shoulder, and tried to gather his composure. When everything sucks this bad, things can only start to look up, right? Things couldn't be that bad; at least he was never truly alone. With such a large family, there was always someone to lean on for support, or to lend an ear to talk, and for that much he would always be thankful.

He shook his head lightly, trying to clear his thoughts so he could be optimistic and strong for his family. He stared at the ground as he started walking again, one foot at a time, one in front of the other, heading towards the baggage claim.

[Dani]

Brandie continued her intense survey of the crowd, glancing at everyone from a woman pushing a baby stroller to a rather large man with tattoos and ear gages. The man's appearance reminded her a little of her long lost brother, which caused her to get a bit emotional. She hated herself for getting so worked up. Hayden was the one that had stopped speaking to her, the one who had called her a traitor, among other things. He wasn't worth crying over.

Her thoughts about Hayden quickly faded away at the sight of yet another familiar stranger in the crowd. She knew that it couldn't be him. He was gone, long gone, probably living in another country, let alone another state. There were hundreds, thousands of blonde-haired guys with blue eyes all over the world. She had seen quite a few over the years that she had mistaken for him, only to be proven wrong seconds later. All she needed was this stranger to move a little closer into her line of vision and prove exactly the same thing. However, as he continued walking, her doubts begin to vanish. Unsure of what to believe, she clutched the ring that she wore around her neck and started walking in his direction. "Kaden?" she asked herself out loud.

Before she could figure out the truth for sure, a loud siren sounded, signaling that the bags had arrived. She began walking back the other way, trying to find her brothers and the luggage. She hoped they would find them soon; she needed to get to her mother's house and lie down. Perhaps a nap would cure her hallucinations.

[Meggers]

Kaden jumped as the sound siren sounded, startling him away from his thoughts, "Ma, over here," he called over his shoulder as he made his way over into a gap in the crowd next to the large conveyor belt. Luggage started to pour out onto the belt, beginning its slow, boring trip around, passing each person in turn. He remembered when he was little, he used to love watching the luggage on the big shiny metal belt. He used to love trying to guess which suitcase belonged to who, and then wondering where they were all going, and why. He cringed softly, trying to push away the thought that some of those people might have been in his situation, way back when. It was sad to him, and he tried to convince himself that they were all okay now, they their families got back on their feet, just like his would.

"-den....KAAADEN," he heard his name being called suddenly from the other side of the belt. Wyatt must have called his name a few times, because he was jumping up and down and waving his arms trying to get his attention. He silently berated himself for drifting off into stupid daydreams again, and followed Wyatts pointing hand to plain, beat up bag making that slow, boring circle around the conveyor belt, with that big silly airline tag he had to tie on the top with his name on it. He waited for it to pass him and then scooped it up onto his other shoulder. Wyatt was now on the hunt for the rest of his families bags, so he watched him, a small smile managing to find his lips as he watched the boy concentrate so much on each bag dropping onto the belt. Sixteen years old now, and he still was convinced he was some kind of ninja.

[Dani]

More focused on getting her luggage than anything else, Brandie raced over to the carousel and grabbed her heavy bags, nearly knocking herself over in the process. Guess I'm not as strong as I used to be..... After managing to get all of her stuff safely on the ground, she spotted her brother practically hurling himself at the conveyor belt as his big black bag with the Transformers patches made its rounds. "JJ!" she yelled, dashing towards him. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Cori, unsure of what to make of the situation, simply followed her and shook his head. "He's just being twelve, relax." Brandie made a face and sighed. "Please, I hardly acted that way when I was twelve."

After what felt like an eternity, the two of them were finally able to return both JJ and the remainder of their things safely to the ground. She was about ready to go when she heard a familiar voice yelling out "Kaden!" as loudly as possible. Startled, she looked up and caught yet another glimpse of the blonde haired guy from before scooping up bags. Oh my god, it is him! What's he doing here? Does he live here now? Does he know..... "Earth to Brandie!" JJ yelled out, waving his hand in front of her face. "Are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost or something?"

[Meggers]

Kaden waited patiently as the rest of his family gathered up their things and got ready to leave. They had found a modest house that they could afford...the kids would have to share bedrooms, but at least they had a place to go. Their father had left a week earlier and was working on unpacking and moving things in, they were supposed to meet him outside the airport to leave. He watched his mother put Connor back down and grab his hand, he was getting too big to carry now. He could remember when he was just a little thing, he could almost fit in just one of his hands. Now he was growing bigger every day.

The family started walking away towards the entrance when he heard a familiar name. Out of habit his head turned to see who it was directed towards, and then he did a double take. Freezing directly in his tracks, his eyes locked on hers, those eyes that he knew all too well. He had gazed into those eyes for hours, and still saw them in his dreams often. They were unmistakable. His mouth dropped open just a tad as his mind tried to piece together what was happening. Brandie... How? Why here? None of it made any sense. Wyatt hadn't noticed he stopped and bumped into his back.

"Kaden?" he asked, confused, then followed his gaze to the girl who had been part of his family's life for so many years. "What the...?" he asked himself quietly. His whole family had stopped walking now as they noticed her, and even his mother seemed obviously confused. Kaden was in too much shock to even move. He stood motionless, gaping at her, as if he had completely lost the ability to walk.

[Dani]

Brandie remained frozen in place, her eyes still staring directly into his. She knew that she should say something to him, but she couldn't think of what. It was funny how she was suddenly rendered speechless. Talking to him always seemed to come easier in the good old days, back when things were much simpler. The only worry that they really had back then was whether or not their parents would catch them sneaking into each other's rooms at night. Now everything was so complicated. Thank god my father's not here..... He would have dragged her away from him the second that their eyes met.

"Wow, fancy meeting you guys here!" Cori's voice jolted her out of her thoughts yet again. "Long time no see, huh?" He nudged Brandie and smiled. "Talk about a weird coincidence." Trying not to be as mature as possible, she cracked a smile and waved. Saying hi was just about all she could bring herself to do and it was best that she did that without speaking. Because if she spoke right then, she would probably wind up saying something utterly and completely ridiculous. She needed to calm down and get herself in check. They were both adults now, not two lovestruck kids without a care in the world.

[Meggers]

Gavin was the first to break into a grin once Cori broke the awkward ice. "YO!" he shouted and ran over them, embracing the boys and then bowing ridiculously in front of Brandie. "MLADY! It has been like, forever!" he said, passing her a goofy smile. The rest of the family, sans Liam, laughed and walked over, each greeting the boys and Brandie in turn. Kaden was rooted in place, still gaping at them, until Liam elbowed him hard in the ribs, and then he jolted out of it and looked at him sharply, rubbing his chest as Liam nodded his head in Brandie's direction.

Kaden took a deep breath and finally walked over behind his family with Liam on his heels. He smiled and nodded at Brandie's brothers, "Hey guys," he tried to keep his composure but his voice cracked as he spoke. His arm reached up and he scratched the back of his neck, an old nervous tick he had had since he was a boy. His eyes landed on Brandie again, so close after so long. His heart leaped suddenly into his throat as he held out a hand to shake hers, but then his emotions got the better of him and he reached out to hug her instead.

[Dani]

Brandie burst out laughing as Gavin began bowing in front of her. "Yeah, it has been forever, hasn't it?" Still looking at Kaden out of the corner of her eye, she started politely greeting the rest of the Shanahans along with Cori and JJ. She couldn't believe how much they had grown up. She shouldn't have really been too surprised with the changes. Her and her siblings were around the same ages as Kaden and his siblings. Why should she have expected time to stand still for them? It certainly hadn't stood still for her family.

"Hey there," Cori said, waving at Kaden. "Your voice still changing? Boy, do I know what that's like. I went through it for two years. I'm pretty normal now, but occasionally it cracks whenever I'm around...." He stopped himself when he caught the dazed look on Brandie's face and headed back over to talk to the other guys. Her attention completely focused back on Kaden, Brandie extended her hand to him, only to suddenly find herself wrapped in his arms. A little caught up in the moment, she wrapped her arms around him as well. Her mind kept screaming at her to kiss him, but she managed to hold herself back. "It's so good to see you," she managed to blurt out, as she finally managed to pull away from him.

[Meggers]

The family stood around awkwardly, watching the hug between Kaden and Brandie. No one really knew what to say or do, they all wanted to break the tension, but no one wanted to interrupt either. Finally Maddie stepped up to save the day, she grinned big, looking at Brandie's brothers. "This is so funny, seeing you guys! What are you doing here? Wheres the rest of the fam?" she asked excitedly, it was so nice to see familiar faces.

Kaden still just stood in the one spot, not able to take his eyes off her. "Its good to see you, too," he managed to say, clearing his throat and trying to regain his composure. He managed a smile, and his body relaxed a little, and it wasn't until then that he realized that he had been holding his breath. However no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't tear his eyes away from her. He wondered if he was dreaming, and if he would jolt awake again any second now.

[Dani]

JJ smiled at Maddie. "Yeah, I'm so glad that I ran into you," he said with the same smile and wink that he always greeted pretty girls with. Given that he was twelve and she was around Brandie's age, he knew that nothing would come of it, but he still thought it was funny. Cori made a face and gently pushed his younger brother aside. "Don't mind him," he said, shaking his head. "The rest of the family's here in Riverside. We're just visiting them for the summer. Mom had to send some us to stay with our dad after the hurricane hit. You should come by sometime. I'm sure everybody would love to see you."

Brandie remained completely still, her eyes and mind focused mainly on Kaden. She could hear her brothers talking faintly in the background, but she couldn't understand what they were talking about. "How have you been?" she asked, smiling back at him. "It's been forever." Actually she knew exactly how long it had been since they'd last seen one another, right down to the amount of days, but she didn't want to sound like a crazy person. "So you're here now...." I never thought that I'd see you again......