"Aubree, are you okay?" Parker asked, glancing over at me as the car slowly came to a stop, about halfway down the street lined with gorgeous home after gorgeous home.

"I'm fine." It was a lie, of course, as I was pretty far from being fine. In just a few minutes, seconds really, I would be making my way inside his family's home and meeting them for the first time. Which is a nerve wrecking time as is, but our situation was obviously a bit different. Not to mention how awful things went when Parker met my mom.

"She will love you," he insisted, as if he could read my mind, and reached over to squeeze my hand reassuringly. I smiled, relaxing a bit at the feel of his touch. "However, it's my siblings you have to worry about."

I felt the color drain from my face. "W-what?"

His lips spread into a smile, his blue eyes sparkling. "I'm joking!" He leaned across the seat and gave me a quick, gently kiss on the lips before pushing his door open. "Come on, let's go in."

I pushed opened my door, taking a few shaky steps before I stopped to smooth out my skirt. It had taken me about thirty minutes to decide what to wear, half my closet was now on my floor, but I was satisfied with the final result; a flowing, flower print skirt that stopped a little above my knees and a white tank top. I thought it was a classic 'meet the parents look' without trying too hard. I looked over at Parker and noticed he was watching me with an amused look on his face. "What's so funny?"

He walked around the car and wrapped his strong arms around me. "It's cute how much you worry, don't you know you are effortlessly beautiful?"

I grinned, feeling my heart skip a beat. I had a feeling that no matter how long Parker and I were together, he would always have that effect on me. "You're great, you know that?" I told him, giving him a soft kiss before grabbing his hand pulling him towards the front door with my newly found confidence.

"Yeah, I know it," he joked, as we approached the front door. He knocked twice before pushing open the door. "Mom?" He called out, and I felt myself hold my breath as we walked inside into the foyer.

"Parker!" A woman's voice called out, seconds before she appeared. She looked a bit similar to him, with light brown hair cut in a way to frame her face, and light blue eyes. She wore a friendly smile on her face and the way she pulled Parker into a hug you would think she hadn't seen him in so long.

When the hug ended, Parker smiled over at me. "Mom, I'd like you to finally meet-"

"Kennedy," she said, the warm smile still in place. She walked over towards me and pulled me into a hug as well. "It's so nice to meet you," she added in, letting go of me.

"It's nice to meet you as well, Mrs.-"

"Please, call me Cathy. Come on in, make yourself at home. I have some food waiting for you guys in the kitchen, I might have gone a bit over board, but I was so excited," she said, laughing at herself. I watched her eyes sparkled, and knew instantly where Parker got it from.

"Where's dad at?" Parker asked.

His mom looked back at him. "He had a last minute work thing he had to attend to." She rolled her eyes, but had a smile on her face. "He really wanted to meet you and I was suppose to tell you we will need to have another get together soon," she said, her eyes meeting mine.

I felt the nerves disappear as I realized they were sincerely eager to not only meet me, but get to know me. I knew there was a part of her that didn't approve the way we started dating, but she was putting that aside. I wish my own mother could do that. We continued on down the hall, and I glanced at the rows of pictures that were on the wall. They looked so happy, so nice, that I found myself anxious to get to know them as well. Suddenly an older picture caught my eye, and I felt myself stop to get a better look at it. In the picture was a little boy, probably about three, wearing only a pair of underwear and his mother's heals with a giant smile on his face. He had the same light blue eyes that I knew so well.

"Is this you?" I asked, letting out a laugh. "You were so adorable!"

He groaned, blushing. "Mom, you were suppose to take that one down!"

His mom crossed her arms across her chest, shaking her head at him. "No way, it's such a precious picture and I wouldn't want to take away Kennedy's privilege to see it."

"It's cute," I insisted, rubbing his arm lightly. I loved seeing this side to Parker.

The sound of dishes clattering startled us and Cathy sighed. "Those would be Parker's siblings helping themselves to the food. I promise you I did teach them some manners," she said with a laugh.

We walked into the kitchen and sure enough there stood two teens. One boy, who looked very similar to Parker, was piling up his plate with food, a look of guilt over his face as we walked in. The other, a girl, with long, strawberry blond locks, was sneaking something off the dessert tray.

"This is Pacey and Paisley," He paused, before whispering, "Clearly she had a thing for P names." I chuckled. "Guys this is Kennedy."

"Hi," I said, smiling at them. It was almost more intimating meeting them than his mother, probably because I knew she would be more likely to be polite.

Pacey gave a wave, his mouth too filled with food to speak. Paisley, however, looked me over a few times, causing a sick feeling in my stomach. "Hi Kennedy," she said finally, offering me a smile. "She's too pretty for you Parker," she added in.

"I know," he agreed, grabbing the pitcher of water off the table and filling up glasses for both of us.

Cathy gestured for us to sit down at the table, which we did. "Please, help yourself to whatever you'd like." I looked around the table, which was filled with sandwiches, different types of salads, homemade macaroni and the desserts.

"We left the cookies in the car," I whispered to Parker.

"Damn. I'll go grab them," he said, getting ready to stand up. I grabbed a hold of his arm, preventing him of doing so.

"Let me go," I told him. It wasn't that I needed to get away from his family, I just wasn't quite ready for some alone time with them.

I headed out the same way we came in, walking more slowly this time to get a better look at the pictures on the other side of the wall. My heart stopped, then sunk into my stomach as my eyes landed on the picture of Parker with her arms wrapped around Hannah. It had been so long since I seen a picture of her, I was avoiding them at all cost, and I was surprised at how I almost forgot what she looked liked. What I wasn't surprised about was that the pain of her being gone was still there. Not to mention, looking at both their happy faces, with wide grins, I also realized that the pain of him being with her would never be gone.

"Don't worry about it," a voice behind me said, "you're way prettier than she was."

I spun around, coming face to face with Paisley. "I…thanks…"

"My mom ordered me to come help you," she explained, her light brown eyes leaving mine and moved over to the picture. "I heard you weren't friends anymore, do you miss her?"

It was a thorny question, one that I had no clue where to even begin to answer. "I…well…it's complicated," I answered finally, giving her a soft smile.

She nodded, her hair falling like waves down her shoulders. She had a sympatic look in her eyes. "I know I don't really know you, but I know Parker really likes you which makes me like you. So, if you ever need to talk or want to hang out…"

"Thanks, we will have to do that," I told her honestly.

"Great," she said with a smile. "And Kennedy? I miss her too."

And just like that, I dawned on me that while Hannah was gone, she was not forgotten, at least, not in this family. Which was something, I was going to have to live with.