Chapter Three

As Piper pulled up in her Fiat 500 outside her parent's semi-detached cottage thoughts of her life in London disappeared.

Her parents were George and Merryn Fawkner and they were born and bred in Porthleven. They were married at the tender age of 19 and Piper followed 3 years later. When Piper was 5, her brother Miles was born. Sadly Miles died of Leukemia at the age of 7 which completely devastated them all. It was something that her parents never spoke about and Piper never pushed the issue. But there wasn't a day when she didn't think of him. He was born with baby blue eyes and a mop of blonde hair and he had the most adorable nature. He would have been 22 now, and Piper had no doubt that had he have lived, he would've been an exceptional human being.

It was early evening in May and Piper could feel the gentle breeze coming through the window gently teasing her face.

"Right, move your backside maid!" Piper said as she wound up the window and exited her car.

Pulling her suitcases from the boot, she slammed it shut, locked her car.

Suddenly she was standing at her parent's front door, not knowing whether to knock or just walk in. Trepidation because, not only hadn't she seen Seb and Will in 9 years, she hadn't actually been home either.

Taking a deep breath she decided to ring the bell.

A large shadow appeared at the door and Piper felt a knot in her stomach. Suddenly the door was swung open and wait - it wasn't her Mum or Dad.

She was met with eyes a deep shade of blue, a long, lithe body, and a smile only a Greek god would have. 

For the first time in 9 years, she was staring at Will Clemens - and wow! What an image! He no longer looked like the awkward boy she left behind.

"Piper!" Will exclaimed as he pulled her into a bear hug.

He even smelt like a Greek god! 

Piper returned the embrace and they just stood there, completely silent for what felt like forever.

The moment was broken by her dad appearing from the living room.

"Oh, Piper - my darling baby girl". Her dad cried as he embraced her.

Emotion poured out of her dad and all she could feel was his heart beating rapidly.

"I missed you too dad - I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to come home". Piper admitted.

Will lifted her bags into the hallway, whilst her dad ushered her into the living room. All at once, it felt like she had never left. Everything still looked exactly the same from the flowery curtains down to her dad's tatty recliner.

It made her heart sing!

At that moment she knew she had made the right choice to come home.