Always You || A Chenford AU

Prologue

Lucy's POV

Last first day of high school, start of senior year at a different school. Lucy Chen didn't like it at all, but she didn't have a choice for that matter. Her father got offered a job at a new private practice in Los Angeles. She would start the new school year without all her friends, all alone. Not a way to start senior year, but she couldn't go back to San Francisco either.

"Lucy, stop daydreaming and help us out for a bit, then you can daydream all you want", said her mother. In the beginning, she didn't want to go either until she got a job as a therapist here.

"Coming!" Just a few more boxes until she was done with all her stuff. At least her new room is bigger than her old one. Finally, a positive point.

"Lucy, I want you to meet our new neighbours. This is Tom and Emma Bradford. They have a kid your age, Gennifer, she'll be going to your school as well. Maybe you two will become friends..." Her father didn't realise she didn't want to make any friends here. In exactly 10 months, she'll be moving back to San Francisco to start college there. There is no need to become friends with anyone here.

"We also have a son, actually, Tim. He's done two tours in Afghanistan, I think it was. But the chance that you'll see him is very small, he never comes home." Emma said. They had a son atleast 5 years older than her. "Oh, there's Genny. She's a really smart kid. Hey Genny, come here, I'd like to introduce you to our new neighbours." Sounds like she's really proud of her daughter, my parents would never say something like that.

"Hi, I'm Genny", a redhead introduced herself.

"I'm Lucy. Nice to meet you. Heard you're going to Wilshire High."

"Yes, I'm finally a senior, time never goes fast enough. Will you be going there too? How was your life in Fran? I need to hear everything, come on." Before she knew it she was at the Bradfords, talking to the nicest girl ever. 

"I actually am. And life in San Francisco was, well, normal I guess. I just had some friends who'm I hung out with every single day."

Lucy didn't believe she could ever get as close with someone as she was with Maia and she didn't plan on it either. It was another reason why she didn't want to make friends. But Genny Bradford was persistent, a good talker, listener, a great joker and someone who she could laugh with. Maybe it didn't hurt to have a friend after all...

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Tim's POV:

He heard everything from Genny, how nice the new neighbours were, how life was at the house, every single thing about a Lucy Chen. He could meet her there if he wanted, but he didn't want to interact with his father at all. 

Gennifer:
Hey big bro, some good news...

He got a message from his little sister. Apparently their parents wouldn't be home tonight, which meant he could finally get the last things from his childhood bedroom and never having to enter it again.

Then another message appeared, Lucy would be at the house. Did he want to have someone their when he got everything? Then again it didn't really matter. It would be the last time and meeting his new neighbour who'm he won't ever see again could be kind of nice.

But Lucy Chen was different from the stories he heard. She was loud and outgoing. Nothing like the shy Lucy Genny met in the beginning. They were good for each other, she brought Genny's smile back. And for that his smile started returning as well.

The three of them hung out whenever possible. Sometimes at a café or at the park, but there were moments where he was back in his childhood home with a smell of cookies. In the end they became friends, good friends even.

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Lucy started developing feelings for Tim around the second time they hung out in the café, he was laughing about some movie Genny seemed to like. She liked his smile, the one that reaches his eyes. It's a rare one, that is something she knew. The past weeks it was there, every single time they met. Right until something happened to his mom...

"Thank you for coming, Lucy. Genny needed your support today after she lost mom." He couldn't be serious, right? After the past few weeks of friendship, he doesn't believe Lucy supports him? "Good luck at UCLA, Genny's gonna miss you while she's in New York, for sure. Goodbye Lucy."

And there he went, the only one she ever loved, her best friend's brother, leaving. Why doesn't he believe they'll run into each other, they both lived in LA, anything could happen over there.

So she went to UCLA alone, met a couple of friends, and never heard from Tim again...