Sometimes all you really need is a place to call home. *** Claire is lost and scared and utterly alone. Her family is in shambles after the death of her older sister Ina, and she's left to pick up the broken pieces of herself as her life heads into a downwards spiral of loneliness. Her heart leads her to 5:48, a little cafe by 33rd street, where she finds her new home. With a broken heart and a speech disability, Jasper has his heart and mouth sewn shut by the winding threads of hurt and fear. Painting and serving coffee in cafe 5:48 are one of his last few saving graces, but the smile he's been painting on himself will soon fade away as everything he's ever held dear slips away from his grasp. Ezra is out-of-sync and oddly cold by the way life has treated his young self. Abandoned by his single mother at an early age, he has grown up thinking that he is a mistake. His constant shaking hands are a reflection of what he often thinks of himself, but the delightful pastries he bakes for 5:48's customers are a reflection of what others see of him. Drew is a quirky rarity. He is a dash of loud, a pinch of exuberant, and a cup of eccentric - just like the meals he serves in the cafe as the only chef there. Behind his playful grins and outlandish clothes, however, are his jutting ribs, hollowed cheeks, and too-thin arms. Sometimes he cannot stomach being in his own skin as much as he cannot stomach food. This family has gone a long way from finding each other, and they'll be going a long way together too as reality comes catching up to them, threatening the newfound happiness they've found with each other. Secrets are revealed, pasts become presents, and lives are changed. Slowly but surely, they find their way back home. *** NOTE AS OF 08/2026: This is the old version of the story from 2012, posted in FULL. Another story that will be considered a reprise of this old version is in the works, and will be posted under the name "Hiraya House."

In a world with no one to call her own, Paris plans an escape from the system and her guardian according to the system. Unfortunately, she misses freedom by an inch when people pick her off the streets. Knowing nothing and what is going to happen next, Paris has just one goal. SURVIVAL.

{ Watty 2015 Winner + Featured Story } Meet Sawyer Jameson. On the outside, she's a normal seventeen year old girl with amazing friends, a charitable job and a loving family. She's beautiful, funny and easy to get along with and just by looking at her, you'd think that she's the perfect girl, living in the perfect world. On the inside though, just waking up and living her day-to-day life is a struggle for Sawyer. Well, aware of this fact, Sawyer's mother forces to see a psychiatrist after school on a daily basis in order to cope with the tragic events Sawyer encountered a year prior. Now meet Graham Cambridge. Those who don't know him could easily stereotype him as being a blunt, selfish, egotistical golden boy, just because he likes to party and play football. Those who actually know him though know that he's actually quite the opposite of all of those things. When Graham transfers from his elite prep school to Sawyer's high school and quickly takes an interest in her, things go from bad to worse. At least, that's what Sawyer's convinced herself of. What people don't realize though is that maybe they were wrong about Graham Cambridge and that his life is about as far from perfect as they come and that he and Sawyer are alike in more ways than one. Two completely different teenagers that maybe aren't all that different after all are about to embark on a wild ride that neither of them could have ever expected. Can they help each other get past their demented previous tragedies? Or are their bygones too great to ever escape them? And can Sawyer ever truly be saved? Full of romance, heartbreak and just a little bit of fate, the next couple of months will challenge both Sawyer and Graham in ways they never thought possible. And maybe, just maybe, something beautiful will come out of it. © Copyright 2013 Millie Morgan. All Rights Reserved.

When Ellie Reinhart started the 'Ribbon Campaign' in support of her brother and his boyfriend, she didn't expect it to grow into what it is. But it does. And that's where Bryce Newman comes in.

My name is Aurora Starling. I used to have a simple, normal life. Well, I used to, anyway. I'm constantly running for my life. I am always watching my back, waiting to be attacked and killed. I always live in fear, not just for my life but for the lives of the ones I love. They are all either already dead or soon to be dead. That's the only difference: present-dead and future-dead. It will be my turn soon. I can't escape this, for this is my life. We will never be safe again. (I drew the cover)

There in those city lights, there was no her and there was no him. There was just everything and nothing and the spaces in between, like flickering lights against a never-ending, black sky. There in those city lights, there was no love and there was no hate. There was just listening and talking and understanding every single thing, like the 'ready, stop, go' of car-chasers and dream-makers. There in those city lights, there was no sadness and there was no happiness. There was just candid smiles and wasted tears and bottom lips chewed off, like the overflowing boulevard of things unseen. There in those city lights, there was no lady and there was no man. There was just a boy and a girl, who promised to fall in love, not with each other, but in those city lights. [a blind collaboration by @hepburnettes & @cityscape]

When Ella-Mia decided to profusely stalk the college database and email the guy of her dreams, she honestly never meant for two things to happen. One - that the student number she typed would be incorrect and the email would accidentally be sent to the wrong person. Two - the person she mistakenly sent the email to would be suicidal and on the brink of losing himself. It was all about love for Ella, but now, none of that mattered. Not when there was a life on the line and especially not when that person was Grayson Forrester, lonely, forlorn and buried in guilt deeper than the Indian Ocean. Grayson has no reason to stay, nothing to hold him back in this cold bitter world. But then Ella realises one thing. Maybe people don’t need to be given reasons to live; maybe they don’t need to be told everything will be okay. Maybe all they need is a touch. A touch of hope. [Short story - #27 Teen-Fiction - #213]

Reece Bremer goes through life with a scowl and cold personality. Jessica Andrews goes through life with a glowing smile and positive outlook. Reece looks at life with dull, judgmental eyes that make him hate the world and the people living in it. Jessica, well... She looks at life through a camera. Literally. They're polar opposites, and that's what sparks Reece's immediate hate for Jessica the moment they meet. All he sees is a girl with the best life, put in the category of those who get everything handed to them on a silver platter. But who says Jessica's life is like that? Just like a photograph, there's more to the story than what you see. Stumbling across one of Jessica's hidden portfolio might reveal that her happiness isn't all that true. Behind that smile and each picture she takes, holds a thousand words of a very big secret - one that Reece is determined to find out. And who knows? It just might change everything between them. cover by dysanic || 2015 watty's winner for talk of the town ||