The sweet and humble life of Rose.

One summer - that's what Shae Mitchell had before she started college in the fall. She embarks on a whirlwind journey through Europe, dreaming of the lush countrysides and age-old cities. Along the way she meets an unlikely companion, a muse-less writer named Noah who seeks an adventure of his own. Together, with nothing but a handful of euros and a backpack of clothes, the two run rampant with a somewhat disastrous - though utterly romantic - adventure of their own.

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."

A few days before the 25th, Farah Dailey decided to take a risk and anonymously deliever a Christmas gift to her long-time crush, Jamie Bright. Things don't go quite as planned when a sudden snow blizzard strikes and Farah blunders her way into a sweet shop - coincidentally owned by Jamie's family. Hm, but perhaps being trapped with your crush inside a sweet shop isn't all bad? [ N a N o W r i M o - 2 O 1 2 ]

"Not just a flavour, but a way of life." When seventeen-year-old Flo Kennedy is forced to up sticks and trade her life in London for a sleepy seaside town on the south coast, she's anything but excited. Walden-on-Sea could win awards for being Britain's dullest town, and with a population consisting almost entirely of over sixties, teenagers are an endangered species. Silently struggling with her parents' death and separation from her sister, Flo's convinced she's in for the worst summer of her life. But when she meets the guy in the ice cream shop, things start to change. It's not long before she lands herself a job, a new set of friends and maybe even the beginnings of first romance. For the first time in several years, she's happy. But Flo knows all too well that things can't stay perfect forever, and after all, being on top of the world only gives you further to fall.

"Rose, I'm sorry, but your eyesight will be gone by the end of this year." Who knew one simple sentence could change a life so drastically? Rose is a normal seventeen year old girl with a normal life, normal friends, and what she thought to be normal vision. When she receives the news her vision is slowly deteriorating, she doesn't know what to think. Her life is over. What's a life without being able to see? Enter Chace, a young man who tackled Rose to the ground, mistakingly thinking she was about to commit suicide. He's handsome, suave, and has no idea why Rose is so upset. And even though she is a complete stranger, he decides he wants to help her feel better. With four months until her vision is gone forever, Rose slowly falls in love with this happy-go-lucky young man, but never reveals her problem to him. She's scared. Will he stay with her when he finds out she's going blind? Or will he ditch her when he finds out the truth?

"If the world can't handle the truth, give them a spectacular lie." Bitch. That's what they called me at my old school. I disagree: I'm just brutally honest, that's all. Some people don't like honesty. Exhibit A: Matthew's family. None of them want to acknowledge that their Golden Boy is gay. Exhibit B: My Mother. I only told her the truth: that she was a crappy parent who never should've gotten knocked up in the first place. But she was so offended that she shipped me off to my fabulously wealthy father and his walking-billboard-for-plastic-surgery of a wife. So I devised a brilliant plan. My new friend Matthew was sick of hiding his sexuality. I was tired of obnoxious rich boys hitting on me. So why not pretend to be dating? He wouldn't have to answer uncomfortable questions anymore, and I'd enter my new school as the girlfriend of the star quarterback. It should be easy, right? Of course, I didn't plan on falling for Matthew's brother.