A/N So, we're trying this again.. I haven't posted a story here for just under a year now. I originally wrote this story last year but never got around to finishing it.

Under The Sycamore Tree

Chapter 1

15th of July 1999

It's sunset. It's the thing she loves most about the end of the day. The sun sits as low as it can in the evening sky. Looking up, she can see the dark blue of space but doesn't stop there, her eyes slowly moving down. Ever so slightly as to not miss any detail. Eventually reaching the horizon where she can see the bright pinks, oranges and reds that make up the rest of the sky surrounding the setting sun. The colours mix perfectly. Not a single flaw to be seen – as if it was the work of a master painter.

There is a the light breeze, strong enough to carry a delicate feather but soft enough to caress her skin as it passes over. She can hear the faint whispers of the wind as it passes over her exposed ears every now and then. Everything is peaceful.

This is Rachel Barbra Berry.

Picture a tree. It has a long, thick trunk that extended to the height of a two-storey building. It has branches and perfectly crisp, green leaves adorn them. If you took a step back from the tree, you would say that it looks like a mushroom. Half way down the tree a singular, thick branch erupts from the bark. As you inspect it, you find two coils of rope wrapped around it. They fell to an old plank of wood that had been painted white. The plank was tied between the two dangling pieces of rope to make a seat for a swing.

This evening like every other she sat on the swing attached to the tree at the bottom of her front lawn watching the sun go below the horizon and the light finally fade until the dark blue ruled the skies and the stars came out.

However, on this occasion as Rachel waited for the evening spectacle she was distracted by the distant humming sound of a car. This was unusual, especially at this time of night. With her curiosity peaked she leaned forward as to look around the tree and watch the car as it came around the bend. After what seemed like an age to the small child, the headlights appeared temporarily blinding her. By the time she'd regained full vision, the car had driven all the way down the street and stopped outside the house opposite her own. Rachel noticed the vehicle had a trailer attached with the logo for a self-removal service.

CLICK

The car door groaned as it was forced open to allow the driver of the car to step out. Once the driver was clear of the door they let it go and the door slammed shut, almost like it was happier closed. Rachel eyed the driver and noticed that it was a woman. She wasn't the tallest person alive but she wasn't too small either. The woman also had brown hair, much like Rachel's but shorter, stopping at her shoulders. Rachel continued to watch as this mysterious woman began to stretch her neck and shoulders before walking to the other side of the vehicle. She stopped at the rear passenger door and pulled the latch to open it.

CLICK

It opened slowly to reveal another figure. Rachel hadn't even noticed someone else inside the car.

"Come on hun, unbuckle your seat belt so we can go inside." The brunette stepped aside, allowing Rachel a better view of whom this woman was talking to.

It was a boy. Rachel guessed he was maybe no older than herself. She looked him over intensely, being very curious about the pair. The boy was probably the same height as her maybe a little bit taller. He was wearing a pair of old trainers that had obviously been well used, a pair of blue jeans with more obvious signs of wear and a red t-shirt with the logo for a football team she didn't know. He had a messy mop of darkish brown hair much like his mothers. She couldn't make out any facial features in the poor light. But she made a mental image of what he might look like in daylight.

As requested the boy stepped out of the vehicle allowing what Rachel presumed was his mother to shut the car door. They began walking towards the vacant property opposite her house. The house had been on the market for a few months after the previous owners decided they wanted to move somewhere new. She'd seen a 'For Sale' sign and wondered what her new neighbours would be like. As the pair reached the front door the woman produced a key and put it into the lock and with one flick of her wrist, the door was open. She took a step inside, turning on some lights as she went through the house. Before finally coming back to the front door where her son waited for her.

"We'll grab our suitcases now and then tomorrow morning we'll take everything out of the trailer and make this place our own, okay?" A simple nod was all she received.

Rachel was still perched on her seat and watched as the young boy finally turned around. The outdoor light illuminating his face for her. And that is when he noticed her sitting on the swing. Rachel had no idea what to do so she shyly waved the unknown face and after brief moment the gesture was returned with the same shyness.

"Come on Finn, let's go inside." With that he was ushered inside and the door closed shut.

That was Finn Christopher Hudson.

As soon as the door had closed the quiet suburban road was consumed by the darkness of the night.

Rachel shivered as she sat perched on her wooden swing so she elected to get up and go inside to wash up for bed. She walked up to the front door, clicked the latch and pushed the door open with ease before stepping over the threshold and into the house she called home, pushing the door closed on her way in to an audible click. She was instantly greeted by the warmth of the house as she removed her bright pink rain coat and placed neatly on the hook behind the door.

"Is that you Rachel? Come into the kitchen and give your daddy a kiss!". The voice of her father LeRoy filled the house as it mixed with the classical music softly playing in the background. "Ooo, are we're giving out kisses? I'll take one of those too princess." That was the voice of Rachel's other father Hiram. She loved her adoptive parents.

The small girl started walking forward, away from the door and into the living room where she was meet by her father Hiram sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace reading a book. Once he had noticed he presence he placed his book down and looked at her with an expectant expression.

"Well? What are you waiting for? I'm expecting kisses over here!". He held a serious face before dropping into a smile that made Rachel giggle uncontrollably. Without saying anything else he motioned for her to come towards him which she complied with. As she neared him he scooped her up into his lap which again caused her to giggle at her father.

"Who's my little bag of giggles tonight?". He said before he peppered the girls face with kisses. It was at that point that Rachel's other parent, LeRoy, entered the room. "Hey! No fair little missy, I asked for a kiss first!" And with that he jumped over the back of the sofa, next to his partner and child causing them both to jump up a little at the sudden action. This garnered yet another giggle fit before a missive smile entered the eight-year old's face.

"How was your sun set baby girl?" LeRoy asked as he placed his hand on top of her head and began to stroke in a soothing motion.

"It was really good Dad! The colours mixed perfectly – it was amazing." She gushed about the setting of the sun like it was the only thing in the world. Meanwhile, her parents listened with intent to their daughter.

"…Oh and the new neighbours moved in to the house across the road." Rachel casually dropped that piece of information. "It looks like a family. A woman and a boy." She looked up at her parents looking down at her with nothing but love in their eyes.

"A boy you say? Did you talk to him yet?" Hiram playfully teased his daughter. "NO!" Rachel screeched. "Boy are icky daddy." This caused both men to chuckle a little.

"Well, tomorrow we'll go over and welcome them to the neighbourhood... Berry style!" Hiram said to Rachel and LeRoy also nodded his head in agreement.

Looking down at his watch LeRoy noticed the time. "Well, it's the time Rachel." She looked up at her father with her biggest puppy eyes "That's not going to work darling, It's time for bed." A little defeated Rachel give a huff before she rolled her eyes back. "Fine…" she said as she got up from her father's lap.

Rachel give them both a kiss goodnight before heading up the stairs and into her bedroom.

The next day the whole Berry clan were on their way over to their new neighbour's house.

"Why do I have to come?" Rachel moaned as she tugged on Hiram's hand to get his attention. "Because it's polite to welcome a new neighbour into the community baby. Don't forget our core family values! Honesty, respect and da-" he was interrupted by Rachel as she finished his sentence for him. "Dance. Yes, I know daddy but-" this time she was interrupted by LeRoy. "No buts Rachel, we're going to say hello and that's final." She huffed out very dramatically before mumbling under her breath. "Fine."

They arrived at the door and knocked. A few moments later the door swung open to reveal a middle aged woman. LeRoy spoke up "Hello we're the Berry's! We live across the street from you." He gestured towards their home before continuing. "I'm LeRoy, this is my husband Hiram and this is our beautiful daughter Rachel." The woman smiled at the family as Hiram continued for LeRoy. "We hope you don't mind but we've come over to say hello and welcome you to the neighbourhood." Resting on the door frame the woman replied. "It's no bother at all! I'm glad to meet you all. I'm Carol Hudson and somewhere outback is Finn, my son." Carol step clear of the door and gestured into the house. "Would you like to come in? I just made some coffee. I'd love to ask you guys some questions about schools and such." Hiram and LeRoy smiled and nodded at the kind offer from Carol. "We'd love too!" said Hiram.

They stepped inside the empty house, moving towards the kitchen. "You'll have to excuse the mess, we're still un packing. Please, take a seat." She pointed to the stools at the kitchen counter. "Excuse me for just one minute, I'll just get Finn out the back yard." And with that she opened up the sliding back door which lead out in to the back yard. "Finn! Will you come down from there? We have visitors." There was a short pause in the conversation. Rachel could hear what was being said but could guess at the woman's reply. "Because I asked you to." A few seconds later a young boy entered the kitchen, the same boy Rachel saw last night. She gave him a small smile but he must not have remembered her because he just looked at her like she was an alien, causing the smile to quickly drop from her face.

"Finn, these nice people are the Berry family." She pointed at each individual and informed him of their names. "… And this is Rachel." She didn't smile this time, in fact she just plain avoided eye contact. "Why don't you take Rachel out back and show her your tree house honey?" Finn looked up at his mother with disgust in his eyes. "But mom... she's a girl! There are no girls allowed in my tree house!" This caused all of the adults to laugh. "Finnegan Christopher Hudson, don't be so silly." She opened the sliding door and ushered them out. "Go on now… be nice." And just like that Rachel and Finn were on their own.

"Ugh! Follow me." Finn began walking with Rachel in tow. He suddenly stopped causing Rachel to bump into him. He turned around to speak to her. "Don't touch anything, okay?" He looked to her for a sign of acknowledgement. Rachel just nodded. They continued walking up to a small tree with a wooden construction perched on top. He climbed the few steps up to the tree house and turned back to look at Rachel. "Well… come on then!" Rachel stuttered into gear and walked up to the wooden ladder to climb it. She was about three steps up when she froze. "Hey, come on. What's wrong? You scared of heights or something?" She clutched onto the ladder with all her strength. "Yes." she mumbled. Finn laughed for a moment before he realised she was genuinely scared. "Oh come on! It's not even that tall." He leaned down and offered her his hand to help her. "Take me hand already will you!" She grabbed onto this hand and looked up at him. The sun was shining into her eyes so she could she much. All she could see was a Finn's outline as she felt him start to pull her towards him. With his help her legs started to move again and she climbed the final two steps. When she was able at the top she was able to see his features much clearer than should could have the night before. She looked into his eye for a second before noticing that they were still holding hands. She looked down at their hands which caused Finn to drops hers. "There… easy!" Finn said with an awkward tone. Rachel rolled her eyes at him before looking around the tree house. It was just as bare as the house. Finn sat down on a small log that had been turned into a stool. Not sure what to do Rachel put her hand out in front of her for Finn to shake but she extended her arm to far and end up hitting him in the face. "I'm Rach- Oh my goodness… I'm so sorry." Her face turned bright red. Finn clutched his forehead. "Ow! Why did you do that?" he looked up at her with an accusatory facial expression. "I-I didn't me-mean too hit you… I'm sorry!" Rachel looked down at the floor while speaking, fiddling with her thumbs.

"Rachel, come here baby. We're leaving now!" Rachel looked back at her parents and then at Finn. "I'm sorry Finn, I have to go. I'm sorry I hit your head." And with that she retreated from the tree house and back into the house where her parents were waiting for her.

A/N Okay so... I hope you guys liked this first chapter. If you guys give me a positive feel for this story I'll post the next chapter in a few day as I already have the next 4 chapters finished.

If you spot any mistakes i.e. spelling, grammar ect. (Colour is the correct spelling, just want to put that out there too.)

Please review this story and let me know what you think and whether or not it's worth carrying on with.