New story. The next chapter to Glass Houses and Stone Envelopes will be posted tonight. Promise. :)

Hope this is at least, slightly intriguing. Please, please, please Read & Review. I just want to know if I should keep this one going.

Disclaimer: I own nada...except for my own imagination and story line.

Chapter 1

Spencer rocked lightly, gentle breeze dancing across her face, as she leaned further into the porch swing. Bear, her German shepherd, rested its head upon her lap, relaxed in his owner's company.

It had been a relatively quiet afternoon, birds singing routinely as near-by squirrels searched for their afternoon snack. Wafting from the house was the filling aroma of Chelsea's mid-day meal, a cream-of-broccoli soup with lightly buttered garlic toast.

Behind her, the blonde heard the creaking of the wooden floorboards followed by the slight creak of the screen door.

"You ready to eat?" the blonde's friend offered heartily.

Spencer heard the placement of a wooden fold-away table in front of her, ceasing her gentle rocking movements as she sat up on her porch swing. Bear smoothly hopped off of the swing before disappearing into the house as Chelsea set a bowl of soup and utensils on the make-shift table.

"We're getting new neighbors…" Chelsea voiced out loud, peering out at the U-Haul across the street.

"I figured it was something like that," the blonde said after a moment, swallowing her soup. "Who moved?"

"Mrs. Peterson from across the street…" Chelsea lightly sat beside Spencer, crossing her legs as she relaxed into the porch swing. "Bout damn time, that old woman was gonna drive me crazy."

Spencer chuckled. "She's not that bad, Chels…"

"Spencer, you always tend to see the good in people…but she certainly had a dark side—just call her Darth Vader."

The blonde shook her head, smiling at Chelsea's innate stubbornness. "You'd think, with my lack of vision and all, and your…not so lack of vision, that you'd be the one 'seeing' the good side of people."

Chelsea smirked. "Yea, well…life's crazy like that. Stevie Wonder could probably see the old bat was delusional. You're just…strangely nice."

This time, Spencer laughed, hot soup nearly spraying from her mouth. "Strangely nice, am I?" Spencer managed to say between laughs. "I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"Good…" Chelsea affirmed. The two sat in comfortable silence for several minutes, Chelsea in quiet observation of the movers across the street while Spencer continued the intake of her soup.

"She looks young…" Chelsea said after a long silence, more to herself than to Spencer, but the blonde couldn't help but display some interest.

"Who looks young?"

"Oh…" Chelsea, quickly stated, "The new chick across the street. She can't be any older than her early twenties."

"Hmm…" the blonde wondered, "Is she by herself?"

"I think so…besides the two guys helping her unpack, I think she's by herself."

"Oh…what does she look like?" Spencer asked, strangely curious.

"Umm…she's about your height I think, skinny, but in a work-out-and-run-10-miles-everyday kind of way, not the I-ate-a-pretzel-I'm-gonna-go-purge kind of skinny." Spencer laughed once more as Chelsea continued, not missing a beat. "I can't really tell the exact color of her hair, but it's mostly brown and pulled back into a bun. Oh…and she's dressed simply in appropriately tight jeans and a white cami."

Spencer sat for a moment, painting the image to her mind before remarking on Chelsea's extravagant details. "'Appropriately tight jeans'?"

"Yeah…you know. The kind that hugs you in all the right places," Chelsea responded, matter-of-factly.

Spencer laughed. "Chels, if I didn't know you any better I'd think you were into that sorta thing."

"Nope, That's your thing, Spence. But I do appreciate the female form from time to time!" Chelsea responded. Spencer laughed harder.

Hilarity subsided and before long Spencer finished her small dinner. Not much more was said between the two friends and after a while, Chelsea excused herself, bringing Spencer's dishes in the house with her. Bear made his way towards his owner, lightly jumping on the porch swing next to the blonde, and rested his head on her lap.

She started to rock, thinking of nothing in particular.

***

"Put that in the house—but don't drop it—it's breakable."

The slighter taller man next to Ashley nodded as he easily lifted the heavy box full of—whatever—and walked off to the door. The young woman ran her fingers through her hair.

She was on her own. No nagging mother. No alcoholic father. Definitely no self-obsessed older brother. She was free to carve her own path, and moving halfway across the country was certainly a start.

The young brunette looked up briefly. The woman across the street was still sitting on the porch swing, she noticed, but this time the copper-skinned woman who had been seated next to her was gone.

"Where do you want this box, Ashley?"

Quickly brought out of her daze, the girl named Ashley looked to her left where a significantly taller man stood holding a box of CDs.

"Um…put that in the house, Aiden. Is that everything from the truck?"

"Yea, this is the last of it."

"Okay, well, tell Nick that you and him are free to go. I can do the rest."

"Alright, then. I'll swing by tomorrow to see if you need some help."

Ashley nodded as Aiden walked past her and into the house. She looked back across the street, the woman seated at the porch swing still rocking to the gentle breeze. Ashley couldn't tell what she looked like, her body hidden by the shadows of the roof, and she found it strange that the girl hadn't put the porch lights on. The woman just seemed to gaze dreamily, relaxed in the comfort of her porch swing with her dog. But, despite the other woman's laid back behavior, Ashley was strangely drawn to her. She was curious, by all means, and couldn't understand why.

"Alright, Ash. Like I said, we'll swing by tomorrow." Nick quickly said a good-bye before making his way to his friend's black Jeep. They drove off after a moment, Ashley making a small-waving gesture before they passed.

Ashley watched the leaving vehicle, thinking of nothing in general, before noticing the sudden presence of light illuminating the previously dark porch across the street. It was the copper-skinned woman, most likely rejoining the other female in some sort of friendly companionship. The curious brunette couldn't shake the slight tingling she felt as she watched the woman from afar; the blond-haired woman who enticed some sort of unwavering fascination within.

Ashley watched as the German Shepherd awoke from the lap of the blonde, gently hopping off the porch swing, and made it's way—almost human-like—into the small house. It was almost as if the dog knew the two friends would be chatting about subjects irrelevant to him—subjects meant for only two adult woman. It brought a pensive smile to the brunette's face, as she witnessed the perhaps, routine, interaction. It seemed so familial, so loving. She couldn't help but feel a small pang of longing in her chest.

It was something she'd never had.

Tearing her gaze away from the exchanges, Ashley brought her attention to her new home. Her new home.

It was her home, a new life. A sudden excitement washed over her as she bathed in the awareness. There was something here, she felt its inexplicable presence in her chest. Her strange introduction into new living.

She looked back towards the porch, immediately spotting the blonde.

Tingles washed over her as she walked into her home, taking the first steps into her new life.