The limo ride from LAX airport met almost all of Ellie's expectations. She, Marco and Paige stopped along Broadway Street, did a little browsing on Rodeo Drive, saw some major celebs hanging around Sunset Boulevard and took dozens of awesome pics along Hollywood Boulevard's "Walk of Fame" sidewalk. And to top it all off, the arrival at Paige's luxurious mansion. The gigantic house greatly slapped a smile on both Ellie and Marco's faces.

As they entered the large marble foyer, Marco clutched onto Ellie's arm.

"OH. MY. GOD!" he said, completely taken back by his surroundings. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU LIVE HERE!"

Ellie stood there, her mouth wide with shock and excitement. She shook her head disbelievingly.

"I know! Isn't it amazing?" Paige cheesed as she crossed the threshold of the front door and into the foyer behind them. "The perks of being a leading lady!"

"I didn't even know you could act!" Ellie said.

"Thank you, Eleanor, for your confidence." Paige shook her head and chuckled.

"I always knew you had star potential," Marco pointed a finger to his friend.

Paige laughed.

The rest of the evening went by pretty smoothly. Ellie and Marco were even more floored when they saw the other rooms that the large mansion concealed. The kitchen was huge, and the backyard was every wannabe celebrity's dream.

"A SWIMMING POOL?" Marco gasped when he and Ellie walked out onto the pavement of the backyard.

Ellie had unpacked things in what Paige called the "Mini-Princess Suite", though her bed was queen-sized, layered with beautifully fabricated sheets and the room had a balcony that perfectly overlooked the city. Marco took the bedroom across from her's, he was unpacking as well.

As she set aside her last pair of jeans, a small sheet of paper fell out of the pocket. Ellie set the jeans in her drawer and picked up the sheet of paper. It was a note that her mom had left her under her apartment door about her dad being back. Her mom probably figured she'd never received the message she left on her cell, so she decided to leave a note instead. Ellie was in class at the time and hadn't gotten it until later. But she knew what was going on; she knew where her father was. She just wanted to avoid it all; block it all out.

Ellie crumpled the letter in her fist just as Marco came in. He knocked on the wall by the doorway.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey," Ellie looked up.

"You all set?" Marco asked as he made his way to her bed. He sat down on the edge.

"Yep," Ellie nodded. "Looks like." She could feel the urge to cry upon remembering what was in the letter.

"Are you okay?" Marco asked.

Crap, the redhead swore in her head. I need to get a bit better in hiding my emotions.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good… "

"You sure? Cause you've been kinda spacey since we left home,"

"I'm fine, Marco. Really." Ellie passed off a brief grin and a solemn nod.

"Okay…I just worry about you sometimes."

"Worry for what?" Ellie lightly frowned as she made her way to the bed as well. She sat next to him.

"You just seem so stressed sometimes. Yah know, with the paper, classes, essays."

"I'm, I'm not stressed, Marco."

"Maybe…" Marco raised a brow at his friend. "But, I'm glad you decided to tag along on this trip. It could really be good for you; take your mind off of stuff, yah know."

"Believe me, that's what I'm trying to do."

"That's the spirit!" Marco nudged his friend and smirked. "Let's make this an experience. I mean, how often do we visit L.A.?"

Ellie nodded.

"How often does Paige get to gloat about the things she's doing."

"Hey! You don't worry about Paige. Just have fun."

…

Chad Williams' family lived in an apartment along Venice Beach. His wife, Jessica, maintained it in such a great fashion, Sean thought he was staying in some sort of luxurious hotel suite. Jessica was very welcoming and so was her and Chad's daughter, Kayla, who was only three years old. She was no stranger to conversation; she even asked Sean if he would play Barbie with her. Sean politely declined, but gave her a "We'll See" gesture.

Jessica showed Sean to the guestroom. He changed out of his uniform and into a simple t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. He began unpacking his things.

"Hey Cameron!" came Chad, opening the door to the guestroom. He had changed out of his uniform as well.

"Uh…hey!" Sean said a bit sheepishly.

He always felt so intimated around the 28 year-old soldier. Chad had ranked up a lot more field time and fought in plenty more battles than Sean had in his ten years of service. And he made out it out alive; barely scarred through it all.

"Jess says dinner's almost ready." Chad folded his arms.

"Oh…uh, okay. Thanks" Sean made did a half smile then returned to packing his clothes in a dresser.

"I still can't figure why you wanted to tag along with us." Chad said, walking further into the room.

"I don't know," Sean shrugged. "I didn't wanna go anywhere else"

"No family back in Toronto?"

"Well, there are people back home that I know. People who I consider more of a family than my own parents."

"So why didn't you go back to see them?"

"Uh…didn't wanna be a bother."

"Hmm… that happens often when you go back home?"

Sean was beginning to get a bit agitated with Chad's questions. He came to L.A. to escape his "legacy" back in Toronto, not be reminded of it.

"Look… uh… can I just pack?" Sean asked straightforwardly, a stern look on his face.

"Hey, watch your mouth, Cameron." Chad unfolded his arms. He glared at Sean and began walking towards him. "You're not only in my house, but I outrank you."

Sean's expression lightened on the spot. A large knot formed in his stomach as Chad came face to face with him. He found himself falling back in an immediate at-ease stance; his knuckles at his side and all. Chad continued to glare at him. Sean feared that once they returned to base that Chad would hold his act of "talking out" against him. His worry eased up, however, when Chad's look of seriousness faded into a smile.

"Ha! Too easy!" Chad punched Sean in the shoulder. "See yah at dinner Cameron,"

Chad walked out of the room laughing.

Sean felt as if he was holding in an hour's worth of oxygen. He finally breathed out in relief as Chad left. He had a feeling the high ranked army recruit wasn't done toying with Sean's nerves.

What a trip this will be… he thought.

Sean continued to unpack.

…

The next day, Marco decided to help Paige run through some of her lines. The hopeful starlet, who was completely uneasy and suddenly felt pressured to execute her best valley girl charm, had concluded that she needed a variety of comfort foods to put herself in the right state of mind; foods that weren't already in the mansion's fully supplied refrigerator. Ellie opted to head to the Canadian Store and pick up a few things for Paige. She wanted to get out of the house and of course get another glimpse of L.A. on foot.

Ellie followed the map of the small shopping center until she rounded the corner of a drug store and onto another sidewalk that led to the Canadian Shop. Just as she approached the doors of the small store, they opened. Sean Cameron emerged, snacking on a chocolate desert of some kind. He looked around and his eyes fell on Ellie.

"Hey!" he smiled, a bit of chocolate smeared on his chin.

"Hi!" she smiled herself, more so at the chocolate mess on his face.

"Funny, huh?" he said.

"What?" Ellie asked.

"Us both ending up at this store!" Sean nodded to the shop's sign overhead.

"Well, we are Canadian." She nodded.

"This is true." Sean nodded along.

They both shared a laugh.

Sean decided to ditch his desert in the nearest trash been; seeing as he had already devoured half of it before completely leaving the store and he didn't want to look like a slob in front of his ex. He wiped his mouth and disposed of the napkin as well.

"So how's your stay been so far?" he asked, obviously trying to keep the conversation going.

Ellie stopped to question his persistency in her head before she responded.

"Good, good." She answered, pursing her lips. "We're in this huge mansion in Beverly Hills that Paige is kinda occupying at the moment."

"Really? Paige bought a mansion out here?"

"Oh, no. She got this role in Jason Mewes' movie and she kinda owns the place while they're filming."

"Wow," Sean shook his head, amazed. "Paige Michalchuk, an actress."

"Tell me about."

"Everything that's changed since I left…" Sean looked a bit sympathetic as he spoke. Almost as if he missed out on his own childhood.

"Yep." was all Ellie could muster. She didn't want to get all mushy.

"So what's up with you? We really didn't get a chance to talk at the airport." Sean lightened his expression.

"Not much. I'm just out getting a few things for Paige."

"Well I kinda meant in a more broader sense… like your life."

"Oh…well um…wait …" Ellie frowned. "Last time we had this conversation you were-"

"Oh, I'm not hitting on you or anything, I'm just interested. It's been a while." Sean offered.

"Hmm…ok. Well, just university and…the paper is all I have going for me right now. I'm the new editor and head writer." Ellie cheesed as if she'd just won some sort of beauty pageant. Sean grinned.

"That's cool… I always thought you were a good writer."

"Thanks."

"So the family. They all good? Your mom? Dad?"

Ellie's smile immediately dimmed when Sean said the word family. She had come so close to almost forgetting.

"Well you know…they're, they're good. As good as my family can be." Ellie said in a rush, in hopes of avoiding any conversation that would lead to her dad… even though Sean would probably ask more about her mother. "You know, I should really get this stuff for Paige before she throws a diva fit or something."

Ellie started pass Sean but he stepped in her way.

"Oh hey, wait! Before you go." Sean reached in his jean pocket and pulled out what looked like invitations. He handed out three to Ellie.

"What's this?" Ellie took the invitations and started examining one.

"Well my Squad Commander is having a welcome home party at his place later. His wife's been putting it together for a month or so." Sean explained. Ellie read through the invitation a little more than looked up to Sean. She could sense the hopefulness in his eyes; he really wanted her to come. "I know it would be kinda weird, seeing as you wouldn't really know anyone there but-"

"I'll tell Marco and Paige." The redhead smiled.

"I mean, you don't have to come," Sean now tried to play off his hopefulness and fell back into a somewhat cool guy exterior. "It was just an invitation."

"No, it's cool. I'll let them know. Paige may not be able to come, but me and Marco will definitely try.

"Ok, cool, cool." Sean blushed. "I guess I'll see you later then?"

"Sure," Ellie gave an assuring nod.

With one last look from Sean, the two parted ways.

…

A party, this would be great, Ellie thought to herself as she opened the front doors of the mansion with her key. She held the bags of Paige's requested food in one hand and the invitations in the other. And right along Venice…

This was exactly what Ellie needed, a nice simple get-together that would put her in a happy state of mind. She had to admit though, it was going to be a bit weird that Sean Cameron was going to be the only other person there she knew, if Marco came, but she didn't care. In fact, being around a group people she didn't, who didn't know things about her would probably be better. They were less likely to get personal.

"Guess what!" a chipper Ellie came scampering into the kitchen. Marco had just hung up his cell and turned to face her.

"Your mom called." Was all he said.

Uh oh…

…