Author's Note: SEQUEL TO WHITE HORSE IS UP. Again, this is exactly what the name of the chapter says 'A Quick Catch Up'. Hope you like the first chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own HoA. Just the plot-line is mine.

A Second Chance to make it Last

Chapter 1 : A Quick Catch Up

Amber PoV:

So here we are again.

Me, Mick and Fabian I mean.

We are sitting in a small cafe in central New York, sipping coffee and catching up on this week's gossip.

It's not as if we don't see each other every day, we do live in the same apartment complex after all, but it's kind of become a tradition that every Wednesday afternoon we meet at this cosy cafe after work to talk and grab something to eat.

You're probably wondering how we all came to live in New York in the first place.

Well the story goes a little like this:

About a month after Nina left, Mick got scouted to play football for a team in New York City.

I got overly excited when he told me that we would be moving to New York.

I mean, it has huge shopping centres with designer stores, yes, but it also meant that we would be one step closer to finding Nina.

You see, even though she had promised to stay in touch with me, she never did.

It was as if she had just disappeared off the face of the earth.

Fabian was going crazy not knowing what happened to her.

He was desperately searching for an address or number or something he could reach her with.

He didn't find anything though.

I felt so sorry for him.

He was so angry with himself, for doing what he did to her, and upset that he didn't know if he would ever get the chance to explain it to her.

Anyway, a week after Mick told me we would be moving, we packed up his truck, and my Porsche, and drove about 2500 miles north-west, give or take a few, to our new home; leaving Fabian behind in LA.

Jump forward about 2 months and you will find things were pretty much the same.

Us, Mick and I, living our lives in busy New York while Fabian was miserable and alone in Los Angeles.

He called every day, wanting to know if we had found Nina yet and every day he got the same answer.

We often told him that 'in a city this size, it is unlikely we will ever find her.'

He usually cried when we said that.

You could tell he was crying by the way he choked out 'Bye' and hung up quickly.

I hated myself because I knew my best-friend was in pain and there was nothing I could do about it.

I hated Nina for leaving and not giving him the chance to explain.

I hated Fabian for starting this in the first place.

I hated hating everyone.

I got over it quickly though; if we are going to find Nina, hating everybody is not going to help.

Skip forwards another month and you'll find Fabian handing his resignation paper into his boss, telling him that he is 'moving to New York to find the love of his life.'

Lucky for him his boss refused his paper telling him that they have 'just set up a new business in New York' and they 'need a manager to run the place.'

Fabian was promoted and two weeks later he was settled in the apartment across the hall from ours.

He went out looking for Nina every night but always came back empty handed.

It was almost unbearable to be so close to her but have no idea where she was.

In one and a half months not much has changed except Fabian does not go out every night now, he mostly goes every other night.

The nights in-between he spends in our apartment, discussing likely places for Nina to be.

It's actually getting kind of annoying.

I know he really wants to find her, I do too, but we all have our own lives to live.

Mick and I have a wedding to plan.

Fabian has a business to run.

Our lives can't revolve around finding Nina forever.

If we are meant to meet again, we will; but until then there's not much else we can do.

"Amber? Amber!" Mick shouts, pulling me out of my daydream.

"Huh? What?" I ask, whipping my head around, startled.

He laughs. "You were day-dreaming."

"Yeah sorry. I kind-of spaced-out y'know. Thinking." I reply absently, still half-way in my day-dream.

"About what?...Amber!"

"Sorry. Just life, y'know, how everything has changed in the past 7 months..." I trail off when I see Fabian staring out of the window, sipping his coffee silently.

I put my perfectly manicured hand on his arm.

"We will find her Fabian, I promise." He gives me a sad smile and nods.

"Well I'm finished," I say, pointing to my empty cup, "So I'm just going to go and get that milk and I'll see you both back at the apartment, yeah?"

"Sure Ambs, see you later. I love you." Mick kisses me on the cheek.

"I love you too boo." I call, as I weave in and out of the crowded coffee shop towards the exit.

Once I'm out in the humid street I hurry along, in the sea of people, to a little convenience store two blocks away.

It's there, when I step inside the cool, air-conditioned shop, that I see her.

She has her back to me, looking over a large selection of alcohol, but I know it's her.

I can tell.

Her hair is exactly the same as when she left all those months ago.

Waist-length, mousy-brown and frizzy because of the humid weather.

"Nina." I say, mostly to myself.

It's loud enough though because she spins around, toppling into the alcohol display and gripping onto one of the shelves to keep herself from falling over completely.

I gasp.

A sight of pure horror meets my eyes.

Author's Note: So there it is. Sorry if I messed up the tenses on the day-dream part, I have a habit of doing that. The next chapter is where the interesting parts begin. The next chapter probably won't be up until Sunday and I get 3-5 reviews. So until next time, Sibuna!