Hello. I was going to continue the other Tea Stains story, but it has indeed been so long that the character of Amelia has grown a lot in my mind, and so I put her in a sequel. I am sorry to all those who were waiting for my updates. I have been writing other things – original fiction – and fanfiction had been pushed way back in my mind. I am very sorry and all I can hope for is forgiveness and readers.

Anyway, this story is a little different… I only hope I don't make a balls up of it. I'm not used to writing this kind of plot.

Thank you and please enjoy~

Amelia lay on the bed, watching the world pass slowly outside her window. She spied a spider on a web, clinging to the invisible thread of its home as it watched a fly hover dangerously close to the trap. It became snagged and the spider charged forward. Amelia could almost see its hungry fangs as it trapped the prey in a cocoon of web and drag it to the corner for a feast.

She did not care for spiders much, nor flies. She simply watched nature as it progressed. It seemed to do better than she was. She sat up, listening to the irritating creaks of the wooden bedframe below her. She made to smooth out her dress, but refrained, and got up and walked barefoot to the mirror. She was wearing something that only a year previously she would not have been seen dead in. It was a light pink dress decorated with frills and ribbons of light blue. Her hair was clipped back in a neat little ponytail which allowed some of the strands to escape around her ears.

God, she hated herself. Her hair had grown out so that it was reaching below her shoulders. It was still the same sandy blonde she had a year ago, though. Some things didn't change at least. She pressed her fingertips against the cool mirror. The shudder ran though her and rattled her bones. She withdrew her fingers.

There was noise downstairs, and Amelia knew that people were beginning to arrive. So many people would start filling the house for a business gathering, but it would certainly lack the one person she wished to see. Someone she had not seen in months.

Arthur had disappeared around the time his older brother, Colin, had arrived back from Scotland earlier in the year after training at a special college there. Arthur had never spoken much of his brother, but when he did, it was brief and void of any detail. Amelia had never pressured him to provide detail because she was not overly keen on hearing about him, but now it seemed that she wanted to know all there was to know about this older brother. This older brother who had managed to take over his family's business.

Colin had been in Scotland studying a course Amelia had never quite caught the name of. It was something beyond her interest – a course related to the field of technology, but what narrow path within that field, she did not know. She thought of the lack of detail in Arthur's accounts of his brother. She had gathered the idea that they were not on the best of terms, but it was an idea she had kept behind firm lips.

There were things she had gathered, however, through Arthur, his father, his mother or even through snippets of her own parents' talks. The past year had been full, and Amelia remembered it.

Arthur and Amelia had told their parents of their relationship, which went smoother than Amelia could have ever guessed or hoped. Her parents in particular voiced their happy wishes. Arthur's parents accepted it with their typical, quiet happiness. Amelia received a hug from Arthur's mother. The company that Arthur's father ran took an upturn when a wealthy investor came on board. Things seemed to be going well, and then Mr Kirkland took ill. His illness was more serious than initially anticipated, and it knocked him back. He recovered some months later, but the effects of the illness still lingered like a shadow, and the company took a toll. It was still making money, but without its leader in full control, the company was not at the height it was so used to. Arthur's father would at first not accept that it was perhaps time to hand the company over to the next in line, but after he realised the company was beginning to really suffer, he decided that it was time to pass the baton over.

This would not happen for a few weeks, however, and during that time, Colin was contacted about the situation and he got the first flight from Scotland straight home. He arrived to see how his father was doing – things must have been bad if his father was actually handing over the company, he had said – and according to Amelia's father, it was not long after Colin's arrival that the contracts were drawn up, ready to be signed by Arthur's father and Arthur himself.

Arthur was always due to take over the company after his father even though he was the younger of the two brothers. He had shown more potential in the field of business, and it had seemingly been agreed that Arthur would take over the business after his father, but that was not supposed to be for many years later. The illness, unsurprisingly, was not something expected.

The morning of the paper-signing arrived, and the Kirklands were getting ready to witness the business being handed over to the next generation.

That was the morning Arthur Kirkland was nowhere to be found.

The business was signed over to Colin Kirkland after receiving word that Arthur did not want it. Word that he had never wanted it and that Colin was the rightful owner. Arthur never told them where he was, and he never told them why.

It was the two latter facts that crept around Amelia's head. She could not understand why. She could not understand Arthur's thinking when he simply disappeared. Was he truly that opposed to taking on the business? Was he scared? If that was the case, why did he do such a thing to avoid it?

Colin had always said, according to Arthur, that he never really cared about taking over the business, and this was something Arthur had accepted. Amelia had never seen him display any grievances about taking over the business. Even when the passing over was announced, Arthur seemed more willing than anything. He wanted to not only help his father, but his business. Amelia always thought – knew – that Arthur had the head for running a company even at his young age.

But still Arthur disappeared.

But still Arthur…

Amelia placed a hand over her face and groaned into it. She felt the fabric of her dress move against her body. For a brief moment that passed like an uncertain whisper, she felt Arthur's hand over her skin. She looked back up only to see herself staring back with lonely blue eyes.

Someone called her from downstairs. The gathering had begun. She smoothed out her dress again, feeling the fabric try to cling to her sweat-coated palms. She glanced down, glad it left no residue.

Even with something missing, Amelia still had to show up. She swore to herself and opened the door of her room. She felt as though she was leaving the comfort of a loved one's arms and she walked down the stairs.

There were several people gathered in the hall, but one stuck out to Amelia. Dark red hair captured her eyes like a sun. How could it not? The hair, followed by the pale skin, green eyes and tall stature, belonged to someone Amelia had little liking or trust for.

Colin raised a wine glass to her in greeting.

I have never written this type of story before, so don't expect too much. I'll update as soon as I can. Thank you very much~

R&R~