Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Parenthood does not belong to me in any way, shape, or form…

A/N: Okay, so, this is just a short one-shot to give a brief look into Haddie's possible reaction to going to college and being so far away from her family since we all know how close the Bravermans are. Dedicated to Broadwayfreak5357. Enjoy!

Homesick

Haddie sighed, looking out the window of her dorm room. Her roommate was out, so she was alone for the moment. She was finally here. She was at Cornell. She had wanted this more than anything, so why did she feel so empty?

It wasn't that she didn't want to be here or that she didn't like it here; she did. She loved her classes and all of the exciting opportunities that she had here. But…

She missed them – her family. She missed her dad coming home from work, his jacket in one hand and his briefcase in the other. She missed her mom, who was always there to help when she needed it even if she didn't want it at the time. She even missed her brother, Max, whose… unique… perspective on things could make her laugh just at the absurdity of whatever situation they were in. And she missed being there to watch her baby sister as she slowly grew from a tiny baby into a little person who grew more and more complex every day.

Haddie sighed once more, looking out over the grounds. She knew that she could call home at any time, but she was afraid that if she talked to them… that it would make it harder. Usually, it actually wasn't that difficult to take her mind off of it since she had so much work and studying to do. But today was actually a really light day, so she had already finished her work and her new friends were all finishing up their last classes of the day.

She shook her head. She didn't know what to do. She had never felt like this before. Then again, she had never been away from home for so long and so far away like this, either. It bothered her that it bothered her so much. Haddie was generally a very independent, objective person. It really shouldn't bother her so much to be away from home – but it did.

Haddie looked up, distracted from her thoughts by a sudden lightening outside. The clouds had moved apart, allowing the sunshine to pour through, making everything sparkle as the light hit the water that remained from when it had rained the day before. It was beautiful.

Suddenly, Haddie smiled. She realized that maybe the way she was feeling right now was like the weather outside. Sure, it might be a little dark and clouded over from her homesickness, but, just like the clouds, those feelings of homesickness would fade eventually. Then, the light would show through and she would be able to start fully enjoying her time here.

"Hey," a voice called out behind her and she turned to see her roommate, Sage, standing in the doorway and smiling.

"Hey," Haddie smiled back, feeling better than she was before. "Done with classes for the day?" she asked, looking over at the clock and realizing that it had been an hour since she had gone to sit by the window.

Sage laughed. "Yeah. Hey, come on, we're all going for pizza. You're coming with, right?"

Haddie grabbed her coat. "Yeah, absolutely," she replied and the two made their way down the hall and into the common room, talking about nothing in particular.

Haddie felt better now that she had come to a conclusion. She missed her family, but she would eventually get used to being apart from them. Besides, it wasn't like she was never going to see them again. She would get through it and she would be fine. But… for now, she had decided that it was okay for her to miss them. It was okay for her to be homesick.

)( )( )( The End. )( )( )(

A/N: And there you have it. Short, simple; neat. :D Anyway, I hope you liked it. Leave me a review and let me know what you thought. Thanks for reading! ;)