It had been a year since Sam had last seen Diane, ever since she had returned to Boston with her "boyfriend" Reid, and nothing had ever been the same. Almost every day since she'd left, he'd thought of her. What was she doing, where had she been, and most importantly, who was she with? Just the very thought of her with another man had almost driven him to drink, but something had always pulled him through. He'd been tested, but his resolve to stay sober was apparently stronger than his weakness for the true love of his life. He never thought that he could imagine a day without her, but here he was, after seeing her only once in seven years, and he was better than ever. Or so he told himself.

He'd convinced himself that Norm was right, that Cheers was his true love. It made sense-everything in his life had come down to the bar which he had fought for strongly throughout his life. In the beginning, times were tough, and there were more than one occasion where he thought that he would have to shut down the bar. But he persevered, and here he was still standing. And for that he was forever grateful.

Cheers. It was more than his business; it was his home, contrary to what he'd told the gang a year ago. It was his livelihood, what defined him as a man. It used to be that his identity was based upon women, but after more than a year of a program, he'd come to see that he could not-would not- go back to who he used to be. Yes, he'd found a great amount of thrill knowing that he was a ladies' man, but after losing Diane for the second time, it was apparent that no other woman could provide the same kind of thrill that he found with Diane.

Damn it, he thought bitterly. Why does it all come down to Diane? He'd never lost his head over a woman before or after her, so what was it about her that made her so special? She was just a blonde, and blondes were a dime a dozen in his life. He'd had dozens, hundreds of blondes, some more than one at a time, and so it seemed ridiculous to him that he should still think about one. But Diane was more than just his average blonde, whether or not he realized it or was willing to admit it to himself.

So he tried the best that he could to put the pieces of his life together again. He threw himself into his work; he had more time for his friends, even though they didn't always have time for him. Everyone else had moved on. Frasier had moved to Seattle, where apparently he was kind of a big shot now. Woody was now a father for heaven's sake! Norm had been making some kind of effort with Vera, even though he still hung out at the bar quite regularly. Cliff had gotten a promotion with the post office, and seemed to be doing quite well at it, at least in his head. Rebecca was married, but she found herself appearing at the bar more often than when she had worked there. Carla was finally dating again, and after each date Sam had taken to handing her a pregnancy test. Fortunately, nothing had happened but at least she'd finally gotten over her grief over Eddie. Maybe it was true that time stood still for no one.

But who was he, really? He didn't have his baseball career anymore, and as the years went by Sam had found that his fame had dwindled, not to mention his bank account. Every once in a while someone would bring in his baseball card, and all Sam could think of was that Coach would have gotten an even bigger kick out of it than he did. Coach. Boy, he missed that guy. He liked to think that somewhere up above he was still getting dinged in the head by a stray baseball, with nothing more to show for it than bragging rights. It still hurt to have lost him so early, but life went on, and so did Sam.

But once again, it all came back to Diane. He still hadn't moved on past her. Their last visit only served to reopen old wounds, ones from which he hadn't recovered. There were probably more bad times than good ones, truth be told, but at least he had his memories. And his hair. But most of all, he had his memories. And for that, he could live with. Or so he thought.

One day at work, he had thought he'd met the perfect woman. She was a looker all right, and she had turned every head in the bar.

"Go for it, Sam. If you don't, I'll disown you," Norm laughed.

"You really think I ought to?"

"Yes. You're still young, you know. You only live once."

"Okay. I'll do it." Sam picked up the mirror and checked his reflection. Once satisfied, he turned his attention to the pretty young thing sitting across from him.

"Hey there, I haven't seen you before. Let me guess- you're new in town."

She smiled. "Why yes, I am. How did you know that?"

"Because I would certainly remember a face as pretty as that one. What can I get you?"

"I'll take a white wine please."

"Coming right up. How about my number to go along with that?"

She smiled again. "Sure. Why not?"

Sam laughed nervously. "I like your attitude."

"My name is Sam by the way. Nice to meet you."

"Diane. Nice to meet you too."

"Excuse me?" He nearly dropped the bottle of wine from his hands.

"Diane. So how about that number?"

"On second thought, I just remembered that my phone has been disconnected. I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to call you."

She stared at him for a minute, then turned to walk out the door. Sam knew he would regret it if he didn't stop it, but as he had a lifetime of regrets, he figured, what was one more?

Diane. Damn it, he couldn't escape her no matter where he was. It was as if she had cast an evil spell on him, dooming him to a lifetime of loneliness, while she was probably married with a kid by now.

Why couldn't he stop thinking of her? No matter what had happened, it always came down to her, and he hated himself for it. No woman could ever take her place, he knew that, but what was the harm in trying? He hated Diane, he hated himself more for ever letting that crazy broad into his system, but it was what it was, and he was stuck trying to forget about the one person who'd provided him with more misery in a lifetime than a man deserved.

At the end of the night, after everyone had left, he pulled out his wallet and took out the lone photo of Diane that he'd still kept. It was well worn, but it was his favorite photo of her. After staring at it for what seemed like the longest time, he threw it in the trash can, never to be seen again. Tonight he was starting over, and it would be the last time he ever thought of Diane Chambers again, or at least that's what he told himself.

This was it. No more moping around, no more visualizing what she was doing, no more going mad at the thought of her dating again, no more wasting his time on a chick who'd probably moved on. No, this was the start of a whole new life, and for the first time in his life, he could hardly wait.

TBC