A/N: So….if it isn't already obvious, Barry is definitely my favorite guy for Lindsay- I just thought that 1) he was the best influence on her and 2) in his brief appearance, she seemed to like him the most (in my opinion Nick seemed to annoy her more often than not). However, I can understand the viewpoint to some degree of those who said Barry was too old for her and should be dating college girls. I agree that if Barry had met Lindsay on the street it would be creepy, though with Sam and Neal being best friends, I pictured them growing up together, which to me makes it a whole different ballgame. Still, I tried to show a lot of restraint in their intimacy in my previous fics in an attempt to portray Barry as a classy guy, not a jerk trying to take advantage of a sixteen-year old girl. This time, I wanted to create a scenario where they were both adults and thus not have to show the same kind of restraint. I haven't planned this ending (or endings ;) yet, but it might be darker/sexier. Was going to be a one-shot, but I kind of like the division of chapters, and foresee another few to go. Rating it M just in case.


Chapter 1

Lindsay stood in the bathroom at her parents' house, wiping the remnants of her mascara-tear-stained face with a moistened cotton ball.

What a lousy way to spend my spring break. In Chippewa.

But the truth was- Lindsay needed to get away. And after what her now ex-boyfriend did to her on Wednesday night, she welcomed a change in scenery.

Even if it is my parents' house in my own hometown.

Despite the change of location, Lindsay still couldn't get Michael out of her mind. Or perhaps she should be more specific. Michael. In her apartment. Naked. On her roommate's bed. With Cindy, her roommate.

Needless to say, the trip to Fort Lauderdale that the two of them had planned for their senior year spring break- to take place all this weekend and next week, to be exact- wasn't going to happen.

But Lindsay was thankful for small favors. When she called the airline, almost hysterical, to explain her situation and cancel their trip, the airline customer service representative had been incredibly sympathetic. Upon learning that Lindsay was changing her flight because her boyfriend had been unfaithful, the woman had been able to refund part of the cost, and use the nonrefundable deposit to put towards a flight to Detroit for the same duration (which admittedly she didn't really need, since home wasn't all that far, but was a lot better than losing the money outright).

So instead of lounging on the beach with her boyfriend in sunny Florida, Lindsay found herself spending yesterday and today, humiliated and furious, crying on her old bed and being consoled by her mom in freezing-cold Michigan. But it was still better than being stuck at school, at the scene of the crime.

At the University of Chicago where Lindsay attended, she was a together, successful, straight-A math student (she had ultimately decided to major in math- although part of her felt like she had cheated an integral part of her college experience by not exploring vocations and instead picking something she was so familiar with, she was grateful to have something she both loved and at which she excelled). Lindsay had made a lot of friends in college, too. But because she and her boyfriend had been together for over two years, Lindsay had gradually begun to distance herself slightly from a lot of them- just the normal falling out of touch that often accompanies a relationship turning serious. However, because of the continued daily interaction of being roommates, she and Cindy had become best friends. Or so Lindsay thought. To find both Michael and Cindy cheating on her was doubly devastating. On Friday, two days after the incident, Lindsay didn't even feel comfortable enough to discuss her trip home with anyone else. She just packed up the stuff from her apartment (to add insult to injury, Cindy had been sleeping at Michael's place, leaving Lindsay there alone) and drove to the airport.

Once back home in Michigan, Lindsay started reaching out for company like a drowning person might grasp at a floating life preserver nearby.

She called Nick Andopolis first. She and Nick had had a pretty intense relationship their entire senior year of high school, and she had lost her virginity to him. But Nick's lack of drive, which Lindsay knew about him all along- it was as inherent a part of Nick as his sweetness was- did strange things to Lindsay once they became an official couple.

Unlike when she first started hanging out with the burnouts, being with Nick romantically had a motivating effect on her- seeing Nick not realize his potential only made Lindsay want to reach hers more decisively. She still hung out with the freaks, and with Nick, but surprisingly she started studying harder than ever to improve her own grades. That seemed to prompt a discussion with Mr. Rosso, who told Lindsay that she could basically attend almost any college she chose (a killer SAT score with a perfect score on the math section didn't hurt). A little torn, Lindsay began the application process.

It wasn't until the University of Chicago offered her a merit-based scholarship that Lindsay realized that by reaching her potential she was simultaneously driving a wedge between her and Nick. Not that he didn't support her- he did, wholeheartedly- but somehow her motivation seemed to make him slack off even more. Lindsay suspected it was because he probably felt that he couldn't live up to what he thought her standards were and therefore just stopped trying. Knowing that they would be apart for so long while pursuing completely different life paths didn't do much for their relationship. So after graduation they said goodbye as Nick headed for Texas to join the army and Lindsay left for college. Any romance that hadn't already fizzled out by that point didn't have much of a shot at surviving the distance. She had barely heard from Nick since. When his father answered the phone, he said that Nick was still stationed in Fort Worth.

Lindsay also called Daniel Desario- she knew that he was still living at his parents' place. He had long since broken up with Kim, and Lindsay didn't feel particularly loyal to Kim either- they no longer spoke. She had heard that Kim had turned to drugs, which didn't really surprise her given her upbringing, but Lindsay was trying to steer clear of that kind of influence- she'd grown past the stage of wanting to hang out with rebellious people to change her image. Daniel himself answered the phone and was nice enough, but when Lindsay hinted around at hanging out in person, he suddenly became abrupt and apparently happy to tell her that he was seriously involved with someone- Karen Scarfolli. If Lindsay hadn't felt a little rejected, she would have laughed.

Lindsay was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts by a knock on the bathroom door.

"Honey, are you all right?" her mom asked her, in her most concerned mom-like voice.

Lindsay sniffled, wiping the remnants of the running mascara off of her face and throwing her cotton ball in the trash. She walked to the door and unlocked it (why she locked it initially she wasn't really sure), before opening it and replying, "Yes, mom."

Lindsay's mom looked even more concerned than she sounded. She pulled Lindsay in for a hug. "Honey, I'm so sorry. That Michael doesn't know what he's missing."

Lindsay tried in vain to not roll her eyes (and she almost started crying again). She wasn't in the mood for her mom's little pep talk. They'd done enough of that the last two days. She pulled away, went to protest. "Mom-,"

Lindsay's mom raised a hand, gently cutting her off. "Look, honey, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up. Listen, I didn't mention this yesterday, because- well, um, you seemed too upset to go out when we brought you home from the airport, but this evening your father and I are attending the Schweiber party. How about coming with us?"

Lindsay shrugged, despondent. Schmoozing people she barely knew at the home of her dentist was hardly an ideal way for her to want to pass an evening. Unless…. if by the slimmest chance…..

It was then that her mother said the magic words.

Mrs. Weir added, a little slyly with just the hint of a grin, "Mrs. Schweiber said that Barry is in town; he's going to be there this year. Alone."

Ah, Barry. The other guy that Lindsay wanted to call when she came back to Chippewa. Except that she didn't, because she figured that he was in Ann Arbor, where he attended law school. And because the last time she had spoken with him he had been with somebody else.

This seemed like a rare coincidence. What were the chances that the Schweiber party would be going on this night of all nights, the evening after Lindsay got home after the worst week in a long time? But thinking about it a little further, Schweiber party history did dictate that the festivities would occur right around this time of year- she just hadn't noticed because she hadn't been a regular attendee.

This was mostly because Lindsay and Barry had never managed to re-create the perfect encounter that they had during the event so long ago where they last kissed- the timing was just never right. The next year, though Lindsay already knew that she would be leaving Michigan for college, she was still in a tepid relationship with Nick, so she didn't go. The year after that, she was a college freshman and single, but she had heard through the grapevine once she arrived that Barry had met a girl in school and that they were pretty serious, so he didn't bother to make it home to attend. A similar thing had happened the following year, disappointing Lindsay for the second year in a row. The next year she had been with Michael and stayed in Chicago.

Even though she hadn't been back to any Schweiber parties since her freshman year, she did see Barry one other time anyway. Their families were together when Neal and Sam graduated McKinley, so she briefly had chatted with him while they sat during the ceremony on the bleachers. At the time, she was casually dating Michael, though it wasn't anything serious yet so he wasn't in attendance. Apparently Barry was still with his girlfriend, too, though from what he described to Lindsay that night things weren't going so well- they were having trouble mastering their long-distance relationship since he left Wisconsin for law school while she had stayed. Lindsay and Barry had flirted a bit, like they always do, but neither one of them was in much of a position to act on it. Though she had been tempted to call him earlier, she also didn't want to presume that he had broken things off with his girlfriend. Or maybe I just didn't want to hope that he did, she thought.

Lindsay often wondered about Barry, and even went so far as to briefly question her decision to go to the University of Chicago. If she had attended The University of Wisconsin instead, things might have been totally different between them. But with their age difference, they would have only had a year together before they would have found themselves at another crossroads. Who knew if Barry would have been willing to stick around just to date her, particularly if his career took him elsewhere? Besides, the University of Chicago had one of the best math programs in the country, and their scholarship offer was just too good to pass up- she couldn't sacrifice all of that just for a guy. So she didn't regret her decisions, exactly. Still, that didn't mean that she didn't sometimes wonder what might have been.

What might have been. She wondered if she would wonder the same thing tonight if she chose to stay home from the Schweiber party.

"Okay, I'll go," she said.