A/N: Complicated story behind this one. I ended up watching a video of Rachel Potter as Glinda in "Wicked;" specifically, the song "Thank Goodness." While I'm a Krysta fan through and through, the combination of the song's lyrics and TAF swirled together in my mind and…well, this is the result. Don't worry; it's strictly AU.

Some of you may remember this chapter as a oneshot previously featured in As We're Slowly Dying. Well...it kind of exploded. Eheheheheh. ^^"

"Why didn't we get married?"

"I walked away and you didn't follow me."

"And was that all?"

She stared out at the water, watching the ripples break the full moon's reflection. The party continued behind them, strains of music and laughter audible even yards away. Of all the questions she'd considered in the years since they last met, this was the one that still had no answer.

"I guess," she said finally, "it seemed like a bad idea at the time."

Silence stretched between them, full of things neither wanted to say. After a few seconds, Lucas leaned back against one wooden column and laughed quietly.

"Who'd have thought we'd both end up here? Older, wiser, alone at night on a New Jersey pier-"

Wednesday cut him off. "And married to other people."

"Right." He nodded, catching the unspoken warning. "Married to other people. What's he like, anyway?"

"Josh?" she asked, fiddling with the sash of her sky-blue dress. "He's...nice. Sweet, doting, successful, handsome. Has a good job with the company. I can't complain."

Lucas raised one eyebrow. "And what did your parents think of him?"

With a dry chuckle, she replied, "They never met him. I wasn't about to make the same mistake twice. I managed a year of Addams-free dating and accepted the minute he proposed. We had the wedding with his family in Connecticut and I haven't been back to New York since."

She tucked back a strand of hair that had come loose from her ponytail and sighed. "I wanted to go a certain direction, and Josh Wilkerson was the fastest way."

"Do you love him?"

The brunette turned abruptly, gaping at Lucas- who, for his part, still lounged calmly against the column as if he hadn't crossed an unpardonable line.

"I- what kind of question is that?"

"The kind you'd never answer and I'd never ask if not for the fact that we'll probably never see each other again."

"You're crazy," she growled. But her attempt to storm off in righteous indignation was foiled when he stepped in front of her, gripping her shoulders.

"That's right. I'm crazy. Crazy enough to ask questions you haven't even dared to think about, because you're afraid. Imagine that- the fearsome Wednesday Addams, who, and I quote, 'eats scared for breakfast.' But it's true. You're too afraid to consider the possibility that you made a mistake."

Her eyes narrowed. Seven years ago, Lucas would have been bleeding by now.

"Let go, Lucas."

"Make me."

"What?"

Bending his head down slightly to meet her eyes, he said, "Make me let go. Can you still do it?"

The woman rolled her eyes and went limp, relaxing muscles she hadn't realized were tense. "Oh, right," she said, "this is That Scene. The one where you goad me into breaking your arm in three places and then I go back to being 'my true self' and we divorce our respective spouses and go off to live happily in Transylvania. So glad you've got it all figured out."

Letting his hands slip from her shoulders, Lucas turned away.

"No, this is the scene where I apologize and leave you alone. I'm sorry, Wednesday. You're an adult; you can make your own decisions."

She should have still been angry. Marching back inside to her loving husband and perfect life was the accepted response in this situation. But...well, it had been seven years since her last decent conversation. And old friends could be forgiven.

"Just think about what you're saying next time," she said. Her heels clicked against the water-swollen boards as she moved to stand at the other end of the pier.

"So, what about your wife?"

"Janie," Lucas replied. His gaze never shifted from the reflected moon. "We dated in high school and met up again at the five-year reunion. You probably saw her inside- red hair, brown eyes, silver dress?"

Wednesday nodded. "I saw her; everyone did. Half the men can't take their eyes off her."

Another awkward silence; they were becoming a regular fixture of the night. Lucas stared up at the moon, huge and full. Crickets chirped somewhere in the reeds around the wooden structure, of the sort that seemed created to highlight lack of conversation.

"Wednesday?"

"Yes?"

"Not to beat a dead horse, but...what would have happened if I'd followed you?"

"Stop it, Lucas. Just stop," she sighed, turning to head back to the party. "That bridge is already crossed."

A/N: Many thanks to Gleefully Wicked for pointing out an unintentional characterization mistake. :)