AN: This week's episode was wonderful in so many ways, but I was completely frustrated by the way the writers are making us wait until next week to see the reunion of Annie and Auggie. This is just a little drabble based on the sneak-peak of that moment. No beta, so all mistakes are mine. No real spoilers here. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Hah! I wish.


To the casual observer, theirs was merely a hug of welcome, from one friend to another.

He wouldn't notice that Auggie had been lingering in the lobby for hours, waiting for her to show up. He would miss the way the tension in Annie's face melted away at the sight of her best friend. He would not hear the War-And-Peace-sized novels embedded in their one-word greetings. He would not see the way the two fit together like puzzle pieces, the way Auggie played with the ends of her hair, the way Annie subtly drew designs on his back, the way their eyes misted just the tiniest bit, the way she turned her face into his neck a bit before she let go, the way he inhaled deeply to savor the smell of her.

It would go right over his head that they squeezed a bit too tight, clung to each other a tad too long. He wouldn't notice that they both looked a little bereft once they parted, that they never really let each other go, that as they separated her hands slid around to his waist and his to her shoulders and they just took a moment to acknowledge that yes, the other person was really here, and no, they weren't going anywhere any time soon.

He wouldn't notice that as they turned, his hand slid softly down her arm to her elbow, and she hooked her pinky in his front pocket, and they walked away together with shoulders and thighs practically rubbing, much closer than two people would normally walk.

He wouldn't see that these were not merely friends greeting one another after a long absence, that these were two people connected to each other in ways few people could even comprehend, that they were soul-mates, that they had moved heaven and earth to get to each other right here, right now, in this perfect moment of greeting and recognition and welcome.

One could almost feel sorry for the casual observer.