AN(s): Here we go again: the usual "characters aren't mine" disclaimers apply. The events that take place in the following story are not events I'd actually like to see take place on the show, but rather just my playing around with the "what could be"s. Yeah, romance ahead in the distance. The ship's gonna sail.

"You owe me a danish" comes from my little Christmas tale "Cheese Danish," but otherwise nothing from my other stories is carried over. This one's its own beast.

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In the backyard of a Long Island home, two women in their forties giggled like teenagers.

It was New Year's Day, an hour from sunrise. The ground was covered with frozen-over snow. Mary Eames and Laura Eames-Wozniek, sisters-in-law, were drunk, but not nearly as drunk as Alex was.

Alex had brought home a man from the party. And she'd brought him home to her parents' house, where the family traditionally had brunch together on New Year's Day. They'd just met hours before. He had some sort of accent – Swiss, Laura thought she'd heard her sister say – and he'd kissed Alex dramatically at midnight. Before the rest of their group could even get in the door, Alex and date had run upstairs, pressing each other to keep silent.

"Hey, Mary?" Laura said, slurring the words together. "You definitely, most certainly do not owe me a danish tonight."

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Alex woke up in the bedroom she'd once shared with Laura and stared first at the clock – 9:30AM – and then at the man next to her.

"Good morning," he said in a strong French – no, no, Swiss, she remembered – accent.

"I thought you had a flight to catch back to Switzerland."

"I decided to linger awhile. There's another this afternoon."

Alex sighed. "Well, don't. You can't linger. This is my parents' house."

"You're asking me to go?"

"It was fun –"

"Willem." He bit his lip and slowly lifted the covers.

"Willem, I'm sorry. You were going to go back home and never speak to me again anyway, so let's just make this as easy as possible."

He brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes. "It was very nice meeting you, Alexandra." Why did this stranger look so concerned?

"Try to make sure nobody sees you on the way out." She paused for a momemnt. "I mean, because my parents, nephews, and nieces are all hanging around."

He put on his clothes from the night before, picked up a bag of ridiculous party favors they'd – won? she vaguely remembered – and then stooped to kiss her forehead.

"Nice meeting you too, Willem," she said.