A/N: I tried to calculate the correct timeframe, due to Degrasi's timeline always being off. This story takes place 4 years after Darcy left for Kenya. Clare has just graduated from Degrassi and planning on having her year off, which Darcy is joining her on. Chapter 2 touches on what Darcy has been up to these past 4 years.

Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi or the characters. This is solely for entertainment purposes.

For my person, Heather. Until we meet again.

Aug. 29th

Walking up to The Dot, Darcy took a deep breath. It had been years since she had seen some of her old friends and she wasn't entirely sure if she was ready for it. It was much easier for her to talk to everyone over the phone or online rather than in person, especially since she had control over who she spoke to and for how long. If she felt awkward in the slightest, she easily could lie and say she had to go. It wasn't so easy to hide how awkward she felt in person. She stopped in front of the steps, grabbing her phone out to check the time. 11:47. Immediately Darcy opened up her texts. "You have 13 minutes. PLEASE do not be late," she texted to Clare. She knew she could just turn right around and wait in her car, taking the cowards way out, but at least if she went in she could get a coffee. Maybe she would get lucky. Maybe there wouldn't be anyone she knew inside. So before she could chicken out, Darcy slid her phone back into her back pocket and opened the door for The Dot.

Darcy glanced around, noticing how different it was from what she remembered. She had heard about the explosion and the remodeling but never expected to see The Dot looking like this. Then she spotted the one familiarity that she was pleasantly happy to see. A smile instantly crossed her face as she approached the counter. "Well well well, hello stranger."

Spinner heard her voice and immediately looked up. "Holy shit! Darce?!" He put down the washcloth he had in his hand and made his way out from behind the counter. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, lifting her up off of the ground a little. "What are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me you were in town?"

Darcy let out a soft squeal when he had lifted her up before being placed back on her feet. "I just got in yesterday and I don't think I'll be here long. The better question is what are YOU doing here?"

He guided her over to a table as he scanned the room to see if any customers needed anything. There were only two other customers who seemed to be more concerned about their laptops than what was going on. "Why wouldn't I be here? This is the dream," he said sarcastically with a light laugh as Darcy took a seat, placing her phone on the table. "Do you want a coffee?"

"Yes please," she nodded. "With fre-"

"French vanilla and 4 scoops of sugar. Because a sweet girl like you likes her coffee sweet," he smirked. He headed back behind the counter and started to pour her coffee.

Darcy shook her head with a smile. "I don't know if I should be impressed or creeped out that you still remember that."

Spinner shrugged as he poured the sugar and French vanilla cream into the coffee and started to stir it. "Well, it is kind of my thing." He brought out the coffee and sat down across from her.

She blew on the coffee for a short moment before taking a small sip. "Mmmm… and you certainly are good at it." She placed the cup back on the table, keeping her hands around it for the warmth. "Seriously though, as happy as I am to see you, why are you here? I thought you were opening your own café around here."

Spinner had been one of the few from her past that she had kept in contact with. While Darcy had been able to follow a lot of her old friends' lives through FaceRange, many of them she didn't actually speak with often. With Spinner, they always seemed to catch up at least once a month. She valued the friendship that they were able to have after everything they both had been through. Their friendship had been mutually beneficial. Spinner helped Darcy during Clare's battle with cancer and during her parents' divorce while Darcy had been helping Spinner with during his divorce to Emma after only a few short years. If anyone would have told Darcy when she left for Kenya that Spinner would become her closest old friend, she wouldn't have believed them. Now she wouldn't have it any other way.

Spinner hesitated for a second. "Well, that's my goal. Divorce is uhh… pretty expensive though," he said with a nod. "So in the meantime, I've been working back here since I moved back. It's not bad, I'm a manager again. I've been talking with Gamal and we may open another location for The Dot. I'll be the head manager at that location if this happens." He watched Darcy take a sip of her coffee. "So, you know… it's not all bad."

Darcy nodded as she listened to him speak. "Well, I'm sorry again that you have to go through all of this. I mean, who would have ever predicted a marriage that started from a drunken night would ever end?" She teased with a light chuckle. "I am really sorry though. Emma's a bitch and a fool to have left you. I still say you should have left her after you found those texts."

He shifted his mouth to the side and bit the inside of his cheek softly. "Yeah, nobody ever said I was smart. I don't exactly make the best decisions. I just wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, I guess." He really wasn't in the mood to talk about his divorce so he quickly tried to change the subject. "So what brought you to town? Shouldn't you be in Ottawa getting ready for school to start back up?"

She could tell Spinner was getting a little uncomfortable with the divorce topic. "Actually, I'm taking a year off." She glanced down at her phone for a quick second to check the time. 11:54. "Clare's taking a year off and I thought I would join her. She's had a rough year, well a rough few years. And even though she always told me she was fine with me being in Ottawa, I just felt it was best if I go on break with her. So this year is going to be for us," she said then took another sip.

Spinner smiled when she said she was joining Clare. "That's awesome, Darce. That's going to be awesome for you two," he nodded. "So does this mean I'll be able to actually see you now?" He laughed lightly.

Darcy shrugged with a smile. "Maybe," she said in a sing-song voice. "You'll just have to wait and see. We're planning on hitting the open road and exploring this next year. I'm sure we're going to be spending quite some time here as well though."

He nodded his head. "Well, yeah. How else are you going to get your coffee fix?" He snickered. He glanced around at the other customers before he caught sight of someone making their way towards the door. "Hey, so, you know you're my favorite ex-girlfriend, right?" he said as he looked back at Darcy.

She let out a little cackle. "Oh wow, okay," she said as she rolled her eyes through her laughter. "What do you want? You can't possibly say that without wanting something." She picked up her coffee again and took another sip.

"Hey! Maybe I just wanted to tell you that you're my favorite," he said with a light laugh as he glanced at the door. "Just uhh… don't freak out, okay?" he said as the chimes on the door went off due to it being opened. He nodded his head towards the door as he looked back at Darcy.

Darcy raised an eyebrow before turning in her seat to see what he was talking about. Her eyes locked on the familiar blue eyes she knew all too well. Her heart started to race as she watched those blue eyes stop dead in their tracks.

"D-Darcy?" Peter spoke softly in complete shock.