It was official. Becky Baker's favorite season was fall - specifically in D.C.

She stretched her arms out over her head and arched her back, reveling in the bright sun. It was early October, a balmy 68 degrees, there was not a cloud in the sky, and she had probably the best spot of all on Copley Lawn, which was as far away from the Ultimate Frisbee players as humanly possible.

She blinked, yawned, and then shifted forward again, her legs folded underneath her, furrowing her brow as she re-read the same page for the third time in as many minutes. Senior year was going to be tough – not as tough as all the time she had spent catching up with everyone else over the last two years but – well, that was a long, long story.

"Hello, Princess."

A distant memory from the very back of Becky's consciousness started to float upwards as she heard a familiar-sounding voice. With a British accent? Where had she heard that before?

Becky squinted as she looked up. Since it was so bright outside, it was hard to see exactly who was standing above her. They were very tall. And male. Wait a minute...it couldn't be...

"Hunter?" Becky asked. As she raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun, she lost her grip with the other and dropped the book she had been holding.

A deep chuckle emerged from above her as a much taller, much older Hunter Hollingsworth crouched down to pick up her book. "Once a noob, always a noob," he grinned as he gave her back the book.

Becky returned the smile and scrambled to get up to stand next to him. Her legs didn't seem to want to cooperate - her mom always told her she needed to stop curling one leg underneath her and sitting on it, because it always made her foot numb- and she felt a steadying hand on her elbow as Hunter helped her get up.

"I guess some things never change," Becky laughed. Now that she was standing up, she got a better look at her former classmate.

He was a lot, LOT different than she had remembered him from her time at Degrassi.

Besides being about a half a foot taller, with a more defined, angular jawline, Hunter also looked a lot more relaxed and comfortable in his skin. The nervous twitchy, angry, teen-angsty energy he had worn almost like a uniform at Degrassi seemed to have disappeared. She tilted her head in curiosity. Those blue eyes were still the same though. There always had seemed to be a bright intensity behind them. Especially when he had been angry with her.

He didn't seem angry now, though.

And now she realized she had been standing there, gawking at him like a, well, a noob.

Re-composing herself, she finally managed to ask the question she had been wondering since she first realized who he was.

"What - what are you doing here?"

Hunter chuckled again, a deep, pleasant sound that Becky thought suited him much better than the nasal scowling tone he had used the very infrequent times he had spoken to her at Degrassi. "Going to school, same as you."

Becky blinked in surprise. "Wait - you knew I went to school here?" How was that even possible? Becky had been friendly enough with the Hollingsworth clan at Degrassi, but she hadn't been particular friends with them at all. In fact, she hadn't seen or heard from any of them since graduation. She had heard stories about what they had all been up to, of course, especially about who they were all dating - how could she forget the Biggest Degrassi Story of 2016 when Maya and Miles became the IT couple of Degrassi their senior year? Come to think of it, all that news had come from...

"Imogen," he smiled affably as he completed her inner dialogue for her. "Ever since she helped out Frankie with her relationship issues, she kind of morphed into the go-to advice guru for the Hollingsworths. She's practically a family member at this point."

Becky nodded. "I remember she told me you had created some mega blockbuster app and had sold it for a lot of money before you graduated. Sounds like you could have skipped school altogether if you wanted to." She hadn't been surprised at all when she had heard about it at the time. The only Hunter she had known and remembered from Degrassi spent as much of his time as possible living in his online world. It made perfect sense that that was the place that he had found success.

Hunter smirked. "Found out later I hadn't asked enough for it. I hadn't even thought about international markets at all." He tapped the textbook he was holding. "So that's why I've gone from Hunter Hollingsworth, teenage prodigy app creator, to Hunter Hollingsworth, freshman studying international business at Georgetown. But what I'm most curious about is...how did YOU end up here, Becky Baker? I figured you'd be ensconced in a lab somewhere in Vermont studying Biology. Or so they had said at your class graduation."

"You were at my graduation?" Becky couldn't hide her astonishment.

A hint of color rose to his cheeks with this last statement, but quickly cooled away as he shrugged noncommittally. "Frankie forced us all to go. She wanted a loud cheering section for Imogen."

"Of course," Becky nodded. She had barely known Hunter when she had been at Degrassi, so why would he have come to graduation just to see her? It was a preposterous assumption on her part.

"You didn't answer my question," Hunter smirked playfully.

Becky's mind was racing. She hadn't felt so fish-out-of-water-esque since she had first moved here sophomore year. "I'm sorry - I'm just a bit distracted I guess," she replied apologetically. "It's also sort of a very, very long story. I don't want to keep you from where you were going."

Hunter shrugged. "I was actually just going to go get lunch at the dining hall but...you want to come get lunch with me at the Tombs instead? It'll be my treat. I figure I owe it to you after the awful way I treated you during the whole Realm of Doom incident." Another flash of slight awkwardness in his bravado peeked through at that last admission.

"You don't have to do that, it's really not necessary," Becky said dismissively. Maybe even a little too dismissively. She felt her face getting flushed and had no idea why she suddenly felt so flustered. She struggled to regain her composure. "I didn't handle everything very well to begin with. You had every right to be mad at me."

"You're changing the subject, and I absolutely insist," he said, the slight awkwardness she'd seen suddenly floating away as he confidently reached down to gather up her backpack and picnic blanket.

Becky knew one of her biggest flaws was her stubbornness, but even she could see when she was beaten in that department. She shrugged good-naturedly. "Hope you're not too tired then, because my story is so long and boring that it might just put you to sleep."

Becky didn't know how long she and Hunter had been sitting in their booth at the Tombs - by the looks of the traffic picking up in the below-ground student hot spot, it had to already be around dinnertime. She'd done almost all of the talking, which normally would have made her feel uncomfortable, but Hunter had been a surprisingly patient and eager listener. It was still surprisingly easy to talk to him – just like it had been during that one week, so very long ago, when she'd played Realm of Doom online with him before….well, before she had gone and messed everything up with her IRL sleuthing.

She'd told him about how she had started her freshman year at University of Vermont, ready to begin her new and challenging life away from home. How quickly she felt like she was spinning her wheels instead of going forward, even after just a few short weeks. About how Imogen begged and pleaded with her to please take the train down to DC over that Thanksgiving break and spend it with her instead of alone in her dorm in Vermont. She had remembered the entire conversation like it happened yesterday.

"Imogen, thanks, but really, I'm fine here." Becky had known for quite some time that she would not be going home for Thanksgiving, and had been surprisingly okay with it. Thanksgiving had become a bit of a non-holiday during the Baker family's years in Canada, since it wasn't celebrated there anyway. Things had also still been tense at home then, and Becky didn't need much of an excuse, financial or otherwise, to steer as clear of it as much as was humanly possible.

"As your best friend I absolutely refuse to let you stay in some cold, empty, desolate dorm when you could be here with me, ogling Bradley Cooper instead."

Imogen had confessed to Becky not long after their Degrassi graduation that she had a secret crush on the actor Bradley Cooper. Becky had found this to be absolutely hilarious at the time since he seemed to be the exact opposite of what she had always assumed was her pan-sexual friend's 'type.' She could not have been more wrong. When Imogen found out that Bradley was scheduled to participate in a forum at his alma mater, Georgetown, Imogen immediately put plans into place to head to DC. She WOULD be the first in line and in the front row, thank you very much, and already had an entire list of things she wanted to ask him during the open Q&A, including how she had plans for him to star in the off-off-off Broadway show that she was determined to have up and running by the summer of her freshman year. But she absolutely couldn't do it alone and could Becky please please come with her and offer moral support and warn her when she was freaking out too much, because she didn't want to scare Bradley away?

With a plea like that, it had been impossible to say no.

Imogen had splurged for a gorgeous hotel suite within walking distance of the campus. The girls had spent the first day of the break being tourists in DC, and on the second day, Imogen had insisted they go check out the campus so she would know the best spot to get coffee for her long wait in line the next day.

As soon as Becky had stepped on the campus, it had literally taken her breath away. It felt like she had found her home, that place she was meant to be.

If it was possible to fall in love with a place, Becky Baker fell for Georgetown that day. Hard.

Doubts had pricked at her mind all through the rest of that day and the next. Even during Bradley Cooper's forum. How she knew that she needed to be HERE, somehow. Her attention was especially piqued when the School of Foreign Service was mentioned, especially something about a major called Culture and Politics, and helping to harness people's passions for using the media and culture to ignite positive change in the world. The subject had always been near and dear to Becky's heart. She had been an avid volunteer since she was a little girl, and memories of the satisfaction she had working on important issues on Degrassi TV came flooding back.

This is what I should be doing, she thought to herself. This is what I was meant to be doing.

So she spent the second semester of her freshman year in Vermont filling out forms, wading through red tape, and most of all, trying to convince her parents it was the best move for her. It felt like her birthday, Valentine's Day and Christmas rolled into one when she found out she would be accepted as a transfer student for her sophomore year. Just like Bradley Cooper, apparently, or so Imogen told her when she found out.

So she headed to DC with one giant rolling bag and set up shop at Georgetown. She was lucky her first year there as her roommate was a very low-key girl named Bethany who was planning to spend her Junior year studying abroad. They got along well - sort of like work colleagues - but Becky couldn't hide her happiness when she heard she had secured a single room for her junior and senior years. She wasn't a recluse or hermit or anything - she did have a small group of friends, who were pretty much all a part of DC Reads, a literacy club for DC kids, and who were all just as passionate about community service as she was. But she liked having her own space, that was hers, and hers alone. Whether it had been a byproduct of her home life the last year and a half she was there, she didn't know. All she knew was that being on her own, in her own space, really helped her feel most like herself, if that made any sense.

She had been a bit disappointed when she had discovered that the casual, 'hook up' atmosphere was just as pervasive at her new school as it had been at her old one. No one wanted to have an actual, connected relationship with anyone, or so it seemed to her. Becky had known from experience that anytime a new girl showed up at a new school, it was inevitable she would get a lot of curious male attention. But when she made it very clear that her religious beliefs and the hook-up philosophy that most of the boys held near and dear didn't really mix, Becky had found that most of the guys who seemed so intent on wooing her quickly lost interest and then completely disappeared from her life. She really hadn't found anyone she had 'clicked' with in that way since she had arrived here. It had been the only downside to an otherwise amazing experience.

Hunter was aghast to hear it. "Becky Baker not only doesn't have a boyfriend, but hasn't had one for years? Impossible."

Becky narrowed her eyes at him from across the table. "You're teasing me now, aren't you?"

"No, it's the truth," he said. "It just seems impossible to me that not one guy in this entire school has realized how amazing you are." The color rose in Hunter's cheeks a bit at that admission. She wondered if he had even meant to say it out loud.

"That's really sweet," she smiled, "but it's actually been for the better, I think. Besides Adam, all the other relationships I had at Degrassi ended up hurting more than helping. I think I just kept jumping into relationship after relationship because deep down I really just wasn't over Adam, and I wanted that feeling I had with him back somehow." She looked down at her soda and twirled the straw in the glass.

"What was he like? I mean, I don't mean to be rude, but...from everything I'd heard about both of you from Miles before I started at Degrassi, you two kinda seemed like the least likely couple ever."

"This is going to sound weird, but it was really Adam's soul that drew me in the most," she beamed. "He was so funny, so brave, so determined. He radiated kindness and love." She grimaced at the last part. "Gosh that sounds cheesy." She looked at Hunter questioningly. "And what about you? Imogen still hasn't recovered from you and Arlene breaking up at the end of last year. I think she was your #1 shipper. She even had a name for it - Harlene, I think."

"I don't doubt it," he chuckled. "Arlene is - was - well, she was great. I'm sure you remember that I wasn't always the easiest person to get along with..."

"I may have recalled something about you threatening to turn me into a troll in the hallway..." Becky teased.

"Yeah, something like that. I know it's not an excuse or anything, but there was a lot going on then. Like, a LOT." Hunter flicked a grain of salt off of the table, seeming to weigh the benefits of continuing his train of thought.

"Please, you've spent about 3 hours listening to me go on and on," Becky encouraged him. "What happened?"

Hunter took a deep breath. "Well, besides all the awful stuff going on with my dad and my mom, I... it really was like torture growing up in Miles's shadow. For the first 14 years of my life, Miles was always the most popular, the most fun, and girls, well, girls have always loved Miles. And boys too, for that matter. I felt like I couldn't compete, and I even didn't want to. It was too hard. It just became easier not to even try...you know what I mean?"

Becky nodded encouragingly.

"It wasn't until the summer after freshman year that Miles and I finally started to become, like real brothers. I helped him see things my way and little by little he helped me see things his way. Frankie, well, Frankie is the whole reason I even got the courage up to start dating Arlene. I didn't know what to do, or what to say, or how to even let her know I liked her. Frankie translated the world for me when it came to girls – when it came to almost everyone, to be honest - and was my inspiration for trying to push my boundaries and give more people and the world the benefit of the doubt. I literally wouldn't have been able to contemplate going away to a school like this, by myself, if it wasn't for her always believing in me."

Becky smiled, remembering something Imogen had said.

"What? Why are you smiling?" Hunter asked playfully. "Fess up."

"It's just that Imogen once compared you guys to the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver from the Avengers movie. Like you two could communicate telepathically or something."

"Got to give her props for that the next time I see her," he nodded. Becky laughed.

"Anyway, Arlene and I finally started dating the end of sophomore year. I think it really, really helped both of us move out of our comfort zones and try to really make the best of being at Degrassi. It was so great having someone away from home that I could just be myself with, not to mention someone who wouldn't be instantly bored with either playing online games or hearing about them. By the end of senior year, though, we both kind of felt like...well, like we were dating ourselves. Does that make any sense?"

"So what you are telling me is that Frankie and Arlene are the reasons you went from angry freshman to senior Prom King?" Becky grinned.

"I was hoping you hadn't heard about that Prom stuff," Hunter grimaced. "It was really embarrassing. And it was all Frankie's doing, I'm sure, although I still don't have any actual proof."

Their waiter - a boy Becky knew from her English class - appeared at their table. "I'd love to be able to let you stay here all night Becks, but there's a line at the door and the manager is getting nervous. So unless you guys are ordering something else..."

Becky smiled apologetically and reached for her bag. "Of course Simon, we were just..."

"Going to order one of each of these," Hunter interrupted, gesturing to the tabletop dessert menu.

Becky laughed. "FIVE different desserts? Really?"

Hunter shrugged. "Why not? Only the best for m'lady," he finished in his fake British accent, which sent Becky into another fit of giggles.

As Simon left to fill their order, Becky shook her head. "I'm really glad you found me, Hunter."

He winked at her. "You're only saying that because I'm bribing you with desserts."

A brownie sundae, giant warm chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream, a huge slice of red velvet cake, and 2 different kinds of pie later, Becky and Hunter emerged from the Tombs.

"So, m'lady, may I have the honor of walking you home?" Hunter asked, offering his arm with a flourish.

"Why yes you may, but it's not far. I'm in Kennedy," she gestured to a cluster of buildings not far away campus.

"We're neighbors," he smiled. "I scored a single in Reynolds."

"That's impressive," Becky nodded. "How did a freshman do that, exactly?"

"I needed the space for my computers, and so I asked," he replied. "I guess I just got lucky."

"Computers, as in more than one?" Becky couldn't even begin to imagine how much space the kind of computers Hunter would use would take up in a small, single dorm room. If she found out later that he slept in a hammock hanging from the ceiling in order to free up floor space for a 3D printer, she would not have been remotely surprised.

"Yep," he nodded. "Actually...I was thinking…..well, I don't even know if I should even ask this or not, but..."

"What?" Becky demanded playfully. "Spill it or I promise I will make you laugh so hard you'll toss your cookies, like literally."

"Well...," he continued. "I remember you mentioning a long, long time ago how much you liked the Lord of the Rings movies. And, well, there's a MMO game like Realm of Doom, but set in the LOTR universe. Would you maybe want to...well, I have it set up on both of my computers, so you could maybe stop by and try it if you ever wanted to..." he hesitated as he looked down, then back up at her expectantly..

"Hunter Hollingsworth, are you asking me on a second computer date?"

"Uhm, maybe?" he asked hopefully.

"Well, the answer is yes," she grinned. "Can I have your phone?" He handed it over to her wordlessly as she programmed her number in. Hunter put his hands in his pockets as he waited for her to finish. As Becky turned to face him to hand him back his phone, she saw they had already arrived at the front door of the dorm complex. "Let me know the when and where, and I'll be there. And thank you for today. I had a really, really great time." With that, she stood up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. She bounded through the doorway and waved back at him. "See you soon."

Ten minutes later, Hunter was still standing there, in the dark, in complete disbelief. As much as he had deeply cared for Arlene, Becky Baker was and had always been the most beautiful girl he had ever met, both inside and out. Even though it had taken him years to admit it to himself, she had been the first girl he had ever, well, not loved, because he still wasn't sure what that felt like - but he'd really, really liked her. She had understood his problems with his parents, and with Miles, because she had the same problems. After ten minutes of talking to her online, he'd felt like he'd known her forever. He had been crushed when she had tried to end things with him in the game, knowing they both went to Degrassi, but as soon as Hunter had figured out who she was offline, he still had felt like he had won the lottery. Somewhere in his adolescent brain he had thought that something could still work out between them. That the girl he talked to and connected so quickly online wouldn't be held back by such a pedestrian concern as a measly 2 years-and-change age difference. He could make it work out. He had to.

Until he couldn't, and she had completely dismissed him, all because he was a stupid niner. It had hurt, a lot. And yes, he had really overreacted, screaming at her in the hallway in front of Imogen and stomping off like the child he realized he had been then. He spent the rest of the year avoiding her as much as he possibly could, but it was like trying to avoid the sun, resplendent in her bright colors with her glowing, omnipresent smile and beautiful laugh down every hallway at school. Determined to hide away in the darkness, Hunter would turn his head away from her and scowl whenever their eyes met in the hallway. Several times she had looked concerned and made overtures to come and talk to him, but he would just narrow his eyes nastily at her and turn to walk the other way. She seemed to give up after a while, and he spent the rest of the year seeking out corners in the shadows when he saw her coming. Becky had burned him more deeply than he had cared to admit, and he wasn't going to give her another opportunity to inflict more pain upon him.

The misery he felt as a result of Becky's rebuff helped him top off the festering pile of anger inside of him that all too often exploded back out at everyone – sometimes even his teachers. It had taken him a long time, a lot of help – Frankie had finally convinced him to go talk to someone, and it literally had been the best decision he had ever made - and a lot of work to whittle that pile down and finally toss it away for good. He had never had the slightest hope that he would ever have gotten another chance with Becky, but when he found out that they were both at the same university – a place where their age difference didn't matter much, they were both adults now, after all - it felt like fate intervening and giving him one more chance to get it right. And it had gone even beyond his wildest expectations. She had not only enjoyed spending time with him, she wanted to do it again. And she had kissed him. Well, sort of.

He smiled to himself as he walked towards the door. He had a lot to do to make their second computer date as epic as possible.