It didn't matter that she still made his stomach flutter. That was exactly what Andrew told himself when he saw Allison standing outside the school hours before. He loved his wife, he loved his children and he loved the life that they had built in California. However, it didn't mean that he had forgotten the misfit that had changed this tiny piece of his heart when he was just seventeen.

There was one thing that Andrew had never told Claire, and until they showed up here, he never thought that he was going to have to deal with it. Allison had disappeared after high school, and before that, she had stayed as far away from their popular clique as possible. Andrew had been glad for awkwardness then, appreciating the fact that their way no way anyone would ever find out his darkest secret. He somehow knew that it would change how people saw him if they knew, and even if he hated it about himself, he had been all about his image.

Looking back, there was nothing Andrew was more ashamed of than what he had done to Allison. Everyone thought that they worst thing he ever did was ignore her in the hallway where the junior lockers were, but they were wrong. In fact, the worst thing that he ever did to her happened three months later, a few weeks before the prom, just after wrestling season had culminated in him winning his third state championship. He had managed not to remember that day for years, but all those old memories came crashing back the moment her eyes met his across the school parking lot.

Andrew had dated Allison for six weeks after that day in detention. His father had put a lot of pressure on him to stay focused, so she had agreed to hide their relationship. To keep face, he ignored her at school, and she went back to being the quiet girl that she had always been. However, after practice, he would meet her in the parking lot and they would drive around town in the dark, listening to her favorite tapes and eating cheap fast food and just talking about their plans for the future. Andrew had promised her that they would go public with their relationship after his meet at state. He wanted to tell his father and his friends to just deal with the fact that he liked this strange and wonderful girl. Allison was patient and truly believed that he would live up to his end of the bargain. What she didn't count on was that he was an egocentric teenager with something to prove.

Not that it really mattered, but Andrew had no idea that Allison was going to come watch the state championship. He had asked her to be his prom date the weekend before when he had pretended to go on an afternoon run but really met her at an outdoor amphitheater for music in the park. It had felt like a regular date, as if they were just two normal teenagers with nothing to hide. They had walked through the flower gardens afterward, soaking up the warm afternoon air and talking excitedly about dancing to their song ("Love Song" by The Cure) at their junior prom. Allison had even been excited, something probably no one would have believed at the time. Her face had lit up when he had asked her, an image Andrew could still recall to this day.

So on the day of the big meet, Andrew was focused on nothing but winning. He had barely spoken to Allison, as was his custom before a big match. His mind was on the game, and he knew that the stands were packed for him. It had been the best match of his high school career up to that point, winning easily in an early decision. Everyone was on their feet when the ref held up his hand, proclaiming him the Illinois state champion for his weight class. Everything was a blur in front of him, and when Claire had launched herself into his arms, he had just gone with it. It was unexpected but not all that unpleasant, kissing her in the moment. However, he quickly became coherent enough to realize what he was doing and ended their embrace, turning to his coach to celebrate as nonchalantly as possible.

It was only when the head of the high school sports association was putting a gold medal around his neck that he saw her. Tears were streaming down her face as she shook her head in disgust, making Andrew feel about two inches tall. What should have been a wonderful moment was ruined by his own stupidity and selfishness. Allison wouldn't hear him out after that, and rather than deal with, Andrew had thrown himself into a relationship with Claire that had lasted him nearly three decades.

He shook away the memory as he looked up at Allison, watching her bent over a table as she talked intimately to Bender. He still hated the buffoon, how comfortable Allison was with him and the way that he still clearly got to Claire. Speaking of his wife, she was tucked in next to him, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder as she talked to Brian about the remodeling project they had started on the house. He answered a question about their windows without thinking about it, finally catching Allison's eye. He nodded toward the hallway and looked at the clock. She shrugged before nodding in return.

"I need to go check in with my office," Allison said, standing up to excuse herself. Bender just sort of shrugged before jumping up from his table and coming over to sit across from Brian.

Once she had been gone for several minutes, Andrew kissed his wife and told her that he was going to use the bathroom. He didn't really need to lie because Claire was already too caught up in gossiping about their old teachers with the other guys to even notice that he was gone. All thoughts of his wife quickly disappeared though as he made his way to their old meeting spot. He suddenly felt seventeen again, skipping out of algebra to go makeout with the arty chick in the boiler room.

Allison was already waiting for him when he got to the basement, her back pressed against the wall in the same nook where they always used to meet. "Took you long enough," she teased him, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. "So, what's up, Clark? Why are we down here?"

"I, uh, wanted to talk to you," he admitted. "Without the others, you know, in private." He had never been all that great with words, and starting this very awkward conversation wasn't any different. "I never apologized."

Her face fell at the mere mention of that horrible day. He knew that she didn't want to talk about it anymore than he did, and the thought of hurting her again was killing him. However, he didn't know if they would ever get the chance to talk about it again. "It's in the past," she said, her voice soft and small. "I moved on, you did too." Andrew looked down at his feet and then up at her. She was even prettier than she had been then because she was so sure of herself. "The only thing I never understood was why, and now, I don't even care. I have a life, a good one. You seem happy with Claire. You were sixteen and you were a coward. I'm not the girl who was afraid to say something anymore, and I hope that you're not the scared little boy who is afraid to stand up for what he wants."

He reached out automatically and cupped her cheek in his hand. Her skin was warm, and Andrew was distinctly aware she was the last person other than Claire that he had ever touched like this. "I wish things had been different."

She looked as if someone had punched her. "Don't say that," she nearly begged. "You can't because that would mean regrets and I don't do regrets." Allison was quiet for a moment as she tilted her head in contemplation. "You shouldn't regret what happened, Andy. Life happened like it was supposed to. Without that horrible thing, you wouldn't have your kids. I'm not even worth that. And I would have never been a very good surbanite wife and mother. Claire was made for that. This was our fate. Yeah, you could have handled it differently, but I still have to think that this is how it would have ended."

Andrew was silent as he stepped forward and slid his arms around her waist. He pulled her close to him, allowing her to bury her face in his shoulder. They stayed like that for a couple minutes before he pulled back to press his forehead against hers. "While that was pretty much the most perfect thing you could say, it doesn't mean that I wasn't a jackass to you," he said. "You deserved better, and I think you're happy now. I think you got better after me."

"I did," she confirmed with a wry smile. "I did okay for myself, Andy, don't worry about me."

"For the record, I really liked you, Allison," Andrew told her. "I meant all those promises that I made and all the things that I said. I had fallen for you in the hardest way possible, but you're right. I was a coward. Even if I knew that I had to end things, I should have done that instead of letting Claire kiss me. I still have never told her about us. I kind of didn't want to. It felt like something that belonged to just us, you know? It was ours. And please don't think I meant it was our secret to keep. I just never much felt like sharing everything else that went with it."

Allison nodded her understanding because that part she got. The other stuff was a little more hazy, but it had been just theirs. She wasn't sure that anyone else would understand what it meant. "I liked you too, Andrew," she admitted. "Even after that day, a little part of me never quite got over you. You were the first person who made me feel okay with myself. It'd be so easy for me to be angry at you for taking that away, but I'm old enough now to realize that you didn't do that to me. I let myself get lost. You were just my excuse."

Then she carefully disentangled herself from his arms and reached toward the floor for her purse. She pulled out the old poetry book and removed the varsity patch from between the delicate pages. She pressed it in his palm and closed his fingers over the stitched fabric. "This doesn't belong to me anymore," she explained. "Give this to one of your kids. This is their legacy, not mine. I had it when I needed it, but I don't need that reminder anymore. I have my one perfect day and a few good months after – I have my memories."

He didn't know what to say as he looked at the patch from his coat. He had never replaced where she had ripped it away that March day. It seemed wrong, even months after they were over and he was with Claire. "Thank you," he said finally, meeting her eyes. They were the only words that he had. "Allison..."

"No," she shook her head. "It's over now. Let's go find the others."

He left first, looking over his shoulder one last time at her propped up on that old crate next to the door to a storage closet. Allison waved and smiled before he jogged up the stairs. Claire and Brian were messing with the sound system when he got back into the library. Bender was sitting on a counter, staring up at the duo and nodding his head along to the sporadic rock beat pouring out of the speakers. Allison came in a few minutes later and bound over to where John was, propping herself up on the table beside him and bumping her shoulder familiarly against his.

"Find something good!" she hollered up to Brian and Claire. A minute later, the song – their song – blared in the room. Allison was up in an instant, grabbing John by the hand and pulling him up the stairs after her. "We Are Not Alone" filled the air in the library. Allison and John fell easily into a dance, setting off Brian and Claire. Andy eventually joined them, the five of them bopping around in time to the music.

"I loved this song!" Claire yelled over the music, bouncing her head along to the beat as she looked at Brian. "And you still can't dance."

"Whatever, I'm having fun!" he laughed as he bumped his hip against Allison. She grinned over at him while swinging John's hand wildly in the air. "And I'm not the only one, huh?"

"Nope," Allison agreed, turning herself under Bender's arm before uncurling herself from his side dramatically. She was probably the best dancer of the group now, sliding her hand down her hips in a seductive way as she caught Andy's eye. He blushed as she made her way back to fully standing and turned back toward Brian.

Claire noticed that moment and moved herself between Andy and Allison. Winding her arms around her neck, she looked into his eyes in a way that let him know he had been caught. "Hey, Stranger, have a good chat?"

"You knew?"

"I always know," she smiled. "Got it out of your system?"

Andrew nodded and brushed a kiss on her cheek. "All is well."

"Good," she nodded resolutely. "I'm glad."

"Happy wife, happy life," he grinned, leaning forward to kiss her quickly. He glanced at Allison over Claire's shoulder, but the brunette wasn't paying any attention to him. Instead, she was waltzing across the floor effortlessly with Bender, Brian dancing in a circle around them. "What kind of moves are those, Johnson?"

"All my best ones," he announced as he threw his hands up over his head and turned in a circle. Bender reached out and pushed him playfully, Allison throwing her head back in laughter as the three of them stumbled about. "Come on, Allison, let's show them how it's really done."

Allison moved out of John's arms and started dancing as freely as Brian. Claire soon broke away from her husband and joined them. Bender and Andrew were content to hang back and watch, leaning against the bookshelf and gazing at the trio coolly. Andrew kept time, tapping his hand idly against his hip, while John played air guitar and laughed at the group's really bad moves.

"You and Allison get it all worked out?"

Andrew looked up at the other man and grimaced. "What business is it of yours?"

John shook his head and laughed humorlessly. "None except that I know what you did, I know about the state championship," he said seriously. "I won't say a word, never have to this point. I just know that it took Allison a long time to be okay with that. I don't want to see her do it again."

"Watching out for Allison or for Claire?"

"Both, I suppose, in some ways," Bender admitted, "but mostly Allison. She told me back then, and I kept your secret when I really wanted to expose you for who you were. And before you think I did it to protect you, I didn't. I did it for her."

"I didn't realize that you two were so close."

"We weren't and then we were and then we weren't again," Bender revealed. He didn't say anything else as he joined the group, catching Allison from behind as he twirled her around in a circle. Claire and Brian were dancing together, leaving Andrew the odd man out. Bender looked back at him and shook his head. "Come on, Clark, lighten up."

The five of them danced to a string of other songs before collapsing exhaustively on the floor. Claire sat between Andy's legs, her head against his chest. Brian was sprawled out next to them, flat on his back as he looked up at the lights. Allison was on her side, head propped up on her fist, legs thrown carelessly over Bender's lap. He was sitting across from Andrew, his back resting against a row full of ancient encyclopedias.

"So what happens after today?" Brian asked with closed eyes.

"You mean, what happens on Monday?" Claire asked with a slight smile. "Are we still friends?"

"Of course we are," Andrew said, remembering this conversation from years before. Allison looked at him before dropping her gaze to Claire. "I mean, I think we should be."

"You want the truth?" Bender asked, reaching down to rub Allison's ankle absently. "You know that we will lose touch again. We're spread out, we're adults. We have lives."

Allison looked at Brian. "We're still better people, huh?"

"Like I said then, my friends are the kind who wouldn't care," she agreed. "I might not fit in the suburbs or in some garage in Oklahoma, but I will always think of you four as my friends. For whatever reason, we bonded that day. We shared something that never quite made sense but mattered to each of us in a really significant way."

Andrew played with Claire's red strands as Allison spoke. "So it's that easy for you?"

Allison nodded. "It's always been that easy if you just make the effort."

And there it was, the thing that she needed to say to him earlier but hadn't. Andrew finally understood, and in that moment, he let that be enough. "I'd like for us to stay in touch," he said before locking eyes with Bender. "All of us."

Claire looked up at her husband and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, me too," she said. "Brian?"

"Of course, I do," he said. "Allison, you in?"

"Sure," she smiled agreeably before knocking her ankle against Bender's hands. "John?"

He looked down at her with slanted eyes and then over at Claire and Andrew. "Fine."

"Don't go out of your way, man," Andrew joked. "Man, today has been a good day."

"And it's not over yet," Brian announced, suddenly sitting up to look at everyone in the room. "I still have one more trick up my sleeve."