Beaver smiled as he wiped down the bar's countertop. The last few months with Ashleigh had been great. He still couldn't believe she was his girlfriend and would openly admit to that in public. It seemed like only last week she was calling him out on his perverted date lines. Wait, that was last week… Regardless, Beaver knew he owed this all to Spitter. Rusty's letter had convinced Ashleigh to go out with him. He didn't know what that letter said since Ashleigh wouldn't let him read it, but whatever was in it had changed his life. Beaver laughed to himself. Spitter was making sure that they were all taken care of even in death.

Even if the passing of Rusty had led to good things for him, Beaver still missed his friend. He didn't know where all the time had gone. He remembered the day when they were all debating which pledges to take, and Cappie had suggested Rusty. It was probably the first time the KTs all agreed on a pledge. Whether it was because they were too hangover or that they all thought it would be fun to corrupt the freshman the world will never know. Rusty was Spitter the minute he became a pledge, and that had never changed. The night he had won his Noble Prize, Rusty had invited his KT brothers to come with him. They had all shouted, "You go, Spits!", gaining the stares of the entire scientific community and all the other guests. But that was who Rusty was to them. He wasn't some pretentious scientist with numerous awards and discoveries. To the KTs, he'd always simply be Spitter, the beer bong prodigy and the guy who made it rain. Personally, Beaver thought that was a much better legacy than the first one.

"Beav!" He snapped out of his thoughts to see Wade waving the phone at him. "It's your girlfriend who continues to make me lose ten dollars to Jeremy every week," his friend snapped.

"You guys still have that pool?" Beaver asked suspiciously. He had told the guys to knock it off, but it was in the KT nature not to listen.

"No…" Wade trailed off. He put a hand behind his ear as if he were listening for someone. "Coming Jeremy!" he shouted, running into the backroom. Beaver rolled his eyes and picked up the phone.

"Hey, Ash," he said casually, picking up the receipts Wade had left on a nearby table and started to sort through them. It was in the middle of the day, so there were almost no customers.

"Hey, Charlie," Ashleigh replied, using the nickname she had come up with from his real name. Beaver hated it.

"What's up?" Beaver asked after realizing that his girlfriend wanted him to ask. After all these years, he was finally starting to figure out girls. Like for example, when a girl tells you that she doesn't want a birthday gift, it means that she doesn't want to have to tell you to get her a birthday gift. It shouldn't be something you need to be reminded of. Knowing all this new information, Beaver realized why none of his friends had never been able to keep a girlfriend.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to have a romantic dinner at my place…" she trailed off innocently. Beaver smirked. He knew what "romantic dinner" was code for. It was code for "eat take out and have sex", which worked in his book.

"Depends. Are you going to be cooking this meal?" he asked cautiously. Beaver had tried Ashleigh's cooking once. The crap they made pledges eat for rush was more appetizing than the meal she served him. Of course, being a good boyfriend, he didn't spit it out until she turned around.

Beaver swore he could hear Ashleigh glaring over the phone. "No," she replied coolly. "I was thinking of getting Lifia's." He perked up at this. Lifia was the best Greek restaurant in the state, and it just happened to be five minutes away from Ashleigh's apartment. Just another plus of dating her.

"Have I mentioned you're a goddess lately?" Beaver tried to sweet-talk. He remembered hearing Cappie say that the sure way to get a woman out of a fight was to compliment something about her.

Beaver knew that, if he had been in the same room as her, he'd see Ashleigh rolling her eyes. "No, you haven't. But you can over dinner tonight? 8 sharp work?"

"Yep. See you then. Bye, babe."

"Okay. See you later. Bye!" Beaver hung up the phone, only to turn around an actual paying customer. It was a woman a little younger than him with short brown hair and tan skin that indicated she was from out of town. No one ever tanned in Ohio. While the state's weather never seemed to actually change, it was never that warm.

Grace looked around the bar that was the background of so many of Rusty's stories. It seemed like a bigger than life place to her. It was odd to be standing in the place he had been in so many times and experienced some many things. Grace turned around to see the big guy behind the bar staring at her. Guessing from the pictures she'd seen, this was Beaver. Rusty's description of him seemed to fit somewhat, but Grace could tell he'd changed since his friend's death. In a way, they all had. "Are you Beaver?" she asked softly.

"Yeah, how can I help you?" he asked, wiping the counter. Beaver didn't bother to look up.

"Well, I'd like a Bloody Mary extra strong," Grace ordered. She usually didn't drink in the middle of the day, but she figured it would help take the edge off. And if there was anything Grace had been lately, it was on edge.

Beaver went to work on the drink. Grace tapped her nails against the bar, watching him work. "This is a nice bar," she commented casually.

"Thanks. I used to come here in college a lot, and then my friend bought the place and let a couple of us guys run it," Beaver told her, trying to keep it vague. In reality, Rusty had saved them all from unemployment. Working at Dobbler's was perfect work for Beaver, Wade, and Jeremy. The hours were the ones they usually kept anyways, and making drinks was a skill all KTs possess. Rusty was a very hands-off owner, letting his employees do their jobs. Surprisingly, the profits of the bar tripled from what they had been. This meant the three guys were doing very well.

"That sounds like a nice friend," Grace stated blankly.

"He was a good friend and fraternity brother." Beaver paused for a moment. "He died from long cancers a few months ago, and none of us have gotten over the shock of it yet. He left a few of us guys the bar, so we're just trying to "

Grace nodded. She understood exactly what he was saying. People said that after you lost someone, it would get easier every day. But, for Grace, it just got harder every time she woke up. "Well, I bet he is proud of you wherever he is." She looked down at her now empty glass. "How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing. You listened to me ramble. That's payment enough," Beaver responded kindly. Grace gave him a sad smile that doubled as a thank you. She left the envelope on the counter. Grace was already out the door and in her car before Beaver noticed the envelope sitting there.

He considered running out and giving it to the girl before noticing his name was on it. In Rusty's handwriting. Beaver was in a state of shock. This was his letter. He had actually gotten a letter. He carefully opened it, trying not to rip the mail inside like he usually did. He read it to himself. It said:

Dear Beaver,

I'm currently watching some really bad CRU football. I mean, did they suck this much when we were in school? Then again, I guess the answer is no since they had you on the team. Do you remember that pledge Andy? I actually ran into him the other day. He and that girl Jordan managed to make it work, and they have three kids. He certainly let himself go to say the very least.

I know by now everyone is waiting for a letter with profound advice for them. Truth be told, my advice isn't that ground-breaking. Everything I've written could be discovered by the person themselves. Of course, most people don't try to look at their flaws too hard. I don't know where I found this quote, but it's a good one. "It's often said that, no matter the truth, people see what they want to see. Some people might take a step back and find out they were looking at the same picture all along. Some people might see that their lies have almost caught up to them. Some people might see what was there all along. And then there are those other people, the ones who run as far as they can so they don't have to look at themselves." Fortunately, I've had a lot of time to take a step back and look at myself and the people a love.

Here's your piece of advice. Don't grow up too much. I know it's weird advice considering the fact that everyone's always telling you to grow up more. Now that you've proven you're an adult, however, no more growing up is necessary. I'm not telling you to go do something stupid that will make Ashleigh yell. I'm simply telling you that, without some of your more child-like qualities, our group is boring. If everyone starts acting mature and adult, the whole group will fall apart. We need to keep some fun and laughter there. I want Alana to grow up remembering what it's like to laugh. Trust me, laughing is very important. I've seen what happens to people who suck all the joy out of their lives. They die alone and depressed. Oh, and if you're with Ashleigh as I assume you are, tell her those three words. I know it's hard, but I have a feeling she'll say them back. Love is a great thing, Beav. Never be afraid of it.

Thank you for being such a good friend. Keep the smiles going. Take care of Ashleigh, or I'll figure out how to haunt you from my grave. Just kidding. Maybe…

Your favorite KT brother,

Rusty

Beaver put down the letter and smiled. It was good to have someone telling him to stop growing up for a change. He decided to make sure everyone stayed them. There would always be laughter and love in their group as long as Beaver had anything to say about it. He also decided to follow Rusty's other piece of advice. Beaver loved Ashleigh, and he suspected she loved him too. Plus, he really didn't want Rusty's ghost haunting him. That would be creepy.