A/N: I removed a WIP in 2019 called Starting Over Yet Again due to massive creative blocks. A couple months ago, I was asked to revisit it. Recently, I took the advice of several wonderful ladies to bring you this. It takes a lot of aspects of the first fic and combines them with all new content. Several chapters of the original fic are combined/edited, and joined with the new material. Most OC names have been changed, along with the title. It looks to be about 12 chapters long.

Steven:

Carol was walking so fast, it could almost be called jogging. She had excused herself from her seat, leaving her popcorn behind, saying she had to use the restroom. Thank goodness Steven was so caught up in the action movie he had insisted on to notice that she had grabbed up her purse and light jacket. At this point, she was honestly more than prepared to run and leave the jacket behind if he had questioned her. She walked up the aisle, gaining pace the last half of the way. As soon as she exited the doors of theater two, she hoofed it even faster until it was on a par with speed walking. She escaped further down the corridor. Past the bathrooms is where she had started the jogging. Once free from the movie theater building itself, she ran as fast as she possibly could, not caring that she was drawing a lot of stares.

She needed to get out of there NOW. Getting into the sanctuary of her old Taurus and clicking the lock, she finally took a deep breath, slowing her panicked breathing enough to make her capable of driving safely. She then jammed the key into the ignition and got the hell out of there. She made it to the interstate as quickly as she could. It wasn't until she was a good 5 miles away that she started to begin to calm down. By then, she thought she would have felt guilty but she just couldn't muster it.

She had never in her life abandoned a date mid way through. Until now. And for good reason. This internet dating bullshit had to be better than the results she had gotten so far. After trying a few boring or uncomfortable coffee dates that went nowhere, she thought she had found a nice guy. Steven (not Steve he said) was indeed nice online. But there was something about him in person that had immediately creeped her out beyond belief. She was not a vain person, and accepted everybody's unique style about them without judgement. Until tonight. She could not believe that the guy she had met at the theater had tried to pass that photo on the dating site off as him. She had shown up expecting a dark haired, slightly preppy looking guy. Instead she got an overwheight drunk asshole that looked, acted and smelled way to much like her ex husband Ed for comfort.

The octopus arms and whiskey breath had become far to much to handle just thirty minutes into the film. When she first thought about excusing herself, she had honestly just intended to go to the bathroom to get some space and breathing room from his fumes. But, she had found herself picking up her jacket and purse and fleeing the scene, by then only focused on getting the hell out of there instead.

So, instead of feeling guilty, she found herself only greatful to escape him trying to feel her up. Ugh. She could still smell the whiskey fumes that had moved from him onto her. Damn . No more.

She made it to the peace of her house in record time. The neighbor/babysitter Barb just cocked an eyebrow at her when she came in the door.

"I guess it didn't go so well, huh?" Barb was obviously trying hard to stiffle her chuckle, but failing. Carol had been adament against anything expensive for online dating despite Barb's advice. So, Carol had created profiles on lesser priced services, and pep talked herself on getting out in the dating world. She had put together a profile of what she saw as her positive traits, and made it clear what she was looking for. She wanted a stable guy who could have fun with life. No deadbeats need apply. She had thought she made that clear. Based on her results, she had clearly failed.

"I can't believe I just left in the middle of the date Barb. I swear I had cause, but I feel so damn mean right now."

"Well, if you pulled that, which I could never imagine you doing by the way; it must have been for a good reason. Was it that bad?"

"Worse." Carol replied. "Ed's fumes times ten, plus octopus arms trying to get down my shirt by the end of the previews. I tried to force myself to stay, but then I just couldn't. Thank God by then he was caught up enough in the film to not pay close attention. I just hot-footed it out of there."

"Well, that's what you get for using that site. I told you not to use that one. Use the one that Dave and I did."

"I know what you said. I just got caught up in the cheaper cost of the site. I don't know if I can try again though – even on the other site."

"Well, since you didn't go out for drinks with Steven after the movie, let's open a bottle of wine here and do a full autopsy. Sophia's asleep already, so we have time."

"Sure, why not?"

Colin:

Carol was drunkity-drunk-drunk-drunk. How else would she have found herself in this situation? Sure, her and Colin were friends in college; but they hadn't seen each other in seven years. He hadn't liked Ed, and the friendship dropped soon after her engagement. It was a class mixer event that put them in the same orbit again.

They were hanging out at the bar, but hadn't wanted to stick around the fussy atmosphere. So, they left their cars at Carol's and walked the three blocks to Don Miguel's. After more than a few margaritas, they made their way back to her house.

Colin had said that he was planning on calling an Uber and claiming his car tomorrow. But instead, he had swept her into a less than stellar kiss. He had never shown an interest in being more than friends. They had never that line, even in college. But now here he was crossing it, perhaps emboldened by a litle assist from José Cuervo and Sophia being gone for the weekend at Ed's.

It had started with her kissing him on the cheek, and turning towards her door. Then, he was pulling her back and kissing her. It only took that split second of a kiss for her to know it was all wrong. She had ended it politely and sat with him on her front step until his Uber showed up. The conversation had stalled into awkwardness, and she knew she would never hear from him again.

Matt:

Carol fiddled with her cell phone, waiting anxiously for her phone 'date'. Running into Matt after all these years was a sweet surprise. Who knew that the local Target would yield her a date; and with her high school sweetheart no less? He worked store security there, and they had not had time to talk then. He had said he wanted to reconnect with her, so she had written down her phone number, and was waiting for his call promptly at 10:00, ensuring privacy from Sophia's questions.

He was the first boy she had seriously kissed – none of that kid stuff either. While they had dated for a couple months, they had never progressed past some major league make out sessions. An accurate memory of him was warmly hazed by that sweet blush of a first love. She had always remembered him fondly, although when she had tried to remember specific things about him she had liked, she failed. She just remembered the feelings he gave her. They were raw, untapped, and new.

They had broken up after Christmas in their senior year, and lost touch completely after graduation.

After that, she had been the 'everything but girl' through her first year of college. In fact, Carol had only ever had intercourse with Ed in her life. She had met Ed at the beginning of her sophmore year in college. Shortly after they slept together, she was pregnant and Ed proposed. With the ring on her finger and Sophia on the way, she decided to listen to Ed and his parents. She agreed to move down drom a full time student to a part time student status. She never finished her degree, Ed saying he and Sophia needed all her time.

She had to admit that she had harboured doubts about her and Ed being compatible. The sex was not great, but she didn't want to hinge her marriage on sex. By the time her and Ed were first separating, she was already feeling cheated. She was continuously beating herself up over her path in life. So, by the time the separation was on the verge of divorce, she was back in college on an accelerated path, taking her friend/neighbor Sasha's offer of helping with Sophia. She was a nurse by the time Sophia turned two, and divorced by the time she was three.

She had the kind of job security that allowed her to be there for every aspect of Sophia's life. She had gotten a mortgage to get her own home for her and Sophia. Ed had visitation rights with Sophia. By the time that Sophia had started school, she had crafted a schedule that allowed her to get Sophia on and off the bus. Sophia skipping a grade had made her eligible for longer before and after school care, but Carol hadn't wanted the girl gone that long during the day at age five.

She didn't miss Ed, and she didn't miss sex with Ed. However, what she did long for was a physical compatibility that her and Edhad always fell woefully shy of.

Meeting Matt again made her wonder if she was being given a second chance. She was now certain that she had made a mistake to have saved herself for that prick Ed. Now she was struck with a yearning to know what she would have missed out on if she had decided to have sex with Matt or any of the three guys she had messed around with at the dorms.

Matt had always wanted to be a cop, and he was now a security guard. She wondered at the change in direction of his life. Was his life ruled by detours like hers? She ended up on the nuptial fast track, married to Ed because she was pregnant. Major detour. What had changed his path in life she wondered?

While she waited for the call, she decided to do a little snooping. As far as she could tell, his last name was unique enough that there weren't a lot of search results going in vastly different directions. She read through the search results quickly and came upon the usual suspects – facebook, and a telephone listing for a landline that probably didn't even exist anymore since it seemed everybody was trading in for cell numbers only. Then she saw it. Georgia Department of Corrections – Inmate Profile. She gasped, hesitated, closed her eyes, opened them and quickly selected the link.

She was dreading what she was going to see. Was he a drug addict? Would he be a danger to be around? Should she be scared for herself and Sophia? As her mind raced, she tried to concentrate on the details of the page. He was on unsupervised parole for a gross misdemeanor. It didn't state the crime, but only the statute. He was in violation of Georgia state criminal statute 16-6-20. What the hell did that mean?

Relying on her trusty friend google, she did a quick search and promptly dropped her phone. Bigamy? Seriously? He was not only married at some point, apparantly he was married to more than one person. What the ever loving fuck was she supposed to do with that info? She knew it went without saying that she would not be having her 'phone date' tonight. But what the heck was she going to do about him calling?

Just as she was wondering the intricacies of breaking off a phone date with a possibly still multiple married man, her phone rang. It was him. She immediately hit reject – mind still racing, trying decide on what to do. It started ringing again immediately. Reject. Rang again. Reject. Rang again. Holy shit she had to stop this. What was she going to do?

With the memory of her high school sweetheart now forever shattered, she made a quick call to Lori. She was going to have to muster up enough courage to ask Lori to ask Rick about this guy.

She got through the call without breaking down about her apparent life history of bad choices in men long enough for Rick to tell her not to answer his calls, that he would inform Matt not to contact her. How had this guy gotten a security job? She had asked Rick that, only to be informed that gross misdemeanors do not prevent employment in all cases – regardless of the statute violated.

She ended the call while shaking her head. Dating again should NOT be this hard – or involve the department of corrections.

Back on the phone, she called Barb even though it was late. All she said was to come over immediately, and that she was opening a bottle of red wine.

Barb was over within 5 minutes.

Facing her friend, all she said was "I'm done doing this my way. What was the site you and Dave used?"

Barb just quirked an eyebrow and walked towards Carol's laptop. She typed in the URL. Carol was now about to be enrolled in E-Harmony.

Notes:

Next up - Daryl's dates.