Rafe continued with his simple culinary skills in the kitchen, as he prepared coffee and bagels for Alison and himself. He was no Emeril (he chuckled to himself at how proud Alison would be of him for knowing who Emeril Lagasse was), but he knew his way around the kitchen well enough…well, at least where the coffeemaker, toaster, and microwave were concerned.

"Bam! Bagels and coffee, done…And she laughed at the idea of me making breakfast! Now if only little Miss Julia Child in there would hurry up in the shower…"

Rafe decided to put everything on a tray and take it into the living room so Alison would be surprised when she came out. Placing the tray on the coffee table, Rafe was startled as the front door burst open.

"Alison, are you h-…?" Livvie stopped suddenly at the sight of Rafe. "Rafe?! What are you doing here!"

"Umm…hi, Livvie."

Jack walked into the bike shop to find Jamal working away on a bike.

"Hey Jamal, what's up?"

"Hey…nothing much. Almost done with this bike. How're you feeling? I know you and Livvie were home sick all week with the flu or somethin."

"Yeah, we're both feeling a lot better. Must've been some bug going around. She's over visiting Alison now."

"Oh…well…glad you're feeling better." Jamal went back to working on the bike, apparently not wanting to talk about a certain subject.

"So…How long you been working on that thing? It's still pretty early."

"Ah, I woke up early so I thought I'd get a little work done…takes my mind off things, ya know?"

"Things? You mean Alison, don't you?"

"Whatever, man…"

"Jamal, I know you still love her…"

"Listen, Alison made it quite clear yesterday that me being around her is just something she doesn't need right now. She's still all hung up on Rafe."

Jamal threw down the tool he was holding and stood up.

"She said she just really wants us to be 'friends'…so that's what I'm doing…I'm being a 'friend' and staying the hell away."

"I'm sure that's not what she wants…"

"That's exactly what she wants. She says there's no reason to avoid each other, but I can tell that she's uncomfortable being around me…God! I just never thought it would be like this, ya know? It's like when I'm around, she doesn't know what to say or how to act…like she just wants to turn around and bolt! I mean, it's me! We've been through so much together! I just don't get it…I never thought she'd ever feel like she couldn't be around me."

"Jamal, look…you know she's going through a lot right now…not to mention the hormones…"

"Oh don't give me that crap, Jack…it wasn't any hormones! That's the way she feels."

"Ya know…maybe Livvie shouldn't have called you and asked to take her place as Alison's coach yesterday. We thought it might work, but it obviously just put both of you in a really awkward position. Sorry about that, bro."

"Nah, actually…I kinda liked the idea…I thought maybe…well, who cares…it didn't work out."

"Yeah, I heard Lucy's gonna be her coach instead…but what? What did you think?"

"I just…I thought maybe it would…well…give us a chance to reconnect. Ya know? I mean…with Rafe out of the picture and all…I thought…maybe if I did the coaching thing…we'd find away to get close again…"

Any expression of hope left in Jamal's face faded.

"But I don't know what I was thinking. Rafe is NOT out of the picture. I don't know if Alison will ever let him go. So I was an idiot to think that she could ever possibly…"

"I'm sorry man…but don't give up hope, ok?"

"Whatever…Listen, I wanna finish up this bike and then I have to help Frank move some things out of the bar."

"Ok…I'll see ya later then. Remember what I said."

"Yeah, alright…Later."

Jamal went back to work on the bike, but his mind was very much somewhere else.