Disclaimer: I don't own American Dreams.

A/N: You guys, last Sunday's episode was just so...wow...that I felt like we all needed to take it in before I could update. That, and wasn't working. Heh. But seriously, JJ coming home? Was just wicked awesome.

It also makes this story pretty AU now. Ah, well.

You reviewers are awesome. It's good to see AD get some little appreciation somewhere.

XXX

"I got a job!" Roxanne burst out as Meg stood outside the door of her best friend's apartment, having not even gotten the chance to knock.

"Really?" Meg asked enthusiastically as she entered the living room. "Where?"

"At a hairdresser's, only a few blocks away." Roxanne sighed happily and plopped onto the couch, smiling. The small fan sitting on an end table blew cool air noisily at them. "Meg, I have a job. I'll be able to move out!"

Roxanne's mother had married Walter, but it hadn't worked out, and the two had gotten a divorce only recently. Meg knew her friend was sick of living with her mom, and grandmother, and had wanted to find a place right when they had returned from California, but Roxanne hadn't had the money.

"Wow, Rox, this is great," Meg told her, grinning and sitting in a chair that faced the couch.

"I know, I'll be able to throw all those wild parties without an adult looking over my shoulder," Roxanne joked.

Meg knew that that was the moment she was supposed to laugh, but the command didn't make it out of her brain. She was too preoccupied, still thinking about the argument with her father three nights before. She had only seen Sam once since then, and the meeting had been brief and polite; not like their normal friendly conversations. Meg wondered if he had gotten some sort of similar lecture from Henry.

"Earth to Meg," Roxanne said, waving a hand in front of her face. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Meg answered, laughing off her spacey mood.

"I can tell something is on your mind."

Considering whether to tell Roxanne or not was something Meg had done a lot of since her father had basically told her to stop hanging out with Sam. She decided that she might as well.

"It's just…my dad. And Sam."

"Ah," Roxanne chirped knowingly.

"'Ah' what?"

"You've been with Sam a lot since we got home, and your dad doesn't like it."

Meg wondered how Roxanne had gotten so good at reading people. "Pretty much, yeah. He said people have been telling him that me and Sam have been close."

Roxanne was now filing her nails. "Well, you guys have been close," she said as if it were the most obvious thing.

"No we haven't," Meg firmly stated. "He's my friend, I haven't seen him in months, why can't I do things with him?"

Roxanne smirked. "Maybe because you're starting to see him as more than just your friend?"

The blush was back, and Meg felt as if she were red all over her body. "No I'm not."

"Please. You could cut the sexual tension between you two with a knife, to be cliché about it."

Meg decided not to respond at all, lest her best friend keep giving examples that prove she may like Sam. Roxanne respected her silence, and went back to filing her nails.

Did she like Sam? Meg wasn't sure, she'd always had a special place in her heart for her friend. He'd been there for her numerous times; he'd listened, given input, and taken her side when the situation seemed correct for him to. Even when she had been dating other guys, and he other girls, she'd made time for Sam. Sure, they'd had their share of difficulties, considering the way people acted towards black and white people these days.

But did she like like him (boy, did she sound like Will)?

"Rox," Meg began, "what if…I mean, if I…" She let out a breath. "How could I really be sure?"

Roxanne smirked and leaned in, glad to be finally included in the secret. "Spend more time with him. See how being with him makes you feel."

"But what about all those other people?"

"Meg, you've got to not care about them, and follow your heart." Roxanne cocked her head to the side. "Man, I'm full of lines today, huh?"

XXX

Meg left Roxanne's half an hour later, feeling more confused than when she had arrived. She took the bus back home, checked in with her mother, then walked the few blocks to JJ and Beth's apartment, where she had been invited to when she had returned home.

The outside was pleasant-looking, and the inside was equally as nice. Meg checked the small piece of paper she'd written their apartment number down on, and made her way through the hallway and up two flights of stairs, until finally stopping outside of apartment twenty. She knocked anxiously.

"Meg!" Beth exclaimed as she opened the door, stepping back to let her sister-in-law in.

"Hey," Meg replied.

The two women hugged, and when they let go, John began crying.

"He's so fussy," Beth said, lifting her son from his playpen. "Do you want to hold him?"

Meg smiled. "Sure." She took John into her arms.

She peered into his tiny face as he sat on her lap, amazed at how much he looked like her older brother. Meg remembered when John was born, the night of the blackout and meteor shower, when none of them knew if JJ was coming home. She had still been with Chris then.

Thinking of Chris was something Meg hadn't done in awhile, so she decided to not continue the thought. He'd broken her heart in the end, just like all the others had.

"He must really like you," Beth commented from the small kitchen that joined with the living room, "he'd usually be screaming by now."

Meg shrugged. "It's a talent, I guess," she chuckled.

"Here, have some lemonade," Beth said as she sat down across from her sister-in-law with two tall glasses.

Meg accepted, and the two fell into an easy silence, both watching John get comfortable in Meg's arms.

"So," Beth began, "you never really got to tell me all your wild stories of California."

"Well, there isn't much more to tell, I said basically all of it at home."

"Meg." Meg looked over at Beth. "I know you've got more to tell than just what you said at your parent's house. What happened with that Mark guy? Your mom said you didn't really talk about meeting him, or the break-up."

Meg weighed her decision of if she should talk about certain things with Beth that she had 'conveniently' never mentioned to her parents. In the end, she decided that Beth was as good as any person to tell, since the woman had been like her older sister long before it had been made official. Plus, she hadn't really talked about Mark with anyone except Roxanne.

"Well, uh, I met him outside Bandstand."

"Oh? Was he a fan?" Beth teased, seeing that Meg needed to make the conversation light. She took John and placed him in his nearby playpen.

"No," Meg replied with a small smile, thinking of the day. "It was a few days before me and Roxanne were coming back here for Christmas. We had stayed late because their newest stage manager had needed help finding some sets in a closet he'd never been to before, and he asked us for help. Roxanne thought he was cute, so we were stuck there an extra hour."

"She doesn't change, huh?" Beth asked with a smile.

Meg nodded and continued, "So we were leaving, and this guy was walking inside as we were walking out, and he bumped into me and his coffee went everywhere."

Beth cringed, "Hopefully not on you?"

"Well, only a little got on me. And so he was really apologetic, telling us he was picking something up for his dad, who was a cameraman for the show. He was just…really nice, and cute," Meg added, envisioning her ex-boyfriend in her head. "So Roxanne kind of backed up and pretended to be studying a flyer when she saw him flirting with me (her words, not mine), and he asked me if he could make the whole thing up to me over dinner."

"And you accepted," Beth presumed.

"Well, after Roxanne nearly lost her eyebrows with all the 'subtle' nodding, I did. And so I mentioned I was going home for Christmas, and he said he'd say goodbye before I left, and we'd have dinner when I got back."

Beth had her arms crossed over her chest, looking at Meg with a knowing smile. "You never mentioned him when you came home, Meg."

"I know," Meg said, "but I hadn't thought we'd go out again after dinner."

Satisfied for the moment, Beth took all this in as she sipped at her lemonade. Meg was relieved to find the apartment was air conditioned, so it was deathly hot. She had to admit, as shifty as she felt about her time with Mark, it was nice to talk to someone about him, and have them be eager to hear the story. He was one of the biggest things to happen to her in California.

"So," Beth began again, "you dated him for awhile?"

Meg shifted slightly in her seat. "Um, yeah, about five months."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

They sat in silence again, as Beth seemed to be considering what to ask next. "So uh, why did you two…break up?" She asked it carefully.

This was the question Meg had been dreading. Mark had been great; the perfect boyfriend. Not only was he three years older and had already finished college, but he was smart, cute, and the sweetest guy Meg had met, besides Sam. He'd been fun, and different, and laid-back. He'd shown her everything there was to see in their area of California. Meg just hadn't thought that he'd want something in return.

She'd considered sex before, when she was with Chris. But she'd only thought about it for a moment, since they were always wrapped around so much drama. Then they'd broken up, and she'd gone off to California for a change, and that change had come in Mark. She'd liked Mark, but not enough to sleep with him. But, being twenty-two, and obviously more experienced than herself, he'd thought that was where their relationship was going.

It wasn't. So Meg dumped him before they had even really discussed the subject. Sure, she'd entertained the idea, but had never actually really thought they'd be doing it. She'd always wanted her first time to be with someone special; someone she loved and trusted. Not just a sweet guy she saw once or twice a week and had fun with.

Beth was waiting for an answer, and Meg didn't really want to divulge into all those details.

"We were just…different. Our lives were going separate ways," Meg answered simply.

It was the truth, to some extent.

XXX