A/N: Thanks (I think?) to RZ for providing the comment that inspired this particular chapter. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review this. I'm having a lot of fun writing it and the reviews are really encouraging me. I have a general idea of where I'm going to end up with this, we'll see how it goes. If it gets lame, please let me know.

Disclaimer: Only the plot is mine, I'm just taking the characters out for a spin.

Amy looked at Hannah and the growing mound of paper in front of her. She casually took a bite of her salad as Hannah ripped another strip from the napkin and began to tear it into tiny bits.

"Hannah," she said finally. "Is there something wrong?"

"No," Hannah replied in a tight little voice. "What makes you think there's something wrong?"

"Well, you've already torn up your napkin and now you've started on mine. Now that's no big deal, I'm sure Nina will be happy to bring us more on her next trip by our table, but it's just giving me the tiniest little hint that you are upset. Is it the dual enrollment thing? That's an awful lot of pressure taking college classes your senior year."

"No, I was already taking AP classes anyway."

"Okay, so what is it?"

Hannah sighed. "It's Bright."

Amy put her fork down.

"Okay, come on, let's have it."

"He met me outside of my psychology class at ECC so that we could have lunch together and I dropped this book."

"Okay?"

"So, I bent over to get it and he said—" Hannah broke off.

Amy waved her hand, encouraging her to continue.

Hannah leaned forward and whispered, "He actually said, 'You've got a nice rack, but damn that is one sweet little heart shaped ass.'"

Amy began to cough, trying to hide her laughter, but finally gave up, chuckling behind her hand.

"Excuse me, but you find this amusing? I mean, "rack"? What is that? Like a rack of lamb? A piece of meat? I mean in front of God and everybody."

"I'm sorry, I just—it caught me off guard. So, you're embarrassed because other people heard this?"

"No, I don't think anybody did, but it's pretty humiliating, you have to admit."

"Did you tell him how you felt about it."

"It was pretty obvious. I kind of glared at him. He said he was sorry, he didn't realize he'd said it out loud."

"Okay, that gives me way too much insight into the inner workings of Bright's mind, which I could totally do without, thanks. But still, it totally sounds like something Bright would say."

"But it was just so crass. I mean, Amy, he has said some of the sweetest things to me, just so romantic. The kind of things that make your heart melt and your knees go weak so that you just kind of fall into his arms and—"

Amy buried her face in her hands.

"Hannah, Oh my god, I should have realized that when I told him that he should tell you how he feels that you would be coming to me with things like this and I would be scarred for life. I think the key word here is vague. Let's keep those nitty gritty details vague."

"It's okay, we don't have to talk about it."

"Hannah, you're tearing up my napkin again. We have to talk about it otherwise when I have a napkin emergency I'm going to be in trouble."

Hannah gave Amy back her napkin and started playing with sugar packets.

Amy took a deep breath. "Okay, here's the thing. Bright has changed. A lot. I mean, a lot doesn't even cover it. But even though he's improved, he's still basically the same person. There are some things that are just a part of who he is, and there are some things that are just part of growing up and getting older that he hasn't done yet. On the scale of Bright's screw ups, I've got to tell you, this is relatively minor."

"You're taking his side?" Hannah was incredulous.

"Well, you have to be able to see this in the big picture. I mean, is it annoying, even aggravating that he said it like that? Yes. But it's not the end of the world. He did apologize and I'm sure that once you gave him a patented Hannah Glare of Death he won't go there again."

"I just expect more out of him because I've seen how wonderful he can be."

"And that's good, he needs someone to expect more out of him so that he has something to live up to. Part of his problem is that nobody expected much out of him for too long. On the other hand you have to know when to give him a break, I mean here's the thing: I think part of this is your dad getting sick when you were so young."

"What does this have to do with my dad?"

"Put the Glare away Hannah. Listen, your dad got sick when you were still at an age when you idolized him. You were Daddy's little girl and he could do no wrong. Believe me, I know all about this. But instead of reaching an age where you start to realize that he is a human being with flaws but you love him anyway, he's kind of frozen in time and everything that you remember about him is in this soft dreamy glow of how perfectly perfect he was."

"And this has exactly what to do with Bright and me?"

"Well, that's an awful lot for a guy to live up to. Our relationships with our dads kind of teach us how to deal with the opposite sex."

"Oh, god, is this about that awful John Mayer song?"

Amy smiled. "Stop it and listen. So, you had this ideal relationship with your dad, or at least that's how you remember him, so you expect your boyfriend to be absolutely ideal, too. Like some guy in a romance novel who's always smooth and says exactly the right thing at the right time, always. But real life isn't like that, and you have to cut Bright some slack. Well, Bright might need more slack than most, but whatever."

"Well, I guess there are worse things in this world than having a 'sweet ass'."

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore because as it is I'm never going to be able to look at your butt in the same way."

"Amy, why would you look at my butt?"

"Hannah, I'm not going to be able to not look at your butt. Now be a good girl and eat your dinner."

Hannah sat down on the couch beside Bright.

"The Incredibles again?"

"Yeah. 'You caught me monologuing.' Classic." He turned to look at her. "So, you and Amy have good time at M.J.'s ?"

"Yeah. It was good." She laced his fingers through her own.

He looked down at their intertwined hands.

"Forgive me?"

"Yeah. This time. So, would you still think my ass is sweet after I've had a couple of kids and I've got hips like Elastigirl?"

Bright chuckled. "Will you still want me when I'm 40 and have a receding hairline and a pot belly like Mr. Incredible? Cause you know I will. He is my future."

Hannah pulled his arm around her shoulders and pointed at the TV. "Shh. This is the best part."