"Knock, knock!" a female voice came from the apartment door, accompanied by a knocking sound, which awoke Adam with a start. "Adam, let me in, will you?"

He jumped from the couch and quickly went to the door, opening it. "Kate, keep it down," he said, suddenly remembering it was Sunday, and him and Kate had agreed to meet for breakfast at his place, as they sometimes did.

But Kate didn't heed his words and waved a paper bag in front of his eyes. "I got us croissants this time, thought we could use a change. Bagels get so boring after a while," she said cheerfully. And even though Adam was trying to block the door, she squeezed her body through the small space between Adam and the doorframe and went straight into the kitchen with a step that had an almost bouncing quality to it.

Adam followed her on bare feet, smoothing his disheveled hair with one hand as best as possible. Kate shot him a quick look as she prepared the coffee maker. "Gee, you look like you just got out of bed."

Adam finally found his voice. "Kate, this isn't a good time."

"What do you mean, not a good time? We set this up last week, don't you remember?"

"Yes, I remember. But—"

Just at this moment, Joan appeared from behind Adam, clad in her light blue checkered flannel pyjamas, asking, "Adam?"

Kate's eyes widened. "Ooooh! I see. Not a good time, I get it." She smiled despite herself. "Sorry. I think I better leave." She had to suppress the urge to giggle as she walked back to the apartment door.

Adam quickly went after her. "No, wait, it's not what you think."

Kate turned back to face Adam, waiting silently for an explanation with raised eyebrows. Adam looked slightly sheepish as he introduced the two of them. "Joan, this is Kate, a good friend of mine. Kate—Joan." To Joan he said, "Kate and I were supposed to meet for breakfast, but to be honest, I totally forgot."

But Kate was now gaping at Joan. "Joan? You mean the Joan? From Arcadia?"

The look on Adam's face screamed 'embarrassment'. Kate sometimes was a bull in a china shop, but in a lovable way. "Um... yeah," he admitted.

"Wow," Kate said. "That's certainly... a surprise."

Joan was looking first at Kate, then at Adam. Who was this woman with the frizzy, jet-black hair and huge, green eyes? "Can someone please clue me in here?" she demanded.

Adam lifted his arms and gestured at the kitchen table. "Okay, I think we should have breakfast after all."

"Fine with me," Kate chimed in readily.

"Sure," Joan replied, not sounding like she was.

Kate took in Adam and Joan's appearances since both were obviously still in their night attire. "Okay, how about I get some more bagels from the bakery and you two go and get dressed," she suggested.

Adam and Joan both agreed and Adam was the first to venture into the bathroom as Joan went back to the bedroom.

Forty minutes later, both Adam and Joan were showered and dressed. They all sat down at the readily set breakfast table, a pot of steaming coffee and fresh croissants and bagels already waiting for them.

Adam poured all of them coffee and Kate and Joan were already cutting open their bagels. As Joan spread soft cheese onto her sesame bagel, she said, "Okay, so I think either of you knows more about me than I do about you. Care to enlighten me?"

Adam gave Joan an earnest look and in a serious tone said, "Joan, Kate knows what happened. I've told her the whole story after I got back from Arcadia in January."

"Okay," Joan acknowledged. That was fair enough, Adam was entitled to talking about their history. No, actually she was glad he had talked it over with someone other than herself. She had hated seeing him so guilt-ridden, having bottled all of it up for all these years. "So, how did you two meet?" she asked, curious.

An expression of surprise crossed Adam's face. He hadn't thought Joan would accept having discussed their issues with another woman so easily. So much for the new Joan.

Before he could answer, Kate told Joan, "We met in college. We were in the same year, had a couple of courses together. But, unlike Adam, I went for the hands-on craftsmanship track. I'm a painter-slash-sculptor, I run a little art gallery in Bucktown. I mostly do soapstone and some plaster work now. Which is fun," she added cheerfully.

"And you can live off that?" Joan asked inquisitively.

"Hell, no. I wish!" Kate laughed. "Sad, isn't it? I also have a part-time job as a waitress in a café downtown. Kinda feeds the cliché, don't you think?" Joan had to smile as Kate added, "But I like it that way."

"Well, that's good, then," was all Joan could think of to reply.

"So, how come you're in Chicago?" Kate asked as Adam was quietly chewing on a croissant that he dipped in the pool of honey he had put onto his plate.

Between bites of her bagel (that was undeniably delicious), Joan told Kate about the conference and how she had agreed to meet with Adam. Kate eventually inquired about the cuts and bruises and Adam's bandage, and Adam told her about the accident and the stay at the hospital.

Kate listened with rapt attention to their tale. "Whoa, that's quite a bit of a excitement for one day," she conceded. "So, when are you going back?" she asked Joan.

"Tonight, actually," Joan said. Then she realized something and looked at her watch. "Shoot, I need to call the hotel, I was supposed to check out by 10 AM. Guess it's a little late for that now."

Joan got up and left the kitchen to make the call on her cell phone. When she had left, Kate turned to face Adam, chin in hand, her elbow propped up on the tabletop. "So, Joan Girardi waltzed back into your life, who'd have thought," she told him teasingly. "You're not... back together, are you?" she asked brazenly.

He was already used to Kate's straightforwardness, so he wasn't surprised much by her question. "No," was his simple answer, but it hadn't come out quite as starkly as he had thought it would.

"Would you like to be?" Kate had this way of being completely unrelenting, even when privacy was called for. She always asked the questions that politeness would have prevented you from asking. That was one of the things that had made Kate so attractive to him, if only in a platonic way.

He had never really had any romantic interest in Kate, and he didn't think she did in him either. Or if she did, she sure hadn't given any indication. Now he realized why he had found her brazenness so likeable: because it was also one of Joan's endearing qualities that had made him fall for her almost from the moment he had set eyes on her just about eleven years ago.

Adam wasn't sure how to answer Kate's question. Would he like to get back together with Joan? That wasn't something he could answer with a simple yes or no. There was so much emotional baggage between them, things to sort out, things to talk about. They had both changed so much, built a life for themselves, a life that didn't include each other. "Honestly? I don't know. I really don't. So much has changed, things are so different now."

Kate nodded, her chin still in her hand, her eyes fixed on Adam. "If I can give you one piece of advice: You're still hung up on this girl. You know it and I know it. But please, Adam, consider what you're getting into. I don't wanna see you get hurt again."

Adam looked down at his plate, studying the croissant crumbs on it as if they held a fascination that called for complete seizure of one's attention. How ironic Kate would say that, because he had never seen him as the hurting party in this whole murky mess.

"Why does it have to be so complicated?" he sighed, still not looking at Kate.

But before Kate could reply, Joan came back into the kitchen. "I have to go over to the hotel and check out, they said it would be okay if I came straight away."

"Where are you staying, maybe I can drive you," Kate suggested.

Joan looked a little uncomfortable at the offer, not sure if she should be accepting it. After all, she didn't really know Kate. But it was just a short ride, right? "The Hyatt Regency," Joan finally said.

Kate actually whistled, making an impressed face. She looked at Adam and mouthed, "Is she some rich girl?"

Adam smirked and Joan laughed out loud. "No, don't worry, all sponsored courtesy of the boss. I'd probably have stayed in some cheap dive if I'd had to pay for the trip myself," Joan reassured Kate.

Adam looked at Joan. "So, you're coming back here afterwards? To get the rest of your stuff?"

"I don't know. I can pack everything now and take it with me, if you wanna get rid of me," Joan half joked.

"No, no," Adam quickly negated. "You can come back here later, I'm not going anywhere. You know, pack your stuff later without ruffle."

"Okay, sounds good."

Joan and Kate went to go. Kate gave Adam a hug before she left. "Think about what I said," she told him when her mouth was close to his ear before she said goodbye and left with Joan.

Adam closed the apartment door behind them from the inside and leaned his back against it. What was he doing? Was he actually considering getting back together with Joan? Was she even interested in that herself? Wasn't it a little early to ask that question? He had decided to play this thing by ear, but if even Kate was picking up on the chemistry that obviously still existed between him and Joan, then maybe he wasn't in as safe waters as he had thought he was.

He sucked in a deep breath through his nose, rubbing his face with his hands as he let it out again. Adam, he told himself, stop thinking with gut and start thinking with your head. That had been the problem all along, hadn't it? But whenever he thought of Joan, it was like his brain was on drugs, it just wouldn't think straight. But he knew all too well that nothing could be done about that, so he just had to play it by ear after all.

--...----...----...--

Kate was a nice person and a good friend. That Joan was as close to sure about as possible after a fifteen minute conversation in car with someone you had only just met. She was glad that Adam's taste in friends met her approval, but she didn't know if she should feel flattered or disconcerted by the fact that she had seen a lot of herself in Kate.

Granted, Kate seemed a little more eccentric and buoyant than herself, but the outspokenness and honesty they definitely both shared.

Joan was walking up the stairs to Adam's apartment, carrying her suitcase in front of her. She rang the doorbell and Adam's figure greeted her. In true gentlemanly fashion, he attempted to take the suitcase from her. "Here, let me get that."

Joan made a face but didn't release her grip on the handle. "Adam, don't be silly. I carried it up here by myself, don't you think I can carry it the remaining few feet?"

Adam backed off, lifting his hands in a defensive gesture, but smiling slightly as to indicate that he wasn't offended. "Female emancipation. I'm all for that."

Joan shot him a look before she trudged off to the bedroom with the suitcase to pack the things she had left in his apartment earlier. She was done after fifteen minutes and strode back into the living room where Adam sat with his laptop, placing her ready packed baggage on the floor.

She stood by the doorway for a second, lifting her eyebrows and announcing, "I'm all done."

Adam looked at her, then back at the computer screen. "Give me two minutes."

Joan sat down on the couch that Adam had in the meantime returned to its original state, rearranging pillows and everything. "What are you doing?" Joan inquired, merely curious.

Adam waved one hand dismissively. "Oh, just checking e-mail and stuff. Nothing too exciting."

"Right." Joan briefly considered if she should ask Adam if she could quickly check her own e-mail, but then decided against it. She would be home tonight, she could check her e-mail then. It's not like she had anything urgent waiting for her in her mailbox anyway.

After another minute, Adam closed the lid on his laptop and put it on the couch table. He looked at his watch and said, "Shame. It's a little late to try the lunch thing again and make it work this time. Your flight leaves in about two hours, right?"

"Yeah, 3:15, so I better make my way to the airport." Disappointment washed over Adam's face, and he wasn't fast enough to hide it, so Joan quickly added, "Hey, why don't you come with me, maybe we can catch a coffee or even a late lunch there if there's enough time to spare."

"I was gonna suggest I'd drive you anyway."

"You have a car?" When they had moved around in Chicago, they had been either on foot or in a taxi, so she had just assumed Adam didn't have his own car.

"Um, yeah. Any reason I shouldn't?"

"No. No. I didn't mean it like that. Classic case of misconception," Joan explained.

Adam looked at her a little quizzically, but didn't pursue the comment any further. "So..." He dragged the vowel out as he placed his hands on his thighs. "You all packed and ready to go? Shall we leave, then?"

"Yes, locked and loaded," Joan said.

This time Adam was quick enough to take the suitcase before Joan could, carrying it to the car for her after locking his apartment door behind them.

Adam's car was a dark gray Alfa Romeo, and Joan found it unusual that Adam would drive a car this sportive. She only ever remembered him driving his Dad's rickety truck. No, camper, she recalled Adam having insisted on calling the old thing. Truck, camper—whatever. This was different. Just additional proof that there were more things about Adam that had changed over the years.

The drive to the airport was quiet, maybe too quiet. Joan and Adam both silently pondered how they were going to say goodbye again at yet another airport, parting ways to live their own lives, returning to their respective every day routines. And both not sure what to do with it now.

At the airport, Joan checked in her baggage, which was quick and painless. They had half an hour to spare, so they searched for a café that wasn't one of those pass-through joints that was always busy with hectic passengers arriving and departing. They found a Starbucks in the off-peak area where they each got a hot drink and sat down in lounge chairs that had just been vacated, clearing the dirty mugs from the previous customers onto an empty table next to theirs.

Joan looked at the Starbucks logo on her white mug, saying, "Irony of fate, huh?"

"What do you mean?" Adam looked at her, confused.

"That we ended up at yet another Starbucks before one of us flies halfway across the country."

"As long as it doesn't mean that the next time we meet, we'll end up in the hospital again, that's a twist of fate I can live with." He took a sip from his latte. "Will you be going back to work tomorrow?"

Joan put her mug down on the table, licking a bit of foam off her upper lip. "Yeah, I guess."

"You should get that contusion checked out again, just in case. Maybe it'll get you another week off," Adam told her with a bit of a malicious smile.

"Since when did you develop such an evil mindset, Mr. Rove?" Joan joked. "How about you? Can't you skive off work with that cut for another few days?"

Adam took the question too seriously. "We have that deadline coming up on Tuesday. I think my boss would kill me."

A slightly uncomfortable silence ensued before Joan said. "Adam, can you promise me something?"

He looked her in the eyes. "Anything," he told her honestly.

"If you hear anything from Linda, will you call me?"

"Yes, sure. I'll call you the moment I hear from her." After a moment, he added, "You know what? I'll drop by the hospital again after work tomorrow, ask around. Maybe I'll find out more."

"Thanks," Joan simply said.

"Oh, you're going to see Grace, right?" Adam changed the subject.

"Yeah, sure. We're gonna meet on Wednesday. Why?"

"Give her my best and tell her she still owes me a visit to Chicago, will you?" After a short pause, he continued, "And tell her if she doesn't make good on it soon, that I will personally come over and drag her here, with a whip and baseball club if I have to."

Joan laughed. "Ooooo, I think she'll be really scared," she said ironically.

The subject of Grace had found them a new item to discuss, so they ended up chattering about Grace and Tom and, eventually, reminiscing about high school and old times, careful not to touch any of the awkward topics.

When it was time to go, they ventured to find a display panel that would announce which gate Joan was supposed to be at. Gate 21 was displayed next to Joan's flight number, so they followed the arrows that pointed them in the right direction.

Finally, they reached the area where only boarding card holders would be admitted, so the time for them to part had inevitably arrived. They stopped in front of the separation barrier, turning to face each other.

"So, this is goodbye again," Joan said.

"Yeah, looks like it," Adam said in a low voice.

"Promise me you'll call. No matter if you hear about Linda or not," Joan urged him with a scolding undertone.

"I'll call, I promise," Adam replied with conviction in his voice. "I don't know if I'll be over before Christmas, but if I am, I'll look you up. Have a safe flight, okay?"

"Yeah, I hope."

Adam moved closer to her to give her a goodbye hug and they embraced. Adam tried to suppress the urge to draw her as close to him as possible, what with the scent of her flowery shampoo wafting involuntarily up his nose, her hair brushing against his hands ever so slightly. He quickly released her after a few moments.

"Bye then," he told her.

"Bye," Joan replied.

Before she turned around to go, she suddenly did something completely unexpected. She cupped Adam's face with her hands and gently pressed her lips onto his. After the first initial split second of shock, Adam couldn't help but kiss her back, very carefully and softly but still deeply determined.

When Joan pulled back, there was a joyful glint in her eyes. She bit her lower lip, tasting the faintest hint of coffee there. "I just needed to see if you felt the same way," she told him half amused, half embarrassed. "Goodbye, Adam," she said with a slight wave as she turned around and walked past the barrier.

"Goodbye, Jane," a stunned Adam replied.

He stood there for a good five minutes after Joan had vanished from sight, only slowly processing what had just happened. It was like his brain was working in slow motion.

He suddenly heard Kate's words ringing in his ears, but his gut told him to not heed their warning. Maybe sometimes it was the right thing to do to let your gut rule over your mind. Maybe this was one of those times. And maybe it was time he thought about a way of how to align Joan's life with his own, starting with the geographical distance.

Maybe it was time to stop with the maybes.

Maybe.

--...----...----...--

THE END.

Author's Note:
What's up with you people? No one except for H.G. Glory and Jane and Adam has left a review for my two latest chapters. Is everyone just hanging on for me to post the ending (which I've just done)? Is everyone too busy to read fan fiction? Did you lose interest? Am I just too demanding? Whatever's the case, I hope some of you trusty reviewers will leave me a note or two.

So, yeah, I've done it again. I've separated them. No real happy ending for you this time either. Well, maybe you can call it an open happy ending. Just to let you know, I'm planning for this to become a trilogy, but I haven't actually started writing part 3 yet. What with me starting a new job in November, I doubt I'll have a lot of time for it either. So please be patient. It's not for the lack of ideas or storyline, it's just that I need to find the time and be in the right frame of mind for writing. And don't fret, I'm planning to bring back Linda and Kate in the next part (in case you were wondering).

H.J. Glory had some questions about the timeline. There may have been some confusion if you didn't read the whole story in one go. If it wasn't clear, Joan and Adam were supposed to meet for lunch on Saturday. They then got into the accident. Joan stayed at Adam's from Saturday to Sunday and went back home Sunday night, just as planned. That's why she didn't call anyone. Hope that unconfused everybody.

Oh, and Jane and Adam? Yes, I am painfully aware that both my stories "Sweet Crusader" and "Seeing Is Believing" are still unfinished and haven't been updated in a while. That's a) because I became obsessed with this future Joaniverse and b) because I still need to spin a few ideas in my head for these two stories because I'm not a 100 percent sure where they're going to go. I have some initial plans, but they need to be worked out and fine-tuned. Don't worry, I'm planning on finishing these stories some time. Just stay tuned and see above.

Thanks to H.J. Glory for pointing out that there are only few youth hostels in the US and none in Chicago. So I changed that little detail in part 6 now. Guess that once more proves that I should take a trip to the US some time, huh? I've been wanting to for a long time. And I believe I will in the not too distant future. And I just know that I want to see Chicago at least once.

And now: Please hit the Review button down below! :o)