One Month Later

Sam had told her to arrive around five o'clock, so naturally Emily arrived at four-thirty. Sam's house was cute and quaint, just as she would have imagined it. A cheery yellow house set far back from the road and a front yard bursting with wildflowers. In the driveway a red Chevy Volt sat beside some kind of cheap blue sedan Em didn't bother to look twice at. Behind them was a black Dodge Ram with a faded 49ers sticker on the rear windshield. Emily swung in and parked in its shade. God, I'm not even inside yet and I already know this is gonna be unbearable.

She had thought about dressing casually, but didn't want to be shown up, especially with two ex-boyfriends there. So she wore a cute, short red dress with her treasured diamond necklace and her favorite pair of genuine louboutins. Might as well make 'em regret what they're missing out on. Which, in her own honest opinion, wasn't much. But she wouldn't let them know that.

After a minute of fussing with her hair and makeup in the car mirror, Emily finally stepped out and sauntered up the walkway. Despite the confident walk she'd mastered long ago, her hands shook slightly. As soon as she rang the doorbell she quickly assumed what she hoped was an apathetic demeanor.

The door swung open. Emily gasped and stumbled backward, almost falling off the front steps. "H-Hannah?"

It took her several long seconds to realize the tall, tan-skinned, bespectacled brunette before her was not, in fact, her dead childhood friend. The woman raised an eyebrow in concern. "Are you all right, Miss?"

Emily took a few breaths, one hand over her heart. "Sorry, you just – I thought were you were – wow." She took a second to collect her thoughts. "Who are you? I thought this was Sam's house."

The woman smiled. "You're one of our guests tonight, right? Sam said she was inviting some old friends over."

"Yes, I am. And again, who are you?"

Still smiling, the woman replied, "I'm Sam's wife. Sarah."

Emily balked. Sarah extended a hand out to her. Emily glanced down at it, then hesitantly shook hands with her.

"So are you Emily?" Sarah asked as she let Em in and closed the door behind her.

"Yes. I'm Emily."

The house's interior complimented the exterior. The walls inside were a pale lavender, full of framed photographs of flowers, animals, and natural landmarks. The house wasn't perfectly neat, but it had a homey feel to it. It was quite unlike Emily's cold and sterile household.

A jangling noise drew her attention. The sound of claws on hardwood immediately clued Emily in to its source. A chubby little grey pug trotted through a nearby doorway and over to Sarah, its tongue lolling out of its mouth.

"Heya, handsome." Sarah knelt to its level and scratched under its wrinkly chin. The dog, however, took greater interest in Emily. It sniffed her cautiously. After determining she was not a threat, the dog allowed her to pet it with a happy bark.

"Who's here?" Sam's voice echoed from another room.

"Your friend Emily," Sarah called back.

A moment later Sam appeared in the living room doorway. "Hey, Em! Glad you came. If you wanna wash up or anything, bathroom's right down there." She pointed out into the hallway. "Or you can come join us. We're just catching up right now."

"Wait, who's already here?" She'd figured by arriving half an hour early she'd be the first one there. The three vehicles in the driveway had been a warning sign, but she'd hoped they all belonged to Sam or something.

"Matt. He planned for more traffic than there ended up being."

Emily hesitated. "Oh. Great."

She and Matt's relationship had dissolved shortly after The Incident. It wasn't resentful – she'd been pissed at him for not making every effort to save her, but in fairness she had been cheating on him. If she were in his shoes she would've left her ass hanging, too. And he had been good to her right up until that moment. As far as teen breakups went, theirs had been relatively amicable. But still…

"I'll wash up first." She handed Sam her weighty purse.

"Okay. I'll leave this on the couch, if that's all right."

Emily brushed past Sam's wife and found her way to the bathroom. Again, it was just as she would have imagined it. Creamy white walls with pastel blue highlights. A white shower curtain with butterflies on it. Blue-and-white hand towels with 'S' monogrammed on them. This place is way too cute. It's making me sick.

After washing her hands and taking one last peek in the mirror to ensure she looked okay, she wandered reluctantly into the kitchen. Immediately she took in the sight and smell of Sam cooking. She was chatting away to…Oh my God.

Matt glanced over at her. Holy crap. He'd always been cute, but the last ten years had apparently been nothing but good to him – he was more handsome than ever. He was also pretty freaking ripped. Not grossly so, but his exposed arms were huge and beefy.

"Hey, Emily," he said, greeting her with a shy smile. "Damn, it's been a while. You look good."

Emily stumbled for a response.

"Sit down!" Sam waved a spoon toward the table. Em's place was apparently set right beside Matt's. She sat with all the grace she could muster, smoothing her dress as she sat up straight as she could.

"Hello, Matt," she said, avoiding looking at him. "You, um, look good too."

"Thanks. So what've you been up to?"

Emily crossed her legs under the table. Shaking one foot idly, she shrugged and replied, "Kind of a lot. I'm chief editor for L.A. Fashion magazine."

"Oh yeah?" He rested an elbow on the table. She could tell without turning in his direction that he was staring at her. "That's cool."

It was obvious he was waiting for her to ask about him. "So…what about you?"

His smile grew. "I got drafted by the 49ers a couple years ago. I'm their backup linebacker now. I, uh, don't get to play all that much – I actually just got on the roster after a few years of practice squad. But when I do, man, it's awesome."

He hadn't changed a bit. "So Sam tells me you're married." She glanced over to Sam, who seemed to be trying to minimize her presence in their conversation as much as possible. Sam didn't look over.

His smile faded. He seemed to search for a response for quite a while. "…Yeah," he finally replied.

"You sound overjoyed about it."

"Oh, no, I'm – I mean…" He flinched under Emily's scrutinizing gaze. "It's just…not always everything I was expecting."

"That's why I'm not married." Emily folded her arms. "Too much bullshit to put up with."

Matt laughed. "Wish you'd been around to give me relationship advice then."

"Oh yeah, you definitely want relationship advice from me. The one who's been single for ten years."

"Ten years?" Matt paused. "Wait. Was I the last guy you dated?"

Emily shrugged. After everything that had happened back then, intimacy had been far from her mind. Hell, she barely even had platonic relationships with anyone.

"Wow." Matt nodded to himself. "That's…somethin'."

They fell into another awkward silence. "So Sam," Emily tried.

Sam turned around. "Hm?"

Dropping her voice, Em asked, "What's with Hannah 2.0?"

Sam noticeably tensed. "Hannah? What about Hannah?"

"The…lady you're apparently married to. There's no way you've never noticed she looks exactly like Hannah."

"You think she does?" Sam turned away a little. "I never noticed."

"I kinda thought it was Hannah for a second, when she answered the door," Matt admitted.

"Me too!" Emily straightened triumphantly. "See Sam, it's not just me. You married Hannah 2.0."

Sam turned fully back toward the pot on the stove. "Well, whatever you think, I'd appreciate if you didn't mention anything about it to Sarah."

"Me? Start trouble?" Emily laid a hand over her chest. "Oh Sam, I would never."

"Please." Sam turned back around, leveling Emily with a glare she'd never seen from Sam before. "It's already a touchy subject for us. Please don't make it worse."

"…So you do know she looks like Hannah." Emily smiled a smug little smile.

"Yes, of course I know. But that's not why I'm attracted to Sarah. Maybe…maybe it started out that way, but I love her as her own person now."

"Sam, it's cool. Don't worry about it." Matt, ever the do-gooder, of course stepped in, making Emily look bad.

"I was just kidding," Em muttered.

The doorbell rang. They heard Sarah greet someone. Two voices responded, male and female.

"That's gotta be Chris and Ashley," Sam said. Her jovial disposition returned.

Emily rolled her eyes. She'd been hoping they wouldn't be able to find a babysitter.

Sarah appeared in the kitchen doorway. Behind her was Chris. He looked almost exactly the same as the last time Emily had seen him. The only difference was that he appeared to have packed on a few more pounds. He still wore those big dorky glasses, and his hair was still that same scruffy style he'd decided to go with as a teenager.

"Sam!" He reached out to her. They hugged like old pals. Then he turned to Emily and Matt. "Hey guys." He gave them a small, shy wave. Matt greeted him with the same warm smile he'd shown Emily. Emily nodded at him.

"Where's Ash?" Sam asked.

"Oh, she's playing with your dog." He leaned back out into the living room. "Hon, come on. They wanna see ya."

A moment later Ashley appeared at Chris' side. Emily blinked. Her formerly long, flowing red hair was cut into one of those chin-length Mom hairstyles. She didn't look like she was wearing any makeup at all. And damn, she'd put on more weight than Chris.

Much as Emily didn't want to admit it though, she was still cute as a button. Not really pretty, but cute. Damn short girls always had that cuteness factor going for them.

She'd promised herself before leaving for Sam's that she would be the bigger person and act more noble and graceful than her petty former friends. She'd already irritated Sam. This would be a good opportunity to both redeem herself in Sam's eyes and challenge herself to uphold her earlier vow.

"Hey Ashley," she said, drawing the other woman's attention as she and Chris were taking their seats at the table. "How the hell do you still look so cute? It's been ten years, for crying out loud."

Ashley hesitated. She glanced to Chris. He shrugged. "Um…thanks?" she eventually said. "I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not."

Emily frowned. "Just take the compliment. I can be nice sometimes, you know."

"…Okay." Ashley smiled a little. "Thanks. You look good too, Emily."

Sam cast a subtle, approving smile in Emily's direction. Good. Now if anyone starts shit with me they'll look like the asshole.

"Can I just say I think it's so adorable that you two are married?" Sam said as she fished some ingredients out of an overhead cabinet. "It used to drive us all crazy when you two wouldn't just get together already. Josh and I used to bet on when you were finally going to ask each other out."

That drew Chris' attention. "Really? You did?"

"Yeah." Her voice took on a wistful note. "He wanted you two to get together so much. Even though…"

There was a pause that resonated in the room.

"Even though…?" Chris prompted.

Everybody fixed on her, enticed by her reluctance.

Sam kept her back to them. "He was in love with you."

Ashley and Chris exchanged a look.

"With…me?" Ashley asked. Chris fidgeted in his seat.

"With Chris."

Everyone went quiet. Emily stole a glance around at everyone. Matt's eyebrows were raised. Ashley's face was contorted into an expression of confusion and slight dismay. Chris was looking down at his hands on the table.

"I…kinda figured that," Chris murmured.

"He was in love with you?" Ashley turned to him.

"I guess? I mean, I just always had suspicions." He shrugged, his eyes still cast downward.

"So yeah," Sam finished, "He tried so hard to get you and Ashley together, because he knew you loved her. And I guess he succeeded."

Chris and Ashley exchanged a look. Chris reached over and laid a hand on top of Ashley's.

Ashley squeezed his hand. "We named our oldest Joshua."

"That's gonna make for a hell of a story someday." Emily couldn't help voicing the thought that crossed her mind. "And Joshy, you're named after Daddy's gay best friend who pretended he was gonna kill Mommy and Daddy so they could bond over the trauma."

Everyone glared at her.

She shrugged. "What?"

Sarah poked her head in the doorway. "Hey sweets, are you expecting anyone else? I'd rather not be hanging around as designated greeter if no one else is coming."

"We're still waiting on Mike."

Sarah pulled a slight face. Nobody seemed to notice it except Emily. "We said five o'clock. It's five-ten. Everyone else is here. Maybe Mr. Politician doesn't have time for us little people."

Emily quirked a brow.

"Not to be rude or anything, but I'm kinda starving," Matt piped up. "Maybe we can start without Mike."

Emily nodded. "I agree."

"Guys…" Sam seemed to be trying to think of something to say in Mike's defense. "…Okay, what do you two think?" She looked to Chris and Ashley instead.

"Well, we only have the sitter 'til nine." Ashley frowned. "I mean, that's probably plenty of time, but we are on a time limit."

"All right. Let's start now, then. If Mike shows up he can dig right in."

Sam moved around the table, dishing out the meal she'd made. Some kind of homecooked-looking pasta mixed with leafy vegetables and some…meatballs?

"Beetballs," Sam explained with a smile, apparently noticing Emily's confused look. "They're delicious, I promise."

As soon as she had filled everyone's plate, Sam took a seat across from Ashley and Chris. Sarah slipped in beside her. Emily suddenly became hyperaware that she was surrounded by married people. And then there she was – hadn't even had a date in years. Sitting next to her ex-boyfriend, who had become somehow even cuter than he'd been when they dated.

The doorbell rang.

"That must be him." Sam got up. Sarah offered to get the door, but Sam told her it was all right. She disappeared into the living room.

"I was really hoping he wouldn't show up," Emily grumbled, resting her chin on her palm.

The front door creaked open. That smooth, cocky voice of his filled the house. "Hey! Sorry I'm late. Hope I didn't miss anything."

"We were just about to start." Sam's softer voice was a little harder to hear, but still audible. "Everyone else is already here."

Emily felt a gentle nudge against her right side. "Don't let him bother you," Matt whispered.

Emily hesitated, unsure what to say in response.

"Hello everyone." Mike entered the room with all the grandiosity one would expect from a politician. The idiot was dressed in a suit, with a red silk tie that matched Emily's dress.

He smiled at everyone, but his smile grew cautious when it settled briefly on Emily. "Hey Em," he said, very obviously trying to appear as cool and casual as he used to.

"Hello, Michael." Emily purposely avoided any affectionate shortenings of his name.

"Glad you could join us." Sarah passed him a dish.

"I'm glad, too. I had to squeeze you guys in tonight, but I wasn't gonna miss it."

Emily noticed Sarah staring at Mike's left hand. She'd almost forgotten about his two missing fingers. At least her scars from The Incident weren't quite so visible.

Sam sat back down beside Sarah. The only empty place for Mike was between Chris and Ashley and Sam and Sarah. He was directly across from Emily and Matt. Em wondered if he was feeling the same awkwardness she felt at being surrounded by married old friends.

"So, any interesting news I missed?" Mike asked, glancing around the table. "I know I didn't get to catch up like the rest of you guys–"

"We're trying to eat." Emily picked up a forkful of her dinner to prove a point.

"Right. Sorry." Mike cleared his throat awkwardly. "Maybe later."

"You're right Sam, these are good." Matt brought his empty fork back down to his plate and sought another beetball. "Or maybe you're just a good cook."

"Aww, thank you." Sam beamed. "I'm glad you guys are okay with me pushing my evil vegan agenda on you."

As much as Emily enjoyed being a contrarian, she couldn't disagree with Matt there. The food was delicious. She just wished she could swallow it properly knowing Mike was right at the same table. Regardless of how delicious the meal was, her agitated nerves made it feel like she was swallowing lead.

"So after dinner are we all gonna stick around for a while and hang out?" Mike tried again. "I can't be here too long, but–"

"We're eating." This time Sarah cut him off.

Emily concealed a smirk behind the back of her hand. This Sarah may have looked exactly like Hannah, but when it came to her reception of Mike she could not be any more different. Emily found herself taking a liking to her solely on that merit.

"But Matt just–"

"Anyone can stay as long as they want," Sam finally answered him. "I don't think anyone's just gonna eat and leave."

Emily sure wanted to. But her desire to make herself look good, to brag about her stupid, superficial accomplishments, won out. If she left right after dinner they'd all just think she was a loser with nothing to share. And probably a moocher, too. Dining and dashing.

It was a long, awkward, and quiet dinner after that.