It was all so random. One minute, Allison was getting moon-walking lessons from two of the regular patrons at Club Jupiter…and the next, Bender was swinging at someone who'd happened to sit down next to him. It was like the whole room erupted into chaos as the fight broke out. Allison didn't even have time to see who Bender was so pissed off at. All she could to was struggle to get past the waves of people surrounding the fight. Allison couldn't find a clear path to her date.

Meanwhile, Bender felt himself being heaved to his feet by two spectators so Andy could crawl out from underneath him just as the rage within himself surged to a climax. Just one more punch….just one more! He had no right to be here! As far as Bender was concerned, Andy could go to hell and no one would care. Why the hell was he back anyways? Psh! As if he didn't already know! Well, he wasn't going to get what he wanted. Not from him. Not from here.

"YOU LITTLE SHIT! GO BACK TO FAGGOT TOWN AND LEAVE US ALONE! WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE ANYMORE!!" Bender was screaming. Allison, from the back of the crowd, could only hear his words. Uh oh…she knew now EXACTLY who Bender was fighting with! Allison tried even harder to push her way through the edge of the crowd. Andy was home.

"Get them both OUTTA here!" yelled the manager from the stage, waving his hands around in a panic.

"Get your hands OFF me!" Andy hollered, trying to regain his dignity. Bender had just pounced on him like an animal! "What the hell's your problem?"

"You know DAMN well what's the problem!" Bender shouted back. He suddenly noticed that no one was restraining him, so he lunged after Andy again. Andy couldn't duck in time and got pinned again. Andy then kicked Bender hard enough in the thigh so he could escape. Allison peeked at the scene from behind to large men.

"JOHN! Andy!" Allison yelled. She suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and looked into a vaguely familiar face…a face that she'd seen once or twice before. It smiled at her and looked her up and down a few times before meeting her eyes again.

"Are you Allison Reynolds?"

Allison nodded.

Bender was so quick, he raced out of the Club and managed to meet Andy on the street corner. It had snowed since they'd been in the club, and the air was wet and cold and hardly tolerable. It was still snowing, yet the sidewalk was only lightly covered. Anyone who was running like Andy was would be lucky not to fall and break his neck before reaching a car or building. The air was quiet and calm, but the anger and furious energy that spilled onto the street by the two fighting boys was magnified by the barren side street, almost like an echo fed off the emptiness of a cave. It was eerie. No one was on the street. Andy slipped on a patch of black ice on the sidewalk, which gave Bender enough time to tackle him a third time.

"Argh! I just came back to see her!" Andy hollered. After a pause, he said with a softer tone, "I'm ready to take responsibility for what's mine now." Bender began kicking him repeatedly and didn't listen. Bender's energy built up with every kick he dealt. Andy was trying to fight back, but for once, failing miserably. Bender's passionate cause was overpowering Andy's.

"Yeah? Well I was ready five months ago!" Bender yelled back, hitting Andy just above the eyebrow. Andy's head smashed against the sidewalk. He remained immobile. Bender thought for a split second that he'd killed Andy. No, Andy was still breathing, he'd just gotten knocked out. After being still a moment, Andy came back, his head bleeding where he hit the pavement. Bender also bled from the nose a bit where Andy had managed to swing at him, but Andy by far had taken the worse hit. Bender still didn't seem satisfied. Funny how no one followed him out onto the street to watch the fight…

…oh yeah, this wasn't the high school. He'd forgotten.

"You don't deserve her! Running away from her like that! You're not getting her back!" Bender yelled. "Go to hell!"

"I didn't run away! My dad made me move!" Andy protested.

"LIAR! YOU A FUCKING LIAR!!"

"Actually, he's not."

Bender let up on Andy when he heard Allison's voice. Andy sat up straight. Allison, Bender's long trench coat wrapped tightly around her (Bender was so tall and she was so short that it almost looked like a full-length dress on her), had finally found her way out of the Club, and Adam Clark was right beside her, his hands shoved in his pockets, his feet rocking back and forth. Allison's look was completely neutral. Andy couldn't help but notice how good Allison looked, even in her six months or so of pregnancy. She'd filled out, her belly was round, and despite the current circumstance, she looked like she had that 'mother's glow' thing going on. She indeed looked healthy. She looked as good as she did before he left! It was like an angel was coming around to stop the fight. Andy sighed with relief. With his brother there, at least he'd be safe from further harm. Maybe Allison would take pity on him too.

"Al, what are you doing? Go back inside. You're gonna freeze to death," Bender muttered. Allison shook her head. "Who's he?"

"Andy's brother," said the man, introducing himself. "Get your hands off him," he warned quietly. Adam gave Bender a serious look. Bender didn't budge, but neither did Andy.

Andy hopped to his feet, pushing Bender off him strongly. Bender grunted and stepped back. "What do you mean, he's not a liar?"

Allison looked at Adam. "Adam told me all about his little bet with his father."

"I REALLY hope this isn't what I think it is…" Bender began, looking maliciously at Andy. Andy gulped. The jig was up.

Allison continued. She seemed almost eerily calm. "He was going to move away anyways, but after…that night…" Andy looked down at the pavement just then. So…she knew. "After that night, Andy's father decided he wanted Andy to get away from me faster and Andy fought back. So he made a bet that he wouldn't forget about me in a month, and if he did, he could come back to me," Allison informed. Bender, looking at Andy, was still royally furious, but he seemed subdued. The silence from the quartet spoke volumes. Andy looked up at Allison, who felt chills, but not the same chills she felt with Bender. Allison wrapped the trench coat tighter around her, as if to shield herself from more pain and confusion.

"I'm back now for you," Andy said, smiling weakly. "I've come home to you! We can get a place and raise the baby together, maybe even get married! I've gotten away from my father, and I could get a—"

Although nobody interrupted him, Andy suddenly paused, looking at Allison's face. She didn't look as ecstatic as he'd hoped she would. She looked almost sad. Bender looked back and forth between them. Allison stared blankly at Andy for a moment, who didn't bother to continue with what he was saying.

Allison suddenly began slowly walking towards Andy. Andy gulped again. She wouldn't hit him, would she? Bender stepped forward and put a hand between her and Andy.

"Al, you don't have to—"

Allison shook her head and benignly moved Bender's hand aside. Bender easily stepped aside for her. She finally stood close enough to Andy to reach out her hand and touch his shoulder. Andy didn't stir as she gently grabbed his coat collar and pulled it down over his shoulder. Everyone leaned in to look at Andy's neck. A big red blotch, clear as day, was conspicuously positioned at the base of his neck. Adam bit his lip, and Bender smirked, nodded, as if he meant to tell Allison "good move."

Andy was speechless. Allison sighed, but not woefully. It was more like a sigh of shame.

"You don't want to be here, do you?" Allison asked.

"I do! Allison, I do!"

"Your neck says differently," Allison said back. "Andy, we don't have it anymore. And we can't get it back. I'm sorry," Allison said.

Andy didn't try to protest. "Why are you apologizing."

"I was such a fool. I should never have come on to you that night. None of this would have happened."

Andy shook his head, holding back tears. "No—"

"—yes. I regret what I did…what WE did. I knew somehow I would, but I couldn't stop myself. But, you left me. Why now, of all times, did you decide to come back?"

"Because I—"

Adam raised his eyebrow at Andy. Allison nodded. "It's because you got my message. Andy, I need you to be truthful. If I wasn't pregnant, would you have come home for me?"

Andy knew the answer. He'd forgotten Allison 99 until that message came up with the news.

Allison could read the answer in his eyes. "I don't need you, and you don't need me. I'm fine, and that's all she wrote." Allison seemed almost at peace as she spoke.

"It's my baby!" Andy said back, rather loudly.

"Andy, you and I both know that this is your baby. But all these things I'm saying to you now…when I just said that I didn't need you…I didn't feel bad saying that. What does that really mean, Andy?" Allison pointed out. Andy pulled his coat back up over his hickey. He looked at Adam, who was emotionless. Then he looked at Bender, who's nose was pointed at the ground, but he looked murderously up at Andy through his disheveled bangs. Bender was breathing pretty heavily himself. But Allison's intense eyes and they're message was what Andy hated to look at the most. They hurt him.

Andy let out a small moan under his breath. The moan came out of his mouth and turned to vapor. The vapor, unlike the one coming from Allison's nose, sunk to the ground instead of floating up towards the sky. The world was silently waiting for a reply from him. But Andy knew that no matter what he said, he'd be left in the dust. He knew what he'd done. He'd left his true love standing in the dust too. Andy just wished he could go back in time. To before he left. To before he knocked her up. To last summer, when everything was perfect and all five of them were best friends and roaming the town as if they ruled it.

Allison, on the other hand, was filled with confusion. She was finally happy, and now Andy chooses to come back. Why? Why was it that before, Andy was her happiness? She found a new happiness worth twice the last one, and then Andy comes back for more? This wasn't right.

"Please, Allison, give me a second chance."

"Why? I didn't get one," Allison said, placing her hand on her stomach. Andy felt like he'd just been punched in his. Another moment of silence ensued. Bender lifted his head and looked at the pair with a concerned look. The fire still burned in his eyes out of fury. Their one night for just themselves, ruined. Typically, it was the Royal Buttface who ruined it. Andy gave Allison a look of pleading. Allison averted her eyes from him and turned to Bender.

"I'm cold," she said.

Bender nodded and looked at Adam. He nodded and took Allison's hand in his. They brushed past Andy and began walking down the street (the apartment was only a few blocks away). Andy noticed that neither of them looked back as they left Club Jupiter. Their legs even walked in unison. Adam took one look at Andy and shook his head, starting to walk down the sidewalk the other way, leaving Andy completely on his own.