"Go, go, go!" Drew, Lewis, and Oswald were all leaning forward, their eyes fixed on the television as they watched the football soaring across the screen. "Yes!" all three of them screamed and leapt up, cheering.

After a moment they settled back down in their respective seats and returned to their beers. "Man, Kate's really missing out on a good game," Drew said, glancing at the empty space on the couch between himself and Oswald.

"No kidding," Lewis said, leaning back into 'his' armchair. No one could say particularly when it had become 'his' chair, but the common theory was that it was the only place he could sit comfortably because of his long legs. Regardless of why, it simply was his place and very rarely did anyone else get to sit there. "Where is she anyway? Not still sick?"

"No, she said she was starting to feel better," Drew answered, his brow furrowing. "She said she would be here."

"Maybe Eugene finally convinced her to go to a doctor," Oswald put in hopefully.

"You've got Eugene helping you convince her now, too?" Lewis asked in amazement. Both of them nodded, seemingly too distracted to come up with a response that included words. Ignoring this, Lewis simply returned to his beer and his eyes flicked to the television screen. "You know, we may actually win this game," he said.

This statement brought Drew and Oswald out of their thoughts and back to the game. "Yeah, let's hope," Oswald said.

"At least then we won't finish the season without a single win," Lewis said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, this has not been a good year for Cleveland," Drew agreed sadly. The other two hummed in agreement and then settled back to watch the rest of the game.

It was nearly halftime when the front door suddenly opened, making all three men look up in confusion, and Kate came in with Eugene close behind her. Kate was rather pale and looked as if she hadn't slept decently in some time, while Eugene was practically trembling with nerves.

"Kate, you made it," Oswald exclaimed excitedly, standing up with his enthusiasm. "And you brought Eugene, too. Hi, Eugene." Eugene gave Oswald a hesitant smile and a small wave. "C'mon, come sit down. Its halftime and the Browns are actually winning."

"Sounds great," Kate said in a falsely cheery voice. "But first I need to talk to Lewis about something."

Lewis looked up at her in shock, his eyes widening slightly. She wanted to talk to him specifically, that could only mean it was something to do with that night. Still, he forced himself to remain calm.

"Look, if this is about that chick who keeps calling your house asking for me, I was going to tell you about that," he said, putting on an innocent face.

"No, this is not about that," Kate said, her expression turning angry and she pointed to the kitchen. Lewis obediently stood up and walked into the kitchen. Kate followed saying, "But while we're on the topic, what chick that keeps calling my house?"

"Oh, so she hasn't called?" Lewis asked hopefully. "That's good." Once they were both in the kitchen he leaned up against the counter and faced her. "So what is this about?" he asked, lowering his voice.

Kate glanced over her shoulder into the living room. Eugene had settled down between Drew and Oswald and they were all pretending to watch the game but she knew that they were actually listening to see if they could catch any of the conversation. It was a rare occasion when Kate wanted to talk to Lewis alone and it usually ended in shouting so they were listening eagerly. "Outside where the little eavesdroppers won't make it their business," she said and ushered him towards the back door.

Lewis perched himself on the edge of the pool table and watched Kate curiously. Her actions were jerky and there was an anxiousness around her that said all too clearly there was something important on her mind. Lewis knew that it had to be about that night, but he had no idea what she was about to say. Kate began pacing on the back step, wringing her hands together nervously. "So are you going to tell me what this is about or not?" Lewis asked, fingering the beer he had brought with him.

"Lewis, could you just shut up and be serious for a moment?" Kate snapped, stopping abruptly and turning to face him.

"Alright, sorry," Lewis said, watching her apprehensively. Whatever it was really had her agitated. He lifted his beer and took a drink to steady himself but Kate decided to speak while he was in mid-drink.

"I'm pregnant," Kate said. Lewis promptly spat out his beer and Kate stepped back to avoid the spray. When Lewis lifted a hand to wipe his mouth Kate approached him again.

"You're pregnant?" Lewis asked breathlessly. Kate nodded, gazing up at him in an almost timid way. "I – I don't know what to say," Lewis admitted. "Why did you want to tell me alone though? And first? I'm assuming the others don't know."

"No, they don't," Kate agreed, giving Lewis an odd look. "Well, Eugene does but that's because he's the one who drove me to the doctor's. But I thought it was obvious why I was telling you."

"Well honestly, it's not," Lewis replied, raising en eyebrow as he looked at her.

"Lewis," Kate said, half-exasperated and half-terrified, "You're the father."

Lewis stared at her in shock for several long moments, trying to comprehend what she'd just said. Finally Kate slapped his arm and that jerked him back. "That's not possible," Lewis said with a tone of finality.

"It's the truth though, Lewis," Kate said, almost pleading. "It has to be. You're the last person I've slept with, the time-frame is right. And I guess if we were that drunk then we might not have remembered protection."

Lewis almost laughed as he felt a sense of relief course into him. "No, Kate, I really can't be the father," he repeated. "We never slept together."

There were a lot of responses that Lewis had been ready for, but anger had not been the one he'd expected. Kate scowled at him and suddenly slapped him across the face. "Lewis, don't lie to me just to save your own ass," she said, rage tinting her words. "I'm not an idiot. I can put the clues together."

Lewis lifted a hand to protect himself, wincing since she had hit the left side of his face where the bruise had finally started to fade. "No, Kate, I mean it," he said, keeping his hand up just in case she attacked him again. "We didn't. We were going to, but we didn't. Apparently you're too drunk to remember."

Kate still looked angry but there was a hint of doubt in her eyes. "I woke up naked in your bed," she said bluntly. "You've always wanted to sleep with me, I know it. We were drunk, both of us were depressed from relationships ending, and then the next morning I wake up naked in your bed, and you're trying to tell me that we didn't sleep together."

"Exactly," Lewis said and ducked aside as Kate's hand came toward him again. He jumped sideways off of the pool table and backed away from her slightly. "Let me explain before you decapitate me, would you?"

"Then you better explain fast, and it better be good," Kate said, staring at him angrily.

"We were going to," Lewis said hastily, knowing that look in her eyes. "We had gone upstairs to my apartment and when we were in my room we started undressing. You were really, really drunk and I guess you were trying to be sexy and started doing a little dance while you were undressing. Which was kind of sexy, by the way." Kate started towards him and Lewis backed around to the other side of the pool table. "Alright, sorry, forget I said that. Anyway, in the middle of your dance you just passed out. I knew that it was the alcohol, so I put you in the bed. I wasn't about to sleep with you while you were unconscious. Necrophilia isn't my thing. Then I redressed and I slept out in the living room all night."

Kate paused in her steps, glaring across the table at Lewis. She couldn't believe what he was telling her but then again she had no proof otherwise. As she looked at him there seemed to be a rare sincerity in his eyes. "You're telling the truth?" she asked.

Lewis nodded slowly. "I am," he said. "I wish I could say I'd slept with you, but I didn't."

Kate met his gaze and could tell that he wasn't lying. She gave a heavy sigh and sagged against the edge of the pool table, letting her head drop into her hands. Lewis came around the table carefully and lightly placed a hand on her shoulder, not exactly certain of what to do. Kate looked up at him and Lewis was surprised to see that her eyes were red. "You know what this means, don't you?" she asked in a defeated voice.

"That I'll never actually get to sleep with you?" Lewis suggested, at a loss for her real meaning.

Kate gave a watery laugh. "That, too," she said and Lewis emitted one quiet laugh. "But about the baby. It means that it must be Robert's baby." Lewis froze, thinking over what this meant.

"What are you going to do?" Lewis asked. "Are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know," Kate said and her voice was so pitiful that Lewis wanted nothing more than to hug her and comfort her, but his natural instinct warned him against it. He compensated by rubbing her back with the hand that had been on her shoulder. "I don't know what to do. I'm not ready to be a mom, Lewis. And I don't know if Robert will want the baby either and even if he does I don't know if I could trust him to take care of a child. Let's rephrase that, I wouldn't trust him to take care of a child."

"You can always give it up for adoption," Lewis suggested but from the look on Kate's face he had a feeling she wouldn't go for that idea either.

"I don't know," Kate said again, her voice thick with uneasiness. "I suppose I could, I just don't know if I could live with the idea that I just gave my child away."

"Lots of kids turn out fine when they are put up for adoption," Lewis said, trying to keep her calm. "They end up in nice families and have good lives." Kate nodded but she still looked hesitant.

"What if there's something wrong with the baby?" she said suddenly and she looked up at Lewis with horror in her eyes. "I drank a lot of beer that night, and if it's Robert's baby than I was already pregnant at the time. And I've had something to drink nearly every day since." Lewis met her gaze and truly was at a loss for words.

"I don't know what to tell you, Kate," he said honestly, his eyes flicking around the backyard thoughtfully. "I guess you could always have an abortion."

Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, Kate was shaking her head. "No, I know I couldn't do that," she said firmly.

"Then I don't know what else to say," Lewis said with a sigh. He turned around and sat down on the pool table and soon after Kate slipped up next to him. Both of them stared at the side of Drew's garage in silence for a while. "I'm really not the kind of person who can give you advice on this sort of thing," Lewis added with a short laugh.

"I know," she replied quietly.

"You going to tell Drew and Oswald?" Kate looked at him with an expression of mixed fear and reluctance. "You know you're going to have to tell them sometime. You aren't going to be able to hide it for long so they're going to find out. They'd rather hear it from you then find out when you start to look like a watermelon." Lewis flinched back as Kate slapped his arm.

"Thank you," she said indignantly.

"Well, it's true," Lewis pointed out. "So are you going to tell them or wait until all hell breaks loose and try and cover your ass then?"

"You are so helpful," Kate said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Now I remember why I never come to you for advice. You're an ass." Lewis simply smiled in response. Kate sighed and glanced through the kitchen window to where she could vaguely see the three other men sitting on the living room couch. "I suppose I'll have to tell them. But how do I tell them something like this?"

"I don't know, I've never told someone that I was pregnant," Lewis said matter-of-factly. He was rewarded for his comment by another slap to the arm. "Well why do you keep asking me these questions that you know I have no good answer to?"

"Because I keep hoping that this supposed genius IQ that you have will actually kick in and serve some good," Kate replied.

Lewis gave her his characteristic goofy grin. "I'm flattered, but pregnancy is not my area of expertise, believe it or not." Kate glanced up at him and couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

They sat in silence again, but this time it seemed companionable and was lacking in the usual tension. Lewis' brow furrowed as this abnormality struck him and he looked down at Kate with confusion on his face. "This is weird, but we're actually having a casual, friendly moment," he said in an almost awe-struck voice.

Kate met his gaze with an equal amount of surprise. It was true, there was no denying it. For the first time in years they were actually getting along like close friends and there was no awkwardness between them. "You're right," she said in response, practically breathless with the realization. "It is weird."

"I like it though," Lewis admitted. When what he'd said sank in, he hastily tore his gaze away from Kate and looked over at the garage again, not wanting her to see the embarrassment that was beginning to take over his features. "Hey Kate, when you thought that we actually had slept together, what did you think of it? Like were you upset about it or were you okay with the idea?"

"I'm not really sure," she said slowly, thinking over her answer as she tried to phrase it right. "I think part of me was upset while part of me didn't mind so much. Mostly I just would have been more comfortable if I had remembered some of what had happened." Lewis nodded, lost in thought. "What did we talk about that night? I remember talking to you, but I can't remember much of what we talked about. We talked about how you broke up with your girlfriend, didn't we?"

"Yeah," Lewis said, grimacing slightly. He leaned back to retrieve the beer that he had left sitting on the other side of the pool table and took a drink before continuing. "We talked about Sandra, and about Robert, but mostly about how we are both people who will never find our one right person. How we are just used to fill time for other people while they are searching, but we can't seem to find that special person ourselves."

"I told you that?" Kate asked in surprise. Lewis nodded, glancing at her as he was a little confused by her reaction. "It's just, I've never told anyone that before. I've always thought that maybe there wasn't someone for me, but I never told anyone that because I knew that they would just try to tell me otherwise."

"Well you were drunk," Lewis said with a shrug. "Really drunk. That usually makes people talk a lot more than they mean, too." Kate nodded as a quiet thoughtfulness slipped between them. "Or maybe it was just that you didn't feel uncomfortable telling me because you knew that I wouldn't argue with you about it. You found someone cynical enough to not try and convince you that you were wrong." Kate looked up at Lewis, a strange look of contemplation in her eyes. "What?" Lewis asked, feeling a little awkward under her surveillance.

Kate laughed slightly at his reaction. "Nothing, I think I just saw that high IQ finally come out," she said with a sly smile. Lewis grinned and nudged her arm with his elbow, making her laugh again. "But really, that was a good answer. I think you were probably right. Of course I was so drunk I couldn't begin to tell you what I was thinking that night. I mean I agreed to have sex with you, I was clearly out of my mind."

"Actually the sex was your idea," Lewis put in and Kate choked on her breath as she looked back up at him hastily. Lewis laughed at her response and then nodded. "It was, honestly. I was too distracted to even bother suggesting it, but you suggested and I figured why not give it a shot while you were actually willing. I still never got to, but I suppose it's a step in the right direction."

"It was my idea?" Kate asked faintly. Lewis nodded, his mouth full of beer once again. "God, remind me to never drink that much again."

"Why are you so against sleeping with me?" Lewis asked suddenly, startling Kate. "I asked you this that night, but I want a sober answer. You slept with Drew, you slept with Oswald, what is it about me that makes me so different?"

There was a long moment of silence as Kate thought this over. Lewis could tell by the way her nose was wrinkled that she was thinking very hard on it, too. "You were always too willing," she answered finally. "You always seemed to offer to have sex, but it was never anything more than that with you. I had relationships with Drew and Oswald while I was sleeping with them, it just seemed like all you wanted was a fling. I just wasn't interested in that."

Lewis nodded thoughtfully, sipping at his beer in silence. Kate stared at him expectantly but he made no motion to reply. "Is that it? You aren't going to say anything?" she asked in exasperation.

"Nope," Lewis responded, frowning as he realized that his beer was empty. "I wasn't asked any questions to answer. And before we get into playing interrogator, we should probably get back in before Eugene gets too interested in that football game and becomes masculine. Then you'll have lost your girlfriend." Kate opened her mouth but Lewis spoke over her. "Besides, I think you have two friends who need to know a little announcement."

Kate sighed and dropped her head in defeat. "I know," she said and she slid down off the table.

Lewis stood up as well and began shaking his legs, desperately trying to warm them. "I'm glad you agree, because I am freezing," he said, his usual demeanor instantly returning. "Winter may be dying away but it is still way too cold to be sitting out here for long." Kate chuckled but didn't say anything as she walked back into Drew's house with Lewis tailing her. Lewis stopped at the refrigerator long enough to grab himself another beer and by the time he had gotten into the living room Kate had already gotten the men's attention.

Drew and Oswald were looking up at Kate with mixtures of worry and interest, but Eugene seemed unphased except for the fact that he was wringing his hands in his lap. Eugene kept shooting short glances at Lewis, but Lewis kept his face completely impassive as he dropped into his armchair and sipped his beer.

"What is it, Kate?" Drew asked anxiously, rising to his feet with the coursing nerves. Lewis caught Eugene leaning back slightly and glancing at Drew's ass but tried hard to refrain his laughter because of the seriousness of the moment.

"I – I'm pregnant," Kate said, her voice far more timid than when she had boldly proclaimed it to Lewis. She couldn't seem to meet her friends' eyes and she stared down at the carpet. There was a stunned silence in the room and then Drew and Oswald began questioning at the same time, walking around the coffee table to stand on either side of her.

"What?" "How?" "Who?" "When?"

"Stop it, would you?" Kate exclaimed, clearly overwhelmed by the tirade of questions. "I'm about two months, but I don't know how it happened." The two bewildered men exchanged glances and then Drew voiced the question Kate had been bracing herself for.

"Who's the father?" he asked in a tremulous voice.

Kate shuffled hesitantly and Lewis felt both her gaze and Eugene's flicker to him briefly before darting away. Kate took a deep breath but once again her answer caught Lewis off guard. "I don't actually know," she said, still not able to look at either Drew or Oswald. As the two men began to murmur in conversation, Kate glanced at Lewis again. Even if Lewis had thought about saying anything, which he hadn't planned on anyway, the desperate and pleading look in Kate's large brown eyes would have silenced him without battle.