When she first moved out, Laurie stayed with Dan, and he was afraid that things might be weird, considering they had only just gotten together, but it wasn't. Living together was an easy transition, just as easy of a transition as dating had been. It was their friendship, but better; it was everything they had already had, but then it was more than that.

Jon didn't seem to care one way or the other when she left him- he didn't seem upset with her and did not try to stop her from leaving, but he also didn't act relieved to see her go. Dan wasn't sure if he was happy that there was no dramatic fight resulting from this or angry that Jon did not miss Laurie more. Either way, he supposed he had to be happy, considering they were together now. Already she seemed so much happier than she had been before, and knowing that he had a hand in that happiness was such an amazing feeling.

They slept together every night, and every morning he would look through the papers with her to help her find a good job. He knew that once she was settled in with work, she would likely want to move out and he wasn't sure how he felt about that, but still he helped her. He called Walter to tell him the news, and he thought that his friend sounded at least a little bit happy for him, though it was hard to tell.

"Are you still coming on Thursday?" he asked.

"Of course we are," replied Dan. "Wouldn't miss it."

"And Laurie won't mind? Wouldn't want to make things uncomfortable."

"You've been going to the club longer than she has," Dan said, confused. "I know how much you love going, I wouldn't ask you not to come for any reason. Besides, I'm sure Laurie doesn't care."

"I would have gone either way, just would have suggested you two go somewhere else if it bothered her," replied Walter. Dan laughed, sure that that was meant to be a joke.

~X~

When the three of them did meet up that week, it felt odd arriving with Laurie rather than waiting for her or seeing her waiting for him. Instead, they both waited for Walter together, walking into the building side by side when he got there. Dan put his arm around Laurie as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Even seeing Eddie didn't really seem to sour her good mood, and Dan couldn't believe that he was the one making her so impossibly happy.

Sure, she shot him a few glares across the table like she always did, but she did not seem as tense, almost as if she didn't really mean it tonight and was just doing it out of obligation. Even by the time they left that night, a little bit earlier than usual because they wanted some alone time, there had been no incident, no sign of her being unhappy with anything.

That was how things went for them in everything that they did. Laurie was happier than he had ever seen her, and it didn't feel like anything could get her down. Dan was doing something right, and though he tried to figure out what it was, the only answer he could come up with seemed too simple. Just being himself and being with her seemed to be enough for her, as lame as that sounded, and he hoped that that never changed and that he was always what she needed.

When it had been a month since that night when she had come home with him, a night that, by most any definition, had been horrible, they celebrated. It should have been horrible, yes, and maybe it had been for her, at the time, but she said that she was glad it had happened because it had been the biggest factor in bringing her and Dan together at last.

Remembering what Walter had said about preferring them go somewhere else if they wanted to be alone, he decided to take Laurie out to dinner somewhere nice rather than go to the club like they normally did. He was sure that his friend would be fine on his own, especially since he had made mention of the fact that he would want to go no matter what.

Having the night to themselves wasn't much of a chance, considering that was how every night they didn't hang out with Walter was spent, but it was still nice, because this was a happy occasion. They had been together for a month and nothing about their friendship had changed and none of the happiness in their relationship had faded with the newness. There was a comfort and familiarity to it, but it did not feel tired in the slightest.

"I love you," Laurie said all at once. "I know it's...fast, to say something like that but I'm pretty sure I do." She was trying to sound casual, but she was never very good at hiding when she was nervous about something.

"I don't think it's that fast," replied Dan. "Or if it is, I'm fast too, because I love you too. But we were friends before that, we were already so close. We had a lot of time to fall in love even before we started dating."

"I think I already loved you before," she admitted. "I couldn't be sure then, but now I am."

And just when he was sure that things couldn't get any better for them, she confessed something like that to him. Of course, he had known he was in love with Laurie for a while, but he hadn't wanted to push her when she was fresh out of another relationship. But like he had said, they had been friends and falling for each other for long enough, and really, the tail end of her relationship hadn't really been much of one.

When they got home that night, he was once again incredibly grateful that she had come to live with him. They had found her a retail job to hold her over until something better came along or until she finally got into the school she wanted, but she had yet to look for somewhere else to live and he found himself hoping that she never did. It was nice, having her around like that, and he knew that it was much too soon to think about marriage, but it was still at the back of his mind.

~X~

The next time they went to the club, something was incredibly off. Nothing appeared different at first, when he and Laurie and Walter walked in together, and when Eddie began to approach them, Dan still did not sense anything strange. But then Eddie all but ignored him and Laurie and instead threw his arm around Walter's shoulder, and the gesture seemed just a little bit too intimate to be merely friendly.

Laurie stared, mouth agape, and looked ready to say something but Dan, sensing Walter's embarrassment if she did, stammered out a pathetic greeting and asked Eddie how work had been. "We, uh, we really don't talk about your life much, you know, so I was wondering..."

The entire time he spoke, Eddie did not let go of Walter, who looked mortified but also a bit pleased, and Dan wondered how he hadn't noticed this going on right under his nose. He had been too concerned with Laurie, he supposed, and had never figured out that Walter's enthusiasm for their weekly meet ups had less to do with the comedy club and more to do with the comedian.

When Eddie went up to do his routine, his jokes were different. They sounded almost happier, and there were just a few that sounded romantic, and Dan couldn't believe that the man onstage was the same one he had been seeing for months. And apparently the same man that was dating his best friend, if their behavior was anything to go off of. He returned to their table and nobody said anything because nobody knew what to say.

Finally, Eddie broke the silence with, "So, how was this week?"

Dan struggled to think of a reply that would not let on just how curious he really was about this. "It was, uh, it was great like always. You, uh...had some really different material, though. Is there a, um, reason for that?" He wanted to know, he wanted one of them to say something, but he did not want to outright ask or demand information from them.

"What the hell's going on?" asked Laurie, who clearly wanted to take the more direct approach.

"Oh, guess I'm just in a good mood this week," he said, as if that explained anything. "Probably won't be changin' up my material like that anymore, but I had a good reason this time."

There wasn't a real answer in there, but it was the closest they were going to get, and it seemed pretty obvious that there was something there. He and Laurie discussed it at length when they got home, and she admitted that she had not seen it coming either.

"I mean, it's just as much of a surprise as Walter dating anyone," she said. "It's not that it's Eddie, really. He's so quiet, I never would have been able to tell you what his type was or if he even had one."

"He never talked about that sort of thing with me," Dan replied, "so I'm just as surprised. But Eddie...that one's the real surprise."

"Yeah, never would have thought he was...you know." She shrugged. "I mean, from what I'd heard about him, besides, you know, the obvious stuff."

"How do you feel about that?" he asked. "Seeing him in a relationship like that, I mean?"

"I don't care either way. I don't like him and I'm never going to like him. You don't just do stuff like he did to my mom and get forgiven for it. Guys like that are awful. But we've spent a lot of time with him and I don't see that in him. Maybe he really has changed and maybe he's not that sort of person anymore. Maybe it was just a mistake, and maybe he doesn't deserve to never be with anyone." She paused. "I really am never going to like him, but that doesn't mean I care if he's dating or whatever. Let him have his fun, as long as he isn't hurting anybody this time and as long as he isn't having his fun with my mother."

It was surprising to hear her say something like that, and he wondered if he had something to do with it. Was this another side effect to how much happier she had been lately, that she was trying to see things from a different perspective? Whether her new thoughts were right or wrong, Dan was glad that she didn't care and that he could be happy for his friend without worrying about how she felt about it.

And of course, he suspected that Eddie and Walter's relationship had grown at least partially because of his and Laurie's. They had been left alone a few times, and it was during those times that they likely began to grow closer. They were an unlikely couple but they seemed happy enough and Dan was glad for that.

Not only had he managed to get the girl of his dreams, but through that his best friend had found somebody too. The group had been odd from the start, but they had found what they needed in each other.