A/N: One quick last little update because I'm taking a quick break from studying, and then I'm gone until Friday/Saturday! I swear on Friday after I get off work, I will respond to every PM and every review with gusto! :)

Thank you for the reviews! You guys are so incredibly sweet and it means the world to me that you are taking a chance with my wacky story ahahah! :D

Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...

"You got laid last night." Emma declared.

"What?" Lucas frowned, glancing at Emma over his shoulder as they continued their final rounds, checking on his patients' vital signs in the recovery room and making sure they were comfortable before Lucas and the vets would leave for the evening and the vet technicians and nurses would take over.

"I've been holding off on bringing it up all day, but you and Maya boinked, didn't you?" Emma repeated, eyes narrowed shrewdly as she stared at him. "That's why you 'overslept'."

He considered lying or denying it—because it was kind of inappropriate for her to know—but judging by her amused expression, he knew nothing he said could convince her otherwise. He just never understood how Emma was so perceptive about these things.

"How did you know?" Lucas sighed, absentmindedly letting Molly the Labrador lap at his fingers. "Is it that obvious?"

"Well, aside from the fact that you aren't nearly as uptight as you were earlier this week, you've got a hickey on your neck under your collar." Emma's nose wrinkled. "Which is honestly kind of gross, not gonna lie. You're like thirty. You still give each other hickeys at your age?"

"Thirty's not old, Emma." He chuckled, rolling his eyes as he rearranged his collar to cover more of his neck.

He must not have noticed it when he was shaving. But really, he should have expected it. Maya had always been partial to leaving some kind of embarrassing mark on him. She used to like to say it kept the rabid women away from him.

"Still." Emma stooped, briefly making kissy faces at an orange kitten named Oliver with an injured paw. "That's a lot of biting. Is Maya an animal or something?"

"Well… yes." He admitted with a shrug.

"Gross." Emma stood with a groan in disgust. "Old people hooking up."

Lucas rolled his eyes in amusement as he finished writing up the condition of his patients prior to leaving. Emma came up next to him, waiting patiently as he finished filling out the information for various patients. When he had completed the last one, he handed her the files, and they made their way out.

"Goodnight guys." He called out to the animals in the room before dimming the lights and heading out with Emma.

"So? How was it?" Emma asked after they'd turned the corner towards the offices.

"I'm not going to talk to you about my sex life, Emma." Lucas deadpanned, removing the stethoscope from around his neck and tucking it into his lab coat pocket.

"No wait. That came out wrong, although I am curious what it's like to spend the night rolling in the hay with Lucas Frickin' Friar, the most desirable man in Greenwich Village." Emma laughed as Lucas gave her a weird look. "What I meant was is everything settled with you guys? Has everything been cleared? You know? About the whole baby thing? I would assume so since you guys porked."

Lucas sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I thought it had been. She agreed with the whole living together thing and to having a baby the natural way, and we talked about the break up and cleared the air. But after we departed this morning, it was just so awkward. Considering all we talked about and figured out about what happened in the past, I thought we would be okay. I don't know how to explain it, but something was off. After she left, I felt like we rushed things a little. It honestly felt like a one night stand."

Emma frowned. "Well did you talk about your future as a couple?"

"…Not really, I guess." Lucas unlocked his office and they walked in, Emma heading to the file cabinet to store the files in their proper place. "I mean, we both still love each other though. I mentioned I still wanted to marry her, and she told me she wasn't comfortable with it so we decided to keep it unofficial."

"Oh Lucas. For someone so very, very smart, you are so very, very clueless. You know why it was awkward?" Emma sighed, shaking her head and tsking. "It wasn't because you rushed things. In fact, you guys made up quite adequately if you ask me. But that's just it. You made up. From things from the past. The issue you're having now is because you guys still haven't properly communicated. Yes, feelings are there, but you discussed the past and mended the mistakes of the past, and you didn't actually talk about where you guys were supposed to go from there. It was awkward because you guys haven't explicitly made yourselves a couple again. You haven't made it official that you're in a relationship. So when you guys hopped to churning butter, both your motivations were undefined, leading to a misunderstanding of why you guys hooked up and then bam! One night stand level of awkwardness."

She closed the file cabinet and walked back over to Lucas' desk with a smirk.

"I can almost guarantee you I know what might have been going through Maya's mind. I bet you she was thinking you only want to be together because you want to make a baby, but not because you want to be her boyfriend. Which isn't something to fault yourself for either. Your mindset is still stuck on marrying Maya in the future, so you still see her as a wife regardless of the circumstances of your relationship right now. And that's why you probably never brought up rekindling your boyfriend and girlfriend status, which is Maya's mindset of what you are. And from what you told me about how insecure she is at times, not having specific definitions of what you want for your relationship now that all your past mess has been cleared up probably made her feel a little hesitant and uncomfortable. And deep down, you probably felt awkward too because you still hadn't figured everything out yet."

Lucas stared at her, his jaw partially unhinged as her words sunk in. She was right. She was completely and totally right. Because he had said they could keep marriage off the table, and he remembered mentioning a fresh start, but they hadn't really defined what they were. And from Maya's perspective, starting fresh could have meant any number of things. And that had only gotten more jumbled by the fact that they slept together, contradicting what he had said entirely about taking it more slowly. It was no wonder they had gotten so awkward. They didn't know what they were and sleeping together made that even more confusing.

"What?" Emma said in alarm after he stared at her silently for a while. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Has anyone ever told you you're a genius, Emma?"

"Nah. I'm just good at understanding the human psyche." She grinned, pulling her phone out of her tote bag and tapping the screen a few times before lifting it so it was facing Lucas. "But could you say that again, so I can brag to Ava that I got a compliment from you?"

Lucas rolled his eyes in fake exasperation. "You're a genius, Emma."

"Hell yeah! Damn right I am! Hear that Ava, I got called a genius by Lucas! Hah!" She tapped on the screen and then set her phone back into her bag. "Lucas, everything is fine between you two. You just need to communicate if you want your relationship to work. I mean damn. You both are completely clueless. You're literally taking relationship advice from your twenty-three year old intern, Lucas."

Lucas chuckled, removing his lab coat and setting it on the coat hanger beside his door. "I am clueless, aren't I? I can't help but feel like I'm going to screw this up again though."

"Just relax." Emma said sympathetically, tugging her jacket on. "She's your best friend. You can't go wrong. And even if things fall apart again—which they shouldn't and won't unless you really screw something up which is practically impossible by this point—at least you'll still have your friendship to fall back on."

"Yeah." Lucas said, picking up his bag from the floor and setting it on his desk before beginning to put some paperwork and other things he needed in there.

"Oooh also, just wanted to remind you that the chances of her getting pregnant on your first try are extremely low. If you want to have that baby, it'll take a lot more shots. My mom didn't get pregnant with me until after seven months of trying and she said the process got pretty daunting after a while, but when they didn't think about it and went at in a parking lot, it just happened." Emma said enthusiastically, "So don't think about it too much or the little swimmers in your love custard will feel too much pressure and drown in Maya's acidic cave of wonders before they reach Planet Ovum."

He paused in arranging his desk to a semblance of order, staring at her, appalled by the extended euphemism.

How the hell did she come up with this stuff?

"…Emma, that's inappropriate." Lucas finally said.

"Since when has that stopped me from saying whatever I want anyway?" She smirked, tossing her bag on her shoulder and heading towards the office door. "What I'm trying to say is, just have fun with your best friend. Make her dinner or something. Watch a movie. Cuddle. Snuggle under a blanket. Talk about your lives. I know things are kind of a little bit weird between you guys right now, but if you let it stress you out, you won't succeed in your relationship or your… fertilization and conception efforts. So just enjoy your time together okay?"

"Thank you, Emma." Lucas smiled. "For everything."

"Hey, you're like the best and most attractive boss I've ever had. When you're happy, I'm happy. And I just want you to be happy."

"That means a lot." He checked his watch. "Now get going. You have a grad course in twenty minutes don't you?"

"Shoot! That's right!"

Lucas chuckled as she rushed out the door.

"You better not be late tomorrow!" She called out as she hurried down the hallway to catch her subway.

Emma was right. Maya was his best friend. There was no reason that this thing shouldn't work out.

He picked up his phone and texted Maya.

Hey. How do you feel about a shortstack of pancakes for dinner?

Her response came fairly quickly.

Har har Huckleberry. Do you mean me…? or actual pancakes? Because I was honestly more in the mood for Italian. Pasta sounds really good. Homemade.

I can make that happen.

You'll actually make me dinner?

If you still feel like coming over. I have something I need to say.

There was no response for about a minute, and Lucas wondered if he had scared her off with his words. He didn't think they were particularly nervewracking, but then again, people tended to interpret text messages quite differently.

But she finally responded.

Throw in some garlic bread and white wine, and I'll be there.

He smiled.

Done.

Lucas slung his bag over one shoulder and grabbed his jacket as he left, closing and locking up his office.

He was going to fix them. For good.

And he had a feeling that this time, they would last.