"The One" – Part 20

Summary and additional notes in part 1.

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! We're up to Chapter 20! Awesome! Enjoy guys :D

Anonymous - That's pretty cool. I had no idea. I don't really watch the minis. My fave mini is the one with Liberty and JT after his death *tear* Thanks for the review!

This is not related to my Degrassi timeline fics. (See my Author's Profile for details!)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Degrassi!

-oOo-

Adam had a lopsided grin as he sat down on the bean bag chair. It was the early evening and he and Gregory were entertaining at their apartment. Some friends from college were visiting the city. Fellow Computer Science majors Allen, Meg, and Isaac had drove in from Albany and Philadelphia respectively. They were going out to dinner and later joining more friends at a bar. Adam was elated that they were here and he was looking forward to introducing them to Fiona.

Allen was a tall guy with mousy brown hair and wireframe glasses. He was somewhat stocky and was often thought to play football, which was hilarious because he was notoriously uncoordinated! As such, his clumsiness had made him the butt of many jokes over the years. Meg and Isaac were newly engaged. They had been dating since their Junior year at Syracuse University. Meg was a petite woman with shoulder length dark brown hair and warm brown eyes. She was a talented programmer. She and Adam had been TAs for many upper level courses together. She was also a foodie so the two had bonded over that. Her fiancé Isaac was also a computer whiz, though he excelled at computer theory. He recently completed his Masters degree and already had a teaching position lined up at a great university. Despite his obvious intelligence, frat boy humor always had him laughing in stitches.

"My goodness, I can tell Gregory decorated!" Meg teased.

"What?" Gregory shrugged. "That's the best part of having your own apartment. You can do whatever you want! I found myself in my own place, laid off from work and badly needing a roommate. Looking for vintage movie posters were the only thing that made my situation suck less," he explained.

Gregory had been working at the tech start-up for two years when it went under due the economy. He was shell-shocked because his last roommate had just moved out a month earlier. He was scrambling to make the rent. Living in the Upper West Side was not cheap.

"Thank goodness Adam can along," Allen chuckled.

Adam and Gregory smiled at each other.

"I was definitely in need of a place to live!" Adam told him.

They all laughed.

"So you've been here for almost a month, right? How do you like it?" Meg asked him.

Adam smiled broadly. "It's absolutely wonderful! I wish I had moved here sooner."

Gregory snorted. "Yeah, I'm not the one who put that smile on his face!" he teased him.

Meg clapped her hands together. "Right! You have a new girl?"

Adam nodded. "Yes, her name is Fiona. We actually dated in our teens."

"That's right!" Meg grinned. He had mentioned her during their university days. "What's she like?"

"I can answer that since she's here almost every day!" Gregory joked.

Allen raised an eyebrow. "Sour grapes?" he ribbed his friend.

They all laughed again.

"Hell yeah. She's gorgeous!" Gregory retorted. "But no, I'm really happy for Adam. She's a sweetheart and they're really good together. The googly eyes thing is annoying, but it's to be expected in the honeymoon phase."

"Aww, that's so sweet, Gregory!" Meg commented. He had a rather sarcastic sense of humor so his words were unexpected.

He shrugged a little embarrassed. "Well, Adam's my bro."

Adam grinned. He leaned over and the two bumped fists. "Thanks, man!"

"So, how exactly did you guys get together?" Isaac asked curiously. In his last two years of college, Adam burned through girls pretty quickly. He wasn't looking for a relationship and certainly let every girl he was involved with know.

"Yeah, one minute on FaceRange you're like, 'I'm moving to New York!' and the next you're dedicating love songs!" Allen laughed.

Adam smiled. "It was pretty sudden. Like I said, we dated when we were teens. She was actually my first girlfriend. We were very much in love, but it just wasn't our time," he told them. "Anyway, last Friday–"

"Exactly one week ago!" Gregory pointed out.

Adam gave him a look. "Yes, one week ago I was heading to work and happened to be on the East Side. We spotted each other on the train platform and decided to meet up for coffee the next day. We did and we talked for hours. It was amazing!"

Meg smiled at him. Her friend was glowing with love as he talked about it. "Just coffee?" she teased.

"Just coffee," Adam affirmed. "We just… reconnected."

"And you guys decided to get back together right then?" Isaac questioned.

"Um… Not exactly," Adam responded.

"He stole her from her girlfriend!" Gregory informed them.

Meg, Isaac, and Allen raised their eyebrows all at once. It was comical but Adam was not amused.

"I didn't steal her," he refuted annoyed. "You can't steal a person! We just realized how we felt about each other and decided to go with it."

"She's bi?" Meg questioned. Isaac and Allen looked at him expectantly.

"No. She's pansexual," Adam told them.

"What does that mean?" Allen asked confused.

Adam sighed. He wanted to kick Gregory for derailing the conversation. He didn't want to get all up into Fiona's personal history, but she was open about her sexuality. "It means she's into people for who they are inside, regardless of gender," he answered.

They all stared back at him confused.

"How is that different from being bisexual?" Meg asked.

"It's more about being in love with a person. It's inclusive of female, male, and transgender. Of course they're attracted to person they're with, but they aren't limited by gender identity," Adam explained.

"That's right up your alley," Isaac noted.

Adam chuckled as he nodded. "When I was younger I looked very different. If she was with me because of my looks we wouldn't be together!" he joked. "But, really… It's great knowing she loves me because of who I truly am and the connection we share. I can't put into words how that feels." He had a silly grin on his face. Her acceptance of who he was meant the world to him, and he fully accepted her as she was.

"Uh oh… I know that look. Will there be wedding bells soon?" Allen teased. He had seen Meg and Isaac's relationship unfold from the very beginning.

They all laughed.

"No! That would be moving too fast!" Adam asserted. Gregory threw him a look. "But… someday."

"Aww!" Meg cooed. Isaac, Allen, and Gregory chuckled amused.

"Well, for what it's worth I like Fiona way more than bar girl. She was hot too, but you guys are invested in more than just the physical," Gregory commented.

"Who's bar girl?" Allen asked curiously.

Adam looked at Gregory annoyed. Meg raised an eyebrow.

.

tbc

A/N: Even more OCs! Lol. So Adam has "nerdy" friends? Interesting. Nice to see they're all happy for him and Fiona – who is in the next chapter, btw!

Review! You know you wanna :D