"The One" – Part 28

Summary and additional notes in part 1.

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! Let the questioning commence!

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

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Degrassi!

-oOo-

The mood was tense. Her family usually wasn't this quiet. Once they exchanged formalities and sat down at the table the conversation moved at a snail's pace. Declan bored them with a business acquisition tale. Her father had been the only one asking polite questions. Fiona had shared a knowing look with Holly J, who had also zoned out a few times.

Here they were thirty minutes in and Fiona was praying for dinner to be served so they could leave. This was going to be a long evening.

Across the table, Declan took a long sip of his water. He was happy to have some time out of the house, but this just wasn't fun. He had a ton of questions he was dying to ask, but he didn't want to offend and risk everyone yelling at him for being rude. There were so many restricted topics and potential landmines that conversation was fraught with tension.

He rubbed his chin and looked at Holly J. She and Fiona seemed to be silently communicating. Interesting. He glanced at Adam and he felt a little bad for the guy. Clearly he was out of place and the stilted dialogue at the table wasn't helping. Declan decided to take off the kid gloves.

"You look different," he addressed Adam. Everyone turned to look at him, but he kept his eyes trained on Adam. He could feel Fiona glaring at him.

Adam blinked. "Uh, a little bit," he responded and cracked a small grin.

Declan chuckled. "Yeah, just a little," he quipped. "I'm kind of surprised that Fiona recognized you," he admitted. Now he could feel Holly J glaring at him.

"I would recognize his eyes anywhere," Fiona firmly stated. She glanced at Adam, and he looked back at her with a smile. When they met in the subway, she had definitely spotted him first and he actually wasn't sure how she recognized him from afar. It was good to know.

"Well, they say the eyes are the window to the soul," her father remarked diplomatically.

Mrs. Coyne wasn't impressed, however, the rest of them all laughed.

Holly J looked at her husband. She had to hand it to Declan, that exchange broke some of the tension at the table.

"So, when did you finish transitioning?" Declan asked.

"In college," Adam answered. "I started with testosterone right after graduating from high school, and I had all my surgeries during summer breaks."

"That's cool," Declan responded. "I'm glad it worked out for you."

"Thanks," Adam smiled. He was happy it did too. Dealing with recovery during the summers sucked, but by August he would be pretty much back in the game. In fact, the August following his top surgery had changed his outlook on life. At least when it came to pursuing girls.

"I concur," Mr. Coyne remarked. He raised his glass. "Here's to a belated congratulations."

Adam laughed. "Thanks, sir."

"You even look different from when I ran into you a few years ago," Holly J commented.

Adam's smile faltered a little. His drunken conversation with Holly J had not been one of his finest moments. He was sure he sounded pathetic when he kept bringing up Fiona.

Declan smirked. "Yeah, now you actually look your age!"

Fiona frowned at him, but to her surprise Adam chuckled.

"It took awhile, but I finally caught up!" he joked. He and Declan shared a laugh.

Holly J shook her head. It always amazed her how quickly boys could get along and put past slights behind them!

"So, you two got together rather quickly," Mrs. Coyne said, entering the conversation.

Fiona looked at her mother, wondering where she was going with this.

"We did," Adam agreed.

"I have to admit, with the way Fiona was talking I thought you were going to be scared off," she said.

"Mom!" Fiona said annoyed. They were just settling into comfortable conversation and now she was stirring the pot!

Adam glanced at Fiona and slowly smiled. "It was really sudden. I wasn't expecting it. We just met again after seven years. I told her this was crazy."

Holly J raised an eyebrow at the c-word. She knew Fiona was hyper-sensitive about it.

"I think your assessment is accurate," Mrs. Coyne stated.

Fiona held back a retort.

"But… love isn't rational. It's something you feel," Adam continued. He looked at Fiona again. "Do you remember what you asked me?"

Fiona let out a laugh. Declan and Holly J shared a curious look.

"I do. It was rather ballsy," she remarked.

"Ballsy," Declan repeated amused. Everyone glanced at him blankly before deciding to ignore the comment.

Fiona continued. "I told him how I felt about him, and that without any doubts I knew he was one for me. Then I asked – no, challenged him by saying, 'tell me you don't feel the same?'"

Holly J had a wry grin. That sounded like something Fiona would say! She didn't know many people that would be so forthcoming. As she told Fiona earlier in the week, her friend was either all in or not at all!

"That definitely put me on the spot!" Adam admitted. They all chuckled. "But I couldn't deny how I feel about her. So, yes it was sudden, but in all these years apart I never came close to feeling the same way about another girl." He looked at Fiona and smiled. "She's the one."

Mrs. Coyne relented. She was still concerned about how fast they were moving, but it was clear that Adam was just as crazy about her daughter, as Fiona was about him.

Declan and Holly J shared a slight look of concern.

He knew he was going to have to pull Adam aside at some point this evening and have a one on one chat. Man to man. He recognized the look in Fiona's eyes and could tell his sister was falling hard. Declan liked Adam. He seemed like a pretty cool dude. However, he was well aware of Adam's success with the ladies over the years and he wanted to make sure Fiona wasn't going to get her heart broken.

.

tbc

A/N: Yep, the Coynes can clearly see Fiona and Adam are crazy in love! Strong declarations going on here! Kudos to Declan for breaking the ice, but it sounds like Adam's not in the circle of trust just yet…

Review! You know you want to! :D

In the next chapter, Declan gets down to business… And there are more Fadam kisses ;-)

Off-topic: So, tomorrow is Thursday! I'm going to post chapter 28 of "Long Weekend". I'm making good progress on this fic. Not enough for daily updates, but 2-3 times a week may be doable soon! Oh, and there will be lemons…