Author's Note: If it's mentioned somewhere what Daphne actually went to school for, just let me know and I'll make the chapter canon-conducive.

Justin spun around to see if he could get a look at Owen, but the door was now closed, and the object of our attention safely inside. He glanced at me, to see my opinion on the subject, and I nodded back towards the restaurant.

"You're asking the wrong person," I answered. "Because I'd give my right arm to see the two of you meet in front of Brian."

Somehow, that was all the encouragement he needed. Six long strides later (ten, for those of us with slightly shorter legs and no one to obsess over) we were pulling on the door to the diner once more.

You know, I had never really appreciated what an asset Brian's height is. I mean, really, you can spot that guy anywhere. Which, in a small space like Liberty Diner, may not seem like a huge achievement, but you'd know better if you'd ever been inside during one of their busy times.

Anyway, as I was saying, because of Brian's Aspect of the Giant feature we spotted him, Michael, and . . . yep, Owen, right away. Hunter had, thankfully, disappeared - cool though my best friend may be, I was really not prepared for him to re-meet Hunter, as my ex, just yet. Justin immediately began making his way over, and as for me, I stayed a few feet behind. I had met Owen before, of course, so he wasn't new to me, and from this distance I could easily hear without having to worry about being involved or addressed.

"You know, technically, when you storm out of a place you're not really supposed to walk right back in," Michael said to Justin, with only a hint of a bite. I wondered if Brian had said something while Justin and I had been outside.

Justin forced a laugh, before turning to Owen with undisguised intrigue. I had known Justin a long-ass time, so I noted the swift way his eyes flickered to every inch of Owen, checking him out, inwardly comparing the two of them. And while, yes, it's true that I'm possibly a little biased, on account of the best-friends thing Justin and I have going, I will say that Justin and Owen were nowhere near close in the looks-department. I mean, don't get me wrong, Owen could definitely stop traffic, but he was still a little thin where Justin had filled out, and his hair seemed to be somewhere between shaven and possessing real locks. And it was no secret that Brian had always enjoyed running his fingers through Justin's longer hair.

"I'm Justin," I listened to him introduce himself. He stuck out a hand for Owen to shake, which he did, though somewhat hesitantly.

"Owen," he answered. It was hard to tell if he had already made the connection, because though he was peering at Justin with too much curiosity for a random introduction, it could have been anything. I mean, Justin was shaking his hand a little too enthusiastically. "Owen Buck."

Justin smirked, as I had known he would when he heard the other man's name. He glanced at Brian out of the corner of his eye, and then continued. "Justin Taylor."

There it was, the dawning of comprehension. Owen blinked, clearly taken by surprise, then tried to cover it, somewhat badly. "Oh, Justin. The Ex."

"I'd say I'm more than ex," Justin responded, and though he didn't appear to move, somehow he seemed more . . . In charge than before. "I mean, it's not like we dated for a month." He paused. "Or four."

Okay, so if I had known that Justin was going to be quite this overt in his hostility I would have accompanied him the entire way. As it was, Brian was looking at him like he'd never really seen him before, and Michael, for his part, seemed to be having a tough time keeping his comments to himself. I watched him purse his lips together tightly.

Owen chuckled because, really, what the fuck else was he supposed to do? "Nice to meet you," he answered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'd invite you to join us for lunch, but I'm not sure that's appropriate. I mean, you and Brian were never really friends before, were you?"

"Not unless you fuck your friends." Personally, I wasn't sure how great an argument this was, as Brian and I were really the only people Justin was close with and he'd slept with both of us, but I kept this particular thought to myself.

"I try not to make it a habit," Owen returned. "Ahh well. C'est la vie."

Out of nowhere a hand clamped around my wrist, and yanked me forward. I tried to pull my arm back from Justin, but his grip was much too strong. "I think you know my buddy, Daphne, here," he said cheerfully. "I'd hate for the two of you not to get a chance to catch up just because I'm here."

I had no idea where to look, as I was having a hard enough time keeping a straight face as it was, so I settled on Brian, who was watching the entire exchange with the look of someone who is not used to feeling weirded-out, but was. He glanced over at me too, and I shrugged my shoulders slightly as if to say, He's your ex.

It was easy to see, based on his half-smile, that his answer was, He's your best friend.

"Yes, that would be a real shame," Owen replied, although he looked as though there was nothing on the planet that would please him less. "Please, Daphne . . . Justin. Join us." He gestured to a vacant table and he, Brian, Justin, and I took seats.

Michael stood over us, but didn't sit. "Well, as fun as this little trip to the Twilight Zone has been," he said, with sarcastic smile, "I'm going to go check on the new kid at the store. Make sure he's not mixing up Captain Astro and Captain America." And he was gone.

"So . . ." I looked at the other three each in turn, and allowed my mind to wander over the various ways I was going to murder Justin later. "How've you been?" I directed this question at Brian.

His lips twisted up into a wide, though fake, smile. "Oh, just great," he answered slowly. "You?"

I tried not to notice the way Owen and Justin were so obviously sizing each other up, and attempted to focus on my reply. "Um, good."

"You graduate yet?"

"Yeah. English degree. No fucking clue what that's good for, but they gave it to me easily enough."

"That's good."

At that moment Hunter reappeared to take our order, and though I had been anxious about seeing him after I'd explained the truth to Justin, I had never been so relieved to see his face.

"I'll have the Cheese Omelet Special," I told him before he even asked. "And a Coke."

Hunter glanced at each of us, and then, rather predictably, grinned. "The four of you are eating together," he questioned in amusement. "Though, I guess stranger things have happened. None that I can think of at this moment but-"

"Bacon and some scrambled eggs," Justin interrupted, as though the damage hadn't already been done. "Milk."

Brian waved Hunter off when he turned to him, and Owen ordered toast and skim milk. "Gotta keep up the figure," he explained with false cheeriness.

Justin gave an airy laugh. "Sure. I mean, with this guy-" He nodded at Brian. "Who knows how long you'll be in a relationship? I mean, it's never really been his strong suit." Brian and I both shot him a look which he ignored. "Brian, don't get upset; it's not your fault. You were just born that way."

"This is nice," I commented.

"Oh yeah," Brian agreed. "I can't imagine why we didn't set this up before."