A/N: The story will be winding down soon. The next chapter may be the last, if not most likely the one after. Just a heads up I'm hoping I'll feel inspired to start something new after, but we'll see!

Amy arrived at Veggie Heaven right at 6:00, surprised to see Karma already waiting for her. "Hey," Amy said and sat down across from Karma. "What's up?"

"Not much," she said. "Just thinking about Homecoming..."

Amy shot Karma a glare, as if to warn her not to go there.

"I wanted to deck out your car the way Ashley did in South of Nowhere when she asked Spencer to prom, but…. I knew you'd freak." Karma said. She started rustling through her bag. Amy was wondering when Karma had started watching South of Nowhere. Karma pulled out a photo, from last year's homecoming dance, on the back it said "redo?" She handed it to Amy, who still looked unsure.

"Look," Karma said. "It's our last homecoming dance. And I refuse to go with anyone but my Princess Sarcasm."

Amy's heart leaped into her throat at the sound of those two words. She had one second of sheer elation, before panic set in. It was that panic that forbid her from saying yes without a condition. "Okay," Amy replied. She looked at Karma seriously. "But as friends."

Karma nodded. "Okay, sure," she said. "As friends."

She'd known this wasn't going to be easy.

"As friends. As friends?!" Karma repeated to Shane, as they shared French fries the next afternoon.

Shane chuckled. Karma did not appreciate his lack of concern. "You know what this reminds me of?" Karma was afraid to ask. "Your threesome."

"What?"

"Just hear me out." He went on to explain. "Amy put herself out there. She was willing to do something that scared her, because she thought you were interested. Then you shoved your hand in her face during your 'practice' throwing a big fat 'as friends' in her face."

"Do you know everything about our relationship?" Karma asked with annoyance.

Shane nodded. "Everything important."

"So that's how you and Amy got so close…" she said, putting the pieces together.

"Yup, but anyway, think back. What happened next? Did Amy back out, give up?"

"No, she wore that... that..." Karma trailed off, eyes full of lust.

Shane laughed. "Exactly," he said, "she found a way to catch your interest." Shane paused to think. "Unfortunately for you, I think it'll take a little more than a revealing outfit. But you'll figure something out."

Shane kept saying that, but Karma wasn't so sure.

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Karma was out of big ideas. Out of grand gestures. So instead of fighting it, she embraced it. She would stick with something safe and stay in the comfort zone. Especially considering these days even the comfort zone with Amy was pretty damn terrifying.

When Karma saw Amy in the hallway, she took advantage of the opportunity to finalize some details. "I was thinking dinner first then the dance then a TV marathon into the early morning?" Karma suggested.

Amy was a little surprised at the mundaneness of the proposal. "No pre-gaming at Shane's or after party at the diner?" The thought of all of that excess socializing made Amy cringe but usually it was the stuff Karma lived for.

"Nah," she said. "No pre-gaming for me. We've learned the error of my drunken ways. And well I'm dying to finish South of Nowhere, so..."

"Told you it was good..."

"I should've believed you." Karma admitted. "So, dinner, dance, TV?"

"The keys to my heart," Amy joked. As soon as the words escaped her lips she wanted to suck them back in. Thankfully, Karma just chuckled.

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When the big night rolled around, Karma couldn't have been any more nervous. She paced the room, heels in her hand. "What am I doing? What am I doing?" She kept asking herself.

Even Amy felt nervous, but she was refusing to accept why. "You're going as friends," she reminded herself. "You have no reason to be nervous. You have absolutely no reason to feel like puking, so just stop," she ordered.

The doorbell rang. Karma enjoyed watching the way Amy's eyes took in her presence.

"You look..." Amy paused gathering herself. "Amazing."

"Thanks," Karma replied. "So do you."

"You didn't tell me where we're going," Amy noted, as they got into the car.

"It's a surprise," Karma told her.

Amy was thinking about all of the possibilities. She wondered if it was their favorite pizza joint, which was slightly nicer in the evenings, when they dimmed the lights and upped the price of each dish by three bucks. She decided it was better not to guess. "As long as it's not a group date at Crave, then it's fine by me."

Karma had wanted to bring Amy to the restaurant where Farrah and Bruce got married. She wanted to stir up emotions. It would have certainly made a point. But ultimately Karma couldn't decide if it was merely persistent, as Shane advised or pushy, as he discouraged. So once again, she opted to keep things simple, friendly, even.

They pulled up at a restaurant unfamiliar to Amy. "Dim Sum," Karma announced.

"Good thinking," Amy replied approvingly. She began overanalyzing Karma's choice even before they'd laid eyes on the menu. Had she specifically chosen somewhere they'd be forced to share their food? Some would find that romantic wouldn't they? Amy pushed the thoughts out of her head long enough to negotiate with Karma on what to order. They bickered like an old married couple but finally settled on shrimp dumplings, spring rolls, crab wontons and edamame.

After they ordered, there was a bit of an awkward silence. What exactly does one talk about on a "not-a-date"?

"How's your brother doing?" Amy asked, making conversation.

"He's fine. Climbing the corporate ladder at Sheets n' Things."

"Your parents must be so proud," Amy joked.

"They came around when he offered them his employee discount."

Amy smiled. And then there was the silence again.

"This shouldn't be awkward," Amy announced. "Why is this awkward?"

Karma exhaled a sigh of relief. "Oh thank god," she said, "I thought it was just me."

In effort to power through, Amy launched into a rant about Lauren's latest diet fad. Karma was barely paying attention. She was just staring at those eyes…

Thankfully, the waitress brought out the food pretty quickly. And the girls began to devour the dishes in front of them. Amy was talking about the time her mother tried to cook Chinese food, when she noticed Karma's smirk.

"You have a little something..." Karma motioned to her mouth. Amy moved her napkin over her cheek. Karma smiled. "Other side," she was beginning to say, as she reached out with her own thumb. Amy quickly beat her to it, covering the whole side of her face with the napkin. Karma pulled away.

"Better?" Amy asked.

"Yup."

There attention turned back toward the food. There was one dumpling left. "You can have it," Amy kindly offered to Karma, who had, after all, eaten fewer.

Karma laughed and shook her head. "I know you want it," she said. The double meaning made Amy cringe inside. "Go ahead," Karma said. "Take it."

Amy hesitated briefly, picked up the last one with her chopsticks, dipped it in soy sauce and ate it. Karma was surprised that she was so mesmerized by such a simple act. She tried to get her head back in the moment. Back to reality. "We should probably head to the dance soon."

Amy nodded. They paid the bill and headed back to the car. "I knew you wouldn't want to wear it in the restaurant but..." Karma pulled out a corsage from a compartment of the trunk.

"Karma, we're just going as -"

"Friends. I know. Calm down," she said whipping out an identical one. "I just thought it'd be fun to match." She did get to have a little fun with this didn't she?

"Okay," Amy said, calming down quickly. "Thanks."

"Ready?" Karma asked after Amy buckled her seatbelt.

"Yup!" She replied. And they were on their way to the dance.