Find My Way Back To You

by DeliriousMess

So this is an AU where, sure Jennifer's died, but did she really? Dwight got a ding on her credit cards, and a friend says that someone who looks suspiciously like Jennifer has been seen around Boston. If it is Jennifer? Then why hadn't she come back to the Rouge? What could keep her from coming home? And why doesn't she seem to remember anything about Haven or the Barn?M: Swearing

5. Chapter 5

They walked down the street in an awkward silence, both of them with their hands in their jacket pockets. For Duke it was to remove the innate temptation to reach for and hold her hand as they walked, and for Jennifer it was because she didn't know what else to do with them. She would've let them swing at her side but she didn't want to risk brushing him with her hand as she walked, thus making this already inexplicably awkward situation worse. She kept her eyes in front of her and trained on her feet as she walked, all too aware of the fact that Duke kept glancing at her as they walked; she couldn't tell if it was like he was double checking that she was still there or if it was more like he couldn't actually believe that she was there at all.

She wanted to say something to alleviate the painfully awkward tension that had only been exacerbated by their leaving the shop, but everything that came to mind would only make it worse. It wasn't as if she could just get right at the heart of the matter, could she?

"Hi Duke," she imagined saying, "I'm sure you know how weird this is already, especially given what happened last night but apparently since then I've started remembering things about a part of my life that I didn't know I was missing memories on and you seem to be not only a big trigger for said memories, but also seem to be a very integral part of what I'm remembering. Thoughts?"

No, probably not.

This was definitely going to take a more delicate touch, but she wasn't completely sure if she'd have the patience to dance around the subject for long enough to truly get all the information she wanted from him.

Duke nervously ran a hand through his hair, "Um, look, Jennifer, about last night."

She glanced at him, secretly relieved that he was the first to speak and grateful for the distraction from her spiraling thoughts, and waited for him to continue.

"I, uh, I wasn't in a good place last night," He said carefully, "Not that that excuses my behavior in anyway because I was completely out of line, and I want to apologize if I scared you. Uh, this past year for me has been—,"

"You're not Holly's friend from Grad school, are you?" Jennifer interrupted, stopping outside the entrance of the café, her resolve now firm. She hadn't asked to meet up with Duke so that he could give her a lie about what he did or didn't know; she'd asked to meet him to get answers, and that's what she wanted. She wasn't sure how she knew that he was lying or that he was about to, but something in her gut just told her that he was, and if there was one thing she was really starting to relearn since yesterday, it was to trust her gut. She looked back at the café. In gold paint on the window was written Momma Caverna's Bistro and Café, and through the window, one could see a myriad of mismatched chairs and tables along with dark green, textured walls. There were a few people already at the tables, but it seemed to be rather slow for lunchtime.

Duke didn't try to hide his surprise, "What?"

Jennifer sighed, shifting from foot to foot as she repeated herself, "You're not Holly's friend from Grad school, are you? And, please, spare me the placating lie about—,"

"I would never lie to you." Duke said firmly, interrupting her this time. She looked at him, studying him. His voice was serious, and there was a set in his jaw as he met her gaze.

She found that she trusted him. Or at the very least, she trusted what he'd told her. He looked too serious, too desperate for her understanding to just be trying to placate her. She nodded finally, demonstrating that she understood him. Maybe they could skip the beating around the bush part of finding out what he knew.

He risked taking the slightest step closer to her. When she didn't pull away, he said, "Look, Jennifer, if there's something you want to ask me, if there's something you want to know, I will tell you. No tricks, no lies, just the truth as I know it. Now, I can't guarantee that the answers you want or need will be there, but you'll at least know what I know."

Jennifer nodded again, "Alright. So. Are you actually a friend of Holly's from Graduate school?"

Duke smirked as he turned and held the door of the café open for her, "No. In fact, I think the only time I've ever been on a college campus was for fairly illicit activities."

Jennifer let herself chuckle at that as she walked into the café, "Let me guess, something to write to Penthouse about?"

"Oh, well, I wouldn't know anything about that," he smiled after her.

The smell of fresh bread hit her full force and brought her attention to just how hungry she actually was. A young woman behind the counter at the back of the café smiled at them, "Hello! I'm Cadie, and I'll be your server today."

Jennifer beamed back at her, "Hi Cadie! Just a minute, please."

The woman just nodded, "However long you need."

Jennifer grinned back and turned to Duke, her expression serious, "I'm going to need you to not judge me for how much I'm probably going to eat while we're here; they have really food."

Duke smiled back, "I would never."

She pointed at him, "I'll hold you to that."

"Besides, if the food is as good as you say, I'll probably eat more than you." He said, earning a laugh out of Jennifer.

They ordered; Duke asked Jennifer what she'd recommend, since she seemed to be much more familiar with the menu than he was, and they sat in a pair of overstuffed arm chairs positioned across each other with a coffee table in between them. Jennifer pulled her legs up underneath her as she sat, adjusting her skirt and getting immediately cozy, where as Duke sank deeply into the cushions of the armchair to the point where the only position he could manage was slouching. He was just barely able to keep his chin from hitting his chest.

Jennifer giggled at him, making him smile at her, "Comfy chair."

She shrugged back, still smiling, "I imagine it helps to be petite like me."

"Oh, well now you tell me." Duke said rolling his eyes at her but smiling. She rolled her eyes back at him, still smiling at him. There was a lull in their conversation, both glancing momentarily around the café and listening to the acoustic music that was playing over the speakers.

Jennifer took a chance to look around. The café was mostly empty space, allowing for plenty of tables and chairs, but also keeping it from feeling too claustrophobic. The walls were covered in masks ranging in style and color, making for some rather interesting juxtaposition of things, along with a collection of photos that Jennifer assumed had been taken by the owner of the café. The images varied from black and white to color and all of them were absolutely beautiful. The furniture of the café looked to be an assembly of garage sale rejects, thrift store treasures, and perhaps a few dumpster diving incidents, if Jennifer had to guess. Paper lanterns of every shape and design hung from the ceiling, along with white twinkle lights. The twinkle lights and some antique lamps provided most of the light for the café that the front windows didn't already let in, giving it an incredibly homey feel.

Jennifer could understand why Adelaide loved coming here; it was like being in your grandmother's kitchen while she made your favorite meal. It helped her to feel more relaxed across from Duke, who continued to try to keep his glancing at her as discrete as he could. It wasn't that discrete, however, since Jennifer continued to know exactly what he was doing.

She didn't feel completely uncomfortable when he looked at her, in fact she didn't feel uncomfortable around him at all. She just didn't know what he was seeing when he looked at her like he did. She didn't know if she was what he was looking at, or if he was only seeing what he thought she should be.

After a moment, Duke spoke, "So. Why did you want to see me today?"

Jennifer blushed in response and averted her eyes, grumbling, "Leave it to Holly to be discrete."

Before Duke could say anything, the waitress, Cadie as she so happily introduced herself, came and placed their orders on the coffee table between them. Jennifer smiled at her as she came and left, and immediately dug into her macaroni and cheese. She closed her eyes as she chewed, sinking into the chair with the bowl in her hands. Her dad used to make the best macaroni and cheese, and no matter how hard she tried, she'd never been able to get it quite right, but this. This was a whole new level of cheesy goodness. It wasn't Dad's, but it was as close as anyone else could get she was sure.

Duke glanced at her, taking a bite out of his sandwich, "And don't think that this delicious food is going to distract me from my question."

Jennifer came back to herself and sighed back at him before nodding, "Right. Well. Um."

"Eloquently put," Duke commented, smirking at her over the edge of his coffee mug.

She sneered jokingly at him, "I'm getting there."

Duke just nodded at her as he took a drink, trying to keep himself from saying anything else snarky. God, it was like nothing had changed; she still didn't put up with his shit, she was still just as snarky and witty as he remembered her, it was so close to being how it used to be.

"I've never seen you before in my life."

Except that it wasn't.

She sighed, "I think that our best plan of action here is just to agree to be upfront with each other."

He gave her a confused look as he set his mug down; that was some damn fine coffee.

"You said you'd never lie to me; the least I can do is say the same. I won't lie to you." She said matter-of-factly, "However, I won't blame you if you think I'm completely crazy after I explain myself."

"You're not crazy." He said easily, as if he was talking about the weather.

She let out a laugh through her nose as she swapped her macaroni and cheese for her own coffee mug and brought it to her lips, "You don't even know what I'm going to say."

He shrugged at her, "I don't need to. You're not crazy."

She studied him over her mug, looking for some sort of tell to help her understand what he was thinking. He met her gaze, however, keeping it steady. She held his gaze for a moment longer before breaking it and glancing at the contents of her mug. Something told her that he was too practiced for her to be able to tell anyway. But it was more than that; something in his gaze made her struggle to breathe let alone focus enough on his behavior to figure out if he's lying to her or not.

Finally, she just sighed, shaking her head, and decided to just dive in, "Do you…you wouldn't happen to own a bar called The Gray Gull, would you?"

Duke nodded, "I do."

Jennifer arched an eyebrow at him, "You don't seem surprised that I asked. Holly again?"

Duke gave her a sly smile, "Who else?"

Jennifer sighed and rubbed her forehead as she set her mug back down onto the table. She gestured towards him with her freed hands, "Okay, so what did Holly tell you?"

"That you'd been in a sailing accident about a year ago and that you'd recently started getting, um, throbs that would lead to what she called, uh, 'memory flashes,' I think? And that you recently remembered something that led to…well, that led to me." Duke said. He wasn't sure what to say yet; he wanted to tell her everything about them, about Haven, about what he and Holly spoke about the night before, all of it, right then, but he knew it would be best to wait.

He had to believe that it would come back to her, that she was every bit as stubborn and determined enough that it wouldn't be hidden from her for long, just like he remembered her.

She'd come back.

And he'd be there, waiting for her.

Jennifer nodded as she grabbed her macaroni and cheese from the table to finish it off, "Okay, so you're about up to speed then; even if you do seem shockingly calm about this whole thing."

Duke shrugged, offering her a smile, "Let's just say that my life has kind of made me…immune to being shocked by this kind of thing."

She breathed out a laugh, "You'll have to tell me, sometime, about just what kind of life you've been leading."

His eyes lit up as he smiled back at her, "I'd like to."

She smiled nervously at him before trying to explain more of the situation to him, "See—," she went to gesture with her spoon as if she were conducting an orchestra before pausing, trying to gather her words, "—when you…when I met you, last night, it was…it was like something…I guess it was like something was knocked loose."

She sighed, using the spoon to clean out the bowl before she set them both back onto the table, and grabbed one of the brownie cookies she'd bought with her meal from the bag the waitress had put them in, placing the rest into her purse to save for Adelaide and Brielle when she got home. She curled back into the seat with the cookie and the last of her coffee, and tried to continue, "So, as you know, I told Holly and she told me I should um, push on the throbs so that I could remember and what I remembered was—,"

"The Gull." He finished for her, sighing, as he leaned forward to pick up her emptied bowl and place it on his now emptied place.

She nodded, "And…well, and you."

Duke looked at her in surprise, a small smile spreading across his face, "Yeah?"

She shifted slightly in her chair, suddenly nervous under his look of hope and joy, "Yes. Well, sort of. I mean, I don't know if it's real or if it even happened—which is kind of happening a lot, actually—but that's a lot more complicated than I really understand right now—but…It's, uh, it's kind of hard to explain unless, you know, it's happening to you, but, uh, well, see…"

She paused again, trying to get her words right. The cookie consumed, she ran her finger around the rim of her mug absently. What was it about this guy that made her second guess her words? She was a journalist for Christ's sake, no one made her nervous about her words. And yet here he was, tying her tongue in knots and looking at her so intensely, he made it hard to breathe. She sighed, pushing those thoughts away, and began again, "I remember being at the, uh, the Gull, and I remember you being there and I, uh, I remember…You'd asked me to stay…with you."

Duke rubbed his chin nervously and nodded, "Yeah. I did."

She looked at him, wide eyed, "You…you mean it actually happened?"

She didn't mean to sound disbelieving, but part of her had been thoroughly convinced that her mind was making things up—that this was some sort of residual effect from the sailing accident. But it was true?

"Oh. Oh my god," she breathed, "oh, no wonder you reacted like you—wait a minute, when did that happen?—No wait, you asked me how I could be alive; did…oh my God, did I die? But how could that—I mean, I'm clearly not— wait, what else can—?"

Duke held up a hand to signal her to slow down, "Whoa, whoa, whoa Short Stack. Pump your brakes."

She paused and took a deep breath. There was that nickname again. When she looked to have calmed down a little, Duke spoke carefully, "Like I told you, I will never lie to you, okay? Do you believe that?"

She nodded, giving him a confused look.

"Okay. I will stand by that, I will, but I don't think telling you everything I know about the past year, year and a half, whatever, right this second is going to help you—at least not how you think it will."

He wanted to grab her hand, to do something that would comfort her and convince her of his sincerity. Instead he just, nervously, placed his hand on the table in front of her with his fingers splayed.

He wasn't sure what he expected to happen, or what he wanted her to do, but when she tentatively placed her hand in front of his on the table and let her fingers rest in the spaces between his there, he knew that that was more than enough. She wasn't touching him, but she was close and that was enough.

"I will answer any question you ask me, though." He said carefully, ducking slightly to look at her even as she kept her gaze on their barely-not-touching fingers, "All you have to do is ask."

She closed her eyes for a moment, sighing, before opening her eyes to look at him and asking, "Were we together?"

"Yes." Duke said quietly.

"Were, uh," her voice broke slightly, "Were we happy?"

"I like to think so." He replied, smiling nervously at her.

"Did…" she swallowed around the lump in her throat. Did she really want to ask this question? Did she really want to know the answer?

"Did I die?"

"Yes." Duke answered, his own voice cracking. He cleared his throat before asking his own question, "Do you…do you remember how?"

She shook her head and chewed her lip for a moment, "No. Not yet anyway."

And judging from the way you're looking at me, I'm not too sure I want to remember. She thought to herself.

There was a pause as she tried to wrap her mind around what he'd told her.

"I died." She said it quietly, doing what she'd done as a child after a nightmare; if she talked about it, maybe it would be less real. The problem with that, however, was that this revelation didn't feel wrong; there was no feeling of rejection or of a wrongness of what he said.

She died.

She could just feel that that was right. But why couldn't she remember? What was keeping the memories from coming back? Why couldn't she remember more?

She let out a heartbroken laugh as another, albeit more cynical, thought occurred to her, "I died. But I got better, huh?"

Duke shook his head at her, smiling despite himself—leave it to her to find some way to make a joke about finding out something like that.

"Um…" she said carefully, pulling her hand off the table and setting it in her lap. She bit her lip for a moment, staring at her hands, before asking, "How, uh,…how long did…did you think I was dead?"

He swallowed and pulled his own hand off the table to lean back in his chair, "Um. About a year."

She furrowed her brow at him, curling up further into the chair like she was trying to protect herself from his answer and her own questions, "A year? But why…?"

She paused and narrowed her eyes in confusion at him, "Why did you come to Boston?"

"A friend of ours," Duke answered carefully, "from when you were…when you were with me; he was the one who told me—well, see you had made him a contact on your credit cards 'cause where I'm from was kind of—well to put it mildly it was pretty crazy until a couple of months ago—,"

"And where are you from?" Jennifer interrupted, still curled up into herself in the armchair, even crossing her arms over her chest like she was trying to make herself even smaller than she already was.

"Uh, Haven. Haven, Maine?" Duke answered, watching her carefully and trying to discern if the name caused anything else to be "knocked loose," as she put it. Jennifer wanted something to happen, for the blanks in her newly discovered memories to be filled in with the name of the town but…there was nothing. There was barely a throb at the revelation.

Goddammit why couldn't she remember?

When she shook her head at him, communicating that the name didn't do anything to trigger her memories, he sighed, but continued where he'd left off, "Our friend got, uh, got a 'ding' on your cards being used and he came to me and he told me about it, and I figured that meant someone had stolen your identity so I came down here to deal with it and—,"

"And you came down here, after a year, because you heard there might be a possibility of someone stealing your dead girlfriend's identity?" She asked, smirking at him.

He bowed his head as he smiled, "I mean…when you put it like that…"

Jennifer laughed slightly, shaking her head, "Jesus, you must've really l—,"

She stopped herself before she finished the thought and made this already awkward situation that much worse—especially by assuming something like that. Duke tensed, knowing what the rest of that question was going to be, and nodded, "Yeah."

They looked at each other for a moment, unsure of what to say or do next, before he hit his hands on his knees as if he'd made a decision. He moved to the edge of his seat, "Uh, you know, I think I could use a walk. I don't usually eat food this rich."

Jennifer shook her head as he stood, and said, without thinking, "I imagine it takes a lot of physical activity to maintain a body like that."

Duke laughed at her as she looked up at him in horror and realized what she'd said, "Jennifer Mason, are you flirting with me?"

Jennifer flushed back at him, looking away from him and stammering, "I would—I mean I wasn't looking—not really—I mean—,"

He offered her his hand, still laughing at her, "Deep breath, Jennifer, I'm only teasing."

"Can you just pretend that didn't happen?" She asked, lightly touching her forehead in embarrassment.

Duke just chuckled at her as she took his hand and stood, finally uncurling from herself. Without thinking, she turned her hand and entwined her fingers with his, appreciating the roughness of his palm against hers and how his fingers seemed to engulf hers even while letting her own exist on their own. Duke tensed, unsure of what to do with how easily she'd taken his hand; it was just like she used to do, it was like she was remembering but he was too scared to let himself hope for that. She looked down at their hands as he stared at her and smiled fondly at their conjoined hands, "I thought everyone was staring at us."

"What?" he said in surprise.

She looked up at him as the memory played out calmly behind her eyes, like she was watching an old home movie. There was a gloss to her eyes, like she wasn't really seeing him and that was making Duke nervous, "The first time we held hands in public, I thought everyone was looking at us and you…you pulled me into the gazebo because you knew something was bothering me and you said to me, 'If anyone's looking at us, they're—,'"

"'They're looking at me and wondering what the hell a guy like me is doing with a girl like you.'" Duke finished for her, still looking at her in amazement.

She smiled dreamily at him, "And I asked you, 'A girl like me?' and you said…you told me that I was perfect."

Duke turned his body towards her and risked touching her neck, just like he used to, and bowed to look in her eyes and hoped that maybe the gloss to her eyes would be lessened or that it wasn't nearly as dangerous as Duke thought it was, "What else, Jennifer? What else do you remember?"

Her eyes slowly cleared and she shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the cobwebs that seemed to form there as the memory had played, "Just that. Isn't that enough for now?"

When she looked back up to him, her eyes were back to being clear and alert. She looked at him with her own surprise, realizing what had happened. When she went back into her mind to see if she could still remember it clearly or if it would be another kind of after-image memory like what she'd remembered of the Gray Gull, it was still clear.

She felt it.

It was hers.

Finally.

She smiled at him, "Oh, that's new."

He pulled his hand back from her neck, suddenly too conscious of the intimacy of the act and knowing it wouldn't mean the same to her as it did to him; not yet anyway. He studied her carefully, "What…what did…" he sighed and tried again, "Are you okay?"

She tugged on his hand and moved towards the door of the café, "Let's, um…let's go for that walk."

---

Adelaide glanced at Holly as she laughed and the door jingled closed behind Duke and Jennifer. She looked to Joshua who was already looking at her, a waiting question on his face.

That's a good plucky young assistant, Adelaide thought, smirking to herself.

"Sweetness?" Adelaide said, turning gaze from Joshua and getting Brielle's attention.

She looked up from her book next to Joshua and beamed at Adelaide, "Yes, Momma?"

"Why don't you go on up and get your jacket so we can get going? Maybe Mr. Joshua will help you on your Jacket Hunt." Adelaide smiled at her.

Brielle bounced off the couch, "Okay!"

She turned and grabbed Joshua's hand, pulling him to his feet, "C'mon, Mr. Joshua. Momma fixed my dollhouse since last time you were here; they have a pool now!"

Joshua just smiled down at Brielle before shooting Adelaide a pointed look. She just kept smiling at him as Brielle led Joshua upstairs, telling him all about the family that lived in her dollhouse and all their, rather dramatic, familial troubles.

Holly glanced around the shop and sighed wistfully, "Not a single thing has changed about this shop since I was here last."

"Oh, that's not true," Adelaide smirked, "I know I've changed the beaded curtains since you were last here."

Holly giggled at her, still looking around the room, "You know I think you're right. The Mona Lisa one had to've been up by the loft last time. And is the galaxy one new?"

Adelaide didn't say anything to that and instead placed her hands on the counter and regarded Holly, her expression turning serious, "How long have you known."

It was meant to be a question, Holly was almost sure, but her tone made it more of a statement.

Holly scoffed nervously at Adelaide as she turned towards the couch, her stomach lurching slightly in panic, "Known? Known what? That you're interior decorating is awful?"

Adelaide arched an eyebrow at her as a small, stiff smile appeared on her face, "Ah. So that's where Jennifer learned her brilliant deflection strategy."

Holly laughed, sitting down on the couch and crossing her arms and legs, "Oh, that girl couldn't lie her way out of a paper bag."

"And right now, neither can you." Adelaide's features were still rigid and the smile disappeared almost as soon as it appeared, "Holly, I'm only going to ask one more time and I need you to be up front with me, alright? You—we owe each other that much."

Holly's eyebrow quirked slightly, demonstrating her initial skepticism, but sighed and straightened her posture as she looked at Adelaide and nodded.

"Holly, how long have you known?"

"About Jennifer?" Holly asked, meeting her gaze steadily and adjusting her arms across her chest to tighten them around herself, "Or about you?"

Adelaide's eyebrow twitched slightly in what Holly assumed was surprise as she crossed her own arms over her chest and straightened her posture, "I imagine they're fairly intertwined."

Holly nodded and sighed the first word of her sentence, "Then, I suppose I've known since I first spoke to Jennifer last week. What gave me away?"

Adelaide smiled humorlessly and shook her head, "Oh, Holly. You're good, but you're not that good."

Holly narrowed her eyes at her as she continued, "When Jennifer called me 'magic,' I'm pretty sure everyone saw the way you stiffened."

"Alright, I'm easy to read. So do you want to tell me just what the ever loving fuck is going on here?" Holly asked, her annoyance clear in the way she bounced her foot in the air.

Adelaide sighed, rubbing her forehead and uncrossing her arms to gesture emphatically as she spoke, "Let me…let me just guess how that conversation with Jennifer went last week."

Holly arched an eyebrow at her as Adelaide took a step back towards to counter to brace herself there, "Is that necessary?"

Adelaide shrugged noncommittally, "I think so; mostly just to make sure that we're on the same page."

Holly studied her for a moment, trying to figure out either what Adelaide's goal was, or waiting to see some sort of crack in her façade. When nothing showed itself in Adelaide's eyes, Holly sighed, uncrossed and re-crossed her legs, and folded her hands on her knees as she nodded to Adelaide for her to begin.

Adelaide rolled her shoulders and began, "So until you'd spoken to Jennifer a week ago, you hadn't really heard or seen anything from her in a while—and usually when you haven't heard from her in awhile, you start getting nervous but for some reason that just didn't happen until some significant time had passed—and just when you were starting to get really worried about it—like "seriously contemplating calling the police" worried about it—there she was, on the other side of the line. As if nothing had happened, as if no time at all had passed since the last time you spoke to her."

Holly nodded, looking at Adelaide in bewilderment.

Adelaide continued, her tone remained even, almost as if she was talking about something as mundane as the weather, "And the second—the second you heard her voice, all these, these memories, like pictures in a story book, came and fixed any questions you had for her about all the time that'd passed where you hadn't heard from her." Adelaide tilted her head to the side, still studying Holly as if she were reading all these facts from her like she was one of the books around them before walking around the counter and continuing, "And while she was talking to you, all excited about seeing you—and maybe you found some small part of you surprised at her timing; How could she have known about how much free time you were going to have? How could her timing possibly be that good? After all, you didn't really remember making any plans for a visit the last time you spoke to her—but there she was, talking all excitedly about seeing you next week and there they were, all these brand new memories about all these plans you both had made for when you came back to Boston. And then maybe she mentioned me, or my daughter, or, hell, even Little John, and then there was a whole other set of memories of me and who I was and the role I'd played in Jennifer's—and even your—life, so before you could even ask, 'Who's Adelaide?' you had all the answers you didn't even know you needed. Am I right?"

Holly nodded again, her features fixed in surprise.

Adelaide nodded back as she leaned back against the counter to regard Holly as she said, "Okay. So. Tell me what you know, Holly."

"I…" Holly stammered uncrossing her legs finally and leaning forward until her elbows were pressed into her knees, "I have two sets of memories. One with you, and one without."

Adelaide nodded, unfazed, "I figured something like this would happen; I just figured it'd be someone with a little more…distance from Jennifer." She paused before sighing, apparently in agitation but Holly could feel that the agitation wasn't at her as she rubbed her forehead, "And I'm sorry to say that a lot of your memories are…they're going to be kind of a mess. At least until…until certain things have settled."

Holly kept staring at her, still swimming in her confusion, as Adelaide rolled her head back against her shoulders so she was looking up at the ceiling as she mumbled to herself, "God, it's like they aren't even trying…"

Holly shook off her confusion and glared at Adelaide, "Jennifer died."

Adelaide brought her head back down and nodded sympathetically, "Yes. She was, uh—," Adelaide mimed air quotes, "—'dead' for about a year. When she called you last week, she'd been in my custody for about a…" Adelaide paused, suddenly seeming nervous, before carefully saying, "for, uh, for about a month."

"A month?" Holly said loudly as she rose to her feet, "Jennifer's been alive for over a fucking month and—,"

"Keep. Your voice. Down." Adelaide said through clenched teeth, pushing herself away from the counter to lean closer to Holly, and glared at her as Holly started to walk towards Adelaide. She pointedly glanced towards the loft as if she were worried that Joshua or Brielle were going to hear them.

Holly scoffed at her, turning from her and daring to raise her voice further, challenging Adelaide, "You want to fucking tell me to—,"

"Holly." Adelaide cut her off, voice full of venom, and giving Holly a look that could freeze the heart of a volcano. Holly spun back around, primed to say something brief and rather indecent, but held her tongue when she saw the look on Adelaide's face. Instead, she opted to just narrow her eyes at Adelaide as she continued, still gesturing emphatically as she spoke, "I understand that you are frustrated and pissed off and you have every right to be all of those things, but you have to know that I am your ally in all this. Even if I'm no longer your friend, even if you don't trust me as far as you can throw me, Jesus, even if you hate me—you have to believe that I only want what is best for you, for Jennifer and Duke, and everyone else that's become involved with or effected by what's happened over the last year."

Holly scoffed at her, "What's 'best'? What is—what is best about Jennifer not remembering the last year of her life? What is best about me having two sets of memories? How the fuck are you going to set this right, Adelaide? What are you gonna do? Huh? You got some way to fuck up and then fix my memories? Fix Jennifer's?"

Adelaide looked at her with what could be described as hurt, if Holly wasn't so pissed, as she shook her head and stammered, "I—I don't—that's not really my job, Holly. I can only tell you that…that everything's going be righted and when it is, your memories will be as well. Things are…unsettled enough right now that they have the potential to be righted like they need to be."

"What about later?" Holly demanded.

Adelaide stared down at her feet like a child caught in a lie, and mumbled, "I don't know."

Holly threw her hands up in frustration, nearly yelling again, "Jesus, Adelaide, what do you know?"

At that, Adelaide looked at her, a determine set in her jaw, "That I can help."

Holly smirked at her, some of her anger receding slightly despite her wanting to cling to it, "You seem pretty certain about that. You some kind of guardian angel or something?"

Adelaide just shook her head, smiling slightly as she walked back around the counter to stand, and watched Holly, "Nah. I'm just a bookstore owner."

Holly rolled her eyes at her, letting out a slight chuckle. God help her, she wanted to hate Adelaide, or at the very least distrust her, but whatever bond they had, manufactured or otherwise, had become real to her. She felt it. Unlike her memories of her, what she felt towards Adelaide was real. Adelaide was as important to her as Jennifer was, and if she couldn't stay mad at Jennifer for long, there was no way she'd be able to stay mad at Adelaide. She was still younger than Holly, and she was just as baffled by the situation as the rest of them—even if she did seem to have a better grasp on the whole thing than anyone else involved. There was a pause as Holly came back to the counter, now to stand opposite of Adelaide before she finally asked, "You're my 'ally,' huh?"

Adelaide nodded, "I am."

Holly raised her eyebrows as she nodded, placing her hands on the counter and lightly tapping her fingers against it, "Okay. Ally. So if I ask you a question, you'll tell me the truth?"

Adelaide nodded, "To the best of my ability."

Holly nodded again, "Okay. Who took Jennifer?"

"People…" Adelaide began before pausing briefly, considering her next words carefully, when she couldn't find whatever words she was looking for, she just sighed, "People with a lot of power who think they know how the world should be."

Holly smiled humorlessly, "So politicians took Jennifer?"

Adelaide rolled her eyes, "Aha, a comedian."

"I'm here all month," Holly quipped, before her expression became serious again, "Do you work for them?"

Adelaide leveled her gaze at her; "I did. Only long enough to get Jennifer here and to see how…far their influence on her had gone. The moment I had to tell her that what was probably a memory throb 'wasn't important,' my employment with them ended."

"How long did that take?" Holly asked, though part of her felt like she knew the answer already.

"I'm sorry to say that I only officially cut ties with them yesterday." Adelaide admitted.

Holly considered this for a moment, brow furrowed in concentration, as she seemed to find a spot on the counter to fixate on before asking her next question, "Is she safe here?"

"I understand your concern," Adelaide sighed, moving her hands from the counter and crossing her arms over her chest as she continued, "especially given my previous admission but you have to believe me when I say, yes, she's safe here. For now, this is the safest place she can be."

Something seemed to occur to her, making Adelaide smirk as she added, "Now Duke, I'm sure, would prefer to believe that she'd be the safest on the Rouge, with him, but until…until Jennifer remembers everything, she has to stay here."

"Shouldn't that be her choice?" Holly asked; she pulled her gaze from the spot she'd been studying to look at Adelaide. Jennifer was many things, and among those things, and despite Holly's teasing, she was strong and she was stubborn. If Holly knew even just one thing about Jennifer Mason, it was that no one told her what to do or stopped her from getting what she wanted. If Jennifer wanted to be with Duke, she would be; consequences be damned. And while she admired and loved that about Jennifer, this whole situation was proving that that could prove to be a very dangerous thing for her if she wasn't careful.

Adelaide smiled, "I knew there was a reason I liked you, Holly; blatant and rockin' fashion sense aside."

Holly rolled her eyes but she smiled at her, Adelaide continued, "When the time comes for Jennifer to make her choice, it will be hers. But she deserves to know everything first—to find her way to those answers on her own terms—she's had to deal with too many half-truths and full lies lately. Asking to make this or any kind of commitment now would be horribly unfair—to her, to Duke, to you, just, to everyone involved in this. Things…things still aren't quite set, yet."

Holly shook her head and gestured at Adelaide, "You keep saying that, but what does that mean? Do you always speak in riddles?"

Adelaide smiled and shrugged, "Went to the school of the Sphinx, what can I say?"

Holly rolled her eyes, something she was becoming an expert at, "Right. I'm sure that's where all—," Holly raised her fingers to mime air quotes at Adelaide, "—'bookstore owners' go."

Adelaide just chuckled at her as she stepped back from the counter and leaned against the bookshelves there, waiting for Holly to continue whatever else she had in mind to ask her.

"What did—do these people—with all that power that you mentioned earlier—want with Jennifer, anyway?" Holly asked.

Adelaide studied her briefly before asking, "When you and Jennifer were younger and you'd get together, did anything strange happen?"

Holly scoffed, waggling her fingers at Adelaide as she spoke, "What, like she saw into the future or knew things about people she just couldn't know?"

Adelaide gave her a small smile, even chuckling a little at Holly, "No, no, nothing like that. It wouldn't have been that extreme. It would've been…small. Something that wouldn't seem strange until you really started to think about it—and that's what I'm asking you to do now—really think about it, Holly."

Holly rolled her eyes as she thought briefly. Her face stayed incredulous as she thought, shaking her head slightly until one thing stood out to her and her brow furrowed. She kept her eyes focused on a spot in the carpet as she spoke, "She…she could just find things, you know? Like if something or someone was lost, or hidden, Jennifer would find it like it was as plain as the nose on your face."

Adelaide nodded as Holly continued, "When she couldn't find anything out about her birth parents she told me that something felt really wrong about it, you know? I mean, she'd never put too much stock into her weird subtalent, but it just seemed too…"

Holly let the thought end as realization hit her and she finally looked at Adelaide, "Oh wait a fucking minute, is that what they wanted? 'Cause she can find keys and—?"

"Holly, I've agreed to be up front with you, the least you can do is do the same for me." Adelaide interrupted.

Holly gave her a surprised, nervous look, "What are you…?"

Adelaide looked at her knowingly, "You know she's able to find more than just lost knick-knacks."

Holly chewed the inside of her cheek for a second before saying carefully, "Duke…Duke and I talked last night after he saw Jennifer and was kind of—uh, but, anyway. I…I remembered him from one of my memory—I dunno, sets?—and he told me about what happened in Haven; about Jennifer's importance there. Which I'm assuming you know all about?"

At Adelaide's nod, Holly nodded and continued, "So yeah. I know she can find more than just knick-knacks."

Adelaide nodded, "So imagine, then, that you are one of those people with a lot of power who think they know how the world should be, and then there's some…some free radical, unaligned with anything or anyone that is out there in the world. Just…left to have this ability, unchecked, finding things she should not find, knowing things she should not know. No one knows where her loyalties lie, no one knows what she's capable of or what she knows, and some of those 'no one's—some of whom are people like you in this scenario—are none too keen to find out or to wait until she makes a move; what do you think would be their, or even your, first move?"

"I…I don't—," Holly stammered, too scared of the answer to Adelaide's question to want to verbalize it and pulling her arms back around herself.

"Yes you do, Holly." Adelaide interrupted. She didn't sound impatient, she just tried to goad Holly towards the answer she knew she had so that they'd be on the same page, "You've read enough books, you know the patterns—what do you think the first move of some of those big bad 'no one's would be? Even of some of those people like you?"

"They'd, um," Holly said, her voice cracking slightly, shifting her weight from one foot to another, and looking down at her feet to keep Adelaide from seeing the beginnings of tears in her eyes, "They'd kill her."

Adelaide nodded, choosing not to bring any attention Holly's strong reaction to the question or answer, "Exactly. She dies, things that are hidden stay that way, doors that are locked stay locked, and the world just keeps spinning, just like it always has; at least that's what they seem to think."

"What do you think?" Holly asked nervously, looking up from her feet now that her emotions were more in check.

Adelaide shrugged dismissively, "The Buddha once said that three things cannot remain long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth."

Holly smiled mirthlessly, shaking her head at Adelaide, "And a great FBI agent once said, 'the truth is out there.'"

Adelaide just smiled back at her, before letting her face shift back into careful contemplation as she regarded Holly and braced herself behind her on one of the bookshelves that she was leaning against; she could see that there was something else that Holly wanted to say or ask her and she wanted to make sure she was able to give her the right answer.

At least the right answer for now.

"But what's…?" Holly started to ask before trying again, "But what's keeping them from—what makes here so much safer? Duke said that all that…all that stuff in Haven was over, and that Jennifer's thing would be—or was? that part got kind of confusing—it should be over with." Holly asked, clearing her throat slightly and focusing on Adelaide. She could feel panicked and scared tears stinging her eyes again but she refused to let them win out. There's no crying in baseball, she thought to herself, rolling her shoulders and steeling herself.

Adelaide sighed, "Unfortunately, Duke's under the mistaken impression that Haven was the only…uh, troubled spot in the world. Jennifer's…thing, as you put it, is a bit more…well, a bit more universal. As to what makes this place safer: I do. I'm why this place is the safest place for her." Adelaide finished, taking a step forward to stop leaning against the bookshelves and bracing herself on the counter instead.

Holly scoffed at her, "How is that supposed to make me feel better? What even are y—?"

"Holly," Adelaide said sternly, holding up her hand to cut Holly off, "I already told you what I am but because I know this is going to get brought up a lot, I'll just tell you again; I'm a bookstore owner."

Holly rubbed her forehead, but didn't say anything more. She had the feeling that no matter how hard she pushed, or how many times she asked—even if Adelaide seemed very prepared for this question to come up more than once—that was going to be the only answer she got out of Adelaide. A pause settled on them as Holly gathered her thoughts again. Finally, she realized that she only had two more pressing issues to ask Adelaide about, and she really wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answers to either of them.

"What, um," Holly began, suddenly shifting nervously and chewing the corner of her lip briefly, "What do you know about me? About Jennifer, and Duke, and…and Josh?"

Adelaide's expression softened at the mention of Josh, empathetic to Holly's worry, as she replied, "I know everything that your memories tell you that I know, and nothing more."

"Okay so what does that mean?" Holly leaned heavily against the counter, looking eager, "Are your memories of us like our—or I guess just my—memories of you? Or are yours real?"

"Holly, my memories…" Adelaide paused, biting the inside of her cheek as she turned her gaze to a spot on the counter, and sighed, "The topic of my memories is a…a very complicated conversation for a very different time. All that matters is that I…I feel…"

She let out a breath and then nervously reached for Holly's hand on the counter. When Holly didn't pull it away, Adelaide carefully placed her hand on top of hers and squeezed it, "I feel like you and Jennifer are part of my family—no. Wait. I feel like you two are my family and that you're all I have left—and I don't want to lose that."

Holly stared at their hands for a moment before she shifted her own hand under Adelaide's and squeezed hers back. They looked at each other, smiling nervously at each other, before Holly rolled her eyes at her, "Jesus, Adelaide, when did you get all sentimental?"

Adelaide coughed on a laugh, rolling her shoulders slightly, "Guess there's something in the water."

Holly laughed back at her, giving Adelaide's hand another squeeze before letting it go. They stood in silence momentarily, only to have it interrupted by a few loud thumps from the loft and the sound of uproarious little girl laughter.

Adelaide looked towards the stairs, laughing as she yelled, "That doesn't sound like Jacket Hunting!"

"Sorry, Momma!" came the loud reply from up the stairs.

"Sorry, Ms. Adelaide!" Joshua yelled as well.

Adelaide laughed as she looked back to Holly, "I think I left one child to watch another."

Holly smiled slightly back, but her expression was as if she was looking at something far away. Holly had one more question she wanted to ask and it was the one she was most afraid of hearing the answer for but if she didn't get it out now, she knew she never would; "How, um…what's Josh's role in all this?"

Adelaide regarded Holly carefully, trying to keep her surprise to herself, "What tipped you off to his involvement at all?"

"When Duke and I got here and I…when I introduced them, Josh already knew about Duke—specifically he knew how I'd explained—okay, fine I lied but anyway—my relationship with Duke to Jennifer last night and, liked, reinforced it or something—but the only way I know Duke is because of Jen and I don't remember—I mean, I'm not supposed to—I never—,"

Adelaide held her hand up to Holly to stop and filled in the rest of what she was trying to explain, "He knew something that he shouldn't have."

"Well, I wasn't going to put it so creepily, but if that's the way you want to phrase it…" Holly said, trying to be light as she shrugged and took a step away from the counter back towards the couch, but her stomach lurched. Holly had never considered herself to be a particularly protective older sister, but she didn't like the idea of her little brother being involved in whatever the hell was happening to Jennifer. Hell, she didn't like the idea of Jennifer being involved in whatever the hell was happening to Jennifer.

And yet here we are, Holly thought as she fell back onto the couch to sit, crossing her legs as she did.

Adelaide tried to give her a reassuring smile, "Creepy is just a state of being for me, apparently."

Holly let out a huff of a laugh at that as Adelaide's eyes softened on her again, "It's okay, Holly. Joshua is only as involved as he wants to be."

"That doesn't really make me feel better." Holly said, glancing at the stairs as Joshua and Brielle came down them, and sat up straight. Brielle was on his back, laughing at something he'd said or done, and he had a big grin on his face. It'd been a long time since Holly had seen her brother so at ease. It almost broke her heart.

Adelaide crossed the room to stand in front of her and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "He's okay, Holly. He's…he's just returning a favor. We're…we're keeping him safe."

"A favor? What does that—?" Holly started to ask, looking up at her in confusion.

"Momma, we're ready!" Brielle interrupted, beaming at them from over Joshua's shoulder as they approached the front of the shop. Her jacket was clenched in her hands as they rested under his chin as her arms wrapped around his neck.

"We'll continue this later," Adelaide said quietly to Holly. Before Holly could formulate a protest, Adelaide turned back to the duo at the end of the counter, "Brielle, that had to be the longest Jacket Hunt you've ever been on!"

Joshua chuckled as Adelaide walked back to the counter and leaned against it to address Joshua more directly, "Well, we started on a Jacket Hunt, but then as Brielle told me about the Drama in the Dollhouse—,"

Adelaide gasped and nodded knowingly, "Oh, Bob and Carol?"

Joshua shook his head, "Don't get me started on Bob and Carol."

Adelaide nodded solemnly as Brielle giggled over his shoulder and Holly shook her head at them. Joshua continued, "I became a bit enraged and, well, to make a long story short—,"

"Too late," Holly and Adelaide said together. They glanced at each other and grinned.

"—I became Godzilla and crushed Tokyo, Moscow, London, and part of San Francisco." Joshua concluded.

Holly smirked, climbing to her feet, "What, all the other major cities in between London and San Francisco just not worth it?"

"Well I actually started in London and went east." Joshua contended.

Adelaide pulled Brielle off Joshua's back and set her on the floor, taking her jacket from her and helping her into it, "Well, if you're quite done destroying major cities, I think there's an aquarium for us to get to."

"Right you are, Ms. Adelaide. My car's around back," Joshua led the way out of the store.

Adelaide held Brielle's hand and followed, Holly following just behind them as she mumbled to herself, "We'll finish this later."

---

Jennifer held Duke's hand tightly as they walked to the park a couple of blocks away from the café and from Bouquin Bros. Duke wasn't complaining, but he knew that she only held his hand this tightly when she was thinking intently about something and wasn't really paying attention to the rest of the world. He looked around at the people around them, wondering if they were being watched by whomever it was that had taken Jennifer and if they were enjoying the mildly panicked state she was in or if they were planning on using her inhibited state to take her away again.

He didn't know who they were, but he knew at least a part of what they were capable of, and he doubted that they'd let her out of their sight so easily.

Whatever else his paranoia told him, or had him believe about the situation, he had to get her to calm down.

She was tapping her thumb against his and chewing on the inside of her lip. She was looking at her feet as they walked and was so removed from what was going on around her, Duke was afraid that if he wasn't holding her hand, she'd walk off and keep going until he never saw her again.

And he could only handle that so many times in one life.

He spotted a bench and pulled her towards it, tugging on her hand gently to guide her—though she didn't seem to notice. He sat on it and pulled her gently down to sit next to him. She kept fidgeting even as they sat; her leg was bouncing, her thumb was still tapping against his, and she was tapping the fingers of her free hand against her other leg.

"Hey," he said gently, ducking a little to catch her eye.

"Hm?" She said, only tilting her head slightly towards him but still not looking at him yet.

He sighed before deciding to risk reaching out and touching her neck to get her to look at him, "Hey, Short Stack, slow down; you fidget anymore and I think you're gonna atomize yourself."

Her eyes cleared slightly and she focused on him as her hands and leg stilled. She tried to smile at him, "I didn't think I was being that bad."

He smiled back, pulling his hand away from her neck before she could register it was there, "I'm pretty sure that if you weren't holding my hand, you'd just keep walking until you couldn't anymore."

She shook her head, "Sorry. I, uh, I do that when I start really thinking about something; I just kind of…go. My mom used to call me the Energizer Bunny when I'd get like this—that. Whatever."

Her smile turned sad as she looked back at him, "But, uh, I imagine you already knew that."

He nodded as he leaned forward to put his elbows on his knees. He held their joined hands in front of his and ran his free hand over her knuckles. It wasn't what he really wanted to do, it wasn't a kiss, but it was as close as they were going to get for now. "I did know that. Which is why I'm going to ask what you've been thinking about, and what happened in the café."

She sighed as she stared absently at their hands, "When you, um…when you took my hand, it was…it was like everything just lined up and made the memory of the first time you held my hand in public clear."

He raised his eyebrows at her, "You remember enough of the context to—?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm sorry I…I just remember what I'd thought at the time, and I was hyperaware of the fact that that was the first time we did that."

She paused as she crossed her legs next to him as she furrowed her brow in thought, "The memory itself was…it was so different than any of my other…I dunno episodes? It came so calmly, so easily; there wasn't even a throb before it, it all just…it flowed. And I…I felt it—all of it. And it just…it wasn't the first time this happened; when…just before you told me I looked nice back at the shop, I…that was when I remembered that you were glad I was staying in…well I suppose you were glad I was staying in Haven."

Duke squeezed her fingers and ran his free hand over his mouth nervously as she continued, "But that moment is…is strange because it's like…I only remember up to you saying that you were glad that I was staying but it just…it stops there. You were looking at me after I asked if you were glad if I was earning rent money, and then I remember you saying 'Staying in' but that's where it ends."

"What do you—what does that mean?" Duke asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

She sighed, "Hell, I dunno. It's like someone went through and cut out certain things. The name of your town seems to be one of them."

Jennifer saw his demeanor shift, and his eyes darken slightly so she tried to smile at him, "But the memory of you holding my hand, now, that played out in its entirety and I felt everything and I just…I remembered."

He looked at her nervously, "Has it…has it happened again since we've been walking?"

She shook her head, her already weak smile faltering, "No. No, it hasn't happened again. Not, um, not yet, anyway."

Not even when I touched your neck? He wanted to ask, but he refrained, pushing down the disappointment that the gesture hadn't done anything. It had been so important before, and he had hoped—he pushed the thought away and chose instead to ask, "What do you think caused it?"

Duke turned towards her slightly so that his knee lightly touched hers. Jennifer shook her head, "I have no idea. I mean, that wasn't the…the first time you'd touched me—I mean hell, you hugged me the second you saw me and this didn't happen—but…oh hell, I just don't know."

She sighed and let her head fall back as she pressed the thumb and forefinger of her free hand against her eyelids. She left her hand there as she said, "Do you think if you touch me somewhere else I'll remember something more?"

Duke laughed nervously, Oh don't tempt me, "I think that that isn't exactly 'first date talk'."

She laughed, dropping her hand from her eyes and looking back at him as she sat back up, "I guess you're right. What would you suggest to get this…this date back on track?"

"Well, this hand holding?" He said, holding their conjoined hands up for her to see and smiling at her, "This? Right here? This is a really good start."

She giggled at him as he glanced briefly around the park and spotted a cotton candy vendor just across the way. He continued, turning his gaze back at Jennifer, "Now the next step—if you promise not to get up and walk until you can't anymore—is for me to be the gentleman and offer you some cotton candy for us to share while we talk."

She smiled at him skeptically, "'Talk'? That sounds a little normal, don't you think?"

He grinned at her, "Well, there's a first time for everything,"

Or second in our case, it was unsaid between them but certainly not unfelt, even as she laughed at him.

Duke pointed at her with his free hand, "Promise you won't wonder off while I grab the cotton candy?"

She grinned at him, "I don't know where else I'd go."

He just chuckled at her before squeezing her fingers and standing, he held her hand for as long as he could as he stood and walked away. As he crossed the park, he'd look back at her, like he was trying to make sure that she was still there. Every time he looked back at her, she'd smile at him and wave slightly, trying to communicate, "I'm still here. I haven't gone anywhere."

Once he reached the vendor and was distracted from checking on her every few seconds, she sighed and leaned back against the bench, letting herself try to figure out what else she could ask him about. Haven would probably be a good start, what her role there was, why she'd even go there to begin with, and maybe something about this relationship she was apparently starting to remember. From his actions and reactions to her, she could tell that he'd cared about her—deeply, in fact; and that he still did. But part of her wondered how much of his behavior towards her now was just out of a continuation of those feelings for her, or if they were out of guilt. She hadn't managed to glean much about the circumstances of her death from Duke—and even thinking about that made her head hurt a little bit and for once not in a "memory throb" kind of way—but there had been guilt in his eyes when he'd ask if she remembered what had happened, which only made her own developing feelings for him that much more complicated. But then again, what about this situation wasn't complicated?

She sighed to herself as she watched Duke talking to the vendor, smiling and making small talk, and she found that she couldn't help but smile as she watched him. She liked him. Or, at least, she believed that she could like him. He was funny, kind to her, and really listened to her when she talked. Maybe instead of rehashing things about her memories they could just have a normal first date talk, about childhoods, and embarrassing school stories, just normal things. Strange as it was, it felt as if she hadn't done anything "normal" in a very long time. And even though she was sure what she had to say he'd heard before from her, she still wanted to tell him; to do it all again.

Not everyone is lucky enough to get a second chance like this, the small voice in her mind from before, the one that always seemed to crop up wherever Duke was concerned, whispered in her mind.

"Excuse me, Miss?" A voice to her right said, pulling her back to reality.

She looked up at the man, a lanky individual, with blond hair and surprisingly bright blue eyes, though nothing else about him seemed overly remarkable—in fact she was certain that if she were asked to pick him out of a lineup, she wouldn't be able to do it. He looked kind enough but there was the slightest feeling of unease that came over her as she looked at him. She could almost hear Adelaide calling him something like "Stretch," but she smiled at him all the same to be polite, "Yes?"

He smiled back at her, looking nervous and relieved that she was willing to speak to him, "I'm so sorry, I'm not from around here and I'm just trying to get to, um," He fumbled briefly with a map, "Old North Church?"

She smiled at him and held her hand out for the map, "Here, let me show you."

He stood closer to bench, not enough to invade her space but enough to make her feel as if she needed to be on her alert, as she unfolded and refolded the map to show him where he was, "See, we're here, and Old North Church is just down that way—," she went from pointing on the map to pointing to her left towards the other side of the park, "—across Unity Street,"

The man laughed, "Oh! God, don't I feel dumb?"

She just smiled at him as she refolded the map and handed it him back, "Don't worry about it, sometimes even I get lost around here."

"Well, I've heard that it's not so bad getting lost sometimes. Let's you…forget about all those troubling things," The man smiled back and looked at her for moment longer, making Jennifer shift slightly away from him this time, that uneasy feeling getting stronger.

"My mother used to tell me that the, uh, trouble with running away was that you always met yourself once you got there." Jennifer replied, using the same inflection as the man instinctively. She was sure her confusion was obvious on her face by now but she kept smiling at him, hoping that he wouldn't suddenly turn angry and make this situation that much worse.

"Wise words," The man contended, though there was a tension to his shoulders and in his voice now that only made Jennifer more uneasy and made her wonder what this man's damage was as she crossed her legs trying to protect herself, "But who said anything about running away?"

Jennifer shrugged, beginning to steel herself to the man, "She seemed to think that you only got truly lost when you didn't know where you were going, and that only happened when you ran away from something."

The man returned the shrug, still trying to smile at her as the edges of it began to seem to fray with either agitation or outright anger and Jennifer wasn't sure which she would've preferred, as he continued, "Maybe running away isn't as bad as your mom made it out to be."

Jennifer just tried to give him a placating smile, even as her agitation began to flare up. She looked toward where Duke was, and relaxed slightly when she saw that he was on his way back.

"Sorry, hate to ask for any more from you since you've been so helpful but could I bother you to recommend a place for lunch?" The man asked, pulling her attention back to him as he moved the slightest bit closer.

"Um," Anywhere away from me, she thought as she glanced again towards where Duke was coming from. He met her gaze and smiled at her, she tried to smile back, but he could apparently already see that something was wrong. As he got closer, he seemed to notice the unwanted attention this man was giving her and his entire demeanor changed; he looked like a man who was holding on to the last strains of his reserve.

Jennifer continued to speak to the man, hoping that if she just played along, he'd go away though her agitation was only growing towards him, "Momma Caverna's, on Charter Street; their food is exceptional."

The man smiled and leaned down towards her, making her slide further away from him. If he noticed, he didn't seem to really care, "Would you mind showing me?"

"I would, actually." She said, finally tired of being nice and of this man not taking the hint, "And I mind that you keep trying to get in my space."

The man looked at her, shocked, and that only pissed her off more.

"Listen here, Stretch—," The man seemed to tense at her slip, but Jennifer wasn't sure what to do with that yet. She was certain, however, that she didn't care as she continued, "—I don't know where you're from, 'cause you are obviously a tourist, but I suggest you work on your manners and ability to read people, 'cause I have been sending a pretty clear message since you made that crack about running away."

"And what would that message be?" The man asked, his smile turning venomous, as he stood tall next to her.

"Leave. Me. Alone." Jennifer said through clenched teeth and meeting his gaze.

"Hey, Sweetheart, sorry about that," Duke said, approaching the bench at an even gait and sounding incredibly calm. He kept his eyes on her, smiling and offering her his free hand, "The Cotton Candy Guy really liked to talk."

Jennifer smiled back, and took his hand as she stood. She instinctively moved to Duke's side so that he was in between her and the blond man. Even if she hadn't done this as easily as if she'd done it a hundred times, however, Duke was already gently pulling her that direction. He smiled at her and offered her the blue cotton candy to take. Once she did, he turned back to the blond man. Jennifer could see the change in him as he addressed him, even without looking at his face. His entire back tensed, as if he was getting ready for a fight, but he was also incredibly still, like he was just waiting for the absolute last moment to say or do anything. He was using his full height and size to attempt to intimidate the man, and Jennifer was surprised to realize that he was actually taller than she had initially thought. It was as if he was trying to turn himself into a solid wall between her and Stretch. Part of her expected his grip on her hand to be tight as he entwined their fingers, but it was as casual as ever, belying the agitation she could see in the rest of his body. Without thinking, she squeezed his hand gently, as if she was trying to communicate to him that she was all right. I'm okay, you're here, everything's fine; it was a habit that seemed natural to her. There wasn't a real change in him, but some of the tension seemed to ease slightly in him. He gently squeezed her hand back, even as he kept his gaze trained on Stretch.

"I'm sorry, and you are?" Duke asked, a forced pleasantness to his voice as he absently put his free hand in his pants' pocket—to belie the fact that his hand was probably clenched into a tight fist if Jennifer had to guess.

The blond man smiled coldly back at Duke and opened his mouth to answer, but Jennifer beat him to it as she took a bite from the cotton candy and dismissively shrugged, "Just a lost tourist, babe."

Duke glanced at her. She didn't know where the endearment came from as she met his gaze but whatever he saw there, he seemed to understand and find amusing in her eyes as he smirked at her, as the man explained, "She was just giving me directions."

"Right." Duke said, turning back to the man as he dragged the word out. He winked at him, "She's a gem like that. Well, we should get going; places to be, tourists to avoid, you know how it is."

The man narrowed his eyes slightly, his smile seeming to have become frozen to his face, as Jennifer snorted lightly next to Duke.

Duke clapped him on the shoulder, "Good luck finding your way, though, buddy. Maybe next time, don't bother the pretty brunette sitting alone on the bench."

"Because I don't know who she's waiting on?" the man asked condescendingly, shrugging off Duke's hand from his shoulder.

"No." Jennifer answered, stepping out from behind Duke. She doubted she looked very menacing with a stick of cotton candy in her hand, but she kept her voice stern and squared her shoulders as she continued, "Because you don't know what kind of mace that 'pretty brunette' has got in her purse."

Duke grinned at her as Stretch stood there, opening and closing his mouth quickly and reminding Jennifer briefly of a gold fish. She tugged on Duke's arm, "C'mon, babe, I suddenly don't feel like walking in the park anymore."

"Anything for you, Sweetheart." Duke replied, giving the man a mock salute and following after Jennifer, eagerly letting himself be pulled by her.

She took another bite from the cotton candy, even as Duke continued to glance at her with pride in his features. She offered the cotton candy up to him so he could take his own bite, "You're either looking at me like that because you really want some cotton candy, or you've got something to say to me,"

He used his free hand to pull away some of the candy fluff and put it in his mouth, as it dissolved he said, "You were pretty badass back there, Short Stack; you deal with weirdos hitting on you a lot?"

Jennifer smirked at him, "Oh yeah. Like just last night. This weird guy came up and hugged me, claiming that he knew me, calling me by a nickname I'd never heard before—you know, weird stuff. Guy was clearly off his rocker."

Duke scrunched his nose at her, "Sounds like you handled it well."

She shrugged, still smiling at him, "Apparently not; I decided to go on a date with the guy."

Duke rolled his eyes at her, "Right. So. Any other problems with weirdos hitting on you?"

She smirked slightly; biting back on her next snarky remark about if he was jealous, and shrugged again at him, "Probably no more than the usual woman in a big city. I just doubt that anyone else had a cousin like Adelaide."

Duke nodded, "Ah yes, she seems like a woman who can handle herself."

Jennifer smiled, "Oh yeah. Right before I left for college she insisted that I learn how to fight and defend myself; granted, she and some of the other kids in my neighborhood would often get into fights when she'd visit us when I was growing up anyway, and since I was her cousin I'd have to fight with her so—,"

"You used to get into fights with the neighbor kids?" Duke asked, looking at her skeptically.

She grinned at him and let go of his hand momentarily to mockingly flex at him, "You're looking at the light weight champion of Camden Street, buddy."

He laughed at her as he took her hand again, "I'll try to remember that."

She giggled at him and took another bite of cotton candy, "Damn right you will."

"So what was the deal with that guy? He kind of weirded me out even before I got back to you." Duke commented, glancing around them briefly to take stock of the people around them. He doubted the guy would be so ridiculously brazen as to follow after them, but if his life made him anything, it made him paranoid. When he didn't see anyone paying them any obvious unnecessary attention, he turned his gaze and attention back to her.

Jennifer shrugged, "To hell if I know. He started talking about getting lost and forgetting troubles and running away. He was kind of skeevy, right? Gave me the heebie-jeebies."

"Had you ever seen him before?"

Jennifer gave him a confused look and wasn't quite sure what to do with his tone, "Why do you ask?"

Duke shook his head, "I dunno, he just seemed really…familiar with you, y'know?"

Jennifer shrugged dismissively, "Skeevy guys tend to do that. But no, I've never seen him before."

She smirked at the cotton candy as she commented quietly, "That I remember, anyway."

He squeezed her fingers absently as he nodded and chose not to say anything about her comment. God only knew how much truth there might be to her joke, and he'd rather not think about it or be the one who made her think about it. He chose, instead, to focus on the feeling of her hand in his. It'd been so long since he'd felt her hand in his, he'd forgotten how easily, how nicely, her fingers fit between his. He had to fight the urge to swing their hands as they walked; he was not a schoolboy walking with his crush.

She offered him the cotton candy again, as she asked, "So tell me about yourself, Duke. I feel like we kind of missed that step in the whole 'normal first date' thing."

Duke shrugged as he grabbed another chunk of cotton candy, sucking some of the excess sugar off his thumb and smirking at her comment, "Not much to tell really. Grew up in Haven, Maine, and barely scraped out with a high school diploma. I own a bar, as you know, and I…well I'm a transporter."

Jennifer nodded, her eyebrow quirking up speculatively as she gave him a knowing look, "Ah, yes, that's the term Holly used."

"You sound dubious." Duke chuckled.

She smiled, her lips a faint blue from the cotton candy, and looked at him innocently, "Dubious? What's there to be dubious about?"

Duke rolled his eyes, "Okay, so it's a bit more—,"

"Illegal? Y'know," she grinned at him, "Like a criminal?

Duke chuckled again, "I prefer the term 'below board.' And not all of it is."

"Right," she nodded, dragging out the word, "And no comment about the criminal accusation?"

He shrugged, "I am what I am. And what I am is a criminal," to her calculating and knowing glare, he quickly added, "but one with a heart of gold."

Her eyes sparked with amusement at that, and pressed for more information about Duke's business, "So how do you do your transporting? You drive around? You run some sort of really complicated mail system?"

He laughed, "Well, technically speaking, the latter is correct,"

She glared jokingly at him, making him laugh again before he answered, "I own a boat. Well, I live on it."

"Yeah?" She smiled, eyes lighting up in amusement again, "Are you trying to tell me that I'm on a date with a real-life pirate?"

He let out a light laugh, thinking to himself, Gone for over a year and still making pirate jokes.

"Yeah, Short Stack; got any reservations about being out with a Pirate?" He asked, grabbing another chunk of cotton candy.

She considered it, "Nah, besides, I doubt anyone would believe me. And how dangerous can he be with a heart of gold?"

He grinned at that as she asked, "What's the name of your boat, anyway?"

Duke rolled his shoulders slightly, "It's, um…are you sure it'll be okay? To say it?"

She gave him a confused look before she caught his meaning and then shrugged, "Who knows? Nothing happened when you mentioned Haven. I have no idea what hearing the name of your boat will do, but I figure the best way to figure this thing out is to just…just do it."

Duke smiled at her, something sparking in his eyes that she wasn't sure how to read yet, as he mumbled, "Absolutely fearless."

She shrugged, "Not so much fearless, I'm just…I'm so tired of letting something other than me make my choices for me, you know?"

He just grinned at her, as she waggled her fingers that she was holding the cotton candy with at him, to signal for him to tell her.

"It only gets power if I give it."

Duke squared his shoulders slightly as he said, "My boat's name is The Cape Rouge."

Duke watched her carefully, conflicted about whether or not he should hope for a throb. He wanted to do something to bring her back to herself—to him, but he didn't want to do it if it would hurt her. She closed her eyes, hoping that something would come, but just like with Haven, nothing did.

Not yet, anyway.

But she was already getting tired of saying that.

She opened her eyes and shook her head at him sadly. Duke sighed and ran his free hand through his hair. She squeezed his fingers, "Hey."

He looked at her, squeezing her fingers back, as she continued, "It'll…it'll come back. We just have to give it time."

He nodded and sighed, "Right. Time."

She studied him a moment, sensing his agitation and waning patience, but she wasn't sure what she could say or do to make him feel better. Her first impulse was to reach up and touch his face, but she fought it. It felt…it felt like too much too soon. What was that called? When your body just wanted to do something that felt like instinct but it didn't make sense for it to be that?

Muscle memory.

She sighed internally; well that's just great. Her body remembered, but nothing else did. She tried to look on the bright side; at least some part of her was remembering.

She took a bite of the cotton candy as Duke shook his head and sighed again, knowing somehow, that she could feel his agitation. He rolled his shoulders, trying to relax. She was right; they just had to give it time. He glanced at her again, and chose to enjoy the artificial coloring to her lips. He wondered, briefly, if he kissed her right then, if he'd still taste the cotton candy.

There was a pause as they both looked around the street before he reached for one of the last bits of cotton candy left on the paper cone and Jennifer asked, "Why do you call me 'Short Stack'?"

Duke was surprised by the question but he just shrugged, "Just seemed to fit, you know? You, uh," he laughed slightly, "You hated it at first, I think. You'd, uh, you'd get this—," he gestured between his own for emphasis—"this little, agitated crease between your eyebrows. And then, one day, I dunno, you just stopped doing it."

He smiled fondly at the memory, before glancing at her and running his free hand through his hair again, "Sorry."

She shook her head at him as she tossed the paper cone of the cotton candy into a nearby trashcan, her lips now sufficiently and distractingly blue, "No, it's okay. Besides, you answered what I asked."

There was a pause as Duke fell into his own memories briefly. He'd first started calling her "Short Stack" on one of the first days they knew each other. It'd been an accident, not something he intended to keep calling her, but something about the way she'd get agitated and roll her eyes when he would…it wasn't until after they were together that he realized that it was because he thought it was cute. And then she got him back by calling him "Sailor" and it became as comforting for him to hear as her saying his name.

An electronic ding came from her purse and she let his hand go briefly to root through her purse until she pulled out her phone. As she looked at the screen, she absently reached for his hand again, entwining her fingers with his. It was such a simple, natural thing for her to do, it was so like before, that part of Duke felt like it would break in half. She smiled at the screen and held it up for him to see; it was a picture of Holly, Joshua, and Brielle in front of the seal tank. Holly was grinning knowingly at the camera, Joshua was grinning tiredly, and Brielle was looking with wonder up at the seals that were swimming behind them.

Duke smiled at the picture as Jennifer pulled it back, "It's from Adelaide; the caption under it says, 'Holly says to tell Duke we found his friends'."

Duke rolled his eyes and, to Jennifer's confused look, said, "It's a long story."

She quirked an eyebrow at him and made as if she were going to comment on his evasion but her phone dinged again, distracting her. It was a series of pictures of all four of them alternating at one of those face insertion caricature boards; one of Adelaide as a mermaid and Joshua as a sailor, followed by one of Brielle as an otter and Holly as a dolphin.

"What's the caption on that one say?" Duke asked.

Jennifer rolled her eyes, "Adelaide wants a picture of us."

Duke gave her a confused look, "What for?"

Jennifer shrugged, "To make sure I'm still alive? Who knows why Adelaide does anything; I just know that it's usually easier to just roll with it than it is to try and argue with her."

She pulled up the camera on her phone and smiled at it, she didn't take a picture though; instead she seemed distracted by her image, "Aw, man! Why didn't you tell me my lips were blue? Stupid cotton candy."

He grinned at her; "It's a good color on you, Short Stack."

She smirked at him, "Doesn't look so bad on you either, Sailor."

Duke froze for a second, staring at her. She gave him a confused look, "What?"

"You, um, you used to call me that. That was…"

"Oh." She replied and then more quietly, as the gravity of the nickname became clearer to her, "Oh."

They stared at each other for a moment longer. That had been too easy; it had come too naturally not to mean something, but what? It wasn't a memory that had prompted Jennifer to say that, it had just been…it had been them, together. Duke wasn't sure how much to hope for, but he'd been hoping since he first saw her again; why stop now? He sighed at himself; he knew why—hope was a deadener, you don't focus, you don't stay alive when you hope too much.

Her phone buzzed again, pulling them back out of their respective thoughts. Duke took it from her, careful not to brush her fingers with his as he did, "Think, uh, think we can give her a normal enough looking picture?"

Jennifer tried to smile at him, "I'm willing to try if you are."

He held the phone out so that they were both in the frame, just before he clicked for the picture to be taken, she said, "Stick your tongue out."

"What?"

"Stick your tongue out. Adelaide'll get a kick out of seeing my tongue blue, but there's no way I'm gonna be the only one making a dumb face in this picture." Jennifer smiled.

"Solidarity at it's finest."

"Only way to go." She grinned at him.

Duke shook his head at her in response but stuck his tongue out with her as he took the picture. She took the phone back and sent the image, smiling at the phone. When she'd placed the phone back in her purse, she looked at him nervously. She didn't know what to do or say, but she did know the sun was setting and that they should get going back towards the shop.

She told him as much and he nodded.

She was nervous about reaching for his hand again, but he left it out for her, just swinging at his side. He seemed anxious and a little agitated; he kept glancing around the street and then down to her. He reminded her of kid who shoplifted a piece of candy from a drugstore; constantly checking for anyone who seemed to be looking at him too long and constantly checking his pocket where the candy was to make sure it was still there.

Does that make me the candy in this situation? She thought, smirking to herself.

She pulled herself back to the moment and glanced at him. She was suddenly very aware that she wanted to hold his hand again. She let the back of her hand brush his, to test the waters, and saw how he straightened slightly and let his fingers twitch towards her. That had to be a good sign, right? She smiled to herself before letting her fingers loosely twine with his. He tightened his grip on her fingers as they walked; he seemed relieved that she wanted to hold his hand again, and she was glad to see how he relaxed he got at her touch. He looked at her, a nervous glance that reminded her of a schoolboy looking at his crush, and she smiled at him and wrapped her other arm around his, pulling him the slightest bit closer to her. He smiled at her, happily letting himself be pulled towards her. She liked that he was so responsive to her touch; she'd never really been overly contact driven, but something about the way he looked at her, and the way he was so happy and reactive to her that made her want to touch him. There was even…there was even a calming effect on her when she did. She used to tell Holly that it was always like her mind was on overdrive, making her overthink things, always fidgeting; there was never any…any quiet in her mind but when she held his hand, that was what she got: quiet.

They walked that way for a while, not really saying anything, but Jennifer found that she didn't really care. They hadn't really done anything on this date, she realized, but this was the most fun she'd had in a long time.

He kept looking at her, and would smile at her with this sentimentality that made her wonder, once again, just what it was that he saw when he looked at her. Here she was: liking this guy, enjoying being with him and learning about him, but for all she knew he wasn't seeing her. Not who she was in this moment, walking with him, but who he remembered her as. And that doubt made her disappointed and apprehensive about the direction the rest of the date—or even their relationship, whatever it was or would be—would take.

The sun had already disappeared behind the buildings by the time they made it back to the bookstore. The lights were on in the shop, Little John was on the couch with his head towards the door, and there was light coming through the beaded curtain of the kitchenette, but the "closed" sign was hanging in the front window. If Jennifer had to guess, everyone was probably sitting in the kitchenette while Adelaide made them something to eat or drink. Duke let go of her hand as he moved to open the door for her but Jennifer tugged on his arm, stopping him.

He arched an eyebrow at her and she just smiled, her lips distinctly and disappointingly less blue than they had been earlier, "Trust me, you're gonna want to wait awhile before going in there; the second we go through that door, we'll likely be swarmed by an excited six year and two women who enjoy teasing me relentlessly."

He smiled at her skeptically, and in response to his expression, Jennifer said, "No really, you're gonna need a moment to brace yourself."

Duke just laughed at her, "Well. And here I thought I'd heard just about every excuse there was to not go into a girl's house at the end of a date,"

She rolled her eyes at him but smiled apologetically up at him, "Speaking of, I'm sorry this date was kind of lame. I don't feel like we did anything at all, all day."

He waved her off, "Nah, it…it wasn't lame. I actually…this was actually the most fun I think I've had in a long time."

Her smile turned relieved, "Yeah?"

He nodded, "Yeah. You know, uh," he buried his hands in his pockets, "when we…when we were first together, we didn't have to do anything special—we could have fun in a box."

He smiled at her, but she shifted nervously in front of him, tugging at the sleeve of her jacket; she wanted to say something to him.

He bowed a little to catch her eye, "What's on your mind, Short Stack?"

She closed her eyes before just asking, "Did…did you love me?"

Duke froze, feeling his stomach lurch and his heart thud in his chest. He should have known this question would come up eventually; Jennifer was too perceptive, too smart to not arrive at some sort of conclusion about what he felt for her. But the worst part, the absolute worst part; was that he only just now truly and absolutely knew the answer to that question.

And here he thought he was being so subtle.

He took a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting it out on his answer, "Yes."

Jennifer tensed but nodded before asking, "Did…did you tell me?"

Duke sighed and rubbed his eyes with the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. He knew the answer but there was so much more that he wanted to say with it; that things always got in the way, that every time he wanted to it was when one of them was in danger and he didn't want the first time he said it to be when he wasn't sure he was going to see her again.

He regretted it now, though. Everyday that he spent without her, he regretted not telling her.

Instead, he went for a monosyllabic answer, just like his answers to her other questions, "No."

She sighed and rubbed her forehead, "Okay. I'm, uh, I'm sorry I asked those questions—I know they probably weren't easy to answer—but I just…"

She sighed again, nervously looking from him to up the street, to the shop and then back to him, "Look I had a lot of fun today—like a lot of fun, easily the most fun I think I've had all year and—and I think I like you or that at the very least I could like you and I want to spend enough time with you to figure that out—,"

"Really?" Duke asked, doing little to belie the hope in his voice or to conceal his smile.

"—but," Jennifer continued, trying not to look directly at him, "I…I don't know who I was or who you think I was, but I…"

She paused and let out a slow breath, before continuing, "Duke, I'm not a ghost. And I won't compete with one, so…so if that's what you're expecting, or what you're looking for then…then I don't know where that'll leave us."

Duke studied her as Jennifer caught her breath and looked back at him. He wanted to choose his words carefully. It hadn't occurred to him that Jennifer would think that he wasn't interested in this her; that he was only chasing a memory. It wasn't an outlandish fear, honestly. And it was one, he realized, that he had already asked himself about.

Was he here for her, or for who he wanted her to be?

They stood there, quietly regarding each other for what felt like an eternity before Jennifer said, her voice breaking slightly, "God, could you, um, could you say something, please? I feel like I'm gonna…I'm gonna burst."

Duke ducked down slightly and placed his hands on either side of her neck so that his thumbs stroked her cheeks, disregarding his earlier apprehension about how she wouldn't understand the gravity of the gesture, "Jennifer, from the moment I met you I…being with you had always been a privilege. One that I wasn't sure I'd earned; nothing about what we were or are…I am not entitled to you, okay? And I am not…you aren't a ghost. You are…you have always been…" he sighed, trying desperately to get the words right so she'd understand as he shuffled his feet briefly. Finally he just sighed and said, "It's you. It has always been about you, whether you remember me or not."

Jennifer shifted under his gaze and hands, but placed her hand on his forearm to keep him there, exactly as she'd done a hundred times before. She didn't miss the way he half flinched as she moved her hand—probably thinking that she was going to push him away like she had when they first met—or the relief that made him relax again when he realized she wasn't pushing him away. He kept his hands there as he moved his shoulders as he talked, "Now, I want to help you remember, and I will be whatever you want me to be to you as you do; friend, more than a friend, acquaintance, nothing, whatever, okay? But I want to be here."

He stared at her for a moment before pulling his hands away and asking, "But, like I said, this is about you. So what do you want, Jennifer?"

She let out a cough of a laugh and pressed her right hand to her forehead, "Right now? Maybe a shot of Honey Whiskey."

Duke laughed, bowing his head, and looked back up at her, waiting for her to continue.

She let out a sigh before she carefully reached for his hand again, entwining their fingers, and squeezed it, "I want to remember. I want to know why someone would bring me back from the dead. I want to know who or even what I am. But, if we're talking just for this weekend?" She asked, her smile turning sly and a familiar glint appearing in her eyes, "I want to see you again."

He beamed at her, "Yeah?"

She nervously grabbed the front of his shirt and tugged slightly, biting her lip as she smiled at him, "Yeah."

Duke leaned down towards her, eyes trained on her still-slightly-blue lips when the door jingled open, "Auntie Jen! Momma wants to know if you want some hot chocolate?"

Duke sighed while Jennifer released his shirt and hand as she turned towards Brielle quickly, speaking in a rush, "We were just heading inside, okay?"

Brielle beamed at them before going back inside, blissfully unaware of what she'd interrupted. Duke rubbed the back of his neck, knowing there was no saving the moment now, as Jennifer turned to him and gestured towards the door behind her nervously, "We, uh, we should probably go inside."

Duke nodded and held the door open for her.

"You know," he said, trying to go back to casually flirting with her, "if we are going to see each other again, I should probably have your number."

She just smirked at him as she walked in, Little John bounding off the couch and standing in front of Jennifer with his tail wagging a mile a minute, "You certainly didn't need my number to set this up."

He followed after her as she scratched Little John's head, and spoke quietly to him. She was asking Little John if he'd been a good boy and if he'd calmed down since she left, only to receive excited tail wagging and licks from Little John. Duke commented, "Well, maybe I don't want to have to keep having a go-between anymore."

"That you, Jen?" Adelaide called from the kitchenette, "Get in here and tell Holly that the incident with the champagne at her wedding was not my fault!"

"We're coming!" She called back. Little John walked up to Duke and looked up at him expectantly, tail wagging gently at him. There was the smell of onions sautéing coming from the kitchenette, and Duke was suddenly made aware that even with everything else he had eaten that day, he could definitely eat whatever it was that was cooking.

"So what do you say?" Duke asked behind her, scratching behind Little John's ears as a kind of peace offering after what had happened earlier that afternoon. Little John received the affection more than willingly, even going so far as to grunt with pleasure at the scratching.

From the kitchenette, Duke heard Adelaide saying, "It wasn't my fault! I wasn't even there! And if Desmond were alive, he'd vouch for me!"

"Oh? So where were you?" Holly was saying indignantly.

"Conceiving Brielle!" Adelaide responded, laughing before she had even finished the thought and earning groans and various sounds of disgust from Holly and Joshua.

Jennifer let out a quiet laugh at the conversation happening just on the other side of the beaded curtain before she glanced over her shoulder at him and as she parted the bead curtain to the kitchenette, grinning, "Come have dinner with my family, and I'll give you my number."

Duke grinned back, "I'll take that trade."