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Some days later...

Sam stared down at the odd colored whiskey in her glass, slowly looking up at Julie, who was apparently the bar owner.

"That look ain't anything I haven't seen before, darling." She scoffed before turning around as she lifted the glass towards her lips, a hand stopping her.

"I wouldn't drink the whiskey here, if I were you. It's older than any of us." A ginger-haired man warned as she frowned, setting down the glass.

"What about the water?" She joked as the man sucked in a breath, shaking his head.

"Wouldn't risk it. Mold and build up. This place would be shut down if it weren't so popular." Julie turned around and glared at him, and he smiled sheepishly.

"Sam Willis." She outstretched a hand as the man shook it with a smile.

"Foggy Nelson. And, not to be a push over, but your clothes make it look like you could have a drink someone much fancier." He joked as Sam looked down at her work clothes, shrugging.

"Nope. This is about as nice as my clothes get. All thrifted." She laughed, gesturing for foggy to take a seat, which he declined.

"Can't. I was just coming over to grab some beer for my friend and I." He said as Julie rolled her eyes, grabbing some beers from the fridge.

"Is your friend the one in glasses that keeps looking over our way by the pool table?" She smiled, turning to look at the man standing at the corner of the pool table, his head turned downward yet still seemed to be listening.

"Yeah. Matt. He's a real lady killer." Foggy joked as Sam frowned, turning to Foggy.

"Matt?" She asked as he nodded.

"Murdo—"

"No way!" Sam shot up, startling Foggy. "I don't want to be a weirdo by just walking over to him. But we stayed at the same orphanage growing up."

"Wait— what?" Foggy frowned as he slowly took her to Matt, who stood up a little straighter. Sam's wings twitched as her fingers snapped with adrenaline, usually a feeling she got when her body sensed someone was in pain.

When she got closer, she could see Matt's lip was busted open as if he had gotten into a fight. "Matt! Don't know if you were listening with your freaky ultra-sonic hearing, but this is Sam. She says you guys grew up in Saint Agnes' together." Sam felt awkward at the interaction as Matt's head flicked up to look at them, his red tinted glasses much different from the square ones he used to wear. The new ones suited him.

"Willis?" He asked with a twitch of a smile. Sam started to nod before pausing.

"Yeah. Sam, Sammy, whatever other nicknames you had for me." She joked as he scoffed a laugh.

"Wow. It's been a while." He smiled, that charming look still strong, if not stronger.

"13 years now." Sam chuckled awkwardly as Foggy looked between the two with a sly smirk.

"I think I'm gonna head out. But uh... you two catch up. Matt if you need anything—"

"I'll call you, Foggy." Matt smiled as his friend nodded, nodding the two a goodbye before leaving the bar. "So.. how have you been? You never said where you went you kinda just.. up and left."

"Oh, yeah. I got a scholarship at Regent University in Queens after we 'graduated' and went there as soon as I could. Got a degree in Criminal Justice and now I'm a lawyer, like I've always wanted." Sam chuckled as Matt's brows raised in shock. "What about you?"

"Went to Columbia. Met foggy there and now we own a law firm. Guess we both became lawyers." He hummed as Sam scoffed.

"Copy cat." She joked, Matt raising a hand in defense.

"You're the one that talked me into it in the first place. After you left, I decided to be one." He shrugged, stepping away from the pool table as a group of guys started to huddle around it. "Did you uh.. meet anyone at Regent?"

"I did, yeah. Two guys.. relationships didn't last very long for me. I was too caught up in studying and trying to be the best, I guess." she hummed, leaning against a table as Matt rested against the wall.

"That's good. I'm happy to hear that you got your dream job, Sam."

"Well I'm happy for you, too! I'm sure you're a great lawyer." There was a slight shift in Matt's expression, Sam's wings tickling her for a moment. "That change didn't seem so upbeat."

"I Uh... haven't exactly been a lawyer.. yet." He said sheepishly as Sam frowned.

"You haven't had any clients yet?"

"Foggy and I just bought our office. You should come check it out some time. Describe the place to me like you used to." Sam laughed, shaking her head. "What?" Matt asked with a soft smile.

"You still haven't lost that charm." She pointed out, sensing a blush run across his cheeks.

"Well, it never ran off. And if it did, I think I'd have a hard time finding it." He joked, pointing to his glasses and raising his walking stick, causing Sam to let out a laugh and cover her mouth as Matt laughed along.

Sam's phone beeped, buzzing in her pocket and her eyes widened. "Oh shit—"

"Is something wrong?" Matt asked as Sam turned to look at the clock.

"No! Nothings wrong it's just uh.. it's really late. I should probably start heading back to my apartment." She sighed quietly, frowning that she hadn't gotten enough time to catch up with an old friend.

"I could walk you back, if you'd like? You know how the streets around here are at night." He suggested as Sam nibbles at her bottom lip to stop a smile from spreading across her face, and nodded.

"Yeah.. I think I'd really like that."

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Sam chuckled to herself as she and Matt walked down the dark streets, barely lit by the old lamp posts along the edge of the side walk, looking up at the dark sky with no stars.

"What?" Matt asked in a soothing tone as she shrugged.

"Nothing. Just remembering some old memories." She replied, listing to the click of Matt's stick hit the pavement.

"Am I in any of those memories?" He asked with a sly smirk as Sam only grinned.

"Yeah. You're in a lot of them."

"Well now I have to know which ones you're thinking about that made you laugh." He nudged her gently and Sam hummed, chuckling again.

"Just remembering one of the times when we were walking down this street before I left. You bumped into someone and got your soda all over me instead of the other guy. Your excuse was—"

"I didn't feel like getting slapped." Matt laughed, nodding his head. "And yet I still got slapped. By you."

"It was a new shirt!" She nudged him as Matt continued to laugh, the two of them rounding a corner. There was another shift in Matt's emotion, though it felt more of confusion. He knew the route they were taking a little too well.

The two of them paused, Sam looking over across the street. "My apartment is over there. I probably should have made us use the crosswalk."

"This is my apartment. Have you been living across from me this whole time?" Matt frowned as Sam gasped softly.

"Well shit. I guess I have." Matt laughed again, shaking his head.

"Who knows how many times we've walked out at the same time and never noticed one another."

"Probably too many times to count. I've been living there since I graduated college." The two fell silent, Sam's eyes flickering between the staircase to Matt's apartment and then to him. "It's getting late. I think I'm gonna go home now." She smiled as he did as well.

"It was nice to see you again, Sam. Maybe you'll take up my offer on checking out the office." Sam smiled softly and shrugged.

"Maybe you'll see me tomorrow, then. Goodnight, Matty." She patted his shoulder before looking down the street, running across to her own apartment.

Matt stood alone on the sidewalk for a moment, listening to Sam walk in before the door shut, then proceeded to enter his apartment.

Sam rested against the door of her apartment for a moment, a hand covering her mouth, hiding the grin on her face. Her wings twitched with excitement under her skin, and she slowly took off her jacket, hanging it up on the coat rack.

Sam collapsed onto her bed, sighing quietly and looked out her window to see the apartment complex across from her.

Matt had been so close for God knows how long. And she had been so caught up in her own world to even notice.