In the end, Marvin does give me a call. Quite a few, actually. It's nice to talk to him again. To hear all about what's going on, about Trina and Mendel and Jason. And then he asks me out.

"There's this little place on the corner I've been meaning to go to," he's telling me. "I thought maybe you and I could go together. You know, just to catch up."

I'm glad he can't see my face, because I'm smiling against my will. "All right. Sure. When do you want to go?"

"I'm free this Thursday."

"Great," I tell him. "It's a date."

He pauses for a beat on the other end. "Yeah. It's a date."

I know this is going to be weird. This will only be the second time we've seen each other in two years. But I'm surprisingly happy about this. After all, we've both taken some time apart, time to reflect, I'd hope, and maybe we're both different people now.

At least, to an extent. Because when I meet Marvin at that diner, he's still got that charm, that same charm he had at the baseball game. He looks happy to see me, too.

And so we sit down, and we talk. "How's life been treating you?" I ask him. Standard catching-up question, right?

"It's been good," he replies. "Really good, actually. I've been thinking a lot. About... a lot of stuff. And... I regret some of the choices that I made."

I eye him. Does he mean getting together with me in the first place? Or breaking up? Or maybe how he acted during our relationship. "Me, too," I reply, in assumption that it's the last one, and he just nods.

Then he starts telling me about Cordelia and Charlotte. They are, as I presumed, in a relationship, and they live right next door to Marvin; Cordelia is the caterer they've hired for Jason's bar mitzvah, it turns out. They've become quite good friends. I tell Marvin I'm looking forward to getting to know them better, and he smiles.

"So how did you end up getting in touch with Jason?" he asks me, leaning back into his seat.

I laugh a little. "Well, he was walking home the other week and my neighborhood happened to be on his route. You know I couldn't see the kid without saying hi."

"Yes, well..." He smirks ever so slightly. "I was actually hoping something like that would happen."

"Really," I say curiously.

"Yeah, things were getting just a little too dull without you here." I don't know if he's being sarcastic or not, but I find myself thinking the same thing.

We're both quiet, and I stare down at the table until I can't take it. "Okay, Marvin, look," I start, and he raises his eyebrows. "I'm having a good time right now. But... is this, you know, a date?"

He sighs. "Whizzer..."

Shit. I'm over-analyzing this, aren't I? We're just catching up. I made a big deal out of nothing, and I'm immediately embarrassed.

"I know that I made mistakes in our relationship. And I don't want to risk that happening again. But talking with you today, it's been really nice. And... it made me realize what we'd been missing."

"So..." I give him a blank look.

"So... what I'm trying to say is, I don't mind this being a date if you don't mind."

I smile in spite of myself. "Of course I don't mind."

"Oh. Okay. Great." He pauses before changing the subject. "I, uh, I know Jason was happy to see you."

"Yeah, that kid is great," I say. "I really hope he doesn't resent me, since... everything that happened."

"I don't think you have to worry about it. We all had... have... things to work out." He looks at me and exhales.

"Right."

"But, hey..." He reaches out across the table and takes my hand, a pleasant surprise. "I'm glad to be here. With you. After everything."

I squeeze his hand. "Me too."

We leave the restaurant later that night, talking, laughing, like things are completely normal between us. And maybe, after everything, they are. It's dark out, but I don't think either of us are really ready to end the night, so we take a walk.

"I wish I could have been there for Mendel and Trina's wedding," I sigh as we make our way down Marvin's block. "How was it?"

"Oh, it was weird," he replies. "But I was happy for them. Am. I am still happy for them." He gives me a smile, and it looks like he really is happy.

I'm happy too. Especially tonight.

"I was actually thinking about you recently," I tell Marvin. "I was going through some of my old things, and I found that awful square tie of yours."

He laughs loudly. "I was wondering where that went."

I elbow him. "Seriously, what were you thinking with that? I almost broke up with you on the spot when I saw it."

"Fair," he says, holding my arm to steady himself. "You hated a lot of my clothes, didn't you?"

I hum. "Let's just say I made a lot of late-night trips to Goodwill."

And then he starts laughing again, and I start laughing, and we're making complete fools of ourselves, but I don't care.

"Remember that green blazer you had?" I manage to get out once I'm out of breath.

"God, can we stop talking about my clothes?" he asks, leaning into me. "You're so mean to me."

"I'm not mean, I'm brutally honest."

"Right." He snorts.

We're by his place now, only visible by the dim light on the front step. I let out a sigh and look at him. "I guess this is goodnight?"

"I guess so." Marvin pauses before leaning in to kiss me, which I return. "I had a really good time tonight."

"Me, too. Surprisingly," I tease. "We should do this again soon."

"I'd love to." I see him smile as he takes out his keys, and then I turn down the block and I'm walking back and I'm deliriously happy.