Joey's bar wasn't as much fun when neither Joey nor Jo was there, Alex realized one boring Wednesday evening. The most exciting thing to have happened so far was a loud argument between two regulars over the correct pronunciation of the word "route." Alex listened to them for about five minutes before tuning out and taking a pen from her pocket and a napkin from the dispenser in front of her, figuring she would draw for fun. She was drawing a top hat on Keith Richards when someone sat down in the seat right next to hers.

"Hey, that's a dope drawing. Is that Keith Richards?"

"Thanks, and yeah, it is." Alex looked up and was surprised to see that the face of this newcomer was extremely familiar. "Wait. Adam?"

"Do I know--Alex! Shit, I really didn't recognize you for a second there!" He opened his arms with a manner of surprise about the way he did so, which Alex reflected when she hugged him. "It's been a long time, huh?"

"Yeah, it's been a few years. Didn't you move to LA? What are you doing back here?"

"I did, I'm just in town for my family's ball. I'm going back the day after it."

"Right, Rhea invited me to that. I promised her I'd find a date and go, but I haven't asked anyone yet."

"You and Rhea still talk?"

"Uh huh. I manage one of her shops."

"Oh, that's pretty cool. And I haven't found a date either--that's why I'm here. Bars are good places to meet people, right?"

"I guess so. Maybe I'll try to find a date here too," Alex said with a dry laugh.

"You should. I can be your wingman."

"Only if you let me be yours."

"Deal. I can help you get a date like that," Adam said, snapping his fingers.

"And I can get you one even faster."

✩✩✩

They were both wrong. They were there all night, and neither found anyone to take to the ball. Alex was beginning to regret promising to go and Adam was close to packing up and getting on the next flight to LA.

"What are we doing wrong?" Adam groaned as he reached for his drink. "Tell me honestly: am I ugly?"

Alex couldn't help but laugh. "No, you're not. Today just isn't a good day for meeting people."

"I guess not." He looked down at Alex's Keef drawing and shrugged. "Hey, will you be my date to the ball?"

"Wait, for real?"

"Yeah, unless you made arrangements with someone else while I was asking for that last beer."

Alex grinned and shook her head. "Nah, I didn't. I'll go with you."

"Sweet. Damn, if I had asked you earlier I could've spent those couple of hours doing something not so damaging to my self-esteem."

"Right? I don't know about you, but I'm gonna need a while to recover."

"No, yeah, me too. Just ignore me if I start having a meltdown."

Alex laughed. She was almost surprised at what a great time she was having; this Adam was nothing like the one she remembered knowing in high school. The old irascibility was gone and his sense of humor had taken a turn for the best. He was delightful, and Alex looked forward to going to the ball with him.

✩✩✩

And she had been right to. The ball got off to a wonderful start; Alex was pleased to see that Eddie was there (as Rhea's date). Rhea had been surprised to learn that her brother and Alex came to the ball together, but mostly she was just glad they'd both made it. They all spent an hour or so talking (Eddie and Adam got along surprisingly well) before Rhea's parents came up and insisted Rhea make conversation with some of the other business owners there. Alex only had time to note how dismissive they were toward Adam before they walked off, leaving Rhea to apologise for how rude she thought they'd acted. But they had been right about her having to talk to other guests, so she told Alex and Adam to help themselves to whatever food and drink they wanted before walking off with Eddie at her side.

"My parents can be such assholes," Adam said as he and Alex sat down at an outside table, setting down plates loaded with food. "They act like I don't even exist. I'm glad I rarely see them now."

"I hope you won't mind me asking why they're like that to you?"

"Nah, I don't mind. Basically, I'm not smart enough for them and they think I'm an embarrassment. They treat me like an idiot because I moved out as soon as I could and didn't stay to beg for their attention or mercy or whatever."

Alex, caught off-guard by how quickly and casually he said all of that, put her fork down and turned to look at him with wide eyes. "How can you just--I mean--I'm sorry, but I'm gonna need you to elaborate on that."

If the saying "don't judge someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes" ever needed its meaning explained, Adam's story would be the one to tell. Throughout the time she'd known him in high school Alex had thought Adam was just another cocky rich kid and that the reason he got in so much trouble and got bad grades (according to several rumors) was that school wasn't important to him because he had his parents' money to fall back on. And she had been dead wrong about all of it.

He'd never figured out what it really was, but his issues at school started with something up with his mind. He described his attention span as "shorter than a guppy's" and recalled struggling to get even the easiest of assignments done. Pissed and refusing to even try to understand, his parents had threatened to cut him off and kick him out. So Adam started staying up every night trying to study. The car crash he'd told everyone had happened while racing was actually the result of his mental and physical exhaustion getting the best of him and causing him to fall asleep at the wheel one day.

"I graduated, but not with the flying colors my parents had wanted," he said. "They were really disappointed. They didn't me to have anything to do with any of their businesses. The only reason they found something to give me was so that other people wouldn't think bad of them. They gave me this dying little shop in LA that they didn't give a shit about, definitely figuring I'd run it into the ground. But I went along with it. I told them I wanted to be really involved with the shop and moved to LA. Of course, I had only told them that as an excuse to get the hell out of there, but I realized how much fun running a business was once I got there and seriously got really involved. From there I opened a second branch, then a third, and then a totally new shop in a different business. And now I'm doing fucking terrific. My parents said they were sorry for being jackasses and Rhea said I should move back to Seattle now that things are a little better, but I wouldn't leave LA for the world. It's more of a home to me than Seattle ever was."

He took a deep breath and continued. "I wouldn't have come to this party if Rhea hadn't practically begged me to. I mean, it's no coincidence that I'm always too 'busy' to fly up for the family reunions and meetings. But...now that I'm here...I want to talk to my parents. I want to buy them out of my business. Only I don't know if I have the strength to tell them that. I doubt they'll want to sell now that I've turned it into something profitable, and they can be hard to argue with."

"Adam, after everything you've told me, the one thing I don't doubt for a second is that you have the strength to do anything you really want to. That includes convincing your parents to let you buy them out--tonight. You can do it." Alex put her hand on his shoulder and added, "and I can't fucking believe everything else you told me. I had no idea; you hid it all so well. I'm sorry, man. It must've been rough."

"Thanks...and yeah, I guess, but I'm fine now. I'm just dreading having to talk to my parents."

"Dude, just do it. Don't overthink it or worry about it too much. Just fucking go for it. Life is short and you shouldn't spend it caught up in temporary worries and not doing the things you want to do."

"Yeah, fuck it, right? I want to buy them out of a business they didn't want to be a part of anyway. They'd have to be fucking mad to say no. What am I even worried about?"

"That's the spirit! You got this, man. Believe in yourself."

"I'll work on that," Adam said. He sat up and stretched. "Now it's your turn. Tell me something."

"What? Like what?"

"I dunno, anything. Everything. Yeah. I wanna know everything that's happened since the last time I saw you."

"Um, it's kind of a lot. And it's depressing."

"Life in general is depressing. Come on, let me hear it."

And so Alex told him. She told him the complete and honest truth about everything that had happened since high school. She told him about her mom forcing her to move back to Chicago, and about Charlie borrowing Ben's truck to cross more than half the country to come get her. She told him about how clearly she still remembered every detail about the night Andy first told her he loved her, and she told him about losing Andy and about how she'd nearly died from the heartbreak. And then she told him about the last twelve months--about reconciling with Sean and reuniting with Stone and Jeff and making a ton of new friends. Finally, she told him about her feelings for Jerry and how she wasn't sure she could ever tell him, especially after the promises she'd made to Andy. And then she picked up her fork and went right back to eating while she waited for him to say something.

"Holy shit," Adam said after a moment. "I can't fathom making it through all of that. I'm so sorry about Andy. Man, I remember seeing him in the hallways at school. He was always so happy and excited about everything, and he never stopped making jokes and talking about music. He was such a good guy."

"Yeah, he was the best," Alex said. "I miss him a lot."

"I can only imagine," Adam replied, taking a sip of his drink before continuing. "And then there's all the stuff with your mom--did you ever make up with her?"

"Nah. I mean, I'm not really mad anymore, but we don't talk. Maybe I'll visit her one day and we'll finally have a normal relationship, but I don't want her in my life right now."

"That's totally understandable, after everything you've told me about." Adam shook his head. "Wait. What are you gonna do about...Jerry, right?"

"Yeah. Um, I don't know. I just feel so guilty for even thinking about totally moving on. I mean, how could I do that?"

"Andy loved you, Alex," Adam said in a soft voice. "Everyone knew that. And when it's love--real love, like you had--you just want the other person to be happy. He wouldn't have wanted you to be sad and write love off for the rest of your life. You know that. What if it was the other way around? Would you have wanted Andy to stay alone forever?"

"Of course not. What good would it do--" Alex stopped. "Huh..."

"Exactly. It's like you said. Life is short, and you shouldn't force yourself to spend it in misery. I get that you feel bad, and guilt is normal when it comes to that kind of thing. But you have to realize that you have no reason to feel guilty; and if you truly think you do, then you have to forgive yourself because dwelling on the past forever will tear you apart."

Alex didn't say anything for a moment. She slowly nodded and put her fork down, then cleared her throat and finally spoke. "I know," she quietly responded. "I know. I'll work it out."

"Good," Adam said in an equally quiet voice. "Happiness is as easy as doing the things you want to do. That's probably why being a kid is so hard. Can't do shit when you're a kid," he said with a shake of his head, and Alex laughed.

"Oh, for sure. Our childhoods were fucking bleak." She took a deep breath and stood up. "So it's a good thing we're adults now, right?" She held her hand out. "This therapy session has been lovely, but I think it's time we remember we're at a party. Wanna dance?"

Adam grinned and nodded, standing up as well and taking Alex's hand to lead her to the dance floor.

✩✩✩

Alex ended up staying the night at the mansion; Rhea wanted to tell her all about the great time she'd had with Eddie. She left fairly early the next morning, bumping into Adam on her way out. He was carrying a folder and looked very happy.

"Guess what," he said in an eager tone. He didn't give her any time to actually guess before telling her, "I bought my parents out! They said no at first, but I managed to convince them and now I'm the sole owner of my business. All I have to do is get home and finalize a few things, and then I'll never worry about this again."

"That's so great! I'm proud of you, man. You did it." Alex patted him on the shoulder before noticing something and looking him up and down in confusion. "Are you on your way to the airport right now? Where's your luggage?"

"Oh, I didn't bring any. And yeah, I'm leaving now." He pointed to a cab coming up the street toward them. "That's my ride, actually. And hey, thanks for the encouragement. It was awesome seeing you again, and I hope everything works out for you. Do the things you want to do now that you're not a kid anymore, okay? Be happy." He took a business card out of his pocket to give to her. "Here. Call me if you ever need anything."

Alex nodded and took it and opened her arms for a hug. "I will. Thanks for everything. I wish you all the happiness in the world."

He hugged her and stepped back as the cab pulled up. "Same to you. See you around, Alex."

"See you around," Alex replied, watching as he got into the car. She waved goodbye when it started to move away, and she kept waving until she could no longer see it.

***

Alex sighed as she stirred her drink (plain Coke, for once), listening to the sound of the ice being shoved around by the straw and shifting her eyes to the seat next to her. No interesting old friend came to take it this time.

"Alex, hi! It's been a few days, hasn't it?"

Alex looked up, her mood instantly improving at the sight of Joey standing behind the counter. "Hi! Yeah, it's been a while--is that a new bowtie?"

The little old man chuckled and nodded. "It sure is. An old friend of mine sent it to me. Anyway, how are you? How's life?"

"Aw, that's nice. And...it's really good, actually," Alex replied. "What about you? How's business?"

"Hey, that's great, I'm happy to hear that. I'm fine myself. Business is like usual--the old crowds fade, but new ones always come to replace them. That's life, amirite?"

"You're always right, Joey. I wish I was as wise as you."

Reaching under the counter for a rag to wipe up a tiny spill Alex hadn't noticed, Joey shook his head. "Wisdom is overrated, Alex. It's something you gain bit by bit over the years, usually through negative experience. Seems we all want to have it, but I can't think of anyone who genuinely wants to go through the hardships that precede acquiring it."

Alex leaned forward and squinted at him. "Damn. That was so wise."

Joey laughed. "You're plenty wise yourself, you know."

They talked for a while before nighttime hit and the crowd grew. Then Jo came in to work and Joey went on break, grabbing a bottle of water and reminding Alex to drink water too before he left. Jo and Alex had a short conversation before making plans to hang out the next day, and then Alex left as well.

She took her time on the walk back home. She tilted her head back to look at the moon and stars now and then, smiling when she saw how beautiful everything looked. It was hard to explain, but she felt happy and perfectly at peace. Almost as if nothing in her life could go wrong, and almost as if she was very close to finally letting go of the past and accepting what had already gone wrong in it.

✩✩✩

:)
let me be honest--i HATE the writing in this chapter. i have no idea what it is, it's just...ugly. but i really want to update today and better things are coming soon.
i'm not going to try to make excuses as to why i haven't updated in forever. wait, nope, i am. my computer broke and typing ~3000 words on my phone every time is HELL, and i've been busy trying to find a job (🎶but it just keeps getting tougher every day🎶) and find out where i'm supposed to register for classes. i hope to be writing more often but i can't promise anything.
i won't do my traditional sign-off just yet because i actually plan on updating again later tonight...so bye for now!