Taking a deep breath, Sam managed to say, "Mallory, let's talk about this
outside."

"No, let's talk about it here," Mallory stated firmly.

"Sam, what's going on?" Caelan asked more insistently this time.

"Caelan, we'll be right back. I just need to clear something up with
Mallory," he said, pulling Mallory by the arm. He dragged her outside the
restaurant, where she exploded.

"How could you be dating her?!" Mallory demanded. "I thought we were
dating."

"We went out on one lunch!" Sam exclaimed. "I called you, but you never
called back!"

"That was right after the picture of you and your hooker friend came out of
the paper. I wasn't exactly sure what to think of you," Mallory explained.

"I did try to call you at least several times. But every time I got no
response."

"First my dad had to explain to me what the picture of you and your friend
was all about, and then the whole incident at the Newseum happened, and I
didn't have the time. But I never thought we were dating other people."

"I never got the impression we were officially dating," Sam said.

"You said there was something going on between us."

Sam sighed. "There was, Mallory. There was. I thought it would go
somewhere. But I couldn't plan my life around something that clearly wasn't
going anywhere. Something can't stay something unless we do *something* to
make it grow."

Mallory swallowed hard, trying to find the words she wanted to say. "I
just thought we would have more of a chance than that," she finally
admitted.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't planning on any of this happening."

"But it did."

"I know."

"How long have you been dating Caelan?" Mallory asked, shivering in the
night air.

"Two and a half months."

"And you never thought to tell me?"

"I did think to tell you, in fact, I called you to tell you, I just never
got a reply."

His words stung Mallory's heart. She knew he was right. She had waited
and waited, pulling him along until the timing was right for her, and now
she'd lost him. "I know."

"I'm sorry," Sam said again. "I hope you understand."

"Of course I understand," Mallory said. "We never were 'dating.'"

"So then we never really 'broke up.'"

"No," Mallory agreed. "You can't break up if you don't date."

With a sympathetic smile, Sam said, "We better go in. It's pretty cool
out."

"Yeah," Mallory said softly. "You go on. I'll be in in a moment."

Sam looked skeptically at her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Mallory said. She waited until Sam went inside then she
leaned against the building. If they had never dated, and they hadn't
broken up, then her heart shouldn't hurt like it did. She tried to convince
herself that seeing Sam with Caelan wouldn't make her cry, but she knew that
was a lie. But she had no one to blame but herself, so she gathered her
strength and went inside.

*********

Josh had been spending the evening in paradise. He was oblivious to Sam's
plight, being completely engrossed in his conversations with Joey. Things
were proceeding better than he could have hoped, and he made a mental note
to thank Donna for pushing him to do this all along.

"Joey, do you think we could talk alone?" Josh asked.

Joey nodded to Kenny, who gracefully excused himself. When he was gone,
Joey asked, "What's up?"

"Nothing, I just thought it might be nice to have a little privacy," Josh
said.

Joey glanced around at the other people in the busy restaurant but said,
"Okay."

"I've been having a really good time tonight."

"Me too."

"Really? Great," Josh said. "I was wondering if maybe you'd like to do it
again sometime. Only, just the two of us."

Joey smiled sincerely. "I would love to."

Her reply made Josh feel positively giddy. "Okay," he said. "That's
great."

They sat silently for a moment, then tentatively, Josh reached over and
touched Joey's hand. To his pleasant surprise, she didn't pull away, in
fact she smiled sweetly at him. To Josh, this seemed like the beginning of
something.

************

Charlie was tired from another day at work, but he decided not to go home
quite yet. He hadn't seen Zoey since this morning, and after hearing that
she wasn't feeling to well, he wanted to check on her. He got to her dorm
room, and knocked. He heard a muffled voice say, "Come in!"

Charlie opened the door and slipped inside. Zoey was sitting nervously on
her bed. Immediately, he was concerned. "Do you feel okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Zoey said. "I feel fine. I mean, under the circumstances."

"What does that mean?"

"Oh nothing," Zoey said, trying to be nonchalant. She held out a small
stick to him, and said, "Just this."

Charlie took it and examined it. There was a little blue plus. "What's
this?"

"A pregnancy test."

"A pregnancy test?" Charlie asked confused. "Why would you have a
pregnancy test unless…," his voice trailed of as he realized what was
happening. "Zoey, you're…."

"Pregnant," she finished for him.

"For real?"

"Oh yes. It's incredibly real."

TBC