Author's Note: Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback on my first story. You should know that this one picks up about a week after the real season finale (not my alternate version). Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: ABC owns all characters, names, places, etc. I own nothing.

Chapter One

"Face it, Nick. You were ready to leave without looking back."

"But I came back," Nick insisted. "I came back, Aubrey."

"Yeah, you did," Aubrey agreed sadly. "But not for me."

Nick sighed. This was the first chance he'd had since the engagement party to get together with Aubrey for a face-to-face. Between family issues, Eddie's homecoming from the hospital, and smoothing out the last lines of tension that existed between Owen and Ikey, Nick had had an exhausting week. He couldn't deny what Aubrey was saying. Sure, she had factored in to his decision to turn down the offer. But if he was being honest with himself, she was more like an added bonus to his decision, not a main reason for his making it. Sitting down on the park bench, he looked down at the ground.

"Listen Nick," Aubrey said gently, as she took a seat beside him. "I know you've got a lot on your plate right now. I'm not trying to make things harder on you. But I just don't think its good for either of us to continue down this path we're on. Let's not fool ourselves into thinking this is something its not."

Nick was silent. Aubrey was confirming what had been lurking in the back of his mind for awhile now. He just hadn't had the courage to admit it.

Nick lifted his eyes to look at her. "I'm sorry to say this, but I know what you mean."

"We work real well as friends, Nick," Aubrey smiled. "I'd hate to lose that."

"I don't want to lose you as a friend either."

Strangely relieved by an unknown weight suddenly lifted from their shoulders, they sat together in a comfortable silence.

"You know," Nick said finally, "I always knew you were too good for me."

"That's okay, Teach," Aubrey returned. "You're working your way up in the world."

At the other end of town, things weren't going so smoothly. Eddie had been home for two days and was already driving his friends crazy. He was cranky about everything, constantly complaining, and all this from the confines of his room. He rarely left except to use the bathroom and get food. And that was only for the meals Phil didn't bring him.

"What goes on with Eddie, Phil?" Owen asked. "I know the doctors said he'd be sore when he went off the pain medication, but is that really what's been causing this ruckus?"

The friends were silent as they heard the sound of something hitting the wall upstairs.

"Da Vinci Code," Phil predicted. "He asked me to borrow some books to read, which I found strange considering Eddie never reads anything heavier than a newspaper, but okay, I gave him a few. Only he's not actually reading them. He's just throwing each one against the wall after he finishes the first page."

Thump

"John Grisham," Phil sighed. "Guys, you've got to get him out of the house. He's even starting to drive me crazy."

"The doctor said he should be up, moving around more than he is," Ikey cut in. With Owen having to work, it had been Ikey and Nick who had brought Eddie home and heard his discharge instructions. "They said 'Take it easy,' not 'Lay in bed all day.'"

Thump

"Dean Koontz."

"What about Janet?" Owen asked. "I haven't seen her once in all the times I've stopped by."

"That's just it," Phil started, "there is no Janet. At least, not according to Eddie. The one time I asked him about her, he closed up. She's called here a bunch of times to ask how he's doing, but whenever I ask if I should pass the phone over she says no. And she stopped by to drop off all of his favorite foods the morning before he came home, but she hasn't been back since."

"You think something happened between them?" Owen asked.

"I know he's not taking her calls to his cell," Phil stated. "He has her on a special ringer, and whenever it goes off he just silences it and lets it go to voicemail."

"Maybe she found out about Rory and got pissed," Ikey guessed.

All three agreeing this must be the problem, they turned on the tv and started discussing the upcoming season for the Red Sox.

Thump

"Tom Clancy."

Thump

I'm sick of trying to read, Eddie thought as he sent Tom Clancy's latest book flying. He remembered stopping in the bookstore two weeks ago to pick it up for Phil. He had taken Janet with him, and whenever someone in the store stopped to look at them he tried to act as if it was her who had dragged him inside. But when she had lingered over a book in the romance aisle, he had caught a glimpse of the cover and instantly pictured Janet wearing that particular lingerie set. Rushing to the cash register, he quickly paid for Phil's book and rushed her back outside to his truck. His backseat had gotten a workout that afternoon.

Instantly mad at himself for thinking of her, Eddie picked up the next book in his stack and threw it across the room.

Thump

How could she throw away what we had for a night with Rooster? he wondered for the millionth time.