A/N - Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments! This place is awesome, actually :) As Parker walked through the doors of this bar, a familiar nervousness crept into his stomach. She was immediately taken back to the same place that served as Ground Zero just three years ago. This place had truly been the trigger, pushing her to finally be brave enough and come out of the darkness that had invaded her life since her brother's death. After her first and so far only evening at this bar, she had realized that she had kept him for all the wrong reasons. At the time, in her still grieving mind, it wasn't Auggie or the promise of a romance that would end happily that she clung to, but what he meant to her – a connection with Billy. As Parker walked through the doors of this establishment, bar, she tried to fight all the bad memories and put them in a box. It took nearly four years in the Peace Corps, countless arguments with her parents, a few overseas relationships, and a man who didn't deserve to have his heart broken... but she had found herself and she wasn't didn't feel the need to run away. far still. Parker had finally recovered from her brother's death and now she felt like one of the escaped prisoners described in Plato's "Allegory of the Cave". She had escaped the darkness and was ready to live her life. She was no longer chained; she no longer lived in a world of shadows. Parker walked through the doors of this bar and rearranged her dress, put on her best smile and took a deep breath. She was finally healed and she couldn't wait to see her best friend again after so long. This was the beginning of his new life. She found an empty table and sat down, texting her date to let him know she had arrived, albeit almost twenty minutes early. While she...in the middle of a sheet......unfused" "You really don't have to explain to me," Annie smiled warmly. Parker nodded, then headed towards the exit. She paused a little, as if she had forgotten something else important. “I don’t think he needs to find out. about that, our meeting." Annie nodded. "Of course. " Annie rested her head on her husband's shoulder and closed her eyes, smiling. "I think I've outgrown Allen's. " Really " ? Auggie asked, kissing her gently on the forehead. "I feel like I don't really belong there, you know? Now that I'm out...I don't know..." "Think of it as a trip down memory lane." Speaking of memories, guess who I ran into in the bathroom” “Do I really have to guess or are you just going to tell me?” "Option two. I ran into Parker. Oh, and she told me not to tell you." "And yet you tell me." "No more secrets, remember?" her in a playful tone..