She missed him. No matter how much she tried to block him from her mind, no matter how much she reminded herself that he was not ready to be in a committed relationship, she still missed him. There had been plenty of times that her brother had made her so angry that she was ready to sever all ties and Chris had calmly reminded her that her brother was unstable and that he probably needed as much help as their father did. He was good for her like that. And then of course there was the physical. He was good at what he did, that was for sure. Many times Lesly had felt there wasn't anything else that could make her go over the edge but every time it happened and every time she clung to him in pure ecstasy. He was amazing. 

But he wasn't ready. And it was time for her to move on.

It took all of her willpower not to pick up her phone and text him. Even the simplest "hello" would be an invitation for him to drive to Grayson and they'd be back where they started a few days ago. She found herself scrolling through random pictures they'd taken together, most of which Chris had been making some sort of silly face. It described their relationship perfectly, most of those pictures. Her smiling wide for the camera and wanting Chris to oblige, but instead, there he was sticking his tongue out or crossing his eyes. She stopped herself when she came across one that she'd forgotten about. It was both of them on the back porch of the Chasez home. He had his arm around her and was holding the phone so that they were both looking up at it. Their smiles were simple and non-descript. But it was the way they were smiling. The two people in that picture looked content. Happy. Life was good.

Lesly tried to remember when it was taken, but her memory was fuzzy. They'd been so off and on all summer that she couldn't remember when they were both together at James and JC's at the same time. And where Chris wasn't drunk and making an idiot of himself. She then remembered it was on the eve before the 2nd Annual Grayson County Talent Show that JC was in charge of. He'd had everyone over who was involved - Chris was a judge and Lesly helped James with serving coffee at Brewster's - and Chris was unusually all about her that night. That whole week he'd stayed with her and they hadn't argued. The picture was proof that they could sustain a normal time out together.

She looked back at his number on her phone, then put it back down. Be strong, she kept telling herself. How long she had to be strong was another question altogether.

** 

"Don't kill me," Chad Chasez walked into Brewster's early Tuesday afternoon.

James was just about to take off and Lesly was in the back getting more napkins for the dispensers on the tables. 

"Why?" James eyed her best friend warily. He had a look of guilt and James could see right through the smile he was plastering on his face. "What did you do?"

Chad walked over to the counter, took her hands in his and tried his best attempts at a puppy dog face. "The two weeks you're going to Greece, I forgot that that was the same two weeks Lane and I are going to Napa for a wine tasting."

"You're kidding!" James groaned and let out a sigh of frustration. "You're positive? The last two weeks of October?"

Chad nodded guiltily. "We both didn't realize it until last night when Lane looked at his calendar. For some reason I was thinking it was the last two weeks of November and that we were missing Thanksgiving. But I double-checked and it's definitely the same two weeks you'll be in Greece."

"Dammit," James muttered and took off her apron just as Lesly was coming out front with two packages of napkins. 

"What's wrong?" Lesly asked, going over to the dispenser at the table by the window.

"I made a boo boo," Chad answered. "Lane and I told James and Josh we'd keep Sutton when they're in Greece and we forgot it's the same two weeks we're going out to Napa Valley."

Lesly chuckled and shook her head. "My, my. You're going to Greece and you're going to Napa. Life must suck," she was kidding but saw the look of annoyance on James' face. "Sorry, James. It's just, I don't know it sounded like a conversation that takes place in some rich part of an Atlanta suburb, not some hick part of south Georgia." 

James softened. "No, I get it. It's just that my parents and Josh's parents are coming down to keep the twins. Not that Sutton is a handful but all three at one time can be a lot, especially for my parents." She looked at Chad. "Don't worry about it. It's not like you canceled on me a day before. Josh and I will figure something out."

Lesly thought for a moment. Sutton was one of the best behaved children she'd ever been around. Sweet and thoughtful, never sassy, and she'd only seen James and JC discipline her for small things. James swore that Sutton had her days but for the most part, Lesly had only seen a well-behaved little girl. "I could watch her," Lesly spoke up and James and Chad looked at her in surprise.

"Really?" James asked. "Oh, Les, that would be wonderful if you really mean it! Josh and I would be thrilled for you to watch Sutton."

Lesly smiled. Maybe she'd get her mind off of Chris if she had something to occupy her time, other than her psychotic father and useless brother. "Consider it done. I'd be more than happy to."

James let out a sigh of relief and grinned at her friend. "Awesome. We'll figure out a night for you to stop by and we can show you everything. She's really easy and I know she'll be excited to have you come and stay with her."

"And I'll bring you back a bottle of wine just for making my life more easy!" Chad interjected. 

Lesly laughed and for a the first time in a while felt better than she had in weeks.

**

The shock had worn off and Chris had come to grips that he was going to be a father in a matter of months. He hadn't told anyone. Not JC. Not Joey. Not even his own family. He preferred to keep it to himself for awhile. Besides, there was still a small part of him that wondered if the child was really his or not. Stephanie had sworn up and down that it was, even reminding him of when it had happened-the last week of July, which he'd forgotten all about because they'd ended up fighting anyway-and telling him over and over again that there wasn't anyone else in her life. 

"Unlike yours," she'd sneered. "Don't think I don't know you're still going back and forth with that little Southern bitch."

"Don't say that," Chris had muttered, not looking at her. "She's not-"

"What will she do when she finds out you're having my baby?" Stephanie had interrupted him. "Shame, shame. You shouldn't have been two-timing in the first place."

It was all he could do at that point not to punch her in the face, but he had been taught never to hit a woman. He shoved his fists in his pockets and turned to leave. It was the last time he'd spoken to her. All he knew was that he was going to have a child and that after all of the painstaking agony he'd gone through with hoping to win Lesly back, it would be for nothing. She'd never take him back now. He had pulled out his phone multiple times in an attempt to call her or text her. But he knew what would happen. She wouldn't respond to either. He'd promised he wouldn't be persistent, that he'd wait until she contacted him first. And when she did, the news of what he would tell her would cause her to hate him forever. He knew that they must have had a fight in order for him to have gone back to Stephanie's on the night of the so called incident. That was usually how it worked. He and Lesly would fight, he would drive back to Orlando and end up at Stephanie's, then try to call it off because he'd start to feel guilty about semi-cheating on Lesly. He knew it was wrong. Even if he hadn't made it official because of his own stupidity. He loved Lesly and everything about what had just gone down in the last three days was just awful. Thinking about it made him sick to his stomach.

He missed Lesly. A lot. He thought about her all the time. And even though the next time they talked-whenever that was or however long it would be-that he would break her heart, he knew that she was the missing link to everything that was awry in his world. 

**

Lesly closed up the shop later that evening and walked briskly to her car. For a few hours, her mind had been on the fact that in about 10 days, she'd be playing "Mom" to little Sutton Chasez for a while. She was thinking of fun things to do with her, although the fact that Sutton probably had every toy known to man, it probably wouldn't be terribly hard. She thought about maybe asking Griffin to come over for a day or two, especially just to get him out of the filth and trash he was living in. She thought about taking them up to Savannah or down to spend the day in Jekyll Island. They'd have a blast together.

And then she thought about Chris again because she remembered how much Sutton adored him when they'd been over at the Chasez home. She thought about how fun it would've been if they could've both kept Sutton, if only Chris had been the Chris she wanted him to be. She sighed and was just about to get into her car when she heard a familiar voice.

"Lesly? Lesly Parsons?" 

Lesly turned around to see Gabe DeAngeles, her ex-boyfriend from high school, approaching her. She hadn't seen him since the summer between freshmen and sophomore year of college and he had hardly aged at all. "Gabe?! What in the world! I thought you were living in San Francisco?!"

Gabe flashed her a grin and Lesly melted a little. He was still beautiful after all those years. Black curly hair, crystal green eyes, and a lean, fit body. She was suddenly embarrassed of her work gear. She had forgotten to take off her apron and quickly tried to hide herself behind the open door of her car. 

"I'm in town visiting my folks," Gabe answered and came up next to her, giving her a hug. "I was just taking a walk down Main Street. Seeing what had changed. I heard James Ryan opened a coffee shop or something and married some famous singer?"

Lesly laughed, somewhat uncomfortably. "Actually, I'm co-manager of the coffee shop. And yeah, she did. Married JC from that boy band, NSYNC from back in the day,"

Gabe shook his head. "Crazy. Hey, are you off work now? I'd love to grab a drink with you." 

Lesly tried to subside her excitement. "I'd love that, Gabe," she replied. 

They ended up at the small Italian restaurant on the edge of Main Street. Gabe bought them a bottle of red wine and they spent nearly three hours catching up, sharing a plate of spaghetti and then a cannoli, and ending the night with two cups of cappuccino. Gabe was a successful architect in San Francisco. He'd been married and divorced, no kids, and hadn't been on the East Coast in nearly four years. He loved San Francisco and his job let him travel all over California and he'd even designed a home for a couple in Hawaii. Lesly felt a little incompetent next to him. She told him about her dream of owning her own business and how that dream had been stilled when her mother had gotten so sick. She told him about her brother and her nephew and how she felt like she was the one holding everything together. Gabe was sympathetic and at one point, reached over to squeeze her hand. 

"Would you like to come over for a drink?" Lesly heard herself asking, as they stood to leave. 

Gabe wholeheartedly agreed and followed her back to her house. 

The next morning, Lesly smiled to herself, wrapped in Gabe's arms and feeling as though she was seventeen once more. Life was suddenly wonderful again.