"Oh my god," exclaimed Chloe, an excited giggle leaving her lips. "I was convinced you wouldn't show up tonight."

Donnie leaned forward to envelop her in a hug. "I said I would, didn't I? As if anyone would stand you up."

"You'd be surprised," she yelled over the music. "Guys these days are such assholes." She gave a world-weary sigh and Donnie looked at her more closely. How old was she? Mid-twenties max. He must ask her, although he suspected he already had and the information had slipped his mind. He was almost sure it had.

"Let me get you a drink," he said taking her elbow and leading her towards the bar. "What are you having?"

She pursed her lips, a frown on her face as if it was a difficult decision. "Vodka, lime and soda," she finally said declared. He placed the order before turning back to her.

"There's someone I want to introduce you to." His eyes picked out Joe in the crowd, and he waved in greeting before making his way towards them. "He's a friend of mine."

Chloe's eyes lit up. "No problem, any friend of yours and all that."

Donnie cringed, hoping she wasn't putting more significance on it than was warranted. He knew Joe was going to be here, and it wouldn't have occurred to him not to say hello and introduce his date. "Hey Joe," he said as he came into their vicinity. "I see Katherine finally let you out after dark."

Joe attempted to laugh. "I don't need her permission." His eyes fell on Chloe and he gave Donnie a pointed look.

"This is Chloe," he said on cue. "Chole meet Joe."

"So I take it Katherine's your girlfriend?" Chloe said to Joe, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "What's she like?"

Joe hesitated. "She is my girlfriend and I guess she's pretty amazing." His eyes flitted away. "Actually, we're moving in together."

"He was gonna get a place with a friend of his," Donnie said mischievously, "but his girl talked him out of it."

"Yeah, she did," Joe admitted, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Kat and I talked it through and it made more sense for us to move in together now, rather than a year from now. It'll be less disruptive."

Donnie inwardly groaned. First, Joe's parents were running his life and now his girlfriend was taking over. "And this was your decision?"

"Yeah, it was," Joe said not meeting his eyes. "We've been dating well over a year, it's the next step."

"Bullshit," Donnie said fake coughing and Chloe looked at him frowning. He turned away to pay for their drinks and Joe did not challenge him, probably cos there was an element of truth in what he said. A massive element of truth. "Shall we take a seat over there?" he asked, indicating to an empty table and Joe blanched.

"You've gotta be kidding," he hissed under his breath and Donnie followed his eyes. He caught a flash of blonde hair and pink lips sucking on a straw. Shannon. No wonder Joe was struck dumb.

"She's an old family friend," he whispered in Chloe's ear as she looked on, clearly perplexed. "Give me a minute to say hello." Well, he couldn't ignore his accountant's daughter, it wasn't like she'd left him broken-hearted. Behind him, he could hear Joe quietly cursing, making a mockery of his earlier assertions that he was over Shannon.

"Donnie," Shannon said looking up, her face breaking into a smile. "It's wonderful to see you." She stood up, her arms extended and he pulled her into a hug. God, she was thin, no wonder Greg was worried.

"Hey, how have you been? The sun in California suits you." Like hell it did, he thought scrutinizing her appearance, she looked paler than she ever.

Shannon laughed. "Oh I love you, you're such a liar! I am so run down you would not believe it. I think my parents were right, I'm not made for the world of work."

He laughed, not sure how serious she was being. "I don't think many of us are."

She slowly ran her fingers down his arm as she left his embrace. "I think you are, just feel your muscles there."

He cocked his head to one side. "I don't touch myself like that."

"Haha, of course, you don't." She broke off looking over his shoulder and he knew without turning around that Joe had joined them.

"Hey," Joe said his mouth forming into a grim line. "I didn't know you were home."

Shannon flushed under her makeup. "It's a flying visit, I wanted to spend some time with my mom and dad."

"Right, family means so much to you, doesn't it?"

Shannon took a step back frowning. "Yeah, my parents are my world, you know that."

Donnie tried to catch Joe's eyes, to tell him to drop whatever it was he was trying to start.

Joe ignored his stare, the scowl on his face deepening. "That's so good to hear, Shannon," he said slowly, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm glad there are some people in your life that you're loyal to."

Shannon's flush deepened and Donnie felt sorry for her. He shouldn't have approached her with Joe lingering in the background.

"Well, I know Greg's thrilled to have you home," he said shooting Joe a warning look. "We were just talking about you the other day."

"Nothing good, I'm sure," Shannon said with a weak laugh.

"You'd be surprised." He studiously ignored Joe; this was his chance to clear the air but if he was going to be a jackass, forget it.

"I'd better get back to my friends." Shannon briefly glanced at Joe, before looking away. "It was lovely to catch up with you Donnie." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek, a playful smile on her lips.

"For fuck's sake," Joe hissed as she walked away. "What the fuck was that about."

Donnie held his hands up. "I didn't know she'd be here."

"Yeah right."

"What do you care, you're loved up with cat woman." He couldn't help mocking him when he'd just behaved like a petulant schoolboy.

"Yeah, I am loved up," Joe snarled. "I've never been happier."

"Totally convincing," Chloe whispered in Donnie's ear, and he winked at her. Joe wasn't fooling anyone. Whatever he felt about Shannon, it wasn't benign indifference.

"I wished you'd warned me" Joe grumbled under his breath. "I mean I made a total fool of myself there. Shannon's probably thinking..."

"I didn't know she'd be here," Donnie said impatiently. "And if you made a fool of yourself, well that's cos you were rude."

"I was thrown okay. How am I supposed to act with her? She dumped me and for no good reason, I can't pretend to be okay with that." He took a swig of his drink, his mouth turned down.

"Joe, I don't know what happened with you guys but this is why you can't just move on." Joe opened his mouth to object and he held his hand up. "I mean general you," he said, being careful that Chloe wasn't listening in. "I have to know that there's no chance with Annalise before I give up on her. I don't want to spend my life wondering what might have been."

Joe scoffed. "You've got no chance with Annalise while you're seeing some teenager."

"Teenager?" He gawped at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Chloe, she can't be much more than nineteen, can she?"

"I'm sure she's older, she has to be." She'd told him she worked in advertising but she'd only been there a year. From that he'd guessed she was twenty-three or four if she'd got the job sometime after college. He rubbed his head, wishing he could recall their drunken conversation.

"Hey, Chloe," he said bringing her back into the conversation. "I didn't mean to neglect you there."

"You didn't," she said bringing her drink to her lips, the straw playing in her mouth.

"I was just wondering, how old are you cos Joe seems to think you're a teenager?" He laughed trying to make light of the question.

"A teenager?" Chloe spluttered, rolling her eyes. "Don't be a dumb ass, I'm twenty-one."

His heart sank. Twenty-one, shit...

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