Saturday, November 1st

[beyoncepadthai]

 It's not like it's the first time Mindy's had her heart broken. But it is the first time that Danny Castellano has made her feel this way.

Although she can't even blame him for all of this, as much as she might want to. Because as much as the kiss weighs against her, as much as his refusal to want to be more with her stings, there's the undeniable dilemma of having just discovered all that she's somehow forgotten – an engagement and a trip to Haiti and an almost wedding and more breakups than she can seem to keep track of.

Josh. Brendan. Casey. Cliff. The waves of emotion are all at once too much and Danny's decision to once again drive a wedge between them, this time because he wants to preserve their friendship (what a fucking cliché), pushes her over the edge. So instead of going home she heads for a bar, wondering how many drinks it will take for her to forget. Wondering if there's something she can do to send the memories back from wherever they came.

She's almost hoping for anonymity when she bumps into Luke on her way in, but she manages a smile anyway. "Hey. It's Luke, right?"

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[notaretriever]

He doesn't go to the bar to drink. He doesn't even really go to socialize, which he realizes is perhaps a little silly, but Luke has never been much of an extravert even at the best of times. He does because it reminds him a little of Hunter's Moon, of sitting at a booth in the back of the bar and watching his pack. They had always known when he was there, had always been a little more well-mannered knowing their leader was there just watching, and of course this bar isn't the same, but it's enough.

Sometimes he can't quite believe he misses being a pack leader, but he does. In a way.

And yet he's on his way out, intending on going back to the property he's renting for the store to work. The apartment above is more or less furnished, but he has a significant amount of work to do in the store itself, and he's thinking about organizational tactics when he nearly runs straight into Mindy. With a smile, he nods down at her, lifting one hand to steady her shoulder. "Hi," he says. "Yeah, Luke."