"Lauren?" Lenny asked. She didn't respond at first, and it worried him.
      "I..." she began, then paused, "...I'll come back later. I need time to think." She got up and left. Closing the door behind her, she leaned against the wall momentarily.
      Squiggy tossed the magazine down and started over to her. He got close enough to hear her sniff, then she turned and walked away in the opposite direction. He stopped right in front of the door, and it opened.
      "Squig... I apologized," Lenny said.
      "Yeah, but now she's got alot more ta think about than before," Squiggy said, then motioned towards the room. "D'ya mind?"
      "Naw, I've already spilled my guts. Why not?" Lenny replied and let his friend in.

      Lauren got in the elevator and hit the lobby button. Since it was now about 2am, it wasn't likely that anyone else would get in the elevator, and she slumped to the floor. But the elevator stopped on her floor and opened...
      Nate stood in front of the doors and looked down at her. "What happened?" She just looked at him. He stepped in and hit the 'close doors' button. He sat down next to her. "Lauren?" Beat. "If it's a woman problem, I can get my mom..."
      She sniffled a laugh and looked at him. She shook her head. "I talked to Lenny." He gave her a confused look. "He's my dad."
      "Ohhh... wanna talk about it?" Nate said.
      "Let's get down to the lobby first," Lauren said, and he helped her stand up. The elevator stopped and they got out, then headed to the couches.

      The phone rang in Carmine's room the next morning. He pulled the blanket over his head. "Squig, can ya get that?" No answer. "Squig?" Still no answer. He pulled the blanket of his face and saw the other bed was empty. He groaned and reached for the still ringing phone. "Hello?"
      "Carmine, is Nate over there?" came Shirley's voice.
      He sat up. "No, why?"
      She sighed. "He was gone when I got up. I thought maybe he went with Lauren to your room..."
      "Wait, Shirl, Lauren's gone, too?" Carmine said.
      "Yes. I just called Laverne and she suggested they were probably with you guys," Shirley said.
      "Well, they have to be around somewhere," he said. "Gimme a few minutes and I'll go look for 'em."
      "Okay, I'll go with Laverne and look around..." she said.
      "Waitaminute, Shirl, Squig ain't here either," Carmine added, quickly.
      "What?" Shirley asked.
      "He isn't here. I wonder if he's with them," he said.
      "It doesn't make me feel any better either way, Carmine," she said.
      "Well, atleast now if ya see him, you can ask if he knows where they are," Carmine said.
      "All right, I'm gonna go look now," Shirley said.
      "I'll be out in a few," he said, and they both hung up. He thought for a moment, then remembered that Squiggy had said the night before that Lauren wanted to talk to Lenny. "Should've had him tell me what room Lenny's in." He snapped his fingers. "That's it!" He picked up the phone again and dialed the front desk. "Hello? I was wonderin' if you could tell me what room Lenny Kosnowski is stayin' in..."

      Half an hour later, Carmine is looking for Lenny's room. He finds it and knocks on the door. Nothing at first, so he knocks again. "Lenny? It's Carmine." Still nothing. "Strange." Beat. "Wonder if Squig went to get breakfast..." He turned and went towards the stairs.
      He came out on the lobby floor and started for the hotel restaurant, but stopped as he passed the couches. A smile crossed his lips and he walked over. "Hey, Nate."
      "Hi, Carmine," he replied, looking up. Beat. "Oh, I hope you guys weren't looking for us." Carmine nodded. "Sorry about that."
      Carmine motioned to the still sleeping Lauren. "What happened?"
      Nate glanced at her. "Well, I don't know how much I should say, but she talked to Lenny last night." Beat. "Told me the whole thing. Mom and I sure missed alot."
      "You're not kiddin'. All I know is what Laverne's told me... and that isn't very much," Carmine said, then paused. "Have you seen Squiggy?"
      "Yeah, he and Lenny are in the restaurant. They came by about twenty minutes ago," Nate replied.
      "I'm gonna talk to them," Carmine said. "Stay here." He left, heading for the restaurant. He walked in and spotted them... considering there was no one else in there. He went over to them. "Mind if I join ya?"
      "Hey, Carmine," Lenny greeted. "Sorry I didn't say hi last night..."
      Carmine nodded slowly. "I know. It's okay." Beat. "Say, Squig..."
      "I don't own a watch. I was talkin' to Len and next thing, it was mornin'," Squiggy said, before Carmine asked his question.
      "Oh, well, I guess I should go find Laverne and Shirley. They're probably goin' nuts tryin' to find those two out there," Carmine said.
      "Hey, Carmine, when ya see Laverne, tell her I wanna talk to 'er and that I'm sorry for yesterday," Lenny asked.
      "Sure, Len," Carmine said. "See ya later." He left.
      "Well?" Squiggy asked.
      "Awe, Squig, this has been tearin' me apart since I left. I gotta do this," Lenny said.
      Squiggy sat back and looked triumphant. "'Bout time."

      Carmine stopped by the couches again. "Mornin', Lauren."
      "Hi, Carmine," she said, then paused. "Ma isn't lookin' for me, is she?" He nodded. "Awe, crap."
      "Don't worry, I'll get it all taken care of. Oh, and Lenny's in the restaurant with Squig," he said, then left towards the stairs.
      "Well," Lauren said, then turned to Nate, "wanna come?"
      "Sure," he said. They got up and went towards the restaurant.
      Squiggy noticed the two coming towards them. '"Len, there's Lauren."
      "I hope she don't hate me," Lenny said.
      Lauren and Nate joined them. "Mind if we sit?" Lauren asked.
      Squiggy looked at Lenny. "No, go 'head," Lenny replied.
      They sat... and the accompanying silence was deafening. "Ain't this goin' well?" Squiggy said, shaking his head.
      Lenny met Lauren's eyes. She gave him a half smile and he returned it.
      Meanwhile, Squiggy was oblivious to it. He let out a loud sigh. Nate looked at him, then started laughing. "See this kid? He's laughin' at me!"
      Lauren laughed. "Awe, Squig, you're bein' paranoid!"
      "Well, maybe I am," Squiggy said.
      "Yeah, besides, Squig, ya'd know if someone was laughin' atcha," Lenny said, then extended his hand.
      Squiggy looked at it for a moment, then extended his, and they shook to a "Stupid!"

      Carmine and the girls walked over to the table. "Just like the old days," Carmine commented, then smirked.
      "Well, whaddya know, the whole group's back together," Squiggy said.
      "Yeah, this shoulda been last night," Lenny said, looking at Laverne.
      "Len, Lauren, can I talk to you..." Laverne said, jerking her thumb behind her. They both got up and followed her out into the lobby.
      Carmine took Lenny's seat and Shirley took Lauren's. "Nate, next time you want to do something like that, please leave me a note," Shirley said.
      "Sorry, ma, but I was doing a midnight snack run around 2am and ran into Lauren," Nate said. "I wouldn't've found her if the vending machine on our floor had what I wanted." He shrugged.
      "Well, everything's okay now, anyway, that's what matters," Shirley said.
      "Better wait and find out how *their* talk goes before you say everything's okay," Carmine said.

      "I'm okay with everything really. It just kinda... hit me like a ton of bricks," Lauren said.
      Laverne put her arm around Lauren's shoulders. "That's a start." She looked at Lenny.
      "Vernie, umm..." Lenny started, then paused. "Listen, I'm real sorry about everythin' and, well, I've had this feelin' of guilt hangin' over my head since I left an' it felt good to tell Lauren an' now I'm feelin' much better." He let out a breath and looked relieved.
      Laverne nearly laughed. "Wow, Len..."
      "I didn't know you could talk that fast," Lauren commented.
      "*Anyway,* Len, I can't believe you felt guilty over what happened to Pop. It wasn't your fault," Laverne said.
      "Yeah, but I'd really feel better if we'd been on better terms, he kinda wanted to do... something... to me. I dunno, I couldn't really understand half of what he said. He just started rantin' in Italian," Lenny said.
      "I'd say you're on better terms with him now," Laverne said.
      "Awwwe," Lauren said. "I'm tearin' up, here. You're killin' me."
      "Better break out the tissues, Lauren," Lenny said. Lauren gave him a confused look. He smiled. "Vernie... this is som'en I shoulda done a long time ago, but..." He slid off the couch and got on one knee. "Will ya marry me?"