A/N: After last night's two part finale, I couldn't stay away!

Summary: A reflection on Season One's finale, in two parts. Two-shot. Complete.

Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me.

Note: Part 1 deals with the "What if" scenario of Joe keeping his new apartment and getting a new life. If he was able to get the money he was promised, how would they all be affected? This is my take. Part 2 follows the storyline of the episode, with Joe coming back and dealing with the aftermath of everything that has occured between him and Mel.

What Will Be: Part 1

Sometimes, two different paths lead to the same destination

It all started with a box full of Chinese food, a yet-to-be-furnished apartment, and lights that refused to illuminate.

It doesn't seem real that Joe Longo would be sitting here, eating Chinese take-out with his boss-turned-friend, Mel Burke. It doesn't seem possible that his life could change so quickly. Just yesterday, he was still Joe Longo, freelance nanny. Now, he is Joe Longo, a man on the cusp of coming into a great deal of money.

It is a bittersweet sense of triumph, hearing Mel call his new apartment "a bachelor pad" and realizing that starting tomorrow, he will not wake up in the basement of the house that he has come to know over the last year, but instead in his new place.

He's not sure if he will ever be able to refer to this apartment as anything but his "place." It is not home, and he's not sure it ever will be. Home is the house with a family that he can come back to every evening, not this empty shell of an apartment without a spark of life to light it.

He is also aware of the changed dynamic between him and Mel. Suddenly, she seems to be as aware of him as he always has been of her, and every innocuous comment seems laden with hidden meanings and innuendo.

However, Joe doesn't beg. That's not his style. He doesn't plead, doesn't ask, doesn't make any mention of the fact that he might be more comfortable in a place he knows well, despite the one hundred and sixty seven thousand dollars he is receiving tomorrow, that mean he can finally afford a place of his own. He wants to be back at Mel's, making dinner, being a caretaker, friend, nanny (no matter how much he may hate that friggin' word).

What? I was just saying good-bye.

They've never said good-bye in that manner, and they both know it. It is the briefest of contacts, but Joe seems to feel her lips imprinted on his, and he is barely able to react. Unlike the kiss she forced on him at his reunion, one meant to further a ruse, this one is freely and impulsively given, and Mel pulls away, her blue eyes wide, clearly startled by her own actions.

Then she is gone, and Joe is left staring at the closed door of his apartment. He is as stunned as Mel must be, and if he hadn't been so shocked, he would have gone after her. His veins are humming with that prickling awareness that always signaled her presence, and Joe can't help but smile.

Life goes on.

Joe starts wearing suits again, going to work as another broker for a firm that was not effected by Scanlon's scheme.

However, just because Joe has taken a new job, that doesn't mean he can completely give up on his old one. The kids and Mel seem have to understood that he needs to move on with his life, that he needs to begin again, and seem to be resigned to never seeing him again.

That's why it's such a surprise to them all when he shows up after work one day, using the key that he never gave back to let himself into the kitchen soundlessly.

The tableau that meets his eyes is achingly familiar; Lennox and Ryder are sitting at the kitchen table, one bent over a cell phone, the other frowning over homework, and Mel…

Mel is sitting beside them, swilling her red wine absently around in her glass and staring into space. Some legal-looking document is sitting in front of her, but she seems not to notice.

Joe lets out the breath he hadn't known he had been holding. Nights spent alone at his apartment looking at the Toledo skyline or aimlessly flipping channels pale in comparison to the time he has spent here over the last year, in this warm kitchen that fairly beckons him into the embrace of the family sitting before him.

However, Joe is not so caught up in the sight that he doesn't notice the fourth person in the room, the only one who doesn't seem to belong. (One of these things is not like the others…)

The dark-haired man standing at his spot behind the stove glances at him warily, alarmed at the sight of a man letting himself so casually into the house when he had not been told to expect guests. "Uh, Signorina Burke," he calls softly, and Mel finally glances up.

"Yes, Paolo, I'll take more wine."

The man starts to shake his head, mumbling something in Italian under his breath, and Joe steps in. Clearing his throat, he steps forward, unable to stop the smirk that curls his lips. "Uh, I think he means me, Burke."

Three heads snap up and around in unison, and three mouths gape at him.

"Joe!" Lennox is the first up, bouncing out her seat, leaving her phone abandoned on the table to give him a hug. Ryder is quick to follow, eager to leave his homework for a moment.

It is their aunt who hesitates, standing slowly, clutching her wine glass as a talisman against the sight before her. "Joe?"

She's clearly confused, and Joe offers her gentle smile. "Am I not allowed to stop by and say hi, Burke?"

"Of course you are," Mel tells him, finally setting down her glass and coming closer. Her niece and nephew do not seem inclined to move from Joe's embrace, and Paolo is completely forgotten as the family comes together again, if only for a moment.

Joe's hand reaches out to brush against Mel's cheek. "I just came to see how you're doing."

Mel hopes the color that rises to her cheeks can be attributed to the wine she's drunk tonight. "We're surviving," she shrugs, masking her discomfort. A part of her wants to beg for him to come back, to take care of them, that no one could really replace him, but she is held back by the part that remembers the feel of his lips on hers.

Joe spares the briefest glance in Paolo's direction. "I see you found someone new."

His gaze locks with Mel's, his comment resonating on more than one level. "Well," she shrugs again, "you left us. We had to find someone else."

There is a bite in her words, and Joe's gaze darkens, hurt, and Lennox and Ryder glance between the two, sensing a storm brewing, but one thicker with emotions and words unsaid, not like the superficial arguments they've had before.

Joe doesn't stay long after that, just long enough to make inquiries as to how the kids are doing in school. When he does take his leave, Lennox and Ryder follow him to the door like puppies, begging him to come back and visit. Joe glances over both of them to the silent Mel. "I will, I promise."

Life goes on.

They all adjust to their new way of life, eventually.

Lennox and Ryder get used to finding Paolo in the kitchen every morning, a kind man with enough broken English to make himself understood and a penchant for making every kind of pasta imaginable. (Lennox has already heard Aunt Mel complain to Stephanie that she's going to get fat from all the pasta Paolo makes them.) They get used to not expecting Joe until the evenings, and he comes every evening he can, no matter how tired he might be. If he can't make it to their house, he never fails to text.

Mel gets used to waking up in the morning and coming to terms with the fact that her verbal sparring matches have all but disappeared. She dives into her council work more than ever, spending most evenings in the office, as it is a "Joe-free zone" and she can't face the idea of going home to find Lennox and Ryder and…Paolo. She knows that Joe asks after her, but she makes sure that Stephanie keeps a tab open with the few restaurants around her office so that she can simply order dinner on the nights she won't make it home. Which happen more and more often as time goes on.

"You know, Burke, I'm flattered."

At the voice that has haunted her so much, Mel barely glances up. "You're not allowed here, Longo."

"I'm not?" Joe sounds amused. "Where's the sign that says that?"

Mel finally lifts her head, and Joe has to keep himself from reacting at what he sees. Mel has not lost weight, thanks to meals she has been eating at various local establishments, but the dark bags under her eyes testify to the late nights she's seen. She looks tired, worn, and her blue eyes shine with a desperate yearning that she does not want to admit, but is evident nonetheless.

"What do you want, Longo?" she grouses, and Joe frowns, not liking the defeat in her tone. He is used to the sharp edge to her wit, not the tired woman before him.

Setting the Tupperware down on the edge of her desk, Joe comes to her side and stares down at her, a smile tugging at his lips. "You know, I've never seen someone go into withdrawal over my cooking before. It's flattering, Burke."

"What?" Mel blusters, staring up at him as if he's insane. "I'm not missing your cooking, Longo. You're crazy."

"Fine," Joe shrugs. He nods towards the container. "I made you some of my famous brownies. I figured with all these late nights, you, uh, you might need some sugar."

Mel is sure that her desk is wet with saliva as she stares at the container. Then she realizes something and drags her gaze back to Joe. "Wait, how did you know I've been working late?"

Joe rubs the back of his neck, uncomfortable. "Um, Stefanie called me. She's been worried about you."

"I'll kill her," Mel growls, pulling the brownies towards her. "Later," she decides, sounding more like herself as she lifts one to her lips.

The man next to her surprises her by squatting down next to her, his eyes boring into hers. "Mel, what are you doing?"

Mel gestures to the piece of chocolate heaven in her hand. "Eating. Duh."

Joe smirks a little at that, but persists. "No, Mel, why are you working so late? When's the last time you saw Lennox and Ryder for longer than a few hours? Why are you hiding?"

Mel puts the half-eaten brownie back in the container, and Joe does not miss that her hand is shakily slightly. To his surprise, her blue eyes grow moist. "It's not home," she admits throatily.

"What?" Joe blinks at her, his heart pounding, wondering how she could have perfectly said what had been plaguing him ever since he got his new place and went back to the job he had thought he wanted.

Mel stands, and Joe rises with her. She is facing him, little space between them, and Joe can see the tears that tremble on her lower lashes, threatening to fall.

Then she is kissing him, and this time it is a proper kiss, not the gentle brush of lips she used the last time. Joe tastes chocolate and Mel and oh, it's everything he's ever wanted since his second day of work, but something forces him to pause. She's upset, she is over-tired, and she can't be thinking straight.

"Joe, come home," Mel whispers against his lips, and there is nothing Joe wants to do more. He wants to wrap her in his arms, take her away from this office that has stressed her so much, take her home, their home, to pour her customary glass of wine, to help her wind down, to make sure she knows she is loved, that he will never leave…

He does none of that.

Instead, he steps away, her arms falling back to her side, and he can't look at her. He knows how injured she will be by this apparent rejection, but he knows they have both made their decisions. He has committed to this new life, and she needs to learn to adjust to her own as well.

Yet, change comes…

The women that visit Joe's bachelor pad over the following months can tell you two things about the man they will sleep with: he is a very private man, and his apartment has little in the way of personal effects.

It is a very Spartan place: two chairs, a loveseat, a TV, a table and a few chairs. His bedroom is very similar: Bed, chest of drawers, dresser, closet. There is little to give his female companions any idea of the man they are spending time with.

However, there is one who stumbles across Joe's greatest secret.

Clara didn't mean to snoop, but she had been looking for a piece of paper, in order to write down a colleague's number while on a business call. Joe had been in the bathroom, and Clara was scrabbling in the top drawer of his bedside table when she found it.

Her fingers encountered glass and cool metal, and she slowly drew the picture out, her eyes widening and the phone slipping from her hand as she examined.

"Joe?"

In a heartbeat, he was beside her, and she extended the frame shakily towards him, her green eyes wide with betrayal. "Joe, is this your family?"

In the picture, a blonde-woman is leaning her head against Joe's shoulder, a smile warming her lips and making her blue eyes glow. Beside them, a teenage girl and boy give practiced smiles to the camera, clearly ready to move the second the flash goes off.

The man beside her is silent, and Clara glances at him sharply. "Joe?"

The look on his face says it all. His dark eyes are soft with warmth she has never seen, and the tenderest smile is on his lips. She has never seen him react such a way to anything she has said or done, and suddenly she realizes that she never will be able to do anything that will summon such a reaction. His heart has already been claimed.

Pressing the photo into his hand, Clara presses a kiss to his cheek. It is a farewell, and Joe watches her go, knowing that he has given away too much.

One path, winding and turning, but only one destination…

Joe stares at the wood he knows so well, his fist raised to knock. It was over two years ago that he stood on this spot, furious and seeking revenge on the man who had ruined his life.

Now, he was here to get his life back.

The door was pulled open before he could knock, and Joe found himself staring at Mel in shock. His expression was mirrored on his face, but she recovered first.

"What are you doing here, Longo?"

Joe winces at the edge to her tone, and he spreads his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I came to see how you guys were doing."

"Ryder and Lennox aren't here."

She is clearly not going to let him into the house, and Joe falters. "Oh. Okay. Um, where are you going so dressed up?"

Mel glances down at the red dress that accentuates every curve, and looks back up at him with a blank expression. "The mayor's gala."

This time, Joe's flinch is visible, and Mel feels a sharp twinge of satisfaction. Good. He remembered that she had invited him, once.

"Mel…" Joe leans against the doorframe, clearly uncomfortable. "Can we talk?"

"No." Mel snaps, stepping forward and closing the door behind her, forcing Joe to retreat. "I have to go, I'm already late, and what do you care? You haven't been here to see us in the last several weeks; do you even care about us at all?"

Joe huffs an exasperated breath and runs a hand through his hair. "Of course I care, Burke! How could you think that?"

As Mel wavers before him, clearly doubting his sincerity, Joe makes up his mind.

Two steps has her pinned against the door, Joe's lips firmly silencing whatever excuse she may come up with next. Mel melts against him, and it's like that night in her office a few weeks ago, but this time, neither has any intention of pulling away.

Joe feels Mel fumbling with the doorknob behind her, and he laughs against her lips as he reaches around her to open it. They stumble back into the house, lips connecting again and again, hands searching, learning, memorizing, bodies flush with heat and want and a desire long suppressed.

"We should really talk about all this," Mel mumbles as his hand finds the zipper of her dress.

Joe pauses only for a second, but she can see that he is serious. "Do you want to talk now?"

Mel only thinks about it for a second. "Later."

With that, they are back together, and Mel knows where this will end. She only wonders that it hadn't sooner.

If Lennox and Ryder seem surprised to find Joe in his old place the next morning, they take the news of Paolo's firing well. Neither says much as they accept the waffles Joe puts on their plates, but Lennox glances at her aunt, smiling, noting the immediate change in her interaction with Joe, and knowing what it means for the future. She couldn't be happier.

This is how it is supposed to be.

Reviews are appreciated!