...and then someone was hugging her, and for a second, she was so confused. There was way too much happening at once, and so she just stood there trying to process why she was at the end of the table and why she was calling for help. Everything came back to her a split second later, and she looked at Derf with a sort of blank stare.

She was honestly fighting an inner battle with herself and trying to decide if she should let sadness or anger win. In the end, neither did, and she returned Derf's hug and nodded into his shoulder. She wasn't sure everything would be okay, but at least Derf was a familiar face.

...and did somebody say pudding?

"Thanks, Derf," she genuinely said, and she was just about to go quietly back to her table, when he brought up Hawthorne. "No," she said, "she'd want me to do what's right, and I don't know what that is right now, but it's not this."

But at least there was pudding, and so she sat down and scooped some into a bowl. What a night.