Oh, thanks for this. I almost didn't read it, since I pretty vehemently dislike the McKay/Keller pairing, but between the title and the author, I decided to give it a shot, and boy am I glad I did! I think you articulate all of the (exceedingly rational) reasons why this pairing grates, and I really liked how you wove in so many standard break-up lines, but used them to develop the characterizations and achieve a pretty non-standard break-up.

I like your Keller, and that's a nice change of pace from recently on the show. Even though the line about her not minding it if his genius faded made me gasp in horror, I still felt sympathy for her, and found myself rooting for both of them to find some kind of happy (separate) ending. (And I loved that part of her calculus for whether to go to dinner was that she'd been missing her "Torren time". &hearts ) In short: this was great, and helped me get a better handle on how to regain some of my Keller love! Thanks!