serendipity

33: "he was our hero"

(ser's pov)

we finished the last 2 hours of the drive and pull up to our old house. i haven't sold it yet but after this trip, i'll call a realtor and get it on the market.

we all sluggishly step out of the car. keaton has max in his arms while while he snoozes away on his shoulder.

surprisingly, keaton also has nix nestled in his other arm.

i take the key out and unlock the door as we all walk in, looking at the dust covered walls.

"home sweet home," i mumble when we walk further into the abandoned, concrete walls that max and i used to call home.

i feel ezra come up beside me. "how are you feeling?"

i sigh. "better than i thought but it's starting to set in."

he takes my hand and gently squeezes it. i squeeze his back and take a deep breath before turning to everyone. "well, it's about 8 so why don't we get some more rest and then we can get some lunch and i'll show y'all around."

they nod in agreement and i show everyone to their rooms: leo and phoebe are staying in the guest room, keaton and leela in max's old room, and then max, ezra, and i in my old room.

i take max and nix from keaton and we all head off to get some more sleep.

right as my head hits my pillow—more like ezra's chest—i'm out like a light.

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once we all wake up, i usher everyone into the car and head to one of my favorite places here: mark's diner.

the bell chimes above us as we stampede into the warmth of the diner. i look out the window and see it looks like it's about to snow.

i walk up the cashier with the rest trailing behind me. "hi, is mark here?"

the cashier looks up from his phone and nods before walking out to the back. a couple seconds later, mark is walking up to us.

his eyes light up when he sees max and i. "my favorite grandkids!"

we've seen mark as a grandpa figure since i started working here so it became a joke we were his grandkids.

max giggles when mark picks me up and tickles him. mark tunes to me and pulls me into a hug that reminds me so much of my dad, i have to blink back the tears that so desperately want to escape.

tomorrow will be much worse.

mark looks past me to everyone. "friends?" he asks excitedly. it wasn't exactly a secret that max and i couldn't make very many friends while we lived here.

i nod excitedly and add, "and a boyfriend!"

his eyes narrow and i suppress my laughter while he goes into protective mode. "which one?"

ezra walks up to my side and offers his hand. "it's nice to meet you, sir. i'm ezra."

he looks slightly surprised but still shakes ezra's hand. "treating em' right?"

"of course." i answer instead of ezra, knowing he'll take my word for it.

mark nods, happy with my answer. "well, my name is mark. it's nice to meet you, ezra." he then turns to everyone else. "it's great to meet ser and max's family."

my heart thumps wildly and love courses through me.

they each shake marks hand and introduces themselves.

"your booth?" marks asks, referring to the same booth max would sit at while i would work. i nod and we walk over to the booth, max leading the way.