Last time I saw you...

Chapter 3 - Home

Marco just arrived at Logan's house. He purposely arrived a bit earlier as to not see all his friends, if he can even call them that right now. Little did he know one of them arrived at the same time as he did. Marco felt immense relief leave his body at this moment because the person that appeared was not Zahir or Norah. He didn't want it to be them because he knows for a fact that they would start questioning him right there and then. Logan's older sister, Autumn, approached him, and she looked at him with a shy smile. Although Autumn is only a year older than Logan, she acts so mature compared to her goofy brother that is known as Logan.

"Hi Marco, it's been a while since we've last saw you. How have you been doing. Although, if you don't want to talk about it now, it's completely fine with me. I'll wait like everyone else."

Marco was stunned. He didn't know what to say. She's always been like that. She cares about everyone and doesn't care what they have done, she's just always here for them. That's why, Marco was happy and relieved to see that it was her because he always feels comfortable talking to her. Even when they were younger, she was the go-to person to talk to when any of us was feeling down. He wanted to just say everything to Autumn right now. He needed a little reassurance and comfort before whatever could possibly happen once, they will all arrive.

"Hello Autumn, I've been better, I guess," Marco said shyly with some hesitation in his voice. "I'm sorry for everything, I didn't mean any of it", Marco blurted out without even thinking of what he was saying. "I didn't know what to do, I didn't want to hurt anyone but, in the end, I still did", Marco started to get teary eyed.

He was cut off by Autumn's soft voice, "You don't need to apologize for anything. I'm sure you had your reasons, and you probably did it to prevent troubling any of us and then I imagine that it was better to let us worry about you. However, you could have trusted us to let us help you, whatever it was that you were dealing with. We felt hurt when we didn't have any news from you, but I'm glad to see you here right now in one piece. I want you to know that you don't need to fear anything, aren't we all your friends. We are going to forgive you; you do know that right. We all care about you like family."

Marco gave her the brightest smile ever. "Thank you for this. That's exactly what I needed to hear right now. I'm grateful for your words. You always know how to cheer us up." "Shall we head inside, my brother is surly waiting for me and wondering if I'm going to cook something for him.", Autumn said to him, moving her hand to tell Marco that he can go inside.

Marco didn't even have time to open the door and Logan ran into his arms giving him the biggest hug ever and while doing so, taking the life out of his body because he's squeezing the living shit out of him. Unconsciously, Marco lifted his arms up and wrapped them around Logan's waist. At this exact moment, Marco's heart filled up with happiness as Logan embraced him warmly and even tightly. He has longed to feel his friend's hug for such a long time.

"Hi Logan, I see you haven't changed much since we've last been together. I missed you so much."

"Marcooooo!!!! I'm so happy to see you again, I knew you would be back! It was just a matter of time. Whatever it is that made you distance yourself, I don't care. All that matters is that you are here now and that if ever you need us, we will be there. So please don't ever leave us ever again." Marco and Autumn both started to chuckle at Logan's whole statement and overjoyed attitude.

Little by little, all their friends started to show up at Logan's. Shortly after Marco and Autumn arrived, Dal and Robin came at the same time, followed by Quentin, then Sora with Norah and with no surprise, Connor, Zahir, and Jin-Woo all showed up last.

Marco was in the kitchen with Robin, Dal, and Autumn preparing the dinner while waiting for the last three guests to show up. Marco felt a bit guilty because a part of him was "hiding" from the rest of them because he was sure they had their own opinion on what he did, and they were going to come at him for explanations right away. He felt more comfortable staying with Autumn, Dal and Robin because of the calmness and the comfort they give him.