I instruct Alex to slow his bike to a crawl to ensure we get home exactly in ten minutes, knowing well enough that's how long it takes to walk from Vee's house to ours. I mean, I could always apologize to Veronica later and all, but she wanted to see me fixing up things with Mom, so I guess this is the right thing to do?

Do I expect her to come after I pretty much ran away from her earlier? I guess I can only try and hope for the best. But she's not the kind of girl who throws fits or holds grudges, and I've never had a fight like this with her before—you know, one where I'm totally at fault—so it's pretty hard to anticipate her actions.

Alex parks his bike on the side of the street a few yards before reaching home. "Well? Did she reply?"

I fumble with my phone, and my heart skips a beat. She did.

Make it worth it.

"Make it worth it? What does she even mean by that?" I turn the screen off before shoving the phone back in my pocket.

"She means that she's actually coming." Alex replies, pointing at Vee as she appears on the corner, heading home. "Do you need me for anything else, Little John?"

I shake my head. "I guess you've done enough. Thank you for everything, Alex." I jump off the bike and give him the helmet.

"I only took you to college, but anytime, cousin." He stretches out his fingers. "I guess I'll study for a while. Can't allow Flannigan to beat me, can I?"

"Don't you dare!"

His attention is suddenly turned to the front lawn of the house.

"Better get a move on," Alex says quietly. "Your mother is on her way out."

If that's not a cue, I don't know what is. I make a run for it, catching up to Vee as she reaches the sidewalk. I can see Mom in my periphery, stopping in her tracks as she realizes I'm not in school, while Dad leans against Uncle Owen's car. I give my girlfriend an apologetic look, but she just fixes me with an expressionless face.

It's Mom who breaks the awkward silence first. "Shouldn't you be in class, young man?"

I turn to her, and tentatively inch a little closer, like I'm trying to gauge the temperature.

"I should be," I say, "but it turns out there are a lot of things that "should be" that aren't."

Mom opens her mouth to reply, but I don't give her the chance. "For example, I've come to realize I should be a more understanding person."

Mom looks at Vee, as though just suddenly noticing that she's standing beside me, and looks confused. She knows Vee isn't the kind of girl who skips classes, but that doesn't mean she's going to let the topic go, despite her obvious confusion.

"What does all of this have to do with you being out of school?"

I take a deep breath. "Actually, a lot, but it's a long story and I don't think you have the time for it." I nod at the car, then fish in my backpack for my carefully chosen peace offering. I produce one of the chocolates and present it to her on an outstretched palm. When she doesn't take it, I know I need to do more. "Mom?" I say earnestly. "Look. I'm... I'm really sorry about this morning."

We look into each other's eyes for a while, while Dad chuckles his approval, and enters the car. Mom doesn't say a word; she doesn't even blink, which makes this whole process a lot harder than I thought it would be, because, honestly, I don't know what else I can say.

After what seems like an eternity, Mom takes a deep breath, and finally breaks the otherwise reigning silence. "Are you trying to say you're no longer the brat who showed up in the kitchen this morning?"

The corner of my mouth twitches into the beginnings of a smile, and I look down at my feet. "It's complicated," I tell my mother. I don't know how to explain the jumble of thoughts in my head lately. Where would I start? "But I guess you're doing what you must and not exactly what you want, and it was unfair of me to lash out at you for that."

She finally takes my chocolate, and in return, offers me a warm smile.

"John, you're my only son, and you can't even imagine how much I love you." Her blue eyes grow brighter and fill with tears. "You've grown so much and so fast lately, it's hard to recognize you as my young boy anymore."

"Drop that!" I say, embarrassed. "You sound like an old lady,"

"Maybe I am?" she admits, pulling me into a hug. I hug her back, and place a kiss on her cheek. Mom is right; I have grown a lot lately. I'm at least a couple of inches taller than she is now.

"We need to get going, Liz." Dad calls, poking his head through the window. "You're going to miss your flight if we don't get a move on."

Mom and I untangle, and I can't help shedding a few tears, too, as she climbs into the car beside Dad. I don't remember if I've ever spent more than a day away from her before. Veronica wishes Mom a nice trip and together we watch the car disappear around the corner. She leans on me lightly, idly hugging my waist.

"I'm proud of you, John."

Then I remember I have something for her, too, which brings me back to the present moment. I fish again through my backpack once more, picking up her chocolate, (a bigger one than the one I gave Mom), and it's also her favorite brand.

"I'm sorry about earlier, Vee."

She touches my arm lightly. "You're so sweet, you know that?"

"I wasn't so sweet earlier; I was kind of bitter."

"Let's just change that." She pulls me to her and stands on her tiptoes to kiss me. Under Veronica's soft lips, it only takes a few seconds for any lingering bitterness to disappear, wither and die.

And a bit of order is finally restored. For now.