"DO YOU WANT TO ORDER ANYTHING or are you still waiting for someone?"

Astonished, I raise my head and look into the friendly face of the waitress, who is holding a pen and a small notepad in her hands, just waiting. She is really patient, considering that it takes me at least ten seconds to pop out of my mind and answer her. "I'm still waiting for my brother and his fiancée."

She nods in agreement and turns her attention to the next table at Mary's Diner. Bronwyn recommended this little restaurant in downtown New Haven when I said I really wanted to see my brother. He immediately said yes to my rather hysterical message that I needed to talk to him, no questions asked. Then again, I'm sure Jeremy already knows what it's going to be about anyway, considering news of Dean's arrest has already spread widely.

Heart pounding, I stare at the front door of the restaurant, but neither my brother nor his fiancée is there. Instead, an older couple has crossed the threshold, prompting the bell above them to jingle softly. I really hope Jeremy hasn't forgotten about our meeting, because it's pretty important to me. After all, I didn't invite just him and Avery.

My phone shows a new message, which is from Bronwyn. She writes that Xander is in good hands at the New York jail, so at least one of our problems is solved. I'm sure Hunter will be happy to hear that, so I send him a screenshot of Bronwyn's message and add a satisfying emoji.

He replies with a slightly smiling smiley. The three loading dots appear, but I don't get to look at his new message because two very familiar faces are facing me. I immediately stand up and throw myself into Jeremy's arms, who returns my hug with a laugh. "Did you think I wouldn't come, Syd?"

Nodding slightly, I turn my attention to Avery, whom I smile kindly at. She mimics me, hesitates briefly, and then wraps me in her arms as well. "Are you okay?"

I shake my head. " I feel like hell."

"Is there anything we can do for you?" she asks.

"You really can. It has nothing to do with Dean, though."

Jeremy leans over the table toward me suspiciously. "It doesn't? If you want to talk about what happened to him, I'm here for you."

I raise my eyebrows in wonder. The last time we were here, Jeremy didn't like him. He even warned me about him.

He notices my suspicion and smiles. "I got a little lecture from the lady next to me ─"

"Which you deserved," she adds.

"And I really want to help where I can," Jeremy finishes his sentence. "You're on Dean's side and I'm on yours, Syd, which means we all believe the same thing."

"How sappy you are today." Smiling, my eyes sweep over the menu in front of me, noticing that I don't actually have an appetite. I'm someone who loves to eat ─ it's just that food has become pretty secondary with me lately, which is completely unlike me.

I order a portion of noodles with vegetables and tofu, already knowing I'm not going to eat it. Jeremy and Avery have a hard time deciding on the appetizer because Avery doesn't like puff pastry at all and Jeremy really wants to eat the tomato zucchini tartelettes. In the end, they decide on spring rolls and look at each other so in love that I feel a little twinge in my chest.

I quickly change the subject to something else so I don't have to think about Dean. "Did you talk to Mom and Dad, by the way?"

"Yeah," Jeremy answers dryly. "The last time was like three years ago."

I'm nervous about what's about to come. Jeremy's reaction is impossible to gauge, but I really hope he understands why I'm doing this. "I ... I wanted you guys to come so I could feel a little bit better."

Avery furrows his eyebrows in confusion. "Glad.. we can cheer you up and take your mind off things."

"No, it's not like that," I quickly counter. A cold sweat is on the back of my neck as I rub my palms together excitedly. "Mom and Dad will be here any minute."

Jeremy chokes on his Coke and coughs loudly as Avery gently pats and strokes his back.

He quickly calms down. "You invited them?"

"I'm sorry. Really. No, actually, I'm not sorry. The fact that you guys don't talk to each other anymore makes absolutely no sense and it's killing me. I want us to be a family again, not strangers, Jer." To make things worse, tears are now coming in my eyes. "Besides ... besides, everything is going downhill for me right now and I need you guys. Please wait until they get here and listen to what they have to say to you."

Avery gives my brother a look. " Well, it's worth a shot, isn't it?"

"Why would they suddenly want to talk to me again?" Jeremy crosses his arms in front of his chest angrily. "They've ignored my messages and calls for years. They didn't accept my decision to be with Avery and move to New Haven to study what I want. What did you tell them about volunteering to drive here?"

"I told them we missed them. That's all." And that's the truth. All right, maybe I cried a little, too, and said that Jeremy is moving to Alaska soon to help the polar bears there, who are in danger of extinction. They think this is the very last chance to see him before he leaves forever.

What else was I supposed to say? They never would have come without that ridiculous lie.

The bell rings and my heart literally drops as my parents stand there, looking around searchingly at Mary's Diner. As I look at them, I realize once again that I've really missed them. Mom is wearing her old familiar hairstyle that she wears every day: twisting her blonde hair in and securing it with a clip at the nape of her neck. Dad also looks the same as always. His wild blond curls, which I inherited from him, may not be as thick as they used to be, but they are still his trademark. His expression is a little grim and I decide to clear up the Alaska thing right away.

When the two of them come to our table, I clutch my glass so tightly that it would shatter. Was this really a good idea? After all, absolutely anything could happen, because there's nothing I wouldn't trust my parents to do.

Mom takes a seat next to me and wraps me in a gentle hug. Her flowery scent rises in my nose and triggers a kind of chain reaction in me. Because my tears are already about to come to the surface again. "You look so pretty," she whispers with a smile as she cups my face in her hands.

I laugh through my tears, knowing full well that I look completely wiped out. But that's the way it's always been. Mom would tell me I look good in a potato sack, too.

She turns her attention to Jeremy, giving the impression that she doesn't quite know what to say. Then she suddenly bursts into tears, whereupon he doesn't hesitate for long and immediately hugs her. Avery and I watch the proceedings touched, and Dad ... Dad just stands there as the grim expression on his face grows grimmer.

"I'm sorry." Mom sits back down next to me and dabs the tears from under her eyes with a napkin. "I'm sorry I never got back to you, Jer, but... But you can't seriously be considering moving to Alaska!"

Jeremy blinks in confusion as Avery chuckles softly. She saw right through me.

"Mom, Dad," I begin hesitantly. "The Alaska thing was a little white lie. I just didn't know what to say to get you to agree to this meeting."

I didn't expect Mom to be so casual about the whole thing, because she joins in Avery's laughter now. The two of them can't stop, while Dad looks like he'd rather be anywhere else. "We could have saved on gas," is all he says.

This statement sounds so much like him that I have to smile a little. "Why don't you sit with us? Please."

He relents, takes off his coat, and even pats Jeremy on the shoulder. I see this as progress and apparently, Jeremy does too, because the corners of his mouth lift in satisfaction. He looks like the little boy he was back then, and that makes me so indescribably happy. I am hopeful at this moment for the first time in days.

Because if I could fix my family, then it won't be so hard to do the same with Dean and me.

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