Chp. 77 "A New Beginning"

~ FOUR MONTHS LATER ~

"Is this going to be all for you?"

I nodded in agreement to the cashier, taking my things as I handed her my money. I grabbed my bag that held the bouquet of flowers and I held my balloons too, "Thank you."

"Who's birthday?"

I smiled, "My best friend's."

She waved me off, "Have a good day."

"You too."

I hustled out the store and to my car, placing everything in my backseat as I sat in the front seat. I made my way over to my apartment where I would pick up Avery to head to our final destination. I felt the familiar aching in my heart knowing Max wouldn't be here to celebrate but that didn't mean we couldn't.

We would celebrate for him.

I pulled up into our apartment complex, honking as I waited for Avery to come outside. I was excited for her to see everything I had gotten at the store, hoping it would be enough. I didn't want it to be any less than expected.

She climbed inside my car eventually, looking at the backseat, "Awe, that's really good Andy. You're so sweet."

I smiled, "Ready?"

"Let's go."

I pulled out and down the street, heading down the route I was familiar with from all the times I had driven here. Avery broke the silence, "God this Philosophy class is going to kill me. I have a paper due in two days I haven't even started."

I laughed, knowing she sounded just like me, "You and me both, I have a Psychology test tomorrow and I haven't even cracked open my book yet."

"College sucks, I don't know why you wanted to go."

I smiled at her sarcasm, wondering if she really meant what she had said. I looked at her, "You were planning to go to college before you met me."

"I know. I was just messing with you."

I rolled my eyes, stopping at a red light and looking at Avery, "How's your dad liking his new job?"

"He loves it, and he'll be down this weekend to see Chris before he leaves again to head back to school."

I remembered how Chris had started going to school for some engineering job, knowing he wanted to work with all kinds of military machinery and junk. Avery was proud of him, and I was proud of him, along with Avery's dad.

Avery's family was slowly mending themselves back to normal.

"So Teal's finally moved into her new house?"

I nodded, "Yea, she finished Tuesday actually."

Avery's hand squeezed mine as she leaned back in her seat and sighed, "How awesome is it that she moved all the way from Louisiana to Jacksonville?"

I smiled, remembering how I had helped my mom unpack her things as the U-Haul dropped most of it off. We actually didn't even need help considering we both had telekinesis, which was a good money saver considering we didn't have to hire movers.

"It's amazing."

Avery looked at me and smiled, "She loves you so much."

I nodded in agreement, realizing my life just really couldn't get any better right now, other than this Psychology class I was taking at FSU. My biological mother now lived ten minutes from my real home, which was only ten minutes away from Avery and I's apartment. We were both attending college in hopes to start a new life while we went to school full time and work part time.

It was stressful, but it was worth it.

I pulled into the parking lot of the cemetery, looking at Avery, "Let's pay Max a visit."

She began helping me haul the balloons to Max's grave as I carried the vase of flowers. We walked down the sidewalks as I took Avery's hand, feeling the fall air whip around us. It wasn't the prettiest day, but it was pretty enough to come and visit Max.

After all, it was his birthday.

The sun was beginning to set as we finally made it to Max's grave, and I felt a chill in the air as we stood over it. It wasn't a creepy chill, it was a good chill, a chill I often felt when I came here.

I read, "Maxwell Davidson, October 23, 1995 to June 3, 2014." I set down the vase as Avery tied the bouquet of balloons on the stand we had next to his grave.

I knelt in the cold grass next to Avery, feeling her hand grip mine as I felt the aching in my heart rise up. I inhaled deeply, wondering if he could see us here while he was watching down on us, and I hoped he could.

I really missed him.

I sighed, "Well Max, I always promised you I would never forget your birthday, and this is me holding true to that promise."

Avery spoke too, "We miss you, a lot, and I never thought I would miss you."

I felt the wind whip around us as I steadied the vase on his grave, setting it in the holder we had attached to it.

"We know you're probably up there giving everyone a hard time, but we know you're happy up there with your dad."

Avery looked at me as I ran my hand over the marble slab of his grave, feeling the tears threaten to explode. It had been so long since I had cried, school usually got in the way of life along with my job, but when I was here I got really emotional.

And I was allowed to release everything here.

I looked up at Max's balloons that had the number 19 plastered on them, knowing Max would've been at FSU with us if we would've lived the normal life. If we had been normal teenagers he wouldn't have died, but I knew he had lived for a great cause, and we had saved the world together.

I felt the pain in my heart as I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, knowing it wouldn't be long before I started crying. I sobbed silently as Avery pulled me into her, allowing me to release the pain I had gathered inside me.

I whispered, "God I miss him so much."

She petted my hair, kissing me, "I know you do baby, I do too."

I don't know how long we sat there holding each other, but once I finally gathered enough strength to stop crying I realized it was getting dark. I didn't want to leave Max's grave yet, but I knew we should get home and start working on all of our school work.

I stood, looking down at Max's grave, knowing we would have to leave soon. Although, leaving was the last thing I wanted to do.

Avery looked at me, whispering, "You ready to leave?"

I nodded, "Just one second."

I bent down then; placing my hand over Max's grave and focused, feeling the amazing but familiar feeling of the tingling of electricity. I had discovered it one time that I came out here alone but there was nothing that could explain it.

It was just simply amazing.

I closed my eyes, feeling the sensation rush through my body like it always did, knowing I was the only one that could feel it. I had asked Avery if she could but she swore she didn't, Gage neither, but it was different for me.

And it happened every time I placed my hand on his grave.

I had wondered if it was the connection, or the weird bond we had, but nothing really could explain it. It was a phenomenon, something that wasn't meant to be explained, and I was okay with that. That was unless I had officially lost my mind, but I was trying not to think that way about myself.

I stood, clutching Avery as I forced myself away from Max's grave, knowing we should be going now. Avery smiled, "He's happy now."

I nodded, "Yea, I think so too."

"He would be so proud of you Andy, you just have no idea."

I smiled, feeling the hot tears continue to burn down my cheeks, "I'm proud of him."

She smiled, kissing me as she took the keys from me, "I'll drive back home."

I nodded, looking down at Max's marble tombstone and whispering slightly before leaving, "Happy birthday, Max."

Then Avery's hand slipped into mine as I felt the familiar sense of comforting that she always brought me, letting me know I wasn't alone no matter how much I missed Max. She was always going to be there for me, no matter what we went through, and I was so grateful I had found her.

We had been through some horrible things together and we had grown so much stronger from it, and I couldn't have asked for a better girlfriend. She cared about me, just like I cared about her, and we were each other's support system.

And I couldn't wait to live our normal life together that was going to be full of mistakes, love, pain, stress, and so many other good and bad moments. We were going to work hard and live the lives we always wanted, and we were going to leave all the supernatural nonsense behind us as much as we could.

We would attend college and move on with our lives, because after everything we had been through we deserved to get away. We needed closure and we needed to heal, which is the biggest reason we both left the Bureau in the first place.

But when the world needed a powerful superhero and her hot sidekick again, then Avery and I would step in and do the one thing we were best at.

And we would save the world again.

THE END

***A/N***

Well guys, that's it! I really loved this story, and I believe it's probably one of the best stories I've written, and I have to thank all of my readers for the amazing support you all have given me! I hope I ended the story as good as you guys were expecting and hopefully I tied up all the loose ends. Please let me know how you guys liked the book in its entirety with comments, I would love to hear some feedback! And who knows, maybe if you guys liked it enough I could possibly write a sequel to this one? Although a sequel wouldn't be written anytime soon, but let me know what you guys think about that.

On another note, how would you guys feel about me writing another TeacherXStudent story? I've already began writing some of it and I really think you guys will enjoy it, and I think I will too. If you guys would definitely like another TeacherXStudent story private message, comment, or post your opinion on my message board and let me know! In the meantime, Happy Reading!