Note: I am going to be publishing a new Megaforce story soon, and that's where this scene will come in. All these scenes I create will file into the bigger fanfiction :).

"Do you work, Troy?"

Troy looked up and was met with the piercing gaze of Ms. Goodall. "Not yet, ma'am. I plan to very soon."

He, and Emma specifically, had bad timing. The day that Emma had invited him over to study was also the day that her sister Christina decided to surprise her with an unexpected homecoming. After Troy had insisted that he leave immediately, it was Christina soon-to-be-married Goodall that insisted that he stay. So he was in a formal house marbled from head to toe with sophisticated people who wouldn't be around low middle class people like him.

He was surprised of Noah's own appearance. Emma had filled him in on how the Goodalls were good neighbors with the Carvers who lived on the next block. Troy never knew, and was far too impressed for Noah's family had been the same as the Goodalls: suit-wearing, formal, and seemingly high class. It was luck that he had Emma and Noah to sit between. It was a colorful setting. The three unspoken superheroes with the bride and groom on one side. The blue parents and sister sitting with the groom's parents on the other. And the Goodall leaders heading the table. It crafted a mosaic of everything Troy wasn't. All enough to make his insides curl with pressure.

"What do your parents do? Your father?" Mr. Goodall said, taking a bit of his food.

Troy gulped and turned to steel. "I don't...know what my dad does.''

"How so?"

"...becauseIdon'tknowwhereheis."

It was hard for anyone to catch and he earned many clenched glares. But Mr. Goodall understood quickly, and so did the groom's father. They gave him more sympathetic glances.

"I'm..." Mr. Goodall started, and tried to find the most appropriate thing to say. ''I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's fine really..." Troy assured him.

The groom's father shook his head. "I don't understand how some people can leave their family like that." Troy turned to Emma and Noah, who were looking at him with sad eyes and frowns. He hadn't told any of them yet. He gave them thin assuring smiles that didn't do so well.

"What about your mother?" Mrs. Goodall asked him taking a bite of her food.

"Um, my mother currently works at a local restaurant downtown." Troy said with a swallow.

"Oh, so your mom's a chef?" Christina's fiancé named Sam asked him curiously. Troy found the friendliness bouncing off his words, unlike Emma's mother.

He pursed his lips and looked down. "A waitress..."

The room tensed a bit and everyone resumed consuming their meals. Troy grew even more intimidated, and he knew that his truth wasn't the best impression.

Beside him, Emma and Noah were shooting each other with the same thoughts and glances. They hadn't even heard a wisp of any of this. Emma gave Noah a thin look. What Troy was telling their families was personal, and she was embarrassed by her own mother to ask such questions.

"I'm sure your mother didn't go to college to wait tables," Emma's mother said with a humorless chuckle. "What college did she attend?"

Troy nearly dropped his fork. "She didn't attend college." He was sure it wasn't possible, but the room fell even more silent.

"May I ask why?" Mrs. Goodall asked quietly.

"Because she was too busy raising me."

And the horror soar across the chandelier. They were appalled, shocked, or pained to hear of such. Emma only swallowed, and looked at Troy for him to look back. She could've been of some comfort in this situation. That was caused by her mother.

Troy had never told this much of his past to anyone, nevertheless to out-of-league adults that he had just met. He knew they were probably ashamed to be sitting with him...just like his dad. He took out his phone and pretended to check a text. Luckily he had finished his plate, so he rose.

"My mom wants me home. I should go." He told them. "Thank you all for allowing me to stay. It was nice having the opportunity to meet you all."

Emma didn't want him to leave, but she knew that after all that had been said that it would be the best for him. "Let me escort you out."

"Me too," Noah said, standing up with Emma.

"No," Troy told them. "You have family here. Stay with them."

"Troy..."

"I mean it, Emma. It's late."

"Emma, sit down." Mrs. Goodall spoke.

From the other end, Mr. Goodall looked at her sternly. "Rebecca..."

"No, Julian. Emma..."

"Mom." That voice came from Christina.

Neither Noah nor Emma had sat down. "Both of you," Troy told them.

"Emma Marie Goodall, sit down."

"Let me give you a ride, Troy." Noah insisted with a firmer voice.

"I can walk. It's a safe city, Noah." Liar, you power ranger... Troy thought to himself.

Above all the contrasting protests from her own family, Emma's gaze didn't move from Troy once. Troy looked into her eyes that had now drowned themselves in sadness, and her eyes were watering up softly.

"Stay, Em." he asked her in a quiet voice.

Noah and Emma both knew they had both lost the battle when Troy held his hand out towards Noah. With an unsatisfied sigh, Noah shook his hand and stepped closer to Emma. Troy let go and he found a stray tear sliding down Emma's cheek. She mouthed "I'm sorry" to him. Troy gave her an assured smile before waving to everyone else and heading out the dining room.

Emma didn't sit down when the door closed and echoed through the empty house.

So Noah grabbed her hand and led Emma back to the table, both with bowed heads. Without looking at any other family members, they resumed their meal quietly.

They could almost hear Troy's teared footsteps marching through Harwood.