Thank you for waiting! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Everyone took their seats around a large circular table in the Pete family's dining room, where most of the food had already been set, minus the turkey that Goofy had just brought. Somehow PJ found himself sitting next to Miles, who was to his right, Pistol to his left. To Miles' right was Shala, who had noticeably abandoned her beret for the occasion. In fact, she wasn't wearing her beatnik outfit at all, just a very semi-casual black dress; she had also tied her hair into a neat bun before she sat.

"Dinner's served everyone!" Peg said bringing out the turkey. Goofy and Pete trailed behind, and the former had changed into his regular attire for dinner, ditching the turkey suit (which no one found appealing except Pistol).

"Everything looks fantastic, Mrs. P, thanks again for having us." Miles said genuinely.

But before Peg could speak, Pete interjected, "It's my pleasure, mah' boy! We're always happy to extend the family!" PJ rolled his eyes at the response, amused at the irony.

"Yeah! A-Hyuk, Pete's a gem! A real pal!" Goofy said patting Pete heavily on the back, to which Pete merely responded in a grumble.

"We're glad to have you Miles, you too Shala." Peg said happily while placing the turkey on the table.

Shala smiled, "Thank you."

"Heyyy, wait…aren't we missing someone?" Bobby said looking back and forth rather dramatically.

"Oh yeah, where's Silvia, dad?" Max said turning his attention to Goofy.

"Hmmm…..now where was it she was goin'?" Goofy rubbed his chin and stared at the ceiling, then he snapped his fingers as it hit him, "That's right! She went to her folks' place fer Thanksgivin'. A-Hyuk! Over there in uh….Oaksberry!"

"Oaksberry? No way, that's where Shala and I are from!" Miles said playfully putting his arm around Shala. PJ began feeling a tad jealous.

"It's a….humble little town, but it's quaint." said Shala. She appeared rather composed, but only PJ was able to spot the slight hint of pain in her voice. As she had told him before, she did not have a great childhood in that town.

Trying to change the subject before the conversation evolved, PJ bellowed out, "I think uh…umm…I propose a toast!"

Everyone looked at him, and remained quiet for a couple of seconds, mostly because some of them almost forgot he was there, as he was silent the majority of the evening. Peg spoke up first, "I think that's a fantastic idea!" she said grabbing a bottle of Sparkling Cider. She walked around and poured some into everyone's glass, and as she was filling up PJ's (who happened to be last), he began to feel massive regret, as he had no idea what to toast to.

"This is gonna be good." Pistol tried to say quietly, but practically everyone heard her.

"Okay…so uhh…" PJ said lifting up his glass. He literally had no idea what he was doing. Everyone looked at him, eager to see what he was going to say, except for Pete who was looking at PJ with a slightly irritated look (mostly because the toast was preventing him from eating right away). "Yeah, so like…I think we should toast to uh….being thankful….for…ummm" He glanced towards Max for help. Max just shrugged.

"Don't mess up, you've already committed." Pistol whispered so that only PJ would hear. She chuckled but didn't see him shoot her a dirty look.

"Okay, I got one." PJ said forcing confidence into his voice, he stood and raised his glass (accidently shaking the table a bit with his belly as he stood). "To old friends and new friends….and…uuhhhh." he began to freeze, his confidence disappeared along with his words.

"And to all the people we love!" Miles added, raising his glass. "Because if there's anything we should be thankful for…it's love."

"Here, here. A-Hyuk!"

PJ was relieved that Miles bailed him out, but it also began to irritate him further. After the toast, everyone dug right into their meals, passing around bowls and plates of food and it wasn't long before the only sound ringing from the room was the sound of silverware clanging together. As usual, the meal Peg prepared (with Pete's minimal input) was delicious. Everyone nearly forgot about the turkey, which was still untouched.

Peg, grabbing rather large knives to begin cutting the turkey, casually began conversation, "So, Shala, tell me, how long have you and my PJ been dating?" PJ immediately spat out his food in surprise, most of which landed all over the turkey.

"Shit!" PJ's tongue slipped without thinking. He immediately covered his mouth and looked at Peg, who was more annoyed at the fact that the turkey was ruined than the fact that he swore at the table, "Uh..no, wait, I mean…uhh.."

"She's not dating him, mom." Pistol said, face full of mashed potatoes. She quickly swallowed and looked at Shala, "Wait, are you?"

Shala's eyes widened, and her face slowly began turning red.

"What? My son not good enough fer you or somethin?" Pete said, sounding more offended for himself than for PJ. Shala couldn't speak.

"Pete!" Peg said, giving Pete a stern look.

"What? Who else could she possibly be datin,?" Pete said, his face suddenly brightened as if a light bulb appeared over his head, "I know! She's datin' Miles, eh? Atta boy kiddo!"

"PETE!" Peg said angrily.

"Nah, they already broke up." Pistol added.

"PISTOL!" PJ belted desperately.

"PJ!" Pistol followed.

"PISTOL!" Peg shouted.

"PEG!" Pete yelled defensively.

"PETE!" Peg said wielding the turkey knife.

"GOOFY! A-Hyuk!" Goofy added, arms playfully in the air.

Silence fell upon the table once more. Max and Bobby could only sink in their chairs after observing the incredibly awkward conversation that just ensued, with the latter breaking the silence by filling his mouth with some cheese spray he had hidden in his pocket.

"Well then, who wants dessert?" Peg said, snapping back to her cheerful self, ignoring the now messy table which was caused by Pete's hands continuously hammering it.

"But we haven't finished eating yet-" started Bobby.

"I'm going to bring out dessert!" Peg announced abruptly, making her way to the kitchen with unusual haste.

Everyone continued eating their meals without a word. PJ rushed through his, and as he was finishing his third helping he couldn't help but stare at Shala. She was still blushing at little bit, but it was fading just enough to bring out the finer qualities of her face. With her hair in a bun, he had the rare opportunity to see her face in its entirety. He was always awestruck by her beauty, but for some reason he couldn't help staring at her. As he continued to stare, for what seemed like hours, he felt a very uneasy sensation, like he was being watched, and long behold he looked up to see Miles looking right at him. He didn't mean to, but he jumped ever so slightly to try to recompose himself after seeing Miles watching him stare. He wasn't sure how long Miles had noticed, but the blank look on Miles' face left PJ feeling uncomfortable.

PJ retreated outside after the meal and sat on the sidewalk near where Miles' car was parked. He was so embarrassed to go back inside that he seriously considered sleeping on the sidewalk. He sat there for a few minutes just thinking to himself, grasping his poetry book tightly in his hand. But before he could get too deep in thought, he felt another strange sensation on his back, as if he were being watched. But this time he turned to see it was Shala, standing just a few yards away from him.

"Let me guess. You came here to make me feel better?" PJ said turning back around, his gaze buried deep into the concrete street.

She sat down next to him and smiled, "I don't know why you beat yourself up so much. I just came to thank you."

"Thank me? I feel like I should be apologizing. My family can be a little crazy at times and I didn't know what to say to—" PJ said, his voice filled with frustration and anxiety.

Shala interrupted, "PJ, look at me."

He looked her dead in the eye. "…What?"

She embraced him at once and held him tightly. He was confused, but he hugged her back even tighter, never wanting to let go.

"I never had a family to share Thanksgiving with." Shala said. Her voice didn't crack, but she said it with a lot of emotion, like when she read poetry. She let go of him, "Families are embarrassing, it's what they do, but you have a great family. Regardless of what….well…strange happenings went down, they took me and Miles, two complete strangers into their home and treated us like family."

PJ looked down then up and gave a slight smile, "Thank you."

"No PJ." Shala said placing her hand on his. "Thank you."

Deep down, PJ felt very happy for her, and though they embarrassed him, he was glad his family liked Shala (it would have been very apparent if they didn't), but another thing was sort of niggling at him. Were they dating? And if not, what were they doing? PJ didn't want to rush anything, but with Miles' presence beginning to threaten him, he felt he may have to act sooner than later.

Before PJ could resurface conversation, Miles' car beeped quickly a couple of times, rather loudly, with PJ stumbling backwards a bit.

"Ah, sorry Peej!" Miles said apologetically. He had just unlocked his car with his remote car key. "I didn't realize how loud it was!"

"Enjoying your new ride, Miles?" Shala said as Miles passed her to reach his car.

"Very much so! Thanks again. I was going to thank you at the table, but I didn't want it to seem like I was bragging."

Miles began rummaging through his trunk, "What's up, man? If you're looking for blankets or something, we got plenty in the house." PJ said curiously.

"Oh, no it's not that. Actually I can't stay, got a gig early in the morning near campus." Miles said still rummaging.

"Ambitious as usual I see." Shala said standing up to stretch a bit.

PJ noticed something peeking out of Miles' back pocket. To PJ, it looked like the business card Giovanni handed to the three of them. "Oh!" PJ started rummaging through his pockets and took out the business card.

"Hm, what is it?" Shala asked curiously. It was very dark outside at this point, so she couldn't make out what was in his hand.

"Remember that business card Giovanni gave us? Did'ya guys ever figure out what the deal was or what?"

"Actually, I checked the website…there was nothing there." Miles said, taking a few art supplies out and putting it in his backseat. "Must be down or something."

"That's…peculiar." Shala said taking out Giovanni's business card, which she kept in her handbag. "You'd think he'd give us more than a website to contact him."

"Giovanni's always been a mysterious man. Anyway, I wouldn't worry about it!" Miles said cheerfully. "I'll let you guys know if anything comes up."

"Yeah….sure." PJ said blankly.

"Tell the family I said thanks! I'll catch you guys later!" Miles said getting into his car. PJ couldn't shake the feeling that Miles was in a bit of a rush.

"Wait! Miles! You forgot to take some leftovers with you!" Peg said bursting through the front door and racing down to the street holding a couple of plates wrapped in tin foil. But Miles had already driven away and was too far down the street to hear her. "Oh, dear…I missed him. What if he gets hungry?"

"I think he'll be fine, mom" PJ said chuckling a bit.

"It's too bad he couldn't stay. It's so great having all the kids home!" Peg said embracing both PJ and Shala in a group hug while still holding on to the leftovers, partially choking both of them.

"Yeah…" PJ said struggling for air, "…It's good to be home."

Peg released them, "You'll have to excuse me and my husaband, Shala. We're very sorry if we embarrassed you."

"No worries Mrs. Pete. I really appreciate you having me." Shala said smiling, which always gave PJ butterflies, and he started blusing…which Peg noticed.

"Well! I'm gonna head back inside and do some cleaning. You kids have fun!" Peg said trying to make a graceful exit.

"Oh! Let me help you." Shala said following Peg into the house.

"That's alright hun, I can…"

"I insist. It's the least I can do." Shala said warmly.

Peg peeked over Shala's shoulder to look at PJ, who just shrugged in response.

"Well…thank you. It's nice to have a helping hand once in a while….lord knows Pete won't do anything." Peg laughed as she and Shala made their way into the house.

PJ stood quietly for a good minute or so after they left, just pondering quietly to himself. He was certain Thanksgiving was going to be a disaster, but he was pleasantly surprised everything worked out, even though he was severely embarrassed.

"How's it hanging Peejie?" a random voice shouted at him. He turned around quickly to the house and saw Pistol, peering out through her bedroom window, smiling.

PJ looked cross, "You can be a real brat sometimes, you know that?"

"That's not very nice." Pistol said, still smiling playfully, "I was going to tell you all kinds of stuff about Miles, but since I'm a brat and all-"

"You're bluffing man. I already know Miles enough. And I know he and Shala had a dark childhood and whatever in Oaksberry where they grew up. But he's a nice guy, you can't really get dirt off someone like that.

"Welllllll….you're right about him being a nice guy." Pistol said playing with her pigtails, "Cute too."

PJ rolled his eyes and turned his back to walk away.

"But…. he's not really from Oaksberry."

PJ stopped in his tracks, and slowly turned just his head. Looking bewildered.

"And I don't know about you, but I don't think he left just to go to some 'gig.'"

PJ's eyes grew wide, he walked towards the house looking up at Pistol's window, he again got the feeling that Pistol knew something he didn't, "Pistol, just how long were you standing there?"

"Long enough." Pistol said smiling widely, "And between you and me…" Pistol began to whisper down to him, "The website works fine."