August 14th 2020

Chapter 227
Their Visitors in Lecture

Sometimes, Lucas would hate the drive to university. He'd feel silly about it later, sometimes would feel silly even as he was caught up in that feeling, but it couldn't be helped. On those days, it would just get to feel like everything was set on repeat, day in, day out, always that same stretch of road, those same trees, and signs, sometimes he swore he recognized some of the cars, too, like people who went into a store at the same times so often that they became part of the memory of it. That tended to happen closer to the end of the weeks, while he'd be on the flipside of that emotion at the start of the week, when he was coming off a weekend without the drive.

This semester though, he was sure he'd found his cure to all that, thanks to the shuffling of the lunch date with Maya. Sure, she was always the light at the end of the tunnel, but the fact that they'd discussed it this morning, it really just felt like they'd cracked the code. He didn't worry so much about his dreading those end-of-week drives at this point, not if it meant that the closer he got to those, the closer he was to his day at the bookstore and the break in the middle which allowed him to meet his wife at her school. That was a silliness of another kind, a good kind. They saw each other plenty of times, in the morning, at night, on the weekends, and did plenty more fun things than just sit at her desk and talk as they ate, but at the same time there was something so special to them both about that small nugget of time that… yeah, it really was something to look forward to.

Today, he wasn't having one of those 'I hate this drive' days, no. It just wouldn't have happened. Today was the first day of the semester, his first time heading out to the university – other than the one time he'd gone to get his new books – and he was so looking forward to it. Only a few weeks had gone by since the end of the previous semester, but then it had been the holidays, and he had been dealing with his parents and the aftermath of the fire… He hadn't really seen much of his classmates or spoken to them beyond a few texts in that time.

He'd seen Ramona at Christmas, at the party, with 'Build-a-Ben,' as the girls would call him. He'd also seen a handful of new photos of the nearly seven-month-old Erin, who was evolving day by day to look like the spitting image of Maeve, with a dash of Carter for good measure. Ramona and Ben were plainly enamored with her, and while she was only his niece, not hers, Ramona definitely had the makings of becoming her favorite aunt. Maya and the rest of the band were certain Ben was thinking of proposing to Ramona but didn't want to rush into it, seeing as she had come out of a marriage which had fallen apart not that long ago. They were also just as sure that Ramona would genuinely say yes if he just got the courage to ask.

He hadn't seen Bishop, who'd been in France with Leona, visiting his family, but he'd gotten plenty of texts from him, especially after hearing about the fire at his parents' house. Lucas had never really learned who had told him, but he figured it had to be Ramona. His subconscious was of a different mind, thinking maybe Maya had reached out to his great friend, the better for him to do his friend thing and be there for Lucas. Either way, Bishop had been checking in with him whenever he could, which had not been nearly enough times where Bishop himself was concerned. He promised that, once he was back in town – he had landed last night – he would be at his service for pitching in on the kitchen repairs. It would be like the days of the secret house fix three years prior.

That was the bulk of his interactions with the group. Simon had been checking in, too, and Josie, and Robbie, but he hadn't actually told any of them about the fire, and it was clear they hadn't learned about it from Ramona or Bishop or anyone else. He hadn't meant to keep it from them, not exactly, but maybe it was kind of nice to have people to talk to and keep them in this bubble where none of that happened. He appreciated the concern, he did, and his friends were great that way. But he also appreciated the normalcy, and he had not felt guilty about holding on to it. He was going to have to tell them today though, no more excuses.

If seeing his friends and starting new classes wasn't enough of a motivator for getting to the university that day, he found another in the parking lot as he arrived. This was not one of those familiar cars on the drive things, but rather a familiar car because he had ridden inside it several times, over several years.

"Uncle Hank, what are you doing here?" he asked with a grin as he approached the man, just standing up from where he'd been pulling his bag from the back seat.

"Hey!" Hank Hillard was a beaming, younger version of his Uncle Joe, Pappy to most, and today was no exception. He clapped his nephew on the shoulder in greeting. "Well, see how it is, I signed on to split my time between here and Houston this semester. I'll be doing two days here every week. You might have gotten an e-mail about it," he gestured toward Lucas, who pulled out his phone and checked.

"Yeah, here it is," he nodded, opening it and briefly scanning the message. "Wait, Professor Lindgren left?" he blinked.

"I'm afraid so," Hank replied. "Hip surgery finally got her to retire. I'm holding down the fort until they find her replacement for the fall and onward."

"Wow… Well, if you speak to her, will you let her know I'm thinking about her and I hope she recovers soon?" Lucas asked as they started from the parking lot and toward the university.

"You know I will," Hank nodded.

"So I guess we're back to 'Mr. Friar' and 'Professor Hillard,' huh?"

"Won't lie, I might have missed those days," Hank smiled, and Lucas found himself echoing this.

"Kind of did, too."

They split off when their paths diverged, and Lucas went off toward his first class of the day, sitting nearby after he'd gotten his usual from the coffee cart. He'd barely done this that he was approached by Simon Shin. He'd known the guy for almost seven years, and he had never been anything less than what he was this morning, very peaceful and caring, patient… They'd barely gotten through their hellos that Lucas found himself laying out the whole story of the fire and his parents. Simon listened to the story like a knowing counselor, who would allow a tale to be told when it needed to be told. When he was done, Simon gave an encouraging smile.

"I'm happy to know they're both doing well," he told Lucas, who nodded in thanks. "How is Maya doing with having them living with you?"

"Oh, she…" Lucas chuckled, amused that Simon would have pinpointed this right away. "She mostly doesn't like the idea of my mother snooping in our things if she gets it in her head to do some cleaning, but really she's glad to have them there, to be able to help them this way." She could have easily footed the bill to put them up in a hotel for the duration of the renovations, something she had realized one day with a look about her like she wouldn't even have brought it up if it wasn't that the idea had kind of floored her, the fact that she had the means for it, from her song writing. Lucas understood, knowing she hadn't said it as any suggestion that she'd rather not have them be at the house. For now, they preferred to put that kind of attention toward a family trip, everyone together. That was coming, too.

"Hey, guys!" They looked up when they heard Josie's voice and found her approaching, hand in hand with Robbie.

It was almost odd to see the two of them now. Not bad odd, but then they had been dating for nearly a year now, and Lucas had to say it had done wonders for them both. He used to think that Robbie had been at his best with Ramona, and in some ways he was, but in the end it had really only been from a standpoint of two friends being good for one another. In no disservice to Ramona, who would say the same thing, Robbie looked so much happier with Josie. Meanwhile, Josie looked as though after spending years of not knowing how to be herself and overcompensating to the point where she had earned little in the way of friendship or genuine connection. She had been coming out of her shell already for a little while, but with Robbie at her side it felt as though she had emerged fully. She had that happiness glowing out of her, same as he did, and it was truly great to see.

"Lucas, man, did I see your uncle back there?" Robbie asked, pointing the way he and Josie had come from.

"Yeah, yeah, he's taking over for Lindgren this semester, didn't you guys get the e-mail?" Like he'd done before, Robbie and Josie pulled out their phones to check.

"I saw it earlier," Simon declared. "I meant to bring it up, but then you were telling me about your parents and I forgot."

"What about your parents?" Josie asked. Lucas and Simon shared a look. "What?"

Lucas just had to go ahead and tell them the story, too, so he did. Where Simon had remained quiet and uninvolved in the telling, allowing Lucas to get it all out in one go, Josie and Robbie were more interactive, reacting in shock when they heard about the fire, asking at once if his mother and father were okay, how bad the damage was. He told them about his mother and the smoke, and her trauma, told them about his father's burns, and the difficulties it had brought along for him. He told them how they had been and would continue to stay with Maya and him until they were able to go home, which would be after the repairs had been completed.

"Lucas, I am so sorry that this happened. How are they now?" Josie asked. She'd ended up sitting next to him on the bench almost as soon as he'd started to tell his story. Once upon a time it might have looked like she was trying to put the moves on him, but that was all in the past, and she was being a good friend, which he appreciated.

"They're good, they… They're not going to be able to fully recover until after they're home again, and they get back to how things were, I guess, so for now we're just enjoying being together, all of us."

By the time Bishop arrived and their group was complete, Lucas felt more than ever how glad he was for this new semester to have started. This chapter of his life may have been drawing nearer to its end every day, but he wasn't going to waste a moment of it. He would look back on it someday and it would be a lot of learning, a lot of growing, but mostly a lot of this, and that was truly worth remembering.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners