Nostalgia

The next three weeks flew by. Joe did precisely what he had set out to do before returning home. Absolutely nothing. He would help Alice with some basic chores without her even asking. He helped Sarah study and prepared for her next semester.

Aside from those sorts of things, Joe sat back and simply enjoyed the calm. He even put off his morning training routine. On most days, Alice woke up to find Joe already preparing breakfast for everybody. Just because he wasn't going for his morning runs, didn't mean he slept in.

Alice was the most surprised at this change of attitude. Before he had left for the Academy, Joe hated doing any form of cooking or cleaning. When she first asked why he had been making breakfast every day, he simply said he wanted to.

Numerous times, she would look in the refrigerator to see what they were running low on, only to find that it was full. The entire time Joe had been home, he did all the shopping, most of the cleaning and even took care of breakfast. Finally, Alice couldn't take it anymore and confronted him.

"Every day, I come out here to get breakfast ready and you've beaten me to it. All the laundry and cleaning has been taken care of as well. You've even gone out shopping to refill the food that we had eaten. What's going on?"

Seeing the slightly worried look that had appeared on Alice's face, Joe decided to spill everything.

"Nothing is going on. It's just that you did so much for me growing up and I wanted to at least lighten your load while I'm here."

Alice was left speechless. In five months, the maturity difference between the Joe she knew and the Joe before her was astronomical. Even for this day and age, he was far too mature for a regular eighteen-year-old.

Perhaps it was all the struggles he had gone through early in life. Maybe it was the blood he already had on his hands to include her abusive husband. Either way, Alice no long felt as if she was looking at a child when talking with Joe.

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At the end of the third week, Laine and Joe said goodbye once again. The two left shortly after the last breakfast Joe made and were headed towards the Academy. Along the way, Joe pulled her into a furniture store and told her to pick out the basics.

After selecting a dresser, desk and bed, Joe paid the additional fee to have them delivered to his house the same day. As they were passing a familiar pastry shop, the two agreed to enter. There was still time before the furniture would arrive anyways.

Unlike his last visit, there were hardly any other people inside the shop this early in the day. Seeing the duo walking in, the owner couldn't help but throw a jab at Joe.

"Kid, why is it that the two times you've came in recently you've had a different girl on your arm?"

Seeing the pained look on Joe's face and the red hue creeping across Laine's face, the shop's owner felt a sense of power. He was very familiar with these two. They used to stop into his shop at least once a week together. One day, that all stopped.

Sure, the two would still stop in but never at the same time. He couldn't figure out what was going on and it wasn't his place to ask. Seeing the two together again brought a smile to his face.

"I'm just messing with you. The usual?"

Seeing the owner start to reach for the treats they used to always get together, Laine was just as surprised as Joe. After thinking for a moment, it made sense to Joe. Having seen them at least once a week for almost eight years, it'd be more of a surprise had he not remembered the order they got every time.

After handing the treats to the two, the owner just motioned for them to be on their way. He was glad to see them together again, so he didn't want to ruin the mood by charging them. Before he could even turn around, he watched Joe approach the tip scanner before turning for the door.

Once they had left, the owner went to the register to cycle the tip into the regular sales. When he saw the amount, he was half tempted to run after them and smack some sense into the back of the boy's head. That was until he saw the note attached to the tip.

'We'll be back again so keep making the things that put smiles on everybody's face.'

A satisfied smile engraved itself on the owner's mouth. The brat that used to force his way to the front of the line had grown a lot in the last year. If only his nephew could be more like him. They are roughly the same age and yet Joe carried himself with far more maturity.

As the two walked down the street that was progressively growing more crowded, Laine could be heard humming to herself as she savored her treat. One habit that had never changed ever since the first time Joe had brought her to the shop.

The sense of nostalgia put his mind at ease. He was so content with the atmosphere around them that he barely had time to react when a blur of red crashed into his chest and nearly knocked him to the ground.

Before anger could even set in, Joe looked down and saw a face that had content oozing from every pore. To him, the woman was one of the most adorable in the world and only he knew this side of her. His mood was quickly snapped backed to where they were when he saw the glare coming from Laine.

"Shianne, you realize we're in public and people are looking, right?"

"I don't care. It's been weeks since I got to see you last. Can you blame me?"

"I understand because I missed you as well however, there is at least one person that shouldn't be getting the wrong idea."