Naser stands in the open doorway looking at Anon, anger creeping up his body. He says nothing. A frown crosses his face as he pulls his fist back, staring with all the fury he can muster as he glares at Anon.

“Naser, no! Stop!!!” I scream out again. What am I going to do? How am I going to stop this?! Naser is going to get the shit kicked out of him!

A thunderous crack snaps through the air as he lets his fist fly freely into Anon’s cheek. The impact of Naser’s strike sends Anon staggering back, shock on his face as he tries to open his mouth but Naser is having none of it as he shouts him down.

“The fuck are you doing here, Anon?!” Naser’s fury comes through with every word. For me that night had long-since ended, the healing having already come. For Naser it’s still fresh in his mind. “Come to hurt my sister? Come to take some more of her life away? She hasn’t been home in years because of you! Fuck you!”

“Naser, wa—” Anon can’t get a word in edgewise before Naser is back on top of him. None of Naser’s athleticism has faded; he told me about the time he spends at the gym between classes, not wanting to wither away with age, and he is using it to full effect. He grabs Anon by the collar and punches him square in the gut, causing him to double over before Naser follows up with a brutal kick to his leg. Anon coughs as he hit the floor, but even after the hits he’s taken he doesn’t look fazed…if anything, the look I can see in his eyes is frustration.

“Naser, stop! We made up months ago. Please stop this now!” I hurry over beside them both but Naser can’t hear a word, he is too focused on Anon, the object of his hate and in his mind someone who had taken his sister from his family.

Naser’s eyes don’t even flick in my direction before he turns his fists against Anon again, taking swings at his face which Anon deflects before Naser lands another punch to his cheek, again staggering him. “Why the fuck would you show up here at our house?! Were you expecting to just walk right back into her life like you had done nothing? That you hadn’t ripped her heart out and tossed it in the trash?! You sonofabitch, you hurt my sister!”

I’ve never seen Naser this way. His pupils are pinpricks, single-minded hate all that is driving him, desperate for release from years of pent-up anger from that night. Goddammit, I need to stop him before Anon does something I know he doesn’t want to do!

“Naser, listen to me!!!” I grab his shoulder but he shrugs me off, not recognizing at all that it is me talking to him. I see my parents running to the door, but I hold my hands up and shake my head. They stop dead in their tracks with worried looks, my stern gaze telling them all they need to know—we need to stop this, not them.

With a roar of primal rage, Naser dives at Anon, knocking him off the porch and down into the yard and pinning him to the ground. For a moment all he does is stare into Anon’s eyes, his own shaking with an anger he can’t control. Anon stares back with cold determination—he is losing patience. Naser pulls his fist back to strike Anon, missing and hitting the snow beside his head before Anon shoves him off and staggers back to his feet. That only causes Naser to lose it even more, all coordination lost as he swings wildly at Anon, who at this point is easily dodging every swing.

“Naser, goddammit, listen to me and stop this fucking shit! Stop trying to hurt my boyfriend!” I stomp my boots against the concrete with my wings stretched out as I shout at him again. The sound seems to shock him as my words finally start to register to the enraged ptero.

I am reaching him, but it’s not enough yet. Naser shouts with anger one last time, swinging both fists at once but Anon slips behind him, grabbing him in a chokehold and driving him to his knees, turning Naser’s face toward mine as he twists in his grip.

“Listen to her, dammit! Calm the fuck down for a second and just fucking listen!”

Naser feebly struggles in Anon’s grip, his breath sharp and rapid as his eyes shoot all over the place looking for a way to get loose. I run up beside him, kneeling and grabbing his face in both of my hands, forcing him to look at me. The realization that I am here right in front of him seems to finally pull him out of his madness.

His eyes lock on mine as he takes it all in. “F-Fang? You’re home? What the fuck is going on?! Why the hell is Anon here?!”

I stare back him, trying not to be pissed as I hold him tight. “Naser, Anon and I made up. We’ve been dating for over a month now. We’ve been fixing ourselves and our relationship and have long since buried that night. I need you to calm down and focus, okay?”

Naser struggles a bit more before a long exhale drains all the fight from him as he goes limp in Anon’s grip. I nod to Anon who lets him go, and Naser slumps over into my arms. I hold him close as he recovers from the shock of it all. This is not how I wanted their meeting to go but I also had no fucking idea he was going to be here. I guess he showed up unexpectedly and Mom didn’t have time to explain my return, let alone Anon coming over. All that’s left is trying to pick up the pieces before the whole night is ruined. He lets out huge sigh before pulling back from me, looking into my eyes.

“Are you okay, Naser?” I cautiously ask.

“No…” He sniffles as he brushes a sleeve across his cheek. “I’m not fucking okay. I haven’t seen you in four years, I only get to talk to you over the phone, and then on Christmas Eve he shows up at my door.” He points at Anon, who has backed away giving us space. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on. Help me figure this shit out before I lose my goddamned mind, Fang.”

I help him to his feet and lead him back inside the house. Mom and Dad back away, giving us room while Anon follows in behind before shutting the door. Anon doesn’t look any worse for wear…hell, the smack on his face barely left a red spot. Naser, however, looks horrible. Not that Anon had hurt him, but fuck if the shock hasn’t done a number on him. Naser and I sit on the couch staring each other as he studies my face, looking for answers I hope I have to give him.

“So…what do you want to know?” I ask, taking his hand in mine which he grasps gently in his.

“Everything. I want to know how you two went from worst enemies to somehow dating again after everything you said to me that night. I need to understand how the fuck he made up for that shit.” Naser glances over at Anon before looking back at me, waiting for my response.

I sigh as I collect my thoughts and spill them out to Naser, only vaguely noticing our parents standing silently in the background, listening. I leave nothing out, except for the night at my apartment…I do not need to share that with them. I tell Naser about how I had been crumbling to pieces the month before Anon showed up, how I was at the end of my rope with nothing left. I even admit that I had been planning to kill myself, and I look apologetically at my mom, who has tears streaming down her face. I explain how Anon had been watching my shows and then one night we talked, getting everything out in the open. How he had apologized for everything he had said and done. The months we spent together fixing our broken lives up until this moment when I came home.

“But…why didn’t you ever tell me?”

I look down at my hands, clasped in my lap, and sigh. “I was afraid. I wasn’t sure how you’d react, and it was so new that I didn’t want to jinx anything.”

Naser takes it pretty well, as well as I could have hoped considering not ten minutes ago, he wanted to rip out Anon’s throat. As I finish talking, he slowly nods to me before getting up off the couch and walking over to Anon. Sweet Raptor Jesus, don’t start again, Naser….

A tense moment passes before Naser sticks out his hand, staring expectantly at Anon who puts out his. Naser grips it tightly before he speaks. “Anon, I’m sorry I attacked you. Everything—from what she had told me before—came flooding back in an instant and I lost control. I shouldn’t have struck you and I have no excuse.”

Anon shakes his head. “You’ve got nothing to apologize for. If I saw the man that broke the heart of someone I cared about, I probably would try to beat their ass too. We good?”

Naser nods before shaking Anon’s hand and letting it go. “We’re good, though I still need some time to absorb all of this. I never expected to see you again, let alone see you here dating my sister. Actually, that has thrown me for a fucking loop, I’ll admit. How the fuck did that even happen?”

“Well…” I chime in, causing everyone to look my way. “That was mostly me, Naser. I don’t think Anon ever was trying to get back together. I think he just wanted to do right by me after everything fell apart and was maybe just hoping we could be friends. I ended up rekindling the whole thing and I don’t regret it in the slightest. I wouldn’t be here right now if I hadn’t.”

That seems to strike Naser to his core. The idea that Anon could have had anything to do with me deciding to see my family after so long seemed hard for him to swallow. His eyes shift back and forth between me and Anon before he finally sighs in resignation.

“Alright…I’ll accept it then. Somehow, though I don’t think I’ll ever fully grasp it, you helped my sister. I do know that this is the first time she’s been home in years and if you had anything to do with it…then I’m willing to put the past behind us.” His eyes narrow as he glares at Anon with a fire that could sear bone. “But if you fuck this up again…”

Anon holds up a hand shaking his head. “I’m not going to, Naser. I’ve got a second chance many people would kill for and I’m not wasting it.”

That seems to finally calm Naser down as he takes a seat beside me again. “Well, now that the awkward shit is out of the way…how the hell are you, Fang? And welcome home!” He envelops me in his arms, squeezing the air out of my lungs before letting me go and staring at me expectantly.

“I’m doing alright, Naser. A lot better now that I don’t have to worry about Anon breaking your flipping neck.” Can’t curse…Mom will eat me.

He scoffs and waves it off. “Pah, I coulda taken him no problem.”

I roll my eyes and flick the tip of his beak. “No, you freaking couldn’t have, Naser. The only time you ever had the upper hand was when he was smashed up from falling down concrete stairs. He’s been on a ship fighting for his life for the past four years. Count yourself lucky he didn’t decide to turn you into a freaking pretzel…me being probably the only reason he didn’t.”

“W-wait…” He turns to Anon, who is leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed. “Seriously? He is fucking military? Explains the muscles, I guess.” Mom comes up behind him and swats him on his crest. “Ow!”

“No more cussing in this house, Naser,” She scolds him with a stony gaze. “You may be an adult but while you are here you will show proper respect.” A chill settles over Naser as he gulps down his fear; no Aaron is safe from her authority.

“Sorry, Mom…kinda forgot where I was during all this.” He turns to look at Anon with a shrug. “Well, thanks for not beating the crap out of me I guess?”

“You’re welcome.” Anon fixes his clothing before pulling a small box out of his pocket. No worse for wear, I guess he was keeping that safe during the tumble. He walks over to my mom and hands it to her. “Here you go, Mrs. Aaron. I wanted to bring you a gift, sort of a peace offering for all the hell I put your daughter through.”

She holds the box in her hands as she looks deeply into Anon’s eyes. This is the moment of truth—if she finds any fault with him, this will be as close as he ever gets to me again. Hell hath no fury like a pissed-off ptero mother. A tense few moments pass until she smiles and squeezes his arm. “Thank you, dear. You didn’t have to. Lucy wants you here and that was enough for me.”

Oh thank Raptor Jesus above, Anon gets to live another day and my mom actually didn’t smack him, two miracles in one night. Dammit…now I definitely have to go to church with Mom a couple times, damn my promises.

She gently tugs the ribbon from the box and lifts off the lid before gasping in delight. She pulls out a tiny figurine. It has a pirate outfit on with light blue scales and white wings with amber eyes and a tiny sword…waaaaitaminute! My face instantly erupts into a fierce blush as I realize what he just gave her.

“Anooooooooon!” I whine. “You didn’t tell me you were going to give her something like that!”

“Course I didn’t!” He smirks. “You wouldn’t have let me get away with it if I had.”

“How did you even get something like that, especially in less than a day?!” The indignance in my voice causes me to squeak as I fight hard not to run and hide from my growing shame.

“Benji helped. I told him right after you agreed we were going to your parents. Turns out he has a friend who has a 3D printer and model paint so all I needed to do was give them a picture of you to work with and ta-da!” He holds out his hands like he is presenting an award as my mom coos as she admires the tiny shape of one of my most embarrassing personas.

“Oh, thank you, Anon! It’s adorable! That’s going up on the shelf right now!” She quickly hugs him before walking over to the shelf, putting it up and turning it around so it prominently sticks out from all the other things on there.

“Mooooooooooooooooooom!” I whine again, my beak hanging open as I cover my eyes in embarrassment. “Family comes here! People I know! I don’t want them to know I used to do that!”

“Sorry dear, but it’s going to stay right there. I used to hang a picture of you dressed up anyway. Plus, it looks adorable! Just like you always did back then as you pretended to be a dashing swashbuckler!” She clasps her hands together and I see the telltale glow in her eyes as she reminisces of days gone past.

I shake my head back and forth in my hands as I fight off my embarrassment long enough to stare daggers at Anon. He just laughs as he smiles at me. Whatever punishment I can think up is never going to dampen his spirits with his admittedly perfect shot directly at my mother’s heart.

“Come on, sis, it looks cool!” Naser quips before I bonk him on the head. “Ow…can people stop beating me about the head?! I’m gonna get a headache.”

“Stop being dumb then.” I stick my tongue out at him and he blows a raspberry in return.

“Never.” He jumps out of the way before I can smack him again.

“Well, now that we are done embarrassing me for one night…” I grumble, glaring at the tiny version of myself staring back at me with its little smug grin. “Can we just have a nice time together as a family? Without the potential for murder or any more surprises?”

My mom covers her beak before giggling. “Of course, dear. Let me go finish getting dinner ready now that the excitement has ended.” With that, she takes one more look at the figurine before heading back to her heavenly smelling cooking.

My dad has been incredibly silent the whole time, just staring at Anon. With all that already happened, I can at least hope that my dad isn’t going to add to it. He looks Anon up and down in silent judgement before speaking up.

“So, Anon…” I can see every muscle in Anon’s body tense up as he gives my dad his full attention. “I want to make something crystal clear.” He stands up, towering over Anon, causing all my warning alarms to go off at once. “Lucy loves you, which means I need to get used to you being around here. But you treat her right this time, or I’ll add you to the wall. Understood?”

Anon gulps before nodding. “Understood, sir.”

“Good. That’s all that needs be said about that, now sit down and get comfy instead of leaning on the wall like a vagrant.” My dad sinks back into his seat with me scooting over on the couch to make room for Anon, who looks like he just witnessed God.

“So, what you been up to these days, sis? Been a little while since we talked last.”

I look at Naser in thanks for breaking the tension before I answer. “Well, my band is doing even better than when I told you last time. We’ve got some venues in town that have been looking to hire us and we’re finally being taken seriously. We aren’t scraping by on barely any money anymore, and to be honest I’m hoping it’ll take us right out of Skin Row. Be nice to not have to look over my shoulder going home…”

“No kidding, I still won’t drive down there. Don’t want anyone to touch the NasCar.”

I furrow my brow as I stare at him. “You still drive that hunk of junk?”

“Hey! It’s not junk! I put a lot of money into it. Even fixed the windshield.”

Anon whines as he hears that. “Awww…I liked that little bullet hole. It added character!”

“Character sure, but I can’t go driving around as a respectable health professional looking like I just got into a freaking gang shootout.”

“Are you sure? It would be badass if my doctor was some kind of gunslinger with a medical degree.”

Naser stares at Anon in disbelief for a moment before continuing. “Anyway…it’s good to see you, Fang. I’ve missed you when I’ve come down during breaks. It hasn’t been the same since you left.”

I pull Naser in for a hug with a soft smile on my lips. “I missed you too, Naser. It’s really good to be home again. I’ve missed seeing all of you…really wish I hadn’t wasted so much time screwing up and just freaking ca—”

“Stop.” My dad cuts me off midsentence with a steely gaze. “You are home now, that’s all that matters. Now let’s get to the table, your mother will be done with dinner any moment now.”

I wipe away a tear from the corner of my eye before nodding as he leads us to the table, the three of them silently fighting over pulling out the chair for me before my dad wins the toss up and offers me a seat. He gently pushes me to the table before settling at the head while Naser and Anon sit on either side of me. Only a moment later, my mom comes out of the kitchen and starts placing dishes all around the center of the table.

It is a spectacular spread in front of me that instantly causes my mouth to water. Freshly cooked spiral honey ham, garlic mashed potatoes, shredded pork with a tangy BBQ sauce, candied yams with marshmallows on top, and a gravy boat filled with the most delicious smelling thick gravy I’ve ever had grace my nose in my entire life. It takes every last ounce of willpower to stop myself from tearing into the feast as she sits down before we say grace. We all look to her and she gives her nod of approval as we dig in.

It is like watching a massacre, the usual affair at our household when the entire family is bunch of mostly carnivorous pteros. My mom has already grabbed enough for herself as the rest of us stack piles of food on our plates. I take several pieces of ham, putting the shredded pork in the middle and turning them into little meat wraps before downing five of them in quick succession. Naser and my dad tear into the sides, with Anon nearly as quick as us which surprises me. No way in hell any human can keep pace with our appetites but that glow in his eyes shows he is going to give us a run for our money. It goes on for a few minutes, each of us eating our fill and leaving not a scrap behind. Happy groans of delight fill the air as we all pat our full bellies…damn, it is good to be home.

My mom silently gets up with a smile on her beak as she starts gathering plates. I stand up to help and she shakes her head at me before collecting the rest. I guess I’m a guest of honor right now; she won’t let me lift a finger. After she cleans up, we all stay at the table chatting. It is nice. We talk about our lives, and laughter fills the table as Anon explains how he got discharged from the Navy. He is never going to live that down…not that it bothers him, he smiles the whole time enjoying the attention. Something tells me that his family rarely ever had moments like this, and he is just enjoying some sense of normalcy in his life.

As the hours wind down and the conversation starts to taper off, Anon and I get up and are about to say our goodbyes when my mom grabs my arm and stops me.

“Where do you think you are going, Lucy?”

“Uhm…back home. It’s getting late and it’s dangerous to walk Skin Row at night, plus the snow looks like it’s about to get bad.”

“You will be spending the night here, Lucy. Come with me. You too, Anon.”

My dad’s gaze follows us up the stairs as she opens the door to my bedroom. It has been beautifully maintained with not a speck of dust to be found. Even after all the years I’ve been gone, she has kept my room spotless. Even the sheets have been washed recently as I run my hand across the soft fabric. There are tears in my eyes and I turn to look at her as she stands there holding her hands together at her waist.

“Mom…you kept my room the same?”

She nods with a motherly smile. “Of course, Lucy. Whenever you came home, I wanted you to feel like you never left. Now please, get comfortable. You two are welcome for as long as you like.” I run over to her, giving her a hug as she kisses me on the cheek before leaving and closing the door behind her. Anon and I both sharing looks of disbelief. This place is a palace compared to what we have been used to.

“Well, I’m not waiting for an invitation.” Anon leaps into the bed, the soft mattress absorbing his impact as he sighs with delight. “Oh, this is going to spoil me.”

“Make room, dweeb, that’s my bed.” I dive onto the bed, spreading my arms and legs across the sheets as I rub my face into my old pillows. It is so nice to sleep on something that doesn’t have the width and depth of a cracker and almost the same amount of comfort.

We spend a good ten minutes just rolling around on the sheets. No springs stabbing us in the back, no lumps in the mattress to give us back pain in the morning, just pure bliss.

I roll over onto my side looking at him, his arms behind his head as he lounges with a smile on his face. “Thank you for not killing Naser.”

“No problem, Fang. He sure can pack a punch, though.” He rubs his jaw from where Naser had clocked him, a small bruise showing on his chin.

I lean over and kiss it. “Well, he wanted to protect his sister so of course he whacked you as hard as he could. Still, glad he didn’t break anything.”

“Nope, didn’t put a scratch on the gift either.”

I elbow him in the side. “You are still going to pay for that someday.”

“I know, and I also don’t care. It was worth it.” A smug grin flits across his face as I cuddle up close to him.

“Fucking dweeb. Anyway, let’s get some sleep. Going to be a long time before we ever get to sleep on something this comfy ever again.”

“Don’t need to tell me twice.” He lifts me off the bed in one arm before pulling the covers down and placing me back in my spot before pulling them over the both of us.

I blink in confusion before looking back at him, my face half covered by blankets. “You know…you could have just asked me to move.”

“Yep, wouldn’t have been as much fun though.”

I sigh and shake my head as I pull him in close, settling in beside him for the night. Minus the near ass-kicking Naser got, this visit was everything I had hoped it would be. Reconnecting with my family and putting a lot of my mistakes behind me. I am still shocked with how my mom had kept my room pristine and perfect like I had never left. A part of me never did, I think. A part of me I am happy that I have a chance to get back…my family and that piece of my soul I left behind with them.