**Special thanks to Azure for editing.**
Max Roberts climbed out of the back of the cab. He set his duffel bag on the ground in front of him. He glanced up at the two story home in front of him. Its exterior looked nearly the same as the last time he had been standing before it. The grass was cut short, the bushes trimmed nicely to line the path to the door.
It was not his home. He had given up his apartment because it didn't make any sense to keep it, what with him not being around to use it. Maybe coming here was a bad idea, but he had nowhere else to go. He hoped they'd let him stay, or else he would be hoofing it to the next homeless shelter.
Max scooped up his bag and walked up the sidewalk. He nervously rang the doorbell and stood back. He waited a minute or two and when there was no answer, he turned to walk away. The door slowly creaked open.
"Max! What a surprise, I didn't know you were home." Hal Peterson grinned. The portly man nearly knocked him over as he hugged him and gave him a stiff smack on the back. He didn't look like he'd changed a bit. He still had a beer belly and grey hair. "How long have you been back?" He practically dragged Max into the house.
"I got off the plane a few hours ago." Max told him as he followed Hal into the kitchen. The house looked the same. Pictures of Megan lined the wall as they always had. It was almost as if he had never left.
"Great!" Hal clapped his hands together and headed for the kitchen. "Come, sit down and have a beer." Max raised an eyebrow, Hal was being strange. The man usually was not as animated.
Max thanked him as he took a bottle and sat down at the oak table.
A childlike screech came from the living room, followed by running footsteps. Max turned to look in the direction it was coming from. In ran a blur of a child. The boy came to an abrupt halt when he saw Max.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"This is Christian. And he is Max." Hal introduced them.
"Hi!" The little boy giggled and ran out of the room just as swiftly as he had run in. Max wondered idly if he had been that obnoxious when he was that age. He wondered what that age was as well. Hal must have been babysitting someone's child.
Hal sat down at the table with Max. "I assume you are here to see Megan."
"Well Sir, I was wondering, if it's not too much trouble, if I could stay with you for a while." Max was scared Hal would say no. Then he'd have nowhere else to turn.
"Of course you can stay here!" Hal replied as if it were a preposterous idea that he'd turn him away. "Why, I'd be a fool to turn a War Hero away."
"I'm not a hero." Max paused, taking a gulp of beer. "How was she, after I left?"
Hal's face seemed to fall. "She was depressed and decided to drop out of college. I tried to make her keep going but you know how she is."
Max did know. The girl was stubborn as hell. You'd tell her to go left, she'd go right just to show you that she was.
"Is she here?"
"She went to work, but she should be home in a bit." Hal chuckled. "She'll be in for a shock."
***
"I'm sorry about the room." Hal apologized. "If I knew you were coming I wouldn't have gotten rid of the normal bed."
Max stood staring at the bed. It was a red plastic racecar. He didn't think there was any way it would hold his weight. He wasn't sure about sleeping on it. It seemed a bit absurd for a twenty seven year old to be sleeping in a twin sized car.
Hal grinned. "I can get you an air mattress if you don't feel like racing. The boy is crazy about cars."
"I can tell." Max looked around the room. Even the lamp sported a car with a racing flag themed shade. The walls were lined with a checkered flag border. The floor had a small track running the edges of the room.
Before he could ask why the kid had a whole room, a door opened. Even though it had been many years, he knew the sound was the creaky front door. "Megan is home." Hal nudged Max towards the door.
Max was not sure if he wanted to go out the door, what if she hated him? Of course, he would not blame her for it. She had every right to after he left her like he had so long ago.
He did not have much of a choice as Hal nearly shoved him out the bedroom door and down the hall to the stairs. Max was a bit concerned the man would throw him down the staircase. When they had safely reached the bottom, they turned to the left into the kitchen.
As Max rounded the corner, he caught a glimpse of Megan. Her hair was short. Gone was the beautiful strawberry hair, in its place was a shoulder length blonde hair. She seemed to have gained a bit of weight, which was good since she was underweight when he had last seen her. He could not see her face; she was bent over the counter writing something on a notepad. He took a quick look at her butt and smiled, it was still cute.
"We are out of fruit snacks." She said nonchalantly. "Or so I was told." She shrugged, not looking towards them.
"That is too bad, 'cause I was really craving some." Max said, sounding cheesy even to himself.
She froze. It seemed like forever before she slowly turned to face him. "Max," She crossed her arms in front of herself and leaned back against the counter. "What are you doing here?"
"Your father was kind enough to let me stay here." Max replied stupidly.
"Mommy!" came the shrieking whirlwind child. Mommy? Megan a mom, the concept was mind boggling. Christian nearly launched himself at her. "That's Max."
"I know Sweetie." She hugged the child to her.
"How?"
She took a moment to form an answer. "We were...friends, a very long time ago."
Hal seemed to sense the tension in the room. "Christian, let's go get ice cream and let your Mommy and Max have some alone time."
"Dad! It will ruin his supper." Megan frowned.
"Oh hush, can't a grandpa spoil his only grandson?" Christian jumped up and ran out the door, racing Hal to the car. Hal winked at them and left the kitchen.
