𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃 | 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐢

𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐈. 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐚'𝐬

Since the day was still young, the group had arranged to meet back up at Nora's to try again. Spencer had let the group know that he'd be late and to start without him, which didn't actually take much convincing. The meal had gone well, and the conversation had started to die down as desert was brought out to the table.

Fridge's eyes widened ever so slightly as the chocolate cake was set down before him. He turned his head to see Matt's amused expression, which failed to hide that he was indeed the one who ordered it. Fridge quickly shook his head and pushed the plate aside.

"Oh, hell, no."

The group laughed once more, but they were interrupted as the overhead bell chimed and Spencer and Eddie entered the building. Eddie paused and Spencer looked at his grandfather with concern.

"You okay, Grandpa?"

"Yeah." Eddie nodded his head. "A lot of good memories here."

Nora approached from the back of the restaurant, a small container of syrup in hand, but froze at the sight of Eddie. "Eddie. Eddie, is that you?"

The smile on Eddie's face grew larger. "Nora. Hey."

As Eddie joined Nora at a table, Spencer met up with the others. "Hey, guys."

"Hi," Martha greeted Spencer who gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"What's up, bro?" Fridge gave him a quick fist-bump.

The conversation picked back up with the addition of Spencer to the group and it wasn't long before talk of visiting each other's colleges came up.

"You guys gotta come to New York too," Spencer reminded them.

"Yeah, I can't wait," Martha agreed with a fond smile.

Spencer smiled as he looked around the table. "This team, forever."

Fridge nodded. "Forever."

"Always," Bethany added.

"Always and forever?" Martha asked rhetorically as she couldn't quite figure something new to add.

"And that's the end of that," Roni joked. The others joined her in laughing.

The laughter died down and Spencer grew more serious. "One thing. Can we all agree? Let's never go back there."

Fridge was the first to jump on his statement. "I thought we already agreed on that."

The others tried to protest with something similar before they erupted in another fit of laughter. With relationships mended and a fresh sense of identity, the group was back together again. They honestly believed that nothing could beat them. They'd won the game, twice at that. What else could the world throw at them? Either way, it didn't matter because they had each other and were ready to face whatever was next together.