The last few days of school finished up with a bang. Graduation was an event of many claps, cheers, and tears. I had aced my final exams, which was a relief. After all the hullaballoo, I had started full-time at the store. I hung out with the gang still, but for some reason I felt like I had even less free time.

Since grocery stores were open every day of the week, I had Monday and Tuesday off instead of the weekend. This made hanging out the gang a little harder, as those of them that did have jobs worked regular weeks. It left me plenty of time to connect with Ross. As Sunday was a weekend for them, and the equivalent of a Friday to me, we used that evening as our get-together. I figured it was about time I officially invited him into the gang.

"Hey Ross!" I said, catching him before he left for the day.

"Yeah?" he said with a smile.

"I just wanted to see if you're down for board games tomorrow?"

He chuckled, "I'll be there."

"Great! And Megan is of course invited as well!"

I had recently been listening to a few podcasts about dungeons and dragons, which led me to pick it up and introduce it to the group. I of course had the role of dungeon master. I was finalizing some details on my campaign up until the moment the doorbell rang. I smiled and ran over opening the door. Kai and Sadie both smiled, his arm wrapped around her. I ushered them in and handed them their character sheets.

Kai was our mage, proficient in the technical art of magic. Sadie had demanded the role of the ranger: well-rounded and good in a tussle. Since the end of school, the two of them had continued to intensify their relationship. While the group had come to a normal point the way it had when Lily and I first started dating, it was still a little weird at times as we figured out the new dynamic this was throwing at us.

Another knock a few minutes later and it was Lily. Much to my amusement, she had asked to be the group's bruiser, a dwarf paladin.

The final knock on the door indicated Ross and Megan's arrival. I welcomed them in. I knew that their knowledge of exactly who was who was patchy, so I introduced everybody.

"Sadie, Kai, and Lily... Ross and Megan."

There was a bit of awkward waves. Lily and Megan knew each other well through tennis, and as it turned out she knew Ross through tennis as well. I had a small wave of cringe realizing that when I had drunkenly introduced Megan and Ross, they probably already knew each other. Kai and Ross also played ultimate together, so there was some familiarity between the two of them. Weirdly enough considering she was the most well connected of the four of us, Sadie hadn't met either. She probably crossed paths with Ross once or twice during ultimate, but they were scarcely even acquaintances. I stepped in to further breath the tension.

"So. We're playing D&D, what characters do you wanna play as?"

"Can I be a hobbit?" asked Megan, unsure if she was using the correct terminology.

"Sure! There's an open spot for a small and stealthy halfling such as yourself." I quickly drew up a character sheet and handed it to her.

"And for the gentleman?"

He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and unfurls it.

"Level 13, Mathod the Bard... At your service." That gave our group a big laugh. I guess I hadn't anticipated that either of them would have played before, much less that Ross would have come prepared with his character sheet.

I took a moment to set the scene as I introduced the two new companions, "As Yilda, Emrir, and Anress walk through the gates of the great city of Is'Tor, a melody beyond compare hits their ears. Soon they stumble upon the Bard, Mathod, singing a song of the ages."

Overall, the evening was a total success. Ross, being a competent player already, helped Megan in places where she was a bit less experienced. It helped that the rest of the gang had been playing for a few weeks. Come 11:00, we had wrapped up with a cliffhanger and people headed home.

It was nice to have added the two of them to the group. We hadn't increased our numbers since Lily had joined around two years ago. It was also a signifier that all the trials I'd gone through with just about all of them were being forgiven and forgotten. Thinking about adding people to the group had given me an idea.

The day before next week's game, I gave an old friend a call. I was glad she picked up.

"Jordan!"

"Amelia?"

I had only seen them once since coming back from the facility. With everything that had been happening, I dropped out of communication with all of the friends I'd made there. It didn't help that Jordan was shy by nature, and had never really reached out.

"It's been a while!" I said.

They gave a soft chuckle, "It has."

"How have you been?" The small talk was tough for the two of us, considering how awkward we were as people.

"Good. Homeschooling wasn't too bad, and I'm headed to UHS in the fall." UHS was the state school, a few hours out. It had a good reputation, and I was happy that they seemed to be doing well.

"I've got a group that plays D&D on Sundays, they're really accepting people, it'll be just like playing Catan back at the facility... wanna join?" I had decided to cut straight to the point.

They were a bit flustered, "I... Uh..."

"I know we haven't talked in forever, and I'm kinda forcing it on you, but I'd love for you to come... It's been forever since I was around someone who's been through what I have, and since you’re so close by, I figured... why not?"

A bit of silence before Jordan responded, "Sure."

The next day was eventful. As soon as I got off I rushed home and began preparing. Within just a few weeks I had gone from managing a minor campaign of three people to double that! I had drawn up a healing cleric for Jordan. They arrived first, which helped. They’d met my parents before, so that was an easy way to ease them in. Having them arrive first also meant a slower introduction to everyone else as opposed to all at once. Since they’d gone to school with us for years, they were reasonably acquainted with everyone, but none of them had seen them since their transition.

Kai had been the closest with them as they'd been childhood pals, but grew apart as the years had gone by. I made sure he was the second to arrive.

"Jordan? It's been forever!" Kai went for the giant hug. Jordan looked a little panicked, but it might have just been the tightness of the hug, as Kai did tend to be dramatic in that sense.

"Ya," they chuckled, "It sure has."

They chatted for a bit, and I could see them loosen up.

I had given everyone a heads up about Jordan coming and their preferred pronouns, and the group handled as beautifully as I knew they would. It helped that Jordan had been predisposed to nerd game thinking during the time we'd spent at the facility. They picked it up pretty easily, and before long they were one of the group.

I spent Monday and Tuesday sleeping in and preparing more material for next week's session. With so many people I had to put even more work into balancing how the encounters would go and creating interesting conflict in the moment to keep them enthralled... much less create any kind of overall story or arch. Writing something long and drawn out can be really tough and tiring, even when it is for fun.

I resumed work on Wednesday. Ross was there too, so things weren't too boring. It was hard for my mind to be anywhere else while I'm working the register. Did I mention how toned your calves and forearms get from standing and scanning items?

I finished up on time and grabbed my stuff to head home. As I was arriving at the bike rack, I got a very unusual text.

All it said was, "Turn around." Even more unusual was who it was from...

I did as the text said and across the street saw someone wave excitedly. My jaw dropped when it really was the person who had texted me. Rachael was waving at me from across the street.

I stood there stunned as she crossed the street and walked over.

"Rachael! What are you doing here?" I was so surprised that any manors I had fell by the wayside.

"I'm staying with my aunt over the summer, working at her business in town. I always knew separately that both of you guys lived here, I just never put it together I guess." She gave me an apprehensive smile.

I reached in to hug her. I hadn't seen anyone from the facility in months and now they're coming back into my life in droves. Seeing her brought up memories from the facility. A weird mix of conflict, guilt, and confusion were welling up inside of me.

"For the whole summer huh?"

"Yeah. I figured I'd surprise you. Jordan doesn't know either. So how have you been?"

I unlocked my bike and we walked around downtown. We talked about everything that had happened to the two of us since we'd parted. I filled her in on the roller coaster that was my last semester of high school. She was very subtly disappointed and awkward when I got to the topic of my relationship with Lily.

"Holy shit! I'm glad it all seems to be working out well," she said.

"Yeah. So, what about you? Anything interesting happen over the last six months?"

"Nothing compared to you. Just a bit of adjustment is all."

I nodded. We'd been walking and talking for a few hours, and it was about time I needed to be getting home.

"Well, I gotta going."

"Oh of course!"

"It was nice seeing you," I said.

I was tossing back and forth the idea of inviting her to D&D. On one hand, she was my friend and I'd love to have her there. On the other hand, she was kind of the other woman and I didn't want things to be weird or antagonistic with Lily. I figured I'd talk things over with her first. Besides, I was struggling with a six-person party as it was. Adding a seventh would be seriously hard work for a beginner like me.

We said goodbyes and I biked home.

Friday night was when Lily and I usually had our date night. I figured I'd bring it up then.

I was actually pretty tired on Friday, so she just came over and we decided to chill at my house. I'd been trying to work Rachael into the conversation the whole night, but was failing to make a smooth transition. I mean... How was I supposed to say it? "Oh hey, remember that girl I cheated on you with? Well she's in town for the WHOLE SUMMER and I kinda sorta wanna be friends with her again and have her join the special thing we do as friends. It’s not awkward or anything, right?"

Eventually I'd beaten around the bush long enough.

"So one of my friends from the facility is staying in town for the summer?"

"No way! We have to meet them!" Lily responded with naive enthusiasm.

"Well... I wanna be honest. She's the girl that I hooked up with."

Her expression changed instantly.

"We never really discussed what happened while I was away, so I understand if it’s too awkward or you're angry or just about anything. I will say that everything is normal now Rachael and I now, but I don't want to do anything unless you feel comfortable."

Lily was quiet for a while as she thought it over. She didn't make eye contact for most of it. Eventually she turned to me and met my eyes.

"Did you like her?"

I felt like something caught in my throat. We really hadn't discussed this aside from our drunken episode at Megan's and the aftermath of the "rescue". It had always been an unspoken thing that we'd pretend like it didn't exist and that had worked. It didn't work now.

"I... I did. But not anymore. I swear. You're it. I love you and no one else."

She took another long moment of silence.

"I wanna trust you. I do." She took a deep breath, "Okay."

I was shocked. I honestly hadn't really thought through to ever getting an answer so I would have been surprised by just about anything.

"Really? You're sure."

"Amelia. You're a good judge of character. If you liked her, then for better or worse she's got something that makes her a good person. And... I love you. I trust you."

"I love you too."

"I've gotta have confidence that this will work out."

I pulled her into a hug and just held on. Time and time again, she proved how amazing she was. And that only made me love her more. I pulled back from the hug and kissed her.

"And besides," she said, "I guess I kinda wanna size up my competition." She forced a smile. I could tell this was really pushing it for her. I was happy that she was confident enough in me and us that she gave the go ahead. Even with her official yes, I was going to take things really slow and keep it all down to a group setting, at least for while.

Things faded into our usual closeness, and before long we said goodbye for the evening.

The next day I called Rachael up, and invited her to join our practically overflowing group of dungeons and dragons. She gleefully accepted. The group took to her quickly. I didn't fill the rest of them in on the fact that Rachael was sort of my ex. I figured that was something that would be kept on the down low as it was personal for all parties involved. Besides, Sadie and I had only recently gotten back to good standing, and I didn't want anything to give her another reason to be mad at me.

It was surreal to have both my worlds colliding like this. If Sarah had decided to show up out of nowhere, I think I would have lost my mind. Every person present had accompanied me through an important stretch of my life, and I them. Jordan also came a bit more out of her shell with Rachael around. The game for that evening concluded, and Lily was the first to head off. I gave her a goodbye kiss as she made her way to her car.

I could tell that being really coupley with Lily was ever so off putting to Rachael. I was stuck in this weird limbo. Having exes was tough, especially when you wanted to be friends with them afterward. It shed a whole new light on sit coms. I was glad and somewhat caught off guard by how well she and Lily were bonding. Aside from Jordan and I, I'd say that Lily was probably the closest to her. I mean, it made sense as they were both very similar people. They had many of the same interests and taste in music. Distancing myself from the internal awkwardness, I was glad Rachael was making friends in the group.

More time passed and soon we arrived at my birthday, which was smack solid in the middle of the summer. Sometimes I'd be gone camping with my family, and wouldn't even celebrate at all. I hadn't discussed any big plans with my parents aside from a dinner at one of the nicer restaurants in town, and I certainly didn't have anything in mind as far as the gang was concerned. I was perfectly content to just let it roll by.

Come the day of, I was working at the store. Ross had been giving me some pointers on the D&D campaign, and I was grateful for his help. Seven people was a lot to manage. Both of our shifts ended and I walked for the bike rack.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked somewhat sarcastically.

"I'm getting my bike and riding home.... Like always."

"I'll drive you home. Didn't want you to think I forgot it’s your birthday! Consider it my gift."

I laughed at the ridiculousness, and was a little surprised he knew since I hadn't really blasted it out there. He probably got a Facebook notification or something. I unlocked my bike and motioned to it.

"After you my lord."

He hauled it into the back of his truck, while I climbed in. Then he started the truck up with a grunt to get the key to turn properly and we were off. The drive itself started out a little quiet, so I decided to break the tension and ask one of the questions that had been on my mind.

"So... You and Megan?"

I could see him instantly start to sweat, which only made me giggle at his embarrassment.

"What about us?"

"Everything going well? You two seem to really like each other."

He eased up a bit, "Yeah, she's amazing. We met through tennis, but hadn't ever really connected until that valentines party."

Now I was the one embarrassingly sweating, "Oh... Sorry about uh... Being plastered and 'introducing' you guys. I didn't know that you already knew each other."

He chuckled, "Its fine. It sorta gave us the ice breaker we needed. We chatted for what felt like forever and seemed to just hit it off ya know? We made plans to keep the conversation going over coffee and one thing led to another."

"I'm happy it worked out. You're really great for each other."

He broke another smile, "Thanks, I couldn't agree more."

At this point we pulled up to my house. He put the car in park, which caught me off guard.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm gonna walk you to the door. I can't leave you hanging, what kind of a bard would I be?"

I rolled my eyes, and before I knew it he had popped around and opened the door for me. Everything felt a bit off, but I wasn't going to question it.

I arrived at the door, and felt really weird. He was just staring at me, waiting for me to open the door. I looked around to see if I could get any clues as to what the hell was going on. He just smiled at me.

I turned the doorknob and pushed through the entryway. Then I was struck with sound from every angle inside.

"SURPRISE!" Confetti launched at me, and I figured out what was going on. I smiled at Ross as we both stepped further into what was apparently my birthday party.