Fan to Family.

Thanksgiving.

 I sigh, rolling my suitcase down the hallway after taking one last glance at my room. I watch the wooden flooring scroll past under my suitcase, finally looking up once I reach the living room.

I see Debby, Chase, Lily, AJ, Kieran, Tom, Tyler, and Josh waiting for me. They all have big smiles on their faces, looking like I've just arrived.

Josh takes my suitcase, moving it to the side of the room. Lily's arms grip my torso before I can bat an eye, and she's resting her chin on my shoulder.

"I'm going to miss these Liz hugs," she says, finally releasing me. AJ's squeeze is quick, but meaningful.

Kieran smiles and pulls me into a hug, leaving me to stand on only my tiptoes.

After he releases me, Tom gives me his own quick hug.

Chase wraps his strong around around me, lifting me from the floor. "Wow, I'm really going to miss you," he says, taking a deep breath. He lets go of me, his eyes pooling with tears that we tries to blink away. His eyelashes glisten with the unshed tears, my eyes find Debby, who is also tearing up.

"I'm going to miss you too," I smile.

Debby pulls me into a tight hug, rubbing my back a tad. "Thank you for becoming a big part of my life. Thank you for shaping me into the woman I am now, and for being such a great thing to fall into my life. I love and appreciate you so much, remember that. You are beautiful, you are strong, you are a force of nature to be reckoned with. Have so much fun, I love you," she says, pulling away and wiping tears.

I find my own eyes watering as the boys say goodbye to everyone. I'm left speechless, smiling slightly as tears fill my eyes. Josh takes my hand, leading me to the car.

I don't find the right words to say until I'm in the car, but they vanish after a moment. In the airport Josh turns to me, a worried look in his eyes.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asks, his eyes flitting over me.

"Please, please tell me you are real. 100% real. Please tell me that is really, truly you, Joshua William. Please, please," I beg.

His eyebrows knit together, "Liz, of course I'm real. Why wouldn't I be? What's going on? Are you okay?"

"I had this dream, well actually I can't tell if this part is the dream. Honestly, I can't tell what was a dream or what was reality, but please don't let this be the dream. If this is the dream and I'm back in Michigan with my awful foster parents and a severe brain trauma, I may just implode," I say, rubbing my temples as my eyes well up.

Josh pulls me into a hug, which I swear is real, and says, "I'm so very real. This is reality. This is all real. That was just a terrible nightmare, which now explains the frustrated talking I heard last night. I promise, this is all reality."

"I hope so, because I could not handle if this wasn't the reality. I can't even tell what's real and what's fake anymore, Josh. I just, everything is blurring together and so confusing. I feel so lost and helpless," I say, gripping my arms around him even together as tears spill from my cheeks.

Josh takes a deep breath, "I didn't know you were still struggling."

"What's going on? Is everything okay?" Tyler asks, coming back from checking in all of our luggage. Josh explains it all, and Tyler joins our hug to make it a group hug.

"It'll be okay, we are right here with you. We've got you," they say together.

~~~~~~
"Jordan!" I exclaim, running into the back yard. Jordan spins around, seeing me.

"Whoa, is that Liz?" He asks, not recognizing me.

I nod, grinning happily. He pulls me into a hug, holding it for longer then usual.
"You look so good, especially after everything. I'm so glad to see you," he says, squeezing me extra tight before letting go.

Abi and Ashley come over, giving me hugs and commenting on my new hair. I smile, thanking them both. Soon enough, Josh's parents come over and give me hugs as well.

They all comment on how much they hope I'm doing well, since Josh kept them all in the loop with everything that had happened.

"How about a round of catch?" Jordan suggests. I absentmindedly pull my hair up into a ponytail, earning happy gasps from Abi and Ashley.

"That's so cute!" They both muse.

~~~
"Oh come on!" Ashley says, setting her cards on the table after a fourth round of war.

Jordan laughs, suggesting that we just spend time catching up. "So Liz, I heard rumors that you got pulled out of school," Abi says.

I nod, opening my mouth to say something as my phone rings. I see a name rolling across the screen and smile, I stand up, starting to walk away, "I'll be back."

~Josh~
Liz's phone starts ringing as she opens her mouth to talk, and she stands up, mentioning that she'll be back while answering.

"Must be Kieran," I mumble, placing my cards on the table. All three of my siblings turn to look at me expectantly.

"Who's Kieran?" they ask in unison.

I laugh a little, "he's one of her few close friends. She used to be in the system with him and went from house to house with him for a while. They just recently reconnected, and started getting pretty close."

Liz walks back in, sitting back down and looking at me, "Lily was going mental because I forgot to tell them that we landed, so Kieran called me to check in so she would shut up."

I laugh a little, imagining Kieran hanging out with Liz's two other friends, and at the thought of Lily freaking out. "Do they miss you yet?" I ask with a chuckle.

She nods, "quite a lot, actually. But yeah, I got pulled out of my school. I've been told that I'm going to do homeschooling or something, but knowing the dorks, I'm probably going to get nothing done."

They all laugh.

"Hey, time to go!" Laura, Josh's mom, calls. We stand, following her to the car.
We arrive at Jenna's, where we are having Thanksgiving dinner with Tyler and Jenna, who have been making it since we've arrived.

We sit around the table after helping to set it, and bring everything to it.

We go around, saying what we are thankful for.
"I'm thankful for Liz," Josh says.

"I second that, I'm also thankful for Liz," Tyler says.

Then it comes to me, "well, I'm thankful for a lot of things. I'm thankful for all of you. I'm thankful for a supportive, loving family, who takes care of me and lifts me up when I've fallen down. I'm thankful for a reality which is better then my dreams. I'm thankful for all of the opportunities given to me, and I'm just thankful for all of this. I love all of it so much."