"Alright, here's my list," Mira said handing said list to Ezra. It was everything she needed for their Thanksgiving meal. Her new position did pay more, which allowed for a better holiday dinner. Buying Christmas presents was a little out of her budget though. She was working on buying those one paycheck at a time.

Ezra insprected the list. It was your typical Thanksgiving meal. "Alright, where do you want me to get these?" 

"Any normal grocery store will do," Mira replied grabbing her purse and coat. "Oh! Except for the turkey. I want to get that from one of those stores like Whole Foods or Sprouts. My coworkers say it tastes better from those organic type places."

"Alright," Ezra said putting the list in his pocket. 

The two headed to Mira's car. Ezra put his bike in the trunk and then sat in the front next to his mom. She drove to a small shopping center and dropped Ezra off. "I'll pick you up here on my lunch, okay? Be safe! Love you!"

"Love you too mom," Ezra replied waving goodbye. He watched his mom drive away and then got on his bike. 

It was a little too cold for bike riding, but it worked, and he was glad to be on break and not at school for a few days. He parked his bike outside of the grocery store and put a lock on it. It was very busy in here. He hoped they would still have what they needed. He shopped the isles while looking at the list. A lot of the name brand products were selling out, but that was okay, he was used to eating off brand anyways. He put a can of cranberry sauce in the cart and went to go check out.

Now to one of those healthy type grocery stores. Ezra got done with that fairly quickly. He placed all of his groceries into his bike's basket and began to bike. He wasn't sure where he was going. He was just going wherever he felt like. He got done much earlier than his mother's break, so that left him with free time. 

Ezra stopped in front of a Starbucks. He was cold, and it looked warm in there. He got off his bike but then realized all of the groceries were right there. He didn't want them to get stolen, but he also didn't want to stay in this freezing cold. He decided he would go in. He locked up his bike and went inside. He could see his bike from the inside, so that took some of the worry off his shoulders. 

Ezra got in line and pulled out a five dollar bill. As he waited he looked around at the people surrounding him. They were all busy talking or working on their computers. After he ordered a drink he sat down and waited. 

Then he heard a familiar voice. He looked towards the door and saw Sabine walking up to the cash register. She was asking if she could speak to the manager. He didn't approach her, even if he wanted too. She seemed busy.

The manager came out. "Hello, how can I help you?"

"Hi, my name is Sabine. I'm currently looking for a job, and I was wondering if you were hiring," Sabine explained. She started tapping her figures on her legs due to the anxiety she was feeling. 

The manager sighed. "I'm sorry, we're not. Thank you for your interest anyways." 

With that, they left. Sabine frowned and sat down. All this job searching and she still couldn't find a job at all. Not a single one. She was tired of starving and living on streets. After the home closed down, she was left with nothing. 

Ezra's name was called out and Ezra went to grab his coffee. Sabine's head perked up when she heard that name. Then she saw Ezra. He smiled and waved at her. Ezra sat across from her.

"I didn't expect to see you here," Ezra said. 

"I didn't expect to see you either," Sabine replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was grocery shopping for my mom. She's going to pick me up on her lunch break. What are doing here?"

"Job searching," she answered looking down.

Ezra sipped his drink and frowned. "You know, Hera is actually worried about you. We don't see her much, but whenever we do, she asks if you're okay or if we've seen you."

"I don't mean to worry her like that. I've just been. . .I don't know what I've been doing," she said with a sigh.

Ezra looked down unsure how to respond. He took a sip of his drink and remained silent.

"Ezra? Can I ask for a huge favor?" Sabine asked. She began to tap her fingers at the table.

Ezra put his drink down and raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Can I live with you and your mom? Just until I can find a job or another option?" Sabine blurted out.

"Sabine, as long as my mom says yes, of course. I don't see why she'd say no," Ezra answered empathetically. "Come with me when she picks me up. You can ask her then."

Sabine smiled. "Thank you so much Ezra!"

Ezra smiled back. "Of course. But I do have one question."

"What's that?"

"Why haven't your parents been willing to take you back in?"

Sabine looked betrayed. She was never exactly open about her past, but from what she remembered she had told Ezra about how she felt about her parents. "Look, I can't go back there! You don't understand!"

She stood up and began to walk towards the door. Ezra got up and followed her. 

"Sabine! I'm sorry! I won't ask again, okay?" Ezra said. 

Sabine sighed. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have reacted like that." Sabine opened the door. "I'm going to walk for a minute. I'll be back before your mom comes."

Sabine closed the door behind her and entered the fog and freezing weather. She honestly liked weather like this. Even though it was cold, it made her feel warm. She took her scarf out of her bag and walked down the sidewalk. She looked at the world around her. Most of it was in a bustle for the upcoming holiday season. She smiled, but quickly stopped when she heard an odd noise coming from the alleyway. 

She stopped in her tracks and glanced around. The noise almost sounded like her name. Sabine took one step forward and heard her name again. She wondered who in world would be here and knew her name. She squinted her eyes as she saw a strange figure emerge from behind the dumpster. It was horrendous. It was tall and had glowing green eyes. . . and it was purple?

Sabine almost let out a scream but the creature hushed her.

"Sabine! It's me! Why don't you remember?!" it said taking a step closer.

Sabine took a few steps back wishing she had some way to protect herself. "S-stay away from me!"

"It's me Sabine! It's Zeb!" he cried out. "You need to listen to me, none of this is real! We're not in our world!"

Sabine then screamed and ran away as fast as she could. She hoped to never see that horrendous thing again.