He reached Dean's family house just as Dean was finishing up stretching. Dean rolled his shoulder, stifled a yawn, and turned to look at Thomas.

"Good morning!" he said when Thomas stopped jogging next to him.

"Good morning! You ready?" Thomas replied and without answering Dean started jogging. Thomas adjusted his pace in order to be next to Dean and they headed toward Willow Park.

"You're leaving with Mark tomorrow, right?" Dean asked him a few moments later.

"Yeah, we're gonna leave early," Thomas replied.

"And do they know you are the one renting the cabin?"

"No. Technically, we're renting it in Mark's name," Thomas said.

Dean nodded and they turned around again, as they didn't want to go through Willow Park while there was snow there. They couldn't run through the snow. Thankfully, they had cleared the sidewalks and there was no ice today.

They decided to stay silent for the next half hour as they ran through the town and then back to Dean's house. Thomas wasn't much of a talker these days anyway. Dean had tried to figure out what had happened with Abigail when Thomas arrived, but Thomas hadn't said much about his arrival.

Thomas and Abigail's relationship was one that Dean felt really bad for prying into. Ever since Dean had met Thomas it had been clear to him that Thomas and his sister weren't that close. They had their moments, but most of the time their relationship was similar to that of two people that were just friendly acquaintances. Definitely not the relationship he had imagined that siblings had. 

And things had gotten worse as they had grown older. Throughout High School Abigail had distanced herself from her brother, spending more and more time with Killian and her own friends than him. Not that she was to blame, it wasn't as if she had abandoned Thomas. She had just focused on her own life.

What had really distanced them had been Thomas's coming out. She didn't talk to him after that. Not more than necessary. She didn't try to be a part of his life. She didn't want to be a part of his life. And that really confused Dean. Their parents didn't have an issue with it. Killian didn't have a problem with it. But somehow, Thomas being gay had been an issue for Abigail. Perhaps it wasn't an issue, but rather an excuse to cut the ties she had with him.

Once they reached Dean's, they took off their shoes and left them outside as to not drag mud in, and then headed to the kitchen, where Dean's retired Dad mostly spent his time in.

"Hello, boys," Taylor said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "How was your run?"

"Water..." Dean groaned as a response and filled up two glasses with water, handing the one to Thomas.

"It was okay," Thomas answered the man, not being as out of shape as Dean was.

"Good morning," Matias said, and walked in the kitchen while stretching. He was wearing one of Dean's old sweaters, and Thomas smiled when he leaned and planted a soft kiss on Dean's cheek.

"Good morning, babe," Dean said filling up his glass once more.

"Good morning, Matias," Thomas added.

"Is Chloe still sleeping?" Dean asked his Dad.

"You know her, this is way too early," Taylor replied, smiling as he thought of his wife.

"I should get going..." Thomas started as he set down the glass. "I need to shower and get ready before I go do... the thing..."

"Oh, yea, that's today. Are you sure about it?" Matias asked, looking up at him from where he sat at the kitchen table.

"As sure as one can be," Thomas said. "I need to do it," he added with a shrug. "It was nice seeing you again, Mr. Williamson," he added and started heading out.

"Text me if you get murdered!" Dean yelled at his.

"What's the thing?" Taylor asked his son and soon-to-be son-in-law.

Matias just chuckled, and Dean shook his head at his Dad, letting him know that it was better if he didn't know.

***

Mark stood and waited for the barista to finish with his coffee when he saw it. Or rather, them. Thomas's high school Coach sat by one of the tables of the coffee shop and right opposite of him sat Lily Weathers. The scene before him took a second to register, and he was about to walk up to them when he saw Lily's notepad. Was she interviewing him?

"Hey!" a voice called from behind him and being too deep in thought he actually jumped at it. "Woah, are you okay?" Matias asked him, surprised with Mark's shock.

"Yes, you just caught me off guard. Hey, how are you doing?" he replied, as Matias ordered.

"I'm fine. I just left Dean to handle Chloe's wedding questions, so I'm getting ready for a lot of Dean's whining later," Matias asked referring to Dean's step-mom and her overanalyzing.

"What kind of questions does she have?"

"Oh, you know," Matias drawled as they went to sit at an empty table. "What the venue will be like. What we will do if it starts raining. What kind of color the flower decorations will be? What color will the groomsmen wear?"

"What color will the groomsmen wear?" Mark asked while taking a sip of his coffee. Matias rolled his eyes at him.

"We're not sure yet, actually," he finally replied, being absolutely serious. "We were thinking cream, but then with the white, dark green and pastel pink, we're not sure anymore".

Mark laughed at that, and his eyes momentarily drifted to where Lily sat with Coach Stevens. He was talking a lot to her. And she was noting a lot of things down. Maybe this was a follow up after Thomas's interview? But why would she go and interview somebody that was in Thomas's life seven years ago?

"I was actually going to ask you something..." Matias started, drawing Mark's attention back to him.

"Go ahead," Mark muttered, resting his head in his palm.

"Would you be my best man?"

"Oh, wow... yeah, of course! Are you kidding me? Of course, I'll be your best man!" Matias laughed at Mark's apparent enthusiasm. 

"I'm actually not supposed to tell you this, but you're better at keeping secrets than I am... Dean is going to ask Thomas".

"Doesn't surprise me," Mark said under his breath with a smile and his eyes drifted back to Lily and Coach. They seemed to have finished, as Lily shook his hand and stood up. She didn't seem to acknowledge him, and just like that walked out of the café.

What was she up to?

***

Thomas took a few deep breaths as he prepared himself and he knocked three times, somewhat confidently. He stood there for a few seconds, waiting for someone to open the door and then prepared himself to knock again. He didn't have to. The door opened and Sean McGregor looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"Hello, sir," Thomas said, feeling as tense as ever.

"Hi," Sean sharply replied. "Mark's not here," he added.

"I know. Um, I wanted to talk to you actually..." Thomas said and squared his shoulder's. "About my relationship with Mark".

"Come in," Sean finally replied, and let Thomas enter the house.

They went to sit in the living room. Thomas couldn't help but take note of all the little changes they had made. They must have bought a new couch in these seven years because he didn't remember it being maroon.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Sean started.

"Eh... well, I wanted to apologize. For what happened seven years ago. I thought that ending our relationship was the best decision for both of us..."

"Best decision for yourself, you mean," Sean interrupted him, voice still harsh.

"Yes, the best decision for myself. I was selfish. I know that there's no way to go back and change what happened, but..." Thomas paused to regain his composure. "But I'm here asking for your forgiveness and asking of you to give me a second chance. A second chance so I can prove to you how much Mark means to me." He paused again and took a deep breath. "I love your son. More than he probably knows. And I truly believe he saved me. I would have destroyed myself if it weren't for him".

Sean seemed deep in thought for a few moments. Then he smacked his lips and let out a heavy breath. He folded his arms before his chest and leaned back against the couch pillow.

"There's only so much I can do to protect my son, you know. I've always known that," he let out a chuckle and shook his head, ever-so-slightly. "When he and his mother were in that armed robbery, I blamed myself, despite not being able to do anything about it. When he was attacked by Hal Cooper, I blamed myself because I hadn't done anything beforehand, even though I knew about the bullying. When William Meyer almost killed him, I blamed myself for not having removed that toxic individual from his life. When Mark had panic attacks every other hour... when he wanted to kill himself because of how much his mental health deteriorated because of you, I blamed myself for having invited you to my home. For having accepted you into my son's life. But Mark is happy with you. He wants to be with you. He loves you. I can't do anything to change that. As for my forgiveness, all I have to say is that you have it, as long as you earn it," Sean said.

"I will, sir. I'll earn it," Thomas promised.