Chapter Twenty six

The rest of Sunday morning passed in a strange haze.

After breakfast, Max couldn't quite settle.

He moved around the house without really doing anything, picking up his phone and putting it down again, opening a book and reading the same paragraph three times.

Nate was leaving.

That fact had become heavier now that the time was actually approaching.

But there was something else Max couldn't stop thinking about.

He had come out.

He had said the words aloud.

I'm gay.

And the world hadn't fallen apart.

His mother still loved him.

Micah still hugged him.

Nate still looked at him exactly the same way.

That should have made everything easier.

Instead, Max felt strangely raw.

Like someone had opened a locked door inside him and left it standing wide open.

He wasn't sure what would come through next.

----------------------

By late morning, Nate had finished packing.

His suitcase stood beside the front door.

His backpack was packed with his laptop, clinical notes, and the textbooks he'd need.

He checked his phone again.

His advisor had sent another message confirming his rotation schedule.

Report Monday morning.

Nate exhaled.

Tomorrow.

Everything was moving again.

The life he'd temporarily abandoned was waiting for him.

He should have felt relieved.

Instead, when he looked around the Elsher house, he felt a strange ache.

He'd only been here a few weeks.

But somehow, the place had become important again.

Sarah's kitchen.

Micah's ridiculous jokes.

The old hallway.

The porch.

The garage.

Max's footsteps overhead.

The sound of someone arguing with Sarah about vegetables.

It was familiar in a way Nate hadn't realized he'd missed.

A car horn sounded outside.

Micah.

Nate grabbed his suitcase.

"That's us."

Sarah looked up.

"Already?"

Micah walked through the front door.

"Clinic took longer than expected."

He dropped his keys onto the table.

"But I cleared everything."

Nate nodded.

"So we're good?"

"We're good."

Sarah sighed.

"I hate goodbyes."

Micah smiled.

"Then don't call it a goodbye."

"What should I call it?"

"See you soon."

Sarah shook her head.

"You've always been terrible at goodbyes."

"I learned from you."

----------------------

Max was sitting on the porch when they came outside.

He had been waiting.

Nate saw him immediately.

"You ready?"

Max shrugged.

"No."

Nate smiled.

"Me neither."

Micah opened the trunk.

"Let's get these bags in."

Nate lifted his suitcase.

Max watched him.

Then suddenly said—

"Wait."

Nate turned.

Max stood.

"Can I come?"

Micah frowned.

"Come where?"

"With you."

There was a brief silence.

Nate looked at him carefully.

"To the city?"

Max nodded.

"You have school."

"I know."

"So..."

Max sighed.

"I know."

He looked down.

"I just don't want you to go."

Nate's expression softened.

"I know."

Max tried to smile.

"I'm not going to cry."

Micah laughed.

"You already look like you're about to."

"Shut up."

Sarah walked over and wrapped an arm around Max.

"You'll be okay."

"I know."

"And they'll be back."

"I know."

"But..."

Max looked at Nate.

"I don't like it."

Nate crouched slightly so they were closer to eye level.

"Neither do I."

"You promise you'll come back?"

"Promise."

Max nodded.

"Okay."

----------------------

They loaded the luggage into Micah's car.

Nate opened the passenger door.

Before getting inside, he turned back toward the house.

Sarah stood beside Max.

Micah was already in the driver's seat.

For a moment, Nate simply looked at them.

Then he smiled.

"I'll call tonight."

Sarah nodded.

"Drive safely."

Micah honked the horn.

"Come on, doctor."

Nate laughed.

"Coming."

He climbed into the car.

Max watched as they pulled away.

He stayed on the porch until the car disappeared.

----------------------

The drive back to the city was quiet at first.

Micah drove with one hand on the steering wheel.

Nate stared through the passenger window.

Neither spoke for several minutes.

Finally Micah broke the silence.

"You okay?"

Nate nodded.

"Yeah."

"You don't sound convinced."

"I've just been thinking."

"About?"

"Everything."

Micah glanced at him.

"You know what I realized?"

"What?"

"I thought coming home was going to make everything harder."

"And?"

"It did."

Micah laughed.

Nate smiled.

"But..."

He looked out the window again.

"It also helped."

Micah nodded.

"Max?"

"Max."

"He's changed."

"He has."

"He needed you."

Nate looked down.

"I needed him too."

Micah was quiet for a moment.

Then he smiled.

"I think you both needed each other."

Nate didn't answer.

He didn't have to.

----------------------

They reached the city later that evening.

The familiar skyline came into view.

Buildings.

Traffic.

People rushing along sidewalks.

The university district looked exactly as they had left it.

For a moment, the past few weeks felt like a dream.

Then his phone buzzed.

A message from Max.

Max: Did you get there yet?

Nate smiled.

He typed back.

Nate: Almost.

Three dots appeared immediately.

Max: Call me when you get home.

Nate's smile widened.

Nate: I will.

----------------------

Micah parked outside their apartment.

They carried their bags upstairs.

Nate dropped his suitcase inside his bedroom and immediately reached for his phone.

Micah leaned against the doorframe.

"You're calling him already?"

"I said I would."

Micah smiled.

"Good."

Nate pressed the call button.

----------------------

Back home, Max was sitting on his bed when his phone rang.

He grabbed it instantly.

"Nate?"

"Hey."

Max smiled.

"You made it."

"We did."

"How was the drive?"

"Long."

"Did Micah drive terribly?"

From somewhere in the background, Micah shouted—

"I CAN HEAR YOU!"

Max burst out laughing.

Nate laughed too.

And just like that, the distance between them seemed smaller.

Max lay back against his pillows.

"I miss you."

Nate's smile softened.

"I miss you too."

There was a pause.

Then Max said quietly,

"Are you okay?"

Nate looked around his room.

His textbooks were stacked on the desk.

His clinical bag sat beside the door.

Tomorrow, he'd return to the hospital.

His future was moving again.

But something inside him felt different.

He had left pieces of himself behind in that small town.

Pieces he hadn't known were missing.

And now, hearing Max laugh through the phone, Nate realized he wasn't afraid of going back.

He wasn't running anymore.

"I'm okay," Nate said.

And for the first time in a long time, he meant it.

On the other end of the call, Max smiled.

And Nate smiled too.

Neither of them knew what the coming weeks would bring.

But for tonight, distance didn't feel like abandonment.

It was simply distance.

And Nate was already home.