The days had turned into a lull. Thanksgiving was coming up soon and that meant the one year anniversary of Black Friday. Despite that, Lex was still going to work at the pet store and there were still amazing sales all over the country. Ethan was about to graduate night school and get his GED, and Evelyn was going to come over Thanksgiving week, something Lex was nervous about. Evelyn had supposedly 'found someone' and Lex had no idea what to expect. Luckily, Ethan had invited his Uncle Flynn, which was really helpful as moral support. However, earlier in the day, the whole gang was coming to the Foster/Green residence to see President Howard Goodman's broadcast.

About three days before Evelyn was scheduled to come, Ethan burst through the door, clutching an envelope. "How did it go?" Lex asked.

"Well, not to flex, but I graduated and I got 92% on the final exam! My certificate is coming in the mail sometime in the next week!" Ethan exclaimed. Before he realized it, Lex had launched herself onto him and he was hugging her. After a few seconds, she gave him a quick kiss, short and sweet. By that time, Hannah had them all in a group hug.

"We have a lot to be thankful for," Hannah smiled.

Evelyn arrived on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Lex had already cleaned the master bedroom and the guest bedroom, just in case Evelyn wasn't at that level with the person she found. Just as Lex finished cleaning, the doorbell rang, followed by Bailey's barks. "Bailey, don't bark. It's okay, I know," Lex said, opening the door to reveal Evelyn and...? "Gary?"

"Hi, honey. I wanted to bring Gary to meet you guys," Evelyn said, hugging Lex.

"Okay," Lex said as Hannah ran to the entryway to find what Bailey was barking at.

"Hi, Mom!" Hannah exclaimed.

"Hannah Banana! How are you doing?" Evelyn asked, wrapping Hannah in a tight hug. Lex closed the door and escorted the group to the living room, where Ethan was doing some scheduling. While Evelyn was busy introducing Hannah to Gary, Lex sat next to Ethan, who had noticed the group.

"Is that Gary Goldstein attorney at law inside our house?" Ethan asked. Lex nodded.

"I don't know how I can deal with this. If I remember correctly, he punched me on Black Friday. You, too, right?" Lex asked.

"Yeah. Luckily, security found me passed out and they took me to the hospital because I was unresponsive," he said. He gave Lex a quick kiss. "It'll be fine."

"Hi, Ethan," Evelyn said, approaching the young couple on the couch. Ethan put his laptop to the side and stood up.

"Hi, Ms. Foster. How are things going?" Ethan asked, shaking her hand.

"Things are going really well, thanks for asking. As long as this weekend's good and I stay sober, I should be released soon. Also, Gary has been such a big help," Evelyn said, summoning Gary to her side. "Gary, this is Lex's boyfriend, Ethan."

"Nice to meet you," Gary said, shaking Ethan's hand.

"I also heard that you completed night school," Evelyn said. Ethan nodded. "That's so cool. I do know Char's daughter is doing it and she started the same day as you. How did you graduate early?"

"Well, since I can do higher math, I was placed in a separate class that was private, like I told you. We just cut math out of it and since it was one-on-one, we finished quickly. I took the exam and passed," Ethan explained.

"Wait, how good are you at math?" Gary asked, cutting into the conversation.

"I can do it," Ethan offered. Lex shook her head and went to his side.

"Ethan is a math whiz. He tutors up to stats and multivariable calculus," Lex said.

"Oh, damn," Gary said, "Well, are you employed?"

"Yes. I work full-time as a TA and I tutor math on the side," Ethan said.

"Mom, I have dinner made. Do you and Gary want to eat?" Lex asked.

"That sounds great. Can we stay in my room?" Evelyn asked.

"Of course! The guest room is also ready if Gary wants to stay there," Lex said.

"Don't worry about it." Evelyn waved the thought away. "He'll be staying with me."

"I'll get the table ready while you and Gary go put your things away and get ready," Lex said. Her sentence worked as she hoped by Gary and Evelyn disappearing upstairs. "Fuck."

"Wow, Gary is annoying," Hannah whispered. Lex and Ethan nodded in agreement.

"On Black Friday, he hit both of us," Ethan added.

"Okay, no one likes this. Banana, trio family meeting in your room?" Lex asked. Hannah nodded. Lex set to work on the table and had it all set by the time Gary and Evelyn returned.

Dinner was...awkward to say the least. "So, how did you two meet?" Lex asked her mother.

"Well, I was going on one of my public outings to the grocery store. It was one of the first ones I was allowed to do alone. The line to pay was really long and Gary was ahead of me. We just got talking and ended up with each other's phone numbers. The next day, we met up at a coffee shop and we've just grown closer," Evelyn said as she exchanged a loving look with Gary.

"That's so sweet," Lex said.

"Well, why don't you tell Gary how you and Ethan met? I like that one," Evelyn said. Lex looked at Ethan with a puzzled look. Evelyn knew how they met, but it was via algebra class. Nothing exciting.

"Well, it was freshman year algebra. Ethan sat next to me and helped me with my homework. We did it after school everyday," Lex said. Ethan picked it back up.

"We got each other's phone numbers and we started talking more. About three years ago, we started formally dating," Ethan said. He took Lex's hand and gave it a squeeze. She smiled.

An hour later, Evelyn and Gary were in the master bedroom, doing who knows what. Lex and Ethan were in Hannah's room with the door closed.

"Okay, what are we going to do? You guys don't have school until next week! I have a part-time week until Friday, which means we aren't going to leave. I have Thursday off!" Lex exclaimed.

"Don't worry. We can get past this. We have Friendsgiving the day after tomorrow with Tom, Becky, Tim, Emma, and Paul. That's a good few hours," Ethan said. He pulled up his digital calendars. "I have tutoring tomorrow from ten to three. I can take Hannah with me. Do you want to come, Banana?"

"Please," Hannah said, her relief physically apparent. Lex smiled, in spite of the situation.

"I have work until one tomorrow, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Friday I have from eight until three thirty. Ethan do you have tutoring any other time this week?" Lex asked.

"Yeah. It's only two hours on Tuesday, four on Wednesday, Thursday I'm off, and Friday has only one hour. Nothing for the weekend," Ethan said.

"I don't know if this'll be possible, but could I meet up with some school friends at the park on Wednesday? You guys don't know them, so it's a viable excuse. There will be real people from school there from two thirty to five," Hannah said.

"That will of course be possible, Banana! So I'm going to head to bed and get my alarms on, and I'll let Mom know where we'll be tomorrow. Banana, independent reading unit at school?" Lex asked. Hannah nodded. "Good night."

Lex trudged upstairs and knocked on the door of the master bedroom. "Mom?"

"Come in, Lex!" Evelyn chirped from inside. Lex entered. "What are you here to talk about?"

"Well, I want to let you know that I'm heading for work tomorrow at 8:30. About an hour later, Ethan and Hannah are going to the library so Ethan can do his tutoring and Hannah can get some work done on her independent reading unit. I just want to let you know in case you're still asleep when we're gone," Lex explained.

"Thank you for telling me. Goodnight," Evelyn said.

"Goodnight," Lex responded, closing the door on her way out. When she stepped out into the hallway, Ethan was coming up. Without speaking, Lex hugged him tight.

"How did it go?"

"It went well. I just hope tomorrow's a busy day and I can get my mind off of things."

"Well, goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow," Ethan said, kissing Lex quickly.

Monday wasn't bad. Tuesday was when things picked up a bit. Lex had gotten home from work and had to quickly make a green bean casserole while getting ready. It wasn't easy, but Hannah and Ethan had gotten a bit done before Lex came home. While all that was happening, Evelyn and Gary insisted on keeping Lex company while she traded off cooking and curling her hair.

After ten minutes, the casserole was in the oven and Lex was using her phone as a mirror for making sure that her curled hair didn't look bad. Ethan came downstairs, surprisingly put together. "Lex, can you tie this?" Ethan asked, handing Lex his tie. She sighed and exchanged her curling iron for the tie.

"I'll be done in five and the casserole in ten. In fifteen minutes, we're leaving," Lex said. Ethan nodded as Lex finally unplugged the curling iron.

"You look great, sweetie," Evelyn said. Lex forced a smile.

"Thank you," Lex said. Her eyes flicked to the digital clock as she ran upstairs to get her purse and shoes and to also put down her curling iron. After that, she ran downstairs to save the casserole from burning. Once the casserole was carefully wrapped up, Lex told Evelyn and Gary of their plans before getting into the car and immediately turning it on.

"It feels amazing to be out!" Hannah exclaimed, smiling outside of the window as Ethan started driving. "No Gary, no mom! It feels just like before!"

Lex grinned at her younger sister. The rest of the ride to Paul and Emma's house was a peaceful silence. They didn't mind, especially since the house had been full of noise recently.

"Hi! Thank you for coming!" Emma exclaimed as she opened the door. It appeared that the trio was the last to arrive.

"I brought this green bean casserole," Lex said as soon as they entered.

"Thank you so much!" Emma exclaimed, taking it from Lex's arms. Lex smiled as they went around greeting everyone.

"How have the past few days been?" Tom asked Lex as they sat down together. Tom knew all about Evelyn coming with a special someone.

"Well, Mom has a boyfriend which is so weird," Lex said.

"Who?"

"Gary fucking Goldstein."

"Oh shit," Tom replied. He gave Lex a tight hug of support. "If you guys need a break, our house is open."

"Thank you." Lex smiled.

"I know all of you can get through this. So, your house on Thursday for the report?" Tom asked. Lex nodded to confirm.

"It's going to be great having people that aren't Gary or Mom on that day," she said.

"I can only imagine. Is it just the five of you?"

"It's the five of us and then Ethan's Uncle Flynn."

Meanwhile, Ethan was somehow caught up in a conversation with Becky and Emma. "I have work on Friday and I never thought I'd be so grateful," Becky said.

"I can't believe Black Friday is still happening. I mean, last year thousands if not millions of people died," Emma added.

"All Friday, I'm either going to stay at home all day avoiding Gary and Evelyn or I'm going to Uncle Flynn's," Ethan said.

"Gary...Goldstein?" Becky asked. Ethan nodded. "As in, the guy that landed you in the hospital on Black Friday?"

"The very same," Ethan added.

"Come here if you need to," Emma replied.

The dinner was lovely and Wednesday was normal. On Thursday, Lex was so relieved to open the door and find their friends. "Come in, come in! Happy Thanksgiving!" Lex exclaimed, hugging everyone in turn.

Once everyone was introduced, they all sat in front of the TV, excited to hear the news from President Howard Goodman. "Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you are all with your loved ones, or they are at least in your hearts. It has been one year since the Black Friday from Hell and it makes me so happy to go onto social media and see your recoveries. I'm so honored to see your changes in lifestyle and in work. You all have made me so proud. I can't wait to move forward into this next year. The financial compensation is the same as it was last year so no one needs to worry. To all my American citizens and residents—Happy Thanksgiving!"

WC: 2153

~Fín~

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated or endorsed by Starkid Productions. This universe belongs to them in addition to any characters from their original productions. I only own the fictional non-canon characters and the plot.

Hi, everyone! First, I'd like to apologize to any Gary Goldstein stans, otherwise known as Gary Goldstans. I know Gary probably isn't such a jerk as I made him (canonically), but it was for the ~drama~. Secondly, I can't believe this is the last chapter! This originated from a late-night idea after my first attempt at a Black Friday fic failed. Who knows, I might go work on that one. I hope you are all staying safe and healthy.

At the time of publishing, I have 241 reads and 8 votes. Thank you for taking the time to do that. In addition, all my readers are from the US, so that's pretty cool.

Signing off for now,

Luna :D