"Yeah," Joel says, his smile fading every so slightly at that. "It has been." It isn't that he's at all upset that Coop has brought up the past year, because it's been so terribly far from all bad, and he isn't the type to pretend the bad doesn't exist anyway. His expression is more thoughtful than anything, thinking of all the things that have changed since the day that Hydra went rampaging through their town. At the time he'd been a bookstore owner, which is still the same, but he's also spent every day and every night on his own with only his cat for company. If someone had asked if he had friends, he would have shrugged, mentioned Lara and Cosette, but that would have been the extent of it. His family had really only come to town for a visit once or twice a year and while he hadn't been happy, exactly, he hadn't been terribly depressed either. He had just existed and that had been enough. No one had known he was a witch except for a select few and he never would have imagined himself here.
But here he is. He co-owns the store now, he has a wide circle of people he would call his friends, being a witch is no longer a secret he feels he needs to hide from everyone. Charlotte lives in town, his parents are here more and more often, and there's Spencer. Spencer and Dane. The most incredible thing that could have ever happened to him has happened and he had never even known he had wanted it. Not until it was finally here.
And there are bad memories, too, but he finds even the demon fades a little into the background in the light of all this. He'll forever worry about Spencer and now Dane, he'll never want anything more than to keep them safe, but he knows the best way to do that is just to keep moving forward. Not to live in the past, not to dwell on what he can't change. Six months ago he would have weighed himself down with guilt over Spencer being taken, but he thinks he's made pretty good strides toward not blaming himself for things beyond his control.
Protecting his family is the only thing that matters now. Moving forward, being present with them, living in the moment with them, those are the important things.
"I don't know if I've ever really thanked you for... well, everything," he says, looking at Dane instead of directly at Coop. He's been there through so much over the past year, he's been a support, he's offered all the help he can, he's done more than any one friend should ever be expected, and Joel hopes he manages to return even a fraction of that. He smiles again then, and looks up at Coop. "Honestly, for everything. You've been there to help with just about every difficult thing we've faced this year."
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But here he is. He co-owns the store now, he has a wide circle of people he would call his friends, being a witch is no longer a secret he feels he needs to hide from everyone. Charlotte lives in town, his parents are here more and more often, and there's Spencer. Spencer and Dane. The most incredible thing that could have ever happened to him has happened and he had never even known he had wanted it. Not until it was finally here.
And there are bad memories, too, but he finds even the demon fades a little into the background in the light of all this. He'll forever worry about Spencer and now Dane, he'll never want anything more than to keep them safe, but he knows the best way to do that is just to keep moving forward. Not to live in the past, not to dwell on what he can't change. Six months ago he would have weighed himself down with guilt over Spencer being taken, but he thinks he's made pretty good strides toward not blaming himself for things beyond his control.
Protecting his family is the only thing that matters now. Moving forward, being present with them, living in the moment with them, those are the important things.
"I don't know if I've ever really thanked you for... well, everything," he says, looking at Dane instead of directly at Coop. He's been there through so much over the past year, he's been a support, he's offered all the help he can, he's done more than any one friend should ever be expected, and Joel hopes he manages to return even a fraction of that. He smiles again then, and looks up at Coop. "Honestly, for everything. You've been there to help with just about every difficult thing we've faced this year."