Comin' Home

“He should be here any minute,” she mumbled to herself as she fidgeted on the couch in her small apartment.

He had texted her an hour ago, waking her up, to tell her he’d be there in an hour. She counted down the minutes, and yet he still wasn’t there.

She was so impatient.

Suddenly she heard a knock at the door. She raced over and whipped it open, only to be face to face with him. “AH!” she screamed, leaping into his arms. Not seeing someone, except for the occasional quick visit, for a year was hard. Her reaction was justified.

She attached her lips to his while he smiled. She looped her arms around his neck while his arms went around her waist, pulling her tightly against him. “I’ve missed you so damn much,” she murmured against his neck.

When she pulled back, Harper didn’t move her arms from around his neck, and he didn’t move his arms from around her waist. “I’ve missed you too, Love. Can we not ever do this again? This whole being on the opposite side of the country as my girlfriend is hard as hell.”

“Well Kenny, you’re lucky then.” She smiled as she pulled back and gestured to her empty apartment. “I shipped the last of my stuff last night. Everything’s ready.”

“Arizona has never needed you so much,” he murmured against her neck as he pulled her close again. She giggled—yes, giggled—and tilted her head back to allow him better access.

“Come on,” she laughed again, pulling his hand over to the couch that had come with the apartment and that she was leaving there. She collapsed onto it and he followed suite, pushing her gently onto her back. They were now in the prime make-out position.

“When’s the flight leave?” she asked as he trailed kisses across her neck and up to her jawline.

“Way to kill the mood,” he murmured against her skin.

She pushed him away and stood up from the couch. “Look, I haven’t been able to make-out with you like this for several months since I’ve been on this stupid book tour, so of course I want to do this,” she told him while she planted her hands on her hips, trying to look tough so they wouldn’t get sucked back in to making out. “But! We have a plane to catch, and there isn’t even a comfy bed here for us to lay on, so the quicker we get back to Arizona the quicker we can do it,” she told him bluntly, earning a laugh from him.

“You’ve changed in the past few months, Love. You’re more blunt about sex,” he teased her as he stood up, leaning in to kiss her again.

His lips were too soft and inviting though. His tongue grazing her bottom lip casually made her open her mouth happily, which in turn sucked them back in to making out.

When she felt his hands graze the skin that had exposed at her midriff, she pulled back and smacked him gently on the arm. “You’re a sneaky little bastard!”

He chuckled and grabbed her hand. “Come on, Love. Let’s get out of here.”

As the happy couple walked out of the apartment building, Harper stopped to look up at the summer sun that was being caught by the ring on her finger. “Why didn’t you get something smaller?” she complained as they started walking towards the cab waiting to take them to Logan International Airport.

Kennedy rolled his eyes. “You are the only girl I know who would complain about the size of their engagement ring. Not for being too small, oh no. For being too damn big.”

She laughed as she slid across the seat of the cab to make room for her fiancé. “Shush you.” She kissed him quick before telling the cab driver where they needed to go.

“First, she complains about the size of her engagement ring, then she verbally abuses me. I swear, sometimes I don’t know how I ended up with you,” he joked. He knew how he ended up with Harper. He couldn’t be with anyone else but Harper.

They were silent for a few minutes as Harper reflected on the past year. First, after leaving Arizona and the boy she was still in love with (even though she refused to tell him that), Harper was hit with a ton of inspiration for a book. She wrote it in less than a month and found a publisher only months after that. The day the publishing house called to tell her they were picking up her book, Kennedy also showed up on her doorstep, dripping wet from the sudden rain storm Boston was experiencing.

”I can’t be with anyone but you, Harper Love Houston. I haven’t stopped loving you since you left me four years ago, and I’m afraid I never will.”

That was all it took for Harper. And then, several months later, they were engaged.

It was during a Boston show, in which it was also the night before Harper was leaving for a book tour that would last several months. She was standing side stage when John called her out. Kennedy had been so nervous, he dropped the ring before Harper even knew what was happening. It gave him away and it made a funny story for Harper to use to embarrass Kennedy with.

“I can’t believe I’m leaving here again, for good,” she mumbled as she stared out the window.

Kennedy squeezed her hand lightly. “But you’re happy right?”

She turned to face him and smiled a true smile. “Of course I am, stupid.”

He leaned in and kissed her quick before pulling back. “Have you talked to Nick recently?”

She laughed. “The other day actually. He had a new girlfriend, apparently, and he’s really happy. Which is all I could ask for.”

“That’s good.”

After going back to Boston, and once Nick finally returned home, the two made amends. They stayed friends, because after having someone in your life for four years, you can’t just drop them no matter how badly you want to.

It didn’t take long for Harper and Kennedy to get checked in and to locate their gate. The wait for their flight to start boarding was even shorter. When they were finally seated in first class seats, thanks to her father, Harper leaned over and kissed Kennedy on the cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he smiled cheekily.

She pulled back to stare out the window as the plane started to take off down the runway. As they ascended into the clouds, Harper smiled.

I’m comin’ home, she thought to herself.

A year ago, Harper was at her absolute worst. She had lost her grandfather, she had (almost) lost her parents, and she had lost her boyfriend. She had felt that everything was falling apart, and there was nothing she could do about it.

That wasn’t the case, though. Harper just wasn’t with the right person. Once she was though, everything started to look up.

Harper may have gone through hell and back; but now that she was here, sitting on the plane next to her fiancé on her way back to her hometown, Harper knew that everything really was going to be alright. She was going to be alright.

And she couldn’t have been happier.