“Just Like I Never Left”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

I take a deep breath. It feels so great to be home after all this time.

I shoulder my backpack and unlock the door. As I push my way inside, the familiar scent of a vanilla candle wafts over me. I’ve missed that sickly sweet smell. I used to tease him all the time that his favourite candle scent is vanilla, but to be honest, it’s become a staple of sorts in our house.

I gently close the door behind me. As soon as the door’s shut, I take a moment to just look around. Everything looks exactly like I left it two years ago.

I put down my bags as quietly as I can before tiptoeing down the hallway. I check each room before finally finding him in the kitchen. His back is to me as he leans over the stove.

Just the sight of him makes me grin like a stupid, lovestruck child. We haven’t actually seen each other in person in two years, and I can’t even begin to describe how much I’ve missed him.

“Knock knock,” I say softly, gently tapping the wall beside me.

He spins around in alarm, effectively making both the pot and its contents go flying. But he doesn’t pay it any attention. His eyes are on me, wide with shock.

“Wha-what-how-wait…”

Even as he stutters, he’s already on his way over to me. He stops directly in front of me.

I grin up at him. “I was given an extra vacation week, so I wanted to surprise you.”

As soon as the words leave my mouth, he scoops me up into a tight hug. I relax into his arms, feeling their familiar strength and warmth around me.

He holds me, cradling me gently, for a long while. I cherish every single second of it; this single hug needs to make up for two entire years of not seeing each other.

When we finally release each other, he continues staring at me.

“I can’t believe you’re actually here,” he whispers, studying my face as if trying to make sure that everything’s still the same. “You don’t know how much I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you too,” I murmur. “So much.”

He gives me another quick hug and kisses the top of my head before pulling away. “Come, sit down. Dinner’s almost ready.” He glances behind himself at the pot lying upside-down and frowns. “Well, it was almost ready.”

I laugh. “We can just make macaroni and cheese. I’m assuming you’ve got all the ingredients for that, right?”

He nods. He starts cleaning up the scattered food on the floor while I fetch the ingredients from the pantry. Everything is exactly where I left it, although the expiration dates have luckily been updated.

As we cook, we talk. We talk about everything we missed in each other’s life for the past two years that we never mentioned during our video calls.

Still, everything feels so normal, so natural. It’s just like I never left home.

Final Comments: I don’t really have anything to say about this one.

Overall Rating: 😌