Homecoming

The science building was Jenna’s favorite place to stand and look idle. In reality, she was stalking everyone walking through the quad below through the wall-sized window next to the greenhouses.
“How about that one?” she said, “He’s pretty cute.”
Katherine nodded and murmured her agreement.
“Seriously, Katherine?! I was kidding. Cargo shorts and tube socks in the middle of February? Honestly…” She shook her head in typical Jenna fashion, the same way she did when she found out Katherine washed her whites and colors together. “There! That’s the one!” she cried, pointing to a tall, gangly boy with dark hair and a guitar slung across his back.
“Yeah, he’ll do,” Katherine said, trying to play along.
“A little enthusiasm would be nice, you know,” Jenna snapped. She turned to look at her friend and her face relaxed. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing. I’m just not really feeling this right now.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” she said. “We still have a few days before Operation Valentine goes into effect.” She looked down at the crowd, a small crease between her eyebrows and a frown on her face.
“Come on, we’ll be late for Lit,” Katherine told her, slinging her arm around Jenna’s shoulders, leading her away from the window.
They managed the stairs awkwardly around the surge of people heading the opposite direction. At the bottom of the stairwell was a short hallway that led to the door outside. Katherine pulled her jacket closed tighter against the winter chill. It was overcast and snowing—just enough to make you wonder if it was really just the wind playing with what was already on the ground. Leaning against the railed fence across the sidewalk was a man in a leather jacket, a sly smile on his face. A man Katherine knew. A man she hadn’t seen in eighteen months.
“Daniel,” she breathed and flew straight into his arms. Daniel, alive. Daniel, all in one piece. Daniel. Safe. With me, she thought.
“Hiya, sweetheart,” he said. His breath in her ear made her heart race wildly. Katherine was so happy she began to cry.
Dan lowered his head towards hers and her lips rushed up to meet his. They kissed passionately for several minutes, their lips never parting, fingertips pressed into each other’s backs. Katherine didn’t care who saw them or what they thought. Until she remembered Jenna.
“No freaking way,” her friend exclaimed. “Who the hell is this?”
Dan repositioned Katherine slightly, gently tugging at her waist so that she was standing beside him. “You must be Jenna,” he said to her. It wasn’t a question, just a statement of fact, but she answered anyway.
“Yeah…” she said.
“I’m Daniel Birch.” And with that he reached his hand out to shake hers. Jenna looked like she might as well be meeting the president. She stared at him, but offered her hand after a few seconds.
“Dan is my husband,” Katherine said as soon as their hands were back at their sides. Jenna’s eyebrows flew up.
“Shut up,” she said, “No way. How?”
Katherine looked back at Dan. She still couldn’t believe he was actually here. She wanted to be alone with him so she could memorize every inch of his face once again, without an audience.
“Jen, I’ll explain everything later okay? I promise.”
Jenna shook her head slowly, still in disbelief. There was something else there on her face as well. Katherine tried to pin-point the last time she had seen that face. Then she had it: Halloween last year, Billy Whatshisface making out with someone else. Jenna was hurt.
“Really,” she said to her, “I would have told you, I just…” Just what? Wasn’t sure if my secret agent husband was ever going to come back and didn’t want to worry you? Yeah right, she thought.
“It’s okay,” Jenna said with a shrug. “This is good news. At least now I know you’re not asexual. It makes a lot of sense actually.” God love her, Katherine thought.
She smiled and turned to Daniel. “Let’s go home,” she whispered.
He began tugging her along the walkway to the parking lot. She thought briefly about telling him that the house he knew wasn’t theirs anymore. She had sold it a month after he had left, after he had told her that this time might be longer. It had been lonely in the big house without him, so she moved onto campus into a room with a loveable, obnoxious girl she now calls her best friend. They’d hit it off from the start, and when he still hadn’t returned at the end of junior year, Katherine got an apartment with her. She thought about telling Dan all of this, but chances were he already knew. If he knew who Jenna was, he probably knew about a lot of things.
They walked up to a black motorcycle. Daniel handed Katherine her helmet as a group of boys ogled them with wide eyes and open mouths. Katherine guessed that had something to do with this particular motorcycle. The bike was shinier, newer than his last one. It did not have a logo on the side like his Ninja and she assumed that meant it was better. They hopped on and she wrapped her arms around his torso, hugging him tightly. He started the bike and flew out of the parking lot. The campus buildings passed by in a blur. Burying her head into his back, Katherine closed her eyes and took in the familiar scent of his worn jacket. She still could not believe he was back. It had been so long.
Dan slowed down when they reached town. Katherine couldn’t see his face but she imagined he was happy to be back on a bike again, driving fast just because he could. Daniel treated every vehicle as if it were an extension of his own body. He maneuvered side streets and highways with ease, moving fluidly between other cars in traffic. When they traveled, he spoke the native languages fluently—she’s yet to find one he doesn’t know. There wasn’t much he couldn’t do effortlessly. But his true talent was people. Daniel understood people in a way that most people couldn’t even understand themselves. He knew what made them tick, what made them feel good, what made them hurt others, what they would kill for, what they would die for. It was what made him really, really good at his job.
Sure enough, Dan pulled the motorcycle into the driveway of Katherine’s apartment. They jumped off and removed their helmets. His awaiting smile made Katherine’s whole body tingle. Her heart raced, skipping beats here and there from excitement and the shock of his presence. Nothing compared to the throbbing bliss coursing through her body as Daniel took her face in his hands and planted another slow kiss on her lips. He picked her up easily, cradling her body in his arms. They kissed all the way to the front door. Without hesitating, he entered the house.
“I know I locked that,” she said as he closed the front door.
“I know you did too,” he said, shooting her the devilish grin he reserved for occasions such as this when she called him out on doing something most normal people shouldn’t know how to do.
He went right to her room and placed her in the center of the bed. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him down on top of her. “I love you,” he said, “more than my own life.” He moved his kisses from her lips to her cheek, to her throat, to her collarbone. He removed her jacket. She helped him out of his own jacket and the simple gray t-shirt he had underneath. Katherine was as breathless as ever at his perfect body. They embraced with a passion they had not known for a year and half. Something awoke in Katherine that had otherwise been dead, and she knew why she did it—why he was worth the torment of waiting, not knowing if he would come back to her or what state he would be in if he did.
“Daniel, stop,” she said. He picked his head up from her neck and looked her in the eye. His deep brown eyes were like liquid, pouring right down into her heart. Fresh tears streamed down her face. “I really thought—” she stammered. A sob escaped her chest and she couldn’t continue. Dan sat up and pulled her onto his lap. Katherine leaned her head against his chest and cried. “I thought you died,” she managed.
“I told you I’d never leave you,” he said. His low voice reached deep down in his chest and was loud against her ear. His words made her angry.
“Well, it wouldn’t be something you could help now would it?” Katherine exclaimed. She cried some more and Dan was quiet. His slow, even breaths lay in complete opposition to her ragged ones. She gained control once again and continued. “Your presents stopped coming.” She lifted her head to look at his face. “The increases in my bank account, winning contests for things like free cars that I never entered, the random roses delivered to my doorstep… You never said it was you, but I knew. And when they stopped coming I thought you were gone.”
Dan took a slow breath and held it for a second before letting it out in a quick huff. “I’m sorry,” he said, “I shouldn’t have sent those things. I should have known I’d reach a point where it would be too dangerous and I’d have to stop. I didn’t think about what that would mean for you.”
“It’s just that you were gone for so long. How was I supposed to know? I mean, would I ever know for sure if you…” She couldn’t finish. The idea hurt too much. The whole time he was gone her family assumed, as always, that he was away on an archaeological expedition. Jenna hadn’t even known he existed, let alone that he was Katherine’s husband of three years. Their situation was a unique one. She had no idea what to do if he never came back. Who could she have talked to? Katherine knew that answer. It was no one. She could talk to no one.
She watched the sun peek through the clouds and dance against her curtains, throwing glimmering beams of light across the room. They sat in silence. Dan needn’t answer her questions; they’d been through this before. All he needed to know was that she still thought he was worth all of it. And there she was keeping him in suspense; no kinder was his wait than hers.
“I love you,” she said finally, “with all my heart and all my years.”
“It’s hard for you,” he said quietly. “I don’t know how I expect to leave you time after time and come home to find you waiting. It’s asking too much.” He scooted her gently off his lap and turned around to sit on the edge of the bed. She watched as he sat, leaning forward, elbows on his knees, hands folded. She took a half-hearted inventory of his body, satisfied with the results. Sometimes he came home with gashes, cuts on his hands, bruises on his ribs, a plaster cast on his arm. Not today. He really was okay. His back was mostly to her and she couldn’t think of anything except how wrong it felt. She rested her forehead between his shoulder blades and put her arms around his chest.
“Do you think my world is any more real without you in it?” Katherine asked. He turned to look over his shoulder. Her lips met his. He stared at her with a hunger in his eyes that she couldn’t resist.