Nick crept slowly down the hall and slid the door of the guestroom open a crack, sliding his body inside. He stood by the dresser and stared for a long time at the woman laying there in bed. The light from the bathroom along with the setting sun coming through the window played off her pale face and Nick sighed in awe of how beautiful she looked. He could see her breathing, her chest rising and falling steadily beneath the sheets, a comforting sight, and he walked slowly over to the bed and sat down beside her.

"My God how I missed you," He whispered as he leaned forward and gently stroked the soft fuzz that was growing in all over her head. He kissed her gently on the lips and took her hand in his.

She stirred now and her eyelids fluttered open. She looked up into his eyes and a smile crossed her face as she pulled him into her arms and kissed him. When she'd finally released her hold on him, he pulled her up in the bed and they sat there just staring at one another for a long time. Neither spoke for several moments until finally she took a breath.

"Oh my God Nick... I missed you so much," She cried as tears ran down her cheeks spilling onto the sheets below.

"Baby don't cry!" He pulled her close and held her tight, not letting go. Never letting go.

His own tears began to fill his eyes and he wanted this moment to last forever. "I missed you too sweetheart... I love you."

"I love you too Nick... I love you so much."

He laid her down on the pillow and kicked off his shoes. He crawled beneath the covers beside her and took her into his arms. He didn't ever want to let her go again. Even if that meant laying in this bed for the rest of his life. That would be just fine with him.

She laid her head upon his chest and stroked his hair with her fingers as she tried to stop herself from crying. Finally she looked up into his eyes and smiled.

"Did you guys have fun?"

"Not really... I missed you too much."

It was true. He hadn't given himself the chance to enjoy this tour. His mind had been other places.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay baby... I'm just glad to be home with you."

They laid there for a little while and talked about their time apart. Nick told her about Australia and how he'd wished she could have been there to see the sunsets. Grace told him about the plans for the wedding and about how happy she'd been when Angel had dropped in for her unexpected visit. He smiled again... that was his idea. She yawned and Nick cuddled in closer to her. He buried his nose in her neck and rubbed her arms gently with his hands. It felt so good being back in this place.

Even though he hadn't meant for it to happen, he'd let his mind wander to dark places many times on the tour. He'd laid in bed alone at night and thought about the fact that he might soon have to spend every night that way... alone. He'd left on the tour with every aspect of her still fresh in his mind. The way she smelled and how she laughed, he'd even taken one of her nightshirts with him to sleep with, but as the tour went on he found himself not being able to remember. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't imagine her face perfectly enough, or hear her laugh exactly as he knew it had been. And eventually the nightshirt began to smell like everything else in his suitcase. He knew that was what it would be like to lose her, if... when... it happened and now he knew he could never be prepared for that.

He took it all in now as she laid there beside him snoring gently. He wrapped his arms around her and breathed in her scent. He didn't want to imagine ever having to forget. He pulled the cover up over her body and closed his eyes.

He forgot about the guests downstairs as he drifted off to sleep with her in his arms.

Kevin opened the door a crack and peaked in before opening it the rest of the way. He stood in the doorway and marveled at the sight before him. They were sound asleep together, wrapped in each others arms.

He taped the note to the door, careful not to disturb the exhausted couple and then snuck back downstairs to join the others.

It was dark when I finally woke up, the clock on the bedside stand let me know that it was 11:00 pm. I nudged Nick gently and he curled up closer to me and opened his eyes. He smiled up at me and I could feel my heart beat faster within my chest. I kissed him and smiled back. It felt so good to have him back home.

"Did everyone leave?" I asked standing slowly up out of the bed and walking into the bathroom.

"I guess," he called back to me as he sat up and stretched his arms over his head, "I fell asleep too. I wonder why they didn't wake us up for dinner."

"No kidding," I replied flushing the toilet and washing my hands. I walked out of the bathroom to where he sat and pulled him up off the bed. "I'm absolutely starved. Let's go downstairs and see if they left any food."

We walked to the doorway and Nick flipped on the light pulling a piece of paper from the wooden bedroom door. "Looks like they left a note," he said as he read it out loud.

-- Hey sleepyheads, We didn't want to wake you up for dinner so we ate and ran. Hope you both get some much needed rest. There are leftovers in the fridge, and Nick, there's plenty of Ale-8 in the cooler on the deck. *wink*

We'll lock up on our way out. Talk to you soon!

Love you guys,

Kevin.

I watched Nick smile as he read the note. If anyone knew how to take care of us it was Kevin.

We walked downstairs and flipped on the lights in the living room and kitchen. The one downfall to living out in the country was that it was so dark at night. I went into the kitchen and pulled the burgers and potato salad out of the fridge. I popped the burgers in the microwave and grabbed a couple of water bottles from the pantry.

"Hey Nick!" I hollered out to the living room as I grabbed the plate out of the microwave and took our food out to where I'd left him, "where'd you go?"

He was standing in the middle of the room looking around at all of the new decor. I had moved most all of our belongings in now so it felt more like home. I had wanted to wait until he got back to put the finishing touches on the house but the longer I had stayed there by myself the more stir crazy I'd become. I couldn't stand living in a house that was littered with moving boxes. It didn't feel cozy, so I'd started unpacking and I hadn't stopped.

"Do you like it?" I asked moving around to sit on the couch I placed our food on the coffee table in front of me.

"Wow Grace... it's beautiful. I mean, I knew you were great at this stuff, but you really outdid yourself." He sat down on the couch beside me and put his hand on my leg. "I don't know how you did all of this, especially with the chemo... you amaze me."

"Well, it was nothing really," I said blushing. "It's mostly all of the stuff from my old apartment. Kevin helped me paint and Kelly and Kristin helped with the rest. I've spent a lot of time shopping online since I wasn't allowed to go to the mall. Anything you don't like we can change..."

"No! I love it all babe, really this is awesome."

He leaned back into the comfort of the couch and rubbed my cheek with the back of his hand. It felt so good to have a home to call their own. He reached over and flipped on the tv, "I wonder if there's anything good on this time of night."

"Scrubs is on channel 11," I said grabbing the remote control and flipping the channel to my favorite show.

He laughed, "You still watch this show?"

"Uh... um... Zach Braff, Of COURSE!" He knew I'd always had a small crush on Zach Braff so he rolled his eyes and let it slide.

We sat there together and ate our burgers and then curled up together for a while on the couch and watched tv. When the second episode had ended I yawned and looked over at him. He was half asleep.

"You ready for bed sexy?" I said standing up and taking him by the hand as I bent down and kissed him on the forehead.

He raised his eyebrows at me questioningly and I nodded. He took me by the hand and led me up the stairs to our master bedroom. I opened the door and he let out a small gasp. This was the one room in our new home that I'd truly put my heart and soul into. Kristin and I had picked out a new king sized bed with a quilt top mattress and I'd bought a gorgeous new bedding set. Joey and Kevin had painted the room a mocha color and it was probably the most serene and earthy room in the entire house. I hadn't slept there yet but I spent many days and evenings out on our balcony reading or writing in my journal after my treatments. It was by far my favorite spot.

"Wow." I heard him say beside me.

"I know... I love this room the most."

He picked me up and carried me into the room setting me gently on the bed. He walked over to our dresser and pulled out a fresh nightgown for me and then went into the bathroom himself and changed as I changed into my gown. He came out and climbed into the bed with me laying there beside me looking deep into my eyes as he took me into a kiss.

We spent that night together, our first night in our home in our bed making love to one another. It was something we hadn't done since I'd been diagnosed with cancer. It was something that for a long, long time I'd been afraid of. On this night however, it just felt right.

We fell asleep once again in each others arms.

Home at last. Home together.