It was some time after about 10PM, and you were laying on the bed in the guest room of your sister's house in Austin, Texas. Thanks to the air conditioning going, you weren't dying in the mid-August heat. Which was nice, considering you had believed you'd melt when you were out and about earlier in the day.

You took a sip from your wine glass, your eyes focused on the TV, the movie Sweet Home Alabama playing. You had seen it probably a hundred times at this point, but you always enjoyed it, and would watch it whenever it came up on cable. There was something calming about watching a movie you knew backwards and forwards.

The house was quiet, your newborn niece apparently understanding sleep was a thing. You knew logically in a couple hours she'd most likely wake, hungry, but for now it was quiet. You hoped your little sister was sleeping too; being a brand new mom was tough, and she needed to get the rest while she could.

You had been in Texas for nine days now. You'd flown in from Japan, where you had been visiting your boyfriend, after hearing your sister say she was being induced. Since that time, your niece had been born, and your boyfriend had left Japan to return to his other home in Winnipeg.

Kenny and you had met accidentally, really. You had been visiting Japan on work-vacation, being that you worked as a freelance photographer. You had decided to venture out to Japan for a large music festival, take some photos, and also explore the country for a number of days on your own. What you hadn't planned was to run, quite literally, in to a man at a store. Being obviously the only two North Americans in the vicinity, you had asked for his help in locating what you needed, and he had obliged. You talked briefly about what brought you to Japan, and that somehow led to him showing you to a nearby park, which had been beautiful for photographs. That had then led to you thanking him for his hospitality with dinner.

And now just over a year later, you had one of the most exhausting long-distance relationships probably of all time. You were lucky if you could say you had spent a total of four months in the past year with him. But those times when you were together, they were so incredible, so fulfilling, that the times apart weren't devastating. Hard, challenging, and at times painful, definitely. But the distance never overshadowed your times together, or made you contemplate not having him in your life. The work was worth it.

Your phone lit up on the bedside table, the ringtone softly emitting from it. Picking it up, your boyfriend's name, and a picture of the two of you, showed on the screen.

"Were your ears burning?" You questioned after accepting the phone call.

"What?" He laughed.

"I was thinking about you," you explained. "Just wondering if you having ESP powers now is a thing."

"I'll get back to you on that," Kenny decided, humoring your assumption. "How's it going there?"

"Good. Everyone else seems to be asleep for now," you answered.

"Why aren't you?"

"Not that tired," you shrugged, though you knew he couldn't see it.

"What time is it there?"

"…we're in the same time zone," you reminded him, raising an eyebrow to yourself. There was a moment of silence, before Kenny let out a rough chuckle.

"Shit, yea, we are," he appeared to just realize. "Sorry…I guess I'm still readjusting to being home."

"Clearly," you agreed, smiling softly to yourself. "Do you even know what day it is?"

"Don't mock me," Kenny complained, avoiding your question. "At least I know that you're here in two days."

"Three."

"FUCK!"

You laughed openly at his exclamation, finding it amusing how confused and unaware your boyfriend currently was. You knew, understandably, that having been in Japan for almost a month and half, he was set way off course when it came to knowing the time and date in the western hemisphere where he was now at. He had only been back for a few days at this point; he hadn't yet settled in to a routine. But it was comical all the same.

"You're a mess, babe," you acknowledged affably.

"You just need to get here, before I start really losing it," he decided. "At this rate, I'll burn the house down accidentally."

"Please don't," you requested. "That just seems like a lot of work to come back from. And I'm kind of not in the mood to deal with it."

"I'll try my best," he assured you. "Hey, but when you're here, I have a surprise for you."

"Oh?" You couldn't deny your intrigue at his words. Kenny wasn't really one for surprises, as he understood that you weren't usually one to accept them with a smile. You would much rather know what was going on, what to expect, be able to prepare yourself for something. Surprises just weren't your thing. Which also made you wonder why Kenny was doing this, knowing all that.

"Yep," he replied. "You'll love it, I promise."

"Ken…"

"I know, I know," he placated you. "It has to do with the house though, and it's just for you. And I know you'll be happy with it."

"…OK," you sighed.

It wasn't worth the argument. When Kenny had his mind set on something, like really thought through and set, you knew there was no changing him. So you had to just go along with this situation. You chit-chatted for a bit longer, before you did genuinely become tired, and decided to go to bed.

Three days later, not two, you found yourself landing in Winnipeg. Kenny was there to get you, and the utter peace you felt being back at his side was immeasurable. Upon reaching his house, which was slowly somehow becoming your house, you demanded to know what the 'surprise' was. He looked amused at your immediate insistence.

"C'mere," he stated, holding out his hand for you to take. You took the offered appendage, your fingers linking through his. He guided you upstairs, and down the hall, to one of the unused bedrooms at the end. He stopped at the door, pulling you alongside him. "Go in." You glanced at him unsure, but followed his directive anyway, turning the handle and pushing open the door.

What you found made you stunned at first, and then a large smile came to your face. Kenny had morphed the once barren room in to an office, apparently for you based on the items that were placed around it. There was a large desk, bookshelves, multiple photo boxes. Some wires dangled across the one wall, with clips attached to hang pictures from.

"Wow," you breathed, taking it in. You looked over to him, as he was leaning in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, watching you. "Why all this?"

"Figured it wasn't fair to keep dragging you here if you didn't have your own space to work in," Kenny replied. "And I also figured, if I'm going to convince you to move here, I've gotta give you reasons it'll work."

Your smile widened again, as you slowly walked over to him. He stood up straighter, allowing you to come in to his space. You leaned your forearms on his chest, hands flat against him, his hands going to yours sides.

"You sure you wanna deal with me that much?"

"I think I can handle it." Your grin matched his, before you stood up on your toes to meet him in a kiss. He was definitely worth the work.