"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

-Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Margot and I had just packed up our dorm rooms. We had to make the annual trip back to the States to renew our visas for next year. And we weren't the only ones. Josh was meeting at the tram stop; we'd be going to the airport together. He and Margot had been dating for two years now, though they've had a thing for each other for much longer. And who wouldn't have a thing for Josh? I certainly did back in high school, but that's another story.

Josh grinned when he saw me and Margot trying to manage four suitcases up onto the platform. "Here," as if to be acting on instinct, he came over to take Margot's and mine extra suitcase; after a quick peck on Margot's cheek. It was almost eight in the morning- ugh. It should be illegal to fly this early, I groaned as we waited patiently for the tram to arrive. It eventually came and Josh made sure we were securely onboard first before dealing with his own single suitcase. Guys- those light packers.

The airport wasn't busy- thank god. We'd done this tone of times before, so it wasn't a struggle to figure out where we needed to be. We got our tickets promptly and went to wait for the gate to be announced. After going through security, where both Josh and I got pulled over to be searched, our gate finally showed up and we made a quick dash to it. For an empty airport, our plane was packed full. Margot got the window seat, Josh sat in the middle, and me at the end. The plane took off without a hitch, and we were on our way back to America.

Now, one thing you gotta know about Josh and me is that we were the best of friends. I know that may sound weird considering that he's dating my older sister, but she thought it was terrific. Granted, I used to have a major crush on Josh- he was actually my first real romantic interest- but I got over that in my adult years. I wouldn't call Josh "my brother", but he was the closest platonic friend I had back in Edinburgh. I adored Josh and I knew he loved me; in that regard we were so lucky. We were friends, I glanced over to see him and Margot sleeping against each other. And I'm so glad we could be. I'm so glad that Margot loved me enough to share her best friend, and him to love me strictly platonically. Or at least that's what I thought at the time.

Daddy and Kitty met us at the airport, and they came with two bouquets of flowers. I ran into Daddy's arms while Margot held Kitty; then we switched. Daddy shook Josh's hand and gave him a ride home. Josh had been our next-door neighbour since we were little. Technically he was my friend first since we were the same age, but he was practically one of the family now. He came over for dinner the next night, after much unpacking done by all of us.

But to back it up a bit. Margot, Josh, and I all went to the same university: the University of Edinburgh. Josh applied to the same university to be close to Margot, which I encouraged. I also applied, partly because my beloved sister and best friend were there, but mostly because it was one of the best schools in the world. Daddy cried the day Margot and I got our acceptance letters. Josh and I had one year of undergrad left while Margot had just finished masters; masters in the UK is one year. She had gotten into a PhD programme in Paris- something she had been dreaming about since we started university. Her start date was the same as ours- the 10th of September.

Unfortunately, however, our Tier 4 visas dictated that we go home every year to renew it. Brexit didn't make anything easier either. Every summer, the three of us packed up everything and came back; we basically lived out of suitcases for four years- three for undergrad. Kitty was with Margot while she unpacked while I was busy with mine. You can't imagine what living in a single tiny dorm room will do to a person's psychology. I had the messiest room imaginable in high school; now as a twenty-four-year-old, I had the neatest room in the undergrad building. Somehow without my realizing it, I just became cleaner in my twenties. All this meant was that I had this knack of putting a ton of stuff in a little space without making it feel cramped or cluttered. You can imagine how happy this made my father; that was a bonus.

I was working on my second suitcase when a knock at my door interrupted my concentration. Looking up, a smile bloomed across my face to see Josh standing at my doorway. His hands were buried into his pockets as per usual; he stepped in mirroring my happy expression. "I'm still not used to your room being this clean." "It hasn't been messy since I was twenty," I countered playfully. "How did you go from the messiest girl I know to this?" "I blame age but living in a dorm for two years might have had something to do with it." His grin grew as he came up to stand near me.

"Are you happy to be back? Home, I mean," Josh asked me. "Yes. Why do you ask?" "You just didn't say much during the flight," he shrugged. "I didn't want to interrupt your and Margot's nap. You know I can't sleep on planes." "Are you tired? Like right now?" "No," I sighed slightly defeated; oh god, I hated the time change. "I just have really bad jetlag," this was proceeded with a side grin his way. "Why don't you unpack later and just rest?" "I hate having unpacked suitcases; there's something about it that… just bugs me." "Heh, you sound like your sister." "I'll take that as a compliment," I said, putting some t-shirts away.

"And what about you, Josh? Are you glad to be back?" "Eh, sort of, I guess," his hand ran through his hair. "It's weird. We've lived in Edinburgh for so long now; it feels more like home than here. Does… that make sense?" "Yeah," my head softly nodded. "Don't tell anyone but I feel the same way. I just… love Europe; I didn't know I could love somewhere so much…." Josh watched me for a moment before grinning and shaking his head a tad. "We're only here for four months. It'll go by quickly." "I know, and I'm happy to be back with Daddy and Kitty." Still… I couldn't help but feel like I left a piece of me back in Scotland; an important piece I kept missing.

Josh took this as his cue to drop the conversation, instead wandering around my room. He spotted a picture of me, Gen, and Peter from back in high school; long before we stopped being friends. Peter had an arm draped over each of us as we made funny faces at the camera. Josh scanned it over before turning back to me, who was busy unpacking all the books I brought back from school.

"I can't believe you kept this all these years." I had to glance up to see what he was talking about. "Oh yeah. I didn't have the heart to throw it out." "Didn't Gen friend dump you in grade twelve; like right before graduation?" "Yeeeeeeeeah, she did. But we haven't spoken much since I moved. I honestly don't know where she is right now." "That wouldn't be a problem if you had FaceBook," Josh sent me a cute smirk. "No way. What would I do with FaceBook? Besides, I don't care what she's doing. I'll probably never see her again." "And Peter? You lost contact with him too?" "Yeah, he was still dating Gen when we heh, broke up- like the petty, idiotic high schoolers that we were. I don't know if they're still together or not." "I see," Josh peered back at the picture. We never talked about Gen or Peter; my two intimate friends from senior high. And I mean "intimate" in the emotional sense; Gen and Peter were a thing and I respected their relationship….. no matter how I felt about Peter.

"Hey guys," Kitty's head unexpectedly popped into my door frame. "Supper's almost ready. Dad's cooking again," her eyes rolled dramatically. "Heh, coming," Josh grinned at her, then he turned back to me. "Since you're set on it, do you want me to help you finish unpacking after dinner? Margot said she wanted to talk about something but that shouldn't take long. She'd probably help if you asked." "Oh no; she's got unpacking of her own to do. We both brought two suitcases plus a carry-on and backpack home, after all," I smiled. "Ok then. But the offer's still good, just in case you change your mind." "Thanks, Josh. I'll let you know how I feel."

I'll let you know how I feel.