A/N- Entry for the Swing Life Away Drabble Challenge

Thanks to my beta SqueakyZorro and to beautiful liar who created the banner that inspired this little drabble!

Title: Finding Home

Based On: Banner Entry #12

Word Count: 547

White-capped waves crash ashore in front of us as the wind blows your brown hair out of its once perfectly-styled place. Clouds begin to roll in from the horizon. "Looks like a storm's coming in."

"Yeah."

"We should get inside, before the rain ruins your dress." I look at you, but you continue to stare out at the ocean.

"Doesn't matter. I'm never going to wear it again. It's served its purpose." You always amaze me with your nonchalance about things most other girls worry about.

I turn back to the horizon. Billowy clouds cover the sky, and I can no longer tell where the clouds end and the ocean begins. I smirk, because the ambiguity is fitting for us.

When we were kids, we were best friends. We would come here and build sandcastles, pretending we were the king and queen of some far away land. You would tell me how many rooms our castle had, and I would continue to build and build until the tide came in and washed our dream away. We were too young to understand.

When we were teenagers, we made plans for our future. We would run away to some place warm, away from the constant chill of the north, where the heat of the sun would make our skin tingle, and beaches were shaded by palm trees, not pines. We would live like the beautiful people lived, like musicians and movie stars. We were too selfish to understand.

Then we grew up, and others came into our lives – another girl, another guy. They took us away from each other for awhile. They didn't appreciate our friendship; they said we couldn't just be friends. They were afraid we would hurt them, and so, we let each other go to follow our loves. But we were the ones to be hurt in the end, and we found our way back to each other…because that's what friends did. We were too heartbroken to understand.

Then that night, when your dad died and you called me from the hospital, I raced to your side even though it was three a.m. I held you as your tears soaked my shirt; I held you until you had no more tears left to cry; I held you until we both fell asleep from exhaustion. When we woke up the next morning, in each other's arms, and a feeling of peace and belonging filled our souls, we finally understood.

I watch a chill move through your body as a gust of cold wind blows against us. It threatens to sweep away the flower that highlights the brown of your hair, and you reach up to hold onto the single pink and white blossom – perfect in its simplicity, like you've always been.

"Do you think we're ever going to leave this place?" you ask.

I don't think we ever will, but now, I'm okay with that. "Any place is perfect, as long as you're there," I answer.

You look up at me and smile. "Hey, Jake?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you for becoming my husband today."

I reach out and take your hand. "No, no, Leah. Thank you for becoming my wife today."

We both look back out at the ocean. Sometimes it just takes a while to find home.