Note: I do not own The Middle. No copyright infringement intended.

Note: This chapter was inspired by an event in my life. It seemed like something that would happen to Sue and Sean, too.

Friday had finally arrived. Sue had been too excited to sleep, so by the time her alarm went off she was already driving to the inn. She had an overnight bag with her. The plan was for her to head straight to her parents' house after work. There, she'd change into a cute new dress Lexie had helped her pick out. She'd ride with the Donahues to the airport, then spend the rest of the evening with Sean and his family. She'd decided to stay at her parents' house that night instead of driving back to Gumford. She'd have to get up at the crack of dawn to make it back to the inn before 8 am, but the early morning commute was worth it since it would enable her to have more time with Sean.

Sue and the rest of the staff spent the day double-checking to make sure everything was ready. Along with their usual amenities, the inn would be offering additional services for move-in weekend, like an on-call shuttle service. One of Sue's contributions was a file (available digitally or in print form – binder optional) containing any piece of information she thought the families might find useful, like campus and town maps, and details on local stores and restaurants. As a student and former tour guide at East Indiana, Sue felt a responsibility to represent the inn and the university as thoroughly, professionally, and enthusiastically as she could. When guests started arriving earlier than expected, Sue got so caught up in being an unofficial goodwill ambassador that she ended up leaving for Orson later than she'd intended.

She hurried into the Heck house and called, "I know! I know! I'm late! But I should still have time to…" She came to a halt as she realized that Ron was with her parents. And he looked upset. "What's going on? I thought we were going to meet around 5:00?"

"Sue, we spoke to Sean earlier. He had some news." Sue frantically looked to her parents, but they seemed confused too. "There were mechanical issues with the plane in Accra, causing his flight to be delayed by several hours." He took a deep breath, then continued, "He missed his flight out of Brussels."

"Wait, what? Where is he? Like right now? Where is he right now? He's supposed to be en route to Indianapolis, right now!" Sue was practically hyperventilating. Frankie rubbed Sue's back.

"He was able to get on a different flight out of Brussels this afternoon. He should currently be somewhere over the Atlantic."

"Somewhere over the Atlantic? But he's supposed to be almost here!" Sue was crying. Hard. Frankie led her over to the sofa to sit.

"So what happens now?" Mike asked Ron.

"We'll find out for sure once he lands in Newark. The airline was going to see if they could get him on a later flight to Indianapolis." Ron sighed and said, "Sean didn't sound optimistic. He said it was more likely that he'd end up having to stay in Newark overnight and fly back here in the morning."

"In the morning!" Frankie exclaimed, hugging a still sobbing Sue. "Oh, no. Nancy must be devastated!"

"She is. We all are." Ron shook his head. "Nancy's spent the last few days cooking all of Sean's favorites. And we had everything set up for a 'Welcome Home!' dinner tonight." He shrugged, "I know we'll be able to use some of it for the picnic tomorrow, but it's just not the same. We've all been counting on having him home tonight."

"Well, maybe that will still happen," Mike said, trying to sound more optimistic than he felt.

"Yeah, maybe. Look, I better get back to Nancy and the girls." Ron walked over and put a hand on Sue's shoulder. "Sue, we'll let you know as soon as we hear from Sean. If he can still make it to Indianapolis tonight, then we will all be there to meet him." Sue stood and hugged him. Ron hugged her tight for a moment, then cleared his throat and pulled away. He walked to the front door, turning back for a moment to nod his head in farewell, before leaving.

"Sue, I…" Frankie started to speak.

"Not right now. I just…I can't." Sue fled to her room. Frankie and Mike watched her go.

Several hours passed. Crying and exhaustion caught up with Sue, who dozed off and on for a while. When she finally woke later that night, Frankie had to break the news that Sean would indeed be stuck in Newark overnight. When Sue checked her phone, she saw she'd missed his text.

Sean: I am so sorry. I can't tell you how much I wish I was there with you. I'll call you later.

Sue sat huddled on her bed. Frankie stroked her hair. "Sweetie, you need to eat. Do you want me to fix you a sandwich or something?"

"No. I'm not hungry," Sue listlessly responded. She glanced up when Mike appeared in her doorway. With a sigh, "Dad, I don't want to hear it."

"Hear what?" Mike asked.

"Aren't you going to tell me that I'm overreacting? That waiting one more day isn't a big deal when I've already waited 3 months? And that I need to quit crying and moping?"

"Actually, no. I wasn't going to say any of that."

"You weren't?" Frankie asked, shocked.

"Nope. I was going to tell you to go ahead. Get it all out of your system now." Seeing Frankie and Sue's confused expressions, Mike sighed and continued, "Look, we all know how much you've been looking forward to this reunion. And it's not just because he's been gone for three months. It's also about the months before that, when you two were…" He paused for a moment, searching for a way to express it. "When you two were circling around each other."

"Circling around each other?" Frankie mouthed, incredulously.

He shrugged at Frankie and continued. "You two have been waiting a long time to be together. But you want to know the difference between you?" Sue didn't respond, so Mike continued. "You've spent the last three months with your family and friends. You've been at his house for family dinners and movie nights with his sisters. His mom's been giving you care packages. And his dad's been slipping you money to cover the data overage fees you've racked up on our family plan this summer."

Sue's eyes were huge. "You knew about that?"

"Of course I knew. But the point is, you've been missing him, but you've been doing it from the comfort of home, surrounded by the people you both love. Meanwhile, he's been half a world away, surrounded by strangers. No matter how worthwhile his work has been, I guarantee you he's been counting the days until he was home. So as upset as you are right now, he's probably even more upset. If you're still crying when you talk to him, you're just going to make him feel worse."

Frankie blinked a few times, surprised at how astute Mike's observation had been. Then she added, "I agree with your dad. Sean has always been very sensitive to others' feelings. It must be hurting him to know that you and his family are disappointed and he can't do anything about it. And he's probably blaming himself."

"But it wasn't his fault there were mechanical issues!" Sue exclaimed.

"Do you really think that will make a difference to him?" Frankie asked. Sue shook her head. "So go ahead, get all the crying out now. Then when he calls you tonight, do what you can to make him feel better."

"You're right. You're both right. I need to be focusing on Sean right now." She stood, suddenly full of restless energy. "I think I should go back to Gumford tonight. I'll be able to get to work earlier in the morning, so maybe I'll be able to leave earlier too. And it'll give me more time to collect myself, before I talk to Sean later."

"That sounds like a good idea, but are you okay to…" Mike started, but was interrupted by Brick, who'd popped through the hole in the wall between his bedroom and Sue's.

"You're going back to Gumford tonight? I can drive you!"

"That's okay, Brick. I can drive myself," Sue responded.

"Are you sure? You were really upset a few minutes ago. I don't want you to cry while you're driving." Sue smiled at her brother, thinking how sweet it was for him to be concerned about her. Then he continued, "And I've been looking forward to driving your car."

"Wait, is this all about my car? You don't care about my feelings, you just want to drive my car?" Sue asked, aghast.

"Of course it's about your feelings, not the car!" Then, whispering, "I'm lying."

"Argh!" Sue shrieked. She stormed out of the room.

A slight smile crossed Brick's face. To his parents he said, "She'll drive better annoyed than she would if she were crying."

Frankie hugged him. "You're a good little brother."

Brick shrugged. "I know."

Before she left Orson, Sue texted Sean to tell him her change in plans. She suggested a tentative time for him to call; it would give her a 2-hour window to get home and decompress. As the suggested time neared, Sue was snuggled up on her bed in her apartment, waiting for his call. She was glad she'd told him to call instead of using FaceTime, because one look at her face would show him just how upset she still was. Her phone rang a few minutes early.

"Sean? Are you okay? Where are you?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Really disappointed, but I'm okay. I wasn't expecting to spend my first night back in the States at a hotel in New Jersey!"

"I know! It's a huge let-down, but we're all really looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!" Sue was trying to sound as positive as possible. "Is everything set for you to fly to Indianapolis in the morning?"

"I'm on an 8:30 flight. I should land in Indianapolis by lunch time." He paused, "You'll still be at work then, right?"

"Yes. We have this huge picnic lunch planned for all the guests, and I have to help with that. But I did talk to Brooke earlier, and told her what happened with your flight. She's going to try to work it out so that I can leave by early afternoon." Sue paused for a moment, then said, "I really wanted to be there to meet you at the airport. You've been away all summer being a superhero, and you deserve a huge welcome home!"

Sean sighed, then said, "I'm not a superhero, Sue. I wish I were. Superheroes don't let their families and girlfriends down…"

"First of all, I may not read comic books, but even I know that's not true! And secondly you didn't let us down. The stupid airplane did!"

"I know. But I still feel like this is my fault…"

"Hey!" Sue interjected. "None of that, mister! I won't allow it!" Sean laughed, in spite of himself. Sue went on, "This is massively disappointing, absolutely. But you're several thousand miles closer to home now than you were a few hours ago! And it won't be much longer before you really are home!"

Sean took a moment to respond. Then, "Sue, I've always loved how you can find the good in any situation. I need you and your positivity in my life."

"You have me. Always. Maybe not always positive, though," she admitted.

"That's okay. I love you in any mood!"

Sue wiped away a tear, then said in a deliberately upbeat tone, "If you were here tonight, we'd all be pestering you with questions. So…you never finished telling me about your trip to Kakum National Park. Can you talk to me about that? Or…about anything?"

"Absolutely," he agreed. And for the next hour, they shared anecdotes and jokes. They both sensed that the other person was trying to distract them, and they loved each other for it.