It was the twitching of Nick's nose that woke him initially. Blearily blinking open one eye, he realised that the cause of said twitching was the tickling of a few stray hairs under his nose. The hairs belonged to a small Texan woman who, in the course of the night, had wound up burying her head under his chin and wrapping her arms around his torso.
This led to a kind of proximity that Nick could definitely get used to. Drawing her closer, he smiled the kind of supremely satisfied and peaceful smile that only comes with utter contentment.
For the first time in a long time, Nick didn't find himself waking up alone. He had someone in his arms and what's more, that someone wasn't just any someone, that someone was Diane.
Diane who made him laugh, who put him at ease and who radiated warmth and kindness. Diane who made his heart skip a beat in a way that couldn't be put entirely down to his arrhythmia.
Yes, for the first time in a long time, Nick was happy.
And, dare he hope it, Diane seemed happy too.
She woke with a stretch before snuggling back down into his arms and burrowing further into the pillow.
"Good morning," he smiled down at her.
"It certainly is!" she responded, kissing his collarbone. "Would you like breakfast? I'm glad we bought extra what with yesterday's mishap!"
She scooted out from under the covers and pulled on a robe. "I hope pancakes are ok. I mean, I think there's some old cereal from before my vacation, but it'd have to be stale by now. Or there's coffee, if you'd like…"
She trailed off, staring at Nick quizzically. He was gazing at her with the strangest look on his face
"What? Is my hair a mess? What are you looking at?" she asked, patting awkwardly at the hair framing her face.
He continued to smile up her, his blue eyes crinkling in a way she'd never seen through his glasses.
"I love you," he said simply. Then his brow furrowed as if he couldn't quite believe he'd said that out loud. But Nick had never been more certain of anything in his life.
He loved Diane. Was madly in love with her. And having breakfast with the love of your life sounding like just about the best thing he could imagine right now.
They both dressed and walked down stairs hand in hand, despite the staircase not quite being wide enough to properly accommodate the two of them. Nevertheless, they managed it; the thought of letting go and separating proved a little too much to bear in that moment.
Their second attempt at pancake-making proved much more fruitful than their first and they were soon sitting down to a maple-drenched mountain of light, fluffy goodness.
And that was of course the moment that the phone decided to ring.
Diane glanced at Nick apologetically before shuffling out into the hallway to answer it.
Nick was just reaching for the butter when she reappeared in the doorway.
"It's… for you," she said, puzzled. "It's the airline."
Nick almost dropped his fork – he'd completely forgotten. When he'd reached the head of the queue at American Airlines and they had told him there were no flights available, they'd asked for a contact number. Frustrated and distracted (and still clutching the scrap of paper with Diane's number like a security blanket) he had provided Diane's number at first, thinking he would simply notify them of the change of details once he'd booked a hotel.
Whoops.
He stood and walked out into the hall, picking up the receiver from where it lay on the small table.
"Hello, Nick Marson speaking…" he began.
"Nick, hi there! My name is Sally and I'm calling from American Airlines. I'm delighted to say that we've been able to find you a flight back to London, departing this afternoon at three-thirty. I hope that gives you adequate time to get to the airport for check-in?"
"Erm, yes. Yes, that should be fine… Er, thank you," he mumbled in a daze.
London.
He lived in London.
Drat.
Nick half listened as Sally rattled off their refund procedure for his original flight and how to claim once he returned, but his mind was plummeting back to the cold reality of his everyday life.
London, his job and his flat.
All that was waiting for him.
But so was Diane. She was hanging around the corner of the kitchen door, trying not to look like she was listening in.
Nick hung up the phone, unaware of whether or not he'd even wished Sally or Susan or whatever her name was goodbye. He turned to Diane.
"I've been given a flight back to London. It leaves today. This afternoon, in fact."
Lord, he'd better start packing.
"But….pancakes," Diane uttered, crestfallen. At the sight of tears welling in her eyes, Nick opened his arms to her and she rushed in to his embrace.
"You just got here, I don't want you to go," she snuffled, somewhere in the region of his sternum.
"I know," he responded, "I don't want to either."
But go he must, and so Nick quickly threw together the remainder of his things into his suitcase and entreated Diane for a lift to the airport.
"Of course," she'd said. "Do you even need to ask?"
The drive there was heavy with the burden of things unsaid. The silence seemed to only get louder the closer they got to the airport.
As soon as they were out of the car, their hands found their way back together, fingers clasped around the other's and they walked in solemn silence towards the check-in desk.
Diane came with him as far as the security check-in, before dropping his hand to bid a teary farewell.
"So you'll call?" she asked with a weak smile.
"As soon as I get back" he promised, before they reached for each other one last time.
She pressed her lips to his once more, then turned on her heel and strode quickly back the way they'd come, attempting to discreetly wipe at her eyes as she went.
Nick watched her disappear through the crowd and then he couldn't see her anymore.
And then he was alone.
Naturally.
Nick heaved a sigh, picked up his bag and trudged towards the queue for security.
Back to London, he thought. Back to the real world.
Back to his apartment, small and quiet – though that had always suited him.
Until now. Now, he wondered whether it might feel too cramped.
The lack of an upstairs bothered him in a way it hadn't done before, as did the lack of a kitchen island to make pancakes on.
Or to spill them over, he thought with a wan smile.
No, his apartment might not be anything special, but then again, it had never been somewhere he'd spent much time.
Phrases like "live-at-work" and "married to the job" sprung to mind, bitterly.
Not that he'd ever minded the long hours or the gruelling travel schedule; it was one way to see the world at least.
But now that he thought about it, he'd never been able to stop and take the time to look around, to go to pubs and kiss fish and climb to lookouts and make pancakes and…
Everything had changed since Gander.
Well, no, he thought, everything had changed since Diane.
The world sparkled with shiny new possibilities and his perspectives on work (on life even) had changed since meeting her. He had changed since meeting her.
He was no longer happy with existing to fill the company's needs and the thought of his flat without Diane in it left him cold.
What was he doing, going back to a job that didn't value him, didn't listen to him (how many times had he told them he shouldn't fly so much, even getting his doctor to write a letter… ridiculous!) and ultimately didn't reward him in the way it used to. It didn't make him happy.
Diane did.
A little flicker of something strangely like determination flared up inside Nick and before he could second-guess himself, he had turned on his heel and started striding back through the airport towards the gates.
He was so steadfast in cutting a path towards the exit through the swarm of people that he almost missed it, until a small Texan whirlwind barrelled into him at full pelt.
"Oof," he uttered, reaching out his arms to steady the woman in front of him. "Diane!" he gasped.
"Don't go!" she said urgently, her eyes imploring him. "Stay with me, even just a few days more. I know you have a job and a life waiting for you back in London, but I love you and I just found you and I don't want to lose you. I know it'll be tough trying to make the long distance thing work, but I'm willing to try and I don't want to let you go. I want to be part of your life," she finished with a breath, her eyes searching his blue ones anxiously.
He shook his head in disbelief.
"Diane," he said. "You are my life. Since meeting you, I have climbed hills and kissed fish and danced in pubs with strangers and spilled pancakes and woken up with the most beautiful woman alive. Since meeting you, I have lived more in this past week than I have in most of my adult life.
I don't want to be without you, Diane. Please let me stay with you."
She let out a sob of relief before throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him down into a kiss.
Before Gander, Nick was the kind of man to scoff at such public displays of affection, or to simply avert his eyes and give whoever they were a wide a berth. But that was before Gander. That was before he met Diane.
Now, Nick was the kind of man to swoop his arms around her, pick her up and twirl her in a circle, thrilling in the delighted giggle it elicited.
As she was eased back down onto her feet, Diane took his hand in hers, smiled up at him and said simply "let's go home."
And so they returned to the house that would be theirs together for all the days to come.