Home

"What do you consider home?"

The question caught him off guard and Jacob blinked, glancing back over his shoulder to make sure that Asher and Gwen weren't coming up on him yet. He still had a good fifteen minutes before he was supposed to meet them, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't be early. Things were moving fast, but he hadn't been able to help it when Liz had called. The sound of her voice evened out his nerves and set his perspective on more solid ground.

"Tom?"

He swallowed hard. "That's kind of out of nowhere, isn't it?"

There was a mirthless laugh, more of a snort, from the other end of the line. "I don't know. I'm sleeping in a different place every night, before that I was living out of a motel. I've been thinking about it."

"What do you consider home, Liz?"

"Not going to answer me, are you?"

"I will. I'm curious now."

He could almost hear her smile from the other side. It was soft and hesitant. Not shy. They were too far past that, but the honesty between them was intentional. It was needed. "I used to think home was this place you always wanted to come back to at the end of the day, you know? Some little house with my husband and a dog and…. and our child. That was home. Now I'm not so sure. I'm getting… numb isn't the right word, and I'm not comfortable, but I'm getting used to moving around like we are. Sleeping wherever I can. You've done this before, haven't you?"

"Lots of times," he answered softly.

"I guess I'm just worried that when this is over I'm not even going to know what home looks like," Liz confessed on a breath. Her voice was almost too quiet for him to hear, but he was listening closely now, the phone pressed against his ear and his eyes focused in on the doorhandle of the car he'd been driving. Nothing else mattered around him but her voice right then and there. "What do you think home is, Tom?" she pressed again and he felt a smile tip the corners of his lips.

"You."

"What?"

A soft chuckle escaped him and he closed his eyes. "I didn't know what home was for a long time. I didn't think I needed one. It was… safer not to get attached, but then I met you, Liz. You're my home." Silence met him from the other end and he felt his chest tighten. "You asked."

"I did," she answered quickly. "Tom, I-"

"You don't have to say anything," he cut her off, his voice tight with the knowledge that whatever she was planning to say was very likely not something he wanted to hear right then. He loved her. That's why he was risking what he was risking, not because he expected her to welcome him back with open arms at the end of all of this. If she did, that was the best case scenario, but if she didn't… well, he'd at least like to hold onto that little hope to get him through it all. He would deal with the heartbreak when it came. If. If it came.

"I miss you," she whispered, voice breaking.

It took a moment for him to make sure he wasn't just hearing what he wanted. He opened his mouth and snapped it shut again as he heard a car door shut hard and Asher waved at him from where he was coming closer.

"Tom?"

"I'm here. I miss you too. I… I have to go. Things are moving and I have to be ready. I love you. Be safe."

"You too," she answered, the response probably more habit than anything else, but it brought a smile to his face even as the call ended. He turned, pulling in a deep breath and sinking back into Matt Buckley.

Gwen was grinning at him, despite the heavy conversation that was about to take place. "She called back."

"Yeah," Jacob said tightly, turning his gaze on Asher. "So, what'd they say?"

"You're in," the younger man told him solemnly. "I think you're nuts, but you're in."

Jacob nodded and stuffed the phone back in his pocket. He was almost there and maybe, just maybe, after all of this, he could go home when everything was said and done.

Notes: So, I have a deadline for a Once Upon a Time one-shot I'm writing for an exchange on Friday. I was busting my butt to get the muse working on that today and then this happened. I did manage to finish the Once one-shot too, so thank you to Keen2 for somehow crossing those fandom boundaries and making muses work lol.