Jack and Elizabeth stayed up almost the entire night. Once the air outside became too chilly, they retreated into the empty hotel lobby. They curled up modestly on the couch in front of the TV and watched what was left of a hockey game for Jack, and then Hallmark, Elizabeth's favorite. Somewhere during the second Hallmark Christmas movie, they both fell asleep.

At 5:30 when the hotel staff began setting up for the continental breakfast, Elizabeth stretched in her seat and opened her eyes. Jack was still out like a light beside her, his arm draped protectively around her.

"This is the life," she whispered. Noticing the time on the TV in front of them, she sat up and began gently shaking Jack awake.

"Babe, its morning."

"We have time," he muttered, not fully awake.

"We're in the lobby, remember?"

Jack opened his eyes. "Oh yeah. Maybe we should fix that."

She kissed his cheek, "I have to run up and have a girl talk with Faith."

"Now? But you have the whole travel day to talk about anything you want."

"Yes, but it's a girl thing. Some things you just don't wait for."

"Like what? Did something earth shattering happen last night?" Jack teased as they stood up from the couch.

Elizabeth made kissing noises with her mouth. Jack caught on right away.

"Alright. But don't take too long."

"I promise." They walked over to the elevators, each pushing the button for their respective floors. The door opened for Elizabeth first. "Meet you back down for breakfast in a half hour?"

"I'll be there."

With a quick kiss, she disappeared behind the closing doors.

"I'm going to marry that woman," Jack grinned. "As soon as possible."

Elizabeth walked down the hall to her room. She managed to slide in unnoticed. Faith was still asleep, her blond curls haphazardly spread over her pillow. Elizabeth was unable to resist pulling out her phone and taking a picture for posterity.

While Elizabeth was in the bathroom to freshening up, the alarm on Faith's phone went off. She could hear her friend moan and groan as she turned off the alarm. Then there was a thump. Elizabeth didn't need to see what happened to know. They'd been roommates long enough.

"You're going to break your phone one of these days. It's not its fault you set the alarm for so early."

"All alarms deserve to die," Faith muttered into her pillow.

"Maybe so, now get up and tell me about last night!"

"Do I have to?"

"If you don't, I'll send Carson the picture I took of you sleeping this morning."

She shot up. "You wouldn't."

"Maybe. Don't you think he deserves to know what he'd be waking up to every morning if this thing works out?"

"Elizabeth Marie Thatcher! I swear, if you…"

She just fell back on her bed and laughed. "I won't! Mostly because you're retaliation would be brutal. I just know it."

"You bet it would." Faith rubbed her eyes. "How are you so awake and cute already?"

"I got up a little bit ago."

"Oh okay." She got out of bed and gathered her things.

"Are you seriously not going to tell me about your night?"

Faith blushed. "Okay! I'll tell you!" She dropped her things back in her suitcase and jumped onto Elizabeth's bed. "He's amazing. I think I love him. I mean, "forever" love him."

"That must have been one heck of a kiss!"

"It was! I'm telling you the honest truth. I have never ever felt this way before."

"Faith!" Elizabeth squealed. "This is great!"

"I know, but… now we're leaving them! What kind of joke is this?"

"Maybe you and Carson can visit each other. That's want Jack and I are planning on."

"True." She collected her things again. "I need to shower. I know we're flying out, but if this is the last time Carson sees me for a little while, I want to look good!"

Elizabeth laughed. "You always look good."

"Well I want to look better." She headed towards the bathroom. "By the way, Jack's hoodie suits you."

"Yeah? I think so." Elizabeth put her hands in the front pocket.

In the guy's room, Jack and Carson stuffed the remains of their things in their duffels.

"So what exactly did you and Elizabeth do all night?" Carson said with a smirk.

"We talked for a while. Watched some TV down in the lobby and then fell asleep. Completely innocent."

"Right."

"It was!" Jack tossed his sneaker at Carson. "Though, it convinced me even more that I need to make this official and forever."

"Still want to talk to her dad first before you propose?"

"Yeah. When I visit, I need to make my intentions clear. I love her. So much."

"Awesome man. Hey, you want to hear something?"

"What? You love Faith or something?" Carson sent him a sly smile as he zipped up his bag. "You do!"

"Yeah. I do."

"So… did you tell her?"

"Nah, man. I did kiss her last night. And uh! Was that the best kiss in the history of the world!"

"We'll have to disagree on that front, my friend. I'm convinced Elizabeth and I hold that title."

"You can keep thinking that. All I'm saying is, if for the rest of my life, Faith is the woman by my side, I will be a very, very happy man."

"You're telling her all this before we leave today, right?" Carson said nothing. "Carson Alan Shepard! Don't toy with her!"

"I'm not! It just seems cruel to drop the "L" word the day we leave. What if she thinks I'm only saying it because I'm insecure about us being apart?"

"Are you?"

"Surprisingly, no. I'm at peace with all of this."

"Wow, you really are in love."

"Weird, right?" Carson laughed. "Not to say that you and Elizabeth shouldn't have your own set of nerves. Her dad seems like a piece of work."

"I'm trying to come up with a plan on that."

"Any thoughts?"

"As of now… none." Carson sighed for his friend. "We talked about it some last night. He's so set in his ways and has a very particular plan for her."

"And you don't fit?"

"No. That plan does not include a fireman from Seattle who's been working as a contractor for a mission. He's looking for a lawyer. He even has the guy picked out already."

"So what we do is, we meet this lawyer dude, and you challenge him to a duel!"

"Nice thought, but I don't shoot…"

"So a video game duel? Game of HORSE?"

"You're nuts."

"Hey, I'm just trying to help here."

"Well, try harder!" Jack teased. "Come on. I want to meet the girls for breakfast downstairs."

"Sounds good, I'm starved."

The hotel's food was great, but they hardly noticed. The clock was ticking away against them with each bite. Jack held Elizabeth's hand under the table as he ate his omelet.

After their second cups of coffee, they boarded their shuttle for a very quiet ride to the airport. When the van pulled up to the curb, Jack and Carson unloaded the back.

Elizabeth and Faith took their luggage and walked down to the ticket counter for their airline. The guys were flying with a different company so they walked in the other direction, promising to meet back in the center before heading to security.

As they waited in the line, Elizabeth played with the infinity necklace Jack had made for her. In her mind she was rehearsing what she wanted to say when they said goodbye. She wanted it to be perfect, to come off strong and confidant. Not worried and sad like she felt. It wasn't that she thought Jack would go off and find someone else or that she would either. It was more question of how complicated things would be till they were together again. In the very end, it would be her and Jack together. There was no doubt.

In mid-thought, Faith spun around on her heels, surprising Elizabeth. "How'd we get here?"

"Huh?"

"You, me. Wasn't this supposed to be a trip about self-discovery, not guys? How did we both end up like this?" Faith wiped away a small tear from the corner of her eye. "I hate this."

"Yeah, it's not fun right now. But it's temporary. That's what Jack keeps telling me."

"What do you mean?"

"This, us living in different places. It will be the same for you and Carson. If what you guys have truly is love, at some point you'll both be in a place to make that kind of commented."

"Oh boy, that's adult talking right there," Faith laughed. "I like it."

"We've got this, Faith. We're strong capable women. Being apart from our boyfriends for a month and a half… this should be small cookies."

"Oh, a cookie. I could go for a cookie right about now."

"Stress eating?"

"Of course."

Elizabeth wrapped her arm around her best friend. "Tell you what, the first rounds on me."

"Deal."

Once through security, the four sat in a row of seats, reorganizing and getting their shoes back on.

"We're gate 12 on concourse G, boards in about an hour. What about you guys?"

Jack looked at his ticket. "23, concourse E. We don't start boarding for another 20 minutes though. Why don't we walk around?" Jack stood and reached for Elizabeth's hand which of course she took and snuggled against his side.

"Faith and I need sugar."

"Okay. I saw an Annie's Pretzel place sign over this way, let's go."

Carson wrapped his arm around Faith as they walked. "You holding up okay?"

"I am, I guess. We're good right?"

"More than good. Look, I know we just made our relationship official recently but my feelings have been there for a long time. I was just scared."

"Are you still scared?"

"Not at all. It's all good, Faith. I promise."

"Good."

Three store fronts from the Annie's Pretzel kiosk, Elizabeth spotted her greatest weakness. "Books!" She squealed. Dropping Jack's hand, she hurried over to the bookstore and immediately began perusing the best sellers.

Laughing, Faith caught up to Jack who had followed his easily excitable girlfriend. "Little tip for you Jack, Elizabeth is what one might call a book hoarder."

"She's exaggerating," Elizabeth huffed.

"Um no, I'm not!" Faith put her hand on her hips. "Trust me, Jack. You'll need a whole room in your house just for her books alone should you get married."

With a smirk, Jack walked over and put his arms around Elizabeth waist. Kissing her cheek, he whispered. "Good thing I know how to make bookshelves then, huh?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good thing." She giggled as he nuzzled her neck briefly.

"You know," Carson laughed. "There's this great new technology call eBooks. Maybe for the sake of your future you should look into that."

"I do that some. It's just not the same."

With a shrug, he turned back to Faith. "What about you, any vices I should know about?"

"I don't have any."

"Everybody's got something," Jack teased. "Mine, too many sketchbooks and photo equipment. Carson, is music gear. He's obsessed."

"Sorry, guys." Faith laughed. "I don't have any little obsessions."

"Disney!" Elizabeth said with a snap of her fingers. "This woman has a large collection of Disney pins, figurines and movies. It's insane!"

"I'll have you know my patients love the pins. The ones I see often love trying to guess what pin I'd wear next."

"That's adorable." Carson kissed her cheek. "I might need to do something like that if I end up in pediatrics."

Four pretzels and 2 new books later for Elizabeth, plus 3 magazines for Faith, they walked back toward concourse E and sat at the guy's gate. They would be flying from Miami to Chicago, then to Seattle. There weren't a lot of seats available, so the couples split off to wherever they could find two places to sit.

Finding a quiet spot off by the large floor to ceiling windows, Jack sat on the ground, placing his carryon to the side. Elizabeth moved to sit next to him but Jack took her hand and had her sit in front of him leaning back.

"I want you in my arms," he whispered.

"I won't argue." She turned her head to kiss his cheek.

"You'll land before we do. Text me, okay? I want to know that you're safe."

"I will," she laughed. "I'll probably text you so much it will drive you insane."

"I'll never get tired of hearing from you. Depending on whether I'm working at the station or not, it may be hard for me to answer right away though."

"I understand." She looked down at his arms wrapped around her middle. With her eyes closed she tried to memorize the way it felt. Something to hold onto for whenever she missed him too much. She thought about the job he was going back to for the next few weeks. "You excited about being back at the fire station?"

"Yeah, actually. I love it there. If I'm not in Haiti, it's exactly where'd I'd want to work. I'm very grateful Chief Avery has been so willing to hold my position there. He's taken a number of interns to help fill the gap. I guess he knows how important it is for me to work at the same place my dad did."

"You'll be safe?"

"I always am, honey. Trust me."

"I do. I just know that things can always happen that you can't foresee or suspect."

"I know." Jack squeezed her closer.

"Not to tempt fate here, but if anything did happen, how would I know?"

"I took care of that already."

"How?"

"Avery, my mom, and my sister all have your number. If anything were to happen, they know to make sure to notify you."

"Oh. Good thinking."

"It will be okay, angel. I promise."

She knew full well that wasn't a promise he could make, but knew he would try from the depths of his heart to keep it.

They watched as the flight crew arrived to the gate and boarded the plane. It was almost time.

"I love you so much, angel." He nuzzled her neck before kissing her temple. Holding his lips there.

"I love you, Jack. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, right?"

"Not sure I can get much fonder of you." She giggled as he tickled her sides.

"Jack, stop."

"Alright, I'll be good." He held her tight. "Tell me, what are you going to do when you get home?"

"See everyone, print pictures of you and us to put up in my room."

"Nice."

"Tell my sisters all about you."

"Leave out the bad stuff, will ya? I want them to like me."

"There is no bad stuff, Jack." He just laughed. "What about you? What other than the firehouse?"

"Catching up with Mom and Rosie and Lee. I've been gone a few more months than you. I've got a lot of time to make up for. See my aunt too."

"Abigail, right?"

"Yup. Try to call Tommy. He's still in Alaska. Last Rosie talked to him, he didn't know when he'd be coming home."

"Not even for Christmas?"

"It's hard for him without Dad." Jack expelled a harsh breath then pushed back the hard memories. "You know what else I'm gonna do?"

"What?"

"Plan my trip to see you."

"I can't wait."

A woman made her way to the gate counter and made the announcement that it was time to begin boarding for the flight to Chicago.

Carson made eye contact with Jack from across the way and nodded. It was about that time. They stood and Jack immediately held her close.

The tears Elizabeth swore to herself she wouldn't shed here began to fall. "Jack…"

"It's okay. Well call, text, skype; and before you know it, I'll be holding you like this again. Until then," he leaned back and rubbed the infinity necklace charm between his fingers. "Hang tight to this token and you'll never doubt how much I love you."

"I love you, Jack."

Faith watched them say goodbye as she clung to Carson. "You might have to pull them apart."

"That means letting go of you." He pulled Faith closer and kissed her forehead. "I don't want to do that just yet."

The announcement over the loudspeakers soon announced the final boarding call for their flight.

With a groan Carson spoke. "It's time." He kissed her lips tenderly, expressing his love and longing for her without a single word. "See you soon."

"Promise?"

"You can count on it."

She raised up on her toes to kiss him again. "No meeting any hot girls while you're home and forgetting me."

Carson threw his head back and laughed. "Trust me Faith. In here," he pointed to his heart. "It's all you."

Elizabeth let go of Jack's hand when the distance required it. He showed his ticket to the woman at the counter and started for the tunnel but before he entered he turned back around to the woman who held his heart.

"By the way, my hoodie looks great on you."

"You're not getting it back," she smirked.

"Wouldn't dream of it." He held his hand over his heart, an expression of his love. She did the same, dropping her hand only when he was out of sight.

"And then there were two…" Faith walked up, linking her arm with Elizabeth's. "Come on. Let's go find something to do till our plane boards."

"Like what?" Elizabeth wiped her eyes.

"I don't know. More coffee? We can even walk toward the Starbucks by the bookstore. Get a chocolate croissant and another magazine or something."

Elizabeth's face lit up slightly. "Okay. Let's go."