She looked slowly out the window, as the night grew dark.
Marge's heart tensed in pain when she saw a flicker of movement outside the door... but as she looked closer, she realised who it was.
She trembled there in fear, as there was a knock on the door now and the mother of three walked wearily to it.
She turned around the doorknob and looked to see who was at the other side.
Her always supportive neighbour, Ned Flanders.
"I'm sorry, Marge," He said to her, grief in his voice as he lifted his fingertip to his glasses and pushed them back close up to his eyes, "We couldn't find any sign of Homer."
"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" She wailed in return, as suddenly the night clouds erupted as lightning tore across them, thunder rumbling in the distance. She fell on his knees as tears soaked down her face and Ned dropped to his own knees in front of her, holding her close as the poor woman wept.
After a few minutes, Marge uttered in dire pain, "He's been gone for so long now... h-he couldn't be... d-dead,"
"I know, Marge. I know," Flanders said back to her in true sorrow. His own heart quaked as memories flooded him of his first love, and he said in pain himself, "But I couldn't believe it either when Maude passed... when Edna passed..."
Marge only wept even heavier than before, she finally tried to steady herself back on her feet, Ned helping her lift her sorrowful self up.
"What will I tell the children? What CAN I tell them...?"
Ned looked at Marge slowly then, gulping heavily himself, before he mustered up the words.
"The truth..."
That hurt Marge's heart so much, but she slowly nodded in agreement and Ned touched her shoulder gently, smiling a solemn expression her way before nodding at her and turning to leave.
"If you need anything at all from me, I'm just a house away."
Marge nodded her own head in pain, her eyes shining from tears and she closed the door behind Ned, before going into the kitchen and sitting at the small round table, her head in her hands before she collapsed it to the table and only cried in dire agony.
"Mum..?"
She looked up slowly when she heard her son's voice, and turned her eyes towards Bart, Lisa and Maggie who were standing by the open door.
"What's wrong?" Lisa asked for the three of them, and Marge's lip only quivered before she stood up and approached them, saying in a weak, trembling voice.
"Homer's been missing now for over two weeks... and they think... that your dad is-"
"Don't say the word!" Bart suddenly yelled, glaring at Marge with angry tears in his eyes, "It's NOT true if you don't say it!"
"Dad's always missing for long periods of time," Lisa continued on from her brother as she proclaimed, "I'm sure he'll wind up with a hangover tomorrow on the front lawn."
"I hope for that too, Lisa..." Marge said on then, though her voice was quiet and full of sorrow and pain, "But... we have to face reality... Homer could be-"
"NO!" Bart screamed this time at his mother, before swishing away and running up the stairs. The three other Simpson members watched him go, and Marge only took a seat again, touching her brow with her hand as she rested her head against it in stress.
Lisa slowly approached her again, taking hold of Marge's other hand and squeezing it tightly. Marge slowly looked back up at her daughter, and Lisa said with a warm smile.
"Dad WILL show up, I mean... HE'S HOMER SIMPSON..."
She tilted her head a little to her side as she said with a small piece of smack.
"He ALWAYS pulls through!"
Marge began to grow a smile as her daughter said these promising words, and she nodded her head weakly, taking hold of Lisa's hand now with her two and said in return.
"I hope you're right, dear... I truly hope..."
~x~
That night, Marge lay in her large bed, on her side as she just stared at the empty spot beside her... Homer's spot, her true love and husband.
She had tears leaking from her eyes as she only stared at it in deep sadness before tensing a bit when she heard a knock on her door and sat up, seeing it was Bart at the open door frame.
"Bart, sweetie..." She said to him gently, and Bart came nervously over to her, sitting on Homer's bedside and asking in trembling words.
"You really don't think Homer is coming back...?"
Marge didn't know what to say to this. She just looked at her son warmly and uttered out in sad stillness.
"I don't know, Sweetie... I-I just don't know..."
Bart's own eyes shone as tears welled in them, and Marge laid back down, waving him to lay beside her and her son only snuggled up to his mother as the two lay there in the bed... silence in the room before sleepiness caught up and the two soon fell to slumber.
~x~
The next morning, Marge was cleaning some of the dishes in the sink when her eyes caught sight of Flanders clipping his hedges back across the way.
Her heart had been thudding so weakly the last few days, and she needed to talk to someone... someone who understood her pain.
She slowly put the plate in her hand back down into the sudsy water and left the house, approaching her neighbour carefully.
"Ned..."
His eyes looked up from the clippers in his hand and he smiled at Marge so very sincere and gently.
"Yes, Marge?"
Her brave smile began to quiver on her lips and she just said back, her voice wobbly though as she formed the words.
"How long does it hurt for..?"
Ned knew immediately what she meant. He slowly placed down his clippers to the ground and reached his hand out, touching her shoulder and saying with true eyes.
"I don't know... sometimes the pain hurts... late at night, when you're all alone... and sometimes, things feel fine and life just keeps going."
Marge's lip trembled some more as she nodded her head, but this advice just wanted to make her cry.
Ned saw this immediately and removed his touch on her, giving her a helpless smile before suggesting to the grieving mother.
"Hey, why don't we talk about this over a coffee?"
Marge smiled at him weakly, nodding her head as she said so quietly, but relieved.
"That would be good."
~x~
Marge never thought in a million years that she would be having coffee with Ned Flannders, but she needed the support and there was no way her sisters would give it.
She felt only Ned would understand... and he did. A little too much.
The waitress of the cafe came back over to the two as they sat at a small round table right beside the window.
Marge's eyes only stared ahead into the distance, hoping she'd see her Homie walking her way, but she snapped out of this quickly when she heard Ned say.
"Sometimes I do that too..."
Marge looked at him, and he smiled gently at her.
"But I know that my Maude and Edna are up there with the big guy..."
Marge's lip quivered when he said this and she asked back quickly.
"And Homie..?"
"I hope so," He said back with a soft smile, "God can be very lenient,"
Marge frowned for a second when he said this, before laughing a small bit and added, "I hope God is lenient too."
The waitress placed their hot beverages in front of the two before walking away to serve the next customer and Ned took his hot tea, blowing on the top of it before sipping down the piping hot liquid.
Marge also began to lift up her own cup of tea, but decided to be a bit daring as she got a teaspoon and plopped one scoop of sugar into her cup.
"Wow," Ned said with a small smirk as he appraised what she just did, "Caffeine first thing in the morning,"
Marge also smirked at this as she said back jokingly, "Judge not others."
"Less thee be judged," Ned finished quoting for her, and the two laughed before Ned went on, "I wasn't judging, I was just envious."
"Hmm?"
"If I have too much sugar, I'm awake all night,"
"A spoonful is too much?" Marge asked him, amazed at this.
"Maybe... I should be slightly tempted," Ned went on shyly and took a spoonful for himself. Marge watched with curious eyes as he dropped the white sweet sugar into his cup, and when Ned went to drink from it again, his eyes sparked with energy, and he licked his lips, tasting the white treasure for all its goodness.
"Wow wee!" He said then, smiling widely at delight of the taste, and Marge giggled softly, covering her mouth though, not to seem rude and she slowly reminisced as she thought of Homer.
"Oh, if you were Homer, you would've put the whole bowl of sugar into it... and would be drinking duff instead of tea."
"Ah, I know..." Ned continued on for her, his own eyes fogging up with happy memories of his next door neighbour and best friend, "Homer truly was one of a kind..."
"Yeah..." Marge agreed as well, sadness deep in her voice now.
Ned slowly lifted up his cup to her, and she did the same, catching his drift as they clinked the tips of their cups together before Ned said bravely but sadly.
"To Homer! The best neighbour anyone could ever have!"
"The best father... and the best husband..."
Their cups clinked again before the two of them both sighed heavily and Marge looked at her phone then to see the time.
"Oh, I have to pick the kids up!" She said quickly, realising her jobs for the day and Ned nodded quickly in agreement.
"My boys, too!"
The two of them quickly rushed to their feet, Ned quickly paying for the drinks before him and Marge both scooted to the door.
"This was really good for me, Ned," Marge told him then, giving a small but relieved smile, "Maybe... we could do this again?"
"Well, if you ever need help around the house, like I said, I'm just over the fence."
"I know, Ned..." Marge said warmly to him, giving him such a true happy smile. And for that second as the two of them locked eyes with each other... that mother of three felt her heart beat differently.
Because of her neighbour... she felt a deep, warm flutter in her heart's core - that she quickly snapped her eyes away from him. But before the two parted, she hugged Ned close and said in a quiet whisper.
"Thank you..."
Ned felt his own cheeks warm up a bit as they let go of each other, and he said, nearly stumbling over his words.
"Of course, c-course! I would do anything for you, Marge!" He suddenly realised what he had said and the way he had said it, "As a neighbour! NEIGHBOUR!"
"You too, Ned," She said back to him with a small smile before getting into her car, and Ned, his.
The two pulled out of the parking lot and drove different ways... though their lives were going to be so intermingled soon, the two could never even be prepared for what was to come...
That being...
Love.
~x~
So very far away, a bald man in torn clothes washed up onto the sand of a beach. His eyes groggily opened as he gave out a long, pained groan, using his fat arms to pull himself further up the strand of shore. He finally turned his body around, lying flat on his back and uttering to himself in tired exhaustion.
"Marge... I'm coming home..."
Homer blinked his eyes open hard with pain as he said to the blue sky, the blue reminding him of his true love, his wife... his soulmate.
"I'm coming home..."