A few hours later, I woke up to an empty pillow beside me. Dave was on the floor, his floppy brown hair over his eyes, stuffing clothes into a large black suitcase. His closet was merely a set of bare hangers, his drawers all open and empty.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” he said simply, his expression blank as he continued to transfer his clothes from the floor to his suitcase. His hair still hung over his eyes like curtains. I sat up, naked, watching the pile of clothes on the floor continue to diminish. As he put one last sweater in, he zipped the bag closed. “That’s the last of it.”

I felt completely and utterly ill. I hadn’t eaten in almost a day, and as my stomach gurgled and lurched, everything was setting in. In only a few minutes, I would be getting in a car and taking Dave to the airport, and it would be the end. He couldn’t go. I wasn’t ready. As all of my feelings rushed up at once, I could feel something else rushing up from my stomach. I stumbled out of the bed, and ran to the bathroom across the hall in the buff. I collapsed to the floor and grabbed the sides of the white porcelain and coughed up a watery mess into the toilet bowl. Dave rushed over, bending down and rubbing my back as I panted, my head hovering over the toilet. “I don’t want you to remember me like this,” I choked, turning to look at him.
Dave shook his head, staring off in disbelief. “Remember you like what?”
“As the crazy, puking naked chick.”
My attempt at turning how pathetic I was into humour clearly failed as my eyes met his. “Leslie, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you. It’s a couple of months, and before you know it, we’ll be back in each others’ arms again. I don’t know what you think is in the air in Phoenix that will somehow make me forget your existence or fall out of love with you. Because honestly, seeing you like this right now makes me realize how much I really do love you. Not because you’re the crazy, puking naked chick.” He lifted a hand to my jaw, stroking my face. “Because we’re both going to fucking miss each other, and we're both going to help each other get through it. What kind of guy would I be abandoning the woman I love when we need each other most?”

I remembered what my mother had always said to me. ‘The person you deserve isn’t someone who loves you for who you are at your best. The person you deserve is someone who loves for who you are at your worst.’ Here Dave was, seeing me at my worst, with vomit breath and saliva on my bare tits, yet he had never been so compassionate and caring. I still wished that I hadn’t vomited and was actually wearing clothing. “You know, saying things like that to me isn’t making this any easier.”
“Well, that’s my job. Playing hockey, and making your life miserable.” He flashed a smile, which instantly put me at ease. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up. We need to be at the airport by 10.” He handed me a towel and a toothbrush, gathering my clothes and folding them on the bathroom counter.

* * *

“Wow,” we both said breathlessly as we opened the front door. A fresh sheet of snow had fallen over the city, and the snow continued to fall delicately and calmly to the ground. There was no wind, and there was a sense of stillness and peace as each flake tumbled down.
Dave wrapped his arm around me, kissing the side of my temple. “Beautiful,” he said, gazing in awe at the snow.
“I know. I hope your flight isn’t delayed because of it.”
“I meant you, but I guess the snow is beautiful, too.”
He threw me a silly grin, and I returned the grin. “Just for that, I’ll give you a family & friends discount on Leslie’s cab service.”
He chuckled, stepping down his front steps into the snow with his suitcase. “Oh ho, I’m honoured,” he replied, touching his hand to his chest. His black peacoat slowly became dotted with snow, his hair peeking out of the grey toque on his head. He turned to my car, opening the trunk and plunking the suitcase down. He turned to me, his flopping toque already collecting snow on top. “You coming?”
I nodded, the snow crunching beneath my leather boots. When I stepped down, a snowflake landed on my nose. It was cool and refreshing, and I felt a genuine smile creep across my face. I felt at one with the snow that fell. Dave had wanted to experience his first Ottawa snowfall before he left, and here it was. Dave welcomed it, he welcomed change. The snow was something new, something I would have to learn to get used to. It would be difficult, and eventually I would want it to go away, but the way that the snow fell gracefully before me, I welcomed it too. I was at peace with it.

Dave turned towards his home, and stared up at it serenely. “Goodbye, house. I hardly knew ye.” His footsteps crunched towards the house, and he pressed a kiss to the brick, patting it and caressing it gently with closed eyes.
“Stop cheating on me with the wall, before I get jealous.”
He drifted towards the car dramatically. “But she gave me everything you couldn’t!”’
“Get in the car, you goofball!”

* * *

We stood in the lobby of the airport, our fingers laced, our eyes locked, our faces inches from each others'. I memorized every little freckle on his nose, every fleck of blue in his eyes. It would have to last me a while. I stood on the tips of my toes and pressed a firm kiss to his thin lips, squeezing my eyes shut. I was afraid if I opened them, he would have disappeared in a puff of smoke. “I love you. I’m really going to miss you,” I choked through a sob.
“I love you too, and I’ll miss you more than you know.” He held my gaze, releasing one hand to run it over my hair and down my jaw. He pulled me in to him, and I held his warm, firm body one last time. As I pulled back, I glanced at the clock. His flight was leaving in 45 minutes. “Now get out of here, punk.”

He smiled, squeezing my hand, then let my fingers slip slowly from his. As he walked away, a tear spilled down my cheek. I waved weakly, and he winked. As he disappeared through the security gate, I sighed to myself. David was gone.

I was violently shaken from my sadness as my phone buzzed in my pocket. I winced as I saw who was calling. “Hi, Mom.”
“Leslie, I was actually starting to get worried. I haven’t heard from you since I don't know when! Where have you been?”
“I was kind of dealing with stuff, Mom.”
“With what?”
I paused, biting the inside of my cheek, trying to figure out how to tell her the events of my past month in only a few sentences. That I was dating an NHL hockey player? That he had been dating Miranda? That he was moving away to Phoenix and that I wanted to chase him there so we could make beautiful Swedish-Canadian babies together? I sighed. “Are you and Dad free for lunch?”

* * *

My mother stirred her coffee in the diner mug. “Alright, so you weren’t dating him at first, because Miranda was dating him, but then he wasn’t dating her, and starting dating you, but now he’s not dating you?”
“No, he still is dating me, we’re just...doing the long-distance thing.”
My dad’s grey brows furrowed. “...So then who’s Mika?”
I slapped my hand to my forehead. Filling my parents in on everything was clearly proving to be a lot more challenging than it needed to be. My mom watched her soaps daily, so I wasn’t impressed that she couldn’t follow along. My dad I didn’t even want to bother with, he was lost after the first sentence.

“Well honey, let me be the first one to say that this could be a good experience for you. We haven’t seen you in weeks; I could barely even remember the sound of your voice anymore. And now I find out it was because you were spending all your time with a boy you just met? Honey, that’s not like you.”
I could feel the heat of rage emanating from my cheeks. She was talking to me like I was sixteen again, like I was a child, under her command. “Mom, it all happened so fast. We didn’t even have time to take a breath. But it’s not like we knew he was going away. We thought we had all the time in the world to be together.”
“That’s exactly our point,” my dad interjected, his voice getting louder. “Something could have happened to us and you wouldn’t even have known. I don’t know if the man I want my daughter to be with would make her forget about what's truly important.”
“Nothing did happen to you, Dad! I can't live my life thinking like that. Knowing now what happened, and knowing the fact that Dave left right as we were getting started, I don’t regret any of it. And it’s not like I put my life on hold for him, either. He was just something new in my life. I realize neglecting you and neglecting everyone who’s close to me was wrong, and I’m sorry for disrespecting you, but I think it’s unfair for you to assume anything about Dave when you don’t even know him. I would have thought you’d put more confidence in the girl you raised to make good decisions about who she dates.”
“Well that’s true,” my dad said with a small smile. “We are both proud of you. And we’re proud of you for being strong throughout this ordeal.”
“I wanted you to meet him, so badly. But we thought it would be fun for you guys to meet for the first time over Christmas. I was going to meet his parents, too. But I guess it’s too late.”
“We could Skype?” my mom suggested.
“Maybe. But it’s not the same.” Nothing would be the same anymore. I could talk to him on the phone, or on Skype, or on Facebook, but nothing would be like holding his hand, or running my hand over his stubble. Before I could stop myself, I opened my mouth. There wasn’t going to be a better opportunity to ask, so I spit it out like it was a ball of flame. “I want to go visit Dave for the holidays.”

My parents gave me a blank stare. They looked at each other, then back at me. “Leslie, you know the holidays are for family time. Your brother is coming in from California, and you haven’t seen your grandparents since the summertime.”

I sighed. They were right. The holidays were a time for family, and in reality, seeing my parents sitting in front of me, with looks of extreme concern on their face, I was reminded of how I truly missed my parents. They weren’t trying to make my life difficult. All they wanted to do was care. And during my time with Dave, I hadn’t cared. It hurt to think I had neglected the people who raised me to live and breathe during every waking moment a man I had just met. I knew I needed to stay home.

But somehow, despite knowing what I had to do, every inch of my being wanted to pack up and hop on a plane to Arizona. I’d never had feelings so intense for any man I’d ever been with, especially only after knowing him for three months. My parents didn’t understand those feelings, but I had to try to get them to understand. “Mom, Dad...imagine if after a month of dating you guys had to be separated for at least four months. You probably would have been devastated or broken up, wouldn’t you? And then I wouldn’t be here. I know it’s early in our relationship, but just let me go for a few days? Just to have a little bit more time with him, to try to get things sorted out. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life wondering what could have been. What if I spent half the holidays there, then half with you? I promise, while I'm here, it will be be all family time. Please?”

They had a gentle look in their eyes. I knew the look, and smiled. I had them.

* * *

A few weeks later, I eagerly gripped the handle of my suitcase tighter as I descended the escalator and saw sand and cacti out the glass window. I had arrived in Phoenix, and somewhere not too far away, Dave was waiting for me. At the bottom of the escalator, there was a small crowd of people waiting for passengers to arrive. Hugs were exchanged, drivers holding signs greeted their passengers, and families reunited. As I navigated the crowd, I saw a man holding a sign that read, in big, scraggly block letters, “CRAZY PUKING NAKED CHICK.” I stopped dead in my tracks and felt a smile brighter than the hot, Arizona sun spread across my face as I looked up at the gorgeous man who held the sign. For a moment, I took him in. His dark hair was newly cut and parted to the side, he wore a red and white striped tank top that made his sun-kissed skin look dark, and a pair of black Ray Bans were sitting on top of that adorable, round freckled nose that I missed so dearly. I didn’t know it was possible, but he had somehow gotten even sexier.

Just as he flashed his signature grin and tore his sunglasses off, I squealed and barreled towards him, my suitcase dragging behind me. As I approached him, he dropped the sign and let it glide to the floor. I jumped into his arms, wrapping all my limbs around him tightly, my gentle sobs muffled in his warm body. I pressed a needy kiss to his lips, hard, and he placed his hand on the back of my head, holding me to him. We both had an iron vice on each other. And we didn't want to let go anytime soon.

“God, I missed you,” he growled huskily into my lips.
He lowered me gently to the ground, and I smiled up at him as I sniffled back tears. I quickly collected myself and threw him a smirk. “That’s too bad, really. Because I’ve been doing great without you...” I twirled on my toes playfully towards my bags and the bottom of my sundress twirled with me. He scoffed at me, and as I bent down to pick up my bags, he smacked my butt. I yelped, turning to him with bags in hand, and he took them from me. We simply stood, taking a good, long look at each other.

God, I missed him too.