A/N: I actually wrote this in Finnish already at spring and the idea became from my Finnish teacher, who gave to my class a home work, where we had to write a short text with a title Homecoming. She said something like: “Don't write a full story, write a part of if.” Of course this wasn't my actual home work, but thanks to her anyway, for giving the idea. =P And of course, thank you so much for my beta reader!!

Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine. I only own the idea for the story.

I sat on the steps outside my front door and stared into nothingness. It was getting cold outside, as day turned to night and the streetlights started to flicker on.

God only knows how long I had sat there.

My clean white blouse didn’t actually keep me warm, so goose bumps spread across my skin. But I didn’t go inside. I didn’t even move.

I wasn’t sure what I was waiting for, and even if I was waiting for something, I didn’t know if it would ever come. My mind was empty. I had no idea what was I supposed to do.

I had ended up in the middle of the fight. Again. I was in the middle of a stupid, meaningless fight, and I couldn’t even remember what it was about.

So I was damn scared. I was scared that everything I loved was gone. I wanted to fix it, I really did, but I was too helpless to do anything but sit on those stairs.

A car stopped some distance away from me. Somebody climbed out, heading towards me. Fear crept up inside me, and more than anything I wanted to run, but there was something telling me not to.

I didn’t do anything. I didn’t even bother to raise my head, because suddenly I knew who was coming.

Scotty stopped in front of me, looked at me for a while, and then sat down a few inches to my left. I held my breath.

“Hi,” he said carefully, like he was scared that talking too loud would break me into a million pieces. My gaze was fixed on my shoes.

“Hi,” I answered sadly, even though I was actually relieved. He wasn’t angry. He was sad and his voice told me he was sorry, just like I was.

Too bad that neither of us said it out loud.

For a long time, he didn’t say anything, just stared at the ground, looking for the right words.

“Lil?” he started quietly, and I nodded to show that I was listening. He opened and closed his mouth several times, still not finding the right words. I prayed that he would say something any second, because the silence was unbearable.

“I…” he started again, before straightening his tie. That had become some kind of habit to him when he was nervous.

I felt him turn to me, felt him look right into me.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, and my heart melted in relief. I turned my head towards him, pulling my hair off my face and looking right into his warm, brown eyes. I nodded again, a smile spreading from my lips.

“I know. Me too,” I admitted. His gaze turned to confusion.

“Why?” he asked, and smiled briefly, “It was all my fault. Because I'm just too damn short-tempered.”

I heard in his voice that he was obviously mad at himself.

“Well, sometimes it’s actually quite sweet,” I said and he just uttered a laugh. He looked away from me and shook his head. After a moment, he turned back, looking right into my eyes.

“This thing what we have… it’s something I’ve never had before, Lil. It’s somethin’ so unique and so special and…an’ I…I almost destroyed it,” he said, his eyes apologizing. He looked so sweet that I could hardly believe that this was the same man who had yelled at me earlier that day.

Who I had also yelled at. I smiled gently, and moved to his side.

“You didn’t destroy anything,” I said softly as I pressed my head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my hair.

“I love you,” he murmured. There were no words to describe how happy I was right then.

“I love you too,” I answered, and I knew he was smiling too.

I don’t know how long we actually sat there, but it seemed like hours. His shoulder smelled a little like old files. The musty warmth made me almost laugh. It was like he had leaned against the files, or maybe just left his jacket on top of them.

Of course there was always the option that the cold outside air had distorted my sense of smell, but it didn’t matter, because I loved that smell.

I slowly circled my arms around his waist, and he flinched a little. He pulled back and looked at me like I had something to explain. He didn’t say anything, just took my hands in his, and with his warm hands folding around mine, I realized exactly how cold my own fingers were.

“Your hands are frigging cold,” he stated, smiling sympathetically, “How long have you been out here?”

I grinned back at him.

“You don’t wanna know.”

“So am I complete idiot if my next words are ‘let’s go inside’?”

I shook my head.

“No, that’s a great idea.”

He chuckled, and pulled me to my feet.

“Do have keys?” he asked, obviously waiting for me to say yes. But no, I did not have keys. I grinned again.

“Nope.”

He almost laughed. Then he shook his head, pulling the keys from his pocket. We stepped inside and his smile widened.

“What are you smiling about?” I asked out of pure curiosity.

He looked across to me, but didn’t stop smiling.

“Nothing,” he said, and suddenly his lips were on mine, “It’s just always nice to come home.”

I’m sorry that it was little short one, but please review! It would make me really happy. ^^