Sunday morning flight home, I was exhausted.

I'd barely fallen asleep before my alarm woke me at the crack of dawn. I bid a groggy goodbye to a sleepy Evelyn, as well as to anyone else who was awake. My mom, chipper as ever, drove me to the airport. After giving me a teary goodbye, I shouldered my dufflebag and entered the terminal.

On the almost four-hour plane ride back to Michigan, I fell in and out of a fitful slumber. No dreams fragmented my slumber into catnaps, but the vomit-inducing bumpiness definitely contributed.

A bit nauseous, the plane landed at MBL airport, and I turned off airplane mode. Once my phone synced to the nearest tower and the time changed from 11:23 back to 8:23, I yawned; a tired tear materializing in the corners of my eyes.

A ding from my phone, and I looked down.

Heartsick, I smiled, and texted back,

Within the next few minutes, a new text pops in.

Popping off the side of my headphones to thank the flight attendants, I hurried off the plane as fast as the crowd would let me.

Thankful that I didn't have to wait at baggage claim, I booked it through the airport to passenger pick up. I rested one end of my duffle bag against the ground, keeping a hold of one of the handles, and squinted my eyes in the direction where Andrei should be coming from. A couple cars pass by.

Then, I heard the roar of his bike, and my heart thumped.

Standing on the tips of my toes, all grogginess gone, I waved frantically at his quickly approaching form.

He waved back as he slowed to a crawl, merging into the pick-up lane. He unbuckled his helmet and hung it from his handlebars.

As he unstraddled the bike and circled back around towards me, my heart pitter-pattered as tears sprang to my eyes, and I practically threw myself at him. After wrapping him in the tightest bear hug I could possibly manage, I heard a chuckle from above me.

"Welcome home, Sammy."

And I burst into tears.

Eyes wide, eyebrows high, and hands consoling, he tried to take a step back to look at me.

I didn't let him move an inch, and clutched tighter to his jacket around the small of his back.

"Shh, shh, it's alright. You're okay, Sammy." He soothed, stroking my back like I'd seen him do with Frankie.

It was too much for my aching heart, and I started to babble.

At first, I started out with some incoherent sentence about how much I'd missed him, then I might have brought up the story I read the day before, and then about how I'd let him go if he needed to leave, but it all became garbled between my tears and the folds of his jacket.

Through my mumblings and mutterings, I heard Andrei chuckle again, this time adding,

"I can't understand you, Sammy, are you speaking English? Are you speaking Russian? Chto ty govorish', serdtse moye?"

I shook my head, still pressing my nose into the hoodie I'd got him from our favorite museum.

"How about Polish? Are you speaking Polish? Nie sądzę, że mnie zrozumiesz, ale czy tak?"

I shook my head again, stronger this time.

"Norweigan? Når du snakker, høres det litt ut som dette. Kan du forstå meg nå?"

I shook my head again, this time a laugh escaped, and I crinkled the back of his jacket even tighter.

"What about Celtic? You might be speaking in the Fae tongue. An féidir leat mé a thuiscint anois?"

Hearing the word 'Celtic' made my heart ache. I mustered up the courage to look up at him, my eyes still wet, and smiled at him.

"I missed you so much."

I untangled my arms from around his waist. After stretching to the very tips of my toes, I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his neck.

Andrei froze, his hands outstretched. Then I heard him sigh.

"You are no good for my heart, Sammy, one of these days it will beat itself to death." He whispered, as he wrapped his arms around me again.

I squeezed, and he coughed,

"Sammy, can't breathe--"

"Sorry!" I quickly released him, "Sorry." I apologized as I watched him rub his neck.

He grinned at me and chucked his index finger under my chin,

"Nothing to forgive, Sammy. C'mon," He states as he picks up my fallen duffle, "Let's get you home."

After bungee cording my backpack and dufflebag to the rear-wheel rack, we mounted the bike and took off for Crawley. I held tightly to his waist the whole ride back, and I felt him chuckle through his back and also rest his hand on and rub his thumb over my woven fingers.

After driving down a familiar lane, we dismounted in front of the familiar lighthouse. Having rested our helmets on his seat, Andrei pointed out and ruffled my helmet hair with his right hand, which I promptly smacked away, a scowl on my face.

He gave a jolly laugh.

"Sammy's back to normal, I see!" I rolled my eyes and held my hand out for the house keys. He chuckled as he handed them to me, then added as I turned my back to open the door, "You should go to Thanksgiving more often, I like those hugs!"

I was glad I had my back to him, because a grin pulled at the corners of my mouth against my will. Unlocking the door, I pushed it open, and was about to step inside, when Andrei held his arm out to block me.

I looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed, and he explained,

"I need to check and make sure the house is safe." He stepped inside and I followed, butterflies hatching in my stomach as he continued talking,

"I came every day to check on the house and feed Frankie. That cat is getting fat! I think we are feeding her too much." He dodged upstairs, then quickly came down to check out the rest of the ground floor.

He gave me a thumbs up and a wide, full-teethed smile.

"All clear! Welcome home, Sammy, we missed you!"

I stood there, staring at him, heart pounding in my chest, and butterflies fluttering away.

His face fell as his hand did, and he frowned. Just like the one I'd seen as I'd read the picture book.

"No hug? Sammy, are you--"

"Andrei?" I interrupted. His response was immediate,

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?"

""Always, moye serdtse."" He cocked his head to the side and his eyebrows scrunched together.

I took a deep shuddering breath.

"AmIforcingyoutostayherebecauseofyourcoatandselkietraditionordoyougenuinelywanttostaywithmebecauseyoulikeme?"

"What?"

I blundered on, now that the train engine had wrecked, there was no stopping the other cars from following.

"I read this selkie folktale to my sister last night, she begged, you know? And it was about a selkie bride, where a fisherman steals her coat and she begs him for it back, but he doesn't give it back. He's a total jerk. So yeah, they get married and she eventually falls in love with him, and they have kids and stuff, but she's like totally miserable and pining for the sea and stuff. Her kid finds her coat and she runs back to the sea and leaves them behind, even though she loves them. And that just made me wonder if you are being forced to stay here because of me, or if you want to stay here because of me."

I heaved in a deep breath and held my hand over my beating heart.

"Sammy, that was too fast. I couldn't understand you." He stepped towards me, concern lacing his features, palms outstretched in a supplicating gesture.

I winced and looked to the side. I'd offically dug my own grave.

"I read a story about a selkie bride."

"Yeah?" He stepped closer

"And she married a fisherman who stole her coat."

"Mm-hmm?" And closer.

"And she grew to lo-love him and everything, but she still wanted to go back to the sea."

"Okay?" And closer.

"And I was wondering if you were being forced to stay on land, or if you want to be on land with me."

"I think I understand now." He stood directly in front of me. We could easily touch, but he kept that distance, until he held out his hands palms up for me.

I rested my hands in his own larger, callused ones instinctively, and he gave me a gentle smile, his cheeks wrinkling.

He spoke softly, as he rubbed his thumb over the backs of my hands.

"You are asking if I am forced her because of tradition, or if I want to be here with you?"

I nodded, my gaze downcast, analyzing the floorboards for their wellworn sworls and grooves and stains.

"Sammy?"

I looked up, to find his gaze had softened immensely, and his eyes were the tiniest bit red.

"I love you."

My heart stopped, and my eyes widened as he continued,

"I love you deeper than I can swim. Higher than the seagulls soar. Stronger than the tide that pulled you under on that rocky beach--" I laughed, and he squeezed my hands, still resting in his own, "You are more precious to me than a pearl to an abalone. You are my always, Sammy."

I could see tears, now, gathering in his eyes like they were in mine. Mine started to drip, drop down my face, and he released my hands to gently cup my jaw. Using his own thumbs to wipe away my tears, he smiled; a smile that wrinkled his cheeks into the lines I loved.

"I love you, Sammy." He whispered.

I reached up to catch one of his own with a crooked finger.

"I love you, too." I whispered back.

He smiled wider, then laughed, a soft one that sounded more like a breath of air.

My gaze drifted from his to somewhere around his shoulder, when he spoke again.

His voice was quiet; very low and very, very quiet.

"Sammy?"

"Ye-" I cleared my throat, having cracked into another octave, "yeah?"

"Can I kiss you?" My eyes shot to his, his eyes were on mine, waiting for permission.

"Yeah..."

Andrei's hands cupping my jaw, his thumbs still resting against my cheeks, swept back to just before my ears, his other fingers weaving into the hair at the back of my head. He tilted my head ever so slightly backwards, his eyes still on mine, waiting for any sign of withdrawal. I felt his breath, centimeters away. His gaze broke from mine and looked down.

My heart thudded in my chest. Our lips met, a chaste press, and my eyes shuttered closed. I didn't know how long we stood there, but when Andrei drew back my eyes fluttered open. He didn't go far.

"Sammy?" I felt more than heard.

"Mm-hmm?"

He paused, before asking,

"Can I kiss you again?"

I could only nod. This time, after he'd pressed his lips to mine, I raised my own hands to clutch at his arms just above his elbows. He was all gentility and sweetness, and he was everything I wanted in my life at that very moment.

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A/N Because you all waited so long, here's another bonus chapter! Below, I've also put translations for what Andrei asks Sammy in those four other languages.

Russian: Chto ty govorish', serdtse moye?

Polish: Nie sądzę, że mnie zrozumiesz, ale czy tak?

Norwegian: Når du snakker, høres det litt ut som dette. Kan du forstå meg nå?

Celtic: An féidir leat mé a thuiscint anois?

These are all run through Google Translate (since I do not speak a lick of any of these languages, and know absolutely nothing about their grammatical structure and syntax). Let me know if there are better translations for these sentences!