Welcome Home (P/E)

Peter's off in Ohio, and Mozzie keeps El company.

Two weeks was so long.

No, honestly. El had never been an impatient person, and when Peter had announced that he was assigned a case in Ohio and would be gone for a couple weeks, she hadn't expected it to be too terrible. Boy, had she been wrong.

The first couple days were different; quiet, but doable. She found difficulty sleeping without him, but they always did. After over ten years of marriage, it was well-expected. But the next three brought uncomfortable silence, and the bed was only getting colder. By the end of the first week, she was feeling lonely and missing his company, missing his smile and his laugh and his arms around her. It was proving difficult to live alone, and she'd been expecting a phone call from Peter by then. Week Two was mindless work in a nutshell, and terribly lonely. And as it drew to an end and she still hadn't heard from him, every day seemed endless. Work had been brutal, and when she needed to come home to a pair of strong arms and magic hands, she was met with an empty house and a noiseless reception. With an estimate of three days left, she was growing tired. And it wasn't certain; he could end up with much longer depending on how quickly he caught the criminal!

And what was worse - she couldn't contact him. She would risk his cover in initiating contact, and he wouldn't call her! She didn't want to worry, but it was hard not to when she received no word from him. But knowing her husband and that he was good at what he did, she trusted he'd be safe and would come home as soon as he could.

But as she stared at the sandwich she really didn't want to eat that evening, she wondered how long that would be.

That's when she heard a knock at the door. She assumed it was Mozzie, who had been keeping her company since Peter left. He'd shown up at her house at exactly seven, and left exactly at nine, every evening for the past week. She'd wondered if Neal had sent him, but after a couple days, she could tell he was just as lonely as she. Neal was his best friend, and with him out of the state with Peter, Mozzie and El resorted to each other when the evenings were too boring. It helped, but she knew he wanted the two to return just as much as she did.

And when she made her way to the door, she was proven correct as Mozzie stood outside the door. She'd assumed that it was he, but deep down, she'd hoped it was Peter, trying to surprise her. She'd nearly worked up a whole fantasy in her head of his homecoming: he'd knock on the door, she'd answer it, and their eyes would meet for a moment...

"Mrs. Suit?"

She glanced up at the door she'd subconsciously opened and found Mozzie standing there oddly, eyebrows raised. "May I come in?"

El blinked. "Yeah! Yeah, sorry, I-"

"No explanation needed," he excused her before walking in, bringing with him a bottle of wine. She glanced down at it and nodded thankfully, feeling like she needed a drink. Maybe it would help them both get their minds off things.

They walked into the kitchen where Mozzie found her uneaten sandwich on the counter before quickly averting his eyes. She caught it, however, and asked, "Hungry?"

He took a seat at her kitchen desk and shook his head, putting a hand up casually. "No, no. I just happened to notice that you hadn't eaten it, and-"

"Mozzie," she cut him off seriously. "Do you want the sandwich?"

"Are you eating it?" he questioned.

"No."

"Why not?" he asked, squinting.

"Do you want it or not?" she stopped his questions and grabbed the plate, holding it out. He scanned the sandwich carefully and considered.

"Deviled ham?"

She smiled and shook her head. "No, no deviled ham."

"I'll take it," he decided, and she handed him the plate. He took a big bite of it before setting it on the table and turning his attention back to her. "Are you worried about Peter?"

She inhaled sharply, not expecting his question. In all honesty, she was worried, but she was always worried. It was only different because she didn't get to see him every morning and night.

She hesitated to answer, however, as she knew he was asking in light of the sandwich. She didn't want him thinking she couldn't handle herself; she just wasn't hungry. But she answered honestly, "Yes, I'm worried."

He nodded, but instead of going into hysterics over her "starving to death" like her parents would have, he simply stated, "I haven't gotten any calls. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little curious as to what's going on over in Cleveland."

El was glad he felt the same way. She leaned against the counter on the back of her hands and sighed, examining the wine bottle. "They'll be okay."

Mozzie half-smiled. "I imagine they will be." But knowing that wouldn't be enough to get them through the night, he gestured to the bottle. "Shall we drink?"

Nothing subtle, nothing questioning or careful. A simple question.

She opened the wine.

It was 8:17 P.M. when Mozzie noticed, after an hour of storytelling and thoughtless chatter, that El hadn't taken a sip of the wine. He wasn't sure what to make of that; he knew she'd had the intentions to drink away the idle evening, yet she hadn't had a drop. He hadn't said anything, as he was confused beyond explanation.
Women were strange. When he wanted to get drunk, he got drunk, and that was that. But that wasn't his business, anyhow.

"Anyway..."

Back to conversation.

El exhaled, obviously exhausted. "I've got to take Satchmo to the vet tomorrow. He needs his shots, and God knows he had a fit last time.."

Mozzie nodded nonchalantly. "He doesn't like the vet?" he asked quietly, as something shone in the corner of his eye. He turned to it and sourced it to the window behind Elizabeth's head, although he couldn't tell what it was.

"Oh, you have no idea..."

As he examined it closer, he saw something he liked; headlights. A car was pulling up to the house, right where Peter always parked.

Peter was back...

... meaning there was a reunion in order for the Suits. He decided that was his cue to leave.

"Elizabeth," he began, sitting up straight. She looked at him curiously as he spoke. "I think I'm gonna head out. It's getting late."

He could tell she was disappointed. Not that they'd been having a stellar time, but it was better than being alone. Her face fell slightly, but she nodded understandingly and rose to her feet. "Sure. I'll help you out-"

"No need," he stopped her, standing up. "You look tired. Maybe you should get some rest."

She paused for a moment before nodding. "You're probably right. Are you sure you don't-"

But he was already headed for the door. "Goodnight, Mrs. Suit!" he called over his shoulder before exiting. He was sure she was confused, but he didn't worry for her. Somehow, he knew the feeling would pass.

And as he walked away from the building, he met Peter on his way in. Peter raised a questioning eyebrow at his presence, but dismissed it, surely knowing that El needed someone around. Mozzie glanced back at the house, then to Peter, and said, "She misses you."

Peter smiled, about to say something, but Mozzie cut him off. "Go!" he ordered quietly, with a hint of a smile on his face. Peter nodded gratefully at him and turned to approach the house. Mozzie was about to return home, but stayed for a moment to watch.

Peter walked up to the door and knocked. Mozzie knew that he was the one she was expecting, and could only anticipate the look on her face when she would realize she was wrong.

Peter stood there, waiting for El to answer the door. It wasn't seconds later that the door opened, and Elizabeth appeared. "Mozzie, did you forget-"

Mozzie smiled as he saw the dreariness drain from her face in the glow of the streetlights, and a certain look of enchantment replaced it as she found her husband's smiling face behind the door, just waiting for her to realize. And when she did, it was worthy of a movie screen.

Her eyes met his in a moment of surprise, silent as the night surrounding them, before she slowly smiled. He grinned back at her and she laughed quietly in shock. "Peter," she breathed, merely an instant before he reached out and swept her off her feet, pulling her into the air. She laughed, caught off guard, as he swung her around a bit before pulling her into a kiss. Her feet never met the ground as they kissed, his arms supporting her and her arms around his neck. It seemed like a lifetime before they pulled away, and he set her down, just staring into her eyes for a moment. She couldn't stop smiling; she looked happier than Mozzie had seen her in days. It only proved just how much she loved Peter, and how much he loved her back.

And after they walked inside, hands clasped together, Mozzie turned and walked home. He swore to himself he was only curious; he was never into the whole romantic-couple thing. But he couldn't help feeling happy for the two of them. Together seemed to be where they belonged, and not everyone could honestly say that about their marriage.

They were at their best when they had each other. Anyone could see that.

Thanks for reading! This was just something I found from a while back that I thought was cute. I touched it up a bit and wanted to see what you think, so make sure to leave a review. It's reader's sin to read without reviewing.

* *-TheSongbird341-* *

DISCLAIMER: I don't own White Collar, Peter, Elizabeth, Mozzie, Neal, etc. I just like to play with other people's belongings ;)