"Home is where your loved ones are."

❥

"Good morning", Scott whispers with a raspy voice. "Good morning", she replies, her lips forming to a shy grin as she cuddles into his bare chest. "I could get used to this, you know", he smiles back enjoying her skin on his, "I appreciate that you don't want to leave through the window again." "That was one time!" "But I'll never forget it", Scott complains dramatically pretending to be hurt. "You'll get over it, pretty boy", she chuckles and kisses him. 

"Pretty boy", Scott repeats, "So you're not calling me Reed anymore?" "As much as I remember, you began by calling me Lennox." "What should I have said? Atkins?", Scott jokes and she nudges him. "Maybe call me by my name?", she suggests, "Or pretty girl would have also been okay." "Okay, pretty girl", Scott replies giving her a kiss on his cheek, "By the way, it's your time to make pancakes for me." "I wanted to get up anyways."

Liz stands up, puts over a shirt and walks downstairs. Her cooking skills.. well, they're not worth a mention. She could survive on her own, but she would probably not enjoy the food and forever be hungry. Fortunately, Scott is a good cook, she would lie if she said she couldn't imagine a life with him. As Liz mixes the batter, she hears the door opening. She knows it couldn't be her grandpa as he's meeting his friends every sunday morning. 

Paranoid as she sometimes is, she takes a pan and slowly leaves the kitchen. As she hears the person standing in the entrance on the other side of the wall, she quickly raises the pan and runs closer just to be stopped by the person snatching the pan out of her grip before she could hurt anyone. "What the hell do you think you're doing with a pan?", none other than her uncle William asks confused, "That's the worst welcome back gesture I've ever gotten." 

"Will", she whispers surprised staring at the soldier in his plain clothes, "Will!" The girl realizes that after five months of being sent away, her uncle and actually half of her family is finally back. She jumps into his arms to hug her as he lightly laughs about her reaction and pulls her close. "What are you doing here already? You're supposed to come back in a month. I need some explanations." 

"Well, I-" "Els, are you okay?", Scott says as he's storming down the stairs after he's heard her screaming, "Sorry, I would have been quicker but had to put on my boxers." As soon as the boy appears in her and her uncle's sight, he's finished and immediately regrets storming down like this. Not only did he say too much, he's also standing there in front of Will with only underwear gracing his lower body. 

Liz looks between Scott and Will whereas Will is taking a glance at the both of them. There's no escape for the teenagers. It's too obvious to lie. "Everything's fine, Reed", Liz replies slightly pissed at the situation but still tries to joke about it. "Reed as in Scott Reed?", Will comprehends giving his niece a skeptical look, "Looks like I'm the one in need of an explanation here."

It doesn't happen often that Elizabeth Lennox is speechless, but when it does, it's a special situation. In this case, it's awkward. She's got no idea how to talk about Scott to Will in front of the boy and she also cannot ask Will about him being home earlier as she clearly has a lot more explaining to do. "You know what.. I'll get changed. It's pretty cold here", she says trying to delay this conversation as long as possible. "Yeah, me too", Scott adds quickly and follows her upstairs leaving a silently laughing Will in the living room. "Be back in five minutes. No macking while I'm here!" 

"God, this is so embarrassing", Liz whispered annoyed by herself as she's going back to her room. Why did she even think that someone would break in when she's at home? And why would she think she could attack someone with a pan? Naive, she judges her own thoughts. "I'm not going to lie, it is", Scott agrees but still smiles at her as he's changing into a shirt and a pair of sweatpants, "Should I leave through the window?" 

"He's seen you anyways", Liz shakes her head. "Then I'll leave through the door", Scott chuckles, "But I'll still see you, right? He's not going to ground you or something?" "No, no. Will seems to be strict because of his job but he's usually pretty chill. Apart from that, I want to see you", she admits once again and lays her hand in his neck. Scott lays his hand on her cheek and softly pulls her close to kiss her once again. "Text me, you owe me a breakfast." "For the breakfast, of course."

The two of them go downstairs. "Oh great, you found some clothes", Will comments as he's using Liz's pancake batter to make pancakes, "You want some, Scott?" "No, I was about to leave anyways, but thanks." Scott nods and gives Liz a warm smile before he leaves. "It's a shame he left. Those pancakes turn out great", Will states amused. Liz groans. "Did you have to embarrass me?" 

"Embarrass you? I saw your fling right there half nacked. Not to mention that he's Jeff best friend. And since when can you even cook? Am I eating Scott's pancakes?" "He's not my fling, okay? And no, those are not his. He just gave me the recipe", Liz rolls her eyes sitting down in front of her uncle and takes two pancakes. 

"He gave you the recipe", Will repeats laughing, "And you're not dating? He stays for breakfast, gives you the recipe.. let me guess, this happened about four times already?" Wow, he's good, Liz admits in her mind. "Six.. maybe seven times." "But you're not dating?" "Can you be a little less curious? You just came home. Tell me about your trip. Are you okay?" 

"What should I tell you about it? I'm a soldier. And all that counts is that I'm back alive, right?" "Right", Liz nods understanding that he doesn't want to talk about it immediately and once again, she realizes how dangerous his job is. Liz stands up and steps closer to William to she hugs him. 

"I'm glad you're back", she confesses, a tear is even running down her cheek. "Me too, El, me too", Will whispers pulling his niece closely. He's just glad that he can trust her and that she's so mature that he can leave her alone without worrying. "I'll make the rest of the batter and you talk to me about everything, alright?", he suggests and she nods sitting down again as he's standing in front of the stove.