One of the things that Luna didn't expect from losing her job was how much everything would change.

True to his word, Sam started to pick up more hours where he could, which often led to fights. While hours were plentiful at his work, Sam had grown used to his part-time schedule and not being in his workplace as often. Still, he begrudgingly went in and picked up hours wherever they were available. He still wasn't working full-time hours, but the extra hours he picked up kept him close. As long as he didn't hit the threshold for full-time, his job was more than willing to take the extra help.

Luna, suddenly having too much time on her hands, found herself almost lost. She could do anything and everything, and though she wanted to start looking for a new job, after looking at their finances, they were okay. Even with Sam picking up extra hours, they wouldn't nearly be bringing in as much as they were with Luna's work, but they could make do. They would have to budget, but there was enough to keep them floating and give Luna a chance to try and relax. Or, at the very least, she would try to relax. She wasn't very good at it, but after working so hard and after a conversation with Erik, she felt that she deserved it in the end.

That was another thing she hadn't entirely expected. Erik had become an even more solid anchor in her life, keeping her company in what felt like a suddenly too big house during the day.

After being miserable for a week, Luna pulled herself up (with some strong encouragement). She started to work on all of the projects that had been set aside for such a long time from her being exhausted.

Luna started in the kitchen, giving it a deep cleaning she had wanted to do for months. She pulled the appliances away from the walls, vacuumed and dusted, and cleared out every possible crumb and piece of dust she could find. She mopped the floor with some of her best cleaners, inhaling the sweet foamy acorn smell of the seasonal cleaner she had picked up that past fall but hadn't gotten around to using it. She enjoyed the soft reminders of fall scents. She decided to do the same with the bathroom, which then also received an equally deep cleaning.

With the kitchen and bathroom cleaned within days of each other, Luna decided to move onto the living room. She meticulously raked through the carpet, pulling up every bit of dirt, hair, and animal fur, and finally decided to track down the ancient carpet cleaner that she had inherited from someone in her family. Luna carefully ran the cleaner several times until the water finally cleared. With that out of the way, Luna sighed, giving a slight smile before turning her attention to the couch and frowning. She took one look at the carpet cleaner and another look at the sofa before deciding that needed to be worked on, as well. When she decided that she wasn't done and wanted to work on the bedrooms, the upstairs bathroom, and the office, it wasn't at all surprising.

Erik stayed with her on a call each restless and chaotic day. Sometimes, he would play a game and stream it as background noise; sometimes, he would talk aimlessly about whatever was on his mind – it didn't matter to Luna what he did as long as it meant that she didn't have to let herself think for too long. She could work mindlessly on her task and listen to Erik doing whatever he was doing, only ending the calls when Sam was about ready to come home and she decided to make dinner.

"Hey, do you think you'd be able to get out tomorrow?" Erik asked Luna one day, interrupting her from her relentless cleaning for long enough to pay more attention to what was happening.

"Hmm?" Luna said in confusion, sitting back on her heels and staring at her laptop screen. She knew that she couldn't see Erik and he couldn't see her, but she still stared at the screen, watching whatever was happening in the warship game Erik was playing.

"Do you think you would be able to get out for a little bit tomorrow?" Erik repeated. "Meet me at the café for a little and get you out of the house? You have been doing a lot of cleaning, and I think you could use a break."

Luna frowned slightly at the screen, brushing the back of her hand over her sweaty brow. She looked down at the wood floorboards in front of her, dropping the toothbrush she had in her hand that she was using to try and clear out the odd crevices between the boards that had accumulated a bizarre amount of dirt.

"Well," Luna said slowly, blowing a breath out. She hesitated for a moment before saying with a sigh, "I don't know."

"You have been working tirelessly, Luna," Erik replied. "I know that you're trying to be a perfectionist in getting everything clean. You've already told me that I can't come over and help because you feel that you need to do the cleaning that you're doing, so why not come out?"

"I don't know," Luna said, sitting up just enough to pull her phone out of her pocket and bring up the photo of Sam's schedule that he had sent her. It was difficult to read the schedule in the image as it was blurry, but Luna could make out some of the times listed. "I mean...I know that I have time, but –"

"Who cares what Sam says?" Erik said, cutting Luna off quickly before she could continue. "I know you were just about to say that Sam would question it, but who cares? Just come out. I would like to see you."

"And what do I say when he questions where I've gone?" Luna asked, wrinkling her nose as she looked closer at Sam's schedule. "He has a late shift tomorrow. Goes in at 1 and gets home at 10 because he said he would stay until closing."

"Perfect," Erik answered. "You could meet me at 2, we could have our drinks for an hour or two, and then you can go off on your way to do whatever you need to. Didn't you say you needed to pick up some cleaning supplies at the store?"

"Well," Luna said slowly, dragging the world out before letting it taper off. She couldn't say it was difficult to persuade her to leave the house as it felt like she hadn't done anything except cook and clean – a lot. She hadn't done any relaxing outside of the few moments she forced both of the dogs to stay outside of the bathroom, and she would just sit on the floor so that she could breathe. Erik had a point in saying that she had mentioned needing to pick up some things to help make her cleaning easier. It would be fine if she went out while Sam was at work and returned with at least a bag or two of things. Right?

"Okay," Luna finally agreed. "What time are we meeting? Two like you said?" Luna could practically hear Erik's smile before he spoke, confirming that they were on to meet at 2 p.m. the next day.

Luna woke up early the next day with almost restless energy. She wasn't surprised that even though it was nearly 10 in the morning, Sam was nowhere near close to waking up. She sighed, forcing herself out of bed and going through her usual morning routine. Luna ambled down the stairs behind Daisy and Bentley, giving Aslan a scratch behind the ears as she rounded the corner. She opened the backdoor of the house, snickering as both dogs bolted into the backyard to take care of their needs. With a sigh, Luna dropped herself onto one of the chairs on the porch as she waited.

The air was chilled, and the grass was frosted over. Each breath she took floated up in short wisps of mist. Luna let out another sigh, amused at how her breath suddenly reminded her of a dragon. She amused herself in seeing how large of a cloud she could make, shivering all the while, while waiting for the dogs to be done being outside in the cold.

"Brrr," Luna shivered when she closed the door behind her. She quickly fed the dogs and paused momentarily by the kitchen counter, watching as both dogs started eating as if they had never been eaten before. She glanced at the clock and over at the stairway with a frown. There was no indication that Sam would get up any time soon, and she had no desire to cook a full-blown breakfast for two if he wouldn't be up. So, Luna decided to splurge on herself for the first time that day. Rather than settling with toast and eggs, Luna pulled out pancake mix and the last of a bag of chocolate chips.

For the first time in ages, Luna allowed herself to enjoy the process of cooking. She smiled as she popped each bubble growing on the uncooked side of her pancakes, swirling the chocolate chips around to make pretty patterns in the batter. Wanting to have something extra with her pancakes, Luna whipped up scrambled eggs, her smile growing as the dogs followed her into the living room, where she decided to relax instead of eating at the dining room table. She turned on the television, found a movie to watch, and giggled as she tossed the dogs each a piece of egg, which seemed to vanish practically in thin air. She frowned, realizing she forgot to grab something to drink, and made a mad dash to the kitchen, relieved that both dogs followed her instead of jumping onto the coffee table to eat her breakfast. She poured herself a tall glass of apple juice and quickly returned to her breakfast, grateful to have something that would stay warm for longer than a few minutes.

Luna was enjoying her morning alone and with the dogs, who had decided to gang up on her, staring at her from their places on the floor before jumping onto the couch next to her. Each dog rested its head on her lap, staring at her expectantly for something to eat. Taking pity and because of how adorable they looked, Luna gave them both another piece of egg.

However, Luna's relaxing morning swiftly came to an end.

"Something smells nice," Luna heard from the stairs. She peeled her eyes away from the television, eyes wide with her cup halfway to her lips as she spotted Sam finally coming down the stairs. How had she missed the sounds from upstairs of him finally getting up for the day? She quickly looked at the clock, frowning slightly when she spotted the time – 11:38 a.m. Luna had been done with breakfast for ages, and she cringed inwardly as Sam made his way to the kitchen, where he would most definitely not find any pancakes.

"Luna?" Sam called from the kitchen.

"Yeah?" Luna called back, biting her lip.

"Where's my breakfast?"

"You weren't up yet, so I just made myself something," Luna replied. The silence that came left Luna uncomfortable, and she watched the doorway anxiously, plastering on an innocent smile when Sam finally appeared, his brows knit tightly together. "I didn't know when you were planning to get up, and I didn't want it to sit out cold for too long."

"Why the actual fuck wouldn't you make me breakfast if you made it for yourself?" Sam asked, the slightest of growls in his voice. "I don't care if it was sitting. You could have heated it up for me."

"Well, there also wasn't a lot of chocolate chips left and -"

"So? You could have just made more than one batch. You shouldn't be eating those anyway."

Luna felt her heart sink, the smile on her face dropping. She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat and nodded, blinking away the burning tears threatening to form.

"Sorry," Luna said quickly. "I'll just make you something else."

"Don't even bother," Sam snapped, turning around to head back to the kitchen. "You would probably only make it wrong today anyway," he added, just loud enough for Luna to hear.

The rest of the morning was steely. When it was time for Sam to leave for work, he left without a single word. When she didn't receive a message from Sam letting her know that he had made it to work, Luna wasn't too surprised. She knew he was aggravated with her, but it wouldn't stop her from enjoying the rest of her day and leaving the house.

Luna practically barreled into the café when she arrived with unprecedented excitement, both excited to be out of the house and because she was seeing Erik for the first time since before Christmas. She did a cursory scan of the café, a small, delightful squeal escaping her lips when she found Erik at their usual table. Her smile grew when she noticed a cup of coffee sitting and waiting for her.

"Erik!" Luna chirped, launching herself into the seat across from Erik. "You won't believe the day I've had so far!" Before Erik could say a word, Luna started to ramble all about her day at a rapid pace. As she spoke, she moved her arms and hands in wild motions, pure joy radiating from her very core at just being out of the house. While her day hadn't started as well as she had wanted, being out of the house was already making her feel much better. When she finally stopped talking, Luna took a deep breath, and her face fell at the expression on Erik's face.

"What is it?" Luna asked, stomach sinking at the forlorn expression on Erik's face. It was unlike anything she had seen before, his grey eyes without their usual glimmer and an indulgent smile on his face. Luna had never seen Erik with a smile that didn't reach his eyes before. It was always bright and brilliant, just like he was.

Erik held tight to his cup, his thumbs brushing the underside of the plastic lid in a rhythmic pattern. He didn't meet Luna's eyes, instead focusing on a stain on the table.

"I just received my newest contract," Erik finally said after a long pause.

It felt like time had stopped. Luna stared blankly at Erik, unsure she wanted to believe him. She knew it was a possibility and that it would happen but had hoped it wouldn't happen so soon. Luna wanted to remain firmly planted in the safe little bubble they had made. Even though she knew the answer, Luna still found herself asking, "So what does that mean?"

The sullen look on Erik's face softened ever so slightly. His smile was sad as he started to reach out to take Luna's hand but thought better of it.

"It means I have to head back home. I hoped that my contract would leave from here, but I didn't get so lucky."

"How long will you be gone?"

"It's only for a few months."

"Only a few months?" Luna wanted to shriek, but her voice came out as barely a whisper. A few months somehow felt like an eternity with her present situation. She could barely see past the end of her nose and into the next day. How was she meant to go so long without her best friend around? Luna's stomach dropped at the thought. When had she started thinking of Erik as her best friend? But it was true. He was the one she talked to the most out of everyone in her life.

Erik hesitated momentarily before speaking again, shifting nervously in his seat. "But I think I might spend some time back in the Netherlands. I haven't been there in a while."

Luna didn't even know what to say, so she didn't say a word. She knew how much Erik missed being home, but that didn't mean she wanted to believe he was actually leaving. She couldn't imagine going through her days without Erik. Luna swallowed hard as the thought crossed her mind, and she realized she didn't want him to leave. She had told Erik more than she had told Sam in months, spilled secrets to Erik that she could never dare tell anyone else. He made it easy and never judged her for anything. Losing that connection to someone nearby felt terrifying.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily," Erik said gently, breaking the silence. He lowered his head to force himself into Luna's vision. "Ships have internet, you know." The slight smile he had at the statement fell. "I can't guarantee it's much or how it'll work, but..."

"But that's not the same!" Luna cried. "This is..." she trailed off, swallowing hard and trying to blink back the tears that filled her eyes. She gestured vaguely to the room. "I look forward to this."

"I know," Erik said sadly. "So do I, but it's not forever." He looked down at his watch and frowned. "But I have to go. I know it's not...."

"I just got here."

"I know," Erik said, standing up. Luna stood up with him, unsure of what she wanted to do. She wanted to beg him to stay, but that felt stupid when this was his career that he was leaving for. Besides, they were just friends, anyway. She had gone months without seeing any of her other friends before, so why was Erik so special? Luna couldn't figure out why, but she knew she couldn't stand the idea of the entire situation, and it tugged at something deep within her that she couldn't explain. And it hurt.

Erik looked like he wanted to hug Luna but thought better of it. Instead, he held his hand out, nodding expectantly at it to get Luna to take it. Luna's eyes bounced from Erik's hand to his face, confusion written all over her expression. Realizing that Luna wasn't about to take his hand herself, Erik reached down to take Luna's hand, squeezing it tightly in his own.

"Until we meet next," Erik said quietly, meeting Luna's stunned expression for a moment and holding onto her hand longer than necessary. He brushed his thumb over hers, and Luna could have sworn that his expression was pained briefly, passing over like a shadow, before he let go.

All Luna could do was watch as he turned around and left. When she felt that he was far enough away, Luna forced herself to sit back down and face her now cold coffee, trying to figure out why her heart had shattered into a million pieces. If only she had waited another moment longer, she would have seen Erik turn back one last time, pausing for a minute before heading on his way.