I stumbled off the plane after the roughest landing in recent memory. Groaning, I stood up to collect my carry on .

Numbness seeped through my body. Like I had fallen through the ice on our pond and landed in the freezing water below. The interior of the cabin was overheated but I couldn't stop my teeth from chattering all of a sudden. Goosebumps broke out over my whole body .

Limply, I sat back down again as my knees gave out .

"Ma'am?" A flight attendant was at my side in an instant, looking panicked. "Do you need a doctor ?"

I shook my head, embarrassed as once again the tears crowded into my eyes, stumbling over one another to be the first to fall down my cheeks. The attendant looked alarmed and ducked down out of the way of the disembarking passengers to take my hand. "My name is Laura. Do you need help ?"

I shook my head again. It took several tries before I finally managed to make my voice work and it came out in a stumbling croak. "My boyfriend," I finally managed .

"Did something happen to him?" Laura asked, all sympathy and curiosity .

I looked at her and realized she was braced for a tragic story and all at once I started to laugh. "No," I said, clearing my throat so my voice went back to normal. "No. I just had to say goodbye ."

She nodded sagely. "Long distance relationships are so hard," she murmured. "But you'll make it work ."

I wiped the tear away from my eye and nodded resolutely. "Yes," I said, squaring my shoulders. "I know ."

"If it's worth it -"

"It is ."

"And you trust him ?"

"I do," I said without a moment's hesitation .

She nodded and patted my hand reassuringly. "Then there's the phone, there's Skype, there's even old fashioned letters." She patted my hand again. "Look honey, I'm away from my family three hundred days a year. And I've been married twenty years. Nothing is sweeter than a reunion after being separated for a while. You find new ways to love someone every time you see them .

I blinked. "That's really beautiful ."

She grinned. "Plus it makes it so I don't have to see him scratching his balls on the couch and farting in the bathroom. Keeps the romance alive a lot longer, you know ?"

I laughed out loud. "That's certainly encouraging ."

She patted my shoulder and stood up. "Next time you see him, just give him a huge kiss and tell him how much you missed him. Make sure he knows it ."

I had to laugh again. "He knows it," I promised her. "I'm really good at showing my feelings." I blew my nose into a tissue she offered. "Clearly ."

She grinned and grabbed my case down from the overhead compartment. "I'll walk you out," she said, patting me again. "It's easier to do when you're not alone, trust me ."

I thanked her but insisted on carrying my own case. We disembarked together, falling in step in that easy sudden way you sometimes get with complete strangers. I swung my case wide, careful not to let it bang into my legs. At the end of the gangway, a lone, tall figure was slumped against the side .

My case left my fingers mid-swing and went clattering to the floor .

"Honey?" Laura asked .

"Hudson??" I cried .

He turned and saw me and smiled. I turned and looked at Laura. "Am I hallucinating ?"

"No, but I think I've died and gone to heaven. Who is that delectable looking man ?"

The delectable man was striding down the gangway and gathering me into his warm, real arms. I was laughing and crying and kissing him and all the while I was so fucking confused. "I just said goodbye to you!" I told him .

"Wait, this is the boyfriend?" Laura asked, looking at me like I had three heads .

"Boyfriend, huh? I like the sound of that," Hudson drawled, pulling me to kiss my head .

"What are you doing here ?"

"Picking up my girlfriend," he said with a smug smile .

"How?" I demanded. "You're leaving for Brussels tomorrow !"

He glanced at Laura. "You ever heard of hubbing?" he asked her .

She sort of shook her head. "Well, yes, of course ."

"Mind telling my girlfriend the basic idea behind it ?"

Girlfriend, I liked the sound of that .

The world's most helpful flight attendant was confused, but she gamely tried to explain about how airlines created hub airports to concentrate all their traffic through certain cities. I was nodding the whole time, staring at Hudson. "What does this have to do with you ?"

He grinned. "Wreckage is big. Huge, even. This tour has come in way under budget. August looked at the numbers and we think it's perfectly feasible for us to do the rest by jet ."

"Jet?"

He kissed me again. "Meaning I can fly out to do the show and then fly back again ."

"Back to where ?"

He kissed me. "You ."

"But how did you get here ?"

He grinned. "Private jet. Your boyfriend is a fucking rock star, babe ."