Two weeks had gone by quickly. Whenever Noah had started to feel lonely or was missing Katie, he would pick up the needles and knit. He felt this way often, which would explain why the scarf was almost done.

He discovered casting off was the hardest part. He kept dropping his stitches as he tried to bind them together. He finally gave up and looped some yarn through the stitches and tied them up. He tied tassels on each side to cover up the mistake.

Once he finished, he held up the scarf to admire his work. He frowned instead.

The scarf had knots scattered throughout because he kept trying to fix the holes he made.

Before he had casted off, he realized he had more stitches on the scarf than what he started with. He thought it’s wasn’t a problem until now. The scarf expanded in width further down the rows, making it look horribly uneven.

He threw the scarf down and sat back in his chair. “How could something so manly be so hard!” he exclaimed.

There was no way he could give this to Katie! She would laugh at him! He tucked the scarf under the couch, hoping it would never see the light of day, and started getting ready for work.

~~~

After Noah got off work, he picked up Katie from the train station. He wanted to pick her up from home himself, but she insisted on traveling herself. The minute she saw him at the gate, she ran and tackled him with a hug. “I missed you so much!”

“Me, too,” he admitted. He hugged her tighter, happy to have her back by his side.

Noah grabbed her suitcase when they parted and led her to his car. “How is you mom doing?” he asked as they walked.

“So much better,” she replied. “She should be getting back to work in a couple of weeks. The doctor wants her to avoid stress as much as possible.”

When they got inside the car, Katie started sniffing the air. “Is that what I think it is?” she asked, getting excited and turning to look in the back seat.

“Orange chicken with fried dumplings,” he grinned. “I figured you’d be up for a night in with some Chinese food and video games.”

“Sounds like a plan to me!”

Once the two made it home, they started setting up shop. Katie straightened up the living room while Noah grabbed some plates and drinks. Katie had the table mostly cleaned off by the time Noah came in with the plates and food. He grinned, still glad she was there to make everything nice and neat.

Once the food was set, Nick turned on the console and started picking through his games.

“What do you want to play first?”

“Mario Kart sounds fun,” she said while standing behind him. “What's this?”

Noah turned to and saw her holding up the knitting book from the library. His eyes went wide. “About that...”

She smiled sincerely. “Did you take up knitting?”

He bit lip, mentally cursing his inability to hide things well. “Look under the couch,” he said defeated.

Curiously, Katie knelt on the floor. She came back up with the green scarf in her hands. She looked at it in awe, and he could tell she was starting to put the pieces together. “Did you make this?” she asked.

Noah nodded. “I wanted to do something for you since you’ve been so good to me,” he said sheepishly. “But it didn’t turn out good.”

Katie held the scarf up to examine it. “No knitting project is perfect, Noah. All things considered, this looks pretty good.”

“Don't patronize me,” he grimaced.

“No, I mean it!” she got up from her spot and sat next to him on the floor. “The first scarf I made was a disaster! I had somehow knitted a triangle shaped pocket near the end of it, and I have no idea how it happened.”

Noah snorted. He looked at her thoughtfully. “So, you like the scarf even though it looks like crap?”

Katie smiled. “I love the scarf because you made it for me. I’ll cherish it forever.” She kissed him on the cheek and hugged him around the neck.

Before he could hug her back, she jumped to her feet and ran to her suitcase by the door. She pulled something out, hiding it behind her back before he could see what it was. She walked back over, a sheepish smile on her face. “I was going to wait until later to give this to you, but since you gave me that scarf...” she trailed off, then held her surprise out to him.

Noah’s eyes widened. It was the Journey scarf he always wanted. He held it in his hands, admiring the stitching. “You finished this in just two weeks?”

Katie folded her hands together. “I kept myself busy while mom rested. I don’t think my color switching technique is on point, though.”

Noah unwrapped the scarf. It did look slightly tighter on one end, he guessed it was because of the stitching. It didn’t matter to him. No one had ever made him something this personal or beautiful before. He stood up and embraced her. “I love it,” he whispered in her ear.

Katie hugged him back just as tightly. They let go and Katie reached up to kiss him. “I love you,” she said.

“I love you, too.”

They both wrapped the scarves around their necks. Seeing the scarf wrapped around her, he though she looked beautiful.

“Want to wear these while we eat and game?” she teased.

“Just try not to get duck sauce on it,” he began to start the game. “I don’t think it can survive the washing machine.

End