Homesick Halloween

"This is amazing," he told Ellie.

More music struck up. There must have been fifteen songs, he guessed. Chuck Berry was a pleasant surprise, Eminem another familiar name, some British rock... Def Leppard, then Knocking on Heaven's Door...

It was clear when the finale started. He should have guessed it would be Bohemian Rhapsody, though if the songs changed each year, he had an excuse. Small towers spat tiny flames into the air, left, right, back, then huge Roman candles began to burn. Giant Catherine wheels rotated, colours changing.

Chad didn't think he could get more impressed, but as the instrumental section kicked off, fifty thousand Londoners began headbanging and playing air guitar. The energy was matched up in the sky, gigantic rocket explosions leading to sub-explosions and then each gleam exploding again, all perfectly matched with the drums and guitar. His ears rang, and probably would for a week, but he was completely mesmerised. He hardly noticed Ellie's hand settled happily in his.

The last notes and glowing sparks faded away. People applauded and started to try to move away, either to drinks stalls or to exits. Chad kept hold of Ellie's hand. So he didn't get lost, he told himself, but she clearly wasn't pulling away. There was a reddish tinge to her golden-brown hair that seemed to burn more brightly in the dim night lit by intermittent lights.

"This way, this way. To the nearest exit, please." Police and volunteers in tabards ushered the crowd onwards. "Coins for the bucket? All goes to charity, thank you, thank you. Keep moving. Northbound trains only, change at Victoria or Waterloo."

The plodding seemed to go on forever as the population of two London boroughs was efficiently removed from one of London's smaller parks. A largish park only if you included the area of the lake, which didn't help! Chad had been hoping to hit one of the stalls selling what looked like funnel cake, but there was no way he and Ellie could move against the tide of humanity.

After half an hour, they emerged onto a main road, blinking under the street lights and brightly-lit double-deckers going past. Clearly no-one was going to be able to get on a bus. The adjacent pub was bursting at the seams and some of the people trying to shove their way in were looking aggressive.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"That way for Albert Bridge, Chelsea, Victoria," a chap in hi-viz intoned.

"Ah, we're to just south of the river. Let's go that way. Maybe stop for a drink, until it's less packed?" Ellie suggested.

"I don't think that's an option. Not there, at least. I was hoping for dessert. Oh well, let's get walking."

A few minutes brought them to Albert Bridge, where half-a-dozen arcs of light bulbs festooned the arches, making it both elegant and easy to spot against the dark of the water.

Looking at the reflections should have been a romantic scenario, though Chad was starting to wonder if it could ever become one. How did you instigate a kiss while sober that was almost certainly a terrible idea?

He didn't.

Another ten minutes brought them to the King's Road, by which time the crowds were starting to dissipate.

"Hey, you wanted dessert -- would My Old Dutch do? They serve pancakes."

Sitting down in the warmth with some food sounded good. Any sort of pancake must be edible, he was confident.

"Hi! Sure, we can squeeze you in. I'll get that table cleared for you in a minute."

"Thank you for bringing me down here. The fireworks were awesome."

"I'm sure America does July the Fourth fireworks with music, somewhere."

"They do. There's the South Boston display every year. My grandpa used to take me when I was a little kid. Only it's all cheerful and ceremonial. Star-Spangled Banner and 1812 Overture. No Spice Girls or Abba!"

Ellie laughed. "True."

"The fireworks are mostly red, white and blue. All very patriotic, lots of flags, barbecue... And of course it's summer. Warm, summer vacation. Sometimes there would be a State Fair or we'd go to an amusement park for the day."

"Some places by here get funfairs round Bonfire Night. Get your hot sugared donuts to warm you up, then get spun on the Waltzer with your mates until you're hanging."

"Lemonade and cotton candy and funnel cake. Yeah."

"We have candy floss, too. It comes in pink flavour or blue flavour."

Chad looked around at the huge plates on surrounding tables. "Are these English pancakes?"

"No! Dutch! A bit fatter than English ones, more like yours, but some of the toppings are baked in."

He considered. "Do I risk one with bacon and maple syrup, knowing it's not going to be like home, or try something totally different?"

Ellie shrugged. "Whatever mood you're in. Embrace the different good stuff, or try something reminiscent of home in order to find out how it's different? If you don't expect things to be familiar, it's much easier."

"Mm. Apple, bacon and syrup it is. I've never had all three together, but how bad can it be?"

Ellie nodded. "Wine?"

"With pancakes? Damn, why not?"

In due course, Chad concluded, "Strange texture, but still tastes good."

"Lovely. Can I top you up?"

He had another glass. He might like wine as well as beer, now, thanks to Ellie and Liz foisting it on him near-daily. They carried on chatting.

Their conversation flowed as easily as the river.

Finally, enough people had escaped the area for them to squeeze on a bus for Sloane Square, enabling them to get the Tube home. An hour later, they emerged, possibly slightly under the influence.

It was a cloudless midnight sky, with a dozen stars visible despite the London light pollution.

"It's been a really nice night," he said.

"Really, it's my pleasure."

She seemed to be leaning towards him. It would be so easy to kiss her. So nice, too, but he'd come to England to escape one girl, he wouldn't be here long, and he knew she wanted a relationship. He knew she'd applied for post-doc positions in Italy and Germany, so it wasn't even like she'd still be in London in a few months' time.

With an effort, Chad refrained from the kiss at the door that would have confirmed this was a date. His grandfather, always the gentleman in his small trilby hat, would have been proud.

He did follow her upstairs, but that was because he had to; they both slept there. She opened her door to the left, he moved to the right. "Goodnight. Thank you for a really great evening."

As he said it, it sounded even more like what you said at the end of a date.

There was a pause, before Ellie replied, "Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!"

That suggested she was thinking the same thing -- or had Chad simply imagined it? She beamed at him as she moved around her door.

He sighed, as he got into his own single bed. Once he started to have inappropriate thoughts about a woman, he knew from painful experience it was impossible to stop. Chad's face reddened as he thought of his difficulty hiding his emotions about his freshman-year girlfriend from his room-mate, though it had been far worse in high school when he'd lusted after his best friend's girl and had to keep that secret, not to mention the constant distraction of Ms Gilcek's body during AP Chemistry class...

He had to share a house with Ellie for another four months. She was a friend. He mustn't think of her that way. Much.

Chad tried to think of single women in the labs -- Marion had drunkenly made it clear she wouldn't object to sex with him, but her coarse attempts at seduction left him cold. There were a couple other students who might be up for it, but given he wasn't going to be in the country for long, a relationship wasn't ever going to be on the cards.

He sighed. During his bachelor degree, he'd done his share of sowing wild oats, picking up girls easily at frat parties as well as in classes, but clearly he'd outgrown seeking that. Not that he'd necessarily object to another brief fling, if a girl wanted, but he surprised himself by realising he wasn't really looking for it.

And Ellie wasn't that type of girl. Not that she was half as shy and demure as she came across. Liz and Rachel had laughingly told him about the various guys she'd got together with and rapidly gone back to their house, often the same night, usually less than sober, but, "bless her", Liz said, "she's a romantic. Always hoping for a relationship, not just a chap wanting to get his leg over."

Ellie wouldn't be interested in someone leaving the country in four months. Even if she might be interested in him otherwise, if they could be on the same continent longer.

Shame. Chad thought very hard about a certain couple of actresses, instead, as he slowly got himself into a relaxed enough state for sleep. His dreams, though, were of a girl with brown curly hair that lit up golden, thanks to fireworks.

The next morning, Liz quizzed him on how the evening had been. He'd answered enthusiastically.

"They clearly like each other," Liz moaned to Rachel later. "They're just too damn polite to get it together!"

Rachel nodded sagely over her coffee. "Only one thing for it. Especially with our Elinor. Lots of alcohol."

"Again? Didn't work at the party," Liz retorted. "He's too much of a gentleman. At this rate, I'm thinking locking them in a room might be needed..."

Rachel and Emma came over that evening, a Friday night, to help celebrate the weekend. They ended up playing drunken Trivial Pursuit in pairs, Liz and Paul, Rach and Emma, leaving Ellie paired with Chad.

Liz was sure any couple who could survive that experience had a strong chance! Especially when it became clear the questions were targeted for a British audience, as Chad complained about questions on rugby, Formula One, and Coronation Street, though he was proud of knowing all of Henry VIII's wives.

"Thanks for the wine, Rach."

"No worries. Going to bed, Chad? No? I'm knackered, so I'll head home. Night, mate.

"You interested in Henry VIII's wives and that?" Liz asked. "You should go visit the Tower of London!"

Ellie agreed. "Ooh, yes! I've been meaning to go for ages -- I took my nephew there last year, so didn't get to take my time. Do you want to go tomorrow, Chad?"

"Sure. Why not?" Ellie's enthusiasm was infectious, even if she was just being sociable.

As they stood in line for entry, Chad breathed, "How old is this place?"

"Mostly Tudor -- fifteen, sixteen hundreds. But parts of it were built for William the Conqueror. You know, 1066. Look, you can see by there, the rougher stone walls?"

"A thousand years old! Wow..."

"Like they say, Americans think a hundred years is a long time, Brits think a hundred miles is a long way."

Chad couldn't take his hands off the various walls and staircases, all hundreds of years old, running his fingers in grooves of carved graffiti older than his country. Ellie laughed.

"Next weekend, I'll have to take you to the Museum of London and a tour of the Roman walls round the City."

"Roman? As in, seriously, two thousand years old?"

"Exactly. Most of them have fallen down or been built over, obviously, but there's quite a few places still standing. You can poke them, if you like! And the Museum of London is ace -- nowhere near as many tourists as the South Ken ones or the BM."

"It's a date." And then he reddened, wondering if she would understand that merely as a spot in the diary.

He calmed down, as she clearly knew what he meant.

They returned home, making a detour to see the enamelled Victorian plaques of Postman's Park honouring random nobodies who had given their lives to save others.

When they arrived, Liz and Paul produced not only dinner, but also a stiff cream-coloured envelope.

"There's a letter come for you, Ellie. Looks formal. Been applying for jobs?" Paul asked.

"No! I mean, I put in a couple applications for fellowships just on spec, on the off-chance, seeing as I got that first-author paper in PNAS, but I'm worrying about my thesis before properly job hunting."

Unlike most of the Brits, Ellie sounded out the initials of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. Most of them said 'P-Nass', or rather, because they were genetically incapable of resisting wordplay, 'Penis'.

She picked up the heavy envelope curiously, read the two sheets.

"Oh, my god!" It was a scream.

"What is it?" Liz and Chad were on alert.

"A full fellowship for three years! Covers stipend including travel allowance, and bench fees. I'm buzzing! The world's my oyster!" She stood up and pulled a wine bottle off the rack. It was a screw cap, which meant they were clinking glasses with her in seconds.

"Basically, you can go work in any lab that wants you?" Liz clarified. "Anywhere in the world?"

"Exactly. Anywhere accredited."

"So where will you go?"

"You were thinking Italy, weren't you?" Chad said.

"Oh, yeah. Russo's lab in Milan is an option, but I didn't really like them. No, I hadn't been expecting to be able to, but now I could join my collaborators in America. There's Sandy's team at Yale, or Paula's group in Pittsburgh. They've both said I can go there if I had my own funding."

"Which would you choose?" Liz was curious.

"My god. Bloody hell. I never expected to have a choice! I've not been to either -- only to the annual conference in New Orleans and a meeting in New York, that's the only times I've been to America. Chad -- which would you reckon?"

He blinked. "I've never been to either, either. One-day meeting at New Haven, once. I have a cousin in Pittsburgh who says it's a cool place to live. But I'd guess Yale looks better on your resume. Sorry, CV."

"You're probably right. And it's not so far from Boston or even New York, to fly, right?"

"It's easier to get to New York, probably. There's Amtrak and Metro trains."

"Huh. Well, I guess I know where I'm going once my thesis is done. I'll email Sandy."

Chad eventually recognised the tune she was humming as 'America' from West Side Story, and smiled.

"Where is it you're doing your postdoc again, Chad?" Liz asked.

"Tufts? The biomed campus where I am is in Boston."

"Practically next door!" Liz seemed satisfied with that.

He nodded, and conceded that yes, by American standards, it really was pretty close by.

He glanced up and caught Ellie smiling at him, not just with general happiness.

"That'll be great," she told him. "Could you help me settle in? It should be next Spring, once I'm done."

"Sure. It'd be my pleasure." He beamed back.

"Oh, aye?" Liz elbowed Paul, clearly treating this as a double entendre. Ellie and Chad rolled their eyes in unison, realised they were doing so, and gave small embarrassed chuckles.

A knock on the door startled them, and Chad leapt up to answer it.

"Oh, hello there, mate!" It was the landlord, who could never remember Chad's name. "Just wanted to let you know, we'll be setting off a bunch of fireworks next door, just giving you a heads up so you're not startled, though it's what you expect near Bonfire Night, innit? Don't worry, we'll stop by eleven. Come out and watch, if you like. The missus has made food."

"Sure. Thanks."

"Well. Well done, you! Will you be off as soon as the thesis is done, or do you have to wait for your viva exam?"

"Probably viva, just so I don't have to come back. They'll pay me here once I submit, after all." Ellie told Liz.

"When do you hope to submit?" Chad queried.

"Aiming for end January, more likely March. There's a couple more results I really need."

Chad nodded. His rationale for not dating Ellie -- trying to date her -- was rapidly vanishing, if she would be heading over to the States soon after he went back. Of course, getting with a room-mate was probably a bad idea anyhow. But if she were actually interested...

Ellie regarded Chad with amusement. She'd been considering how bad an idea it might be to have in-house distraction as she worked harder than ever to get her thesis done. But if she could still see him once they were both in America...

She shook herself. What were her chances of a relationship actually lasting more than four months? Her prior experience certainly didn't bode well.

On the other hand, she hadn't followed her usual routine of being eyed up by a guy, flattered by him, ending up drunkenly in bed, then finding out he wasn't particularly interested in her as a person. As Liz and Rach had pointed out, increasingly pointedly, if you want more than a shag, starting out as friends isn't a bad idea.

She'd muttered something about being deemed in the 'friend zone'.

"Bollocks. If you've explicitly ruled out ever being anything more than friends, that's one thing. But every other chap you're at all friendly with... that's what we call 'fair game'."

Rachel had added, thoughtfully, "It's much easier to teach a nice person what you like in bed, than to change a prat you've slept with into a decent human being." Ellie wasn't sure if Rach was talking about Ellie or herself. Given Rachel seemed to have settled into a very happy relationship with the quietly-lovely Emma, she suspected both.

Chad seemed to be a good bloke, as far as one could judge from living in close quarters for nearly three months. They'd had a great time out at Battersea and the Tower, nattering away for hours.

Liz looked from Ellie to Chad, thoughtfully. Ellie blushed and hoped Chad hadn't noticed.

Soon, Ellie and Chad headed upstairs, ending up talking animatedly on the landing.

"I can't believe it! Me, a postdoc at Yale!"

"Congratulations! You'll have to come visit. That's not so far."

"Miles, surely?"

"It's the sort of journey that some guys commute weekly," Chad told her.

"You reckon?"

"They do. Just sayin'."

Ellie didn't believe him -- all American cities were miles from each other. She'd heard all the anecdotes about the Brits thinking they could drive from the Salk in San Diego, up to Berkeley in San Francisco, in a couple hours.

He made Google Maps prove it. "Less than a three hour drive, if you time it right."

"Oh!" It was a realisation of what might just be possible.

"Uh-huh." Chad realised what she'd just realised. And that she couldn't take her eyes off him.

He tried to lighten the mood. "I'll buy you some Marshmallow Peeps when you arrive."

Then they both went into Ellie's room to get a better view of the garden fireworks; that was their story.

Ellie opened the lattice windows and they both leaned out, mesmerised by the white squiggly rockets and golden rain. A maroon shrieked and a neighbour's dog barked.

"How's your culture shock now, then?" Ellie asked.

"Getting better. I think it's easier when things are totally different, than when they pretend to be the same but aren't. Like, I'm trying all your cereals. The supermarket brands, though, because the Kellogg's ones use different recipes so they aren't what I'm expecting anyway."

"Yech! Not what you need at breakfast. First thing in the morning, no-one wants nasty surprises!"

"No. Breakfast and celebrations, all about tradition. So please don't try to do Thanksgiving for me." He considered. "I might cook for it, I suppose." He never had, but roasting a ham or turkey, buying or making mashed potatoes, some greens -- it couldn't be that difficult, surely? Maybe Mike and Shannon would help?

"Good idea. We'd all be happy to be kitchen-minions. And eat, of course."

"You know what? If you finish your thesis on time, come over -- maybe next year I can show you how to do Hallowe'en properly?"

She turned to look at him, peering slightly forward, but it wasn't an accident when his face bent down and met hers rising up.

The first kiss was tentative, a scouting mission, to see what happened.

When Ellie straightened, caught his eye, and smiled, a second kiss happened as if by magic, both of them clutching the other and feasting on each other's mouth.