After Christmas Day with my family, and Boxing Day with his, we packed and headed off for the start of our next phase.

Upon arrival at our first house-sit, he bowed formally, welcoming me to our new love-nest, something that hadn't happened at his place due to Wing getting me to help her prep it before she'd stuck it to The Pests at the airport. Weasel and family had driven us there from the airport and were looking on wordlessly, though thankfully, nobody had videoed it this time as our TLS videoing was passed now. However, the WhatsApp group was still active despite several members leaving after exiting their relationships at Final Vows. Thankfully, Lindsay and Tony, like us had stayed together and they were planning to visit us after the final filming for their first proper holiday together. Our proper welcome to the house was delayed by them giving us a welcome dinner, but when we finally did, it was long, slow, and very sensual.

My first fortnight was spent with Jo and Angie in the team getting up to speed on Logistics and also flight planning which they also managed. The aim was to start being useful for Rapid should the call go up. I knew I'd never be in the same team as my love as that was the very sensible rule, though we'd be on the same cycle. Being in a different office, it was kisses goodbye at the start of the day and reuniting ones at the end. We rarely had lunch together as we wanted the day finished so we could go home and attend to UK work, though Adrienne made it clear that she didn't expect much from me in the beginning. The weather was like in Patagonia, and we ran in the same clothing which required the same joint effort to robe and disrobe, not that we minded! We sometimes mused that The Experts and some couples would be shocked at how we behaved alone, but that was for us to do and them to make blind guesses about.

Weasel and Dog had us for dinner regularly. It was somewhat weird having dinner with your boss as Angie and family would be there too. Weasel had long been like a sister to my love, and from our first call and then chat, she'd rapidly become likewise to me. The time at their place was good for me to have female company. Sometimes she or David would drop sly, approving comments about us, letting us know she could read us without asking anything. As he lives central, we invariably ended up Downtown or close by with Dog, including an amazing Cantonese Hot Pot place on Eighth near the Convention Centre. He was a big brother to us, rougher than Weasel, but mostly his Pete side was up: wise, thoughtful, and sometimes very reflective.

We had offers of Krakens (NHL) tickets and my love had shown up a different side here as he admitted to being a [Calgary] Flames fan or failing that, the [Vancouver] Canucks, and we availed ourselves of tickets. Dog had advised that if we were flexible, we could get cheap seaplane seats when there were empties, which we availed several times when the Canucks were at home, resulting in an early morning return as the sun rose over the Harbour and then made for a romantic sunrise flight home. At one match, he suggested I should get a Sens [Ottawa] jumper "Cen by name, Sen by fan?" he had asked eliciting a playful public kiss, not that much cause was needed for that.

The Bizjet (GA) community at the adjacent airfield was sizeable, varied, and tight. Nest part-owns the Fixed Base (Air Services) and does much of the management, meaning I quickly got to know some of the crowd. There was a semi-formal back-scratch system where people would offer up spare seats in return for some future favour. Flight planning was something that I would never have considered exploring, but it piqued my curiosity and Andy and Angie helped me start down this road. Where my career would go, I now didn't know: Nest or Adrienne, HR or something else: I was just riding the adventure.

My love was busy with his project work which took him away overnight several times, again giving us space to be alone at night and breakfast, missing and valuing our time together. Worse for him, was Twerp, as I called his UK boss, was being pissy again, so my love was working [our] night hours more than he wanted, though my work for Adrienne was more sensible. We tried to do our UK work either late [our] night so we could sleep after or early mornings, then start Nest work or go for a run in the cold, hoping for a mid-run sunrise kiss. What free time we had, we spent exploring the city, Bremerton, and several overnighters in Victoria and its surrounds which he and now I loved, though we knew that after our return for filming, we would ensure a few more quiet nights in, just idly on the sofa watching and making out in front of the TV, though we still got plenty of that!

TLS had agreed to pay for our flights home for the Catchup episode and we planned to be home for a week: two days for the filming then spending time together with our families. We were discussing future plans at the end of our next stint: Angie had told me that my time in her team was open-ended, and we'd been offered several six-month house-sits which we were seriously thinking about. Longer-term, we were unsure: Vancouver looked very appealing for us with its proximity to Nest and it seemed a nicer city too, but so did Australia and NZ as we could easily get roles and work visas if we wanted. "Our love nest is where we lay our heads together," Andy had noted as our lips connected again.

The week before our flight back, Andy and several of his team were due down at Mojave again. This time it was decided that Emma and I needed to get familiar with the site too and, as it coincided with Vandenberg's monthly open day the following Tuesday, we agreed to go down Sunday, but Andy and I would drive back to San Fran and fly back to Seattle after instead of returning on the Falcon.

We all boarded Atara for the flight down. This wasn't the Silver Service that I knew was the norm for BizJets: here, the rule was that the newbies provided the time-appropriate food, and I made some scones for morning tea. He volunteered to be Crew and made the coffee in the onboard galley: this was very tasty Hummingbird that his Kiwi colleague had brought six packs over on her last trip along with six bars of tasty Whittaker’s chocolate. The flight was short, but I got to sit in the cockpit which was interesting, and I got to see the flight plan that I'd helped write in action which was good.

He de-planed first and playfully lifted me off the steps onto the desert runway as I descended, causing me to wrap my arms around him as he sat me down which was fun and romantic, albeit not really with colleagues around, so I just kissed his cheek, and I felt his hands on my back which is always a good sensation. The view was stunning: wide open desert, surrounded by high snowcaps. The runway had hangars down one side and the Boneyard on the other side, though I was reminded of his call from here when he'd landed in the GX and I hugged him tighter, feeling our breathing unite again. "We're here together. Love you so much," he said, holding me tighter and now kissing me gently on the lips as we saw the rest of our colleagues head into the hangar.

I returned the kiss, "I loved you then, now I love you so much more," I kissed deeper, before letting go and heading into the hangar. Emma asked if I was OK and I replied that he’d called me on his way to Patagonia from here and it reminded me of that welcome, but still separating, call.

We spent most of the day visiting various hangars that the Nest had a relationship with their owners. Some were quite interesting, including seeing the weird Roc in her lair, amazing at her enormity. Others had weird, one-off vehicles that looked like they'd come out of Star Wars or Star Trek, though these were real, flying birds.

Atara flew us to Santa Maria for our tour of Vandenberg. This was Hog Heaven for my love as we went around the launch pads, including the Space Shuttle’s and he filled me in on bits of the history. For me, it was historically interesting, and I was feeding on his enthusiasm and our gentle back touches and sneaked kisses when we were at the back of the group: this was fun playing naughty school kids. After our tour, we returned to the airfield, bidding goodbye to our colleagues and we got the rental car and headed up Hwy 1.

We marvelled at the views of the coat, taking pictures and now having time to enjoy the romance of it. A spectacular overnight in Carmel broke the journey. The hotel room had a spa tub that came with Champagne, so we undressed and had a pleasurable time drinking the bubbles. We felt the spa's bubbles massage us as we massaged, kissed, and made love in the tub, and a romantic dinner followed. The cosy, soft bed that we used to its full extent, then it was on to Monterey Aquarium where we saw the cute Sea Otters which we found romantic, and finally to San Jose where we flew back for two more days at work.

Before leaving, Angie had told us that Blue Violet, the G650 that we'd seen in the hangar post-WashUp, was heading to London at the same time we were and suggested that we get a lift, rather than the planned scheduled flight. We thought this was a good idea and she conferred with Wing, who cut a deal with the producers to get our tickets refunded. In return, they’d spring for dinner for us and the crew on arrival, which was a normal back scratch. We'd still head to The Suites after for the usual room filming and dressing for the finale.

I'd met the crew once before and invited them over for morning tea with my team and Andy. They loved our story and were happy to take us, the only proviso was that we couldn't use the bed, not that we minded. I worked with them (observed really) on the flight planning process which was now of great interest for me as it was likely that when Rapid stood up, I'd join the PLAN[ning] crew rather than the intended LOG[istics] group.

Flying private is a much better experience: Angie drove us to the GA Terminal where we met the crew and the friendly TSA rep attending to our passports in seconds, rather than the normal, rough hour was a pleasant experience, and then we drove over to her and boarded. She was fuelled and the pilots started the pre-flight, then we were cleared to the runway, and we strapped into the large, comfortable seats as we chatted with Anita, the sole crew member.

We were flying back into the night and as soon as we levelled off over Kelowna though still heading north for the Tundra, she dished out the meal and then we soon fell asleep in our usual flying position which she found cute. We woke several times during the night and put our heads into the cockpit to chat with the pilots and her. Over Scotland, she cooked a fresh lunch for us, then we settled in for the descent into Northolt. After landing, we helped the crew close down the plane and then went into the terminal for the brief customs formalities. The Pests were there, filming as we left the terminal and dropped our bags into their van and they gave us our room card for later, then they departed. We found our new friends and went to their hotel so they could drop off their gear.

It was now late afternoon, and we walked around the corner, finding an attractive Italian restaurant that had a decent cocktail menu that appealed to everyone. We ordered a first round and antipasti and other dishes to follow, plus several bottles of red to go with the food. The cocktails came first, and we toasted on an empty stomach as they slid down rapidly, eliciting another round as the antipasti arrived. After the antipasti, we poured the wine, but the mains were slightly slow in arriving, and the booze hit us, causing us to get very loose and merry. We started playfully touching and leaning on each other as we ate and drank. Each time our touches lingered longer, which turned into flirting and then brief kissing, much to the amusement of our friends. I caught him as he was about to kiss me and Frenched him hard, which he returned. "Why don't you go outside and get it out of you," Pilot Tim suggested to laughs. Andy looked at me, grabbed my hand, and stood up.

We went into the disabled loo, closed the door, and Frenched again, this time hard and fast as we undid the other's trousers, then lifted tops and roughly fondled each other as we Frenched harder. I lifted my leg and pulled him in me, kissing harder as we semi-drunkenly Frenched hard and started making love hard and fast too. This was a quick, hard release as we brought each other to orgasm passionately and fast, then we stayed entwined briefly kissing to come down and finally cleaning up and dressing, but we were now buzzed from the sex and drink.

We returned to the table where more cocktails, wine, and food had arrived and to knowing looks from our friends. They cheersed us and we drank the cocktails, realising we were seriously drunk and exceptionally publicly affectionate by our standards. The pizza slid down fast, and our hands were sliding over laps again. Then it was the pasta with the wine, and we resumed playfully kissing as I felt him go ready, as I was.

We finished the wine and ordered Tiramisu, and we all wanted more cocktails. Amidst the merriment, our hands were roaming below the table, and we were flirting heavily again. "I want something else for dessert first," Andy whispered and kissed me hard to laughs from the group as they could read us like a hoarding. I returned the kiss and played with him, then got up and led him to the loo again. We lustfully kissed as we pulled up tops, then dropped jeans. He spun me around, grabbing my tits from behind and kissing my neck as his probe moved between my open legs. I pushed him deep in my ready and kissed him hard as he massaged my hard peaks, sending waves of pleasure which I transferred to him via kisses and squeezes. I devoured his tool and moaned louder as we lustily brought each other to climax again. We disentangled, kissed, and playfully re-clothed, then headed back to Tiramisu, again buzzed by our drunken horniness.

"Sorry, we're not normally like this, even around friends," I sheepishly apologised, but kissed my love again.

"Fun night, good food, cutting loose never hurt anyone," Anita said and we knocked back the cocktails. The Tiramisu was exceptionally boozy and hit us hard, but very pleasantly and we managed to avoid the temptation of feeding each other, though they could see what we really wanted to do. Finally, a round of tequila concluded the evening, and we got the bill: we showed them, and it was over $1,000, they laughed and said that we'd earned it putting up with all The Pests' crap. I said that Wing would be ecstatic settling up with them!

It was well past midnight now and we bade our friends goodbye as we headed drunkenly into the taxi, but this time we started making out passionately, rather than nodding off. We snuggled for a while, then carried on our horny hitting as we neared The Suites.

We managed to get into the room without any further hitting, and we needed an encore to sleep and removed shoes as we entered. I wrapped my arms around my love's neck, kissing him hard and grinding on him, feeling he was ready too. He returned the kiss and pushed me further in, eyeing the bench for a snack, but the surface was too thin to get me up, eat then take me, so he settled for guiding me to the table as we kissed hornier and harder. I jumped on the table, pulling his top off, then he relieved me of my top and bra, kissing down from my neck, attending to my hard nipples briefly.

I leaned back so he could relieve me of my jeans again, this time eating me out and setting off my moans with each probe. He removed his jeans, and I wrapped my arms and legs around him as he entered me fully and we resumed our horny kissing as we thrust and kissed deeply and fast, enjoying the sensation. I grabbed him tight as I felt my peak near with him pressing in me and moaned loudly as we came together. He carried me into the shower, still drunkenly making out and I was bouncing on him, as we showered. After our usual towel off, we collapsed into bed, exhausted from the booze and sex.

We woke at 7 AM, still feeling the buzz of the booze and sex, and we weren't due to be picked up until 11. We decided to go for an hour's run and got up. He went to the coffee machine and turned it on, with me at his back, playfully kissing his neck and playing with him, waking that up too as I fully woke. He pushed me against the bench and playfully went inside again as we fed each other cereal, broken with kisses and grinds, then he poured the coffee into my lips and kissed me to share it. We repeated the playful lovemaking, and coffee drinking until the it was gone, then dressed and worked out an hour's run around the neighbourhood and some parks where we stopped for brief make-outs.

Back at The Suites, we did our usual strip, shower and dry, then collapsed into bed for a snuggle. I snuggled on top of him for a change and he put his arms over my neck, and I moved on him, which he reacted to. His hands came down my back, pulling me tighter onto his body as we kissed with increasing passion. I slid down, taking him in me as we made out and I rode him gently, but this time with more intent than at breakfast and we increased our make-out pace as he filled me again. I rode him and his hands moved down my back holding me tight onto him. I moved on him harder, becoming tighter as he became wider and longer, filling more me as we kissed harder causing him to fill me fully as we increased pace to come again. "We really are horny today," he said as he kissed me and moved in me gently.

"We got so drunk but so flirty," I replied with another kiss and final grind. "Better get dressed before they catch us at it in bed," I finished with a final kiss and grind and got off him, but I knew our high would soon pivot and crash down on us. Another assisted dress, this time into my No.1 dress, that I remembered all its wonderful pre-and post-gift times in Patagonia and my Formal as usual, and him into black trousers and a red shirt, and then, the crew arrived somewhat annoyed that we were already dressed, so they had to settle for us yawning as we headed to the taxi. As usual, we collapsed into the taxi, but this time it was the post-alcohol and lust hangover that we knew would happen finally pushing us over its cliff.

At the studio, he woozily got out first, then helped me out. I realised that I was absolutely slammed, and he wasn't much better, unsurprisingly as we'd had the same amount of booze and sex. We groggily walked into the studio and through the doors with our arms gently on backs to support, this on-camera touching was a first for us, but very necessary. The couples, some obviously not anymore, came towards us to greet us, but their smiles and chattering stopped dead as they saw us. "What happened," Joanne asked angling for the goss and Andy steered us to the bar.

"We hopped a 650 that was repo-g to Northolt. Pilots!" I replied to blank looks as Andy poured two OJs, passed one to me and we slammed it like last night's final shot.

"A what to where?" James asked and I realised my work brain was still active even if the rest of it was in a deep fog, and my love nudged me.

I yawned, "A Gulfstream 650: large, long-range bizjet that's based at the same airfield as Nest's Falcons was doing a reposition flight to RAF Northolt," as they gasped, wondering how we'd got into a military airfield and I elaborated fully, "It’s a bit north of Heathrow inside the M25 and has a civilian terminal. The crew offered us a lift as I know them from work."

Andy turned to the TLS crew and asked, "Amy chance of a double espresso with sugar please?"

"Make that two, " I chimed brighter, anticipating its effects.

"Each," he finished, to knowing looks from our friends as they twigged. He knew that one each wouldn't get us out of our hangover. For us, this was the most we'd drunk and the largest hangover we'd had in years. And borderline, the horniest in a day we'd ever been.

"Bad flight?" Sally asked, sadly, still trying kicks.

"Four-five Romeo [heading], then .9 [Mach] at 450 [45,000 ft] at Kelowna. Gander, Kef[lavik], Prestwick [Oceanic Control Centres], out [descend] at Birmingham, straight hit in," I replied, again to a crowd of blank faces.

"Kids answer," my love semi-whispered with a nudge: I had given the answer Terri and her peers would want to the flight question.

"Sorry, I just described the flight path and plan that I helped the crew with," I groggily admitted. "Flight was smooth, but we took the crew out for dinner after."

"Great place: Great food, and great cocktail list that we ended up doing a full investigation of," my love shrugged as our friends smiled and the coffees arrived. "Engine 1," he said as we picked up the first cup,"

"Power?," I replied as we necked the hot, sweet liquid.

"Confirmed," he replied. "Engine 2?" as we lifted the second cups and necked them.

"Power,” we held our words waiting, “both engines confirmed," I replied mimicking the pilots’ power-up call as the coffee and sugar flowed through our brains, cutting through the hangover's fog like the jet fuel through the 650's German turbines. Like them, we felt the energy grow steadily and pleasantly.

"That bad," James called out.

"Spectacuuullllarrrly," Andy replied. "Great food, amazing drinks, and incredibly friendly company," as he rubbed my back, eliciting a pleasant buzz and contented smile, which as usual, I returned, somewhat thankful it wasn't a ding this time.

"Very friendly," I affirmed, thinking of our friendliness.

We went to the bar for still water, though the rest were on the sauce again, then we headed to the sofa. On the sofa, our arms were invariably behind backs for communication, sometimes rather too effectively as we playfully and discretely dinged to help keep the caffeine-induced recovery momentum going. While I never intended to spike him nor him to really hit me, occasionally I came rather too close to spiking for my liking, he came close enough for liking though not too close for too much liking, though I did gently verbally elicit and flinch several times. The conversation turned to how other couples were. Several weren't sitting together and sadly, weren't graceful about the split. Our friends, like us, were happy together and likewise, mostly observers in the melee.

"Dinner is served," the Waiter called, and we walked to dinner as they joined us. "You still getting hit from your back problem," she asked in a low voice, "Or plural and not the second," she nudged me. I simply shrugged a response and Andy playfully elbowed Tony who was next to him Maybe you two should try .. or you are, but are either less effective, less reactive, or suppress it better, we wondered.

The dinner started with wine, and we decided to risk a glass each, partly out of keeping with the rest of the group, some who had had more than our friends who we noticed had demurred since our entrance. The talk came back to us, asking how we were. We replied that work was busy, having employers on two continents and we were enjoying life in Seattle, which our friends nodded and smiled at as we'd been DM'g them, though not the group. I explained that Nest work had taken an interesting and very intellectually stimulating path into flight planning, hence my initial comment. I commented that last weekend, was a part-work, part-fun weekend in LA, though the group thought a weekend working out of a desert airfield and a visit to a rocket range didn't sound fun, nor would I a year ago, I realised. We said that we were enjoying life in Seattle and were looking forward to seeing Tony and Lindsay when they visited us in a few weeks and were helping them arrange flights.

As the Pannacotta was served, "Two days ago, we had a call from an Annie saying you'd asked her to sort our travel," Lindsay said and we smiled, "She said she was our travel agent. Somewhat brusque, but very efficient and we've somehow got free upgrades and the Honeymoon Suite at The Inn and The Fairmont (Victoria)," Tony smiled, concluding and I shrugged back. We’d given them a suggestion for their trip: a few nights in Vancouver, where we’d join them for the Canucks-Flames, then off to Whistler – albeit The Chalet was booked so we’d be at The Inn, then we’d get the seaplane home while they skied a bit longer, then they would catch the Shuttle to Horseshoe Bay and across to Nanaimo, followed by a leisurely drive via Buchart Gardens to Victoria and we’d pick them off the Clipper in Seattle, and we’d got Krakens-Sens tickets during their stay with us. The good thing about working for Angie was that I could get special rates, and we’d used Wing as our vector with them. Wing strikes again, though they just got a taste of her wonderful treatment, I nudged Andy, wondering when she was going to strike the producers with last night/this morning's restaurant bill.

We were glad to finish up and then hit the bus. As usual, we had our normal pre-sleep shower, but tonight we hit the bed, curled up, and were out quickly.

We woke, feeling near normal and very grateful for our bodies dissipating the hangover. What to wear for the final Expert Day? Was our question as we rummaged through our suitcases. We found the dark red jumpers with our entwined Formals that Bex had gifted us as a Christmas present, held each other completely, and kissed. Like our logos, we were entwined, and it symbolised our relationship. We paired this with our usual dark jeans and retired runners before having a final breakfast in the tiny Suites kitchenette, though we were looking forward to our breakfast at the new house-share as this would be the next time we could have the full works.

In the studio, The Experts welcomed us and showed a montage of each couple's wedding in turn. We thought they did a decent job on our wedding including us curled up against the wall which completely symbolised our relationship, though it simply skipped to the Dinner Party speech, omitting anything from Patagonia or WashUp. We had hoped they'd at least show our reunion on the runway, and we wondered whether the omissions were retribution for the reunion a fortnight later.

This time, we were in the middle when called to the sofa. As we sat down, Tony catcalled, "They're good," then Lindsay, "They're happy", pre-empting The Experts’ initial question, to laughs and she finalled, "Cute jumpers," blowing us a kiss to more laughs.

Andy raised one, then two, then three fingers and looked quizzically at them meaning Rat, Cat, or Tag ones and they both laughed, though neither the experts nor the rest of the couples got our in-joke as only they had seen all three jumpers on us. Bit rude having in-jokes, never mind, the four of us thought.

In the middle, Saskia elbowed her fellow experts and nodded, then she held her hand up in the Stop briefly, then rotated her finger around Spin Around. “Thanks,” she cooed, and we got her message: she wanted The Experts, then our fellow couples to get a good look at our attire.

"How's Seattle; any plans after your second stint?" Saskia asked

"I've made some great friends there and am learning a lot; Flight planning certainly wasn't on my radar, but it is now," I replied. "Next: we'll probably stay at least for Even and we've got a longer house-sit if we want."

"Even?", she asked.

My love nudged me to continue, "Cycles are Odd or Even numbered. Odds are mostly desk-based: we activate the teams and generate, but neither install the sensors nor deploy. Evens we generate both but deploy only one and only for a day on Even 1. Even 2 is full-up, multi-day".

"Generate?" Sally asked.

"Get aircraft ready, but only send one aircraft out to an airfield nearby on Cycle 2 and they do several, one-hour mission practices," Tony said to stunned looks from The Experts and the other couples, wondering how he knew so much, though I realised how much he'd learned from me at our last dinner.

"How open about their relationship do you think they are," Saskia purred at the couples. L&T glared back at her as, like us, they were solid, happy, and didn't need to demonstrate it.

"No idea, they're a mystery," Joanne called, as L&T looked on intrigued about how we would deal to this.

"Open or readable?" Andy questioned and I gently rubbed his back in thanks as Saskia looked deeper at us.

On the penultimate day at Washup, I'd taken Weasel aside and asked her this, explaining why. As Senior Pilot at Nest/Rapid and previously a Colonel, she is HR in nature, if not explicitly in role. She had given me a really dumb look, then sisterly held my hand, and told me.

"I asked a very good friend this recently," I recounted to Saskia. "She said, 'Hiding is a problem, openness and readability are just colour shades. If readability was clothes, B and I are always naked with each other'," they gasped, initially taking naked literally, "'You: either those nice rollnecks or those great dresses he bought.'" Saskia looked in, still processing, and slowly seeing the light. Our friends smirked, knowing that, like them, we are happy and contented and they're not nosy enough to want to quantify, ditto us.

"How's working together," Sid asked, actually seriously for once and not angling for a hit.

"We don't!" I replied earnestly to gasps and he looked curiously on. "We're not in the same Nest team now, nor when Rapid stands up. Policy is couples are on the same cycle, but never team. When the call comes, I'll run for the rooms and he'll bugger off to the hangar, then I'll start bossing him around," I shrugged and smiled as Sid nodded approvingly.

"Or I'll politely tell her otherwise," my love shrugged and head-tapped me.

"Anything you don't like about being with Andy?" Sid tried for a final kick.

I pursed my lips, "One thing," I hung for effect, and they bit, "Sometimes if I'm in an early morning meeting and he's bored, he'll start baking," I replied sourly rising, like his tasty, sweet, baking (unless it was shortbreads or melting moments, though I still rose), albeit that he always politely forewarned me .. which made my anticipation worse.

"You don't like his noise?" Sid leaned and nodded for me to carry on.

"He's quiet," I replied, "But he'll drop bits of ingredient discretely onto my desk, then it’s the smell as he starts.. little scraps .. a little offcut appears," my stomach rumbled, "the smell coming from the kitchen," oohs from Joelle, Saskia and a lot of the couples, albeit Sid was still running the scenario to little effect. "Then, once they're out, a hot offering appears," my stomach was really going as my love's hand gently rubbed my back again.

"Do you tell him why you don't like it?" Saskia asked, taking my bait and running with it.

"Oh, I do," I replied animatedly and smirking.

"Andy?" she questioned.

"I take my punishment like a man," he replied, seriously and shrugging and playing along. Depending on the day and the magnitude of his results, his punishment fitted the effort, though the degree of difference in punishment for failure vs complete success wasn’t great, or at all sometimes. We were now musing on this as full completeness we fully enjoyed! The Experts were musing on this trying to work out exactly what we meant, though L&T were laughing hard as they got the real meaning of our tripping Sid again as his pointing nose was hard in the mud.

Joelle asked why I seemed very sad in the middle of yesterday's dinner party. Since Patagonia, I’d been trying to describe the sense of how things were with the kids and the adults. I’d discussed this with Andy, and he wasn’t very helpful as what I was seeing was normal for him, but very alien to me. His best comment was ‘When a Martian sees another Martian, he sees normal, not an alien!’ Agency seemed to denigrate the kids as normally that’s either given or removed. There was absolute respect even when the kids were running the adults hard: a very honest and respectful run as they were chasing knowledge, not aiming to score hits. All and Together seemed the most appropriate: Terri had decided to take me under her wing from the start, ensuring I was all into the group. Sadly, this was definitely not the case for a few couples on The Experiment and Sneering Sid seemed to want to blow up, rather than unite about half the time.

"I wasn't sad, I was reflecting", I answered as my love held my hand. "Last night's behaviour was same as, and very different from the aways: there, it can be louder and livelier there and the kids can run the adults hard," as I heard audible gasps with people thinking I was referring to rudeness or disrespect. "But they do it with absolute respect as get-togethers are all about sharing and gaining knowledge and building strong relationships. Here it can be about finding weaknesses, point scoring and sometimes trying to destroy relationships." More gaps from the audience as some realised who I was aiming at, though Lindsay and Tony were discretely smiling as I felt Andy's knee rub mine go on.

I leaned in, pursing my lips as I do when serious or bad-tempered, "I've heard 'We are all in this together' uttered here and there [Wing initially, then Weasel]. There, it’s absolutely true: lives depend on people absolutely trusting that if someone trips, they will be caught before they fall as if someone falls, they might die." Gasps as that hit home. "I absolutely trust my friends and colleagues there" [Especially, Wing for all she'd done for me, and us]. My voice dropped into a sad tone, "Sometimes here, it feels like legs and arms are out to trip or people want to wound." The usual gasped, the usual gently smiled and Sid had a sneer on his mug that was trapped that said You've stolen my lines and hopefully reflecting on his tripping.

"Anything you'd like to say," he asked Andy.

My love rested his leg against mine, and holding my hand tighter as his head turned to half face me, half them, "I haven't seen everything here, and my long experience of Rapid's events colours my views," I wanted to kiss him for his absolute honesty, so I gently rubbed his back and got a pleasant rub in return, "But everything M'Lady says," mimicking Thunderbirds' Parker as he rubbed his head gently on mine, "I second," he firmly but very softly concluded.

Saskia looked at us, "Any final words?" she asked.

"I do," Andy said, touching my head to fully look at me and into my eyes. With the softest, 1:1 tone, "You remember what Weasel said?"

Immediately upon us rejoining David and him, she had fessed to him about the "Take a bullet for" over-truth. He simply hugged her with sibling love: a love that David and I knew was both genuine, relationship-harmless to us and formed from absolute trust and respect, so lacking here.

"Yes," I replied, looking directly into his eyes.

"I would," he replied in a near whisper, but our mics recorded and projected it into the studio.

I took his head in my hands and gently kissed his lips. In the corner of my eye, I saw everyone looking on very stumped, except for L&T who didn’t get much but knew who Weasel is, so had at least a crumb of context. "Hope not, but me too," I softly replied, feeling the tears in my eyes and seeing them in his as he leaned in and kissed me again.

"Anyone want to know what that was about," Sid asked amazingly without much of a sneer.

"We got a PDA," Sally cackled.

"A Weasel?" Joanne questioned.

"Not A, or The,” Andy grumped, “She. IS. Same. As. Me," he stated firmly, referring our sister-figure. Linsday and Tony looked quizzically, then smiled as we hadn't used her Tag much, just mostly alluded to her as A/The Pilot.

"As usual with these two, very low-key. Also as usual, very contextual, and we don't know the context, and even less than normal. Very deep." Sid intoned deeply and profoundly, deciding his customary sneer inappropriate and unnecessary.

"You are happy," Joelle affirmed, "Good luck," and we left the sofa.

Reflections:

Andy:

My time on TLS had exceeded my expectations. As she walked up the aisle, I understood that Sarah knew what and who she is and where she wanted to go. Her decision to only wear the makeup that she felt comfortable in and not to try to impress an unknown impressed me. Her intellect is discrete, but for me, shone like a lighthouse in on a dark night and carried her, and us, through the storm of separation. From the start, we were on same wavelength, and path which sometimes (or more!) annoyed The Pests, but their actions simply united us tighter. The [true] aim of TLS is to match couples and show their journey. Sadly, to make good TV, you need arguments and fights. We were true to ourselves and TLS' premise and have the intelligence to know that unfortunately, some of our fun will get discarded like an over-ripe apple from a car window. As I told The Experts, "I am grateful.." for their pairing and for Sarah, who I love so much and hope that, as I said to her, ".. we look back at 80." We laugh and say our first time was perfect in every sense and hopefully be able to tell the clean version of that tale to our offspring.

From the wedding photos onward, we were united in knowing that sometimes, what was right for us, wasn't for the crew and vice versa, and we always chose ours over theirs, mostly without malice. It’s not that we don't care what The Pests thought: we aren’t cold people, and we do. Rather, when their aim is for exciting, though contrived, footage that diverged from our aim of still being together at 80, we always chose the path marked 80 and we were resolute in walking that in whatever form it took at that point. Sometimes, that path was to curl up, unite bodies and more importantly, minds as we hit the crossword, which The Pests weren't interested in, as for us it is very stimulating. Though, we weren't averse to playing up to the camera, when we did it was on our terms and invariably, they didn't get or want our joke. Again, this solidified us as we had completely realised our sole aim for being on The Experiment.

Deciding to leave Sarah alone so I could support the Falcons was incredibly hard for us, but completely right. Ultimately, the separation deepened our brief, but already strong, love and led to complete romantic love after my return.

Sarah

Reflecting back on the year, what had started with a tipsy post-run dare had turned into a wedding that vastly exceeded my hopes: from the first words, he had relaxed, then challenged me intellectually. Mutual respect and comfort had poured in drips and fast runs, and like a braided river with its narrows, expanses, deeps and shallows, always forward and entwining us and others and carrying us and them to the intended end. This respect and comfort had unearthed deep granite which our relationship and love was built on. Our enforced separations had been hard, but doing the right thing is harder than the wrong thing. While our hearts missed, our heads were calling down the stopwatch until our reuniting, soothing our aching hearts. Our Dinner Party speech had summarised this, albeit rather intellectually for some of the attendees. These solidified foundations on which our love is built were widened and deepened by the times together and the new, very deep friendships with his colleagues and friends that unexpectedly are mine too now. Being recruited to a team based solely on group fit was professionally both anathema and antithetical, but understandable: for most Rapid roles, the skills could be learned but in a tight team, personal relationships are literally lifesaving.

Where are we?

From the start, we both knew who we are, what we wanted and where we were going and at what speed. This speed was probably not what TLS wanted, but it was our speed and a speed that we were comfortable with. We moved forward, sometimes slowly, though always comfortably and always when we were ready.

Should we have made more effort getting to know the other couples is something we pondered a few times. Not being in the suites definitely hindered that. Those who put hands out we took, and those that kicked, we dodged, and we aren’t big gossipers, hence our oft-disinterest in the WhatsApp group.

We got everything we wanted, albeit we are not in our intended physical location. Where we physically are is exactly where we wanted: curled up on the sofa writing this, together as his and what became our vows said.

Where we will be at 80? Hopefully likewise: our home is where we are together.