Gavin had chuckled slightly as his wife had bounded in and out of the office like a...well, like a college girl, he thought briefly.<em>Fitting</em>he thought briefly as he put his computer into hibernation.  He stood from the desk and walked towards the front of the house.  The slam of the front door as Claire burst out of the house echoed through the hallways of the house and brought a brief grimace to Gavin's face.  He was going to have to touch up the exterior paint if she kept that up.  Still, her enthusiasm was understood.  It had been too long since they had seen Landon.  This was also the first time since their friend had been injured.<br/><br/>Gavin stood in the doorway to the house, watching his wife being twirled around by his long time friend.  It brought a brief chuckle to his lips.  The two of them were close, true.  He and Landon though had also been very close.  In fact, it was that closeness that Gavin was considering calling on.<br/><br/>The past year had been rough on all of them.  Gavin had watched as his wife had draw inwards to herself due to the accident she had endured and her subsequent recovery.  She had seemingly lost something or buried something of her old self deep inside.  The reticence of showing off her body was the most obvious manifestation of that change, to him at least.<br/><br/>Shortly after her accident though, the two of them learned what had happened to Landon.  It had nearly brought their world to a screeching halt.  For days, there wasn't any information about what had happened.  Gavin would probably never know the specifics of course, him not being military and all that, but still, the lack of news concerning Landon's condition after his own injury was maddening.  Finally, they had received word that he was alive, if not completely well.<br/><br/>Gavin had then tried to learn where his friend was.  But, all of those inquiries had come up short.  He'd been outright told he could not know where his friend was, not even if he was family.  Eventually though, Landon had contacted them and given them enough information to set their minds at ease, for the most part.  There was still concern, of course, but Gavin and Claire had stopped worrying so much.<br/><br/>Of course, the stress of the two events had put a strain on the relationship between Gavin and Claire.  They hadn't become one of those passive aggressive couples that continuously sniped at each other.  But something subtle had changed.  Gavin felt that Claire was continuing to draw inward, becoming more and more withdrawn from Gavin in small ways.  They still were in love and enjoyed each others company and bodies, but he felt a gulf growing between them.  It bothered him and he had tried to bring her back to him, to get back to where they had been before the accident.  He hadn't had any luck.  Not yet at least.<br/><br/>Gavin slowly walked down the steps at the front of the beach house, letting the two have a brief, private reunion.  He waited until Landon put Claire down, then chuckled and shook his head.  He would just have to give them a few seconds, he supposed.