Natalie let out a burst of laughter as his voice came out in a bit of a wheeze. To be fair, he'd deserved that. Who disappears for a week and then shows back up trying to shake you to death? Someone who deserves a sock in the stomach!
"Around?!" she demanded. "You've been gone for an entire week. I woke up and you were gone- you're never up before me- and then your phone was still here. And you never came back, and I- I thought you got stuck. You and your stupid sneezes." The tears were flowing much more freely now and the occasional sniffle interjected her spiel. "If you ever do that again, I'm going to kill you." At which point, she planted a kiss on his lips. "You big." Kiss. "Stupid." Kiss. "Jerk."