Breath in, breath out.
Relax.
Keep breathing.
Breathing, we do it without even thinking.
Still, Chase Davenport found himself forcing himself to do it. He was nervous. Very. He felt blood pumping in his temples and he was dizzy as his heart raced in his heaving chest.
He stared at the tall and dark gates he hadn't seen in three years. He was taller now, stronger, and his left leg wore a noticeable limp.
It was going to be strange and difficult, to sleep in a comfy house after three years of being part of the military, that is, if they allowed him to come back, of course.
Suddenly his phone beeped against his good leg, startling him.
"From: K
To: Chase
Stop being a big baby
and go into the damn
house already!"
The young man smiled fondly as he pocketed the battered phone. How K knew him so well he couldn't understand but it was a good thing. He wouldn't have survived out there without the older male. When they had entered the army they had both being broken and they had healed, leaning in each other.
Breaking out of his daydream, he obeyed the text K had sent him and he entered the property, he gulped as he approached the mansion.
Before opening the door, he stopped as he realized that it was a different person, the one that entered the door today, very different from the kid that had left through the same door three years ago.
Was he ready for it? To discover how much he had changed? Yes.
And as the answer dawned upon him he understood that he needed to know how much he had changed. When he opened the wooden door he was greeted by a familiar sight.
A couple was talking at the base of the stairs, two young watched cartoons and a young woman who was texting sitting at one of the bar stools.
And then the taller cartoon-watcher and his voice erupted in the room.
"-Chasey!"
And with a smile Chase understood. No matter what happened tonight…
He was home.