Of tears and snapping strings...
So, I found her in the gym working with the machines. She was pushing it, not in a bad way but she was getting physically tired. I watched from a distance as she finished up and walked into the gun range.
Weird. She used to hate her gun. I don't know how or why but she's been carrying it loaded everywhere.
She took out her gun, shacked it, positioned the target quite a ways away and put on the safety gear before shooting all the rounds out of her 9mm. She left the S&W .38 in her room and carried the semiautomatic around.
I paid close attention to the target once she reeled it in. I couldn't help but wondering who she was picturing. The shots were perfectly aimed, the heart, the head...I grimaced. There was a very large whole where most of the shots were fired in the groin of the paper man.
I looked closer at her and zeroed in at her face, blank...Bad. She didn't use her blank face. I didn't know she had one until recently. She must've practiced in the mirror for that one.
She pulled the target down after staring at it then ripped it up and threw it in a near by trash bin. Then she turned around and looked right at me. Holy shit! Theres no way she could've seen me or heard me. I was silent coming in and I'm in the shadows.
I just stood there shell shocked and watched her walk away before leaving myself. The shower in her room was running when I walked past her door into the kitchen to start dinner. I made and served chicken with vegetables with a little marinade but not too much. To much salt in it.
She walked in at five on the dot and sat at the other seat. After about five minutes of silence she looked up at me. "Sooo. Was my target good enough?"
Whoa. "Yeah babe, you did great. One questiones. How'd you know?"
"Know what?" She asked as she continued to eat.
"That I was there."
"I just did." I raised an eyebrow as if to say explain. "I can feel it when you look at me and when you enter the same room as me."
I was stunned. The rest of dinner was silent. She helped me clean up the dishes then went into the rec room silently. Somethings up. I miss her old happy self, the one always asking questiones, the one who hates running. She still wanted cake, that should be a good sign.
I watched her curl up on one of the oversized reading chairs. She was silent, her breath was uneven and she looked sad. I stood out of the room but kept her in view. After a couple minutes her eyes were filling up and a tear slid down her cheek. I stood off the door frame and walked over towrds her.
I carefully picked her up and sat down then pulled her into my lap. She grumbled something about being there first and I chuckled. I pulled her into a half sitting position. "Babe, Whats wrong?"
"Nothings wrong."
"Babe, you've been sulking around here for a week. I watched you easily castrate that paper man. Now, whats on your mind?"
"Nothings on my mind." She argued.
"Babe."
"What? Nothings wrong! Nothings on my mind! Drop it already!" She shouted then hopped out of my lap and started walking way. I got up and jogged after her then snatched her wrist, spinning her around and pinning her to a wall. Her eyes were full to the rim with tears.
"Talk to me Steph." I said in a calm soothing voice.
"No." She whispered and jerked out of my grasp. I reached for her but she was gone. She slammed her door shut behind her. I walked over over to her door and listened. I could hear her lean against the door and slide down. She was sobbing semi-quietly.
I went to knock but she spoke as if a mind reader. "Go away! I don't want you to see me like this."
I had to smile at that. "Babe. I've seen you cry plenty of times."
"I'm so sorry Ranger." She sobbed.
Thats it. I turned the door knob and pushed the door open sliding her across the floor. I sat down right next to her and pulled her onto my lap. She buried her face in my chest. "Shhhh." I cooed until she quieted a little.
"I'm sorry." She whispered into my chest again.
"Steph." I pulled her away a little and tilted her chin up so I was looking her in the eye. "Why do you say your sorry Steph?"
She didn't respond. Her mouth clamped shut. "Stephanie. Why." Not a question.
Her jaw trembled. "I'm sorry." She whispered again shaking her head. I think that one meant she was sorry in way that she wouldn't tell me. Great.
She pulled herself out of my arms quickly and disapeared through the door we were leaning against. Wow.
I stood and left her room. I had never seen her like this. I'd seen her cry plenty of times, but she never lost control like this. I guess that it was just a matter of time before she broke down.
My first idea was the gun range. Negative. It was empty and dark.
I checked the gym, the track, the kitchen, rec room and even rechecked her bedroom. I couldn't find her. I guess that was the point. I checked every hallway, room and possible hiding space I could think of, and still couldn't find her. I knew that she hadn't left the base because the only doors in and out had key locks and an electronical keypad. It even has alarms. If she even touched the door without unaraming it, the base would sound. Considering it was just me and her here, for now, I didn't think that it was an option.
She'd show up for training in the morning, so I hiked back to my room and locked myself in. After a long hot shower I stripped and settled in bed.
My alarm rang at 4:30 and I shut it off then rolled out of bed and into the shower to wake me up. I headed to the track and was surprised when I turned on the lights to find Steph already running around the track. She was sweating and her breathing was a bit erratic. She looked like she had been running for hours. Literally.
I walked over and caught in pace next to her. "Babe?"
She didn't respond just kept going. I tried three more times but just ran my run like normal. As normal as possible. For the next two days this continued.
The day went on and I tried to ignore it, I couldn't do it any more. She was in the room running early until breakfast, then she barely ate. The rest went fine. Tank had shown up today and the first thing he did was ask what was going on. Tank said there was so much tension between us. Unresolved sexual tension is what he called it.
We had just finished our run and she just kept running. Thats it, this has to end.
Here we go! The next chapter is somewhat funny, it's a little fast but it's supposed to show their tension string snapping.
R&R
Peanut
