For nickey79 on Tumblr. You may experience a range of feels. Happy, happy birthday to you. :)


Abbie and Crane lay side by side under a tree in Abbie's backyard. Some of the red and orange leaves fell beside them and on their clothes. Abbie picked one up.

"What do you like about the fall, Crane?" She folded the leaf in half, then she dropped it in the grass.

"I enjoy watching the color of the leaves change, Leftenant. What about you?"

"The same. It's nice. It reminds me of hope."

He turned his head towards her. "How so?"

She turned her head to him, too, and smiled at him. She sat up, so did he.

"What's wrong?" he said.

Abbie put her hands and knees in the grass; she crawled the short distance to Crane. Crease lines indented his forehead as Abbie straddled his lap. Her fingers played with the hair at the nape of his neck while he slipped his fingers through her shirt. She let her forehead touch his. His hands spread across her back.

"What is your hope, Leftenant?"

Abbie traced his left eyebrow, kissed it. She shrugged. "I don't know. I have a lot of hopes."

Crane kissed her nose. "Please, tell me. I want to know."

"You want to know if you're a part of it," she said.

"I'll admit that I do, and I want to know because I want to know your hopes."

"I hope we win this battle." She kissed the spot between his eyebrows. "I hope I spend more time with Jenny. I love my sister."

"I hope you get all that you desire. I wish I could give them to you, to promise them to you."

Abbie shrugged again. "You can't. That is a job for the man upstairs. Let's hope He does though."

"Yes, let's." He kissed her cheek. "Are there anymore?"

Abbie smirked, kissed Crane's nose, both his cheeks. "There's one more."

"Will you disclose it to me?"

Abbie's hands touched the side of his face, and then she let her forehead lean on his again before removing it to stare at him.

"What is it?"

"I hope you make love to me under this tree."

His fingers unclasped her bra. "That is one hope I can fulfill."

When their lips touched at the same time Abbie's eyes closed, she woke up. It was only a dream. She stared around the kitchen and at the textbook she fell asleep reading. The remaining rum was still there. She picked up her glass, got up from the table, and poured it down the sink. No more rum.


Abbie and Crane sat beside each other on the porch swing. A bottle of rum was by Abbie's feet. They sipped their drink while Crane rocked the swing with his feet.

"I was angry with you, you know?"

Crane stared at Abbie. "I am very sorry I did not notify you about my departure. I should have called you or left you a note."

"You should have left me something, Crane. I was worried." Abbie drunk some of hers.

"I did not mean to worry you."

She looked at him. "I know why you did it, but still."

"I really hurt you."

Abbie looked in her shot glass. "You did, Ichabod."

Crane played with the rim of his glass. "How can I ever make it up to you, Abbie?"

She swallowed the rest of it, poured another glass.

"I truly am sorry."

She looked at him again. "I forgive you."

"Thank you, Abbie. I understand if you don't. I committed a disservice to our friendship, Leftenant. Friends do not abandon their friends."

"We have now though. This is our new start."

She held up her glass, and he did the same.

"To now."

He nodded his head. "To now."

The clinked their glasses together and finished their drink.


Abbie could barely lift her shot glass; she put her head on the table. Crane leaned against the counter as he titled his head back for one last shot. He nearly tripped while walking to the table. The table and Crane's chair shifted when he bumped into them. Abbie held her head up. She laughed at him. Crane finally managed to sit in the chair.

"What amuses you so, Leftenant?"

"You're a stumbling giant, Crane."

He pointed to himself. "I beg your pardon."

"You heard me," Abbie said. She yawned.

"Tired?"

"Too much rum." She giggled.

"We finished the whole bottle."

"Needed it. Long battle."

He nodded his head. "Dance with me, Leftenant. Let's dance."

Abbie shook her head. "Too drunk."

Crane stood up. He wobbled and held onto the table. Abbie shook her head when he stood in front of her with his hand extended.

"Please?"

Abbie took his hand. Crane helped her off her seat. They stood in the middle of the kitchen. His hands were on her waist while her hands were on his arms.

"One, two, three," Crane said.

"Right. Ready?"

"Indeed."

Her white socks weren't clear to her. There was more than one when she looked down at them. She stepped on Crane's feet as they moved from side to side. She laughed.

"You're horrible at this, Leftenant."

"Shutup. Drunk, remember?"

"As am I. Stand on my feet."

Abbie glanced at him. "What?"

"My feet. Stand on my feet, madam."

Even though she laughed at him, she stood on him his feet. He had on white socks, too. She couldn't keep her head up, so she laid it on Crane's chest as he moved them around the kitchen. When he started to count again, her eyes closed. But then he stopped counting and swaying them.

"Did you miss me?" he said.

Abbie stared at him again. "What?"

"The nine months we were apart. Did you miss me, Leftenant?"

She didn't know what to say. Was Crane asking this because they were drunk or because he really wanted to know? It could have been both. Would they even remember this conversation? Crane did have a photographic memory. Forgetfulness was possible though. Did she miss, Crane?

"Why ask me that?"

"I missed you." He put his forehead on hers. "Too much."

"You're drunk." She played with the small buttons on his shirt.

Abbie didn't want to answer the question. Not only was she angry with him when he left, but she was angry at herself because she missed him. He's the one that left. He didn't deserve to be missed then, but he was. He was Crane.

"Tell me, Leftenant." Making her look at him, he put his hands on her cheeks to bring her head up. "Why are you hiding it?"

"Nothing to tell."

Abbie put her forehead to his, let her hands touch his face. His beard scraped her palms. She wouldn't admit to it, wouldn't show him that side of her. It wasn't fair for him to do that to her. She did forgive him last week. They did move on after that, but now those feelings are floating up again from that stuffed place.

"Leftenant."

"I didn't, Crane."

They were nose to nose.

"Positive?"

"I didn't miss you."

She pushed her lips to his. It was rum. The rum made her do it. She couldn't tell if she got even more drunk when their tongues crossed, when their fingers fondled with the other's hair, when they sighed, when they nipped bottom lips, or when their kisses curved into nimbleness.

Soon, Abbie stopped kissing him. She stood by the counter, brushed her lips with her fingers. Crane stared at her.

"I didn't miss you," Abbie said.

Crane stepped towards her. He blocked her by putting both his hands on the counter.

"What are you doing?"

She wasn't too drunk to defend herself.

"Your actions say otherwise."

They stared at each other again. He leaned in to peck her lips.

"Rum tastes magnificent on you. This wasn't the rum, Abbie."

Before giving her space and leaving her in the kitchen, he kissed her once more. She thought about their matching white socks.