Disclaimer in part 1

Part 2

He picked Sam up about ten the next morning. Luckily for her, Mark never came home last night. He showed her around the base until they got hungry for lunch. After lunch, they went to a park close by and just walked along the path talking. Before Sam knew it the time was already six in the evening. Her father was supposed to return this afternoon, so she convinced Jack to drop her off far enough away from her house.

"So, me and a couple of buddies are getting together at the local bar for a friends birthday. Nothing big, just a couple of people. I was wondering if you'd like to come with me?"

She thought about it for a second. Thinking about how many soldiers her father knew so far. The ones he did meet probably seen the pictures of Mark and her he keeps in his wallet.

"Sure." she agreed, with a smile. It's not like his buddies would be doing anything illegal. Drinking and smoking would be the farthest they went. It took a lot to get her drunk, so she wouldn't do anything stupid as long as she didn't go past her limit. "When?"

"Next Tuesday. Pick you up at eight? If that's okay." he questioned, giving her a quick kiss.

"Can I meet you there? It's just that I'm expecting a call from a friend and I don't want to miss it." she hoped he was okay with that. It was the first thing that came to mind so that he didn't come by her house and meet her father.

"That's no problem."

"I'll try to be on time."

"Whatever time you get there is fine by me." he replied, giving her another kiss. The kiss deepened and after a couple of minutes he pulled away. "Okay, if we don't stop now I'm not going to want to stop."

"And the problem wit that would be?" she asked innocently.

"I want to take things slow. I know we've only known each other a couple of days, but you are already special to me and I don't want to rush anything. I have a good feeling that if we take things slow, then we can work."

"Okay, I can do slow. So, the plan is I'll meet you at the bar Tuesday." she stated. When he nodded she smiled and gave him another kiss.

"How about I pick you up tomorrow and we can just hang out. Maybe go out for lunch and catch a movie."

"I'd like that, Jack."

"Bye Sam."

"Bye."

He watched her walk away with a smile and when he couldn't see her anymore he walked to his house.

When Jack and a couple of other people approached the bar, he recognized Sam standing there talking. He figured she was talking to herself since no one else was around. When he got closer he noticed she was talking on a cell phone. Then he remembered the call that she informed him about last week. The week had gone by fast. They got together almost everyday when he didn't have to show for duty. He found she was not only pretty, but really smart and funny. She had the same warped sense of humor he did and didn't get annoyed by his sarcasm.

"I'll meet you inside." he informed his friends.

"Sure. Want me to order you a beer?"

"Nah, I'll grab one when I get in."

After his friends departure, he walked up behind Sam. He realized she was arguing with someone. When he got close enough, he put his arms around her waist, pulling her to him. She turned her head to look at him and mouthed, 'give me a minute'. He placed a kiss on her neck and nodded. Jack listened to the one sided conversation, though if the person talked a little louder on the other end, the mumbling would turn into words. Suddenly Sam's calm exterior broke.

"You want me to choose? How in Gods name can you ask me that? We're over four hundred miles away. I haven't seen you in over a year and you're asking me to do this."

"God Sam, what's happening to you?" Jack heard the voice clearly from the other end. He heard Sam let a sigh escape her lips.

"As you've probably noticed I've changed. I'm not the same person I was four years ago. That's what traveling does to people. Or better yet, it's what it did to me. Look, I know that we haven't talked a lot to each other lately, but whether you like it or not I have changed. you can't tell me how to live my life. We aren't those little kids playing in the sandbox. Things have happened in both our lives to shape us to who we are. I'm sorry if you don't like the person that I turned into, but you can't make me choose. That's just bull." Jack nuzzled her neck when she was silent. "Sabrina?!" she took the phone away from her ear. "Great, just hang up on me. That will solve everything." she mumbled.

"I take it things didn't go as planned." Jack asked.

"It went in the totally wrong direction." Sam informed him.

"Feel like talking about it?" he asked, willing to listen.

"To make a long story short, we've been friends all our lives and this one little incident makes her think she can run my life, even though we are living across the map from each other."

"Just give it time for things to cool off. Things will work themselves out."

"I hope so. C'mon, lets go inside."

They walked into the bar, hand in hand.

End of Part 2 - Thanks for reading. Feedback if you want