Here's the next chapter! :) Hope you guys like it!
Chapter 33
At 6:30 the next morning, his alarm clock went off. He got up and took a quick shower and put on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve shirt under his sweatshirt. His dad was still asleep and the house was dark as he went into the kitchen. He cut on the light and got all of the stuff he needed and got right to work.
He made a stack of pancakes, or at least tried to. He wasn't much of a cook; he could grill steaks but that was about it. He ended up burning the sides and bottoms of the pancakes and fried the bacon and sausage to a crisp. After wasting thirty minutes trying to cook, he gave up. He checked his wallet and saw that he had enough money to pick up breakfast somewhere.
He cleaned up his mess and, at 7:30, reached for his keys. He was a couple of minutes early when he reached her dorm but, as soon as he pulled up, he was her walk out onto her balcony with something that surprised him; in her hand was a picnic basket. He got out as she got closer. He smiled and motioned to it,
"What's that?"
"What, I can't even get a 'good morning' or 'how are you today'?" He smiled again and leaned in and kissed her,
"Good morning, how are you doing today?" She smiled,
"I'm doing well, how about you?"
"I'm good. May I ask what you're holding?"
"Well, I figured that, since we were going somewhere so early, that either you were going to try and cook or that we were going to eat somewhere. Now no offense, but we both know the only thing you can cook is steak and pop-tarts, and you don't even put the pop-tarts in the toaster, you eat them straight out of the packet." He smiled and laughed and she continued,
"And we have eaten out a lot so I figured I would cook us some breakfast and we could go eat downtown by the river if you want to." He smiled again and nodded,
"That sounds great; you got the whole day planned out, don't you?"
"Well I figured I would take charge of the day for once. You always plan everything so I figured I would give you a break." He smiled and leaned in and kissed her,
"Thank you, that sounds nice." She kissed him again and smiled,
"Okay, let's get going."
They walked to his truck and he got in the driver's seat while she put the picnic basket in the back seat. While she was putting the basket in the back, he could feel it in his pocket. He had brought the letter from the Air Force, trying to plan how he was going to tell her. Before he had time to really think about it, she got in.
They drove downtown and had breakfast at a picnic table facing the river. They sat at the picnic table and ate for almost two hours. They talked and laughed while watching the boats go by. Though he was having a wonderful time with her, he couldn't stop thinking about the letter in his pocket. He had avoided it all through breakfast, but knew he was going to have to tell her soon.
When they were nearing the end of their breakfast, Allison began to pack everything up. While she was putting everything away, he felt the letter inside of his pocket. He took a deep breath and decided it was now or never.
"I've got to tell you something."
"What is it?" She asked, still putting things away.
"I need you to look at me." This got her attention and she stopped putting things away and looked at him.
"Okay. What's wrong?" He took another deep breath, then reached into his pocket and pulled out the letter. He handed it to her and she looked at him,
"What is this?"
"I think you know what it is."
She shook her head, but he knew she knew what it was. She took it and got tears in her eyes before even starting to read it. She knew it was bad and he guessed she could tell by his facial expression. She began reading and the tears that were in her eyes fell down her cheeks as more replaced them. She shook her head and turned away from him, still holding the letter in her hands. He put his hand on her shoulder,
"Allison."
She shook her head and continued to stay turned away from him. He sighed and said her name again. He heard her crying and she quickly turned to him and threw her arms around his neck and leaned into him, crying on his shoulder. He sighed and held her, getting tears in his own eyes, not knowing what was about to happen.
After holding her for a while he finally broke the silence,
"I'm so sorry Allison, I didn't know."
"You promised." He pulled back to look at her; her eyes were red and tears were falling down her cheeks.
"I know I did, and I'm sorry. I had no idea they were going to make me go back for another eighteen months. I've only been home for five days, not two weeks; it doesn't make any sense. I swear I didn't know; I would never promise you something if I knew it wasn't true." He continued to look at her and she finally nodded,
"I know you wouldn't." She shook her head and sighed,
"Eighteen months, Ben."
"I know, but look on the bright side; this is my last time going back. This is my last time, and then I'm out." She nodded and looked away for a minute, then looked back at him,
"I'll wait for you." He smiled and released the breath that he didn't realize he was holding and leaned in and kissed her. She kissed him back and, when she pulled away, she was smiling,
"I don't have a choice, I love you too much." He smiled and kissed her again, thinking how lucky he was to have her. But Matt's voice kept ringing in the back of his head,
"Be on the lookout for those lists."
For the rest of the day, they tried to put the letter behind them and enjoy the rest of the time they had left together. After they finished talking and eating breakfast, they walked around downtown and stopped in a couple of stores. After walking around downtown, they ended up going to the cemetery where Jeff, his mom, his grandfather and her grandmother were all buried. They stayed for a couple of hours and just visited and talked aloud to each of them.
After they stayed for a while, they went back to his house where they spent the rest of the day. They snuggled up on the couch and watched T.V. and a couple of movies. Ben changed into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt and Allison put on one of his shirts. His father was at work so they had the house to themselves.
They sat on the couch talking and kissing and watching T.V. for hours. He had his arm around her and she snuggled up to him. He smiled and kissed her head; even though they were just sitting on the couch but it was perfect, just because of the mere fact that it was Allison who was sitting beside him.
When his father got home, he joined them in the living room and watched T.V. for about thirty minutes. After they watched T.V., they had dinner together and then he and Allison went to his room. While Allison lay on his bed, Ben picked up his guitar and played a couple of songs for her. He played a couple of songs by Led Zeppelin and, when he finished, she was smiling. He smiled and put his guitar down,
"What are you smiling at?"
"Nothing, it's just whenever I hear Led Zeppelin, I think of you and Seth fighting."
"And that makes you smile? I have scars on my face from that, you know." She smiled again and held up her hands,
"Hey, that's not my fault; you're the one that lunged at him." He smiled and shrugged his shoulders,
"Well I didn't have a choice, did I?" She smiled and shook her head,
"I don't think so. But, no, I smile because it reminds me of what you did and how you stood up to Seth and got between me and him. It reminds me that you're one of the most important things in my life and I love you with all of my heart." He couldn't help but smile and kiss her.
They kissed for a couple of minutes and snuggled on the bed for a while. At around 10:15, she said she had to go,
"I have class at eight tomorrow morning." He nodded and walked her out to her car. He kissed her goodnight and they stood together for a minute before he brought up the subject on both of their minds.
"So, are we okay?" She smiled and kissed him,
"Yeah, we're okay."
"Good. My plane leaves at 6:30, so I think I'm going to leave here at 5 so I'll get there at 5:30."
"Okay."
"You going to come with me?"
"Of course I am what kind of question is that?" He smiled,
"Okay. Well you should get going, you've got to get up early."
She nodded and he kissed her one more time before she got in her car. When she was pulling out of the driveway, the moon happened to be in the right position, lighting up her rearview mirror. Ben saw something that made his heart drop; Allison's face was stained with tears.
He spent the first part of his last day on leave with his father. They got up early and took the boat out and went fishing in the Cape Fear River. It was surprisingly warm and they fished for almost three and a half hours. At 11:30, they decided to pack up. While they were driving, Ben brought p what he saw last night.
"So, I told Allison about the letter."
"I was wondering when you were going to bring that up. What did she say?"
"She actually took it better than I thought she would. She cried of course but she told me that she would wait for me."
"Well that's good." They were silent for a second before his dad said,
"I don't want to be a Debbie-downer, but didn't she say that being away from you for eighteen months almost killed her." Ben nodded; he had been thinking the same thing since he had first read it.
"I know, and that's what I'm worried about. It's easy for her to say she can wait for me now because I'm still here with her. But what happens when I'm not? I'm gone away. Can she still feel the same way?"
"I don't know, son. All I know is that girl loves you with all of her heart and you love her with all of yours. I've never seen two people more in love and I mean that. She did it once, Ben, I think she can do it again." Ben smiled weakly and nodded,
"I hope so. But last night I saw something that made me kind of nervous. When Allison was pulling out of the driveway, I saw her crying."
"Well, Ben, she found out that you're going back for eighteen months, you can't expect her to be all smiles, can you?" Ben nodded,
"I guess you're right. I guess I'll just have to see what happens."
When they got home, they backed the boat trailer up to the garage. They went inside and at 12:30, Ben heard a car pull into the driveway. He looked out the window and saw that it was Allison. He smiled and went to the front door and went outside. As she was getting out of the car, he walked down the porch steps and over to her. As he got closer, she smiled and he wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up off of the ground. He heard her laugh, but it sounded like a sad laugh. He held her for a minute before he put her down. He looked at her and, up close, he saw that her eyes were red.
"Are you okay?" She gave a fake smile,
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Are you sure? Did something happen at your classes or something?"
"No, no, I'm fine, really." He nodded, not fully convinced,
"Okay." She nodded, obviously glad that he had let it go. He smiled too,
"So, what do you want to do?"
"Well, my mom called me last night and asked if we were going to see her before you left."
"Of course. Do you want to go right now?"
"Sure."
The ride there was mostly quiet; they barely said anything to each other. He knew there was something wrong with her, but she obviously didn't want to talk about it. When they got to her mom's house, she got out without saying anything to him. They got out and walked up to the door and Allison rang the doorbell. They heard footsteps behind the door and a couple of seconds later, it opened.
It was the first time Ben had seen her mom since the funeral. She looked good and you couldn't tell that she had just been to a funeral two days before. She smiled when she saw that it was Ben and Allison.
"Hi! Here, come on it, it's chilly out there."
They spent a couple of hours at her mom's house, just talking and visiting with her. It turned out that she wasn't doing as well on the inside as he had thought. After they had left the gravesite that day, her mom had gone back and gathered up all of the photos of her father.
She had stood in front of the table and cried for almost thirty minutes. She had finally got all of her things together and brought all of the pictures home. For the past two nights, she had cried herself to sleep and today was the first day that she had not cried since he had passed away.
"I'm just trying to go on. Eric wouldn't want me to cry everyday like I have been. He would want me to spend the rest of my life happy, wouldn't he?" Allison nodded and Ben said,
"Absolutely, he would want you to go on as best you could." Her mom nodded and looked over at Allison,
"Are you okay, honey?" Ben looked over at her and she looked like she was about to cry.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, quietly. Ben continued to look at her and knew that something was definitely wrong.
"Well, Mrs. Johnson, I think we're going to head on."
"Okay, thank you for coming and seeing me before you left." They stood up and Ben gave her a hug.
"I don't think I'll be able to come see you off; I have a job interview at 5:45" She sighed,
"Someone has to work around here."
"It's okay, I understand." Her mom smiled and hugged him again,
"Please stay safe out there, Ben. You're like my son now." He pulled away to look at her,
"Thank you; you've become like my mom, too. You've been so welcoming and loving and you remind me so much of my mom. I wish you and Allison both could have met her. I'll stay safe; I already promised Allison that I would come home so I can't break that." Her mom smiled again and Ben turned around to look at Allison. What he saw surprised him; Allison's face was covered in tears. He raised his eyebrow,
"Allison, what's wrong?" She bit her lip and shook her head and ran to the front door and ran outside. He turned around to face her mom,
"Excuse me for a minute, Mrs. Johnson." She nodded and ushered him out. He ran outside and saw that she was leaning up against his truck, facing the road. He went over to her,
"Allison, what is it? What's wrong?" She turned to look at him, then turned back and looked at the road. He moved in front of her, blocking her view of the road so she had to look at him. He put one hand on her shoulder,
"Allison, tell me; don't push me away." She looked down for a minute as more tears fell down her cheeks. She finally looked up at him,
"I didn't want to tell you."
"Tell me what?"
"That I cried myself to sleep last night." He raised his eyebrow as he suddenly got nervous. She sighed and continued,
"I've tried to hold it in, it's your last day on leave; I didn't want to tell you for that exact reason. I love you and I would wait forever for you, that isn't what this is about at all. It's just- I know what happened these past eighteen months and I know how hard it was for me, and you, too, of course. It just got me to thinking and I started crying and I couldn't seem to stop. I didn't want to tell you because it's your last day and I wanted it to be a happy day for you; I guess I ruined it though, didn't I?" He shook his head and pulled her into his arms and held her,
"Of course not. Having you here with me is the most important thing and the thing I want most. I understand why you didn't want to tell me and it's okay. I know it seems like a lifetime away, but, in eighteen months, I'll be out for good." She looked up at him,
"That's another thing that I thought about; you don't know that you'll be out in eighteen months. What about those lists you told me about? You told me they could make you stay in for another four years if you're put on that list"
"I know, but we can't worry about that. This'll be the last eighteen months, okay?"
"Do you promise?"
"I promise you." She nodded and he pulled her into his arms again. He hugged and held her close for a while before her mom came outside on the porch.
"Is everything okay, Allison?" Allison pulled away and turned to look at her,
"Yeah, I'm fine, mom; sorry for running out." She shook her head and came over to them and hugged her,
"Don't worry about it, sweetie. I just wanted to see if you were okay." Allison nodded and said thank you. Her mom turned to Ben and gave him one last hug and told him goodbye one more time. He hugged her for another minute before he pulled away. Allison hugged her next and told her that she would come over after she dropped Ben off at the airport. Her mom walked back and stood on the porch and waved to them as they backed out of the driveway and drove away.
When they got back to his house, it was about 3:00. They pulled into the driveway and got out. Before they went inside, he reached for her hand. She turned around to face him and he pulled her close,
"Are you- Are you okay? I mean, nothing has changed has it?" She smiled weakly,
"Of course not; I just let my imagination get the best of me. I told you the truth when I said I didn't have a choice but to wait for you. I've been thinking about what you said; this will be the last time you go back. Unless you get put on those lists, but I don't want you to even think about that. We've done this before and I know we can do it again." He smiled and nodded,
"Thank you." She smiled too and reached up and kissed him.
For the rest of the time they had left together, they stayed in his house and went to the field behind his house where they had fallen asleep a couple of days ago. They lay in the grass in each other's arms and stared both at the sky and at each other.
While they were lying with each other, it felt like they were the only ones in the world; the world had somehow stopped while they were in each other's arms. They stood up and he chased her through the field for almost thirty minutes. He caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and picked her up. They both laughed and she looked down at him, both of their expressions suddenly turning serious. He put her down and they stared at each other for what seemed like forever.
"Allison, I-"
She cut him off by shaking her head and smiling. She looked back up at him and then she circled her arms around his neck, pulling him down to meet her lips. Responding to her, he put his arms around her back and pulled her in closer so he could feel her body against his chest. He kissed her passionately and held her there as she moved her lips slowly with his. They kissed for a while before she pulled away and laid her head on his chest, hearing his heartbeat. She sighed and whispered,
"I'm going to miss you." He ran his fingers through her hair,
"I'm going to miss you, too. I'll write even more and request to get shipped back here." She nodded and checked his watch and saw that it was 4:30. Despite how much he wanted to stay in the field with Allison, he forced himself to say,
"Hey, I think it's time to head back to the house."
When they got back to the house, he went and packed his things. He dug his duffel bag out from underneath his bed and packed all of his things. He took the pictures of both he and Allison as well as the picture of him and his family and put them in his bag. When he finished packing, he got his uniform out of the closet and, reluctantly, put it on. He looked in the mirror and adjusted his collar and looked at himself. He took a deep breath and shook his head and walked back into the kitchen.
Allison was setting the table for dinner and, when he came in, she looked at him. They both smiled weakly as his dad came in the room.
"Okay, are we ready to eat?"
They ate pretty quickly and, when they were finished, they put their plates in the sink. His dad broke the sudden silence,
"Well, are we ready to go?" Ben looked at Allison, but she was staring straight ahead, not wanting to meet his eyes. It was all it took for him to turn back to his father and nod his head,
"Yeah, let's go."
It took about fifteen to twenty minutes to get to the airport and it was ten minutes after five when they got there. His dad drove with Ben in the passenger seat and Allison in the back. When they pulled up, Allison got out first and Ben took a deep breath and followed her. His dad popped the trunk and Ben got his bag out and slung it over his shoulder.
He turned around to face Allison and her arms were crossed. He looked at her for a minute before reaching for her hand. She uncrossed her arms and held his hand with both of hers. His father walked behind them as they walked to the entrance. They went inside and sat down in the rocking chairs in the lobby. Ben moved his chair beside Allison's and they held hands as their time together slowly came to an end. His father sat across from them and when it was time for Ben to leave, he stood up.
"It's about that time, isn't it?" Ben nodded, reluctantly, and let go of Allison's hand and stood up.
"Stay safe for me, okay?"
"I will, dad, don't worry about me." His dad nodded and hugged him,
"I love you, son."
"I love you too. Write me and tell me what's going on and how you're doing, okay?"
"I will, I promise."
They hugged again and his dad walked away, leaving him to say goodbye to Allison. He turned around to face her and she had tears in her eyes. She stood up and they looked at each other for a minute before he wrapped his arms around her. He felt her begin to shake and he heard her start to cry. He held her tighter and he heard her say,
"I love you." He pulled away and put both of his hands on her cheeks and kissed her,
"I love you, too. You're sacrificing so much for me and I can't tell you how much that means to me. I promise, after these eighteen months are over, I'm going to come back here and be with you." He looked away for a second and swallowed the nervous lump in his throat. He looked back at her and whispered,
"And then I'm going to marry you." She looked at him,
"What?"
"When I come back, I'm going to propose to you and I'm going to marry you." She looked at him for a minute before she smiled,
"Are you serious?" He smiled and nodded,
"I'm completely serious. In eighteen months I'm going to ask you to marry me." She got the biggest smile on her face and she threw his arms around his neck. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"And in eighteen months I'm going to say yes." He smiled again and picked her up and twirled her around. She laughed and he put her down and kissed her,
"In eighteen months I'll be the happiest man alive." She smiled and kissed him again. While they were kissing, they heard a man come over the intercom and say that his flight was now boarding. He pulled away and she said,
"I'm not going to cry; I'll see you again in eighteen months and I'm going to count down the days. We've done this before and I have a feeling this time is going to go by faster than the first time. We can write to each other even more, can't we?"
"Absolutely and I'll ask to be transferred back to Edwards; they have computers so we can have video chats all the time, okay?" She nodded and he saw her get tears in her eyes. She laughed embarrassedly,
"That didn't last very long, did it?" He smiled weakly and held her again.
"I love you and I meant what I said about marrying you. I've never been so serious about anything in my life." She smiled,
"Good and I love you, too, Ben, with all of my heart."
He smiled and kissed her again before he forced himself to let her go. He bent down and picked up his bag and threw it over his shoulder. He kissed her one final time and told her how much he loved her before he turned around and began to walk to the terminal. As he walked, he felt his heart breaking and he felt a pit in his stomach- a nervous pit. One phrase kept replaying in his head,
"Be on the lookout for those lists."
So many mixed emotions! Sad that Ben's going back, happy that Allison said she would wait for him,excited because Allison said she'll marry Ben but nervous to see what's going to happen with the lists. Whooo, the next chapter should be up soon! Hope you guys liked it! Please review! :)
