So here's the first chapter of part three! Needless to say, the story will go on. I promise. I think you guys will like it... but gah i'm not giving anything away. Enjoy!


Chapter 39

The months and years following his break-up with Allison were some of the hardest he's ever had to face. Every mission that was available, he found himself volunteering for; no matter how hard or dangerous it seemed. He spent the rest of his twenty-seven month term in Iraq, going on more missions than he had in his entire career combined. When his two year and three month term was up, he finally returned home where he spent two weeks with his father. When he got home, he had an aching in his heart. He wouldn't be spending his two weeks on leave with Allison and he wasn't prepared for the sadness he would feel on that leave.

After he had broken up with Allison, he wrote a letter to his father telling him that he had, indeed, broken up with her. He had probably already heard it from Allison, but he wanted to make sure his father heard it from him as well. When he had gotten home from his term, his dad picked him up from the airport and they talked all the way home, Ben telling him exactly why he had broken up with her.

For the next three years, he spent his leaves with his father. He grew closer with his father, closer than he had ever been with him before. They went on fishing trips on every single one of his leaves.

His father had bought a vacation home down at Carolina Beach and when he came home on leave, they would go spend a week there. They fished everyday while they were at the beach house, either down at the beach or on the pier. The first time they fished on the pier, he was instantly reminded of his date with Allison. No matter how hard he tried to put it behind him, the memory stayed locked in his rain. He ended up reliving their whole relationship and the time spent fishing with his father was silent.

It wasn't fair to his father so, from then on, he focused on his time with his father. After they spent a week at the beach house, they would come home and, lately, had been spending a lot of time with their new neighbors. He met them on the leave after his twenty-seven month term was up. Their names were Chris and Madison Malone and, his first impression of them was that they were very nice people. They were down- to- Earth and they didn't live their life according to the fast- paced world around them. They enjoyed the little things in like and Ben and his father had barbeques with them almost every afternoon.

When his leave was up, his father took him to the airport, where they said a quick goodbye; it was the easiest good-bye he had said in nearly five years. The next nine months in the Air Force went by pretty quickly. He was sent on a couple of missions, nothing too major, where his job was only to fly a plane that had medicine and medical tools inside to some of the native villages. He did three missions like that in the nine months that he was there.

He and Ethan still remained close friends and they had actually been sent on the last mission together and Ethan had recently begun dating a girl back home.

"I don't know about this relationship with Sarah though; if you and Allison couldn't make it, I don't think the rest of us stand a chance." Ben shook his head,

"Don't let my relationship with Allison discourage you and Sarah. If you have feelings for her, go for it."

"Do you know how hypocritical you sound?" Ben looked at him and Ethan asked,

"How long has it been since you broke up with Allison?" Ben thought about it for a second, suddenly realizing how long it had actually been,

"It's been almost two years."

"And you're still thinking about her, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am."

"And you still love her right?" Ben looked down,

"Yeah, I do. But I don't see what this has to do with you and Sarah." Ethan laughed again,

"You just told me that, if I have feelings for Sarah, then I should go for it. But you just said you still have feelings for Allison, so why aren't you going for it?" Ben shook his head,

"That's totally different."

"Why?"

"Because me and Allison have been broken up for almost two years. She's gone on with her life and so have I." Ethan laughed,

"Oh, you have, have you?"

"Yeah, I have."

"Then why is it that you still have those pictures of you and her down hear the water and at the aquarium? If you moved on, shouldn't you have already gotten rid of them?" Ben looked away, realizing he was right,

"All I'm trying to say is that if you like Sarah, go for it." Ethan laughed,

"Okay, fine, I will."


For the last three months of his term, he stayed on the base, working out and flying. He was getting stronger and his muscles were getting bigger. He had toned most of the fat from his stomach and his calf muscles had also started getting bigger due to the new exercise machine the base had received.

He also played videogames too while he was stuck on the base. He had continued playing Rockband and had gotten really good at the drums since he had started playing ages ago. He would play with his friends and they would all compete, each taking turns on all of the instruments and trying to get the highest score. He usually won on the drums and had, recently, been getting better on the guitar. The singing was a different story though; he usually got the lowest score when it came to singing.

When they three months were finally up, he returned home. The day he left, Lieutenant Jenkins came up to him and announced that Ben wouldn't be coming back to the base when his leave was up.

"What? Why not?

"You and a group of other men are being transferred to Edwards in the U.S.; California if I'm not mistaken." Ben nodded,

"Yes sir, that's right. So, is there any particular reason I'm being transferred back?"

"They said they've been receiving some threats; nothing major, but they've got to take it seriously. It's, most likely, just someone playing games, but they need good, well-trained pilots and I told them I had the perfect one." Ben smiled and nodded,

"Thank you, sir." He nodded, too, and extended his hand,

"It was a pleasure getting to know you, Ben. You're one of the best men and one of the best pilots the Air Force has seen in a long time." Ben smiled again and shook his hand,

"Thank you, sir. And thank you for making me run those laps so long ago, it really taught me something." He laughed,

"You're welcome; you stay safe over there, okay?"

"I will, sir."

After he talked with the lieutenant, he packed up his things and walked down the hallway to Ethan's room. He knocked on the door and Ethan opened it,

"Hey, Ben, come on in."

"I can't stay for too long, I have to meet the taxi in about ten minutes. But Lieutenant Jenkins just came and told me that I was being transferred to Edwards, so I won't be coming back when my leave is up."

"Oh, that's too bad. Did he say why you were being transferred?"

"Yeah, the base has been getting some kind of threat against it and they said they need some well-trained pilots."

"Wow, that's exactly what Lieutenant Jenkins just told me about a half hour ago Edwards is in California, right?" Ben looked at him and smiled,

"Yeah, it is. You're in the group that's being transferred there?" Ethan smiled and nodded,

"Yeah I guess I'm a 'good, well-trained' pilot, too." Ben laughed and gave him a quick hug,

"Okay, so you'll already be there when my leave is up, right?"

"Yeah, we head there in a week or so, I think."

"All right, well my taxi's going to be here soon, so I'll see you at Edwards in a couple of weeks."

"Okay, stay safe, Ben."

"You, too."


When his plane landed in Wilmington, he was excited. His father was picking him up and Ben was excited to see him. They had wrote letters back and forth while Ben was away and Ben used his one phone call a month to talk to him. When they landed, he got off of the plane and got his bag and walked to find his father. When he spotted him in the crowd, he smiled and walked over to him. His dad smiled and when they were close enough, Ben put down his bag and gave him a hug,

"How are you doing, Ben?"

"I'm good, dad, how are you?"

"Doing good; let's go home, you want to?" Ben laughed,

"Absolutely."

They drove home and talked all of the way. Ben told him that he wouldn't be going back to Afghanistan but, in fact was being transferred to Edwards.

"So you'll be staying in the states this time, huh?"

"Yeah, I can't believe it."

"Can't believe what?" Ben shrugged his shoulders,

"Just that I only have to go back two more times."

"Wow, that is crazy Are you ready to be out or do you think you're going to miss it?"

"Well, I'll miss flying and stuff, but I'm definitely ready to be out. I feel like I've been in forever and I'm ready to get my own place and get a job somewhere."

"That sounds good. It'll probably feel weird, though, you think?"

"Yeah, but I'm ready for it." His dad nodded as they pulled into the driveway. He cut the car off,

"Well, are you ready to pack up the fishing stuff and head to the beach house?" Ben nodded,

"Yeah, absolutely."


They went inside and Ben went to his room and unpacked his things. He changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. It was mid-April and summer was definitely on its way. It was supposed to be seventy-six degrees today, which was perfect weather to go fishing. He packed some clothes into his Air Force bag and grabbed his sunglasses and went outside to help his dad get the fishing stuff together.

His dad was in the shed and Ben joined him and helped him get the fishing poles and the tackle box. He also grabbed his surf board; he hadn't surfed in over three years. They loaded up Ben's truck and headed towards Carolina Beach.

Their beach house was a two-bedroom, one bathroom house. It had a full kitchen with barstools along with a little kitchen table. It was decorated with bright, blue furniture, all beach-themed of course, with beach chairs, umbrellas and starfish imprinted on it.

When they got there, they brought all of their fishing gear in the house. Ben went and put his bag in his room and started unpacking. He was putting his clothes in the drawer when he saw a picture on top of his dresser. He looked at it closer and it immediately made his heart start to ache. It was a picture of him and Allison down by the water, kissing. He stared at it for a few minutes, a rush of memories coming back to him.

He couldn't believe that it had been nearly two years since he had broken up with her. It seemed like just yesterday that he was talking to her on the phone, breaking up with her. Though he had tried, and somewhat had, moved on, he still thought about her. He wondered if she had done what she had set out to do; graduate from college and get a job, nursing. He knew that she was passionate about it and he had wanted nothing but the best for her. She deserved it and he wanted her to be happy.

He often wondered if she had moved on and met someone new. Like he had told her in the letter, she deserved someone that would make her happy. He also wondered if she still thought about him, even after two years.

He continued to look at the picture, almost feeling the touch of her lips on his. Even after two years, he was still in love with her, no matter how much he wanted to deny it. He wondered what the picture was doing here at the beach house. He picked it up and walked down the hallway to his dad's room. His dad was unpacking his things and Ben knocked on the door. His dad turned around,

"Oh, hey, Ben, what's up?"

"Nothing, just," He scratched his head,

"Why is there a picture of me and Allison in my room?" His dad looked at him for a second and Ben handed him the picture.

"Oh, this picture? I found it when I was dusting your room at the house."

"How? It was under my bed." His dad raised his eyebrow,

"You knew it was there?"

"Well, yeah, dad, I mean, I knew it was in my room."

"Why do you still have a picture of you and Allison kissing underneath your bed?"

"Because I wasn't just going to throw it away. Even though we've broken up, I'm not going to throw a picture of her away."

"Even after two years? Do you think she's kept any pictures of you? If she's met someone, do you think she's going to have pictures of you around where her boyfriend, or even husband, could see them?" Ben looked down; he had not even considered the fact that she could be married.

"I'm sorry, Ben, I know you don't want to hear that. But I didn't know that you knew the picture was under your bed. I figured you didn't know it was there and, like you, I didn't want to throw it away, so I just brought it here." Ben nodded and his dad said,

"Look, I can put it somewhere so you won't have to see if it you want me to."

"No, it's fine. Just because we broke up doesn't mean I can't have a picture of her." His dad nodded and said,

"You know we haven't really talked about Allison."

"What's there to talk about?" His dad looked at him for a minute,

"You still love her, don't you?" Ben sighed,

"Dad, can we not talk about this, please?"

"Fine; you ready to go fishing?" He nodded, his mind suddenly somewhere else,

"Yeah, let's go."


Wow, two years. Crazy stuff, right? Well, next update should be soon! Please review!