New chapter again! These updates are really comin' fast y'all. I'm trying to get this story done before I go back to school on the 25th. Because I know i'm gonna be super super busy, especially being a senior and doing senior project and all of that. sigh. But this is my last year of high school! So excited for that. And I think the good thing about this story is that all I have to do is transfer from my notebook to Word because I've already written everything out for the story. Like it's complete. All I have to do is type it up! Which i'm doing fairly quickly. Anyway, this A/N is huge, so i'll just let you read :)
Chapter 41
They loaded everything back into the boat and Ben pushed it off of the sand and into the water, and then jumped onboard. Chris started the boat and Ben and Lilah sat at the back of the boat and talked all the way back to the marina. Lilah asked him some more questions about Allison and he, basically, told her everything he knew.
When they got back to the marina, Lilah and Madison got all of the bags out of the boat and Ben and his father helped Chris load the boat onto the trailer. It took a few minutes but they finally got everything loaded and into the truck. They all got in and Chris started the truck and they headed back to their house.
They talked a lot on the way back; Lilah asked him a bunch of questions about the Air Force and he told her all about it. He told her about all of the missions he had been on and about the base he had been on in Afghanistan. She asked him a couple of questions about his missions and he went into detail about a few of his recent ones. They talked the whole way home and, once they turned into the driveway, they got out of the truck and Ben and his father helped them take all of the stuff inside.
When they finished, they walked out on the front porch and Ben and his father both thanked Chris and Madison for inviting them. Chris waved it off,
"It's no problem; anytime. We'll have to do it again, soon." Ben nodded and Lilah pulled him to the side while her parents were talking to his father. She smiled,
"Thank you for being so nice today; I had a lot of fun. And thank you for teaching me how to tube." He smiled,
"You're welcome I had fun, too."
"I'm sorry for kissing you; I would never have done it if I had known about Allison and how much you love her. You were just so nice and funny; I felt really attracted to you. I don't blame Allison for pleading with you to change your mind." He smiled and gave her a hug,
"You're pretty nice, too. You're going to make a great girlfriend and wife one day."
"Thank you." He gave Lilah another quick hug and thanked Chris and Madison again for inviting them and they headed back across the yard to their house.
His father unlocked the door and they went inside. His dad hung up the keys and turned around to face Ben, smiling. Ben raised his eyebrow,
"What are you smiling at?"
"Are you going to tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"C'mon Ben, about you and Lilah." Ben shook his head,
"It was nothing and, in case you've forgotten, I'm still mad at you."
"What for?"
"You hid the letter you got from Allison from me for two years, dad."
"I didn't hide it from you; I just didn't tell you about it." Ben nodded,
"Exactly, that's hiding it."
"No, hiding it would be putting it in a place where you couldn't see or find it; it's been on top of my drawer ever since I got it."
"I don't ever go in there, how would I see it?"
"I don't know, but It's not my fault you don't go in there."
"Whatever, but anyways, nothing happened with Lilah." His dad sat down on the couch,
"But you spent the entire time with her."
"So? That doesn't mean anything happened." His dad didn't say anything right away, but he finally asked,
"Are you sure?" The way his dad asked, Ben knew that he had seen Lilah kiss him. He sighed,
"You saw her miss me, didn't you?"
"Yeah. Chris and Madison didn't see it I don't think, but I happened to see her scoot towards you out of the corner of my eye and then I saw her kiss you." He nodded and then sighed and saw town in the chair across from him,
"It's just, when she kissed me, I didn't feel anything. There wasn't any sparks or any connection."
"Unlike your first kiss with Allison." Ben looked at him,
"What?"
"You're comparing the kiss with Lilah to your first kiss with Allison, right? You felt all of those things with Allison but not with Lilah." Ben laughed and nodded,
"How do you know that?"
"Because Allison was the first girl you ever loved, and you're never going to forget her. You never forget your first love; luckily, my first love was your mom. But I've talked to many guys I work with that are happily married and have kids but still remember their first loves. Allison wasn't just the first girl you loved, she was the girl that you wanted to marry and the one you could see yourself with for the rest of your life, right?" He nodded and his father continued,
"You won't feel exactly the same way about another girl like you felt with Allison But, now that you've been in love, you know what love feels like and another girl is going to come along who's going to capture your heart."
"But what if I don't want to be with another person?"
"Why did you break up with Allison then?" He sighed,
"Don't ask me that, you know why."
"Ben, you honestly thought that she wouldn't think she did something wrong? C'mon, you've got to know better."
"Well, I guess I'm just stupid then because no, I didn't think she would question herself." He sighed shook his head,
"I just wanted her to be happy; I didn't want to cause her any more pain. I guess I was wrong for wanting that for her.' His dad shook his head,
"You weren't wrong for wanting that-"
"Well then what was I supposed to do? I was over there for twenty-seven months; I couldn't be here no matter how much I wanted to. I felt like that was my only choice. What would you have done? If you knew the girl you loved was home crying herself to sleep every night and having to take medication for her depression? That's the last thing I wanted for her and to know that I was the person doing that to her and the one making her feel that way? I couldn't keep doing that to her." His dad sighed and nodded,
"I know you couldn't and I honestly don't know what I would have done. I'm glad I wasn't the one who had to make that decision. How old were you when you made that decision? You're 27 now and that was two years ago so 25?" Ben nodded and his dad continued,
"You're very mature for your age, Ben. No twenty-five year old should have to make a life-changing decision like the one you made."
"Yeah, it's over though. I can't change anything; I guess I have to move on."
For the rest of the week, they basically stayed at the house. They went over to Chris and Madison's a couple of nights during the week for dinner and, the day before Ben was scheduled to go back, he and his father cooked dinner for Chris, Madison and Lilah. Ben didn't know Lilah was coming until a couple of hours before they arrived. When his father told him,
"Lilah's coming too?"
"Yeah, Madison called me a couple of hours ago and asked if it was okay. Why? Is there a problem?" He shook his head and his dad asked,
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure, I was just asking."
"Okay, well they will be here in a couple of hours."
A couple of hours later, Ben went out on the back and started the grill. He let it hear up before he went inside and got the steaks. He put them on the grill and stood by it, keeping an eye on them until he heard the doorbell ring. A couple of minutes later, he heard the sliding glass door behind him open. He turned around and Lilah asked,
"Are you grilling those steaks?" He shook his head and answered, sarcastically,
"No, I'm boiling them." She laughed,
"Shut up. Are they almost done? I'm starving."
"Hey, don't rush the chef." She held up her hands,
"Sorry, I was just asking a question." He smiled,
"They'll be ready in a couple of minutes."
"Good."
"Are your parents with you?"
"Yeah, they're inside talking with your dad." He nodded and, a couple of minutes later, he said,
"Okay, they're ready. Can you go get the plate from inside?"
"Sure." She disappeared inside and, a couple of seconds later, reemerged with the plate in her hands. She handed it to him and he thanked her. She smiled,
"You're welcome."
He used the tongs to pick the steaks up and, when he got all of them off of the grill, he put the top back on it and turned it off. He followed Lilah inside where his dad was setting the table. Chris and Madison were sitting in the living room and, when he came inside, Madison said hello. He put the plate of steaks on the counter and turned in her direction,
"Hey Mrs. Malone, how are you?"
"I'm wonderful, how are you?"
"I'm doing good. Well, are y'all hungry? There's plenty of food."
They all made their plates and Ben ended up sitting beside Madison and Lilah. They ate and talked for almost three hours. They asked him when he was supposed to head back and he said,
"Tomorrow morning, actually."
"Wow, what time?" Madison asked.
"My plane leaves at 9:00."
"Well, I hope you stay safe." Chris said.
"Me, too." Lilah added. He smiled,
"Thank you. I'm sure I will."
They finished eating and talking and they put all of their plates in the sink and headed out on to the front porch. Madison gave him a hug and said,
"It was fun spending time with you these last couple of days. We'll have o do it again when you come back."
"Absolutely, and thank you again for taking us out on the boat and for cooking us dinner those two nights." She smiled,
"You're welcome, be careful, okay?" He nodded and Chris stuck out his hand He took it and said,
"Thank you, too, Mr. Malone for everything."
"You're very welcome. Come back safely, okay?"
"I will, sir" Ben turned to Lilah and she smiled,
"My turn, huh?" He smiled and gave her a hug. While he was hugging her, he heard her say,
"Don't do anything stupid, okay? I need my tubing buddy back next summer." He smiled,
"I'll miss you, too, Lilah." She smiled and pulled back to look at him,
"Just be careful and come back soon, alright?"
"I will."
He gave her another hug and his dad told them all good-bye and they walked off of the porch back across the yard.
For the rest of the night, Ben packed all of his things, yet again, and he helped his dad wash the dishes and clean everything up. When he was finished, he told his father goodnight and headed to bed.
His plane was scheduled to leave at 9:00 the next morning. He woke up at 7 and took a long shower and packed up his shampoo and razors. He had started growing some facial hair; it had brown before, of course, but he had always shaved it off. He had begun to let it grow, not a full grown beard, but a little stubble, he decided, looked pretty good. He finished packing all of his things and went in the kitchen where his dad was reading the paper.
"Good morning."
"Morning, dad."
"How'd you sleep?"
"Good." He answered as he got a pop-tart out of the cabinet.
"You're eating a pop-tart on your last day on leave?"
"Yeah, what's wrong with pop-tarts?"
"Nothing, it's not a meal I would pick for my last day, though." He laughed,
"'Last day?' I'll be home in nine months; this won't be the last meal I eat at home." His dad nodded,
"You're right."
He ate his pop-tart in front of the T.V. and, when he was finished, he put his bowl in the sink and looked down at his watch and saw that it was 7:45. He sighed and went and knocked on his dad's bedroom door. He opened it and Ben said,
"Hey, I think it's about time to head on."
"Okay, are you all packed?"
"Yeah, it's in my room."
"Well, go get it and meet me outside." He nodded and went to his room and grabbed his bag and threw it over his shoulder. He took another last took at his room and went outside, where his dad was waiting.
It took about twenty minutes to get to the airport. When they got there, they found a parking spot and his dad parked the car. He popped the trunk and Ben got out and got his bag from the trunk and threw it over his shoulder. They went inside and sat down in the lobby for about fifteen minutes. While they were sitting, his dad said,
"Well, after this, we'll only have to sit here one more time."
"Yeah, I'm ready, too. I'm ready to be out."
"I'm sure you are, it feels like you've been in for forever."
"I know, I'm tired of sitting in these chairs." His dad smiled and, over the intercom, a woman announced that his plane to California was now boarding.
"It feels weird not going back to Afghanistan." He said, standing up. His dad stood up, too,
"Well, at least your plane ride won't be as long this time."
"Yeah, that's probably the best thing about it." His dad nodded and Ben put his bag down and gave him a hug.
"You be safe, okay?"
"I will, I've stayed safe before, haven't I?"
"Yeah, but just be careful and look out for yourself." He nodded and gave him another hug,
"Love you, dad."
"Love you too, Ben."
He bent down and picked up his bag and turned walked to the counter and let the woman check his ticket. She gave it back to him and he turned back around and waved to his dad before turning around and going through the terminal.
So, yes this was a short chapter compared to my others. But, I really think you're going to like the next few. And they'll be longer! Promise! Hope you enjoyed it! And I wouldn't be a proper author if I didn't ask you to review. So please review! :D
