A/N

I wrote this a while ago as a small one shot and then I added it to a WIP but I always like the idea of it as a stand alone, so here it is. And if I ever finish the other story, you'll find it there also.

XXXXXXX

Jay was 16 when he decided he wanted to be an Army Ranger. No, that wasn't true. Jay was 16 when he decided he would go to war. He was 17 when he decided, after some research, he would go to war as an Army Ranger.

When Jay was ten his best friend moved away to Boston. They had been friends since preschool. Andrew was an only child and Jay had Will and Will had everyone, which boiled down to Andrew and Jay having each other. But that was fine. Will was a good big brother, but Andrew was his best friend. They did everything together, they even got beat up on the way home from school together.

Jay was devastated when Andrew moved away. His whole world seemed to end and he was alone. His mom and dad worked and Will was Will, doing Will stuff that didn't include Jay, but he was still a good big brother. He just wasn't Andrew.

They talked a lot on the phone at first, Andrew thought the people in Boston talked weird, Jay agreed. There were 26 letters in the alphabet, but the citizens of Boston were missing the 'R.' They did talk weird

Andrew wasn't getting beat up at school. He was actually popular because he had an 'R' in his alphabet. They thought he talked cool. They treated him like he was from another country, like France or Germany. Andrew moved away and became cool. Jay was happy about that. Andrew was his best friend, he always thought Andrew was cool.

On September 11th 2003, his school had an assembly and they read all of the names of the people that had died in the attacks. Jay made it a point to listen to every name. A lot of kids talked or read or were just plain bored, but Jay listened to every name. It was the least he could do.

With the help of his mom, he had practiced his group of names the night before so he would know how to say difficult names correctly. He looked at their pictures so at least for himself there would be a face to the name. He didn't want the people to be just words.

So he said their names, perfectly and slowly, giving each it's due, then returned to his seat. He listened as everyone read their names until Cami Cole read hers. Her fifth name was Marcia Jostad. Her sixth name was Andrew Jostad. Jay didn't hear any other names after that.

He didn't think it was possible…but the timing was right, he guessed. He and Andrew had spoke less and less as time went on, every other month or so.

Their last phone call, was on Andrew's 14th birthday, June 27th, 2001. One of the last things he said to Andrew was yes, he was still getting his ass kicked but it was so much more fun when he had been with him. They laughed hard at that, they laughed a lot on their calls. He wished Andrew happy birthday again and that is the last thing he ever said to his best friend.

They lost contact after that. The next time Jay called, Andrew's phone was disconnected and he didn't really know how to get in touch with him. The few emails he sent were never returned. It made him sad, but a part of him thought at some point they would reconnect. Or at least he thinks he thought that. Life kind of went on.

All the way home from school he held onto the hope that it was a different Marcia and Andrew Jostad, after all they lived in Boston. When he got home he went to his room, locked the door and did some digging and found out that it was his Andrew and Andrew's mom.

No one had told him but maybe no one knew. It was the kind of thing his mom might keep from him to protect him, but he knew that wasn't the case because his mom had asked about Andrew just a few weeks ago. A whole family was wiped off the face of the earth, his best friend, and he didn't know.

When he went back to school the following Monday he was once again bullied on the way home from school. It was the last time he was ever bullied because even though he got beat up, the other three were in much worse condition.

He stayed in his room that night and nursed his wounds and cried for his friend and the unfairness of it all.

Later that night he made a decision to go to war. Jay fought back for himself today, come his 18th birthday, he would join the army and fight for Andrew.

XXXXXXX

XXXXXXX

Okay. There it is. Thanks as always for your comments, kudos and reviews. They make my day.

Thank you ChinVilla for being the bombdiggity!

Stay safe peeps!