Early April 2008

Tasha waits for Alice to arrive back home in their shared small apartment. Her heart is racing faster than it might have ever. It feels like it would beat right out of her chest, her stomach is in her throat and she swallows thickly in vain. Clutched tightly in her right hand is her written orders. She had been accepted into the military after her required physical and evaluation and there written in bold ink was the letters that spelled out to her leaving in a month for camp.

She sighed, dropping her head in her palm. "Fuck." She hadn't told Alice that she had even signed up. Everything that she had done the past few weeks in preparation was kept from Alice because she knew that her girlfriend wouldn't like one bit of it. The blonde was vehemently against the military and its meanings, she always had been so Tasha knew that telling the love of her life that she had joined was not going to end well. Tasha wasn't sure how Alice would react and the different scenarios that ran through her head only made it that much worse. Okay, now she was starting to feel sick. The raven-haired woman got up, deciding that pacing the living room floor might make her feel better. It didn't.

The door quickly opened, Alice who had been in class all morning and afternoon was beat. She wanted nothing more than to be able to cuddle into bed with her girlfriend and watch a movie before drifting off to dream world. "Hey baby," She greeted upon walking into the living room, however after noticing the look on Tasha's face she paused. It was a serious look, one that she knew meant business, one that told her that her night of rest might not end up being that at all. "What's wrong?" She questioned in a soft tone. Tasha looked over at Alice, her nerves kicking up into overdrive. "Um. I have something to tell you and I know you're not going to like it." At that Alice knitted her brows together, looking down to see the now crumpled paper that her girlfriend was holding onto tightly. "...What?" She hesitantly asked.

The soldier-to-be cleared her throat and scratched her forehead. "Alice, I...I-I joined the military. I had my physical and evaluation and I've been cleared. I'm set to ship out to the base in late May." She looked up, giving Alice a chance to process and speak if she wished. The blonde only blinked. Tasha stared back at her girlfriend for a few moments and she instantly knew she was in trouble. "I'm sorry that I kept this a secret from you. I knew you would try to stop me and I-I couldn't let you do that." Alice only blinked once more and Tasha sighed. "Al, please say something."

A few seconds passed, dread quickly beginning to loom over the two. Alice dropped her gaze, tears had begun to well up in her eyes and she knew if she didn't control herself things were going to get ugly very fast. "I-is this your way of b-breaking up with me or something, because I-I mean you could have just come out and said it, you-you didn't have to-to do that. I know that we've been together for a while now and I understand that you need y-." Tasha quickly cut her off, "Wait, wait, whoa, break up with you? Alice that's not what I'm doing here. I joined the military. I did."

The tears broke free at that moment, there was no controlling them, no way of keeping Tasha from seeing them. The fell down her cheeks her light mascara beginning to run. "Why, then? Why would you do this to me?" She sniffed, looking back up at her girlfriend. Tasha almost broke in that moment, she hated seeing the blonde cry and it hurt her, even more, to know that she was the cause of it. She sighed, the pacing starting up again. "I-I'm not doing anything to you, Al. This is something that I decided was best for me, for us."

"For US? Are you fucking kidding me? How could you going overseas and risking your life benefit us in any kind of way?" Alice's temper was starting to rise and so was her voice. "Baby, please, listen to me. You know that this College thing isn't and wasn't ever going to be for me. I can't do it and before I become some moocher who's living off her girlfriend and working dead-end jobs I am going to use any other option that I have. You know that my family are military people, it was bound to happen, Al and you know it. My father is ecstatic, can you just be happy for me? Please? I'm going to be doing something meaningful with my life."

"Happy?" The blonde scoffed bitterly. "I'm supposed to be happy about having to give up my life with my girlfriend? That instead of getting to come home to her in the evenings, I get to come home to an empty apartment and worry? Alone. By myself. Worry whether or not she's safe that day, worry about whether or not I'll ever see her again and if she does happen to come home to me, in what shape?" By this point she was sobbing, her heart slowly breaking. "I don't think I can do that, Tash. I'm not that strong enough for this."

The raven-haired woman stepped closer to her girlfriend desperately wanting to console her and ease the pain. "Listen, you're plenty strong and I'm going to be okay." Alice opened her mouth to voice something but was quickly cut off by Tasha. "I'm going to come back home to you, no matter what. I'm making that promise to you right now." It was the most absurd thing she could ever promise, she knew it was something that would be completely and totally out of her control but she also knew that it was what Alice needed to hear in that moment. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm not going to be totally on my own. Shane decided to join as well and with some luck, we'll be able to do this together. We promised to take care of each other out there. It's going to be okay." Tasha thumbed away a tear. "We are going to be okay." She added, hoping Alice caught into the double meaning.

"Ho-how will I know you're okay? Will I get to hear from you?" She wasn't okay with this, not in the least little bit but what was one was done. She knew Tasha couldn't turn back now and even making a request such as that would be considered selfish on her end. So instead of fighting against a losing battle, she chose in that moment that she would try to come to terms with it and deal with things the best way she could.

Tasha nodded. "We have phones, the reception will be horrible out there but they are usable to some extent. There is the old-fashioned snail mail and we have access to some personal computers. We will be able to keep in touch in some form and I'll be able to keep you updated on everything, albeit slowly but it is better than nothing, right?" She smiled sadly. It wasn't the best but at least it was something. Fresh tears sprang from Alice's puffy red eyes and the sight broke Tasha too, her own eyes filling with tears that stung. That night she held Alice in her arms as they both prepared themselves for the long, unsure journey they were sure to face.

A/N: Annnnnd that was chapter two. A bit of a flashback for you guys. I appreciate the review of the last chapter. Glad to see people are actually interested in this story! It definitely gives me inspo to continue. So feel free to leave me some more reviews. I would love to see what you guys think so far.