Chapter 14
I held onto John's hand, he smiled down at me and pulled on my arms, bringing me against his strong chest. I let out the air I had been holding and we danced together to some time, my head against his chest. Hearing the beating of his heart, even through the thick layers of armor that was between my ear and his heart, was soothing given all the stress from the past few days.
Has it only been a few days? Time flies fast then. John seems just as much in love with me as I am with him. I thought almost aloud to him. I pushed off him, a smile on my face and placed my helmet on my head. John strapped his on and we both left my room.
It didn't take long before we were surrounded by other Spartans. All of which were asking us questions. How did this happen? Are we allowed to fall in love? How did I fall for John? How did he fall for me? Etc. I simply smiled under my helmet, enjoying the attention slightly and pushed my way through the crowd with John's help.
We reached the cafeteria and sat down to eat, it had been hours sense I had last tasted food and my stomach was grumbling loud at me. Our hands were still interlocked as we approached the line. A group of familiar Spartans greeted us, including Matthew.
He looked at our hands and I bet he was smiling under his helmet like I was. "You know," He started as we approached, "It was pretty obvious about you to. You know the way you fought together and were obviously more protective than usual." He laughed the last part.
I blushed, was it that obvious? Apparently it was. I thought of the mission and the image of Ricardo's smiling face gave me a certain… feeling… it felt somewhat dark, but also enlightening somehow. I soon realized; it was a grim reminder of the cost of war. "I'm going to make him and Samuel a grave of sorts, something that shows their sacrifice. Along with any other Spartans we lose." I said boldly and John looked down at me, I could feel him squeezing my hand.
Matthew removed his helmet and held it in his hands. He had short blonde hair like John and crystal blue eyes as well. But they weren't nearly as bright or beautiful as John's. He had a scar running down his right cheek, looked like a sparring accident was the cause given its fist like shape of where the skin had reclosed.
"That sounds good. If I die, and I pray I don't, I hope I get remembered like that." He remarked and turned away from us, returning to his earlier conversation. John was still watching me, making my hands sweaty with all his attention. I looked at him and he turned away, acting like he had done nothing.
After perhaps five minutes of waiting in line we had our food and were sitting together at the table the workers and such who ran the facility had provided for us. John had steak, of course he had steak. I had a healthy garden salad and a side of corn-on-the-cob with butter melting on it. One thing I loved here was the food. They gave us some of the best food here I sometimes forgot where I was.
I looked up at John who was digging into his steak and mash potatoes rather ravenously. It probably was safe to say he hadn't eaten sense I had. I was munching on my corn, out helmets sitting on the table next to our plates. "Have you gotten the lock latch on it looked at?" He asked me casually.
I shook my head, "No, want to come with me later. I plan on seeing if I'm allowed an armor upgrade. I heard that they had some nice new helmets and shoulder armor." I asked kindly.
John shook his head though, "I can't. I got an order to attend some kind of meeting later." I simply nodded in response.
Then there was a flash of familiar blue armor, and a recon helmet dropped down next to me. I looked up, into glowing amber eyes and a cocky as always smile on a pale face, framed with golden hair.
James.
"Oh um, hey James, what's up?" I sheepishly waved hello to him. James sat down next to me, the same food on his plate as on mine. "I thought you always got steak when they served it?" I asked him noticing the change of food.
"I thought I'd try something different. Besides you always said that you loved this stuff." He took a bite, but it was obvious that he didn't like the lack of meat on his menu. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he continued to chew the food; trying way too hard to cover up his dislike of the taste of the greens.
I had never seen such a cold face as John's. When I looked at him, his eyes were dull and his jaw tight. Obviously he didn't like James's presence here. I couldn't blame him; it seemed like he had been attempting something I rather he wouldn't earlier. And when John came to my rescue, it was obvious he wanted to beat the crap out of him before finishing him off with a gunshot to the head.
James sighed, "Liz I wasn't trying anything earlier. I SWEAR!" He added the last part at my disbelief. "I only… I don't know ok. I'm really mixed up about all this. If you want me to back off I will."
"I want you to back off." The words flew out of my mouth before anyone knew it. James looked down with defeat and glared up at a smug John. But then he got a grip, smiled at me, the same cocky smile as always.
"Alright, I'll back off. But can we still be friends?" He held out his hand. I looked at it for a time, my hesitation making him nervous. Then I took it, a smile on my face as I shook his hand.
"Always." I promised.
But then I felt a pressure on my hand as James jerked me towards him. I pushed out a hand but was too late to react. I felt his lips against mine as my head came into contact with his.
I could hear John getting up fast and soon the kiss was over. When I opened my eyes, James was being held by the collar of his armor. John was furious and kneed him in the gut.
"I'm sorry Liz. I just couldn't help myself!" He gasped in pain. I looked at him with disgust and pity. "Please… I'm sorry, it will never happen again!" He pleaded harder, John's fist ready to strike.
But I couldn't do it; I couldn't end my friendship with the only person from my past. I stepped over to him, my hand on John's fist. I kissed John and looked down at James. My hands had moved to the now relaxed John's chest and he wrapped one of his arms around my waist.
"James, I promised to be your friend. I want you to remain my friend. But understand this, John and I are together, nothing you do will stop it." I then finished my quick but to the point speech in a sense by taking John's hand and leading him away.
