Chapter 7

Once the two glasses of beer had arrived, Grit and Sami toasted again. The two were feeling pretty confident and Grit knew that the more sensitive topics of conversation always arose after a few beers. He could only wonder with Sami's forwardness: what she going to talk about next? Before she could speak, Grit took a swift examination of what he could see. She seemed a little drunker now; strangely enough, he didn't feel quite as tipsy. A controversial topic arose in his head; dare he talk about it. Feeling risky, he took a breath and hoped he wasn't crossing any lines.

"So how come you agreed to this date?" he asked. Grit fired the question whilst Sami was mid-sip. Her closed eyes opened upon hearing the question and she put her glass down. Leaning back towards Grit, she put on a face.

"Well, I could ask you the same thing" she fired back. A challenge, Grit thought.

"So who's gonna shoot first?" Grit asked, his tone of voice changing slightly to accommodate the challenge. Sami snorted in response, leaning back a little.

"You're the sharpshooter" she replied. "Maybe your answer will hit the target better than mine can"

Grit wasn't quite sure what she meant by that, but shrugged his shoulders and conceded.

"I'll be honest with you, darlin'" Grit started. "I weren't too sure whether I was going to do this or not"

"You weren't sure?" Sami asked. Grit shrugged and sipped his beer.

"I had my doubts" Grit replied. "It took some convincing from both Colin and Sasha to agree to do it. Well, at the time I didn't know you'd be my date and all; had I known there wouldn't have been as much deliberation"

Just realizing that he had said quite a hefty compliment, Grit suddenly felt his face filling up with blood. Lowering his head, he hid behind the beer he sipped. He watched as Sami also started to turn a little red. For once, she wasn't retorting.

"Wow…g-gee, thanks" Sami stammered, noticing Grit hiding behind his beer. Following suit, she also took a sip from her beer. Knowing her mouth was well hidden behind the beer, she allowed herself a hearty smile, almost like an excited little girl. As Grit put his beer down, so did she, as if they had just hidden from gunfire in a trench.

"A-anyway, as I was sayin'…" Grit continued. "I was umm-ing and ahh-ing about the whole thing, but I eventually decided to do it. It's about time I started datin' again"

"You stopped?" Sami asked, her head cocking slightly from the tipsiness.

"…I haven't been on a date since my Orange Star days" Grit revealed. "Can't remember if I've said that already, but if not, now you know"

Sami had an inkling of why Grit hadn't been on a date in so long. Feeling the need to cross that line, she prepared her words carefully.

"…Does this have something to do with Nell?" she asked. Her question was not answered by Grit's voice, but rather his face. Sami watched it sink a little as his head lowered a little. His shoulders fell a little as an elongated sigh seeping out of his lips. Sami started to worry; maybe she shouldn't have crossed that line after all.

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned it" she said quietly. Seeing Grit's hand slumped across the bar, she reached out with her one hand and gripped it slightly. She felt his hand jolt a little upon contact, but it didn't move. Grit moved his eyes to look at Sami's hand gripping his own. If only she could see how fast his heart was beating at the moment, he thought. Clearing his throat, he started to perk himself up again.

"Don't worry about it" Grit replied. "It's old news now"

"If it makes you feel any better, I felt the same about this date, until I saw it was you in the car" Sami revealed. Grit's face turned to one of flattery and confusion.

"How come?" he asked. He then remembered that controversial topic he had at the beginning of the pint, and remembered where he was aiming with it. Eagle. "Is it because of Eagle?"

Sami looked down and nodded her head a little, sighing. Grit knew it wouldn't be too bad to ask a few more questions.

"What happened between you two anyhow?" Grit asked quietly, appreciating that the private conversation needed a voice that didn't trail.

"Our relationship was very…on and off" Sami revealed. "When he was around, I always felt like I was in heaven. But because we live in such different places, so far away…we'd always have to temporarily call it off" she revealed. Grit sighed as he listened to the story.

"Aw, you should know that long distance only works with artillery" he joked, chuckling a little. Sami started to chuckle a little as well, before her slight bit of happiness faded away again.

"It was always so hard to have to call it off all the time" Sami recalled. "I'd try out dates with other guys, but my mind would always fall to Eagle in the end and I never felt happy"

Grit's brows furrowed. He had to ask.

"…You feel that way tonight?" Grit asked. There was a short silence; Grit started to worry about the answer. Her hand was still rested on his.

"…A little" she revealed. But before Grit could say anything, she looked up quickly. "B-but not now! I mean, you've been such a nice date to me and everything"

"Ain't all your dates supposed to be nice to you?" Grit asked, finding it hard to smile at his own observation. A little grin broke through on his face, and as Sami saw it, she started to chuckle.

"Well yeah, but…" Sami stammered amidst her saddened laugh. Face sinking a little again, she looked back up at Grit, her eyes glistening. "I'm pretty sure every guy other than Eagle that I dated wasn't like you. They were always trying so hard to impress me, they'd buy all my drinks, and then try to drink more than me. Some I had to ferry home in taxis, others tried to do more with me than I wanted. Nobody was right for me, they were all just brusque army boys, looking for ass" she spat. Grit could feel her anger in her hand, which started to grip tighter to his during her anger. "They'd just make me think of Eagle, and then the date would end badly for me" she started to become flustered, a tear leaking from her eye. "I cried so much sometimes back at home that I'd fall asleep early in the morning, and then I'd end up being late for my rounds. Nell helped me quite a lot through those times"

"Tell me about it" Grit cut in. "Nell's always been reliable as a voice of reason. She makes even the darkest days look slick 'n shiny"

"How are things between you and Nell, anyway?" Sami asked suddenly. "I know you're not involved or anything, but are things good?"

Grit could now appreciate the question, seeing the anguish that Sami had to go through to explain her situation. Seeing her vulnerable made him feel strong, as if he were her guardian of sorts. Their hands were still clutching together; Grit took a deep breath, knowing his story was a lot shorter.

"…Things are good" he said. "We still chat from time to time. When I'm around, we even get coffee. But we're just friends" he explained. "Y'know, it's actually really good. Sometimes it's better to be a friend than a boyfriend"

"Just because you're the biggest doesn't mean you're the best, right?" Sami said. A smile grew from Grit's face, and his teeth then showed.

"You got it!" he said enthusiastically, flattered that Sami had remembered his favorite quotation. "…So, you and Eagle still…er, 'on and off', as you put it?" Grit asked. He didn't expect Sami to shake her head.

"I broke it off with him for the last time not too long ago" Sami said, her voice still sorrowful.

"I'm sorry" Grit said quickly.

"It's okay…" Sami answered back with the same speed. "At least now…things are official. No more on and off. I've learnt my lesson from that" There was something defiant in her voice, but before long, she started to crack in front of Grit. Lowering her head, she tried to hide her tears.

Grit began to get worried as he saw his date crying in front of him. How was he supposed to solve this? Was she more drunk than he thought, or was she really breaking down? There was no telling straight away, but at that moment, calmness fell over Grit. A familiar calmness, one that matched the feeling he'd have before and during a battle. He remembered that he brought his handkerchief with him, just in case he needed to blow his nose or something of a similar need. With full knowledge of the fact that it had remained unused, he pulled it out with his free hand and handed it to Sami.

Sami looked up to see that Grit was offering her his handkerchief. She could feel her tears warm against her cheeks, but gazing at the handkerchief brought a sense of subtle happiness to her face. Taking the handkerchief, she felt the grizzled skin of Grit's hand; drying her tears with it, she let go of Grit's other hand and stood up from her stool.

"Thanks" she said quickly. "I just need to sort myself out in the toilet"

"Take your time" Grit answered, letting his smile show. Then, before Grit could turn his attention to his half finished beer, Sami let a big smile show through her teary face. Quickly, she leant in and pecked him on the cheek, before walking backwards for a short while and finally turning around and making her way up the wooden stairs to the toilet.

Grit was left astounded by the bar. She'd just kissed his cheek. He rubbed his fingers softly against his left cheek where he had been pecked; it had been so long since someone had kissed him, even f it was just a peck on the cheek. Just as soon as he checked his face, he felt himself flushing red completely. Looking to his drink for a little comfort, he took a drink, noticing that the barman was looking at him with a cheeky smile, cleaning a glass.

"She likes you, my friend" the barman said, chuckling a little to himself. As the barman continued his duties, Grit stared into the space. For the first time in a while, he was lost for words.