Please don't hate me.

AUGUST 2

"Stryker!"

I looked up, surprised. Jon was standing close by, frowning at me. "Yeah?" I asked, wiping down the front counter of the shop. Why did he have such a weird look on his face? Was I doing something wrong?

"Are you feeling all right?"

I was even more confused. "Yeah. Why?"

"I've called your name about four times, champ. You've been completely zoned out."

"Oh."

"What's going on?"

Sighing, I leaned against the counter. I scrubbed my face with my hands. "It's my girlfriend. Something's wrong, but she won't talk to me about it. Whatever it is, it's been going on for a month now and she keeps trying to act like nothing's going on. I don't think she's cheating on me or anything like that. I just…I don't know what's going on."

He came to stand next to me. "She won't tell you anything?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. She keeps saying that I shouldn't worry about it. And that we should just enjoy each other's company. But then she started ignoring my phone calls and texts a few days ago. We haven't even seen other or talked to each for days now, so her saying that we should enjoy each other's company makes absolutely no sense. I thought maybe it was about her dad. I know they were waiting to hear if he would getting deployed again or not – he's in the Air Force. But she says that he's not being deployed. So I have no idea what it could be about."

"I wish I knew what to tell you."

I sighed again. "I think I love her, Jon. I take that back. I know that I love her. And all I want to do is help her and make her happy. But how can I do that if she won't let me?"

He gripped my shoulder. "You can't, Stryker. As frustrating as it is, there's nothing you can do. She has to be the one to let you in. You can't force it."

"I know. I just…Doesn't she understand that all I want is to help? Does she not trust me? Is that why she's not telling me what's going on? I'm just totally confused."

"I don't know. Stryker, women usually leave men confused. I don't know what to tell you."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, which was actually a little comforting.

Our silence was broken by the sound of the bell over the door, indicating a customer. I looked up, and was more than a little surprised.

It was Mallory.

Jon clapped my shoulder. "I'll give you two a few minutes. I'll just be upstairs if you need anything, all right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

He left.

Mal bit her lip. "Hey, Stryker. We…need to talk."

My stomach dropped. Those dreaded words.

But we really did need to talk. We'd been needing to talk for several weeks now. "What do you think I've been trying to do, Mallory? Where have you been? Why haven't you been answering my calls or texts? What is going on? And don't tell me that it's nothing. Please. I'm not stupid. I know it's not nothing. Something is wrong. I just want to help. Mallory, please just –"

"I'm moving."

I stared at her. I wasn't sure what I had been expecting her to say, but that certainly hadn't been it. "What?" I wasn't even sure if I'd heard her right. I really hoped that I hadn't heard her right. She couldn't be moving.

She took a deep breath. "My dad's not being deployed. But it does have something to do with my dad. It has everything to do with my dad. He got a promotion, Stryker, and he's being stationed at one of the bases in Japan. We're moving there this weekend. I didn't know how to tell you earlier, and I tried a couple of times, but I just couldn't put it off anymore."

"Japan?"

She nodded, tears falling down her cheeks. I pulled her close, stroking her hair. This was not what I wanted to hear. Mallory buried her head in my shoulder. "I don't want to go, Stryker. I don't want to break up with you."

"Hey, hey. We don't have to break up. We can make it work. We can Skype, and call. All the time. And there's texting. We can make it work. I know we can." I turned her face toward mine, caressing her cheeks. I smiled. I wasn't going to let something like several thousand miles and an ocean come between us. We could totally make it work. "Mallory, I lov–"

"Don't." She shook her head, squeezing her eyes closed. A few tears escaped to roll down her cheeks. "Don't say that, please. It'll only make it harder. Stryker, it won't work. I'll be in Japan. Sure, we can Skype and call and text, but it won't be the same. The distance will come between us. I don't want that. I don't want it to end over a phone call, which I know it will. Long-distance relationships don't work. Please, please don't make it any harder on me than it already is. Don't say those words. I can't hear them. I can't."

I wiped away her tears, feeling my own heart break. More tears replaced the ones I wiped away. "Mallory." But I didn't say anything else. I didn't know what else to say.

I loved her.

And she was leaving me.

"I wanted to say goodbye. I think it'll be better if we don't…If we don't talk anymore. Make it a clean break, so we can both move on. I'm going to miss you so much, Stryker Pendragon. You are the best boyfriend that I've ever had. Don't ever change. You're perfect the way you are." She stood on her toes and kissed me fiercely. I could taste her tears on her lips.

I kissed her back, not willing to let her go.

She pulled away. "I lo–" she broke off, shaking her head. Not that it really did much good, because I knew exactly what she'd been about to say.

She loved me, too.

She took a deep, shaky breath. I could tell she was trying not to cry, although I didn't know why. We were both crying. "Goodbye. Be happy, okay? Find somebody else, and just be happy. For me."

Then she was gone.

And she was taking a piece of me with her.