All This Time

Chapter 39

He opened up the bag and groaned.

I giggled and grabbed my guns laying them all over the bench before grabbing my knives.

"Okay, where on earth did you get these?" He asks as I lay them carefully on the bench.

"I know some people," I say zipping up the bag and tossing it on the floor.

I look at the guns and pick out a simple pistol first checking the safety lock and then checking the ammo. I load it up and notice he's watching me like he's in a trance.

"What? Haven't seen me use a gun before?"

"I have-it's just..."

I grab another one I'm going to give him. I check the ammo as I wait for him to finish.

"You look like you know what you're doing now."

I scrunch my nose and look back at him feeling a bit offended.

"Hey, I've known how to handle a gun."

He breaks out into a smile.

I just ignore him and give him a gun.

"Come on."

"Yes Mam," he says and I can hear the little smile on his face.

**

We just ended up shooting the targets and talking. He tried showing me some fighting tricks with the gun that I knew already and every time his face would fall it made me laugh.

Of course not everything though.

He showed me a couple of moves that left the space feeling a bit stuffy. We took a break and he went to sit in the shade as I grabbed and put away our guns. Making sure the safety locks were on.

"What's this?"

I turn to see he grabbed a knife I whittled a long time ago.

"Something I did when I was bored."

He turned it and looked at something I had carved.

I take a step and look at it and that's when I feel his gaze shift to me. I look up and he pulls a forced smile, handing it to me.

I grab it and run my thumb over the carving on the handle. 

"𝐴.𝐸.𝑆 "
       𖦹

I can feel Buck walk behind me as he places his chin on my shoulder and wraps his arms around my waist.

"What does this mean?" He runs his finger over the little twirl symbol I have engraved under Tony's initials.

"It means 'life'," I say running my finger on it now.

It means he lives on in my heart and in many others.

Forever.

I grasped it correctly and then tossed it to a tree across us making it straight in the bullseye.

I look at him and he looks...uncomfortable?

"What? You okay?"

"Yeah, that was just...really attractive...To say the least," he says before looking away from me.

I get what he's saying now as I scrunch up my nose.

"You need help," I say in a slightly joking matter turning around back towards the tent.

"I'm sorry-you're just.."

He says as he steps up behind me wrapping his arms around me yet again, only now he's kissing my neck as he speaks.