Mettle of Honor (gxg)

Chapter 4

One year later (again!)...

"This sucks," Elsie groaned grumpily as she snuggled up on the couch watching movies with Kate. "I wanna see Justice." With Sara and Justice's brigade deployed to Europe, it had been months since the other girls had seen their wives. The two soldiers had taken leave and flown home from Romania for Christmas, but then had to go right back, otherwise it would have been almost a year since their last weekend together, and the time away was taking its toll. Sure, they did a lot of video chats, but it wasn't quite the same.

"I know, but they should be rotating back soon, right?" pointed out Kate. "Maybe we can see them then." She sighed, then got up and walked over to the kitchen, pouring each of them a glass of whiskey before coming back over. Underage or not, it wasn't hard to get a little alcohol near the campus. She walked over with the glasses and the bottle before she handed one to Elsie. "Come on, this will help pass the time. We both need it."

Sure enough, once they had a few glasses in their bellies, they were feeling much better. "This movie is so silly," Elsie said through the giggles. They were watching Knives Out, and Elsie couldn't get over seeing the James Bond actor with a southern accent. "He sounds like my dad!"

Kate remained quiet, her brows furrowed in concentration as she occasionally glanced over at her friend. She was thinking hard, and while she never said anything, she sighed several more times, which was finally enough to alert Elsie that something was wrong.

"Hey, are you okay?" Elsie finally asked as she reached her hand out to hold Kate's. "What happened?"

Kate looked over as tears began to well in her eyes. She gave a little sniffle, then squeezed Elsie's hand. "Do you... Do you ever wonder what would have happened if we never met Justice and Sara? Where would you and I be?"

Elsie frowned, dropping her head as it was her turn to think about things. "I think we'd still be here. I'd still want to be a nurse, and I think you would too, and we'd still be roomies because I wouldn't want to be with anyone else."

Kate shook her head, groaning in frustration. "No, I get that. But would we still be friends? Or would we be more than friends? Do you think we would be together, or maybe even be married to each other instead of to them?"

Elsie's eyes widened in surprise, as that wasn't anything she'd ever thought about before. Once she'd met Justice, that was all she'd ever wanted. True, she'd had crushes on other people, Kate included, but never acted on them. But if Justice had never moved and gone to their school, would she have grown closer to Kate and dated her? There was a decent chance of that. "I don't know, maybe?"

Kate started sobbing, tears leaking down her face as she lay back on the couch with a wail. "I think I messed up. I don't think I should have married Sara!"

"What?" yelped Elsie. "Why not? I thought you loved her? I know she loves you!" Her head was swimming now, with alcohol and not understanding what her best friend was dealing with. How had she missed all this? Why would she think it was a mistake? Had they just been apart from their wives for too long?

Kate buried her face in the couch, she couldn't look at Elsie for this. "It was always you. I always loved you. But when you started dating Justice before I had the guts to ask you, I knew I'd never have you, so I agreed to go out with Sara. She's great, but she'll never be you. I mean, I still love her like a friend, but how could I give everything to her when I love you?"

Elsie was stunned at the admission. Yes, she had fallen for Justice hard and fast, but what if Kate had asked first before they'd met? She would have said yes, that was for certain, but that hadn't happened. She hated to see her friend in pain and couldn't imagine going through that. What would happen when Sara got back? Would the two of them be able to stay together? Would their love return? Wait, did Kate even want to be married to Sara? Fuck! No! Holy shit! Kate loved her! She'd been so worried about Kate and Sara's marriage that she'd never even processed the rest. Kate loved her. Kate loved her and Sara was merely a stand in since she couldn't be with her.