Love at War

Chapter Two

Adrien couldn't keep his eyes off of Keisha. He couldn't believe his eyes. He didn't think she would be home this year.

He wrapped his muscular arms around her small slender frame and buried his face in the crook of her neck. He breathed in her scent.

“I can't believe you're home,” she choked out and broke into tears. For the next couple of minutes all he did was console her but even he thought he'd need a napkin to dry his eyes.

“I'll take his bags upstairs,” Dante said and reached for his luggage. Diane took the smallest, a duffel bag and trailed after her husband.

With some alone time, Adrien could finally lift her off the ground. On instinct, Keisha's long legs wrapped around his waist. Something erupted in his stomach.

He held her and ignored the pain in his injured left knee.

“I've missed you so much,” he said as he tried to contain his own emotions.

Adrien couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Keisha. Maybe when they were both twenty years old? Six to seven years ago!

Back then, she was slimmer and kept an afro but now she'd put on some weight, still keeping a fit look and had straightened out her thick hair.

She looked great.

“I've missed you too,” she said as he lowered her back on the ground.

Dante and Diane walked back into the living room. “We'll let you have a shower first before dinner,” Diane said

“I actually haven't had anything to eat nearly all day so I'll have dinner first,” he chuckled.

While Diane plated up some food for everyone, Adrien kept his eyes on her. He wanted to hug her tight and never let her go but he couldn't,at least not in front of them. He would just have to wait to get her alone again.

“Why didn't anyone tell me he was coming back?” Keisha asked as she wiped her eyes with a napkin.

“Well, we figured if we told you, it would ruin the fun,” Diane responded.

“How's the military?” Dante asked. “You said in your letter that you were injured and had to be sent home for proper recovery?”

“What'd you mean he's injured,” she frowned and stared hard at him. “He looks fine.”

“Well not exactly. I shattered my knee cap and a couple ribs,” he explained and as expected, all their smiles faded. “A bomb went off and I guess I was too close.”

Concern laced their faces. “But you were walking just fine,” Dante pointed out.

“I am healing fast but I keep getting the knee sore all over again so it's really messing up the recovery process,” he replied.

“Well, I'm glad you're back now. You've got plenty of time to rest before you go back,” Dante said.

He was going back? Adrien caught the look on Keisha's face. “I'm not going back anytime soon. I might not even go back,” he said.

“Really?”

He watched as Keisha’s face lit up.

Dinner went by really fast and in half an hour they were done eating. While Keisha helped to clear out the table, Adrien watched her.

Something in him wanted to lift her off the ground. He wanted her legs wrapped around his waist again. Something erupted in his stomach again. He had to level his breathing.

“I'm glad you're back son,” Dante said and drew up a chair next to him. “Keisha's even happier than all of us.”

“I'm happy I'm home too.”

He and Keisha had met in their first year of highschool and they had been best friends ever since. From spending lunchtime together to having sleep overs and even moving some of his stuff into one of the spare bedrooms upstairs.

He was practically family and at some point he knew Keisha’s parents had shipped them together.

“You know, Keisha never stopped asking about you. She told me you both were communicating through letters but at some point you'd stopped responding,” he said.

“She kept praying that you were alright. Every single day, she never stopped praying until one day, she gave up.”

Something in Adrien's heart shattered. He'd never had someone pray for him, not even his own nonchalant parents cared to pray for his safety.

“She thought you'd been shot at war or blown to bits.”

Adrien could remember what had happened. He and his team had been deployed to Iraq and had been stuck there for several months. It was one of the roughest periods of his life.

“We were in Iraq, fighting to keep people alive but at some point, we were fighting to stay alive. It was horrible,” he recalled.

Dante's face fell. Just like everyone else had asked countless times, Dante wondered out loud. “You know you don't have to go back there. You can just stay here and do something else with yourself. It's too dangerous back there.”

They were right. He could stay back and focus on doing somthing easier but this was a life he was familiar with. A life he'd worked to be a part of. He'd made a pledge he was ready to keep.

“I know.” That was as simple as his response was going to be. They wouldn't understand.

Wearily, he excused himself and went up to take a hot shower. When he came out, a towel wrapped around his waist, he found Keisha seated by the window waiting for him.

Her cheeks flushed red. “I'm sorry. I'll let you change.”

Adrien stopped her before she could dash out the room. “Don't worry, I'll change in the bathroom. Give me one second.” He grabbed a pair of clothes and trudged back in to change.

When he'd gotten out, he moved to join her on the bed. They stared at one another for a long minute before he moved to hug her.

Keisha rested on him as she breathed in his scent. “I can't believe you're actually here,” she exhaled.

“Me too. I wasn't sure I'd get the chance to see you again,” he responded and pulled away to stare into her eyes.

“I thought you'd be away in another state. I asked your parents and they wouldn't tell me so I figured I'd show up either ways,” he laughed.

He tightened his hold on her waist, enjoying how slender and smooth it felt under his touch.

“I heard you tell my dad that you'd be going back in a couple months?”

He nodded painfully and watched disappointment flash in her eyes but she held up a smile. “I wish you wouldn't go back. You can stay and if you must go, stay a bit longer,” she said as she unconsciously traced the veins on his arm.

Adrien forced back the goosebumps that were threatening to spread across his skin. He looked down at her, into those beautiful black eyes.

Maybe she was right. The next couple of months couldn't make up for how long they'd been apart.