Eight Cakes and Two Eulogies

Chapter 5

APRIL

The day Cole left on deployment was grey and drizzly which complimented everyone's moods perfectly. Louis, Zayn and Liam all accompanied Amelia and Cole's parents to the barracks to see Cole off. Nobody had much to say and there were too many tears and tissues for an event they had all sworn to be strong for. They weren't alone though. Two hundred other families had also arrived to see their loved ones off to war, many with children in tow. The air was sombre and acrid with fear and despair and Louis supposed it was the first separation for many of these people. He had both the advantage and disadvantage of having been here several times now. It never got easier, especially when the deployment was in a frontline zone. The news had already reported 14 soldiers deaths since the start of the new offence. This wasn't just deployment for exercises in the Gulf - this was the real thing.

Cole took them all aside, one by one, for a final farewell. Louis was the third to go and it was as hard as it was the last time. Cole put one arm around his neck and rested their foreheads together, mumbling, "You know the drill."

"Yeah," Louis choked and recited their ultra lame poem in a shaky breath, "be there for Amelia, no goodbyes but a see ya, think only of your existence, not of the distance, your name is a numeral, no black at the funeral but hopefully it's fate that I'll see you at the gate... as planned."

"Good lad," Cole nodded and changed their embrace into a tight hug. The rough bulk of his desert combat uniform smelled like gun oil and earth and it made Louis feel nauseous. He lifted his face up, staring at the road behind instead.

"Be safe, please," he pleaded, "be as safe as you can be."

"I'll try," promised Cole, "Love you, mate."

"Love you too."

After a moment Louis pulled back and took one final mental picture of his friend's face before nodding firmly. Short and sweet until their next meet. This was their routine and it hadn't let them down before. He patted Cole's upper arm one more time and turned around. However, as he started to walk back towards the group, Cole broke tradition and called out after him, "Oh and Louis?"

"Yeah?" He turned around in surprise.

Cole's expression was unreadable. "I'm rooting for Larry."

Louis frowned, wondering if he had misheard. Who on earth was Larry? Or had he said Harry? He didn't the chance to ask because Cole's mum already had her son's full attention and he couldn't bear to interrupt that. Zayn and Liam, both red eyed, welcomed him back into their huddle and there they stayed until Cole had marched well out of sight of the leaving party.

~*~

"How did it go?" Harry asked quietly. Louis sighed, huddling further under the blanket and readjusting the angle of his laptop screen. The rain thrumming against the roof on Harry's end was faintly audible in the background as was the whipping wind. Thankfully it was just a small storm and not a hurricane but it sounded quite wild. It was also playing havoc with the internet connection.

"It was hard, like always," he croaked, voice shot to hell from holding back his emotions all day. "At least this will be the last time."

"Yeah, that's something at least... I wish I could have been there," Harry sounded like he was about to cry himself. "But..."

"I know," Louis said softly, knowing Harry was frustrated that they wouldn't change his shooting schedule for two measley days, "and Cole knew too. He said you'd sort of said your goodbyes in person when they left on their honeymoon."

"It wasn't a goodbye," Harry muttered darkly. "But yes, we did. Sorta. You know what it's like. You do the thing and it's only later that you think back and wish you'd said something more or different."