Seven Letter Words #Wattys2016

Part 1

Liam

Why the fuck did it have to be so hot? I felt the sweat gather on my head, slide along the rim of my cover and then race down the back of my neck. We were told in boot camp not to fidget, but it was taking every ounce of concentration I had not to take it off and swipe my hand along my short horseshoe hair. So fucking hot. I chanced a quick glance at Garver and could see he was in the same misery as me, only he didn't seem to be as tortured by it. Maybe that's because the casket we'd just carried was holding the remains of his best friend.

I'd been staring at my feet for the entire funeral. I couldn't bring myself to look at Pines' family and friends. It all was hitting a little too close to home. Just a few days ago, Pines, Sanchez, Garver, and I were in the sandbox. It seemed like a million miles away, but we actually made the trip home in just over a day. We all knew that it was only a slight variation in a sniper's aim that kept us out of the box and Pines in it.

My eyes moved up for the briefest of seconds when the first shot was fired overhead. That was all it took for them to be drawn to the beautiful blonde standing next to Pines' mom. Slayed. Her eyes we sad, but expressed a certain dignity. She didn't even flinch when the next shot was fired. Was she his sister? I don't remember him ever mentioning a girlfriend.

She was watching me as I told myself to look away, but couldn't. I'd never felt the need to comfort a girl, but there was something inside me that was screaming for my arms to hold her. Would it make her eyes soften? Would it help with the pain I felt filling the space between us? Shit, she was breaking my heart and I didn't have one fucking clue who she was.

"Who's the girl?" I whispered to Garver as the Marines prepared another shot.

"Which one?" he asked, not giving away our conversation to anyone. I looked up to him so much. It was the way he carried himself. I swear that guy was born to be a Marine.

"The pretty one in the blue dress." The shot was fired and that time a tear fell from the corner of her eye. I watched as it slowly made the journey over her perfect cheek and down along her jaw, the exact trail I'd take with my finger right before I kissed her.

"Sister," he whispered. When my lips curled slightly he bit out more harshly, "Younger sister, asshole. FUCKING. YOUNGER. SISTER." I couldn't help the laugh that tried to escape. I bit my lip.

"So you're saying it's not his girlfriend?" I teased.

"God dammit, Smith. Can you keep it in your pants long enough for us to get through this. Fucking Pines might just jump right out of his casket if you don't shut your dirty fucking mouth." He tried to sound angry, but I could tell he was mildly amused. I laughed softly and loved how it felt to be joking around again. That's the way that Pines would have wanted it. Shit, a few days ago we were laughing about how he'd tried to pull a Garver move and hit on some chick at the airport during our layover on the way to the sandbox. Fuck—I was going to miss the guy.

Her eyes narrowed in on mine and I stopped laughing. Oops. "Sorry," I mouthed, but she just looked away. I noticed then just how long her hair was. It swayed even though, for the love of God, there was not one fucking hint of a breeze. Pines had his head shaved in the horseshoe cut just like mine. I never really noticed what color it was. I noticed hers. I noticed the way it looked yellow in the sunlight, but if she moved just right it almost looked like the lightest shade of red. Maybe I was getting heat stroke. So fucking hot—I'm talking about the weather and her.

The crowd began to move around and I watched as she looked up at me one more time. I had to meet her. It wasn't a maybe, or a perhaps. It was a right fucking now. "I'll meet you back at the car," I told Gaver, but he reached for the high neck of my dress blues and pulled me back.

"Can you at least wait until there aren't so many people. I don't want to go over there and answer a bunch of questions. I just want to say goodbye to his mom and get home to Bailey." He let me go and I nodded my head. "And, if Pines is going to jump out of that casket when you try and bang his sister...I want to be there to say hello." 

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