His Forever Flame

8. To Fight or Make up

3 days later....

Lauren hadn't heard from Jay since the night of their fight, and that was three days ago. She'd stayed at Kelly's since then, and quite honestly she was a mess. Kelly tried everything to get her to cheer up, to go out and have some fun, but she refused. She sat around the apartment for three straight days doing a whole lot of nothing.

She was completely heartbroken. She'd thought for sure they'd be able to work through it. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, but she thought they would make it work somehow. But now, she wasn't so sure. She didn't think he was going to speak to her again.

Yesterday, she'd gotten a picture from Wes of his little cousins, Katie and Elizabeth. The caption wanted to know when she would be home because they missed her. Lauren just replied August 1st. It made her miss home, and his family, especially since she was already upset. She hadn't thought much about them or home since she'd been back with Jay, but now, she was just looking for something to make her feel better.

Kelly was finally waking up about noon on the third day when he heard glass break somewhere in the apartment. He jumped out of bed and went sprinting towards where it sounded like it came from. Lauren was standing in the living room starring at the TV with broken glass all around her. She looked absolutely petrified.

Kelly slowed his approach so as not to frighten her anymore. "Lauren, what happened?" he softly asked. She finally turned her eyes toward him and then pointed towards the TV. Kelly turned to look; it was a news report out of Chattanooga. Someone had attacked the naval base; the reports were stating that four Marines had been killed, and one Navy Sailor was in critical condition.

That was her home; no wonder she was frightened. Things like that just didn't happen there. Kelly turned back to her. "Ok, it's ok, just don't move," he said. She wasn't wearing any shoes, and he didn't want her to get glass all in her feet because a trip to the ER was not in his plans for the day.

"Lauren, look at me." After a few seconds she turned towards him. He could tell she was in shock, but she was at least still listening to him. "Are you hurt?" he asked. When she didn't respond, he asked again. This time she shook her head no. "It just... I just..." she started but couldn't finish.

"It's ok, I promise, it's not that big of a deal. I'll get it cleaned up, but I have to know if you're hurt anywhere." Once again she shook her head no. Kelly had managed to walk towards the kitchen during all of this, and slipped his sandals on. He walked up right beside her; he picked her up and carried her to the couch. He noticed the top of her foot was bleeding, but it looked like just a scratch that they could clean up here.

"I'm going to get Shay up so she can look at that place on your foot, and I will clean up the glass, ok?" At Lauren's nod, he knew she still wasn't fully comprehending that she had a cut on her foot, but at least she was ok.

Shay was able to butterfly the cut; there wasn't any glass in it, and it wasn't deep enough for stitches. Once Lauren returned to her normal self, after sitting between the two of them watching news report after news report, Kelly made them some lunch. The 5th soldier ended up dying at the hospital, making the death toll five with two wounded. The shooter also died.

Lauren had called home to check on her family and was relieved to know that everyone, even her police officer cousins, were safe. Later in the day, she text Jay to see if he wanted to talk. She was needing his comfort, but he didn't respond. They ended up staying in and watching movies. Kelly and Shay decided Lauren needed them more than they needed to go out.

The next night, Friday night, Kelly asked if she wanted to go out with him and Shay, but Lauren said she was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed early. Kelly debated on whether to stay in with her again, but Shay convinced him to give her some space. She'd had an eventful last few days and it was starting to take its toll on her so she probably would turn in early.