Fighting the War (previously known as "Falling")

Chapter 3

This chapter has been editied by NotebookNinja

Chapter 3

Twenty minutes later and Lara and I were headed down the elevator, on our way to the beach. I had put on my favourite bikini. It was one that covered practically nothing. It was white with hot pink polka dots on the top and then the bottoms were just black. Between you and me, the only reason I really loved this bikini was because it made my boobs look amazing.

"Natalie, over here!" I heard someone shout. I turned to the culprit and was utterly shocked. It was Ky, of course, but he wasn’t wearing a shirt and I’d be damned if the army could do anything to make him even more perfect. Ky was literal perfection from head to toe. His broad shoulders were lined with nothing but muscle, leading down to his pecks and then down further still to his breathtaking six pack. I really didn’t know how I was going to keep myself from staring all day.

"D-A-M-N! Jeez, Nat, how do you always get the freaking gorgeous guys pining over you?" Lara said.

"Psh, I don’t know anything about pining, but make sure you keep your eyes on Noah, because Ky is all mine," I told her, still not able to take my eyes off of Ky.

"Bitch," was her comeback, before she took off towards Noah.

I walked up to Ky and the closer I got the harder it was to look away. He and Noah had been playing football and the sweat glistened off of his perfectly sculpted body.

"Hey guys," I said as I took a seat in one of the beach chairs.

"Hey Nat, did you have fun last night with my sexy stud Ky here?" Ryder was grinning from ear to ear.

I didn’t know how to respond to that, but it made me blush bright red.

"Hey man, lay off of her. She can’t help it that Ky is a freaking Male Goddess," Noah said.

I couldn’t help but laugh at that and Ky gave me a look of hurt. "Noah…." I said between giggles. "Do you know how bad it is when you call your friend a Male Goddess? Not only is it weird but it’s just gross that you think that way about your best friend."

This had Ky smiling and then downright cracking up. He pointed at Noah. "Dude, burn!" he yelled.

"Nat, you seriously never cease to amaze me. One minute you’re the shy girl and the next you’re calling someone out and making them look like a complete dipshit," Lara said whilst chuckling.

"Hey, Nat," Ky said, lacing his fingers through mine. I couldn’t help but notice the shock of electricity and the heat that ran through our hands. "You wanna go for a walk?"

"Yeah, sure," I just about managed to say.

"Jeez, make sure you don’t fall hard for that soldier boy, he’s only here for another thirteen days!" Noah said. I could already tell Noah was the jokester in the gang.

"Dude, shut up! Wasn’t it just last night you told me you were trying to get a certain someone to commit to a long-distance relationship, and here you are trying to ruin my hopes of having someone to write to while I’m away!" Ky retorted while motioning with his eyes towards Lara.

Lara’s face was as red as an apple and she was looking down at the ground. Noah was just standing there with his mouth hanging open like he had no idea how to respond to that, and that he couldn’t believe he’d just been ousted by his best friend.

Ky grabbed my hand again and started leading me to the surf. I snuck a sidelong glance at him and noticed the huge smile on his face. I wouldn’t mind waking up to that smile every day for the rest of my life…Wait, what the hell was I thinking? I couldn’t fall for a military guy. It would only hurt me in the end. I mean, how long was he going to be gone? And even when he did return home, how long would he be around before he gets shipped out again? Could I really deal with falling in love with someone who I would only get to spend small amounts of time with?

We walked in silence for a good while, until mine and Lara’s condo wasn’t even in sight anymore.

"Hey, Ky?" I said sceptically.

"Nat?" he said, whilst stealing a glance towards me. I caught the look in his eyes before they darted away, and thought I saw lust….or maybe it was love? No, it was definitely lust. He couldn’t have such strong feelings for me yet.

"Was it true what you said earlier?" I asked.

"Which part?" he returned the question.

"The part about wanting to be able to write to someone back home?"

"Yeah, it was. I want someone I can write to that I care about. I mean, I could write to Noah every day, but that’s a little weird, don’t you think?"

"Definitely weird! But if you want to write to someone you care about, why me? There’s no way you already care about me enough to be thinking about that, right?"

"Wrong. The thing is, the moment I laid eyes on you at that party last night, I knew I cared about you. I care about you more than anyone should at this point in a relationship."

"Well, are you sure that you’re not just running out of time to find someone to write to, and I’m your last option?"

"No, Nat, that’s not it. Before last night I really didn’t care about writing to anybody while I was away, but then I met you, and it just clicked. At that moment, I knew that you could be the girl that waits for me to come home. The girl that checks the mail every day, waiting for that dirty, sand covered letter to be delivered."

I didn’t know what to say to that. He had my emotions going haywire. I mean, on one hand I wanted to be the girl that helped him through the tough times. I wanted to be the one he wrote to after a long, dangerous and stressful day, not his mom or Noah, but me. That part of my mind had my heart racing with excitement, and had me wanting to say yes to the idea right now.

But on the other hand, what if something happened to him? Would I find out right away, or would I only find out when one day his letters quit coming in the mail? What if I fell in love with him and he was killed? I’d be left heartbroken and depressed. The thing was, I could see myself falling for Ky very easily. Even now I knew that it wouldn’t take long for me to fall for him. And when I did, I would fall hard.

"Nat, say something," he whispered in my ear. My knees nearly buckled from the tingling sensation it sent through my body.

"What do you want me to say?" I asked.

"Say yes. Say you’ll let me be your Dear John, say you’ll let me be your travelling soldier." He was looking at me with serious eyes, begging me to say yes. Begging me to not let him go through it all alone. "Tell me that you’ll wait for me to come home. Just say yes, please."

"If I do say yes, if that happens, what happens when you do come home and then six months later you’re shipped off again, and I’m left here in tears? Tell me what happens then," I said.

"What happens is that you’ll wait for me and me for you. I need you and I know it’s too soon to be saying stuff like this, but I need you to help me get through this time in my life. I know this is what I want; I wanted to have a purpose in life. I wanted to serve my country. But damn, Nat, that doesn’t mean I’m not scared shitless. Just please say yes. I promise I’ll come home to you, I’ll make sure I come home to you!" As he said the last bit, his voice lowered an octave.

"I just, can I think about it and let you know?" I asked. I wasn’t ready to commit to this.

"Sure, but just so you know, I’m spending every waking moment of my last two weeks with you," he said, while leaning his forehead on mine. He had both of my hands up between our hearts and his eyes were gazing into my own.

"Well, I think I might enjoy that," I said with a flirtatious laugh. "I get to spend my vacation with a super-hot soldier boy. What more could a girl ask for?"