One in a Million (Book 3 in the Four of Us Trilogy)

21 | Home

I'm going home

Back to the place where I belong

And where your love has always been enough for me.

-Chris Daughtry, "Home"

Fort Leonard Wood – Missouri

Miles

I was almost done packing my belongings when Dale appeared next to me.

"Hey man, you almost ready to go to the airport?" He was practically bouncing up and down with glee.

I grinned. "Yeah, I'm ready," I said as I stuffed the last piece of clothing into my bag.

"I am so ready to be home I can hardly stand it," Dale said, heaving his bag over his shoulder.

"Me too..." I said, my voice not nearly as cheerful as his.

"What's wrong, mate? Aren't you ready to see Rachel again?"

"Oh God, more than ready... but what I'm not ready to do is tell her where I'm going to be going after Christmas," I moaned.

Dale nodded knowingly. "I know... I really wish you had been more prepared for that possibility. Noah and I talked about it before I came here, and we both came to understand that it would likely happen," he pointed out as we walked to the airport shuttle.

"Right... I think when I changed plans for being an engineering officer to being in bridgebuilding, the chance went through the roof, and we just weren't prepared. She's going to lose her shit, man," I groaned, running my hand down my face.

Dale put his hand on my shoulder. "At least we're going to be in the same platoon."

I nodded. "This is true. It won't be as scary having a friend there."

We walked in silence for a few minutes until we reached the shuttle, and in ten minutes, we were at the airport.

After we went through security, we stood at the crossroads, where Dale would go one way and I would go another.

"All right, Miles," Dale started. "Can I get emotional for a second here?"

I laughed. "I don't think I'm going to be able to stop you."

"I'm really thankful we met. You have no idea how much you helped me with coming to terms with being myself around the rest of the company. Even though there were a few assholes, you were, for the most part, right. It wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it would be. And you helped me get through the bad part. I don't know that I would've handled it well without a friend to support me. And I'm glad that friend was you," he said, holding his hand out for a handshake.

I smiled and pushed his hand to the side, pulling him in for a hug. "It was honestly nothing, Dale. It was the right thing to do, and you're a good friend. It wasn't hard to do." I patted him on the back and he beamed back at me.

"All right, we better go so we don't miss our flights. I'll see you January 1stwhen it's time for deployment. Let's hope the time passes slowly," he said, and I nodded.

"See you then. Have an excellent holiday season. And Miles?"

"Yeah?"

"I saw you with Rachel. She's going to be upset, but she's never going to stop loving you. No matter what," he said, and my eyes filled with tears.

"Thanks, Dale," I managed to choke out, and he smiled at me again before he turned away to catch his flight.

I took a deep breath and made my way to Gate 5c. I knew Dale was right, but disappointing Rachel would be one of the hardest things I'd ever had to do.