Fighting the War (previously known as "Falling")

Chapter 6

This Chapter has been edited by NotebookNinja

Chapter 6

       It was already Friday, and I couldn’t believe that I only had one more week until it was time for Ky to ship out. So far Ky and I had spent every evening together. We had decided that we would spend our days with our friends and our nights with each other. That way, Noah and Lara wouldn’t get jealous and feel left out. Not that they would anyway, because they had decided on Tuesday night to make their long distance relationship official.

Never had I thought that Lara would settle for one guy. She just wasn’t that type of girl. She liked to keep her options open and refused to settle for anything. Even something like picking a paint color drove her crazy, because it was too much of a commitment. So when she got home on Tuesday night, and told me that she and Noah had decided they were going to make their relationship official, I almost crapped my pants – literally!

It was about two o’clock in the afternoon now, and Lara and I were spending our day on the beach. I was sprawled out in my deck chair beneath an umbrella, letting the sun hit my legs and keep me warm, but not hot. I had my eyes closed and was just enjoying the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. I was pretty sure that Lara had fallen asleep and hour ago, so I let my thoughts wander off to Ky.

Every date we had been on so far had been nothing but romantic. Ky was just perfect. He always made sure to buy me flowers, and we only went out to eat at places I liked. He never chose the type of food and when I would give him the opportunity to, he would insist that it was up to me. We always ended every date with a walk on the beach. Usually we kept the conversation light and away from our most dreaded topic, Ky’s ‘shipping out.’

But last night when we had finally broached the subject, I had learned that Ky would be gone for a whole year. That sounded like such a very long time. It would be three-hundred and sixty-five nights where I didn’t get to see him or touch him. It would be three-hundred and sixty-five days where he couldn’t wrap his arms around me when I got mad or upset. There would be twelve lonesome months of not hearing that beautifully soothing voice of his. I immediately broke down into tears just thinking about it.

Ky had spoken to one of his army buddies, and they had said that they might get two-weeks leave where they could go home to see the family. But Ky told me not to get my hopes up, because that was just hearsay.

I wiped away the few tears that had slipped down my face. They had come from just thinking about not getting to see Ky. Last night, after he had told me how long his ‘Tour of Duty’ was going to be, I had done nothing but cry in his arms. It really hurt knowing that he was going to walk out of my life next Friday and I wouldn’t see him again for three-hundred and sixty-five days. God, why did that number have to seem so big?

Once I was done crying, he had carried me up to mine and Lara’s room. Ky laid me down in my bed and smoothed my hair and kissed me on the forehead. He grabbed my chin so that I could look him in the eyes and I could see that he was upset about this as well.

"I promise Nat, I will come home to you. Because wherever it is that we go after we die," he paused, trying to rein in his emotions. "I don’t want to go there without you."

After that he had given me a sweet kiss on the lips, said goodnight and called me beautiful. And then he had left.

To say that I was the happiest girl alive would be an understatement. I was the happiest girl in the universe. Ky was everything a girl could ask for - sweet, caring, and most of all so lovable.

I brushed a few more tears from my cheeks, so that no one would see me crying. Suddenly, I was lifted up out of my chair and was being carried towards the waves. I had no idea whose arms I was in so I started flailing like a crazy person. I was screaming, trying to get the attention of other beach goers, but they all just looked at me and smiled. Freaks! I was being kidnapped! Couldn’t they see?

"Are you ready to get into that water, beautiful?" the person holding me whispered in my ear. I immediately recognized the voice as Ky’s, and relief washed over me until I realized he was still heading straight for the cold water.

"Ky! Put me down this instant!" I screamed and started slapping him again.

"Nah, I think you need to get in the sea!" Ky yelled while laughing. He was so going to regret this. I swore to myself that he wouldn’t get another kiss until next Friday!

I turned around so I was facing him. I had my hands wrapped around his neck and I was holding on for dear life. Looking him in the eyes, I gave him my biggest, saddest puppy dog face.

"Please, Ky, don’t put me in the water. I really don’t want to get wet!" I said in the sweetest baby voice I could come up with.

"Cute face, but nah, you’re still going in the water, Nat!" he grinned and now he was sprinting into the sea and we were almost waist deep. The waves were crashing into my backside and I screamed at how cold the water felt after sitting in the sun for the last few hours.

Ky had the craziest look on his face and was grinning from ear to ear. He was seriously enjoying this way too much!

"Ky plea-" I never got to finish my plea, because the bastard dove into the water, pulling me in with him.

When I reached the surface for air, I cried out and then slapped him.

"You jerk!" I screamed playfully. "Just so you know, I’m not kissing you ever again!" But we both knew this was a lie, because I couldn’t go two seconds without kissing this handsome man.

Ky grabbed my arm and pulled me into his chest. Then he slipped my right thigh around his waist, before doing the same with the left one. He was holding me in the water. I wrapped my hands behind his neck and just couldn’t help but smile at him.

"See, the thing is Nat, I happen to know you’re lying. I know you can’t go without kissing me," he said with a playful grin.

"Oh, now is that so? Because I can do anything if I put my mind to it, Ky, and if you want to challenge me on this you’ll be unpleasantly surprised," I giggled.

But he then stopped my giggle by planting his lips on mine. I was so surprised by the action I didn’t even fight back, because once my lips touched his, the fireworks went off and nothing else mattered. It didn’t matter that he had just tossed me in the water against my will, or that he didn’t listen when I told him he wasn’t allowed to kiss me. All that mattered was that Ky’s lips were on mine and that was all I ever wanted.