480 Hours

7 | No Regrets

Staff Sergeant Hogan

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined a world in which I was willingly making out with my best friend's little sister while my mother was dying in a hospital room across town. Yet, standing in her small bedroom that  smelled just slightly of sea salt, I couldn't imagine any place I would rather be.

Maggie's soft pink lips tasted like vanilla, a flavor that up until now I had found quite bland. She felt so small under my touch as I unintentionally lifted one of my hands from her waist and brought it up to her hair. She was so beautiful and smart, and far too good for me.

Margaret Bailey was out of my league.

"This is going to be hard to explain to your brother..." Suddenly I no longer felt like kissing the petite girl wrapped in my arms completely breathless. Especially not while her brother's betrayed face floated around in my thoughts on a continuous loop.

The second the sentence left my mouth, her face scrunched up in dismay. "This was not in the plan. You were not in the plan, Landon." A light pink blush appeared quickly on her usually adorable tan cheeks. Although her mood seemed to sour just slightly, she did not remove herself from my embrace. In fact, she almost seemed to melt into my hold with relief.

She was endearing and not at all like any woman I had ever been attracted to before. "So what do we do now?"

She jerked back quickly; looking me dead in the eyes with surprise written across her face. "How am I supposed to know?" Weirdly, it was almost comforting to know that neither of us had really thought this decision through completely. We were both far too caught up in the moment, which meant neither of us had a plan as to how to move forward from here.

"Well, you're the one that kissed me..." Her sweet smile grew when I pointed out that she had been the one to make the first move. Yet, I could tell she was actually growing slightly concerned as to what we would go about informing her brother.

"Oh no, this isn't just on me! You're the one that opened the door to the bathroom butt naked!" She did have a point. Although I had not intended to become a nudist in her presence, I had also made zero attempt to cover myself once she had noticed my nudity.

Then again, neither had she...

"I don't regret kissing you, so I hope you aren't looking for me to take it back." I was not usually so bold when it came to women I was interested in, but Maggie was different. She was the kind of girl you changed your plans for and I had never had a girl like that in my life before.

I honestly wasn't sure if I wanted a girl like that in my life, even now.

Even if I was not ready for a woman like Margaret Bailey to be apart of my life, I did not regret that kiss, not in a million years. Now that it was over, I didn't know how to react. Although I was a little disappointed in myself for allowing my mind to focus on anything other than my mother while in town, the kiss was not something I would ever take back.

Not even if she regretted it.

"Well I don't regret it either, so however we explain it to him; he needs to know it wasn't a mistake and we were not trying to hurt him." I had not even considered that he might be hurt by the fact that I was attracted to his sister. I was more worried that he might try to kick my ass for kissing her.

For the hours following, we sat together on a worn cream-colored couch in their living room and talked about everything and anything. I had never been able to talk so openly with a woman before. It seemed that nothing was too small or unimportant to discuss with Maggie. Prior too, I had just made assumptions as to who she was as a person. However, after talking to her for an extended and uninterrupted period of time (for the most part, Duke conveniently needed to be let out numerous times while we were talking) I learned that she was exactly who I thought her to be, if not better. She was easily the most interesting and genuine individual I had ever met.

Prior to the incident that took her parents life, she had dozens of stories that involved dangerous escapades for a young child. Yet, her memories seemed to change drastically after she turned ten. Once her parents had passed away, she no longer had the urge to take risky adventures with her friends or brother. She explained that after their passing, she hadn't really intended to become a "planner" or to live her life as safely as possible, it just sort of happened naturally.

My childhood had been almost the exact opposite. Once my father had left us, I subconsciously decided to act out. I often stayed out late without informing anyone where I was; I skipped school and took up riding a motorcycle simply because I could. However, I always made sure to stay out of trouble legally, I didn't want the military to have a single reason to deny me.

I wasn't a "bad boy," but I was not a good one either.

This didn't seem to bother Maggie though. I was nervous that she might reject me the moment she found out I had been a little shithead as a child, but instead of disapproval, she giggled any time I mentioned something stupid I had done in my youth.

Maggie was just easy to be around. She didn't judge me for the million of mistakes I had made in my life and made me feel as though I was worthy of her time. She was by far the most kindhearted and sincere individual I had ever met and I knew that a bonehead marine like me did not deserve to have any feelings of affection towards her.

We continued to converse easily until her brother opened the front door not ten feet from where we sat closely together on the couch. She did not pull away when he entered the room like I might have imagined; we weren't touching, but we were close enough to insinuate that we were no longer strangers.

She smiled and greeted him before asking about his date. He gave a halfhearted response, obviously not wanting to talk to his little sister about girls. However, it was clear to everyone in the room that the date had gone very well, as it was almost two in the morning and his clothes were wrinkled and not buttoned correctly.

Oorah, Marine!

"I honestly was not expecting either of you to be awake this late... I really hope Mags didn't keep you up, Hogan. She knows how early you get up to visit your mother in the mornings and I don't want you to miss any time with her." I wanted to defend the girl I already cared too deeply for, but she beat me to it.

"You know, it takes two people to have a conversation, Liam. It is not my fault you stayed out so late with a girl! Someone had to keep your guest entertained." Although I knew she was joking, it almost hurt to hear her refer to me as Liam's guest after the night we had spent together. Nothing physical had happened between us, for the most part, but already I felt closer to her than I ever had been with her brother, who I had spent years getting to know.

"Well, then thanks for keeping him company I guess, Mags? He is a grown ass man though Maggie and I swear if you bothered him..."

It was my turn to interject. "Nah, man it wasn't like that. Honestly, I think I am the one keeping her awake. You have to understand, since finding out about my mom there hasn't been a moment that felt normal to me. It was nice to think about something other my mom for a second; Margaret is very easy to talk with. Plus, you have to lay off her man, she isn't a kid and I am not a grumpy old man that is going to get annoyed the minute she toddles into a room." I sounded like an idiot comparing Liam's twenty three year old sister to a child, but it was true, he needed to know that I was not annoyed by her, clearly it was the complete opposite.

I had seen many marines put on the over protective brother act in the past, although it almost seemed Liam was trying to protect me from his sister as opposed to the opposite."I just don't want anything to distract you while you are here with your mother, buddy. I love my sister, but sometimes she can be distracting." 

No kidding.

"Damn it Liam, I am literally standing right here! I was just talking to the guy, not seducing him." She looked her brother dead in the eye, then turned to me and said good night before walking to her room, clearly annoyed.

Oh how wrong she was though. Although we had only been talking, her sweet voice and compassion only made me like her more. I turned to Bailey, shrugged, and followed her towards the hallway that housed both of our rooms. It took every ounce of strength I had not to turn left into her room and instead walk through the right into my own room.

I smiled as I closed the door behind me. Even in the face of tragedy, I still selfishly found a way to be happy and I felt guilty about it.

*The image is not mine. Credit and rights go to whomever took/owns it.