Hounded

20. Like a puppy

As the passengers from Tyler's plane filed off and into the airport Tyler didnt know what he was supposed to do or where he was supposed to go. He watched as other troops family's and other passengers family's met them with big hugs and happy tears. He felt so alone.

He looked at his feet, not sure what to do with himself. The sergeant of his troop walked by and patted his shoulder with a smile, he barely offered one back as he watched the man hug who he was assume was his wife and kids.

He stood there, in the same spot until the gate cleared out and he was the only one left. He wandered around the airport for a bit before finding a little bench and settling there. He laid down and shut his eyes. Being out in seconds.

He slept for the majority of the day, waking up now and then when the airport got a little bit loud but eventually falling back to sleep. When nightfall came he was woken by someone shaking his shoulder.

He was met with a girl, a very pretty girl. She had blonde hair and striking blue eyes. "Hey you've been here a while. Everything okay?" The girl asked. Tyler nodded slowly but he wasnt sure. "Do you have a place to stay?" She asked. He shook his head.

"Well I just got off work, if you want you could come stay with me tonight." She said. Tyler agreed. She smiled and helped him gather his things. "My names jenna." She said as they walked our of the airport. He nodded. She led him over to her car and opened the trunk to out his things in.

"Whats your name?" She asked. Tyler stayed quiet, only staring at her. "You dont really talk do you?" She asked. He just looked at the ground shamefully. Great, shes gonna think hes weird. She smiled softly. "Its okay... do you mind If i..?" She trailed off pointing to Tyler's dogtags. He shook his head and let her look at them.

"Tyler? Is that your name?" She asked. He nodded. "Well hi Tyler." She said dropping his tags and shutting the trunk. He watched as his tags clinked together and they hit his chest. "Come on get in the car." She said. He nodded and climbed in the passenger side.

The drive to Jenna's house was only about twenty minutes but it felt longer because of how quiet it was. Jenna helped Tyler into the house with all his things before asking if he was hungry to which he nodded he hasn't eaten in days. Hes starving.

She made him some bacon and eggs even though it was almost midnight and he ate two huge plates. "You were hungry." She said as she took his plate to put it in the sink. He only nodded. She smiled softly before showing him to the guest room.

Even though tyler was only supposed to stay the one night it turned into two then three and so on. He really likes jenna shes really nice and fills some kind of hole in his life. She makes him feel like hes important and that he's not a bad person.

The two grew quite close quite quickly. Tyler had flashbacks a lot from war, most times during the night but not unheard of during the day and jenna always helped him through them when she wasnt at work. She worked at the airport she met Tyler at.

She was super nice to Tyler. She fed him and didnt get mad at him when he needed to be cuddly nor did she get mad when he didnt want any type of touch. She was very understanding and sweet. Tyler liked being around her.

Currently jenna was making breakfast while Tyler sat at the table. He was just staring at the wood for a while before a flashback hit him hard. Jenna quickly abandoned the food in order to help calm Tyler down. She stood behind him and played with his hair as he tried to catch his breath and clear his mind of the memories.

He sat with his head in his arms for a while before sitting up and rubbing his cheek against her stomach. She smiled softly and carded her hand through his hair. "You're like a puppy." She whispered when he nudged his head against her hand with a soft hum and if only she knew.

"Are you okay now?" She asked. He nodded. "Okay I'm gonna finish breakfast I'm only like five feet away." She said kissing the top of his head before heading back to the stove.

He smiled slightly to himself, it being the closest thing to a real smile since he lived with Josh all those years ago. He wonders what josh is doing. Does josh miss him as much as he misses josh? He shakes his head clear of the thought and focuses on jenna instead.