Over Seas Lover // l.s

One

I unofficially met Harry at a dinner party for soldiers. I, being very fond of my country and appreciating all it had done for me, was one of the main coordinators for the party itself and it was my job to get to know every soldier. But with so many mixes of uniforms--Naval, Air Force, Army, and Marines--it was hard to find everyone I was wanting to get to know.

I caught a glimpse of curly brown hair--not as long as it is now--and couldn't help but walk over to the quite attractive lad, "Louis Tomlinson, party coordinator number twenty-six."

He had laughed, it wasn't even one of my best jokes and he still laughed and it made me feel something inside, something I hadn't felt in a long time, "Styles," he interrupted my thoughts, "Soldier, number unknown."

It was my turn to laugh and he simply smiled, pleased with himself, "so you put this whole thing on?"

"Oh, not by myself. It wasn't even my dance, I'm just a coordinator. I'm actually in charge of communications like Facebook, Twitter, the lot. Nothing fancy."

"Well, it sure is fancier than what I do," he pointed out, "I don't do much more than point and shoot." His buddies were calling him over at this time and he was trying to ignore them, but it wasn't working, "I better go before they eat me alive. I'll see you 'round."

It was then that I realized I hadn't gotten his first name, "wait, Styles, what's your--" but he was too far gone at that point.

The name was intimidating. It was mysterious in itself. Styles. It kind of had an elegance to it, like he should be living in the biggest mansion imaginable, not fighting out in the towns of Iran or Afghanistan.

"What are you thinking about," my friend, Niall, questioned a few days later when I was waiting for him to get out of his college class.

"It's just a guy I met. He's...unforgettable."

"Unforgettable how?"

"He just makes you feel like you want to learn everything about him. You want to study him like a stack of books, get to know him front to back, back to front. And his personality. It's one of a kind. He's humorous, you know, real funny. I like that in a guy, someone who can laugh and have a good time. That's a good guy to have in your life. God," I shook my head, "I just totally got off track."

"No, no. It's good to see you happy. Ever since Liam, I've never seen you so giddy. It's good. It's really good. I like seeing you so happy. It makes me happy and when I'm happy, everyone's happy. So everyone is happy all because of you."

"Yeah, it's a good thing. I'm not going to let that ruin me. I need to get over it. But I'm still mourning, Ni, and I don't know when it will stop."

"Do you want to hear the truth?" He asked before continuing, "it never stops. It's always there, in the back of our minds. The pain, the sorrow, it's all there. It's waiting for us to become weak again. But I know you're strong enough to keep it in it's place. You'll be just fine,  I know you will."

"Is it wrong that I break down when I'm alone, thinking about him?"

"Not at all, you still have to cry, Lou. I hope that's something you allow. You can't just go on with life and not allow yourself the opportunity to cry. Sometimes, you have to let it all go. You just need to. Otherwise your feelings get all bottled up inside and when they do let loose they take a long time to stop. Little amounts at given times are good. They're healthy."

"You don't think it's wrong of my to move on so quickly?"

"Lou, it's been a year. I think now is the perfect time to start moving on. It's good, I promise."

"You don't think it's rude towards Liam."

"The best thing Liam would wish for you is to get over him. He wants you to be happy. He wants you to find love. He wants you to have anything and everything you could dream of."

That was true. Liam was always encouraging me to follow my dreams, no matter where they took me. Even if they took me to the middle of a busy India town, bustling with urban life and street markets. He wanted me to check everything off my bucket list which included rock climbing up the face of a mountain.

He only wanted my happiness, which made me love him so much that it hurt sometimes to watch him leave for combat. But he was honoring his country, something both of us wanted to do, but only one of us could have.

"Okay," I said, "I'm going for happiness then."

And that was the best decision I have made in my entire life.