FlyAway *19*

-19-

    Aaron opened his eyes at six o’clock sharp. He’d trained his body for the past few years so that he didn’t need an alarm anymore. It was already light out, and the room was a little chilly. He, however, felt completely comfortable and warm. A small, petite body was pressed against his, clinging to him tightly. Crystal.
    He sat up, trying not to jostle her. She grumbled in her sleep, wrinkling her nose slightly, but he managed to slip out of her arms and crawl out of the California King-sized bed. He padded into the adjoining bathroom and looked at his reflection in the mirror.
    His eyes were still the bright, dark blue that they’d been when he’d first met Crystal Hudson. There were dark circles under them, though, from all the work he’d been doing. The tiny hole in his lip where he’d once had the ring piercing had healed years ago; taking it out had been one of the first things his drill sergeant had commanded him to do. His skin was still pale, despite all the time he spent in the sun. He was on temporary educational leave right now, visiting the California base to learn about a new type of jet that would soon be in use by the U.S Air Force. Aaron was a pilot now, and flight was the one thing he’d found to give him happiness after he and Crystal had been torn away from each other.
    Aaron splashed water on his face and wet his hair, suddenly wishing he’d never let his superior officers order the cut so long ago. Crystal had loved his long, thick locks. He wondered if they’d allow him to grow it back out, and then dismissed the thought. It had made him wonder whether or not he’d be able to see Chris after he went back to Florida, and that was not a good subject for him.
---
    Crystal’s eyes fluttered open. The large bed was now empty, save for her. The sheets were tangled around her legs, which she just noticed were bare. She saw her jeans draped over a chair back, and a blush crept up her cheeks. She glanced at the clock; it was just before six thirty.
    She stood, brushing her hair back from her face and tucking it behind her ear. She heard nothing. Chris could swear that she’d heard something, earlier. It struck her that Aaron was nowhere to be found, and that Zach would worry about her after she’d left his condo with such a strange man.
    Her feet made a light sound as she hurried over to her jeans and pulled out her cell phone so she could text Zach to let him know she was alright. She remembered, briefly, that she and Zach had been very drunk and had come very close to making a very bad decision. Chris had always been somewhat of a flirty drunk, and so she couldn’t exactly blame him. He’d always had a little crush on her.
    She saw that she had other messages, and so replied to all of them as well as telling Zach how she was, and then dropped her phone on the chair. Someone moved behind her, and she turned to see a tall, broad, well-muscled man walking out of the bathroom with a fluffy white towel wrapped around his waist, drying his thick, dark hair with another, smaller towel. Her eyes grew huge, but she did not stop herself from staring at him.
    Aaron started when he saw her standing there. He glanced down at himself and flushed deep scarlet, glancing back up at her apologetically. His deep blue eyes were full of merriment and mischief.
    “Oh, gosh… Um…” Chris shrugged weakly. “Hi, Aaron.”
    “Hi, Crystal. Nice weather we’re having, huh?”
---
    What a stupid thing to say, after all that time. But of course, he couldn’t think of anything else. He’d walked out of the bathroom, expecting to see her still lying in bed. Instead, there she is, wide awake by the big white armchair, her eyes glued to his chest. He was just glad that the towel hadn’t fallen off; that would have been the ultimate moment of horror. After all this time, why did their first coherent meeting have to be one in which he was practically naked?
    “I… I missed you,” she managed to say.
    He could see tears brimming in her eyes, and longed to pull her into his arms and tell her that she’d never have to worry about him leaving her ever again. However, due to his current clothing predicament, that would probably not end very well.
    “I missed you, too,” he said, still more worried about getting dressed than talking. He figured they’d have plenty of time to talk later. “Listen, I feel… pretty weird, standing here like this, so… Uh… I think I’m going to at least put some pants on, and then… We’ll go for breakfast, okay?”
    “Of course! I’m sorry, how rude of me… Um… mind if I, uh…” she pointed toward the bathroom, grinning crookedly.
    “No, no, not at all! Go ahead. Knock yourself out in the process.” He saw her eyebrow shoot up and scrambled to explain. “Well, don’t really do that, ‘cause that wouldn’t be good… It’s just something I picked up, and… uh…” Her expression didn’t change, and he decided to just let it rest. “I’ll, uh… I’ll see about getting those pants on now.”
    She nodded slightly, and a small smile found its way across her lips. She trotted into the bathroom, bringing her jeans with her, and the door clicked shut behind her. Aaron waited until the water started in the shower, and then he dropped the towel he’d been using to dry his hair.
    “You stupid, stupid idiot… Yeah, real smooth, Dawson. Talk about the weather, make her conscious of the fact that you’re naked, and then tell her to get a concussion. Some slick talker you are, buckaroo. Not much different than you were back then, are you? Still awkward as ever… Awesome. I bet she’s in there thinking about how much of a moron you are.”
    He dug through his clothes, still muttering to himself, until he found some casual clothing that he could wear around town, that had nothing to do with the military. He pulled on a pair of dark blue jeans over his boxers, and a plain, tight black tee shirt. He ruffled his hair and sat to pull his boots on, because they were the only shoes he had. His head snapped up when the bathroom door opened and Chris came out wearing her dark skinny jeans and a black tank top, carrying her tee shirt. She wore no makeup, and her hair hung in wet tendrils about her face, brightening her small smile. She was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.
---
    “So… where are we going to go?” Chris asked, trying to hide the smile that kept growing, despite her attempts to remain serious.
    “Uh…” Aaron shook his head as if to regain his composure, then took a deep breath. “There’s a really nice café down the street.”
    “That sounds great,” she replied, brightly. She stepped over to the chair where her phone lay, and answered a rather frantic text she’d gotten from her brother.
    Aaron came up behind her, but he did not touch her. She could feel him standing there, and her heart started to pound. She slowly turned to face him, slipping the phone in her pocket, and met his eyes. Hers started to burn, and she looked away to stop herself from crying.
    “Chris… I…” He touched her arm. His fingers were warm, and she could feel every little motion he made with them. He reached up to brush some of her wet hair away from her face. His breath hitched. “God, I missed you so much.” He sounded as though he were about to cry, as well.
    She looked up at him, and couldn’t help herself any longer. She threw herself into his arms, letting tears spill down her cheeks, and choked back the sobs that rose in her throat. Aaron held her tightly, resting his chin on the top of her head. She felt him pull away for a moment, and then he was pressing his lips to hers and kissing her passionately, his fingers twining through her hair, trailing down her spine to the small of her back, pulling her closer so that she couldn’t be taken away from him ever again.
---
    It was like the first time they’d ever kissed. Perfect, and slightly unexpected. Though his lips craved more of hers, and his hands longed to continue roving through her hair, he finally broke the kiss and sat on the edge of the bed, drawing her down to sit beside him. She leaned her head on his shoulder. Her fingers twined through his, and they fit together just as well as they had all those years ago.
    “I love you,” he said, quietly. “I promised we’d be together again, didn’t I? No matter what?”
    “You did.” She squeezed his hand. “I waited for you. Every day, I got up thinking that today was the day. And finally, it was.” He looked down at her, and she shook her head. Her eyes found his, and her smile brightened the entire room. “I love you, too, Aaron.” Chris looked a little confused for a moment. “How did you find me? What have you been doing?”
    He leaned down and kissed her again, softly. “It’s seven. Do you still want to go out for breakfast? We have the rest of our lives to talk about everything. Why not wait for a bit, sugar?”
    “Well, I have class at ten. I have to be at the college to turn in my term paper, and I don’t get done with classes until two or so.” She sighed heavily. “I wish I could spend all day with you, but today is a very important day, and I haven’t missed a day of class yet, anyway.”
    “School is important, Crystal.”
    “How would you know? You dropped out!”
    “Oh, come now. Don’t be mean.” He nudged her. “I’ll have you know, I got my GED, and I’ve been in military school. I’m a Lieutenant now, in the Air Force!”
    “Ooh, big strong military man,” she joked.
    He glared and stood, taking her other hand and pulling her up. “Come on. Let’s get something to eat, and then I’ll take you to the campus. I’ll pick you up when you’re done, and we can spend the rest of the day together. You don’t have school tomorrow, do you?”
    “Well, no. It’s the end of the year. Today is the last day of finals.”
    “Then we’ll celebrate.” He dragged her toward the door and she threw her arms around his neck.
    He pulled the door open and kissed her, getting ready to follow her out into the hall. It was when he looked up and saw the man who was about to knock on his door that his smile fell and his face went completely white.