"I joined the Marine Corps."
I lifted my forehead off his. "What?"
"I needed to make a change. It seemed like the right choice."
For some reason I couldn't process his words. "I don't understand. You joined the marines?"
"I'm heading to California because that's where basic training is."
Oh my God.It felt like my heart was beating out of my chest. "When do you have to report?"
"Friday."
I shook my head. "This Friday? As in two days from today?"
He nodded.
I was completely speechless. So that's what him and Josh were talking about when Josh said he only had a few days of freedom left.
"I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner. I've just been trying to clear my head on this trip. I needed to not think about it the whole time."
"But last night...it seemed like you were going to come back with me. Tyler, I meant what I said. I'm falling in love with you. I don't just say that all the time. I mean it."
"I'm falling for you too." He touched the side of my face. "For just a second I wanted to believe it could be more."
"This doesn't mean it can't be."
His hand fell from my cheek as he stood up. "It does."
I stood up too. "No, it doesn't."
"I signed up for three years. We've known each other five days. I'd never ask you to wait for me."
"Then don't ask me. Let me make my own decision."
"I wasted three years of my life pining over a girl who didn't reciprocate those feelings. I'm broken, Hails. You deserve so much more than that. I wouldn't let you wait. Not when we don't know what we even have. Three years is a long time. I would never do that to someone."
I know what we have.And I had two days to show him what I already knew. That we were two pieces of the same puzzle. Cast aside. Lost. Second. I knew how he felt. I knew what it was like to not be good enough for someone.
Proving to him that we could be more would take my mind off the nerves dancing around my stomach as we got closer and closer to Pasadena. It gave me something to hope for. Something big and scary and so wonderfully exciting. I hadn't had something like that in my life for a long time. "Okay."
"Okay?" he asked.
"Let's just enjoy our last few days together then. Let's make the most of it. A grand send off for you."
Tyler smiled sheepishly. It was probably the cutest thing I had ever seen.
"As long as you promise you're not a criminal."
He laughed as he stepped toward me. "Unless what I'm about to do to your body is criminal."
"It depends on what you're going to do."
I laughed as he picked me up over his shoulder and carried me toward the bathroom.
Missing Pieces - Chapter 32
Tyler
