Barracks

[Jillian]

Jillian inhaled deeply. She didn't want to let him go but Bryce certainly had more faith in her ability to recover if things went south than she did. Could she handle it? Could she rebuild from nothing again if she and Heath didn't make it? But you won't be rebuilding from nothing. The Ryders would never give you room to breathe, let alone build by yourself. Something in her chest eased up.

"I don't want you to go."

~

"Why the hell are you pushing her into his arms?" Archer demanded as Bryce took the phone off of speaker.

"Because she means more to me than almost anything in the world and if her being with him keeps her here then I'm all for it."

"I don't like it."

"Yeah well, you're off playing dark ops. She needs somebody Arch and you just don't have room in your schedule to be that somebody right now."

[Heath]

Heath blinked and jerked his head back slightly before resting his eyes on her face again. Did he hear her right? A part of him wished she would repeat but then again, Jillian just wouldn't say something to just say it. There was always truth to her words and it was one of many things he loved about her.

"I don't want to go either but ..." He took a step toward her hoping she'd close the gap by taking a step to him. "I never wanted to walk out of your apartment that day, that way. It was killing me. But I didn't know what to do. I felt so wounded, tossed aside. Avoiding you, not being around you again was hard, even harder than the first time we stopped talking for a while. I wasn't as invested then. Yes, I liked you then but my feelings have grown since then."

He reached to her, smoothing his fingers over her cheek. "I miss you everyday. I love being around you; having you in my life. Before I met you, when I first moved her my plans were to stay here a couple of months and move out. My transfer to Texas was something I decided long ago. Why didn't I? I met you and I wanted to stay here ... with you. I felt there was this chance, in my heart, you and I ... it felt right."