Lucas

I was proud of my uniform. I was proud that I was serving my country and that I'd made it through Marine Corps boot camp. It was something a lot of people couldn't say they'd ever done. But having Bailey on my arm blew all of that out of the water. In a twisted sort of way, spending time with her reminded me of Bonnie and Clyde. Relax, I'm not saying we were coldblooded killers, but I'm pretty sure if she wanted me to rob a few banks and completely bail on our lives to drive across the country—I might've said yes.

However, we were boring, law-abiding citizens, and one of us wasn't even of age yet. So instead of living fast and dying young, we were going to be forced to say our goodbyes and live our lives apart from each other for a while. Damn. I knew she wanted me to kiss her, but I also knew that I wouldn't want to stop. I would've dropped my coat and her backpack right where we were standing and pulled her to me. I would've kissed her in front of everyone and not given a shit about who saw us. Sorry kids, consider it lesson one in the birds and the bees. My tongue would've definitely been in her mouth. No doubt.

So the kiss would have to wait. How long? I'm not sure. My friend, Violet, from back home would've been screaming from the rooftops for me to kiss her. She would've told me to forget everything else and just go for it as if life was like a Disney movie. Sometimes she forgets that the in those movies, the kiss is the end of the story. I wasn't ready for the story to end just yet.

"Now that I know you read, and have great taste in authors, I have an idea." I guided her over to the small gift shop. Outside the lit interior were a few racks of books that were specifically picked because of their possible appeal to weary passengers. I grabbed two. One was a science fiction, and the other was a romance.

"You read romance?" she asked.

"I'll read almost anything, but I picked this for you." I stepped inside the store and up to the register. I grabbed a pack of peppermint gum and set it on top of the books. Bailey grabbed some M & M's and set them next to my items on the counter. I tucked away that information for another day.

"Next," the cashier called and we slid our stuff down to her register.

"I'll get these too," I said, stacking Bailey's candy on my pile.

"You don't have to do that," she said.

"It's part of the relationship. Remember fast tracked. I didn't get to buy you a soda at school, or maybe a slice of pizza at a football game. I'm not going to be able to take you out for ice cream, or even buy you flowers just because I saw them and thought they were pretty like you. I'm buying you candy. We're just going to knock that off the list and move forward."

"I think I'm going to like this fast track idea." She grinned up at me as I paid the cashier. We stepped outside the store and I pulled the first book out of the brown bag they had been stuffed into.

"Here," I said as I reached inside and ripped out the last half of the pages. The sound of paper tearing grabbed a few people's attention. Bailey gasped a little and I knew from being a book lover myself, watching a book get destroyed hurt. But this was going to be totally worth it. I handed her what was left of the book and tucked away the free pages into the paper bag. Next, I grabbed the other book.

"What are you doing?!" She reached for the book, "I can't just watch you rip pages. Are you crazy?"

"Yes, but that's beside the point. This is my insurance plan. Just trust me." I ripped the last half of that story out too. I handed her the free pages this time, and I tucked away the dismembered book. She stood, staring down at the jaggedly ripped papers in her hand. The black font stared back at her, completely torn from the best selling story it belonged in.

"What have you done?" she asked weakly. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"I've ensured that you'll write me back. We're now the proud owners of half a good story. If you want those books to be complete, and the stories to be told in the entirety just as the respectable authors had intended—we'll have to meet again to put them back together."

"You've left me no choice," she said teasingly.

"Not if you want to finish that story." I extended my elbow again and she slid right on. I smiled inside, another step was complete: we communicated without words. Being like this was a habit now. "If we don't get to complete our story, neither should they."

"Well, I think you just screwed yourself big time," she laughed.

"Why's that?"

"You kept the science fiction book and gave me the romance." When I didn't respond she continued, "All the answers will be in my free pages."

"And all the good, steamy parts of your romance will be in mine."

"I can't decide if you're evil or brilliant," she said, staring down again at the pages in her hand.

I shrugged my shoulders, "It's all up to you. If you leave our story here, I'm evil because these books will remain incomplete for nothing. If you meet me again one day, I'll be brilliant because I've sealed us together in righting what's wrong. I'm not saying all the pressure is on you," I teased, "but I'd feel guilty if I stopped us from putting the stories back together."

"Good point. There's only one problem."

"What's that?"

"I'm a quick reader," she answered with a devilish smirk.

"Trust me, I'm counting on that."

**** Thanks for all the comments so far! I love hearing from you. Lots of votes for a kiss goodbye.....