Til Your Safe And Sound

Chapter One: Why?

"Don't do this, Justin." I begged as Justin threw in some more clothes into his suite case. He looked at me, his golden-brown eyes glowing. 

"I have to." he whispered, as if someone would overhear. "I have to defend my country."

"What country?" I asked. "Your Canadian!" He shrugged.

"I feel like I owe America somehow. Theyv'e taken me in, why not defend it?" he shrugged, and shut his suitecase.

"What about your fans?" I asked, hoping maybe he'd at least think about leaving before boarding the plane the next day. "What about me?"

"Grace..." he walked up to me, cupping my cheek with his soft, warm hand. "You know you mean the world to me, right?"

"Sure doesn't feel like it." I said, my voice heavy and thick. A tear rolled down my cheek, and he brushed it away with his thumb. "You know you might never come back?" 

"I will." he said. "And I am. The thought of you waiting for me will push me enough to make sure I get on board that plane on my flight home."

I felt a smile tug at my lips, but I looked down. Right now, my heart was slowly breaking. No time for smiles.

"Please don't look down when you smile.." Justin said, using his free hand to place his thumb under my chin, forcing me to look back into his eyes. "I'll need something to remember you by." I finally cracked, and gave him a warm smile.

"Promise you'll come straight home?" I asked.

"I promise."

"Pinkie swear?" I asked, holding up my pinkie at him. He chuckled, and removed his hand from under my chin to wrap his pinkie around mine.

"I pinkie swear." 

"Now boarding flight 88" the announcer announced over the intercome. Justin picked up his luggage, and stood to his feet.

"Thats me." he said in a monotone voice. As he began to walk away, I tugged on his arm. He looked at me.

"Why are you doing this.." I whispered. "Cause it looks like you don't want to." He shrugged this time. He didn't give me his whole 'I-Owe-America' speech like he did the many days I asked this question.

"I need to go." he said in the same tone-of-voice. He put his luggage down so he would wrap his muscular arms around my waist. I wrapped mine around his neck, and pulled him as close as I could.

"Please be careful.." I whispered in his ear as we began to seperate. He gave me a tight smile, and nodded his head.

"I will."

He pulled my face close to his, and gently pressed his warm lips against mine. The kiss didn't last long, the second announcment for Justin's plane to board broke us apart, and sent Justin running toward his gate.

I stood in the center of the airport for a few minutes longer. Every second that passed as I stood there was painful, each one more painful than the other. I looked out the window and saw the army plane take off, knowing that Justin was sitting in one of those seats, in one of those isles, getting ready to land and start defending the country.

"Grace?" a voice spoke behind me, along with a hand grasping my shoulder. I looked over and saw Justin's mom, Pattie. "Come on." she whispered, leading me towards the exit doors.

I nodded silently, and followed behind her. She wrapped an arm around my waist, and I thought I was going to burst into tears.

"It's going to be so hard.." I whispered as I managed to keep the tears that were threatening to break thru back. "The aparments going to be so...empty."

"You can sleep at my house." Pattie suggested. "We have an extra room, and your more than welcome to stay there til Justin returns."

If he returns...I thought, but nodded my head in agreement, knowing if I went back to our apartment, I'd get no sleep, and I'd never leave.

"Don't worry Grace." Pattie said, opening the passenger side door for me. "He'll come back. Justin's strong, he won't just go out there and die."

I nodded my head, and looked down at my phone. I had gotten a few missed calls from Pattie, and a few from my friend, Ann, along with a few texts from her. Justin had his phone, but there were no missed calls or texts from him.

"You don't think he left because of me, do you?" I asked aloud. I didn't mean to ask that aloud, but the thought popped into my head.

"Grace." Pattie said sternly. I looked at her through the tears clouding my vision. "Me and Justin talked yesterday about this, while you were asleep. He couldn't sleep, so he called me, and we talked til it was time for him to head out,"

"He told me," I said. "But he didn't tell me what you guys talked about."

"Did you ask?" she asked.

"No." I confessed. "I figured it was personal business, and I didn't want to sound clingy or anything." Pattie laughed lightly.

"Well, we talked about why he was leaving." she said. "And the first thing he told me after I asked why, was 'It's not because of Grace. The only reason I can't sleep right now is because the thought of leaving her the next morning on a plane worries me.' "

"Worries him?" I asked quickly.

"Yes." Pattie said. "He said he was worried that before he boarded, you'd end the relationship. That you'd decide it was better to go see other people, that the thought of you going off to war was too painful."

"No.." I said. "I'd never do that."

"I told him that." Pattie continued. "Told him that you weren't the kind of person to let go of something you loved so quickly."

"The thought of leaving him to see other people is more painful than the thought of him going off to war!" I said, my voice rising slightly. Pattie smiled, and patted my knee.

"So, why exactly did he?" I ask.

"He didn't give me an actual answer." she said. "But he feels like somethings calling him to be a soldier. He said he had a dream one night about going out into the woods, with a rifel, and shooting down people."

"What?" I asked, eyes wide. The thought of Justin having such a violent dream surprised me.

"Surprised me too!" Pattie said, laughing. "But he said that eventually, he realized the people weren't innocent people. They were the enemy."

I nodded my head, and looked back down at my phone. Justin sent me a text, but I didn't look at it.

"So, he left cause he had a dream?" I asked. Pattie pulled into the driveway of her house, and turned the car off.

"I don't know why he left, honestly." she confessed. "Maybe he felt God was calling him or something, but alls we can do at this point is pray, and support him." I nodded, and opened the message from Justin.

I love you Grace, and I'm keeping my pinkie promise. Wouldn't break it for the world ;)