It was a bright sunny day, the sort that most people forgot could happen until they did; thirty two degrees, t-shirt weather. The lawn was white with daisies, and two tables had been set up at one end, each containing more food than anyone had ever seen in one place before. A large banner hung over them with "GOOD LUCK MATT AND SHIRO!" emblazoned on in colourful letters; a banner Pidge and Keith had spent ages making, despite neither of them having artistic talent. A handful or so of people mingled in the garden, at least two people were congratulating Matt or Shiro at one time, and everyone had a paper plate piled with something Shiro's dad had made. Keith's mum was talking to Pidge and Matt's mum about something that was clearly exciting the former far more than the latter. People milled around the pims and Matt, who was enjoying the drink a little too much.
Pidge and Keith saw all this from their viewpoint on the roof. Pidge's eyes were streaming from the pollen, and absolutely nothing else, while Keith had suddenly developed hay fever as well, and was sniffing and rubbing his eyes. Neither wanted to go down and join the party while their eyes were puffy and red, just in case someone thought they were doing something as idiotic as crying. Matt and Shiro were going to be in the same regiment, they had been waiting to sign up for years, this was a GOOD OPPORTUNITY! No one was going to spoil it for them, no one was going to say anything about the fact that they may not come back. They were young, surely they wouldn't be doing anything too dangerous. Now was not the time to spoil the leaving party by being selfish and needy, that wasn't the atmosphere of today's event, especially not in front of the parents.
Pidge's hay fever was getting worse, and Keith looked a little like that time he'd been dared to eat a ghost pepper and his eyes and nose had streamed for an hour.
Pidge was going to miss them. Even though technically only Matt was her brother, Pidge felt that Shiro was just as much a brother, even if it wasn't by blood. When the boys had first signed up, Pidge had come close to praying to a higher deity she didn't believe in that Matt would fail to meet physical requirements because of his glasses and his hay fever and his general nerdiness over badassness.
Unfortunately laser eye surgery, antihistamines, and the fact that he was willing to join the army over ruled her near pleas, and Pidge knew that she would have felt guilty for the rest of her life if he'd not got in. It wasn't really a question of whether or not Shiro got in though, he was the embodiment of health and fitness.
Which didn't really make Pidge or Keith feel much better.
The party ended with hugging and a tiny bit of sniffing, and then there was the proper goodbye where Pidge pretended she didn't care about them leaving, and Keith pretended he was pretending he did, and suddenly all the adults had to go inside and cry.
"Take care of each other," said Shiro, ruffling Keith's hair, and Matt made a bad joke and for a moment Pidge thought maybe they'd realise how much they were needed and stay. And they she hated herself for thinking that, and let go off Matt. Keith was scuffing his shoes against the ground so clearly had had the same thought.
"I'm going to miss you, so much," she said, rubbing her eyes. This was of course because she was tired, not because she was crying.
"I'll miss you to, Pidge" said Shiro, ruffling her hair. "Make sure Keith doesn't get in too much trouble,"
Keith protested bitterly at this, and they laughed, and everything was how it was supposed to be. Then Shiro and Matt left and everything was not.
After a brief fight about who's house they would sleep in (Keith won when the adults took over Pidge's), a longer fight about what to watch first (Pidge won on Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock Dynamite Sun Moon Water Earthquake Jelly Potato Dragon (a game they invented when they grew out of Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock Dynamite Sun Moon Water Earthquake)), and two minutes agreeing on what food to eat, they were ready for down time. It was too hot really for a blanket nest, and they were thirteen, that awkward age where you're too old to do kids stuff, but to young to revert back to kids stuff, so instead the stole Shiro's super cool, super light weight, super expensive camping blanket, and snugged into it, wishing Shiro would appear to tell them off for stealing it.
He didn't.
Even though they were inside, Keith and Pidge both felt extreme hay fever attacks coming on.
Even through every single episode of Buzzfeed Unsolved.
************
Pidge woke up to an imprint of the floor on her cheek, and Keith sprawled on top of her, tear tracks on his cheeks. Bowls full of melted and disgusting lactose free ice cream lay abandoned beside them, but Keith's mum Krolia, wonderful amazing Krolia, had left them pancake mix in the fridge, along with a note saying
"morning son and nearly daughter, nearly daughter your mum's gone to work, son your step-dad is on the plane to America. I'll be back at twelve thirty, please don't kill anyone.
K. K"
It was lactose free, because Krolia had the same inability to process lactose that her son did, and Pidge was just about to divide it in two so half could be made into waffles for Shiro and Matt, when she remembered they wouldn't be needing waffles.
Deep breath in. Deep breath out.
Right now Matt would be doing training, maybe drills, or press ups; Matt was atrocious at press ups, last press up competition he'd only narrowly beat her and her non existent abs, and lost to both Keith and Shiro. The Holts tended to let the side down when it came to press ups.
There see, happy memories, Matt had been gone for less than a day. He was in no danger. Shiro would make sure he didn't do something stupid like say Matt is short for Mathematics, or say he's secretly related to Mothman.
Pidge dropped the spatula or the floor and took another deep shuddering breath in. She could hardly remember her dad, but she remembered that the first few days after he would go away we're the worst. It was funny, but she didn't really miss him much. She'd been six when they'd received the Died In Action, and where his face should have been was the face of Shiro's dad.
Shiro's dad would be in America for a fortnight, and she didn't miss him. She knew he'd be back soon. She knew he world be fine.
Shiro and Matt had joined the army.
Her dad had died in the army.
She wasn't sure if she would cope if they died too.

