Been Here All Along

40| defense

I stepped out of the room and called Anthony. He told me he'd come around 9:30, which is still an hour away, but I want him to go check on Mason.

"Hey, sis," he answered immediately. He wanted to ask me if something was wrong, I could tell by his tone, but resisted.

"Hey, Anth, I need a favor."

"What is it?"

"Mason said he'd be here at 8, but he still isn't here. Can you go to his apartment and see how he is?"

"Will do. I'll let you know what's up."

"Thank you, love you."

"Love you, too."

Mason has been coping differently than everyone else. He puts up a strong front in front of everyone almost always and is staying dedicated to his faith by attending church as often as he can. But he's also been secluding himself. None of us take it personally because we know it is just his process of grieving, but I miss him and I worry about him. We're all in pain, and I hate that Mason feels like he has to be in pain alone.

Through the main entrance, a group of men and select women walked in. They were all fully dressed in their military uniforms.

I dipped back into the room, immediately clinging to Hayden's side. I was nervous to meet people from Ian's unit because these people knew a part of Ian that even I didn't know. I had no idea what they know about me, if even anything. Maybe Ian never spoke about me to them.

"You look nervous," Hayden pointed out.

I looked up at him and nodded.

Before Hayden could try and convince me to not be nervous, we were approached by a couple of the men.

"Something tells me your Josie," one of them said. He reminds me of Sergeant Nichols with his serious expression, yet easygoing tone of voice. It's probably an army man thing.

"I am." So it is confirmed that Ian did indeed talk about me. "How'd you know that?"

The man looked at the guy next to him, who nodded. "I'm Steven Carlo," he introduced himself briefly. "Tommy and I got pretty close with Ian these past few months." He gestured to the guy next to him that had nodded. "Ian talked about you a lot. We knew it was you because of the picture he always kept with him." Tommy extended his hand to reveal an photo of Ian and I sitting on a bench at Westchester together. We took it only a few weeks before he left.

"Thank you," I murmured, receiving the picture.

"We actually have something else for you, too." Steven reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "Ian wrote it for you. All we know is he wants you to read it in private."

I stared at the paper in his hand, unable to bring myself to grab it. I could not believe that Ian had written me a letter that he wanted me to read after his death. Part of me didn't even want to read it because I was scared to know what it says.

Hayden grabbed it for me so that Steven's hand wasn't left outstretched for any longer.

"I'll hold onto it for you for the day, okay?" He suggested. I managed to nod my head, in a slight state of shock still.

Mrs. Miller called Hayden over, which led him to hesitantly leave me alone with Tommy, Steven, and another guy I still didn't know the name of.

It didn't seem to matter because Steven and the unnamed guy excused themselves momentarily to go speak to Mr. Miller. Tommy stayed rooted in his position though.