Auggie
I grab her hand and intertwine our hands together and pull her back into the back yard.
"I know you're out right now, but I need to run something by you. You know when we investigated that lead last week?" She nods her head. "Well, we had a witness come in and they want to make a statement, but they want to speak with you. I hate to ask, but I feel like if we don't do this now, we may lose this lead."
She squeezes my hand. "Let me jump in the shower really quick and change. It shouldn't take me more than twenty minutes." She goes to walk into the house, but I pull her back.
"I asked Melissa to move out last night." I can see she is shocked, which makes me realize how much I have failed her. To see how surprised she is, what the fuck have I done? Mackey was right. I need to get my head out of my ass. Melissa and I still haven't talked about the timing of her moving out and by the time I got home last night she still wasn't home so we couldn't talk. I know by the way I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders I'm making the right decision.
"How did she take that?" she asks.
"You worried about me River?" I tease her.
"I've always worried about you." She teases back. "Especially when it comes to her."
"She took it better than I thought she would, but we really didn't get to get into the details. The Captain called about this witness and I had to go in. That's why you didn't hear from me last night. I was too busy trying to get them to talk."
I can see by the smile on her face she's happy about this. I feel like puffing my chest out. Like I've done something right for the first time in a long time. I'm going to show her she's the top priority in my life even if I have to remove Melissa from my life completely. I know Melissa was there for me, but if I don't, I will lose River and I'm not willing to do that. Not again. I finally feel like the void that I felt the last five years is being filled and I won't jeopardize that again. The more time I spend with River brings back all the feelings I felt before, but they are stronger now. We haven't kissed again; I'm taking this at her pace, I won't lie and say I'm not walking around with a constant hard on, but I want to build our foundation on friendship, repair and rebuild the trust that she needs again. I'll wait until she's ready. I'm a patient man.
"Well let's not keep this witness waiting any longer. Now stop slowing me down." She releases my hand and walks back into the house; I look down at my phone to see if I have missed any messages. I see I have one from Melissa, but I hear the door open and see Baxter making his way over to me.
"Hey man." I greet him.
"Hey, do you have a minute? I wanted to talk to you alone." And I know this isn't going to be a fun chat.
"Sure." I pocket my phone. I can respond to Melissa later. "What's up?"
"I want to talk about River. I know I don't know you, but I feel like I know you. River and I talk about everything so please believe me when I say I know everything, I. Know. Everything. At least from viewpoint." He looks me in the eyes trying to emphasize his meaning.
"Ok. So, what do you want to talk about?" I question. I want to be respectful. This guy has been there for River and is an important part of her life.
"Please believe this is not coming from a place of jealousy, but from a protectiveness I have for her. When I met River in basic training, you could tell that something had happened to her. It wasn't just the black eyes and bruises you could tell in her eyes something ruined her. She kept to herself and didn't really make friends. In the army you need your family. You need people to watch your back." I brace myself for what he's about to tell me.
"At first, I would try to get a rise out of her, but she wouldn't bite. She was so closed off and just numb. She had no will to live. You could see she didn't care whether she lived or died and when you have the attitude in the army no one wants to be your battle buddy. I saw her hurting so I decided I would try to break down her walls. I knew she needed someone, and I decided that person would be me. Slowly I grew on her, and she finally opened up to me and told me want happened and when I say you have no clue how what you did affected her. You have no clue, as I'm sure you are aware River puts on this shield of toughness and she is, but she is also vulnerable. When she described that night, you want to know what brought her to tears? What caused her to have a panic attack? It wasn't her attack; it was her describing watching you make out with her cousin."
He holds up his head when I start to say something. "Look I get it man, you two were not together and she knows that, but she was shattered. You were kissing someone who from what she has told me has always tried to get between the two of you. Someone who she had warned you about. It took her a long ass time to get where she wouldn't break down. She continued to lose weight during basic training to the point where the drill sergeants threatened to send her home unless she started eating. That seemed to be what did the tricked. She didn't want to be sent home. She was getting better, I could see the life come back into her eyes, she was letting me get to see the real River, but when her father died it was like one step forward and two steps back. After she come back, I feel like it was worse than when I met her the first time." He rubs his hands through his hair.
"She really needed you." I can sense his frustration with me, "I had only met her family a few times at that point. I tried to be there for her as much as I could, but I was at another duty station and couldn't travel a lot. I tried to be there for her, but I wasn't you. When she saw you with her cousin at her dad's funeral it was like seeing you choosing her cousin over her all over again. You know she's always felt second best to her cousin? Between all the parents and you, how many times did you choose her cousin over her; whose shoulder was you there for when her father passed away? I don't know your side and if I'm honest I don't care, but fuck man you should have swallowed your pride. I don't care if she left and cut off all contact you should have been there for her. Like I said I tried to be there for her, but what she really needed was you." He stops talking for a second.
"So, unless you are going to put her first no matter what; do not start anything. I don't care if it's just friendship or if you are shooting for a relationship. I can't see her like that again and to be honest I don't know if she would survive it again and I won't sit back and watch her suffer. She deserves better than that." If Mackey didn't get me to get my head out of my ass this conversation definitely does. I knew she was hurt, but I didn't ever see the full affects. I'm sure her parents didn't know either. God I'm a piece of shit. He's right, no matter what I should have at least approached her and made her push me away, but instead, I let my fear of her not wanting to talk to me get the best of me. Who knows maybe we could have patched things up way before now if I did.
"You know she moved here for you. She was finally in a place where she felt strong enough and I really think she realized it would always be you. Which I'm sure is a certain level of torture after everything that you've put her through. I'm sure she told you she tried dating, but I could always tell she was never into any of them and what I just witnessed when you first walked in, I know why. I've never saw her look at anyone the way she looks at you. I believe it was fate that you all ended up as partners. I think it's what is best because it forced her to face you. Regardless of how this turns out. I just need to know that when I leave here you will put her first. If you can't, you need to walk away. She's a lot stronger than she was then, but I have no doubt that it would break her completely. I don't want to see that. She has overcome too many things to go backwards. She came here for you. I know she was still hurt, but I know she knew it was time to stop running from everything. She missed you. She missed her family, but she missed you the most. I know she cut you completely out, but I think she needed distance to allow her to grow."
"I promise I will put her first. I love her and I plan on demonstrating that to her until she believes me. I can't remember the last time I was this happy. Well, I can.", it was prom before everything happened. And I know that I have made a mess of things, but I only plan on putting her first from now on.
"I hope so. Our girl deserves to be put first and nothing else. Please don't hurt her. I don't want to see her hurt."
"I won't." I respond.
"Prove it." He holds his hand out to shake and I return the gesture as I say. "Plan to."
Just as we finished our conversation River comes out to the backyard with a huge smile. "You ready?"
She turns to Baxter, "I'll be back later. It shouldn't take too long."
"I'll be fine. I'll put the moms to work and make sure the place is ready for the party."
"Thanks, Bax, I wouldn't have been able to do it without you." She gives him a hug and we all start walking back into the house as we head to my truck to go talk to the witness.
I know three chapters in one day! I'm shooting for Sunday for my next chapter, but it's getting ready to get good. I'm needing some extra time to make sure I'm writing the story the way I want it to be read. Thanks for your patience! I'm an avid reader so I know how painful it is to wait for the next chapter. I'm writing and publishing as quickly as possible.
Thanks reading Auggie and River's story. Again thanks for the support and comments. It means a lot. Don't forget to vote and comment.