John, Peter and Rose

Chapter One

John and Peter walk into the Lillie's diner in their military outfits both feeling a wave of emotions; excited, relieved, happy, free. They were finally back. They were surrounded by the familiar scent of freshly made waffles, muffins, pancakes and the scent of the collection of flowers displayed around the diner. They were surrounded by the familiar sound of the clashing of the dishes made by the man washing the dishes in the back, the sound of the mixers mixing the milk and ice cream together, the sound of the waitresses heels hitting the floor and finally the comforting sound of constant chatter around the room. They looked around at the small pink dinner filled by families eating anything from the menu which mostly included breakfast meals (pancakes, waffles, sausages, breakfast potatoes, bacon, etc) and drinking Lillie's world famous milkshakes. There were a variety of them. A family of two young boys and their parents had two cookie dough milkshakes and two strawberry. The young, teenage girl at the stool was drinking a birthday cake milkshake and the man sitting a couple of stools away had a vanilla one. A couple at the table close to the door were sharing an Oreo milkshake and the family on the table next to them each had a chocolat-banana milkshake. And finally a group of friends had a variety of cookies and cream milk shakes and, Peter and John's favorite, chocolate.

The diner was packed and the chatting was so loud you could barely hear yourself think. Every table was taken except for one. At the far right of the diner, there was a table for four. It was the same as every other table in there, the table was silver and the chairs were pink but what made it special was it's view. It was the only table that was against the window that had the perfect view of the ocean. It was also the table where John and Peter spent day after day drinking milkshakes when they were younger. If they were sad, they sat at that table and ate their feelings away. If they were angry, this was the perfect place to rant. If they were stressed about school, there's no better way to help each other study than with a perfect milkshake. If they were happy, there's no better place to hang out with friends. John and Peter slowly made their way to that table making sure to savour every inch of this diner that they grew up in and when they sat down all they could think about is; we're finally home.

John and Peter have spent the last three years fighting a war. They spent three years only eating once every few days. They spent their first years out of high school having only sleepless nights too scared to be caught off guard. They spent 156 weeks in areas with nothing but dirt and sand. They spent 1095 days scared for their life, and watching the people around them die. Leaving all of that behind and coming back home made them more grateful than they could ever explain but it also feels so unreal. They were gone for so long they don't remember how life was before. They're still in denial that they'll be able to sleep in a proper bed again, eat every day, take a shower and feel safe. It's all so overwhelming.

Can I get you anything?

Both John and Peter freeze in their place. They're memorized by her beauty. She had soft chestnut brown hair that goes two inches pass her shoulders. Her brown eyes are wide and surrounded by long curled eye lashes. She has the most beautiful and genuine smile. Her skin is smooth and almost perfectly clear. This might be the most beautiful woman they have ever seen.

We'll get two chocolate milkshakes, John says still in a confused gazed.

She walks away from their table with both the boys eyes closely following her. They weren't able to look away it's like they were completely hypnotized by her. They watched her walk all the way back to the kitchen and even after she crossed the door they still couldn't look away from the last spot she had been. Peter was the first to snap out of his gaze when he heard someone drop their fork and looked towards John instead.

She's the most perfect woman I have ever seen.

John simply gave a nod of agreement before changing the topic to some of their child hood memories. The last thing he wanted to talk about was how they were both mesmerized by the same girl. They had just arrived back home and he wanted to enjoy it and not ruin it because of arguing over a stupid girl.

They spent the next couple hours reminiscing of the simpler times while occasionally getting locked into a gaze once again when their waitress, who, judging from her name tag, is named Rose, came around. When they finally decided to leave Peter stayed back for a few minutes to talk to Rose while John waited outside.

John glances inside of the window doors and sees Peter no doubt using his natural charm on Rose who is giggling and smiling from ear to ear. Peter has always been a ladies man. He is quite handsome with his 6 feet 4 muscular figure and his curly dirty blond hair that is now shaved because of the military but it used to reach right past his chin. He had dreamy blue eyes that always made the girls drown and he knew exactly what to say and how to act to make every single girl fall for him. Back in high school he used to be dating a new girl every month, never staying single for more than a day. There is no doubt that he has kept his charm when he walks confidently towards the door with a smirk showing that he scored a date with the beautiful waitress.