Chapter 22

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Y/N POV

It is one of those days which just force you to be happy. When you woke up and the sun shone with golden rays in your room making the dancing dust particles glow you could hear some birds chirping. Singing the song of life. It is hard to be sad or angry when life itself seems to be so happy. So, when you are currently on your way to Lizzie and the wind plays with your hair as you drive, you can't help but smile. Even though you know that she had a date yesterday which probably went great. It's Lizzie, you can't not like her and if Robbie isn't a complete idiot, she'll like him too.

You arrive and she practically sprints out of the door pulling you in for a hug.

"Good morning to you too!", you laugh.

"Good morning!", she smiles widely. "I have so much to tell you."

Well, here goes the good feeling you woke up with.

"Yeah?"

She nods eagerly.  "The date was great. We had a picnic at the beach and he brought his guitar with him and sang me a song."

"That really does sound great.", you reply and give her a smile.

It hurts you that they were at the beach. The two of you had a lot of beautiful moments there. It was kind of your place. But the beach doesn't belong to you and apparently it is not your place. At least he treated her right and took her on a real date. She deserves that.

You two get in the car and she rambles on about the date the whole drive to set. It would have been cute if it hadn't felt like she stabbed you in the heart, turning the knife with each new detail.

"Well, I'm glad you had so much fun.", you say as you park the car and turn off the engine.

"Thank you.", she gives you a sweet smile biting her lip. "But I won't see him tonight, so I'm free if you want to do something. You wanted to talk yesterday and I'm sorry that I shut you down."

"It's alright.", you assure her. "I already talked to Kara about it and it's not really something you can help me with at the moment."

"With Kara, huh?", her mood changes instantly. She almost sounds annoyed.

"Yeah, she's my best friend. We talk about everything."

"Uhm sure yeah. Pick me up at 7, okay? I should be done with work then."

"Of course, see you later, Olsen!", you wave goodbye and watch as her lips twitch upwards into a smile, which she quickly tries to hide.

"Goodbye, Y/L/N!"

Just as you are about to drive off, the display of your smartphone lights up, announcing an incoming call.

"Jamie!", you say with a smile as you pick up the phone.

"Heyy, how are you?", he greets you.

"I'm okay. What about you? What are you doing?"

"Just okay?", he asks instead of answering your questions.

"It's a long story, but has something to do with me slowly falling for my boss who dates someone else.", you quickly explain.

"Oh, that sucks. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I'll get over it. But what about you now?"

"Well, I'm back in Afghanistan. We started to build the school a little over two weeks ago and we are making good progress. I'll send you some pictures. It's amazing."

"That sounds great! I'm so proud of you, Jamie!"

"Thank you! But there is still something else, I need to tell you about."

"Go on."

"Well, you know Casey was my friend as well. One of my bests to be exact and I hate the fact that we never got revenge.", he begins.

"Jamie, what did you do?", you ask him nervously.

"I didn't do anything. Not yet at least. And never without you. But I started to do some research. I mean it was pure luck that I wasn't with you on that mission. And the fact that she died, that all of them died, is eating me alive. I should have been there with you. I should have – "

"Jamie, stop. Don't do that. I asked myself the same thing every day. Why wasn't I the one who died that day? We will never get an answer to this question, but it is not our fault that they are dead and we are alive, you hear me?"

You hear him sighing. "It's just not easy.", he says quietly.

"It never is. But we can't reverse death. No matter how sad it makes us."

"But we can take revenge. I'll find out more about this day. I'll find the men who did this."

"Do what you have to do, but be careful. Remember that you have a wife. Cherish life to respect death. Don't put yourself in danger. It's not worth it."

"Don't worry, I won't. And if I find a new lead, I'll inform you."

"Alright, thank you, Jamie! Be careful!

"Will be, bye!"

"Bye."

You toss your phone on the passenger seat and chew on the inside of your cheek. It never occurred to you that this one day in Afghanistan that changed your life completely had also so much impact on someone else. You were so busy with yourself that you never asked Jamie how he felt about all of this.

---
Some hours have passed, the sun is slowly setting behind the building, Lizzie works in. Its last warm golden rays touch your skin, tingling in your nose which your scrunch in response. Loud chatter makes you look up. Lizzie heads in your direction, a black haired man beside her. He has his arm around her back. A little too low in your opinion. She hasn't seen you yet and is laughing at something that he said. You clench your jaw. Now that is something you really don't need to see. Her gaze suddenly meets yours and she looks like she's surprised to see you.

"Y/N!", she greets you cheerfully and leaves his side to pull you in a hug. You're a bit taken back by her behavior but return the hug, taking in her sweet scent.

"Hey, Lizzie! You had a good day?", you ask her, matching her energy.

"Yeah, it was quite alright. Uhm, this is Robbie.", she introduces us and gestures for him to come over.

"Robbie, this is Y/N. She's my bodyguard."

He steps a few steps further and musters you.

"You call her Lizzie? Do you think this is appropriate? I mean, she's your boss." He narrows his brows, clearly not amused of your prior interaction. "It's Mr. Arnett, by the way."

You shake his hand. "Colonel Y/L/N."

Two can play this game.

"Robbie, Y/N is my friend. There's no need for formalities.", Lizzie scolds him and you smirk slightly.

He just clenches his jaw and doesn't say anything. Lizzie looks at him confused. She clearly doesn't understand, what's going on.

"Well, anyway, Robbie offered to take me home...", she trails off.

"Okay, no problem. I see you tomorrow then?", you reply.

"Yeah, that would be great. Have a great evening!"

You bid your goodbyes and leave in a rush not wanting to stay any longer near them.

---

The full moon shines through your half open blinds, engulfing your living room in a faint silver light. The show that is playing on the tv casts dancing shadows on your face. The quiet voices a welcoming background noise. A look to the clock which hangs on the wall right next to the tv, tells you that it is already past midnight. With a sigh you get off the couch, deciding that it's time to finally go to bed. You turn off the tv and the only light source disappears turning the room almost dark. Only the moon still spends this light glow. You slump towards your bedroom, shoulders hanging down. Tiredness has taken over.

That was until your watch starts to vibrate and the display flashes red. Your head shoots up and your shoulders straighten. Every bit of tiredness disappears immediately.

Lizzie.

You grab your jacket and your helmet. Throwing it on, while you run to your motorcycle. You jump on it and start it right away. Speeding off into this cold night. There is not much traffic to this time, but it's still a twenty-minute ride. You'll make it in ten. You have to. Your mind drifts off to every horrible scenario that could await you, as soon as you get there. If Robbie hurt her... you would make sure that he suffers.
You pass another car, forcing your motorcycle to be faster than it ever was. But the traffic lights seem to be on your side. Turning green every time you drive towards them. Not that you would have stopped anyway.

As you arrive, you hop off the motorcycle instantly, throwing it to the ground. Through the windows you can see that the lights in Lizzie's house are still on. Their warm glow lights up the entrance. At least you know that she's here.

You kick in the door and run in frantically to look for her. Adrenaline rushes through your veins. It seems like you could hear everything and nothing at all. You heart beats faster. Everything in you is ready for a fight.

And then you find her. In the living room. Laying on the couch with Robbie above her. Her blouse is ripped open. His pants lay on the floor.

The image is burned into your eyes. Your blood boils as you jump forwards, grab his shoulders and throw him to the ground.

"Oh, you fucking son of a bitch!", you yell.

Ignoring the scream Lizzie lets out, you begin to hit him right in the face. Again and again. He begins to spit blood as you bruise his lip. But that doesn't stop you. Your gaze is hard. There's no mercy behind your usual kind eyes. Pure hate and an animalic will to kill him is the only expression that is written across your face.

"Y/N! Y/N! What the hell are you doing?", you hear Lizzie yell at you.

She touches your shoulder. That somehow seems to pull you out of your killer state.

Like you were in trance you slowly let go of him and stand up. Feeling the shock of this whole situation deep in your bones.
When you look down to your trembling hands you see that your knuckles are full of blood. His and yours. Your breathing is heavy as you answer her.

"What I am doing? He was all over you... he... god, he wanted to rape you!"

"What are you talking about?", Lizzie screams. "I wanted this. Nothing about this was forced."

You just stare at her confused.

"What?", you whisper, looking at the man who is laying in front of you.

Blood all over his face. He groans as he looks back at you.

"Yes, Y/N. This was all with consent. I didn't need to be saved or whatever."

"But why did you push the button?", you raise your voice as panic infiltrates your mind.

She narrows her eyes in confusion. "I didn't. Maybe I accidentally pressed it when we were ... well yeah you know."

"Oh my god, I – I am so sorry."

"You should be! What has gotten into you?! You looked like you were about to kill him!", she yells furiously.

You take Robbie's hand and help him up. He takes a seat on the couch. Well, at least he's still conscious.

"I call an ambulance.", you mumble and pull your phone out of your pocket, as you leave the room.

When you come back you see Lizzie with a wet towel trying to clean Robbie's face. She mumbles sweet things into his ear, calming him down. You heart clenches at the sight.

You clear your throat and her eyes immediately shoot up to yours. Her gaze is cold. The once warm sparkle within it was replaced with nothing but ice.

"They will be here any minute.", you say quietly. She nods.

"I think it's better if you go now. I'll take you to the door."

You walk to the front door and reach for the knob, but before you turn it, you turn around, not wanting to leave without another apology.

"Lizzie..", you begin.

"No, you know what? Maybe that was a bad idea."

"What?"

"This whole friendship thing here. It's obviously not working. You would've never acted like this, if we hadn't been friends. I think, Robbie was right. We should go back to be professional around each other.", she says staring directly into your eyes.

Her words hurt you in a way, you didn't think was possible. Your eyes begin to burn as tears fill them. But you wouldn't dare to start crying in front of her.

You swallow. "If you think that's best."

"I think so."

You nod slowly.

"I still see you tomorrow though?", you ask carefully.

"Yes.", she replies shortly.

"Okay. Good night..., Ms. Olsen."

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