My Guardian Angel

Chapter 10

Tobias and I are headed back towards base and the atmosphere in the truck is so much lighter than it was on the way to the paintball range. Every once and a while he'll kiss my hand or press his lips to my hair, seeming eager to be touching me in some way but content with the innocence of that touch.  He not only seems to respect they fact that I want to take things slow, but he seems to feel the same way. I've never met someone like him before.

"So are you ready for the second part of this date?" he asks me.

"Yes absolutely. By any chance does it involve food, because I'm getting kind of hungry."

"As a matter of fact it does. I actually have a cooler packed in the back with our dinner, I figured we could have a picnic on the beach since it's so nice today. I'm not used to weather in the 60's three days before Thanksgiving. In Chicago we've had snow for Thanksgiving."

"Speaking of Thanksgiving, do you have any plans?" I figure since he brought it up anyway now was as good a time as any to ask him for dinner.

"Not really, Zeke's family asked me, but I hadn't committed yet. I don't want to feel like I'm intruding."

"Oh, well I can understand if you'd rather go to Zeke's, but I wanted to invite you to our house for dinner," I say shyly, unsure of if he'd want to come.

He seems to consider his response for a moment. "I don't want to intrude on your dinner either. Does your father know you were going to ask me?"

"You wouldn't be intruding, I want you there. And my dad already said it was ok as long as I make enough food," I say laughing.

"Then I'd love to go, but only if you let me help you cook."

"You don't need to do that, I start cooking the day before."

"Even better, then I know that I can see you Wednesday too. I have a couple days leave so I don't need to report to work till after the holiday." I have to admit, the idea spending so much time with Tobias for the next few days excited me. We're just pulling up to the beach and he rushes out of the car to get the door for me.

"You really don't have to do that, you know."

"I know I don't have to, but I was raised like this." We're walking to the beach hand in hand with Tobias carrying the cooler and blanket.

"You keep telling me you were raised to be a polite gentleman, but you told me some horrible stories about your dad too. It seems strange to me." I don't want to sound like I'm accusing him of anything, but those two pieces of information don't really add up to me. We lay out the blanket and sit before he starts to speak.

"My father was a horrible human being, but my mom and I were the only ones that ever saw him that way. He was well respected within the community and he expected me to act in a way that deemed respect as well. Even if I don't believe in the way my father treated me, I liked how others treated my father. The person my dad was in public is the person I try to be, the difference between him and I was that for him, it was all an act. For me, I truly believe in being polite to others and I will always treat a woman with the respect she deserves."

"Would you mind if I asked what happened to your mom? Mine died from cancer when I was young." I figure if I offer some information about myself it wouldn't seem like I was prying into his business.

"I have no idea, I was never told. I was only four at the time. I remember my mom getting sick, it was the only time I ever saw my dad act like he cared about her. She was quickly getting weaker and my dad did everything to help her. Unfortunately that meant that I took the brunt of his anger. She must have passed away in her sleep because I said goodnight to her one evening, and the next day she was gone. It's the only time I can ever remember my father hugging me because I was crying so hard." He's staring out at water, his mind somewhere else other than here. I grab his hand not because I pity him, but just to let him know I'm here for him.

He blinks and seems to come back to the present. He looks down at our intertwined fingers and smiles at me then pulls me in for a hug. We sit like that for a few moments until my stomach grumbles and he starts laughing.

"Wow, I guess I can really kill a mood," I say embarrassed. He's still laughing as he pulls the food out of the cooler, a variety of sandwiches, chips, grapes and water.

"I was too nervous to eat breakfast this morning" I admit as I take a few grapes.

"Yea? Why was that?"

"I don't know what your expectations are," I admit.

"Well then let me tell you what my expectations are." I get nervous as he kneels next to me.

"I expect you to let me treat you well. I expect you to let me pay for you when we're out. I expect you to believe me when I tell you how beautiful you are. I expect you to be honest with me if I'm doing something you don't like. My hopes on the other hand, that's a different story. I hope you'll let me hold your hand. I hope you'll let me hug you. I hope you'll let me kiss you. I hope one day you'll tell me you love me," I can see how much emotion he's pouring into these words. I can't believe he's for real, I've never met a guy that acted like this before. I am completely speechless. He must sense that I don't know what to say so he continues.

"Tris, I'm sorry if this is all so sudden of me but I swear I'm not going anywhere. I've never met anyone like you before, and I'm not going to screw this up. I had some very hard days over there, knowing that I was going to hear from you each night was the one thing keeping me going."

"I'm sorry, I just don't know what to say. That was the sweetest thing anyone has said to me before, I didn't think guys said things like that."

He grabs my hands, an almost desperate look on his face. "I don't care what other guys say. This is what's in my heart and you need to know this stuff. I'm not trying to scare you away, I just can't reiterate how important having someone at home waiting for you is after the horrible things I've seen."

"You're not scaring me Tobias, I'm just not used to hearing someone say things like that, especially directed at me. This is all very new to me." I put my hand on his cheek and I feel him lean into my touch. I shift so I'm sitting on his lap and I push my lips against his. This time it's a bit more intense, his arms wrapped around me, but it's still sweet.

I don't know how long we sit on the beach, kissing each other with the waves crashing in the background, but it's definitely not long enough.