Lean On Me #Wattys2016

Part 40

***I'm going to post the last few chapters quickly. Please take the time at the end of each to vote for the chapters and comment. If you read through them quickly, please go back and vote and comment.  It really helps me out. TY!

Ashlyn

He's gotten remarkably better and climbing his stairs. He holds my hand and walks beside me, never once slowing me down. I feel proud of him and proud to be with him, both filling my heart so full it feels three sizes too big for my chest. He unlocks the door and waits for me to step past him to come inside. Things look the same as they had last time, but there are a few differences.

His table is clear of any papers he had around his laptop. All that sits there is a brown large envelope like you'd get from a printing store, and a laptop that isn't plugged in or even turned on. I can't help but hope he hasn't given up writing because I just wouldn't be able to stand that news. I think everyone has a story to tell, but some people were meant to share that story with the masses. Mateo is one of those people.

I also notice a few pictures framed and resting on the various counters and furniture. Before, his apartment had given away nothing about his friendship or family. Now I feel like there are little keys, opening invisible doors to the branches of his life tree. There is an older couple in one on the kitchen counter, a little girl running through a grassy field in another and my favorite—a picture of Mateo in uniform with three other sharply dressed Marines.

"He must be Pines," I say, running my finger over the only man in the picture I didn't recognize from the bar.

His smile is sad, but not in the way that makes my throat tighten with the weight of it. It's more a reminiscent sort of feeling, like he misses his friend, but still appreciates the experience of having known him. I know that feeling very well. I have my own corner in my heart that holds a piece of who I lost. My hand rubs across my heart as I study their faces. They look young and yet still so courageous.

"That was taken at the airport before we deployed." He lifts the frame from the counter and holds it closer so he can see his friends' faces. "It feels like a lifetime ago some days, but others I would swear I just got home." He sets it back down and takes my hand. "I told you I've been working on towards something." We move over to the couch and he guides me to sit down. His smile is child-like and makes my own lips curl.

"I think I like where this is going," I tease, but he doesn't sit down with me yet. He walks over to the small table and retrieves the brown envelope near his computer.

"I like your thinking, but there is something I want to show you first."

"That's what she said," I can't help myself. We both laugh and he shakes his head and waggles a finger at me like a mother would when scolding a child.

"You're worse than my guy friends." He sits down next to me and I don't fail to notice how much easier that move is for him. He still falls onto the cushion a little abruptly, but overall it is a huge improvement.

"What's that?" I ask as he looks down at the envelope.

"When I didn't have you to keep me busy, I stumbled a bit, literally and figuratively. I wasn't sure what to do with myself if I wasn't looking forward to hanging out. I decided if I couldn't work on winning you over, I needed to work on something I could be proud of. I needed an exit plan for when I've finally reached all of my goals at PT." His hand slides across the paper and he unwraps the string that holds the flap together. My mind races with all the possibilities. Are those loan docs for a home far away? Is it a contract for civilian work on a base in another state? Is it anything that will pull him out of my life when I finally just got him back into it?

"Are you trying to kill me with the suspense?" I ask as I place my hand on top of his over the envelope.

"No," he says, shaking his head to reinforce the word. "I'm trying to take care of us."

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