Golden Bonds

Pasts and Compromises

Mmmm. Such a sexy Bash in his uniform. A little bit of background coming right up.

Happy Reading.

Love
NJ Kuhr
XOXO

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours after sunset I came out of my room at Laurel's with one small duffel bag and it wasn't even full. The top sagged making it look limp and sad, deflated in its near emptiness.

"That's all you need." Bash was skeptical. "I don't know how long you'll be living at my place."

"This is all I have." I admitted.

His eyebrows furrowed. "When all of this is over I'm taking you shopping. When I told you to buy some clothes last winter I should have been clearer. Grand Junction has a large mall. Denver would be better. We can hit up Sixteenth Street. They have two Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factories. We can grab a caramel apple on one side and by the time we get to the other side we can get another one."

I did like the idea of walking around Denver sharing a dessert. Bash enjoyed sharing food, but I didn't want him spending money on me. "I'll have to get a real job first. Cashing in a paycheck from a girl who's supposed to be dead might attract unwanted attention."

The don't-argue-with-me stare he was giving me was having the opposite reaction he was hoping for. "I know what you're going to say, Bash. I won't accept your money. I'll figure out some position in the pack or something. Melody could use some help as your office manager and Laurel says I'm useful. She could hire me on as a full time nurse or aid, I could run her clinic. Being Omega does not count as a job."

He didn't bother replying, the look on his face told me he was going to do it anyway. I stepped around him to head towards his place. "You've done plenty enough already, Bash. I'm not a free loader."

Again, he kept his silence but he took my bag from me which had me thinking. Carrying my bag was like holding the door open. It wasn't some modern gesture used to impress, he did it naturally, without thought or agenda.

I knew history. I wasn't one of those girls who watched reality television. I didn't care about what the Kardashians were doing or what happened on Jersey shore. I went to museums alone so I wouldn't be rushed and was a history channel groupie. I read national geographic instead of vogue. I had a good understanding of our countries history but that was nothing compared to Bash. He didn't have an educated knowledge he had lived it.

He spent his childhood in the twenties when women stayed at home and their husbands paid the bills. He watched his mother fight for the right to vote and being judged for drinking in public. Dating was a new concept when he was a toddler. Men weren't going to a lady's father to ask permission to speak to their daughter in the lounge with a chaperone. People had cars and movie theatres so couples starting dating. It was new and scandalous.

In 1929 Bash was eight and the stock market crashed sending the country into the Great Depression. For the next twelve years of his life he watched families fall apart. Hundreds of thousands of children were abandoned because their parents couldn't feed them anymore. Fathers left home to go find work, any work, anywhere. Bash saw firsthand what happened when a man couldn't take care of his own. Strong men broke because they weren't able to provide for their families.

Protection had a different meaning for Bash. It wasn't just about guarding against physical harm; it meant guaranteeing happiness, joy and even basic daily comforts. Just as he was becoming a man in a time of turmoil, change and desperation, when those traditional morals were being challenged most Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and catapulted the States into WWII.