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( THE FUTURE WITH ME )
GORDON WAS GONE SO SOON THAT EDITH WAS SURE SHE HAD WHIPLASH. In the time it had taken him to get the okay to go to basic training, Steve and her (and sometimes Bucky, though he had also enlisted) had been on three more of their little get togethers. Gordon had tagged along for one of them simply to get to know Steve more and the four of them had been laughing basically the whole night. Edith was so glad that they seemed to get along. It may have been one of those days that they had to speak louder because Steve wasn't having a good day, but they still enjoyed it immensely.
And when Gordon got the orders to go to basic, Edith almost made him miss the transport because she wouldn't let go of him. As much as she was proud of him for fighting for his country, the thought of losing him to the war like she had lost Dad was heartbreaking.
He jabbed his fingers into her side, making her let go with a shriek, before he was ruffling her messy hair. "I'll be back before you know it." He leaned down to plant a kiss on her cheek, squeezing her shoulder before stepping a way to pick up his army issued duffle.
"Yeah, but then you're gonna get orders to go fight overseas and that means I'll be obligated to miss you," Edith sassed, but she could hear her voice getting tighter as her eyes started to burn. Gordon gave her a sad smile, taking a deep breath.
"Steve will keep you great company, you'll barely know I'm gone," Gordon told her, Edith laughing wetly as her vision blurred. Gordon whispered, "Oh, Edith." She was wrapped up into his warm arms again, being squeezed tightly before three kisses were pressed against her hair and forehead. They hugged like that for a minute or two before Gordon kissed Edith's forehead again and moved away, telling her one last goodbye.
When the door shut, that's when the tears started. Edith's knees collapsed under her and she buried her face in her hands as the tears started to flood down her face. She didn't know how long she sat there, how long the dread of the fact that her brother was going to go to war curled around her spine and gripped it tight. All she knew was that by the time the phone started to ring, she was feeling dehydrated.
Getting up, wiping the tears from her cheeks, she wobbled over to the phone and answered with a lump still stuck in her throat. It was quiet on the other side of the phone for a second, before Steve was speaking up over the phone, "Edith, darling, are you okay?"
Edith felt her heartbeat escalate at the term of endearment, but she felt the dread tighten around her spine. She couldn't quite believe that her brother was training to go to war, to shoot guns and kill people. "This probably sounds stupid, but Gordon's going to basic today, and he just left."
The apartment suddenly felt extremely empty. Edith heard the pipes groan as another round of tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She sank to her knees, the cord that connected the receiver to the phone pulled taunt, the world suddenly feeling too big but somehow suffocating.
