Something Explained

By
Ian had managed to swoon Danny over with his guitar skills long before he had initially thought, being half in the dog box and all.
            "So you really had no control over what happened?" Danny asked as Ian leaned against her kitchen counter.
            "No," Ian answered, "If I did have control,  I would probably have gotten my squad killed along with the villagers."
            Danny nodded and sighed. She still did not know what to make of it. After a short awkward silence, she finally looked up at Ian. "Tell me more -- why were you three even chosen?" she asked.
            The two of them headed to her living room as Ian started to explain to her everything that she wanted to know. 
 
Aaliyah returned home from work a little after 6. She had her pink headphones nudged tightly in her ears as she hummed to an Avril Lavigne and fiddled in her handbag for her keys.
            She had just managed to open the door when she noticed Ed sitting on the stairs, staring at her with a smile brighter than he had ever smiled in the few times they had gone out.
            She squealed and ran into his arms as he slowly got up from the stairs.
            "Hey there," he said as they embraced and kissed.
            "I didn't think I'd see you so soon!" she exclaimed and kissed him again. But she soon noticed that he didn't see pm as enthusiastic to see her as she was to see him. "What's wrong?" she automatically asked.
            Ed didn't answer; instead asking if he could go inside to which she said yes and ushered him in.
 
Inside, Ed sat down in the small open plan living room as Aaliyah went ahead and prepared the two of them some coffee.
            "You don't look okay," she noted from inside the kitchen.
            "It's just..." Ed started but lost his words. He didn't really know what he wanted to tell her, let alone why he felt like he needed to be there. He then stayed quiet and stared at her while she made the coffee.
            She started humming again while she poured the milk into the cups and stirred. Her eyes closed as her lips moved quietly in rhythm to the same song she had listened to before. She then came from the kitchen with the two cups, where Ed stood up and took them off her hands so she wouldn't spill it all over her thick, white carpet of the beautiful little living room. 
            "So tell me, what's been bugging you?" she asked again as she sat down next to him.
            He merely stared at her and smiled. "I really like you, you know?"
            "And I really like you," she replied and scooted closer.
            "Well it's just that. I don't know... I'm scared."
            "What do you mean?" she asked.
            Ed put the cup of coffee down on the end-table next to the couch and then looked back at Aaliyah, who had put her cup down on the other side. He then looked down again and fiddled with the silver ring around his right ring finger.
            "Oh you used to be married?" she asked sincerely.
            Ed laughed nervously and looked back up. "No it's not that," he said, "well yeah. Part of why I am here, I suppose, is to tell you that, yeah... I used to be engaged. But that was a very long time ago."
            "What happened?" she asked.
            "It happened on a Saturday," Ed explained, "Ian, Dev and I just got back home from an assignment in Russia. I returned home to where we lived, Sarah and I, but she wasn't home. I thought that she had gone out to her parents, but when she hadn't returned by five, I started getting worried. I called her cell, which was off. So I called her mother, who said that she hadn't heard of her daughter since the day before. It was just after when I got a call from one of the Russian agents who had managed to escape when he were given the green to take them all out.
            "I called Ian and Dev right after he had told me to get to the pier by six which was in twenty minutes. I got there ten minutes before six, but I was too late..."
            He didn't need to continue for her to know what he was too late for. She put her arm around his shoulders as he leaned forward with his eyes closed. After a few moments, she mustered up the courage to ask him what had happened to the Russian agent.
            "I killed him..." Ed answered, "It took me two years to find him. We had returned from North Africa, I was a wreck, and I couldn't sit and do nothing, so I did what I could do best, for one last time -- I broke his legs first, then his arms... Anyway, he got what he deserved... So I figured that I'll tell you that.. It's been 10 years since I felt anything for anyone as much as I felt for her..."
            Aaliyah sat in silence. She did not know exactly what to think or feel, but kept holding onto Ed.
            Ed looked up and smiled half-heartedly. "Anyway, you probably don't want anything to do with me anymore, so I'll be off..."
            As Ed got up and walked by Aaliyah, she grabbed his hand. "Don't go."
            Ed stood motionless, staring down at his feet as she got up and held him close to her. "I just don't think you'll be safe with me..."
            "Shh," Aaliyah said as she shushed him by pressing her index finger against his lips. "I'm glad you told me," she continued, "it's good to know there's something more to those handsome eyes of yours," she joked with a smile.
            Ed looked at her as a smile started forming in the corners of his mouth. He then leaned closer and kissed her. Before long, they found themselves messing up her living room with the thick, white carpet after all.

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