“So, how did it go?” Tommy asks me with nerves lacing his tone. “What did they say to you?”

He’s been more freaked out about this meeting than me, which I actually understand. My future doesn’t just affect me, it bothers him too. He’s my best friend in the forces, we’ve lived together, we’ve been through so much. Unfortunately, I don’t think he’s much going to like the news that I have to give him.

“They have signed me off, because of my injuries. I’ll be given a desk job.”

His head falls into his hands, distress floods from him. “Oh my God, so everything is going to change.”

“It doesn’t have to be really different, Tommy, it might only be a temporary thing…”

“No, we both know that isn’t true, don’t we? You don’t want to go anywhere because you want to be here with Savannah. I know it, I’ve known it would go this way for ages now.”

“But I’m still going to be living in the barracks. At least for the time being. I’m not leaving yet.”

“You aren’t?” He finally drags up his eyes to meet mine. “You’re sticking around for a while?”

“Yes, of course I am. I don’t want to throw my whole life away instantly.”

I kinda do, actually, I would love to throw everything head first into me and Savannah, but everything has been so stressed and rushed between us. With Bryan and the loss of Peter hanging over our heads, it’s forced things to move at a million miles an hour. What I need to do now is slow things down so we can date like normal people. I think the both of us need that space to get back to real life, and it’s better for Peter too. The last thing that poor boy needs is for his whole life to turn upside down again. It’s bad enough that his father is now in jail which he probably doesn’t totally understand. We need to be sensible and smart.

“Oh wow, well I’m shocked.” He runs his eyes up and down me. “But you’ll be on a desk job, huh? I never would have thought it. You stuck behind a desk filing paper work all the time.”

“No, if I’m honest I never would have thought about it either, but I can’t change what’s happened.”

“I’m sure knowing you, that you wouldn’t change it anyway, would you?”

“No, I wouldn’t.” I shake my head vigorously. “I would do it again to save Savannah.”

“Alright, okay.” He rolls his eyes in an over the top fashion. “I know that I said I was okay with the whole love thing now, but that doesn’t mean I want to hear all about it. You two are sickening.”

“Sorry, I just can’t help it. I think I’m always going to be soppy over Savannah. She’s the love of my life.”

“Urgh, well take her out on a date or something.” Tommy screws up his nose. “Tell her, not me.”

“Hmm.” I grab out my cell phone and stare at the screen. “That’s not a bad idea actually.”

“What’s that? Taking her out on a date? I agree, I can’t believe you haven’t done that yet.”

“No, I know, me neither. It’s just all been a bit wild and I haven’t had a chance to think about it.”

Jayden: Hey, Savannah, do you have any plans tonight? Xx

Savannah: I was actually just about to take Peter over to my dad’s house. He’s sleeping over there for the first time. I’m pretty nervous actually, but they are both very excited.

I smile brightly, this is all working out too well. She’s already got the night off which is amazing.

Jayden: They will be fine, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. They’ve been spending a lot of time together over the past few weeks anyway. It will be fine. I can keep you distracted… x

Savannah: Oh yeah? What did you have in mind? Xxx

Jayden: I want to take you out for a date. Would you be up for it? xx

Savannah: A date? Are you serious? That sounds amazing, of course I’m up for it. What was your plan? Xxx

Jayden: Ten years ago, I thought I would take you to the Italian restaurant by the college. I know it isn’t the best plan in the world and if you think I should come up with something better, let me know, but that could be a good way to pick up where we left off all that time ago. X

I bite down nervously on the nail of my thumb while I wait for her to reply. Tommy gives me an odd look but says nothing. It looks to me like he’s still coming to terms with the good news that he isn’t going to lose me immediately. Of course, he’s never going to totally lose me as a friend anyway, no matter where our lives take us. You don’t know what we’ve been through just to give up on the friendship, but he’ll soon see that.

Savannah: I love it. Why don’t you pick me up at 7 and we’ll go then? Xxx

Jayden: Sounds perfect. I’ll see you then. xxx

“All is good with the date then?” I nod at Tommy. “Good, then I think it’s time we get you something decent to wear. You can’t go on your first date with the woman that you’re going to marry looking like a bag of crap.”

“I would argue with you,” I smirk back. “But I want your help so I’m going to let that insult wash over me.”

“Yeah, I agree. That’s the best course of action. Let’s get shopping now then you can tell me what your plan for the date is and I can tell you every way in which you can make it better.”

“Okay, Tommy. I’m going to put my future happiness in your hands. Don’t screw it up for me.”

As I see Savannah standing outside of her home in the most beautiful red dress that I’ve ever seen, I’m glad I took Tommy’s advice when it came to the gift. I would feel pretty dumb turning up now without something to offer her. The bracelet might be a bit too much, but I’m sure that she’ll like it.

With her hair hanging down and her eyes sparkling with glee, she’s sweet and stunning, the rest of the stress of hers rolling off her shoulders at last. It’s good to see her without strain, it’d been a long time. It’s even more obvious now that she was a shell of her former self before. It’s wonderful to have her back.

“Hey,” Savannah looks so happy as she sees me. “You look good. Nice suit.”

“I look good? My God, have you seen yourself? You look amazing! Wow, absolutely incredible.”

I gasp as I drink her in. She really does look stunning. I don’t know if it’s just the knowledge that this is our first date doing it, or perhaps it’s because she looks more like the girl I used to know, either way she has my heart racing at a million miles, in my chest. I feel more in love with her than I’ve ever been before.

“I brought you something.” I hand her the box. “I hope you like it, sorry if it’s a bit much.”

“Oh wow.” She tears it open rapidly, the thrill evident as she paws at it, trying to reveal what’s inside. I hope it’s enough, I want her to like it. “What did you do this for? It’s amazing! I love it so much.”

“I just wanted to give you something nice. You deserve it after everything you’ve been through.”

She hands me the bracelet and waits patiently while I fix it to her. Putting it around her wrist makes my pulse speed up, I can feel myself tumbling deeper into love with her. I just want to hold her forever, to cling to her, to keep her as my own… Tommy is right, she’s the woman that I’m going to marry.

“Oh, I love this so much. This is the best thing ever. It’s going to be the best night ever.”

“We should get going actually. I haven’t had to make reservations or anything, I was only a student when I made these plans so it isn’t the place that’s so posh for that, but we should get going anyway.”

“Sure. That sounds awesome. Let’s get going. I’ve been looking forward to it all day.”

She gets into the passenger’s seat of my car and smiles at me. That smile lights up my whole car, my whole life, it lights up everything. I nearly fall apart at the mere image of her. But I don’t. Instead, I put the car into gear and I drive along to where we need to go. The anticipation and excitement builds the nearer we get.

“By the way, I’ve been assigned a desk job for the time being, because of all my injuries.”

“Oh, my goodness, have you?” Guilt flashes in her eyes. “Oh, I’m so sorry. That’s my fault.”

“No, I wasn’t telling you because it’s a bad thing.” I chuckle loudly. “I’m telling you because I’m going to be sticking around for the time being. So, you know, if you wanted to go on more dates…”

“Oh right.” Recognition finally crosses her. “So, you want to keep on doing this.”

“Of course I do, Savannah. I want to keep dating you forever. If that’s okay with you.”

She rolls her head back on the chair and smirks at me. “I heard you cleared it with my dad actually.”

“Well, it wasn’t so much me asking as it was him telling me that it’s okay if that’s what we want.”

“He’s really changed, hasn’t he? For the better, I mean. It’s all good now. I’m so happy. It was hard for a long while, but it’s all worth it now. And I know we still have stuff to face, but I feel good about it.”

“Yeah, me too. I do a lot, I think it’s going to be really great, don’t you?”

We pull up outside the restaurant and I take her hand while we walk inside. In my mind, I slide back ten years, I go back to the person I once was too, and it feels incredible. I love that we’ve finally made it back to one another. We might be twenty eight and twenty nine rather than eighteen and nineteen, but we’re here.

Fate must have had a hand in this, that’s the only thing I can think of. We are meant to be.

“This is nice.” Savannah nods appreciatively. “I like it. This would have blown me away.”

We take a seat at a small intimidate table with a candle flickering between us. In the light, she’s stunning, and I’m very aware that she’s finally mine. Not letting go of my love for her was the right thing to do. For a while, it didn’t seem that way, but now that it’s all come out the way I wanted it to, I feel good about it.

“I love you, you know?” I tell her while I rub my thumb along her hand. “I’m glad this is finally happening.”

“I love you too, Jayden, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I don’t know what I would do without you. I don’t know what I did without you for all that time.”

“Well, I wouldn’t worry. You won’t ever have to do it again. I’m not going anywhere.”

The waiter comes over to our table and I feel myself shudder under the power of how deeply I feel. I suppose it’s better that we’re stopped for now while we’re in public. We have all the time in the world to share our love. It’s going to be epic.