He shouldn’t have been there at all. It was too busy, and although he was counting on that, the crowd of people, including out of towners, to mask his scent, the chances that someone would notice him and see his face beneath his hood got higher with every moment he stayed.

He had a cloak and hood to cover himself, and he rested in the very back, dark corner of the bar, away from the music and noise and crowd. It was risky all the same. He’d told Josh that he would leave, and stop putting him in danger, and yet, just a week later, he had found his way back to the bar, at the busiest hour of the evening. He found the man irresistible, and after so long away, he felt drawn to see him, even if only to check that he was okay. Maybe he was looking for forgiveness.

He sat with his beer in the corner, watching Josh work the bar. Josh kept glancing over his way, and Tristan tried to stay out of sight, to be essentially invisible, but he was sure his mate caught his scent better than anyone else in the bar would.

His suspicions were confirmed when Josh came over to his table holding a fresh beer, and he set it down and leaned in, looking into his eyes.

“What are you doing here?” he hissed. “You shouldn’t be here, you have to leave.”

Tristan smirked a little. He should have known he couldn’t hide from his mate, but no one else had seemed to notice him yet.

“If I have to leave, then how come you just brought me a new beer?” he asked, amused.

Josh gave him a searing glare, and turned.

“I have to do my job. Drink your beer and get out,” he said, and he left, going back to his place behind the bar.

Tristan picked up his beer and sipped at it, pleased that Josh had given in so easily. He would leave, when he had a good opportunity, or if someone started to notice him, but at the moment, he was enjoying watching the tourists talk loudly to Senior about where they’d been on their road trip.

Even once the tourists left, Tristan found himself still sitting in the bar, but his attention had turned back to Josh, and he was watching as Garrett, a man Tristan recognized as one of Hank’s sons, continued to try to grab Josh and touch him.

It had started off fairly subtle.

Garrett had reached over the bar to touch Josh’s elbow lightly, just getting his attention for another beer, and after Josh had allowed that, he got bolder. He stroked over Josh’s hand while he poured, flirting heavily with him, and then reached far over to try to get a good squeeze on Josh’s ass. Tristan stood, just about to blow his cover and run over there, when Josh turned and punched Garrett.

“Hands off!” he growled.

Tristan sighed and sat back down. Of course Josh could take care of himself. He was probably used to it, after so long of being an unmated omega.

Garrett at first seemed like he’d been put off, because he left the barside and went over to his table of friends, but then Tristan watched as Garrett and all five of his friends went up to the bar and grabbed Josh, trying to haul him over it.

“Hey! HEY!” someone yelled, and Tristan knew he wasn’t the first to react, but he was halfway over there, anyway.

Josh tried to fight off the two men holding him, while Senior tugged him out of their arms, and got punched by another guy for his efforts. A few friends of the Millers got involved, and by the time Tristan was all the way over there, it was a full on bar brawl, with Josh on his feet and decking it out with Garrett, while Senior tried to fight his way back over to the bar to get his gun.

The moment Tristan got into the midst of the fight, he was tackled, his hood knocked back when his head hit the ground. He growled, punching the man on top of him and shoving him off of himself, and then rolled on top of him to punch him again. Another man came at Tristan from behind with a bottle, smashing it over the back of his head. With a snarl of anger, Tristan stood, grabbed the man, and threw him across the bar, sliding into tables and chairs.

Just then, a gunshot rang out in the crowded bar and everybody ducked their heads. In an instant, the fighting stopped, and Tristan looked around at the crowd of bloody faces and disgruntled men. Most of them were shifters, and were already healing, but that one had gotten rough.

As Garrett and his friends slumped their shoulders and quietly slipped out of the bar, defeated, Tristan’s eyes caught Josh’s, and he realized his hood was down. Everyone could see him, and as the chaos died down, they were staring at Tristan.

He smiled a little bit awkwardly, but his eyes were mainly on Josh, who was furious, a piece of glass sticking out of his cheek. He finally managed to pull his angry gaze away from Tristan, and climbed over the bar, where his father helped him get the glass out of his skin. Tristan watched, a lump in his throat. He should be the one doing that. Instead, he’d just let the whole town know where he was, and associated himself undeniably with the Millers.

“Tristan,” Senior’s voice growled, and Tristan raised his hands in the air when he realized that Senior’s sawed-off was pointed right at his chest. “Get the hell outta here.”

Tristan nodded quietly, licking his dry lips and tasting blood.

“I’m going,” he said softly, unable to get the searing feeling of Josh’s angry stare from his mind. He grabbed his bag and left the bar, and every single pair of eyes in the place followed him as he left.

* * *

Tristan could feel the clerk’s eyes on him, and he wondered what she was thinking. Did his uniform give her the idea that he had plenty of money to spend, or did she believe the opposite, that he had no place in a jeweler’s? In both ways, she would have been right. He had the money for one of these gorgeous, sparkling rings, and he was only one flight away from home, and Josh, where maybe, just maybe, the man would say yes.

He shouldn’t spend his money on it, though. Josh was practical, and he would tell Tristan to put the money in a savings account for their future family. Not to mention, in his practicality, Tristan doubted Josh would be able to say yes. It would be an awkward position to put him in. Tristan was on leave, but he still had to go back to the military in six months. He knew Josh wouldn’t consider that enough time to get married.

In his letters, Josh had made it clear. Some part of the omega would always be holding himself back, keeping just some part of his heart locked away, until Tristan was done with war. The constant threat of death was too much for Josh to live with if he let himself fully be with Tristan, and Tristan could understand it. After all, he could die any day, when he was on duty. Josh wasn’t even wrong about that.

The rings were so beautiful, though. Tristan imagined one in particular, a thick gold band inlaid with subtle, shimmering diamonds, on Josh’s finger. It was just masculine enough, he figured, that his omega wouldn’t feel threatened by the diamonds, but it was precious and beautiful, just like Josh, and their love.

Although Josh spent all of his time apart from Tristan resenting him for leaving, for putting himself in danger and putting Josh’s heart through such hardship, Tristan spent all of his time away thinking of Josh, imagining their life together, remembering how much he loved him. Josh was the reason he survived, the reason he came home, the reason he kept fighting.

Tristan would have liked nothing more than to get down on his knees, the moment he saw Josh at the airport, and propose. Part of him wished he could leave the military to do it, too. He’d seen a lot of the world, now. Had his fill. But he still had over two more years of active duty to serve, and likely another four on reserve after that. He was just lucky he’d gotten such a long break at all.

He and Josh weren’t getting married, Tristan reminded himself. Maybe not ever, but definitely not before Tristan was done with active duty.

“Excuse me, sir?” The poor sales clerk finally spoke up.

Tristan looked at her, trying not to seem guilty. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat.

“I’m just looking,” he said.

She smiled understandingly.

“Is there anything you’d like to ‘just look’ at?” she asked.

Tristan considered that, his heart pounding in his chest. There was no harm in it, right? He could just look, and then maybe if he ever ended up back at this airport, he would know which ring to buy.

“Sure, uh… this one,” he said. The shop was empty, so he didn’t feel like he was wasting her time, at least. She seemed relieved to be able to show him something.

“This collection is on sale at the moment,” she told him, and showed him the ring. “This is a men’s ring, are you shopping for yourself or for your boyfriend?”

Tristan cleared his throat, not sure what to do with that. Boyfriend. Did Josh even count as a boyfriend? Not really, so what was he doing looking at rings?

“My...it’s not for me,” he admitted.

She nodded, holding out the ring so that he could take it.

“It won’t bite.”

Tristan tried to get a hold of himself. She was right. It was just a ring, it wouldn’t bite. He took the shiny gold band, staring at it, and he must have smiled a little bit, because she noticed.

“You like it,” she noted. “And I can tell you, you’ve been staring at this same ring for over twenty minutes.”

He cleared his throat and handed it back.

“I’m sorry. I can’t.”

She shook her head and gently set the ring back.

“No worries. Do you know his size?”

Tristan shook his head, looking down at his own fingers.

“A little smaller than mine, I guess,” he admitted.

Damn it, he was so stupid. How was he supposed to buy a ring if he didn’t even know Josh’s size?

“It’s better to get it a little big, the extra can always be cut down,” she explained.

Tristan nodded, and for some reason, even though he wasn’t buying a ring, that comforted him. He could just get a bigger one, and Josh could have it sized to fit.

“I’ll take it,” he said suddenly, and the clerk didn’t even seem all that surprised. She smiled widely and nodded.

“I’ll package it up for you.”

Shaking, Tristan leaned against the counter. He wasn’t ready. He still wasn’t strong enough, and his fear held him back. He wasn’t going to propose the moment he got off the plane, like he wished he could, but he would buy this ring. It was the perfect one, and some day, when it was the perfect time, he would convince Josh to go against his better judgement, and marry him.