"I can't believe he would just leave like that." Sarah sighed, patting my head that was laid down on the kitchen table. "Why did it upset him so much? Did you read the letter?"

I sat up quickly, wiping away the few tears that had wrangled their way out of my eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore." I said shortly, not making eye contact. "There isn't anything left to say."

I left her in the dining room and locked myself back in my room where I was safe from wondering eyes or questions I didn't feel like answering.

It had been just over four weeks since Hunter deployed, taking my heart along with him. Four weeks since the best/worst day of my life. Four weeks since everything seemed to lose its meaning and reason. It was still hard to believe how everything had gone down. One second we are confessing our feelings and for a little while I felt like all the hurt I'd endured in my life was for a good reason, like all my suffering had led me to this perfect guy for me who would finally take away my pain, but then...The next moment all of my fast grown dreams of a future for the two of us were tossed aside as he walked away from me, hardly able to look me in the eyes as he did it.

The first few days were hard.

I'd gone to work and numbly moved through my everyday responsibilities, pretending to be ok for my friends. I'd given Sarah a super shorthanded version of what had happened, not telling her it all because I still didn't want to betray the trust that Hunter and I had grown for each other. Despite it all, he was still my best friend I'd ever had.

I couldn't bring myself to open my letter. It just felt wrong now, considering the way we left things and the way that he looked at me when he left me standing there in the airport. It felt like reading his words that he'd written before that would have been like trying to live off of a lie. He clearly didn't still feel the way he had said he did before I gave him the card from his mom. I didn't want to torture myself with knowing what he was going to say to me before because it was only going to make the loss hurt that much more.

The next big blow had come after he'd been gone a little over a week.

Something in me hoped that he would have some time to think about it, and that he might have a change of heart and write me telling me how sorry he was, but after one week, no letter came for me, but one did come for Jessica.

It hadn't been the romantic letter that she'd been hoping to get from him, but instead, a letter telling her that he enjoyed their time together and considered her a friend, but that that was it. I'd had to hold her hand while she cried over the same guy I was crying myself to sleep about every night.

The more weeks went by, the more I had to come around to the idea that what we had had was over now. It was a fleeting, beautiful friendship that had the potential to be so much more. Life altering potential for being the greatest love I'd ever known, but it wasn't meant to be. He was meant to waken me back up from the life I was sleeping through. He got me out of my funk, he pieced my broken heart back together, and he showed me what it should feel like when someone loves me. They were all things I needed to be so thankful to him for, but we weren't meant to go the distance. In a lot of ways, I think he needed me to. But not anymore.

Even knowing now what the outcome of giving him his mother's message is, I would do it again. He needed to know that she still loves him and he needed to know she was sorry. What he decided to do with the information or if he chose to believe it or not didn't matter. All that mattered was that should something ever happen to him, which I pray to God every single night that it won't, he knows now that he isn't totally alone. His mom is there for him should he ever chose to give her a second chance.

I'd finally given up hope that a letter might come for me, and I tucked my only one away in my dresser where it couldn't torment me so much. I still needed to get ready and go on into work today before the pay period ended. My boss had offered to let me take off today since I'd been pulling so many double shifts and overtime lately, but I hadn't even been tempted. I needed the distraction.

I took a quick shower, not trying to be alone with my feelings too long and then I headed out on another day, ignoring Sarah where she still sat at the dining room table as I passed. "Have a good day." She offered as I shut the door behind me.

I know she's worried about me, but I can't think about it right now. My life only becomes that much harder when I think about the fact that she knows everything. It would be so much easier to be around Jessica and my other friends if Sarah had never figured out what was going on between Hunter and me. Now anytime we are all together and Jessica brings him up, Sarah nearly jumps out of her skin to change the subject and watches me like I could combust at any moment.

Work was boring, but that was ok.

I kept my hands and thus my mind busy the majority of the day, only getting distracted a couple of times when an Ed Sheeran song would play over the sound system or a couple would walk by holding hands or something.

"Oh, hey." A guy said behind me and I turned slowly to find Aaron again.

Just looking at him made me think of Hunter and the night I'd met Aaron at his place. "Hey." I half waved, then walked away.

"Well, that was rude." Aaron mumbled as he followed me around the back side of the aisle. "What's your problem?"

"Nothing." I snapped. "I'm working." I knew I was coming off bitchy, and lately that was becoming a normalcy, but I couldn't help it.

"You upset about Quaid?"

I turned on my heels, my heart stopping in the middle of a beat. "What about him?" I gasped. "Is he alright? What are you talking about?" I fired off the questions in hysterics.

"Woah, hey, come here." Aaron soothed, pulling me into a hug. I didn't even realize I had started crying until he started to shush me quietly. "He's fine, I only meant about him leaving." He clarified, but it was too late now. The floodgates had already been opened. "I didn't mean to freak you out."

"It-It's ok." I stuttered, my teeth clattering. "I'm f-fine."

I tried to pull away but he held firm, putting his hand on the back of my neck and steadying me. For the second I had really feared that something awful had happened to Hunter. It was silly to jump to such a conclusion, but the second he asked, I couldn't stop my mind from racing there. It was one of the big reasons I had been avoiding radio and news and people in general really. I hadn't wanted to hear anything about the unrest over seas because all it would do is make me worry even more about Hunter and my stomach is already in constant knots as it is.

"Everything alright, Tayler?" My supervisor asked when he came around the corner.

I tried to nod to him, but Aaron wouldn't let me go.

"She's ok." He told him. "She's just having a hard time dealing with some stuff right now." I was mortified that he was telling my boss that.

"I'm fine, Don." I sniffled, trying to gain the control over myself again.

I glanced back his way and he looked down at his clipboard in his hands, clearly uncomfortable around a girl crying. "Oh, um, why don't you head on home, Tayler." He said. "We've got things covered here and you've been working too hard as it is."

He scooted off down another aisle before I could even say anything.

"I didn't need you to do that." I snapped at Aaron when he finally let me go. "I can take care of myself."

"I know you can." He snapped back. "I was just trying to help. What happened with you and Quaid anyway? Last I heard he'd had some huge epiphany about how you were the girl of his dreams and shit."

I started crying all over again. "Yeah, well, clearly he has changed his mind because I haven't heard from him since he left."

"Seriously?" He asked and then he shook his head, my crying obviously a good enough answer for him. "I guess he's a bigger idiot than I thought." He shrugged. "Come on, I will take you home."

"I know how to drive, Aaron." My voice came out harsh and hoarse.

Aaron grabbed my arm and pulled me through the store and out into the parking lot, stopping me in front of his Tahoe. "Get in." He demanded, and I crossed my arms over my chest defiantly. He shook his head and sighed angrily. "Look, you don't need to be driving around while you're upset. You've got people who care about you and who wouldn't want something bad to happen, so please just get into the damn car and let me take you home."

We glared at each other for a long minute, but finally I sighed, giving in and got into the car, keeping my arms crossed to show that even though I was cooperating, I wasn't happy about it. "Straight home." I mumbled when he climbed in beside me.

"Like I'd want to kidnap you when you're in such a pissy mood." He rolled his eyes as he got the car started and backed out of his space.

I didn't want to ask, but I had to. "Have you heard from him?"

He glanced over at me, then back at the road. "Yeah," He nodded after a minute. "Couple of weeks ago he called to check in with Josh about setting up his payments for his half of the apartment." He told me. "I was there so I talked to him a bit too."

I nodded, not trying to think about the fact that not only hasn't he written me at all after professing how much he loved me, but he had access to a phone and he didn't bother to call either. The realization that we really truly were over was harder to swallow than I thought it would be. I hadn't even noticed that I had still been holding onto a tiny shred of hope until it was ripped away from me.

"How was he?"

Aaron pretended not to notice the crack in my voice as we pulled into my apartment complex. "Sounded good." He said. "Tired, hot, bored...he complained about the sand." He shrugged. "I know he's pretty close with his buddies in his unit though, so I'm sure he's doing fine."

"Yeah, I'm sure." I agreed. Hunter is fine with everyone as long as they don't get too close. Which is exactly what I'd done. He let me get close, and then he felt like I'd betrayed him by going behind his back with his parents after everything.

"You really not going to tell me what happened with you two?"

"Nope." I muttered, pulling the visor down to fix my smeared makeup and then I flipped it back shut. "Thanks for driving me home, although you really didn't need to."

He smiled, all big pearly white teeth. "Not a problem. I'll call you in the morning about going back to get your car."

"Alright." I nodded, grabbing the door handle to get out, but Aaron grabbed my other hand.

I looked back at him, confused by his expression when I looked into his eyes.

"Don't cry anymore, ok?" He said seriously. "I don't like it."

I was a little taken back, but I nodded. "I'll try."

"See you tomorrow."

"Ok."

I walked back up the stairs to my apartment, glad when I did that I didn't see Sarah's car in the lot anymore, so I didn't have to worry about her seeing my swollen eyes today.

I shuffled into the kitchen, getting myself a drink and taking some Tylenol for the headache that was already forming before I went down the hall and walked into my room.

"Macy, what the hell?" I nearly shouted when I walked in and found her sitting on the foot of my bed, my dresser drawer wide open, and an unfolded letter sitting in her lap.

"That's funny, Tayler." She said, eyes wide as she shook her head. "I was just about to say the same thing to you." She stood up, shoving the letter into my hands. "What the hell is this?"