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Chapter 29

NOAH

Dear Noah,

I will keep my promise. I already gave you my word, and I’m not taking it back. I’m not breaking your heart again. I refuse. As for Jeremiah, I can’t help but feel jealous. But that’s my problem, not your problem. I’m glad you have someone who supports you and values your friendship while overseas. I know you need that, and I don’t want you to feel lonely all the time.

My days are pretty much all the same too. I go to the bar and work, then come home and sleep. And then I repeat that over and over again. I hope time is going by faster for you than it is for me. The days are long, and there’s not enough sleep in one night. All I want to do is sleep lately. That means I’m one day closer to you coming home.

I love you too, Noah.

Always.

With love,

Ty.

I grin as I close my laptop, setting it under my cot.

There’s suddenly an explosion, and the ground shakes with the force of it, making my teeth chatter and my body shake. My hands begin to sweat, and Jeremiah’s eyes widen from his cot right across from mine.

“It’s okay,” he says. “It’s far away.”

“Not far enough,” I whisper.

But I still lie down in the cot and close my eyes, hoping for sleep that never comes.