A Song for a Soldier

(Zacky's P.O.V)

I quickly darted back and forth between Val and Anna, who both had equally surprised looks spread across their faces. "I'm not with her anymore, we're just friends, you know that Val." I hissed as the smirk on her face continued to grow. "Oh, well I didn't know, I just figured you were trying to maybe get her jealous or something." She said with a small shrug of her shoulders. "Um, maybe I should just go." Anna finally spoke before getting up from the seat beside me and darting off towards the front yard. I immediately rushed off to follow her but I was stopped dead in my tracks by Matt. "Don't worry about this dude, I'll handle Val, you just go and get that girl back." I nodded and gave him a quick hug before I left to go and find Anna.

She was leaning against the car door with her head in her hands. I couldn't control the urge to not hug her as I pulled her closely to me. She hesitated greatly until she eventually gave in and hugged me back. "Anna, I am so sorry about that, Val was just being extremely stupid and I swear to you I don't have a girlfriend, Gena is just my friend." I could hear the faint sounds of her sniffling which only made me hold onto her tighter.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be so upset. It's just that I really like you Zacky and when I heard your friend say that you still had a girlfriend it just hurt me because I felt like you were leading me on. But if you really don't, then I guess I don't really have anything to be so upset about. I just want to make sure that these feelings between us are mutual and real." She said as she finally glanced up at me. I could tell she'd been crying since she ran over here because her face was still wet from her tears. I gently stroked my hand across her cheeks before giving her a kiss on the lips. I knew damn well that my feelings for her were the real deal, I hadn't felt this way for anyone in a long time. She made me feel different, like I was a whole new person.

"Does that answer your question?" I chuckled as she stared at me with wide eyes after I pulled away from her. "Yes, I think it does." She laughed before snuggling her face in the crook of my neck and nipping at the skin with her teeth. "I think it's time that I got back to my aunt though, I don't want anyone to worry." I instantly felt sad that our time was already over especially since it wasn't the best, but I agreed to it anyways since I knew she had to get home and help out with her little sister.

The drive back to my house was quiet but extremely peaceful. The radio played softly in the background while I held onto her hand tightly the entire way back. I only let it go once when we had pulled into the driveway and even then it was hard for me to let go."I hope you had fun today, I'm still really sorry about everything though." I sighed as I walked her over to her car in front of my house. She shook her head as she put her finger to my lips to shush me. "I had a great time, don't even worry about whatever else happened. I'm just glad that I got to spend this time with you. It's been the best that's happened to me since I left Iraq." She admitted with a smile. I leaned in and gave her another kiss on the lips before opening the driver side door for her. "Drive safe." I said as I closed it, turning on my heels and heading inside the house.

"Hi dear, how was your night?" My mom asked as she sat in the living room on the sofa watching some black and white movie. "It was alright Ma, just wish some people knew how to mind their manners." I huffed referring to the outburst that Val had said during dinner. "What do you mean hun?" She asked as she patted the spot beside her which I gladly accepted. "Val, she went off on Anna today during the BBQ at Matt's house. She started rambling on how I'm supposedly working things out with Gena and that I'm cheating on her with Anna." My mother rubbed the top of my hand before giving it a light squeeze. "Zacky, you and I both know that even though you may still love Gena, it's only as a friendship type of love. I know how much you care about that Army girl and I want you to see where things can go." I couldn't help but smile at my mom's quick approval. I gave her a swift kiss on the cheek before racing up the stairs and into my room where I quickly dialed Anna's number on my phone. It rang about twice before she picked it up.

"You just saw me about twenty minutes ago, is this extremely important?" She joked once she answered. I chuckled slightly before drawing in a deep breath. I just knew had to make things official before I ended up making another mistake and losing her for good this time. "Anna I want you to be my girlfriend." I blurted out, hearing the other side of the line go completely quiet. "You mean it?" She finally spoke up as her voice started to sound like it was about to crack. "I know it's not the best to do over the phone but I just wanted you to know that I really want to take this to the next step." I could hear the faint sounds of her sniffling and knew right way that she was crying. "You jerk, you should have told me that before I left." She laughed which made me instantly grin. She already had that crazy affect on me. "I know and I'm sorry, again, but just know that I really mean everything that I say, ok?" I asked with hopefulness lacing my every word.

"Ok, Zacky. I'll take your word for it."