32 - Courage
"With enough courage, you can do without a reputation." - Gone With the Wind
He sat in the dark, listening to the sounds of the forest around the house. He had no idea how it happened, but he seemed to have moved in. He wasn't noticing Kat complaining any about it, but he felt like he was intruding. They had not talked about it. It had just happened.
The forest that surrounded the house calmed him. The wind through the trees, the gentle sway of the high grass, lulled him past the random agitation that he suffered from. There was something very obviously wrong with him. He just wasn't sure what it was. And he knew no one else could see it. He was alone in that knowledge. So he sat and watched the trees, looking for his answers.
He had asked her again, in Los Angeles, to marry him. She hadn't questioned why he was there. She had trusted him. That trust was what finally made him comfortable enough to put the ring on her finger. He was bucking his reputation.
While he was in the Corps, no one believed him capable of settling down. He didn't think he was capable of it himself. He used that reputation as an excuse to sleep around. And he enjoyed every moment of it. It was safe and comfortable.
Then she came along and changed everything. He panicked and acted like an ass, trying to change her mind. Even through the fights, he never stopped love her, nor she him. But it took him keeping his promise to another woman for him to finally find the courage to ask her again.
She said yes.
(268)
He sat in the dark, listening to the sounds of the forest around the house. He had no idea how it happened, but he seemed to have moved in. He wasn't noticing Kat complaining any about it, but he felt like he was intruding. They had not talked about it. It had just happened.
The forest that surrounded the house calmed him. The wind through the trees, the gentle sway of the high grass, lulled him past the random agitation that he suffered from. There was something very obviously wrong with him. He just wasn't sure what it was. And he knew no one else could see it. He was alone in that knowledge. So he sat and watched the trees, looking for his answers.
He had asked her again, in Los Angeles, to marry him. She hadn't questioned why he was there. She had trusted him. That trust was what finally made him comfortable enough to put the ring on her finger. He was bucking his reputation.
While he was in the Corps, no one believed him capable of settling down. He didn't think he was capable of it himself. He used that reputation as an excuse to sleep around. And he enjoyed every moment of it. It was safe and comfortable.
Then she came along and changed everything. He panicked and acted like an ass, trying to change her mind. Even through the fights, he never stopped love her, nor she him. But it took him keeping his promise to another woman for him to finally find the courage to ask her again.
She said yes.
(268)