-Vaughn Blackmore
It had been a little over five months since everything started feeling real.
Two months ago, I finished training. My six months were up, and I left the camp while Ryland still had more time left. Two extra months, specifically. Two months where I went back home and suddenly had to relearn what normal life felt like again.
My parents were over the moon.
I think they had missed me more than they let on before I arrived, because the moment I stepped through that door again, it was like something in the house shifted. My mother didn't stop touching my face for the first hour, like she needed to confirm I was actually there. My father tried to act calm about it, but even he kept lingering around longer than usual, asking small questions he didn't really need answers to just to keep the conversation going.
And through all of it, I still thought about Ryland.
Not constantly in a painful way.
Just… naturally.
