Chapter Seven

“As much as I love making out with you it’s not going to be an all the time thing, kay?”

“Okay,” Michael replied. “The whole ‘taking it slow thing’?”

“That and all a few of my previous boyfriends ever wanted to do was make out. One of them was a horrible kisser too.” Her wide smile faded slightly at the thought of her ex, all he had ever wanted to do was make out. He was a horrible kisser in general, even when it came to simple pecks so anything more was a nightmare. Sam never said anything; after all she was the poor twenty year old boy’s first girlfriend and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. He had become too clingy and she ended things. “You’re an amazing kisser,” She brought herself back from her thoughts and the smile back to her face.

“If you say so.”

“I do say so, when it comes to all of the guys I’ve kissed you’re the best.” She wasn’t lying, he was an amazing kisser.

***

After their trip to Dallas Michael knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with this girl. There was more than one problem with bringing this up to Sam though; first of all they had only been together for a month and she kept bringing up how she wanted to take things slow, she did mention though that this was because she wanted to make their relationship last. Secondly he was lucky enough to be able to call her his, after all the reason he hadn’t asked her out in the first place was because he knew that she didn’t ever want to be with anyone who was in the military, especially not during tech school, Sam had also mentioned multiple times that she never wanted to marry anyone who was in the military. But why would she want to make their relationship last if there was no hope for things going beyond what they had?

Over the next week Michael thought about this a lot and by Sunday had convinced himself that it was worth bringing it up, he loved her and wanted to show it. Just as every Sunday there was a GI party, so while they were cleaning their rooms Sam and Michael were chatting on AIM. ‘I love you.’

‘I love you too,’ Michael replied. ‘I can see myself being with you for forever.’

Sam smiled. ‘I can too.’

That’s a good sign, right?

‘I don’t want to get married while I’m in the Air Force though.’

Could be worse. They talked a bit longer before coming to the conclusion that in Sam’s last year in the Air Force Michael would propose and just after she got out they would get married. ‘Alright, I promise you that in four years I will ask you to marry me.’

Sam was happy with the outcome, she loved Michael. Michael was glad that things had gone so well.

Just as everyone was released from formation a girl from Sam and Michael’s class gave Sam some bad news; they would be wearing skirts tomorrow. “Fuck.” She turned to Michael before saying, “We have to go to Wal-Mart, I don’t have pantyhose.”

After changing into civilian clothes Sam and Michael met up at the truck and left for Wal-Mart. While there Sam informed both Cassie and Jesse of what had been discussed a few hours earlier. Cassie was happy, Jesse on the other hand was less than thrilled.

***

After a long day of class and changing out of her skirt Sam met Michael in the first floor laundry room with her green bag full of dirty clothes. Once their clothes were in washers they hopped up on the table in the corner to talk and wait. They managed to find themselves talking about the promise from the day before. “I was thinking that since you wear this ring every day,” he said gesturing towards the silver thistle ring that Sam hardly ever took off. “Maybe we could switch it to your left hand as kind of a ‘pre-engagement’ thing.”

“Okay,” Sam smiled and pulled her ring from her finger, placing it in Michael’s hand. He took Sam’s left hand in his and gently slid the ring onto her small finger. As he did a shiver rolled down Sam’s spine, it was just like every time he kissed her. It was meant to be.

“I love you.”

“I love you too Michael,” she gently pressed her lips to his and when she pulled away she rested her forehead against his and looked down at her ring and her fingers laced with Michael’s. It was definitely meant to be.

“I really liked being away from base with you; maybe we could do it again?” Michael asked later that day.

“Sounds good to me.”

Throughout the week Michael found and booked a hotel, they filled out the necessary paperwork and anxiously awaited the arrival of Saturday morning.

***

They awoke early, wanting to leave as soon as they were allowed to so that they could spend as much time together as possible, alone. The drive to Abilene was just over an hour putting them at their hotel at just after seven am. “I’m hungry,” Sam said shortly after they arrived and checked in.

“Let’s take our bags upstairs and then we’ll go to Cracker Barrel, okay?”

Cracker Barrel was a short drive away and when they arrived both Sam and Michael order root beer and one of the big breakfasts; eggs, bacon, biscuits, potatoes and apples. While they waited for their food to arrive Sam grabbed the peg game sitting on their table. “Um… where are all the other pieces?” The game was missing two more pieces than it should have been. After switching it with the one from the table next to theirs she sat and began to play. “Believe it or not once I got it so there was only one left. I have a picture to prove it too.”

Sam and Michael took turns playing until their food arrived and when they were done eating they went into the store part of the restaurant to look around. They ended up buying the peg game as well as a giant chocolate bar. “Checkers?” Sam asked when they walked outside where the giant checker boards were.

“Eh, I’m pretty bad at checkers.”

“Oh come on, please?” She said with a smile.

Michael wasn’t lying; he was a very poor checkers player. He managed to take one of Sam’s pieces while she took twelve of his. “I’m sorry baby,” Sam said with a giggle and pulled her phone out to take a picture.

“It’s really not that funny.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” As much as she tried she couldn’t keep from smiling. “I love you.”

“I love you too, ready to go?”

Sam nodded and with that they left and went back to their hotel. Michael popped in The Mighty Ducks and they just hung out for a while until Sam complained of her back hurting. “Lay down,” Michael instructed. Sam rolled so that she was now laying on her stomach and winced when Michael began to work the tense muscles in her shoulders. “You okay?” He asked, not liking the look of pain on her face.

“Mhm, fine.”

A minute more passed before was fed up with Sam’s shirt, it kept bunching up and made what he was doing difficult. “This would be a lot easier if you took your shirt off,” he said hesitantly. Sam sat up, facing away from Michael and pulled her t-shirt over her head before laying back down. He nervously placed his hands back on her shoulders, the softness of her skin under his rough hands adding to his worry – this was definitely not taking things slow.

Soon his hand grew tired and he reluctantly pulled away from her. “Thank you,” she smiled. Sam returned the favor and tried her best to work Michael’s tense muscles, they were nothing compared to hers though. When she finished she lay back down on her stomach and mumbled into the comforter something about being tired and wanting to take a nap. The next thing she knew she was waking up in the safety of Michael’s arms.

“Sleep well my love?” He kissed her.

“Mhm, what did you do while I was asleep?” She rolled towards him; her arm hit the cool sheet reminding her that she was laying there in a bra and shorts. Normal this would be a problem, she hated her body and wanted to hide it was much as possible from everyone. Michael was different though, she was comfortable with him and this definitely proved it.

Michael however didn’t want to push things and knowing that Sam was uncomfortable with her body picked up her shirt and handed it to her. “Pizza for dinner?” He asked as she pulled the white t-shirt over her head.

“Kay.”

Soon they were eating a Pizza Hut Meat Lovers pizza and breadsticks and drinking Pepsi. After a glass of Pepsi Sam couldn’t help but let out a loud burp. “Classy,” Michael smiled.

“Sorry.”

Soon they were trying to outbelch each other, Sam ended up winning. While enjoying their pizza and each other’s company Sam convinced Michael to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates game with her. Baseball was her fourth favorite sport, but she loved her Pittsburgh teams and watched whenever she could.

“Goodnight Michael, I love you.” Sam said when they were under the covers and ready for bed.

“I love you too, goodnight.” He kissed her, pulled her close and soon they were both asleep. That sleep however didn’t last long; they still weren’t used to sleeping together. They sat up talking for about an hour, getting to know each other better than they already did.

“I’m hungry,” Sam said.

“Okay,” Michael got out of bed and got her one of the left over bread sticks. Once she had eaten it she cuddled close to Michael again and soon they were both asleep.

When they woke up the next morning they reluctantly got out of bed; they didn’t want to leave each other’s arms and they didn’t want to go back to base. They took turns using the bathroom to change and Michael started packing their things while Sam brushed her hair. Not wanting to get hair all over her black shirt, she shed like a dog, she kept it off standing in front of the mirror in her jeans and bra. Michael came around the corner to brush his teeth and stopped in his tracks for a second and took in the sight in front of him, she was beautiful. He wrapped his arms around her from behind. “Hello beautiful.”

“Hey,” she leaned back against him. She was definitely comfortable.

Chapter Six

Sam loved hockey was very superstitious when it came to the sport. Michael on the other hand knew nothing of the violent ice sport but was willing to learn for the girl he loved. While Sam was teaching she brought up her superstitious nature and that one of her many superstitions during the playoffs was that she had to get a tall iced black tea from Starbucks. Once Michael knew this he had an idea for their next date.

Saturday afternoon Sam and Michael walked to the BX together where they caught a Redball and soon made it to their first destination, Starbucks. After ordering their drinks, Sam convinced Michael to let her pay. “I have a gift card; it’s not even my money.”

“Fine,” Michael replied, reluctantly letting his girlfriend hand the cashier her gift card.

It was a surprisingly nice day outside considering it was still March, so after retrieving their drinks from the counter they decided to sit outside in the sun and talk. Somehow the conversation had found its way to one of the stories that Sam was reading online, it was written by her friend Mel and was about a hockey player. Just like most of the stories that Sam wrote. “It starts out with Mel and her friend going to a Pens game and Mel pretty much falling for Sid. Mel goes to practice and ends up getting hit in the head with Sid’s shot, she and Erin make dinner for Sid, Geno and Max, and then Sid and Mel end up having crazy sex. In the last chapter that she posted there was a line that made me laugh. ‘Don’t stick your tongue out unless you’re willing to use it.’”

“Really?” He laughed. “Are you ready to go get some dinner?” Sam nodded and Michael pulled his phone from his pocket to call for a Redball to take them to Olive Garden. While they waited the wind started to pick up and their almost empty plastic cups began to fly around. The van finally showed up, once they made it to Olive Garden and were seated they sent Cassie a picture of their bread sticks to make her jealous. It worked. Soup, salad and bread sticks was their meal of choice and conversation continued when their mouths weren’t full.

The dessert menu that sat on the edge of the table drew Sam’s attention. “Ooh, everything looks good. Can we get that?” She asked pointing to the picture of the Black Tie Mousse Cake.

“Sure.” When it arrived at the table it looked exactly like the picture and somehow tasted even better.

Having decided that the night was still young and mostly that they didn’t want to go back to base Michael suggested that they see a movie, after all the theater was right across the street. She’s Out of My League was still playing and even though they had seen it the weekend before they both felt that it was good enough to see again. The movie didn’t start until after ten so to kill time Sam and Michael went to sit on the curb on the side of the building. Talking as well as kissing occupied their time until the movie started.

“Thank you for another great night.”

“Anything for you, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

A kiss and hug ended another amazing date.

***

“You ready?” Michael asked, he was nervous and Sam was too.

“Yeah, we should be fine, right?”

“Mhm, hopefully she’s on time.” It was Friday afternoon; everyone was waiting to be released to formation to march to flags, and while meaningless weekend plans were on the minds of everyone else Michael and Sam were worried about his mom. She was driving from California so that they would have a vehicle. Sam was nervous that she wouldn’t be good enough for this woman’s only child, her ‘little boy’. Michael on the other hand was worried that Sam and his mother wouldn’t get along, that the elder of the two women would do something that would show how crazy his family really was and that Sam would want nothing to do with him anymore.

Once they had made it to the parade field Michael went to do his rope thing and Sam literally ran across the grassy field to the second state flag, Pennsylvania. She loved her state and absolutely hated the one that she was in. After all of the state and American flags were taken down, retreat and the National Anthem played, and everyone was released for the weekend Sam quickly made her way back to her room to get ready. Michael had to stay behind for a brief ‘rope meeting’.

Michael’s mom was supposed to be there at five so Sam didn’t have much time to get ready, or so she thought. She showered, cut her bangs that since she had left home had grown to be as long as the rest of her hair, braided her long, light brown hair, and picked ‘the perfect outfit’. She kept her phone with her the entire time, waiting for Michael to tell her that his mom was there and to meet him outside.

‘Where the hell are you?’ Michael asked of his mother.

She had gotten lost and was late. When she finally ended up near base Michael had to walk to the gas station off base to meet up with her and drive on to base. She went to check into her ‘hotel’ only to find out that she would not be staying in the main building but at one of the on the other side of base. Thank God it was a small base.

Sam’s phone finally played ‘What a Wonderful World’ saying that she had a text. ‘Meet me by the chow hall.’ Shoving her phone in her pocket and making sure that she had her CAC, her id card that would get her back on base and into her room; she walked out to the big blue truck that was waiting for her. Going around to the passenger side she found that the front seat was empty and literally climbed in. “Hi,” she said to Michael.

“Hi, Sam this is my mom, mom this is my girlfriend Sam.”

“Hi,” both women said. Awkward. Although first meetings normally were.

After finding Michael’s mom’s room they were finally able to start towards dinner, until they were almost to the gate and Michael realized that he had left the GPS in his room. Pulling into the parking lot he quickly went to his room. ‘Uh-oh,’ he thought. He was leaving his mother and his girlfriend alone together.

During the few minutes that they were alone they talked a little and Sam was given a beautiful, silver, Celtic knot necklace. She loved her Celtic heritage.

Soon Michael returned and they were on their way, Olive Garden their destination. It was a quick dinner with some getting to know each other, but Sam and Michael had to be back in their rooms by ten so that they wouldn’t get in trouble.

It was weird to go to bed early and the two love birds texted until they finally ended up falling asleep. They both needed sleep a long day lie ahead of them.

The next morning they met for breakfast, all three of them having omelets before going their separate ways again, only for a few hours though. Michael’s mom waited while Michael dealt with the squadron cookout and Sam hung out in her room watching some hockey. The Pens were taking on the Thrashers.

As soon as the game ended though Sam grabbed her bag and was soon in the passenger seat on her way to Dallas. It was a long drive but she spent it talking to the man she loved and listening to music they had picked out just for this trip. Some Gaelic Storm, some selections from RENT, and some of their other favorite songs. Also during the drive Sam was texting her ‘big brother’ Jesse. They talked about how it was the first time that she and Michael would sleep in the same bed, that they had been together for a month now, and that in the month they had been together as much as they had kissed it had never progressed to making out.

When they finally arrived in Dallas they checked in to their hotel and quickly found their room before heading off in search of dinner. Buffalo Wild Wings was their final decision and after dinner they went back to the hotel and took turns in the bathroom changing into their pajamas.

Michael was nervous to be sleeping in the same bed as Sam that night, mostly because his mom was there and would literally be ten feet from them all night, but also because he was worried that his snoring would bother her. He put that out of his mind though when he sat down on the right side of the bed and waited for Sam to join him.

When she did join him the TV turned on and soon they found something that they agreed on, Ghost. It was one of Sam’s favorites and was happy when Michael said that he liked it too. It was the end of the movie though and when it ended Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers stated. At about the first commercial break in the movie both Sam and Michael decided that it was time to get some sleep; Michaels’s mom had already gone to sleep. Michael and Sam both removed one pillow from the bed and placed it on the floor before looking at each other and laughing. They got under the covers before Sam scooted over and was wrapped in Michael’s arms. “Goodnight my love,” Michael said and placed a firm kiss on Sam’s lips.

“Goodnight,” she turned away from him and snuggled close against his chest before they both drifted into a peaceful sleep.

That sleep didn’t last long though, after about an hour they both woke up within seconds of each other. “You up?” Michael asked.

“Mhm,” she turned towards him, a smile on her face. Michael pressed his lips to hers and the next thing Sam knew without even thinking about it she was running her tongue along Michael’s lip and soon they were making out. It was the first time and Michael’s mom was ten feet away. As much as that bothered Michael the more that Sam kissed him it didn’t matter anymore. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Sam.” They slept two hours total the entire night and spent the rest of their time wrestling each other’s tongues.

When Michael’s mom woke up they all took turns showering before checking out of the room and going for breakfast at Denny’s. After they ate Michael and his mom fought over the check, she won. A quick stop at a gas station was the last stop before the airport. While Michael was out of the truck Sam changed it so that the GPS was in French-Canadian. As they began to drive away the female voice said something about where to turn. “What the hell?”

“Sorry,” Sam said with a laugh before changing it back.

When they arrived at the airport they said goodbye to Michael’s mom and started the long trek back to base, holding each other’s hands the entire time. Little did they know that this would be the first of many weekends spent away from base.

To be or not to be... done with this story?

Okay guys I enjoyed writing this story but I'm not going to continue with it if the only person who reads it is someone who was there for the whole thing. So I will continue writing if I get a few responses and if people actually do read it... Please let me know if I'm going to continue writing or not.

Chapter Five

Please comment...thanks. GO PENS!


Chapter Five

They decided to watch movies all day long, and as more of the day passed and she spent more time with him Sam was realizing more and more that she was falling for Michael. She had told him earlier in the day though that she wanted to take things slow so telling him that she loved him would have been the exact opposite of taking things slow. She also didn't want to scare him away, after all she did love him. Michael felt the same way, he was falling for her, hard. He wanted so badly to tell her how he felt, that he l-loved her.
They went bed at around five am again, woke up at eleven, and met for breakfast. After eating they hung out in the day room until they absolutely needed to clean their rooms before the GI party. A quick clean, a formation, and fake room inspections took place before they were back in the day room watching something. One of the times they kissed Sam almost slipped up and told Michael that she loved him but she forced herself to hold the words back.
As curfew approached Michael walked Sam downstairs, giving them ample time for one last hug. After a kiss and saying goodnight they went to their rooms and immediately began texting each other. 'I don't want to scare you, but I have to tell you. I think I love you, am I moving too fast?'
'No, because I'm pretty sure that I love you too. It almost slipped today but I reminded myself that I wanted to take things slow. Damn you asked me out in person but the first I love you is in a text.'
'I'm sorry.'

***

For wanting to take thing slow, that’s not how things seemed to be going. However Monday at lunch, everyone in their blues Michael and Sam were sitting with some ‘friends’ joking around when Michael went a little too far. Starla, a girl a few classes ahead of them was eating strawberries and Michael made a comment about how she was eating them. Sam would have been fine with it if another guy would have made the comment or if she hadn’t been dating Michael, hell she would have laughed. But because it was her boyfriend who had made the comment about another girl while sitting right next to her Sam was upset. She stopped contributing to the conversation and stopped talking to Michael all together. It didn’t take long for him to catch on that he was in trouble. ‘Fuck she’s going to end it.’

After lunch and marching back to the school house Sam and Michael’s class had a progress check, the last thing they had to do before block two was over. Michael sat next to each other in the back of the classroom which made the PC even more difficult. Both Sam and Michael passed the PC, Sam however barely slipped by even though before lunch she had known the material perfectly. After their PC’s had been checked Sam and Michael waited for everyone else to be done, Michael typed a message on his screen and poked Sam to get her to look. ‘Can we talk?’

‘Later.’

After marching back from school and getting changed into civilian clothes Sam met up with Michael and they talked things through. “I forgive you, but don’t do it again.”

“So we’re good?”

“Yes we’re good,” Sam said smiling.

“Good,” with that he pulled her close and kissed her. ‘Thank God.’

***

When the weekend finally came again as always Sam and Michael grabbed dinner before going to the day room to watch whatever other people were watching. Sam curled up in Michael’s arms on the couch as always and after a while she started to yawn. “Tired baby?”

“A little, but I don’t want to go to bed.”

“Okay.”

She snuggled closer and turned back towards the TV, but after that Sam didn’t remember anything else. The next thing she knew the credits were rolling for the movie that she had started watching. She took a deep breathe, Michael’s scent, had she fallen asleep in his arms? As she stretched she smiled, she had fallen asleep in the arms of the man she loved.

“Feel better?”

“Mhm, how long was I asleep?”

“Maybe half an hour, I’m not sure exactly.”

“Well you’re the first guy whose arms I’ve fallen asleep in,” she said with a smile.

“Really?” He smiled. “Never one of your other boyfriends?”

“Nope, I tried but I never actually feel asleep. I just feel safe with you.”

“I’m glad; you’re the first girl who’s fallen asleep in my arms.”

“I’m glad.”

***

The next weekend didn’t start as well as previous weekends, there was a squadron formation Saturday afternoon in ABUS, and everyone was going to get yelled at by the commander. Sam was on a waiver for standing in formation because of her ankle but the commander didn’t care, she and all the other ‘waivers’ had to stand at attention behind their flights.

Half way through the formation it started to snow, the second time it had snowed while Sam was at Goodfellow. When everyone was finally released Sam practically ran to her room to catch the last ten seconds of the Penguins-Carolina Hurricanes game, the Canes won with only seconds remaining in the five minute overtime period. Sam being the huge hockey and Penguins fan that she was, was upset, but she had a date with Michael in about an hour so she needed to be happy.

Sam changed into civilian clothes, met up with Michael and they went to wait for the Redball to take them off base. “This will be the first time I’ve been off base since I’ve been here, thanks.”

“For?”

“When I got here I didn’t think I would make any really good friends and I would just spend my six months on base and move on.”

“You’re welcome.”

When the van finally arrived the driver asked where everyone was going and after everyone else was dropped off Sam and Michael arrived at the mall. Michael was in short supply of civilian shirts and normally wore sand shirts or pt shirts, so Sam made him promise that when they went off base he would get a new shirt. Michelle and Cassie were called for help in choosing but when it was all said and done Michael looked good.

“Applebees?”

“Sounds good to me,” Sam smiled.

After a nice dinner they walked across the parking lot to the movie theater. “Two for She’s Out of My League.” Sam had wanted to see this movie since she had heard it was being filmed in Pittsburgh.

“This is going to be the first rated R movie I’m going to see in a movie theater since I turned seventeen, there was just never anything I wanted to see,” Sam said making Michael laugh.

The movie started and when they showed the first shot that you could actually tell was Pittsburgh Sam squeezed Michael’s hand, she missed home. The movie was filled with laughs, Sam and Michael were still laughing when they walked out of the theater.

“Thank you for taking me off base.”

“Anything for you,” he walked Sam back to her room. “Goodnight.”

‘Goodnight,” they hugged and kissed. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”