Who's crying now?

By the end of the school term, Kyle was finished with the ROTC program and he has also passed weapons training. He will be shipped out to Afghanistan; where he will serve as a Lieutenant in the US Marines. They both do bot know when this will happen, but they know it will. As for Rusty, he graduated from college and Matt hasnt talked to him since. Kyle and Matt are now a couple and everyone in the college knows, but nobody gives a shit. Kyle sat across the table from matt in the cafeteria. "are you scared?" asked Matt. "of what?"

"being shipped out..." Matt said looking and playing with his food using a fork. "of course i am. But I think I will be ok. However, I think the hardest part is not being able to see you for god knows how long." he said trying to reassure Matt. He saw a tear form in Matt's eye. "I don't want to lose you... I have never loved someone as much as I love you Kyle." he said with a sniffle. Kyle placed bid hand on Matt's cheek; wiping away the tear. "you won't. I promise." Kyle said. As he was comforting Matt, a man dressed in a Marine Corp ceremonial uniform walked over to the table. Matt looked up and so did Kyle. Kyle slowly stood up, "it's time?" he asked. "yes sir." the marine answered. Matt stood up and walked over to Kyle; grasping him tightly. "be safe. You hear me?!" he said crying on his shoulder. "I will. I promise." Kyle said. "lieutenant." the marine said gesturing towards the door. They broke off the hug and Kyle turned to face the door. He turned to look at Matt as he walked away and saw him collapse in his chair, sobbing into his arms. 

******

Kyle sat on the Bench of the cargo plane as it crossed the atlantic ocean heading to Afghanistan. He looked at his standard issue M4A1 assault rifle with a fore-grip and a holographic sight. He slowly twisted it around; almost like a baseball bat. He pulled out an old picture of Matt that he took with him and looked at his beautiful smile. A smile so filled with light and happiness. "old friend?" he heard a marine say. He looked to his right and a cute soldier was looking at the picture then at Kyle. "actually he's my boyfriend." he answered back. "oh... How long have you two been together?" he asked with curiosity filling his voice. He kept staring at the picture of his amazing boyfriend. "a year." he finally said. "I didn't expect you to be gay. You dont act gay." he said trying to scream over the planes engines. "most people say that." Kyle said still staring at the picture. "gear up! Were touching down in five!" the intercom said. We all stood up as the plane touched the ground violently. The plane soon screeched to a halt and the back ramp slowly opened, revealing the intense light from the desert sun into the dimly lit plane. They all step out and into humvees that will take them to the base. They climbed into the armored jeeps and proceeded down the road. Kyle put in his headphones and turned on his iPod. He put on one of his favorite songs, "Red Barchetta" by his favorite band, Rush. He looked out the window at the desert sand. It seemed to be boiling because of all of the intense heat radiating off of the surface. He started to think of Matt When- 

BOOM! 

"RPG!" someone screamed. Kyle turned off his music and ripped out the headphones. Bullets were flying; ricocheting off of the truck as they stop and jump out of the trucks. BOOM! another RPG hits another truck. Bodies fly out and scatter. Kyle fired at the gun flashes; killing one of them. The .50 started opening fire as Kyle duck for his life. "these aren't insurgents!! Their Taliban!" a marine hollers. Kyle had an idea. He grabbed a grenade and pulled the pin. He let go of the trigger and counted 3 seconds. He then put the pin back in and threw it. He saw the enemy pick it up, pull the pin and it explodes, killing 3 of them. He jumped up and fired bullet after bullet at them; risking his life to protect his men. "lieutenant! What are you doing?!" Kyle blocked out their screams. He ran out of ammo for his gun and without thinking, he pulled out both of his Colt .45 pistols and shot them with both barrels. They were all dead; every single one. Some had bullet holes in their heads, some in their chests, even in their eyes. Kyle never knew he was capable of such damage to human life. He looked at the bodies as he flies soon arrived. He turned around and walked back to the convoy as one of the radio operators reported the attack to HQ. he breathed in and out heavily; almost as if he ran a marathon. They had 4 casualties. The trucks were still smoldering and smoke billowed from the wreckage as the smoke billows from a smoke stack of a big factory. Kyle looked around; almost like a lost puppy. He couldn't believe the carnage. 

[2 months later]

Matt laid on his bed in his new apartment staring at a picture if Kyle that was on his nightstand. He wished that Kyle was here with him, and not knowing if something bad happened to him killed Matt even further than he already was. He put his whole social life on hold; waiting for Kyle to make some kind of contact with him. He turned his head and stared at the empty half of his bed. Trying to pretend Kyle was there with him. It was hard for Matt to do this because the one person he cares about in the world is 7,000 miles away. He heard his phone vibrate. "Kyle?" he said into the phone. There was a pause on the other line. "hi baby." he heard Kyle's sweet voice say into his ear. Matt started to cry. "how are you? Are you ok?" Matt said with tears of happiness flowing down his face. "yeah. I'm ok. How are things at home? Did you get that apartment?" Kyle asked with tears in his eyes as well. "yeah. And things are ok. I... I miss you. I miss you so much...." Matt said. "I miss you too baby." 

"Kyle?" 

"yeah Matt?" 

"be careful ok?" Matt said knowing that Kyle will need to get off the phone soon. "I will. I love you Matt." 

"I love you too." the line went dead. And Matt soon felt better, knowing that he is ok. Kyle walked away from the pay-phone bank with tears streaming down his face. The intense heat soon evaporated his tears. Kyle was walking pretty much alone with the exception of one guy in Downtown Al-Bakaara, a known terrorist operating city. Kyle looked around; scanning the alleys and rooftops. A loud crack fills the sky; almost like a clap of thunder. It was a gunshot. He looked down and saw blood just underneath his bulletproof vest. Everything looked as if it was in slow motion. The strange thing was it didn't hurt. Kyle fell to his knees in the desert as his partner found the shooter and took him out. Kyle's life flashed before his eyes. His birth, his first crush, high school, Matt, all of it. He fell face first into the sand. His vision blurs from color to black and white. Everything was quiet until he felt his partner turn him over and put pressure on his gunshot wound. "no exit wound... your losing a lot of blood. Charlie echo 5 this is highlander we need med Evac. Co-ords are 1224 north 6557 west." he heard him say. Kyle couldn't speak. He was in total shock. His breathing was slow and rhythmic; everything is silent but yet he still felt no pain. Within a few minutes, the helicopter arrived and hoisted Kyle into the back; as he slipped into sub consciousness.

******

Matt heard his phone ring. He quickly jumped out of the shower he had been taking and answered it. "hello?"

"hello. I'm colonel Sanders of the united states Marine Corp. Is this Matthew Stryker?"

"yeah." he answered. 

"I regret to inform you that Kyle Singer has been shot while in the line of duty Yesterday. But, He is coming home tomorrow, and he has been awarded the purple heart and silver star for his bravery." the clearly older man said. "ok. Thanks for calling colonel." he said hanging up. "Kyle's coming home..." he said with a smile. 

Kyle slowly opened his eyes; looking around to see where he is but he can't tell. He is in some kind of medical ward that much he knows, but he doesn't know where. He saw all of the tape and bandages on his lower abdomen where his wound is and noticed someone was sitting next to him. It was Corporal McKinney, the man that saved Kyle's life. "I came to see how you were feeling, sir. Is that ok with you?" he asked rather shyly. Kyle just slightly nodded. Kyle thought about all of the carnage he has seen while being here. It was so terrifying, it doesn't bother Kyle anymore. He doesn't want this to change him because he doesn't want to be any more different since Matt and Kyle last saw each other. "how are you feeling Lieutenant?" he asked politely. "I'm ok.... I just want to go home...." 

"I know how you feel sir. I bet you wanna get back home to the people you love right?" he asked. "yeah..." Kyle said thinking about Matt. "who's the special girl sir?" he asked with a laugh. "Matthew." the smile disappeared from his face. "oh." he said. He didn't dare to piss Lieutenant Singer off. Ever since he killed an entire enemy squad single handedly after being attacked by RPGs and Machine gun fire, nobody has shown disrespect to him. "well, I hope your happy with him. That's all that matters." he said smiling. He left Kyle's room and Kyle closed his eyes to try and get some sleep. Kyle starts to dream; he wonders home through silent streets of Fairview. Houses are destroyed and people walk around aimlessly with pale eyes and skin. Kyle sees Matt and runs over to him. Matt stops him. "why didn't you save me Kyle? Why didn't you stop them?"

"what? Baby I'm here now. I'm home." he said crying. "why did you let them kill me Kyle?" he said. His eyes started to bleed; as well as his mouth. Kyle runs away, people are following him; grabbing his shirt and cutting him with knives. "you deserve this Kyle." Matt said. Kyle woke up screaming and sweaty. A medic rushed in; "are you alright lieutenant?" he said with a worried look. Kyle breathed for a few minutes. "yeah.... I'm ok...." he finally said. Kyle started to tear up. "you know, if you need to talk to someone about the things you've seen, you can talk to me." he said. "thanks." Kyle said in response. Kyle sat up and climbed out of the bed. "uh.. Sir-" 

"I'm fine. Let me walk around. That's an order!" he said. 

"....yes sir." he sighed. Kyle climbed out of the bed and walked over to a window. He couldn't wait to finally be back on American Soil. Kyle started to think about his 5 years in Canada, and he thought that going back there would be better. "I wonder if I can convince Matt to move there with me. I wanna go home to Brampton."

Who's Crying Now? Part 4; I'm coming home

Kyle walked into the airport and looked for the customer service booth. He found it and walked over with his duffel bags and a slight limp from his recent wound. "flying home sir?" asked the polite teller. "yeah. I was wondering, do you have any flights heading to the Toronto area?" asked Kyle. "we have one flight into Hamilton. That's not too far. Is that alright sir?" she asked. "I'd like 1 ticket to Toronto please." he said. The teller took his bag and placed it on the scale. The bag fees are 100 dollars! Kyle reached into his wallet and pulled out how much the flight will cost. $534. He proceeded to the gate and boarded the plane. He took out the air phone and called Matt. "baby, I'm making a quick pit stop in Brampton before I head back to Fairview. Is that alright?" he asked. "I'll meet you there. Are you flying into Toronto Pearson or Hamilton?" Matt asked. "Hamilton." Kyle finished. "ok. I'll see you there. I love you babe." Matt said. "I love you too Matthew." he said hanging up. The plane soon started to taxi and head towards the runway. Kyle closed his eyes and enjoyed the ride home.

[6 hours Later] 

Kyle opened his eyes. The sun pierced through the small windows of the plane like a knife through butter. People were totally quiet, and well rested. "attention ladies and gentlemen. It's about 4:30 in the afternoon in Toronto right now. And we will be crossing into canadian airspace in about 45 minutes. Thank you for flying Air Canada." said the loudspeaker. Kyle sat back in his chair and listened to some more Rush. And in what seemed to be minutes, he landed in Hamilton. He grabbed his carry-on bag and walked through Customs. He was a serviceman so he blew by it in record time and headed to the baggage claim. He picked up his duffel bag and walked into the main terminal. Kyle looked from side to side; looking for Matt. He wasn't here yet. Maybe he hit traffic or something.