2: Beneath Orion, Worlds Apart 04

The answer was obvious; it wasn't just a small handful of insurgents the two of them stumbled upon. The mountains were crawling with insurgents like an infestation, looking for the downed Airmen.

He could also hear the intense fire of the Pave Hawks, but he didn't have to turn around to know that they were also under fire. He knew at least one of the Pave Hawks would attempt to break free and come for him, but if the gunfire proved to be too concentrated it wouldn't be possible.

One of the insurgents Patton drew a bead on was closing in at only twenty yards away, but somehow he managed to duck out of sight. Two others tried to flank him; one climbed up to a ledge while the other hugged the edge of the cliff. Patton squatted down, using a large boulder for cover, firing at the insurgent near the cliff. His aim struck true as several bullets hit him in the chest, one to the head, knocking his lifeless body off the ledge and down to the rocky ground below.

The hiding insurgent popped back into view. Patton's eyes widened as he realized he was holding an RPG and pointing it straight at him. The boulder wouldn't be enough to offer him full protection. Other heat signatures were beginning to come into view as if they were multiplying; it was like they were coming from nowhere. He was running out of time.

There was only one solution, and it would likely end up killing him. But if he stayed another second, he'd be dead.

Without hesitation, Patton ran as fast as he could towards the cliff and jumped off.

---

"Are you sure you're ok going to the party with me," Audrey asked Kaylee while looking in the mirror, carefully adding the final touches with her makeup brush to her face.

Kaylee sighed, noticeably less enthused about the party than Audrey was. "No, I'm not sure I'm ok going, but I'm going anyway. For you."

"Oh, come on. You have it backwards;I'mdoing this foryou," Audrey said.

Kaylee stopped applying her makeup just long enough to give a dirty look to her friend.

Audrey confessed, "Ok, ok. My reason for going is two-fold; Steve and I hit it off during his last party, but more importantly, you need to get out and forget about that asshole Luke. You've been moping around your apartment for too long."

"Please don't call him that. Even if he is one. This is the last party I'm going to for a while. No more wingman for me. Girls don't use a wingman anyway. Besides, if we did it would be 'wing-woman'. And don't expect me to stay there long; you might have to get your own ride home," Kaylee told her.

Audrey giggled, "I swear, Kaylee, you need to lighten up. I'm going to get you laid if it's the last thing I do."

Kaylee rolled her eyes, but couldn't stifle her own giggle.

---

Audrey couldn't help notice the tears welling up in Kaylee's eyes as they pulled up to Mick's house. She heard her sniffing in an attempt to get rid of the tears. "Oh, hon," Audrey said, "Don't even think of that jerk. The weather's beautiful, there's a pool out in the back, and Mick and Steve have more alcohol stocked up than a liquor store. Today's aboutyou, so enjoy yourself."

With a devious grin, Audrey added, "Besides, you look hot. You're gonna kill everyone in your sexy new swimsuit; I think they had your boobs in mind when they designed it. That sexy plunge line... rawrrrr! You're turning even me on!"

Kaylee blushed, "Gross, you're disgusting," adjusting her shirt over her snakeskin pattern one-piece swimsuit. Audrey laughed.

Having given up hiding her tears, Kaylee carefully dabbed at her eyes, trying her hardest not to smear her mascara. She even momentarily let a genuine smile show. "I know, I promise I'll try. It's just... harder than I thought." She took a deep breath and said, "Alright, let's go do this." Kaylee bit her lip and exited the car; Audrey was right behind her.

Mick, holding a beer in each hand, gave the girls an excited welcome as he met them at the door. Audrey looked over and gave Kaylee a knowing smile; it was obvious Mick was already feeling the effects of the alcohol. He embraced both girls with a hug, trying not to spill. Kaylee looked at Audrey with wide-open eyes, trying not to giggle. Audrey smiled back; secretly she was relieved to witness Kaylee kicking off the party with an actual smile.

Both girls walked through the house, following Mick to the backyard, looking at each other in amazement. They couldn't believe how many people were already there, and by the looks of things the party was already in full force.

There were several people they hadn't seen before, but there were also a lot of familiar faces from high school. And most of them neither Kaylee nor Audrey had seen since graduation. Kaylee and Audrey saw Bradley across the yard but fortunately he didn't see either of them; he was distracted talking to two other girls that, through some mystery, seemed to actually be listening to him.

Kaylee rolled her eyes; they had to have been hammered to be talking to that snake.

Both girls also noticed Cindy swimming in the pool with a bunch of other guys and girls; it had been months since either of them had last seen her. After high school, and especially after the whole 'Luke incident' their senior year, both Kaylee and Audrey ended up going in completely different directions than Cindy.

Even Aaron, Luke's friend, was there. Except for sporting longer hair he looked pretty much the same, but instead of hanging out alone in a corner like he she would have expected him to in high school he actually seemed to be having a great time laughing it up with a couple other people she didn't recognize.

It was nice to be surrounded by old classmates and friends from Remmington High School; both girls were thinking how nice it would be to catch up with some of them, maybe even make a few new friends along the way.

The two beers Mick held in his hands earlier had been replaced with a pair of margaritas; he offered one to each of the girls. Audrey looked over at Kaylee, stifling a laugh when she saw her friend take it and promptly chug half of it down. She was glad that Kaylee seemed to so far be enjoying the party.

"Kaylee! Steve is over there, I'm going to go say hi," Audrey squealed, trying to contain her excitement. Kaylee started to protest, but Audrey told her, "You're doing fine. I'll catch up with you later, ok?"

Kaylee started to pout, but Audrey put her hands on her shoulders, looked her in the eye, and said, "I promise. You'll be fine, ok?"

Reluctantly, Kaylee nodded.

---

Kaylee often found herself resentful of Audrey's mother-hen attitude, but now that Audrey had ditched her Kaylee realized she missed her already. She also couldn't help but think that the whole wingman – or wingwoman – role was reversed; it washerthat needed Audrey, not the other way around.

"Are you ok," Mick asked her, breaking Kaylee's concentration.

"Oh, I... yeah, I'm great. Thanks for the margarita, Mick."

"Brought you another," he said with an inebriated smile on his face, holding the drink out. "Don't tell anyone," he whispered, "but this time it's strawberry!"

Kaylee giggled, "Thanks. I might need the entire pitcher by the time the night's done, though."

Mick asked, "Rough night or something?"

"Rough night? Try a rough last few years. You have no idea," she said, rolling her eyes again.

Mick winced, "Ah, the Luke thing, right? You two were like legendary. I thought you guys were..."

Kaylee interrupted him, snapping, "We're done. He found someone else."

Even in his intoxicated stupor, her sharp tongue caused Mick to jump.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry to hear that. He must be crazy if he left you, I mean, why would he leave someone as sexy as you? Is he still over..."

Again, Kaylee didn't give him a chance to finish, saying, "Yes, he's still deployed. Can we not talk about Luke?"

"Talk about who," Mick said with a lit up smile. "Girl, you sound like you definitely need a little more tequila in that. Let me hook you up," he said, taking her drink and escorting her to the outside bar.

Kaylee giggled, "A LOT more tequila. This is a nice place you have, by the way. I love your outdoor bar." She ran her hand over the sturdy oaken wood.

"Built it by hand," Mick winked. "Of course, I had a bunch of my buddies help."

Kaylee caught Mick trying to steal a glance at her swimsuit underneath her loose white t-shirt. At first she felt awkward, but the more she thought about it, she was flattered. And she would have been flattered, she told herself, even if she wasn't tipsy right now.

"Like what you see," she asked playfully.

Mick coyly said, "I like what I see, even though you sure aren't showing much of it. Am I going to have to settle for looking at your sexy swimsuit through your t-shirt all day?"

Kaylee giggled, not saying a word.

Mick continued, warning her in a joking manner, "If you're not careful, someone might throw you in the pool just to see your white shirt get drenched.Thenmaybe all of us will be able to see the rest of that sexy tight snakeskin thing on your body, little Miss Tease!" Mick puffed up his chest, stepping forward to Kaylee.

With wide eyes, Kaylee took a few steps back, laughing, "Oh, no you don't! This swimsuit is off limits!"

Mick kept walking forward, taking the drink from her hand and setting it on one of the outdoor tables. Kaylee carefully walked backwards. "I said no, Mick," she giggled, her hands up protectively.

Wearing a wicked smile but simultaneously pretending to be a genuinely concerned, Mick told her, "I would never dream of taking your t-shirt off! That's up to you. And if you happen to fall in the pool accidentally instead, while that would be tragic..." He deliberately left his statement hanging just to make Kaylee sweat.

He finally had her cornered; one more step backwards and she would have fallen into the pool.

"Ok, ok," Kaylee said, holding her arms up to stop him. With an angry yet playful look, Kaylee took her t-shirt off.

Looking up and down over Kaylee's body with his elevator eyes, taking in every inch of the tight swimsuit as it hugged the curves of her body, Mick couldn't hold back a soft moan. Slightly embarrassed, she turned her body to the side trying to cover up the best she could thinking that, in hindsight, she should have worn a much more conservative swimsuit.

Still, maybe it was the alcohol talking but she did enjoy the attention.

"Hmm, I wonder what that swimsuit would look like wet," Mick asked inquisitively. "Would the water roll off those scales?"

"It's not real snakeskin, Mick! Of course it wouldn't. It would just get wet," Kaylee said, leery and fully aware he already knew that but was looking for an excuse to throw her into the pool.

"You better not... you be..." Kaylee said, unable to finish her sentence as Mick swept her off her feet and tossed her into the water.

"Miiiiick," she exclaimed as she hit the water. Laughing, Mick jumped in after her.

Splashing water all over him, Kaylee tried not to laugh, "You jerk, I told you not to!"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. Should I get the tequila bottle to make up for it?"

"Ugh, so much for tanning before swimming," Kaylee said, adjusting her swimsuit.

---

Unaware of exactly how much she already had to drink, Kaylee knew she was going to be hurting the next morning. Still, it was nice hanging out with her old friends and making a few new friends along the way. Mick was even kind enough to throw a veggie burger on the grill for her instead of the unappetizing greasy hamburgers and hotdogs.

The sun went down but the pool party was starting to heat up, even though it had already been going on for hours. Kaylee smiled as she watched Audrey and Steve horse-playing in the pool, happy for her best friend. If anyone deserved to end up with a good guy, it was her. Bradley was nowhere to be found, which was a huge relief. He was probably passed out somewhere inside the house. Cindy already left, but much to Kaylee's surprise, she was actually pleasant and cordial when they talked earlier. It was kind of nice considering they drifted apart on the not-so-best of terms. Aaron was still around; Kaylee talked to him earlier also, but just like high school he couldn't really hold a conversation. Besides, he kept looking at her funny and it creeped her out. Nice guy and all, but still.

Mick, on the other hand, she was with almost the entire time. "I'm going to be hurting in the morning, thanks to you," she told him with a giggle. "I can't remember the last time I've had this much to drink." Despite the consequences of her future prediction, Kaylee reached over to the small table by her beach lounge chair and grabbed the Mai Tai, courtesy of Mick, taking a small sip through the straw.

She looked up into his eyes. He looked back with a confident smile, holding her gaze while sitting down in a chair next to her. Kaylee thought it was strange; she couldn't remember the last time someone showed enough confidence to lock eyes with her, but she found it extremely sexy. It was rare when Luke did it, and on those few occasions she practically had to hold his head still and force him to look into her eyes. Whenever she lustfully stared at him he would always blush and look away, even at the height of their dating. Her lip curved upwards in a sneer, thinking of how pitiful it was when he did that.

And yet, it was also adorable and made her feel like a beautiful princess, and she missed it.

She broke eye contact with Mick, secretly cursing Luke for entering her mind and breaking her concentration.

Even on the other side of the world he's screwing with me, that bastard! He's probably fucking his new skanky girlfriend right now. I hope she gets sand inside her rotten crotch, that little slut.

Almost as if she was possessed, Kaylee stood up and adjusted the bottom of her swimsuit. With a few short steps, she ended up on Mick's lap.

He was caught off guard, as evidenced by the way he sharply drew in his breath, but gladly embraced her and placed his arms around her waist.

Even Kaylee was surprised with her own actions, but she didn't regret them one bit.

Grinning, Mick told her half-jokingly, but mostly not, "If you sat any closer to me, I might have impaled you."

Kaylee cocked her head to the side letting her hair fall over her shoulder and said seductively, "Maybe I'm not done scooting."

As Mick's jaw dropped, Kaylee internally laughed, thinking,I guess I still have the touch. Luke can eat his heart out.Instantly she became angry at her mental slip, accidentally allowing Luke to crawl his way back into her mind.

Not her heart, she insisted, but her mind. Only her mind. Even then, she tried to push him back out.

She leaned down to Mick, her lips inches away from his. Mick seemed to take a reactive position, waiting for Kaylee to kiss him. As she leaned in closer, Mick pressed his lips against hers. She couldn't remember the last time she felt warm lips touching hers; it felt nice. Really nice. He tried to kiss her, but instead of kissing him back Kaylee remained motionless.

She was toying with him. Slowly, she dragged her lips along the side of his face, her cheek against his as if she was lightly nuzzling him; his groan told her he was begging for her mouth to open so he could kiss her back. Her face remained neutral but she was giggling inside; part of her wasn't really sure why she was teasing him so badly. Maybe it was just because she was a mean drunk.

Mick caught her off guard, diving down to her neck, kissing passionately. Kaylee gasped sharply and closed her eyes; she wasn't ready. But she wasn't about to push him off, either. Kaylee impatiently straddled him; she knew she was losing control and she didn't care. He kept kissing her neck and she moaned; she didn't care who heard. She threw her head back and looked up, allowing him more skin to kiss up and down her neck. She opened her eyes, daring to look at the stars above in the endless night sky as Mick kissed her passionately.

It was amazing how bright the stars were. It was like she was in her own private paradise with her and her potential new man; all noise in the background seemed to fade away. She looked up to find the wishing star. She couldn't even remember which star to wish on... was it the first one she saw? No, it the brightest. Wait; maybe it was the North Star? She tried to remember as she wrapped her arms around him. She desperately needed to make a wish. If she only had one wish, what would it be, she wondered? Would it involve Mick?

Three stars in particular seemed to line up with each other. She giggled at first, wondering if she was so drunk that it was really one star blurred out into a display of three. But then an overwhelming feeling overcame her upon the realization that it was the belt of the constellation Orion.

Orion was the constellation Luke showed her, or at least it was the only one that she remembered, when they had their midnight picnics, stargazing in the countryside. She couldn't remember a word he said, but she could never forget how amazing it was simply being with Luke while he explained the details of each and every star in the universe. It seemed like ages ago. Tears formed in her eyes as she looked up at Orion. It was so bright, but so far away. Just like Luke. She wondered if Luke was also beneath Orion, despite being worlds apart. She didn't know what time of day or night it was over there, but maybe he was, right now, looking up at Orion at the same exact moment in time.

Just like she was.

She pushed Mick back as the tears cascaded down her face. Briefly she looked at him, trying to form the words to apologize, but all she could squeak out was, "Damn you, Luke."

Mick was dumbstruck, discernibly trying to figure out what had just happened. Kaylee leaped up and stormed off, wanting to leave as quickly as possible, nearly tripping several times along the way. She thought she heard Mick calling after her, but she wasn't sure and even if he did, she didn't care.

Luke Patton; she just couldn't get him out of her head. She couldn't move on. Somehow Kaylee had made it from Kindergarten through High School graduation without ever being dumped; she'd been on the other side of that coin a million times, but this was a first. If that wasn't bad enough, Luke was the only man she ever loved. And to have been let go like this... it was just too much for her to take.

It wasn't fair. She wanted to hate him with every fiber in her being. Shetriedto hate him.

She just couldn't.

As she hustled through the house, she heard someone else calling for her; this time it sounded like Audrey. She tried to walk faster, but she caught up with her.

"Kaylee, wait," she said, lightly grabbing her arm.

Kaylee recognized the voice; it wasn't Audrey. It was Faith Patton, Luke's little sister.

Turning around, Kaylee burst into tears and hugged Faith.

"I wish I never met Luke," she burst out, sobbing.

---

At first Faith didn't say anything; she simply let her brother's ex-girlfriend cry, holding and comforting her the best she could. She arrived at the party only an hour ago because her brother's friend Aaron asked her to come; he was ominous and didn't exactly say why, even though he insisted. Putting two and two together, Faith realized he must have seen Kaylee acting out of place and called as a concerned friend.

Kaylee had her wild streak, Faith knew, but she had never seen her drunk before. When Faith first arrived at the party, she saw her clinging to Mick. At first, she was furious. She wanted to go up to her and slap her, and after that ask how she could throw herself at another guy while Luke was overseas, but the more she thought about it she realized Kaylee would never cheat on Luke. On more than one occasion, Faith witnessed Kaylee glowing when Luke was around. She absolutely adored him.