Broken Trust on the Homefront

First story, full send. I've been wanting to write this for a while, I just never got into the swings of things. Some of this is a true story, most of this isn't. I thank my brothers every day for bringing me home alive.
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"I'll be waiting for you right here the moment you get off that plane!" Her voice filled my ears as my heart warmed ever so significantly causing two reactions. One was my heart thumping faster than a Dodge driver trying to get around granny in the city, the other was blood rushing to another area. Hey, knock it off. No All Hands on Deck required this time! I adjusted my uniform as I hugged the woman tightly.

I closed my eyes tightly as I held this woman who was there in the thick of everything in my life so far, "Thank you Jen, I love you so much baby." I muttered out, trying to hold my tears back as I sniffled. Jen, or Jennifer giggled and held me tightly in return. This woman was my life.

We held for a bit until another voice behind me shouted. "Hey Gerhart, come on or we'll get chewed out for being late!" I raised my head, turning to the voice spotting my buddy, Halland. "Stop thinking about marching on Poland and let's go!"

I pulled back from Jennifer and kissed her deeply, parting her mouth with my tongue as she moaned softly. Her tongue pushed against mine carefully as we were trying to keep the pretense of just a deep peck on the lips. I pulled away hesitantly, "I gotta go baby... I'll call you when I can!"

She smiled as her eyes casted a shadow of sadness, "O- Okay, I'll hold you to it!" I saw the tears forming in her eyes, but she blinked, trying to hide the obvious emotional distress.

"Don't cry, I'll be home before Christmas!" I smiled, attempting to cheer up my love.

She sniffled again as her brunette hair fell down her shoulders as her dark blue eyes swelled up with more tears. "Y-yeah. It won't be long." She spoke to herself, attempting to convince herself it wouldn't be a tough parting.

I reached down for my bag and slung the back over my shoulders as I leaned in to give her a final goodbye kiss, but she took a step back and I understood why. She didn't want to break down crying right here in front of all the other families. I turned my head and ran, catching up with Halland who smacked me on the back of the head. "You were tongue fucking her, weren't you?"

"The fuck I was!" I shouted in my defense as we jogged over to the bus that would take us over to the airport. The two of us climbed onto the bus, working our way to the seats reserved by the rest of our squad.

"Five minutes to spare, damn you all are going to be the death of me!" Our Sergeant, Morten, chuckled to us as another soldier, Williams, shook his head.

My team leader, Pyler, shot a glance over to Morten. "No, your death is going to be from your special side."

Morten's face turned to questioning, "Special side?"

Williams, Halland, and I joined in chanting immediately, "Special, special, special!"

"Fuck you guys." Morten turned his head back to the front of the bus as the last soldier boarded the bus. Immediately, the bus sped off to the airport that held our plane. We were going to Afghanistan, and I was a 19 year old fresh in the Army. It seemed like yesterday I graduated High School and didn't know what to do besides spend the rest of my life with my girlfriend Jennifer.

We had a cliché high-school relationship, or so I thought. Most people speak of banging the hottest chick or the bitchiest chick, and I suppose I can fall into that category honestly. Jennifer was a cheerleader, shocker, and I was just your average guy, Robert Gerhart. Standing at 5'7, white with that southern bronze tan, light blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. I wasn't into mechanical shit; I wasn't really into sports (I'll still throw down in soccer!) and I wasn't too involved with getting straight perfect grades for anything. I knew what I wanted to do, and college wasn't the option; I wanted to prove to my parents that I was a soldier just like the two were and deploy like both had before conceiving me.

We shared classes together and she didn't like me at all, I wasn't a jock or nerd so she couldn't figure me out other than a loser. I shrugged at it; women weren't my priority. Honestly sex to me at the time wasn't on my list of priorities at all. Chicks dropped out of classes all the time for pregnancies and dudes were complaining about STDs all the time, I decided to wait for once school was over and done with. Her opinion of me didn't change at first until we were usually paired up in class. She'd scoff and I'd just roll my eyes, but we put our differences aside and finished what we'd need to finish. It was Senior year when everything began to change honestly.

It was in September when another project was thrown at us, something in some boring class assignment. I yawned; I was tired as I had stayed up all night hanging out with friends at a bonfire. I wasn't into sex, but I was down to party and hang out with friends doing late night shenanigans. The teacher had called out the list of names for the project, and I of course was stuck with Jennifer. "God damnit." I muttered under my breath.

Jennifer turned her head, her eyes narrowed, "What was that?"

I placed my hands behind my head and glanced at her slightly. "Hm?"

"I said: What. Was. That?" Jennifer repeated as she stared into my eyes. I was briefly ensnared by her eyes as I blinked quickly, half trying to keep myself awake and half trying to escape the alluring capture.

I frowned, realizing she heard me, but I wasn't going to back down either. "I said god damnit."

Jen's eyes widened with surprise, "What, do you have a problem with me?"

I yawned again, turning my head back to the board. "Yeah, I suppose I do. You're just... irritating. Always something about the cheer team or hot guys. Always looking at your phone, taking selfies for snapchat. No one is going to bend their will and fuck you."

Jen leaned closer and kicked my foot hard, causing me to grunt and drop my hands onto the desk. The noise drew some looks as everyone glanced away back to their work. "You think you're the only judgmental fuck here?" She hissed furiously at me as she leaned in closer. "I at least have some social status while you sit here and do absolutely nothing! I can't figure you out Robert, not one bit! No interest in women or men, no interest in anything! You're the definition of social suicide!"

I leaned back, closing my eyes and digesting her profile of me, everything seemed to check out honestly. I did not bother with the social structures of school; they wouldn't last anyways and after I couldn't walk due to an injury, life gave me the exam before the lesson. All my friends forgot I existed so at this point, I was fine with this. I chewed my lip for a moment as Jennifer turned her head in victory back to her papers scattered across her desk. "Let me ask you this Jennifer, what are you going to do when school ends, and everyone goes their own ways? Will anyone care about you then? Will all your friends still be there for you when you have only yourself?"

Jennifer dropped her pencil as she was stunned by my words, I suppose no one told her the truth about how the world works. I scoffed to myself, "I figured not. Get your portion done soon." I closed my eyes for a brief bit as she shook her head. Normally she'd go straight to her phone for half the class but instead she started to work on her page as I heard her pencil scribbling on the paper.

Next few weeks, Jen began to work harder in all her classes as I continued to mind my own business until an announcement came over the school's intercom. Those who wanted to take the ASVAB were to report to the gym. Jen shook her head as she continued to work on her assignment, until I scooted my chair back, pushing myself out of the desk. I left the room without saying a word as I headed to the gym.

One big test was done, it was lunch time as I found my usual booth, away from the crowds of people boasting about what they had done. I kept my eyes glued to my phone, reading articles about military operations on-going in the world. I wasn't an outright nerd, but I would nerd over military stuff. "Excuse me?" Jen's voice shattered my thoughts like an arrow piercing the air. I looked up and met her gaze. "May I sit with you?"

I nodded, pointing to the empty bench across from me. "Seat's free and all yours." She sat down as I lowered my phone. "So, what brings you to my corner?"

"You actually." She tapped the table as she closed her eyes, I studied her face carefully, noting her cute freckles and her white complexion that was slightly tanned. "Listen, I just want to apologize Robert."

"For?"

"I was being a bitch when I said you were social suicide, you do nothing but then you're suddenly interested in the Military?"

I nodded. "It's something I've wanted to do since I was a kid."

"But... why?"

Anger flashed over my eyes as I lowered my head. "When I was younger, I lived in Fort Hood. I was down the road in school when gunshots rang out and we could hear everything. A soldier was converted to their cause and killed a lot of people. I needed to join since then."

Jen blinked, not expecting to hear that. "Oh... I'm... sorry." She managed to squeeze her words out as I returned to my normal posture.

I raised my hand up to let her know it was alright, "It's okay, and to add onto that note, I see how the social system of school works. It is what it is."

Jen looked down at her hands, clasped together. "Would you like to be friends with me?"

I raised my head, "Huh? Now isn't that social suicide?"

She smiled, another captivating weapon of hers, "It doesn't matter, right?"

I chuckled, "Yeah. I guess it doesn't."

After that, we were friends and our classroom life definitely improved. I downloaded snapchat and began to use that to talk to her, where we'd stay up late into the night just talking about our lives, goals, and dreams. She wanted to help people, as did, but not in the path of the Military. Her family was pretty anti-military, and I couldn't blame them. War wasn't good regardless of who was involved and what the reasons for said war were for. She wanted to either be a nurse or a therapist, but she couldn't decide on what to do. I told her I just wanted to serve, even if that meant coming home in a body bag. Consider me morbid.

One day when I was leaving school, I heard commotion in a secluded area where a guy was trying to persuade a girl for sex. I shrugged until I heard a very familiar voice, "I said no! My boyfriend will be here any moment!"

It was Jennifer and two things happened at the same time. One my heart sunk, I was developing some feelings for her and felt like I had missed my chance. Two, my body was acting on auto pilot and immediately began walking in that direction. I turned the corner where a jock stood, blocking Jennifer's way. I frowned as I recognized this douchebag. Gavin Hugo. Quarterback, and the all star of the douchebag way. I spoke up with my gruff voice coming out, "The fuck is going on here?"

Jen's eyes lit up as she smiled, "See? There's my boyfriend, now back off!"

Gavin turned around, sizing me up immediately. "What? This loser?"

I yawned as I mentally sized him up and ran through every possibility of what was about to happen. I was confident I could take him as I've been in a fight or two before. Pretty boy seemed to have never been in an actual fight before, so I was waiting for his move.

Jen's words crashed against the two of us, "Yeah, he's my boyfriend now back off Gavin!"

Gavin shook his head as rage filled his eyes. He may have the height advantage, but you do not mess with a small gremlin. Life experience. Gavin yelled, "I'm going to beat your boyfriend's ass, so you see a true man!" He dashed at me, and I stood my ground. He swung in a wide manner as I ducked at the last second. I watched as his whole body shifted and I leapt up at Gavin, grabbing his shirt, pulling him down. As he fell, I reared back a punch and struck him right in his jaw. Pretty boy was out cold before he hit the ground. Jen's breath was taken away as she struggled to breathe.

As she regained her senses, she leapt at me, hugging me tightly saying how I was her hero and her boyfriend. I suppose that was when we started to date. From then on, we hung out every chance we could as my feelings of love grew more and more for this woman. I went to every event, I became friends with all of her circle and everyone adored us in school. We only grew stronger when I left to join the Army, signing up for 4 years to be infantry.

Now here we are, present day going to Afghanistan. I smiled, excited for the trip to turn myself into a man, thinking this adventure would be one of the defining and best moments of my life. How wrong and yet true I was.

"Welcome to the desert!" A soldier shouted as our unit had finished integrating ourselves with the rest of this camp's defenses. Wi-fi was surprisingly decent and could hold a phone call. It had been two weeks since we had left home and here I was, several thousand miles away from home. I looked around, the sights were quite beautiful. Mountains were scattered everywhere, dotted with rocks and grass that grew in bliss. I was surprised how grassy Afghanistan actually was.

Morten stepped up next to me, "See Gerhart? Wasn't too bad." Morten always cared about his soldiers before anything else. I turned to him and nodded, snapping my head back to the view.

"Have you been here before Sarnt?" Yes, I said Sarnt, I had that Texan accent. At least mine was understandable.

Morten shifted, pointing at a mountain in the far distance. "I was based right there on my first."

Before I could reply, a shout echoed in the camp. "Alright, gather around!" It was our First Sergeant. The two of us quickly climbed down from the barriers and jogged over to Top. "Welcome to Afghanistan! This place is so unknown and worthless, we're not even going to name this base!" A small laugh scattered throughout the formation as Top continued after his pause, "We're here to stop the shipment and flow of supplies from loyal cells in Pakistan to Taliban forces, if we're lucky we might even engage ISIS positions along here too. Intelligence has reported that ISIS and the Taliban hate each other more than us, so enjoy the fireworks." He paused again, and his words sent shivers down my spine.

"If you're hit, MEDEVAC is 30 minutes out from JBAD (Jalalabad) so, don't get hit or bleed slowly. That's your safety brief, let's go hunting my wolves!"

"Hooah!" Everyone in the formation shouted in unison. We'd get our fair share of blood.

Two months had passed, and we were in two months of our nine-month deployment, and I was sitting in my tent on a video call with Jen. "So I went to college today, and guess who I saw?"

"Who?" I feigned interest, but I had to, Jen was telling me about her day, and we rarely had the chance to talk as much as we'd like. We texted, but that can only do so much.

Jen grinned, "I saw Gavin, and he tried to plead for forgiveness, asking to meet you to apologize in person." My mood dropped; I still hated that scumbag. Jen noticed the changes in my face briefly, "Baby stop. You know I love you and I'm yours."

I shook my head, "Can't help it. You know how I feel about him."

"I knowwww, but hey, I got you something. It's a special surprise!" Jen hopped from her bed and set her phone down. I listened and could hear her digging through some bags and clothes hitting the ground. The little vixen was trying to show off something I'd love to see. A moment later, she returned and picked up her phone as the camera that was aiming from the sky immediately focused back on her face. My mood improved as I saw her blue eyes.

"You really have pretty eyes Jen."

She giggled, "I also have a pretty body!" She lowered the camera, and my breath was sucked from my chest. Since Jen was a cheerleader, she had an athletic build, and she was proud of it. Her perky yet firm Cs stuck out from her chest as the valley transcended down her taut stomach, meeting her slightly meaty thighs and her firm round ass. Her body drew looks from every man around, and I was proud to say she was mine. However, this time, she had on something quite new. She grinned seductively as she ran a hand over her body, cupping her breasts as she moaned slightly, "Do you like my titties baby?"

"I fucking love them." I husked out as blood began to flow to my cock.

"Or do you like them more with my outfit on?" She giggled as I actually noticed what she was wearing the first time. Her luscious titties were cover with a black seer lacey bra and I glanced lower, her panties were the same. It wasn't fully covered, but it enhanced her sexual allure. I could make out her hardening pink nipples as I lost control and my cock hardened immediately while throbbing. I glanced further down, seeing her shaved pussy glisten in arousal against the black material.

I bit my lip, "I... love it all babe. Wear it when I get back, okay?"

She moaned again as she played with herself through her panties, "Yes dear."

Just before things could continue, the tent flap opened. Pyler blinked, adjusting to the dark and turned his head to me. "Hey patrol in ten minutes." I lowered my phone with the screen visible. "God damn she's hot!"

Jennifer gasped as only I had seen her that way as I rose with a fist clenched. "That's my fucking girlfriend."

Pyler's eyes widened in shock. "Oh shit! My bad ma'am! Uh, get your shit and meet at the CP." He quickly turned around and left. I shook my head as Jen turned her attention to me again.

I looked down to the floor, "Hey... I gotta run."

"Be careful Robert. Nothing stupid, okay? I'll be waiting for you!"

We said our goodbyes and hung up as I was stabbed in the heart by emotions. She was waiting for me, and I was stuck in a war zone thousands of miles away. What kind of shit was that? From there I swore I would make it up to Jennifer when I returned home. I reached down, grabbing my kit and gear I needed and proceeded to head outside of the tent.

The mission was quiet as we maintained our proper distances in case of any activity. Our entire platoon was out on a recon mission. I kept my guard on as I held my weapon tightly to my chest. I carried the usual M4 carbine as I was a simple rifleman at the time. Pyler was in the lead of the formation as Halland was off to my right with Williams behind me. Morten was in the middle as we continued to scan our sectors. Nothing seemed off on this day, but at the same time, what was considered off? Morten's radio crackled, "Wolf One-Two Alpha, radio check over."

Morten pressed onto his comtac headset, "One-Two Alpha copies."

"New mission objective, unknown activity spotted in the village a click (kilometer) to your east, the platoon is moving in that direction."

"One-Two Alpha copies, pin wheeling that direction." He lifted his hand off the headset as he motioned for Pyler to wheel us down the mountain side. We all were silent as we continued the journey to the village. I kept my eyes peeled for anything, just scanning. Morten glanced around the team. "Go red."

Immediately I slapped my bolt release forward, loading a round in the chamber. It was game time as we called it. My breathing steadied as my heart began to thump louder and louder. I glanced up, spotting the village in front of us as Pyler held up his fist, symbolizing for us to stop where we were. We spread out a bit further, getting on line with Pyler as we waited for the rest of the squad to catch up to us. Morten moved around our group, checking on all of us as we took up decent positions, or so I thought.

That's when hell broke loose. Something zipped past my ear as the crack filled the air. We were being shot at. We all dropped as I flicked my selector switch from safe to semi as Williams shouted, "Where the fuck are they?"