Thwarted - 39. Chapter Thirty-Nine

Mark heard the alarm and silenced it before clenching his eyes shut tighter. He didn’t want it to be morning. Morning meant meeting Gary and Diane for a very early breakfast before taking Trey back to base. To make matters worse, after seeing Trey off, he’d have to come back home and get ready to go back home for his mom’s funeral. He wasn’t looking forward to facing his Dad, but he owed it to his mom to be there.

“You doing okay?” Trey pressed against him and wrapped an arm around his waist.

“No.” Mark struggled to keep his voice from breaking. Trey pressed a kiss to his shoulder and Mark’s breath caught in his chest.

“I wish I could stay.” Trey sighed. “At least I know you won’t be alone. Mom and Dad will be with you.”

“They don’t have to—“

“Not gonna win that argument, babe.”

Mark shook his head and held Trey close to him. He knew they had to get up and get moving, but he didn’t want to. He was more than willing to put off taking Trey to base for just as long as possible. He managed to keep Trey in bed for another five minutes before the alarm went off again.

“Can’t put it off forever.” Trey pulled out of his arms and rolled out of bed. He stood and stretched before gathering his clothes and pulling them on. “I’ll go fix us both a cup of coffee while you get dressed.”

“Thanks.” Mark watched Trey go, his heart already breaking a little as it sunk in that Trey really would be leaving him. He sighed and slid out of bed and walked over to his dresser. He got dressed quickly, not wanting to be apart from Trey any longer than necessary and walked out to the living room, a pair of socks clutched in his hand.

“Here you go.” Trey walked over and handed him one of the two cups he’d filled from the coffee pot.

“Thank you.” Mark forced a smile and leaned in, capturing Trey’s lips in a brief kiss.

Trey pulled back and nodded before moving over to the couch. “I guess we should get ready to go and meet Mom and Dad.”

“Yeah.” Mark sat and rested his head against the back of the couch. They’d talked about it last night, with Gary and Diane. They’d all meet for breakfast and then Gary and Diane would follow Mark and Trey to the base where they’d all drop Trey off and then Mark would bring Trey’s truck back to his apartment so that Diane and Gary could take it back up to their place for the duration of Trey’s deployment. Trey had already arranged for somebody to pick him up at the main gate since there was a high likelihood of the truck having to go through a search if they actually took him on base.

Mark wouldn’t mind the search, they couldn’t really say their good-bye’s on the base, not like they wanted to. Besides, it had been Trey’s decision and Mark would do his damnedest to make it as easy on him as possible. If that meant leaving him at the gate as though it was just another day, that’s what he’d do, no matter how much he’d rather do otherwise.

“You ready?”

Mark shook himself out of his thoughts and looked up. He hadn’t even felt Trey get up off the couch.

“Sure, just let me get my shoes and socks on.” Mark set his drink on the coffee table. He was lucky he hadn’t spilled it when he’d spaced out. He pulled his socks on and stood. Before he headed for the door and his shoes, there was one thing he had to do. He reached out, pulled Trey into his arms, and kissed him. He put everything he was feeling into his kiss, and groaned as Trey wrapped his arms around him and parted his lips, deepening the kiss. The ringing of Trey’s phone broke them apart. Mark could read the apology in Trey’s eyes as he reached for his phone.

“Hey Mom.”

It was as good as an ice cold shower. Mark stepped away from Trey and headed for the door, and his shoes. Time for breakfast, and then the moment he’d been dreading, saying good-bye to Trey.

***

Mark caught Trey watching him and tried to give him a reassuring smile. Breakfast had been a somewhat tense and silent affair, but he hadn’t been surprised. Probably just nobody was sure what to talk about. He for one hadn’t wanted to talk about what they were going to be doing after breakfast, and he sure as hell didn’t want to talk about what was going to happen after Trey left. He could only guess, but he bet the others felt the same.

“You’ll call me when you get there, right?” Trey reached across the seat separating them and laced their fingers together.

“Of course.” Mark squeezed his hand. “Just have to go home and pick stuff up and then hit the road, so should get there mid-afternoon or so.”

“You sure you’re okay with you, Mom, and Dad all riding down together?”

“Yeah.” Mark still had a hard time believing Gary and Diane were going with him. It had been decided before they’d left for their hotel room they’d all ride down in Gary and Diane’s SUV. More room and they could all go together. Mark was going to insist on paying for the gas, though he’d seen himself how stubborn Gary could be and was sure he was going to have an argument on his hands.

Mark saw the exit to the base, just ahead, and despite his desire to do anything but, he took it. He wanted to turn around in the median and just take Trey back to his place, where he knew he could keep him safe, but he knew he couldn’t. He tightened his hold on Trey’s hand as he braked to a stop in the area he could drop Trey off. A glance in the rearview mirror showed Gary and Diane stopping behind him.

Mark turned his head and rested it against the seat.

“You ready for this?”

“No”—one corner of Trey’s lips lifted in a slight smile—“but it’s what I signed up for. At least I’ll be nearly done after this.”

Mark nodded and pulled his hand free of Trey’s. He watched Trey climb out of the truck before doing the same, determined to remain strong as he sent Trey off. He walked around the front of the truck and stood behind Trey as Diane embraced him, tears trickling down her face. Mark could see where her arms pressed into Trey’s back as she held him. He didn’t know how much time had passed before Diane pulled away and Gary stepped forward and took her place.

Mark watched the heartfelt farewells, heard the choked whispers of ‘be careful’ and ‘take care of yourself’. As Gary pulled back, Mark watched the older man reach up and wipe a hand over his eyes, and then… then it was his turn. Trey turned to face him and Mark wanted to put him in the truck and just drive, save Trey from having to see the same things he had. Instead, he pulled Trey into a tight hug, crushing him to him.

“I love you.” Trey whispered the words against his ear.

“I love you too.” Mark tightened his hold. “You damn well better take care of yourself and come back to me.”

“Promise.” Trey pulled back and gave him a shaky smile before turning back to his parents for a final group hug.

Mark wasn’t particularly surprised, and went willingly, when Diane pulled him into the family hug. Trey finally pulled free of all of them and stepped back. He gave them one final quivering smile before grabbing his bag from the back and turning towards the gate.

Mark watched and waited until Trey had shown his ID and gone through before turning back to Gary and Diane.

“I guess that’s our cue to get going as well.” He tried to ignore the hitch in his own voice.

Gary nodded and both he and Diane head for their SUV. Mark took one last look towards where Trey had headed and got one final look as Trey climbed into the front of a truck, presumably the friend he’d called to pick him up.

He sighed. At least he’d managed to stay strong, mostly. Hopefully he’d be able to do the same when when faced with his father at his mom’s funeral.