My
best friend
Disclaimers: The characters are not mine, nor will
they ever be. I promise to return them un*harm*ed!!
H/M-Romance
Author’s
Notes: This is my response to the HBX Challenge February 06. It is
set after Paraguay and after Harm starting to work for Mattie.
;-)
I apologize for eventual language or grammar mistakes since I’m
not a native English speaking person!
Sometimes you just need
your best friend…
Yeah, I need my best friend…and
that’s about the problem.
My best friend is gone…So
what do I do now?
That has always been the problem, I can’t
think straight with my best friend gone for good. Gee, well what
about my former best friend…yeah, that’s it, I’m
gonna call him…
See, where did I put that stupid phone
number…Ah, there it is.
It’s ringing… darn,
why am I nervous about calling him?
“Jack Keeter?”
“Hey
Keeter….It’s me”
“Harm? Is that
you?”
“Yeah…uhm….”
“Harm
what is wrong?”
“Why should something be wrong?
Can’t I just call my best friend and see how things are
going?”
“Of course you can, but you….well…”
“I
know we haven’t been much in touch lately, and I’m sorry
for that.”
“Well, it’s ok, I had my faire
share too”
“Look, Keeteer, since your in town what
do you think about hanging out? I mean, watching football,
pizza….”
“Ok Harm, I’ll be there by
1900 hours”
“Great”
“And Harm don’t
think that I’m letting you off the hook, I want to hear all of
it”
“Jaaaaaack…”
Darn, he has
already hung up. Perhaps this wasn’t a good idea after all. Not
that I have an option anyway. Why has this stupid life to be so damn
difficult?
Ok, the pizza is ordered, the tv perfectly
positioned and there is enough beer for Keeter. Yup, everything is
ready, except of me being ready to talk…
Then there’s
the knock on the door.
He’s here.
Well no turning back
now.
“Hi Keeter”
“Hi Harm”
“Come
on in”
“Wow, Rabbit, I never thought I would get
to see such a tv in your loft. Where’s your old tiny one? Not
that I miss it…”
“Well…it’s
gone…The new one was a Christmas present”
“From
whom?”
Darn, does he have to get to point just mere
minutes after arriving?
“Mac”
It’s
almost a whisper. It hurts so much to talk about her.
“Oh”
Yeah,
oh. Rabb, this was a stupid idea.
In mutual agreement we plop
down on the couch and enjoy the football game and drinking beer. Puh,
I’m not used to drink beer anymore…It kinda gets to me a
lot faster than to Keeter…Well it’s all about practice
isn’t it? Since I found out about Mac’s alcoholism…It
kinda lost its appeal.
“So Harm, what is this all
about?”
“I already told you that I want to spend
some time with my best friend”
“Yeah and where is
she?”
“What do you mean?”
“Rabb,
don’t play stupid with me. We both know that you and Mac are
best friends, we were best friends but our designator changed that.
We are good friends but not best friends anymore and you do know it
as well as I. So spill it”
“It’s…nothing,
I just want my best friend back”
“What happened to
Mac?”
“I’m not talking about Mac…”
“NO
but you should. Harm you called me for a reason and I believe that
you need to talk about something….wait a sec”
Uh
oh…
“That’s it, that’s the
problem.”
“What are you talking about?”
Yeah
just play innocent…I know that it never works in court but one
can always hope…
“Where is she?”
“I
don’t know what you’re…”
“Harmy
come on you can tell doc Keeter, he’ll make it better…”
Yup,
that was definitely a bad idea!
“Jaack”
“Harm
come on, get it out in the open and we can at last enjoy the end of
the game”
Well…he has a point.
“She’s
gone”
“What do you mean gone?”
“That’s
a long story”
“Then you better get
started”
“Well…a lot of it is classified…”
“I
know the rules Harm”
“Well, Mac went to an
undercover mission with Webb to Paraguay…”
“What?!
I always thought she’s smarter than that…”
“Hey…
but you do have a point. As always with Webb things went down the
hill and well, we had to believe the worst.”
“OH
my god…is she…?”
“No, no. Well, I
went to rescue her”
“You did what?”
“Yeah,
I followed her but…”
“What about your
work??”
“Well, uhm, the Admiral wouldn’t let
me…so….Keeter I resigned my commission”
“WHAT?
YOU DID WHAT?”
“I resigned my commission to rescue
her”
“Did you love her that much?”
How
does he do this? I’m the lawyer, he’s the pilot, how does
he know how to ask the right questions??
“I didn’t
realize how much until she was gone.”
There I admit it.
I said it out loud.
“That’s always the way isn’t
it?”
I can see how Keeter turns serious.
“But
you do have a choice now, Harm. It’s not like with Diane, Mac’s
not dead or…”
“No she’s not. But
you’re wrong. I don’t have a choice anymore.”
“Boy,
it’s time to tell her and you know it”
“She
wouldn’t hear me out”
“Why?”
“Because”
“You
do know that this is not a reason”
“Because…she
told me that the thing between us could never work.”
“You
told her that you love her and she said it couldn’t
work??”
“Well, not so directly..I mean I resigned
my commission….and then we fought about her and Webb…I
saw them kiss…but it was just a good bye….and
well…”
“You screwed up”
“Yeah”
“When
did all of that happen.?”
“A few months
ago”
“WHAT?”
“Yeah…well,
the Admiral wouldn’t take me back and I was working for the CIA
but they fired me and now I work for a fourteen year old girl.”
“Are
you nuts?”
“Apparently I must be. It’s an
aviation firm…”
“Harm when you called me I
realised that something had gone terribly wrong but this…this
is way beyond what I imagined.”
“I know”
“And
you just sit there and let it all happen?”
“What
could I have done?”
“Are you serious? You could
have done a dozen of things. You could have grabbed her and kissed
her, you could have insisted on a talk, you could have called in
favours to stay in the navy and we both know that you have enough
favours to call in, you could have met with the Admiral and talked
about it…I mean…you just lean back and let the people
push you around.”
“Well, if you put it that way…I
didn’t see any of these options…”
“Yeah,
it was easier to just give up, wasn’t it, Harm?”
“What
do you mean?”
“You know that we are good friends
but sometimes you just…Harm, whenever it gets difficult in
your personal life you just find excuses and concentrate on your job,
you always did that even on the academe.”
“That’s
not fair”
“No it’s the truth.”
Ouch.
“And
what do you suggest?”
Yeah, the sarcasm gets the best
out of me. Isn’t that ironic?
“Get a grip, Harm.
Think about what you want and act accordingly. Take action do not
wait for the others to come to you. It’s time that you make the
first move.”
“But…”
“No
but, either act or don’t but if you don’t then don’t
complain about losing everything you lived for, it’s your own
fault”
“That I went after her to rescue her and
resined my commission to do so??”
“No, that you
let it end the way it is right now. Listen, I need to get
going…”
“Yeah…thanks
for…everything”
“Your welcome, buddy. Just
do something about it”
“I try”
“No,
you will”
“Yes mum”
We both chuckle.
But perhaps he’s right…
Keeter has been gone for
about half an hour and I have cleaned up my loft. I’m thinking
about what I could possibly do to change the situation between me and
her when there’s a knock on my door.
Who could that be? I
open the door.
Am I hallucinating?
“Hi
Harm”
“Hey…Mac”
“Can…can
I come in?”
“Why?”
God Rabb, did you
really ask why she wants to come in?! Think before you
speak!!
“Sorry, of course, Mac”
“Thanks”
“What
brings you here Mac?”
“Well, you weren’t
returning my calls…I…”
“I’m
sorry, I was away most of the time.”
“Yeah, I saw
you on tv”
“You did?”
She nods. She
looks so amazing, I only realise how much I really missed her when I
look into her beautiful brown eyes.
“I think you were
wrong in saying never”
“WHAT?”
Then I
grab her by the waist and a mere second later our lips meet and I
start kissing her. I never have been good with words when it came to
her but I do know that I can put everything I feel into this kiss,
even if she kills me afterwards I die as a happy man.
Oh my god.
She responds, she kisses me back….I must have died and gone to
heaven.
When the need for oxygen becomes unbearable we break
apart. I just look at her.
Keeter was right. I should have done
that sooner.
“I missed you so much Mac”
“I
missed you too Harm”
“Mac, I…”
Come
on, I can do this. I can do this.
“Mac, I love you”
“Oh
Harm”
She starts crying and I hold her close. Swaying a
bit. After a while she looks at me.
“I love you too,
Harm”
And another passionate kiss follows that
declaration.
Thanks Keeter, I owe you.
THE END