As the bus pulled away, Cassie thought back to the night they'd shared the evening before. 

Joshua and her had been alone together in his empty house.

It'd been their first time. 

She could still feel the touch of his calloused fingers against her naked skin. 

Joshua had built a fire in his living room hearth and they'd laid a plaid comforter in front of it. They drank a little bit of wine and kissed. Without sound, they removed each others' clothing and explored every inch of one another. Joshua's tongue had found all of Cassie's unmentionable places, drawing from her soft sounds of surrender and desire. He made sure she was completely comfortable and ready before taking her as his own. They moved in sync, slowly at first, gently and then with more urgency, taking and giving, loving and wanting, panting with unfettered desire. "Cassie," Joshua had groaned. "Cassie, I love you."

"I love you, too, Joshua," Cassie panted as her release ignited. "I am yours. Always."

"You are mine, Cassie," Joshua replied heatedly. "Forever, oh Gah-"

As they fell apart in each other's arms, Joshua sealed his final movements with heated kisses on her neck. A musky scent filled the home and a sheen of sweat coated them both. Neither cared. They were too caught up in each other for such trivial matters. 

Earlier in the evening, Joshua'd proposed. The plan was for them to be married as soon as possible following his return from his first deployment. He said he wanted to save up so he could give her a proper home, and not the one he was currently renting from old Mrs. Pepper. He just needed some time to put the funds together. 

He felt most guilty loving and leaving her the way he did, (It wasn't proper, Cassie! What would people think if they ever found out? We should be husband and wife first.) but Cassie refused to wait. The war in Europe was heating up and she couldn't stand the idea of him leaving her, and never having experienced with him what everyone else only whispered about behind closed doors.

A cold drop of rain hit her hand before she blinked and last night's memory vanished in the mist. Joshua's bus had been long gone, but she couldn't get her feet to move from the bench she was sitting on. 

"Cassie, sweetheart," her mother's voice chastised her sometime later when they'd finally found her. At that point, she'd been staring into the empty street across from the depot for hours. Not a soul was in sight and the sky above had become dark and ominous.

"Have you been sitting here on this bench all of this time?" Her mother reached out to hug her daughter and grew alarmed when she realized how cold to the touch her arms were. "Cassie, you're freezing!"

"Hank," she called to her husband, who up until this point had been standing quietly by his wife's side. "Oh, Hank, she's freezing." Her mom fretted while rubbing her hands vigorously up and down Cassie's arms.

Her dad took off his flannel jacket and wrapped it snuggly around Cassie, pushing and pulling her arms awkwardly into it. "Come on, Carrie. Joshua will be fine. He'll be home before you know it. Now, let's get you inside. Come on. The heat's already running in the car. You'll get sick sitting out here like this. Come on, Princess."

Cassie let her father lead her back to his car, and eventually to their house, where he made her a cup of coffee. He even added a dollop of brandy for good measure. Cassie didn't mind. She needed someone to take care of her just then. Her love was gone and she couldn't shake the bad feeling strangling her heart like a vice. "I'm so worried about him, Daddy," she said in a daze.

"Cassie, he's a man. You know that. He wants to serve his country. It's his duty to protect you. I'm sure he'll come back safe and sound, alright?" Her father said.

"Yeah, I guess, " Cassie replied begrudgingly. "But, I'm still worried, Daddy. What if-"

Hank reach out to hug his daughter to her feet, cutting off her words. "Now, now. No more of this worrying, Cassie. You'll just upset yourself. He'll be fine." He rubbed Cassie's hair and kissed her forehead.

"Ok, Daddy," Cassie answered. She leaned close to return his embrace before moving back. She let out a big sigh and sat down to finally relax. "Ok."

But Joshua never did return from his Hawaiian grave.