Luca never showed, and I waited over a half hour. Finally, I needed to get home. My stomach was hungry. I desperately wanted a shower and to talk to Luca. Hopefully, we could actually communicate this time, not like the shitty conversation this morning that went nowhere.

I passed by Terry's and hoped to see him on my way home but his house looked dark. Maybe he was out for dinner? He was also on my list to make things right. I owed him a days work on one of his fishing charters. The thought made me grin. He was so happy when he was teaching marines to fish.

Shit.

I got within eye shot of my house. Standing on the porch was a tall blonde.

Leer.

I pulled up under the carport and took a deep breath. This was unexpected. What could she possibly be doing here? In full uniform minus her headgear, she saw me and stood. Her stature was far taller than mine and for the first time I felt a bit scared.

"We need to talk.." She said as I got to the porch.

I had to gather my wits, and fast. Who knew what she was going to say? Or what she was going to do. That part scared me the most.

"Ok..." I said gingerly, sitting on a chair on the far end of the porch.

She maintained her standing position, more out of dominance than anything else I assumed.

"You somehow told the regiment commander that you knew about my drinking on duty."

She spat the words out and my blood ran cold. Shit. Shit, this wasn't good.

"But that isn't the fucking worst part...you outed Luca. Do you fucking get that??!!"

I outed Luca! A wave of nausea hit me. Was that why he hadn't met me after work? Did that commander tell him and he was being punished somehow? Clearly that was the case. The gravity of the situation hit me like a brick to the face.

"I...." I started to explain myself but she cut me off.

"Save it. You might be his 'girlfriend' for now, but it won't last. He is a marine. You aren't. You don't get his world, our world. He is going to move, and probably sooner now that he is trouble."

She smirked and stared at me with rage on her face. I couldn't do anything. Spots began to form over my eyes. I was having a massive panic attack.

"Just wanted to warn you...and tell you to break up with him. Save him more trouble. He doesn't deserve it. It was enough that my fiancé killed himself. Luca is dealing with far too much shit and you're making it worse for him."

She waited a minute to see if I would say anything. When I didn't, she turned and stormed off to her car parked across the street. I was in a daze and my vision was still blurry. Dropping my head into my hands I tried to count and get my breathing under control.

It's ok...It's ok...calm down.

"Mila! Are you ok?"

A voice called out to me. It was Terry's voice.

💋💋

"It's ok. Breathe in. Breathe out. That's it. Nice and easy."

Terry sat next to me, lightly rubbing my back. He was genuinely concerned.

"It's ok...yep, slow your breathing."

My eyes began to refocus and the spots disappeared. I still felt sick with anxiety but no longer about to pass out. Dread was heavy on my chest. I'd screwed over Luca at work. There was no coming back from this. Even he wouldn't forgive me.

"You want to tell me why a blonde Amazonian marine was on your porch yelling at you?" Terry finally asked.

"I fucked up." I said. "He's never going to forgive me.."

"Who?"

"Luca!" I cried, tears falling freely from my eyes.

If there ever was a time to feel juvenile and stupid, this was it. It reminded me of being in trouble at home when I was a kid. Having to explain myself to my stern marine dad...my mom watching from the other side of the room. Nothing could be more embarrassing.

"What did you do?"

"I might have slipped some information at work with a customer...who happens to be in charge of Luca's unit." I said between wiping my eyes. "And the blonde is his dead buddies girlfriend."

Terry stood and extended his hand, helping me up.

"Let's go inside, talk it out, yeah?"

I silently followed him inside my house. We went into the kitchen and sat at the table.

"What information did you slip and to who?"

He was stern, but not directed at me. I could tell he was angry at the situation and Leer.

"Luca told me that Leer, the tall blonde, has been drunk on duty a few times...she's pending unfavorable action. He is helping her with her child and it's been hard between us. I found some things out..." I stopped and sighed, it sounded crazy. "So today at work, there was an older marine who came through my line, he had a lot of pens. I asked if he was a teacher..he said he commanded the 3rd Littoral Combat Team. Then I just blurted it out.."

"What?" Terry softly asked.

"I asked if he let marines under him drink on duty, alluding to a female."

Shame washed over me and more embarrassment. I knew right after I'd said it, it was a mistake. But by then, it was too late. Even now, there was nothing I could do.

"You did that?" He laughed.

I looked up at him and saw him smiling, wrinkles on his face crinkling with emotion. Why was he laughing? How could this possibly be humorous?

"Yeah, but it was a mistake, I never should have told anyone what Luca trusted me with..."

"Now hold on. If that huge blonde had actually been drunk on duty, more than Luca and a few leaders know about it. I know marines Mila. They gossip like none other. How did the commander react?"

"Well he was pissed! He left quickly. I know he knows Luca told me."

"Maybe. But maybe not. It could've been anyone. If the blonde came here then she obviously knows she's caught. But she would've known anyway. They have to let the marine know they are pending action."

I thought about what he said, could Leer be using this as an excuse? To try to break us up?

"You've got your grandpas guts though girl...he wasn't afraid of any officer."

Grandpa. There was no way I resembled him...right?

💋💋

Terry left after a long talk. He put my mind somewhat at ease. If Luca was still mad, then I'd step away. Let it sort itself out. There wasn't anything I could do anyway. What was done, was done. But once he was gone, Terry's newly installed confidence began to wane. I really didn't want to lose Luca.

I paced in the living room, watching some YouTube show on conspiracies to try and get my mind off of everything. Learning that UFO's were over Hawaii recently had my attention. Did they want to learn to surf? Stranger things had happened I supposed.

Knock knock..

I stopped and paused the show. Did I hear something?

Knock knock knock....

Someone was knocking. I hoped it wasn't Leer again. Upon opening the door, I saw it was Luca.

"Mila, why would you tell my commander, the commander, that you knew there was a female drunk on duty?"

He asked with an angry tone, and a hurt one. Dressed in his uniform still, at this late of an hour, suggested that he had just come from work. I shuffled my feet a bit and tried to think of an intelligent answer, though I didn't have one.

"You realize I got my ass handed to me right? For divulging that information to you. I am most likely going to be leaving sooner now."

Shit. I hadn't realized it could affect his assignment. Shame washed over me.

"Luca I'm sorry...I don't know what came over me to say that to him...I'm sorry."

"Why? Why did you do that? Were you that mad at me?" He asked.

"I don't know...I guess...what you are doing with Leer.."

"Jesus. This has to do with her? I explained what was going on."

But he actually hadn't. I found the hidden information in his bag. He was keeping it all from me.

"No Luca. No you didn't. And she came here earlier to tell me.."

"She came here?? Leer?" He interrupted angrily.

"Yes. She said I should just leave you alone that I wrecked your career."

He paced across the porch with his hands over his head in frustration. His face looked very very angry. I hadn't seen him this way before. It was scary.

"Fuck. FUCK." He said. "I should have known that she was off the rails. Ever since Grey died. Fuck."

"Do you want me to step back Luca? Did I wreck everything for you?"

I expected him to say no and pull me in for a hug, or a kiss, or to take me inside and work it out...anything. Instead, he paced some more and exhaled. My gut began to twist. He hadn't said no yet. What did this mean?

"Mila, I can't handle this right now. I have to deal with work."

And just like that, he turned and got back into his Jeep, the door slamming. I watched as his headlights became taillights and then faded into the balmy night air. As if he had never been on my porch at all.

**This story is only found on Wattpad. If found on another site, it was stolen. Thank you for reading.💋**