Okay first off, I just want to say thank you all so much. My Soldier at the moment is at 31.04K reads, and 1.22K favorites. Looking back on when I first started, I am just so happy and overwhelmed at all you readers whose names kept popping up in my notifications, and all of the new ones. This may sound very cliché, but I say in all honesty that you guys have truly kept me going on My Soldier, and now there's going to be a sequel!!! So thank, thank, thank you all SO much!! Stay beautiful!!

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**Matt leaves today**

I wake up before the sun is up, and well before Matt did. These two nights I've gotten about 6 hours of sleep put together, dreading the day Matt leaves.

And the day has come.

I look over to my left, and see Matt's peaceful face due to the sleep he's in. He hasn't had any episodes for a while, but now that he's going back to the war, my gut tells me he's going to start having them again.

I jump as the alarm goes off, waking up Matt as well. He smiles when he sees my face, and reaches over to turn off the alarm.

"Good morning beautiful." He says, making me grin.

"Good morning." I say quietly, failing to hide my sadness.

"You're going to be there when I leave, right?" He asks hopefully.

"Of course I will. Can I come in with you?" I ask after immediately shutting down his fears of me leaving.

He shakes his head sadly. "You'll have to head down with Jo and Mom." He looks at the clock. "Speaking of which, they're expecting me to drop you off on my way to the base in a few minutes. They're going to make you breakfast and lunch is served there." He stretches as he tells me the plans. "We should start getting ready."

I nod as I sit up, but I quickly stop myself, realizing I'm naked. Basically these two days have just been me and Matt in bed.

Matt, on the other hand, gets out of bed, probably not even realizing our current state. He slips on boxers before he turns to me.

"Why aren't you getting out of bed?" He smirks, telling me he knows the answer.

"Can you hand me some clothes?" I avoid answering the question.

He hesitates for a moment before getting that look on his face. "I don't see why you can't get your own clothes. After all, I'm a guy. I might get it wrong." He winks at me, not moving from his current position.

"You're kidding me, right?" I wrap the sheets tighter around me. "Matthew I'm not streaking for you. Just get me some clothes. Please." I roll my eyes.

I watch as he gets into my drawers and pulls clothing out. He tosses them to me, but before I thank him, I realize what he gave me. But the sheet had already fallen off my chest as I caught the clothes he threw me.

"You cheeky bastard. What the hell is this? Lingerie? Really?" I ask him exasperated as he grins at his master plan. He walks up to me, and holds the sheet down so my chest is uncovered.

"You just look so hot right now." He tells me in a husky voice. I get turned on, and I look at the bathroom door.

"I think I need a shower. Don't you?" I ask, and his eyes grow wide as he realizes what I'm saying. He soon just picks me up and takes us both to the bathroom.

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"So how did you and Matt meet?" Another military wife asks me.

"We ran into each other at the grocery store. Literally." I tell the people listening about how we met and we've talked ever since.

"Well hunny you're lucky." One mom says. "Not everyone can find love at first sight." We laugh.

"Well it was more like love at first body check, but looking at it now, it does seem that way." I smile as I look at Matt in his uniform with a couple of the other people he's deploying with.

He catches my eye, and smiles widely at me. He excuses himself and makes his way over to me. When he gets to me, he kisses me quickly on the lips, and I blush as the girls around me coo.

"I leave in less than an hour." He says quietly and my smile falters. He takes my hand. "Come with me." I get up and follow him.

He leads me to his office, and shuts the door.

"Matt-" I begin, but I'm cut off with his lips. I laugh but shove him away.

"Matthew. I'm not having sex with you in your office." I tell him.

He shrugs. "That's fine. I just can't make-out with my beautiful girlfriend in front of everyone out there." And before I can say anything else, he continues kissing me.

I giggle and kiss him back passionately. He hums into the kiss as he lifts me up onto his desk.

"I don't think you realize how much I'm going to miss this." Matt tells me against my lips.

"I think I have a pretty good idea." I tell him before we continue our heavy make-out session.

Our hands are all over each other when the door opens.

"Starks we need-oh shit." We break away quickly, and turn to Ian standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now, Ian?" Matthew snaps angrily.

I laugh at Matt's frustrated state, and Ian standing there clueless on what to do about his interruption.

"In the office? Really?" He smirks a bit as he teases us.

"It wasn't sex." Matt grumbles as I hop off the desk.

"Yeah right." He scoffs.

"Trust me, Ian." I say as I pat his shoulder. "If it was sex, a) the door would be locked and b) it would be like watching a porno, and we definitely wouldn't have stopped just because you so rudely walked in." I tell him in a snarky tone.

He stares at me blank faced as Matt laughs.

"Well c'mon you two." Ian says. "It's uhhh...about time." He tells us sadly as he puts a damper on the playful mood.

I take Matt's hand as we walk into the boarding area.

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I lose it when I realize it's about time to let him go. The tears just keep coming, and I can't help it. Matt just holds me as I sob into his chest.

I calm down as they say first call boarding.

"Do you have to leave?" I say through tears.

"I promise I'll be home before you know it."

That's a lie. It'll feel longer than what it actually is. And it will all feel like hell.

"I'll be lost and...and...alone without you, Matt" I sob even harder.

"Don't say that. You'll have Aunt Kathy and Jo. Trust me when I say this: they know exactly what they're doing. They've been through plenty of these before."

I nod, not trusting my voice, afraid I'll break down again. His hand comes to my cheek as he wipes a tear that's falling. His arms then indulge me in a huge hug, his familiar cologne invading my nostrils.

"STARKS! We're boarding!" I flinch at the fact that its time to let him go.

He kisses the top of my head, "I love you." He whispers in my ear.

"I love you too." I respond weakly.

"I love you most."

And with a final, hard kiss, he walks away from me.

Kathy holds me and lets me cry on her shoulder as Matt looks back at me, and walks into the plane.

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I'm saying that there's going to be one to two, maybe three chapters left of My Soldier. Who's excited?? I'm excited.

Sorry for the late update. I had really bad writers block. Grrrr. But here it is.

Let me know what you think.

~QuackingDuck~