The kiss didn't last long. Only a few seconds after it started we both pulled away from each other. Neither of us spoke as I opened my eyes to find Mallory staring down at me.

"A piece of me will always belong to you. I wish this could have been our house, Logan to be our son. God, what I would have I done to see you pregnant. I bet you were truly beautiful. Maybe so beautiful I would have been able to convince you to have another one just to see you like it again. I always pictured we would have gotten married on a beach with just a handful of people around and went for a honeymoon somewhere nice. But we tore each other apart before we even really had our chance." Tears were pouring out of my eyes as I paused my speech, my eyes tracing Mallory's.

"We could have had such a beautiful life but we fucked it up and now it's too late to try and to go back Mal. As much as I want to, I can't. I'm leaving and going into the middle of a war zone for God knows how long and I don't know if I'll come back alive, in a box, or at all. You built a life here and now; Logan needs his mom while I have my own home in Georgia with a girl a owe a lot too." I tried to wipe away the tears that keep coming from Mallory's eyes but it didn't look like there would be an end in sight.

"I know. Your home isn't here anymore and I know that. A selfish part of me was hoping that you would stay this time but I know that we don't have a chance to try anymore. What I would have given to have had you by my side while I was pregnant. I was so sick during the first half of it, I could barely move from bed most days and even though Troy tried to be there, it was nothing like how you used to take care of me when I was sick back in high school. But God, how I wish for Logan to be ours. You're so good with him, if you were here from the start, he would be wrapped around your finger so tight." Mallory's lips were quivering the whole time so she took a second and collected her thoughts before her eyes found mine again.

"I know you won't be mine, but can we please just have the rest of the day?" Mallory asked.

My eyes watered and I could only nod as I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. Mallory tucked her head into the crook of my neck and I couldn't help but wrap my arms around her to hold her close. Both of us were in our own worlds for a while. All I could think about was that finally, after all this time, we both got the closure we needed to have to finally be able to move on with the rest of our lives. I don't know how much longer we were wrapped around each other but all of a sudden, I heard a door shut. Quickly, I rolled us over and reached for the knife in my pocket and looked for the source of the noise.

Turns out it was the back door. Troy, Shane and Logan were all standing on the back porch and finally I heard Mallory's voice under me and her hand running up and down my back.

"It's only the boys Dani, it's okay, you're safe here, I promise, come back to me." Mallory took her hand off my back and used it to pull my face towards hers. It took a few seconds for my fight or flight reflex to relax and then I met Mallory's eyes again.

"There you are. It's okay Dani, you're okay." Mallory said and I finally rolled my body off of hers. I laid down on the grass on my back for a few seconds getting my breathing together before I looked over at Mallory. She is already sitting up smiling at the guys on the porch as I slowly got myself together.

Once I felt comfortable, I sat up on the grass and wiped my face off, hoping to get rid of the last of my tears. I barely had a few second before I heard my name and looked up to find Logan barreling towards me. I was able to catch him in my arms just in time and held him close.

"Hi buddy" I said and held onto the kid tightly for a few second before letting go.

"If I knew you were going to be here with mommy, I would have asked daddy to bring me home sooner." Logan said smiled a toothless smile at me.

"Well, your mom and I were having a day together. We had a lot we needed to talk about and we ended up here." I said and my eyes flashed to find Mallory still sitting next to me.

"Do I not get a hug?" Mallory asked sounding annoyed.

Logan didn't say anything but just launched himself at his mother. Mallory wasn't expecting it though and she ended up falling backwards onto the grass. I couldn't help but laugh at them as I stood from the ground. I needed to get up and dust myself off after laying on the grass for a while. Just getting up again, I could feel the effects of the alcohol hit me and I knew I needed the bathroom.

"Any chance one of you guys can point out the bathroom?" I asked and made my way towards Troy and Shane.

"Yea sure, follow me." Troy said and opened the door. He stepped inside and pointed me down the hallway.

I easily found the bathroom from there and made quick work of using it. When I finished up my business, I washed up in the sink and splashed some water on my face to try and not make it look like I spent the last half hour crying my eyes out. When I thought I looked decent enough, I sighed and left the bathroom.

Troy was still standing in the kitchen when I came out of the bathroom. He only looked up when he heard me coming. He pushed a glass of water in front of me and I knew I needed to drink it. So I picked it up and gulped it down like I haven't had water in years. After I finished it, I put the glass back down on the counter top and studied Troy for another few seconds.

"We didn't mean to barge in, Mallory didn't say you guys were still together so I thought it was okay to come back home." Troy apologized.

"This is your house Troy. You can come and go when you please. I, um, I actually wanted to thank you." I said and tried to push past the tears that were already forming again in my eyes.

"For what?" He asked taken back.

"For giving her the life I couldn't, for being there for her all these years. For continuing to be her rock. All we ever did was rip each other apart in the end, but I'm glad she had you to help her through it all. I'm leaving again to finish my tour on Saturday, I'm sure she will fill you in on the details later but today has meant the world to me. I never thought that we would ever be able to work past our issues. I just ask that you continue to be there for her because lord knows I can't be. But so help me, if you hurt her, nobody will be able to find your body." I gave up on trying to hold back my tears about a sentence into my speech. Mallory still means that much to me and she always will.

I took a deep breath, wiped my eyes and didn't want for Troy to response before I walked back outside. Just as I shut the door behind me I felt my phone go off and my whole body crumpled. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and saw I had a new voicemail and text from Rob. I opened the text and my heart sank as reality came crashing in again.

We got a new briefing from command and they contain some new updates about our mission orders for our deployment. Please call me when you can.

I wanted to throw up. It took everything in me to keep it in and put my phone in my pocket. When I looked up I notice that Mallory's entire demeanor changed. She knows. I turned to Shane who propped himself up on the railing and waited a second before I opened my mouth.

"Can you take Logan inside in a minute?" I asked.

"Sure" He said and I nodded and went down onto the grass.

"Hey Logan, I need to talk to you for a second." I said and knelt down in front of him. I looked over Logans shoulder and found Mallory's eye line. With a nod from her, I looked back at Logan.

"Listen, I need to go home in a few minutes but I wanted to say goodbye for now. I just got the news that I have to go back to work. I'm going back overseas to fight the bad guys and I won't be back for a while." I said trying to make this as simple and easy as possible.

"Already? You just got here." Logan said disappointingly.

"Yea buddy. I'm very good at my job and because of that, I have to go back so soon. So I want you to take care of your mom okay? She might be sad for the next couple of days so I want you to cheer her up, can you do that for me?" I asked.

"Of course I can, it can be like my mission while you are on yours." Logan said and flashed me a smile.

"That's right. I'm going to give your mom my address so you can mail me letters." I said.

"Logan, come inside bud, it's time for your shower." Shane called from the porch.

"Listen to Shane, Logan." I said and gave him a smile.

Logan threw his arms around my neck and pulled me into a tight hug. I held him close for a few moments and then let him go. Logan ran off towards Shane and I didn't have it in me to look back. Once I heard the back door shut I looked up from the grass and found Mallory standing before me in tears again.

"I have to go now." I said.

"Stay" Mallory asked as tears poured out of her eyes.

"I wish I could" I said and stood on shaky legs in front of my first love.

"Please stay" Mallory asked again. I swallowed hard because I knew what she was truly asking. The first time I left, she asked me to stay and I wouldn't. Now, she is trying again to make up for the last time. Even though I wish I could give in to her and stay, I couldn't. So I simply bit my cheek and shook my head no.

"Can I at least walk you home?" Mallory asked desperately trying to stay in this moment..

"No" I said. I couldn't drag this out.

"I just got you back." Mallory said in tears.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know I would be redeployed this quickly again." I said and took a step closer to her.

"Promise me you'll come home alive." Mallory pleading and took a step closer to me.

"You know I can't do that." I could barely see past my tears as I took another step closer to Mallory.

"This can't end like it did ten years ago Daniella, I can't do it a second time!" Mallory yelled as I pulled her into a hug.

"This time is different. We aren't yelling at each other in anger, it's love now. I'm sorry I can't promise you anything Mal. Just know I'll do whatever I need to come home alive." I said in her ear.

I couldn't even tell if Mallory heard me over her crying, but I knew I needed to be the strong one. I gave her another few seconds before I pulled away from Mallory and held her face in my hands. Her sad blue eyes looked into mine as I tried to be strong. With one strong breath in, I titled her head down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. After I let go, I pressed my forehead to hers and took in another breath.

"Please know that a piece of my heart will always be yours Mallory and I've loved you ever since we became friends in high school, but I have to go now and you can't follow me. I'll call when I can." I said and pressed another kissed to her forehead before pulling away from Mallory.

My eyes took in her broken form and I tried to will my brain to keep me going. Finally I got to the gate of her backyard and pushed it open even though my heart was once again cracked in half. I didn't stop when I heard Mallory call and plead after me, I couldn't. I just continued to put one foot in front of the other and before I knew it, the gate slammed shut behind me and I started to walk home.

I tried to not think about what just happened with Mallory as I pulled my phone out of my pocket to listen to the voicemail from Rob. It was basically what he texted me already so I pushed it out of my mind and just finished my walk home. The walk did nothing to clear my head and I know that I'm not going to be able to answer Rob right away. The walk didn't take too long, only about ten minutes but as soon as I crossed the doorway into the house my thoughts turned to Morgan. Fuck, what am I going to say to Morgan?

Just as I sat down on the couch I heard a noise and turned my head to see that mom and Peyton were both already sitting here and they both looked concerned. Both of them looked like they wanted to ask me about it but I just put my hand up and shook my head before closing my eyes and leaning back into the couch. Someone turned the sound back on the TV and I clenched my jaw. I should be enjoying the last of my time with both of them but instead, I'm sitting in a pocket of my own depression trying not to spiral and have another mental break down.

I got up off the couch and opened up one of the few boxes of dads office stuff before I found a bottle of whiskey and a glass. I pulled the stopper out with my teeth and poured myself a heavy pour before taking a large sip of the drink. The whiskey was warm and smooth going down my throat as I continued to down the glass. After the first one was gone I poured a second and put the stopper back into the bottle. The amber liquid continued to move around the glass as I tried to piece together what happened today.

When I turned to look at my moms, I caught them both already staring at me. The concern was all over their faces and I know they want to ask about what happened. With another large sip that down half of the remaining glass, I finally spoke.

"Mallory and I destroyed each other all those years ago. We made ourselves miserable, she almost didn't want to go on and I almost failed out of basic. We tore each other apart before we even gave ourselves a chance and now that I came back, she thought that we could try again but I'm not that person anymore. Not when I have Morgan basically waiting at home for me right now. But fuck, we could have had this. We could have been married and have a kid already, I most likely would have been out of the army by now but we fought and I never came back. A piece of me will always love Mallory but I have to move on and I don't know if I know how to move pass all the history we have." I said finally giving mom and Peyton some insight to what happened between us today.

Things were quiet for a while as they took in what I said. I finished off my glass and placed it down on the coffee table and turned to them. Both looked a bit lost and concerned and I was debating on just going up to my room to be alone with my thoughts when mom shifted away from Peyton and pulled me into a side hug.

"I know things were always complicated between you and Mallory and while I'm glad you had this time at home together to finally work past what happened, the past is in the past and I think it's finally time for you to leave it there Dani." Mom said and pulled me more into the middle of the couch. Peyton got up and made her way over to the other side of the couch and wrapped her arm around my shoulders so I was in the middle of a mom sandwich.

"Like you just said, you have Morgan now waiting for you to get home. That girl has been there for you for the last ten years, through all the ups and the downs. She also gets it when it comes to your job. You both know each other so well and have had feelings for each other for years. She's your present and future. Mallory will only keep you stuck in the past." Peyton added.

"Wait, how did you know about my feelings for Morgan?" I asked turning my head towards Peyton.

"I have eyes duh; your mom and I had a bet going to see how long it would have taken for you two to get together after you bought the house and we were both really wrong with our guesses. I think it's finally time for you to pull your head from your ass and lock her down already Dani." Peyton said and I couldn't help but be a little offended.

"She's right chicken, I said 6 months, Peyton went for a year, but it's been 6 years already now and this is the first you've really mentioned Morgan as more then just a friend." Mom said ganging up on me.

"Ugh, I'll have you both know there have been some hook ups alright god, you make it sound like we aren't lesbians who bought a house together." I said and tried to push my way out of the middle of them but that turned out to be the wrong idea because they both just held onto me tighter and started demanding to know everything that happened between Morgan and I over the years.

a/n: will you guys like me again now? haha, that was necessary, I hope you know that. There was so much unresolved between Dani and Mallory that they needed to work through and this was the third and most likely final part to that. but, don't be surprised that Mallory will pop up again throughout the story. But now we'll move right along with some plot and then our reunion with Dani and Morgan.

I was originally going to make this apart of chapter 13 but it would have been almost 10K words. I thought this goodbye deserved it's own chapter so I didn't have to strip it to make it smaller.

Also song on the side is Love in the Dark by Adele. another song that ripped my heart out the first time I heard it. I do also think it's one of my favorite songs Adele has ever made. very well fit into this chapter, made me cry trying to write this and again while I was making a few edits.