What Happened Before September Ended?, chapter 1

"Mom, I promise." Charlie crossed her fingers behind her back. She just promised her mother that she'd be good for her father's dinner guest and his family. Little did she know how much she was going to screw it up. Her older brother Pete appeared in the doorway.

"Charlotte... just set the table please," her mother commanded as she picked up the forks, harshly placing them beside each plate, making sure they were perfect. What a stupid reason to invite guests, she thought.

Pete was going to war next month and the Hubert's son, who was only a year older than Charlie and a year younger than Pete, was also. Her parents thought it was such a great idea that they go together and planned all this stuff that would probably never happen. Her parents were so proud of Pete. She was sickened at the thought of her only brother going to fight in a war he had nothing to do with. Soon the doorbell rang and she moved aside, letting her mother and father answer the door.

"Hello, Pete. It's so nice to meet you. Have you met our son, Jimmy?" Mr. Hubert greeted her brother and moved on towards the table. Ignoring Charlie. And it was at that moment, when there was no one blocking the view of the boy she had heard so much about in the last couple weeks, when she caught a gaze of the sleek figure and all of the rude thoughts she had before, vanished. She could only stare.

"Hi..." he said, handing out his hand to greet hers.
"Uh... hi, my name's Charlie." He gazed back at her the same way she looked at him. He had light brown hair and blue eyes. He was dressed quite fancy for a dinner. Then again, so was his family.
"Hi Charlie... I'm Jimmy." All she could do was smile. Her hand still wasn't released from his grasp. He didn't seem to mind. He just held it firmly and looked deep into her eyes. She blushed after realizing he was. Feeling almost... naked. Every thought revealed to this... boy, who she had only met, just moments ago. Her brother, who was standing next to her, noticed what was going on and nudged her arm. Jimmy dropped his hand from her grasp after realizing her brother was standing there.

After quickly greeting Pete, Jimmy joined his family at the table. Charlie sat across from him, her brother on her right side, her father beside him, and her mother beside her father. She kept playing footsie with the boy across the table. They'd give each other glances and Charlie even burst out laughing for no reason. Her mother could have sold her to the zoo.

After dinner, her brother went upstairs to show Jimmy his room. And Charlie, her mother, and Mrs. Hubert did the dishes. When the boys came back downstairs, her mother said, "Charlotte, why don't you and your brother go show Jimmy around the lake?" Since they lived by a lake, it wouldn't take too much effort to show him around and plus, the more time she could spend with him, the better she found it.

She grabbed a sweater, since it was halfway through August. Her brother would be leaving in a couple months. She skipped down the path to the lake, while her brother talked to Jimmy about the war. She began to skip back to the two and grabbed Jimmy's hand. He squeezed it as she led him down to the lake. And as she appeared near the shore, she kissed his cheek. Her brother gave her a look. He saw all of this coming, so he turned down the beach and began to walk. Where he was going, no one knew. She kept on flirting with him until he could take no more. You see, Charlie had a type of endless charm. It almost hypnotized him. How could he be filled with so much emotion for this one single girl? Then... he cracked. And it was at that moment when he made a most inappropriate action. He kissed her.

He put his hand at her waist and kissed her most passionately. When Pete came around a bush, he had to cough three times before he caught their attention. Pete knew what would become of this, nothing but a heartbreak. For both Charlie and Jimmy. Being pulled into a relationship, a couple months before a possibly fatal voyage, was only going to end in tears.

While Charlotte smirked at her brother, for he had seen this before, Jimmy's face turned a rich shade of pink known only to appear on the look of peoples' faces when they are extemely embarassed. He stepped away from Charlie, seeing the look in Pete's eyes. From what he could read from the sad eyes of the boy who he was to grow close to over the next couple months, was only sadness. But he could not tell why. Could it have been for his family? Or perhaps for a love he'll lose from this battle, which, he nor Pete had the authority to stop. The look in Pete's eyes made Jimmy shudder. And then his eyes began to form the same density and depth of emotion that he saw in Pete's eyes. But he had no idea, just how right he was...

*flashback*

"I don't understand..." Pete said, staring into the depths of his beloved Sarah's eyes.
"I love you," she said, grabbing his hand from his side, "but, I cannot stay here and only hope you'll come back alive... Not like this." And she pointed down at her seven and a half months old pregnant belly.
"But I will, I promise..." Tears filled Pete's eyes. He didn't understand. They were to get married after he came back, and he thought for a second that maybe she was sick, for he knew she wouldn't really think of leaving him. Not while their relationship was going so well. They just moved in together, and now all his bags were packed and neatly placed along the front door.

"I love you too, Pete, it's just that... maybe I love you too much. If you died, I wouldn't be able to live with myself anymore... just, leave... please?" Pete hugged her tightly.
"Don't forget about me," she said, now crying into his shirt.
"I won't, I won't, I promise. I'll come back... this is only for a little bit, right?" He asked, finally letting go of her and grabbing his bags. He opened the door and stepped out into the pouring rain, waiting for Sarah's response.
"Right," she said, hugging him one last time and kissing him lightly on the cheek.

It was that night when Pete appeared at his parents' door once again.

*present*

Remembering what happened that night made Pete walk ahead of the others, so that he could hide his tears. Jimmy noticed Pete walk ahead and decided to drop it and leave it alone. He thought Pete was a nice guy and all... he just had some stuff to work out. He only wished he knew what.

When they got closer to the house, Charlie and Jimmy decided they were going to step away from each other, so that their parents wouldn't suspect anything. But Charlotte, being as bold as she was, was always a suspect of romance through her parents' eyes.

Jimmy, on the other hand, usually kept to himself. He didn't have many friends, he lost most of them when he left his old life behind, but he stayed loyal and trustworthy to the few good friends he had. He wasn't much into sports. He could play guitar from his past experiences, which he had now abandoned. His heart was broken only once. That was the reason he decided to change. He stopped listening to music for the most part, changed his style, and stopped dying his hair black. Soon, he was happy with how he was, but still felt like a part of him was missing. Now, he thought, maybe I can find that other part of me...

That was why he joined the army. That was why he joined chat rooms to meet new people. That was why he thought he needed Charlie... or was it for a different reason?

They both stopped through the door and walked their separate ways. Charlie went straight to her room and locked her door. She dug through her drawers to find the sketchbook she hid in there. She sharpened a 2B pencil and sat on her bed. She began to sketch the defiant outline of Jimmy's face. And soon she added features to it. In the end, it looked quite like him. There was something in his eye though... it was all perfect, it was just... the gaze in his eye, maybe the sparkle? She didn't know, but she left it that way and quickly placed the book back in its hiding spot.

Jimmy went to check on Pete, who hid in his room after running through the door.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking at the 21 year old, who was weeping on his bed.
"No, but why do you care?"
Jimmy sighed. "Because. You seemed pretty worked up for nothing and I thought maybe it would clear a few things up if you told me what that was all about..."
"It wasn't for nothing," and he looked at the picture alongside his bed, picked it up, and traced the lines in Sarah's face with his finger.
"What happened to her?" Jimmy asked, thinking maybe there was more to this than he thought.
"Nothing happened to her. This war ruined everything..."
"Then why are you going?"
"To support the family I hope I still have."

Jimmy seemed confused... lost in what he was saying.
"And why are you going? You don't seem like you need it for anything."

Jimmy sighed. He always got funny looks when he told people. "To find a missing part of me."

Pete didn't give him a funny look, he just gazed into the picture, getting lost in thought. Jimmy's reason seemed reasonable. He reflected on it and added it to his own. "To fight to keep the part of me that's missing right now," he said accidentally aloud.

"I gotta go..." Pete thought he should check on her, make sure she was doing okay. He left Jimmy in his room.

Jimmy picked up the picture. There was a young woman with light skin and angelic features. Her hair was long and dark brown, maybe tinted red a little bit, the light in the picture wasn't good enough to tell. She was holding her stomach, which had a small bump on it, proving what Pete meant by family. He carefully placed the picture on the side table, not wanting anything to happen to it, seeming it was such a beloved item to Pete.

Jimmy left the room, going to see what Charlie was doing.


Pete pulled into the driveway of his and Sarah's house. Since it was his house too, he owned a key to get in. She was sitting on the couch, reading a book. She stopped just long enough to look up and see him.

"Hi," he said, looking down at her.
"Hi." He sat beside her on the couch.
"How are you?" He asked, trying to make conversation.
"Fine... and you?" She smiled kindly and kissed him.
"Okay now," he said and kissed her back, being careful to stay clear of her belly.

"It's kind of late, did your parents let you come here?" She asked, cuddling into his shoulder.
"Yeah, they've got company... and appearently, Charlie's got a new boyfriend," he stated. She giggled childishly.
"Really? What is he, a mechanic? An artist?" He shook his head in disagreement.
"He's in the army." She sighed.

"Peter, do you really have to go?" It hurt her to be reminded that the person who loved and understood her so much was leaving, and possibly never coming back. She never used his full name unless she was being serious... no one did.

"Yup. But just think about it... if I go, we'll have money to raise a family, and pay the bills..." Sarah played with a piece of his hair.
"Well, we can be poor. Or get jobs or something. They pay the bills..."
"But you still wouldn't make as much money. Besides, you don't get paid lots for anything in this town."

She agreed, but she wouldn't dare tell him. It was against her arguement. It came across Sarah's mind that maybe he was just trying to get away from her, maybe he just didn't love her anymore. But that didn't sound like Pete. Pete would never do that... and soon the thought vanished from her head.

Pete kissed the top of her head.
"Love you..." he whispered, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
"Love you too." She smiled. Sarah Morgan Walker - she liked the sound of it. She could only believe he would come back. Then they'd get married and raise their child together. He phoned home and assured his mother that he was staying the night, so she wouldn't be worried.

"You know, once you join, they don't make you fight right away. They start you off with chores and stuff..." he said, trying to comfort her a little better.
"Really?"
"Yeah."

He nodded, though Pete wasn't really sure, he just said that so that she wouldn't worry so much. He didn't want her to worry. He wanted her to be happy. And could only hope she was...