Chapter Text
One minute, he was trudging through the park, giving himself shit for being late for another VA meeting and wishing he had a hat or mittens to match his scarf today. The next minute, he was flat on the grass with a hundred pounds of someone on his chest and a tongue probing his mouth.
“The fuck?!” he burst out in surprise, flailing automatically to fight off his attacker. When he got his hands on the aggressor’s shoulders, though, he went limp in shock at finding them furry and recognized that the tongue now all over his face was a dog’s.
“OhmygodI’msosorry!” a girl squealed in horror. “Sarge, off! Sarge, heel!”
Sarge, which was ironically what she was calling the massive golden retriever on his chest, would not be moved, though, and settled in to lay on his chest and continue licking his face. His face, which, he realized, was smiling. For the first time since Afghanistan.
“Hey, buddy,” he said, wrapping both arms around the dog to keep him there as he stroked his big block head and his ears. The dog was heavy and he was going to be absolutely coated in dog hair that would stand out like a neon sign on his black coat, but the weight felt like the best kind of security blanket and the blind love felt better than any gift he’d ever gotten, right next to his scarf, of course, the scarf he always kept with him like a talisman. “Sarge, huh? You’re a good boy, huh, Sarge? You just have selective hearing like me.”
Sarge wagged his tail joyously at the praise and leaned in for more aggressive licking of his entire face. He had to squeeze his eyes shut to keep the slobber out as his chest began to ache with what felt like the early stages of a laugh.
“I’m so, so sorry,” the girl was saying again. She was kneeling next to him now and trying to manually pry Sarge off. “God, he has no manners. Sarge! Off!”
With a bit of regret, he pushed himself slowly upright, forcing Sarge off his chest and to a stand straddling his legs. Sarge grinned at him and sat beside his owner, tail wagging so hard his entire ass was moving with it. He grinned back at the dog, couldn’t help it. “He’s okay. Nobody’s been that happy to see me in a really long time.” He looked to the girl then and froze, big dumb grin still on his face. She was obviously nervous, probably a naturally nervous person from the looks of her, but so damn cute with her big glasses, pouty lips, curly hair, and obviously homemade hat and scarf, both items made of bulky purple yarn for maximum warmth and goofiness. She stared at him and he watched as a lovely bright pink blush bloomed on her cheeks and a shy smile curled her lips. She offered him a hand, which was covered by a large purple mitten. “I’m Valerie and this is Sarge, obviously. We’re really, really sorry. Can I...god, sorry…I don’t know how to…can I buy you a coffee? An apology coffee?”
He couldn’t help it. As he shook her hand and listened to her nervous words, he laughed for the first time in maybe a year. “Nice to meet you, Valerie. And Sarge. I’m Jamie. And I would love a coffee, but I am actually running late for something, so I really should go.”
“Oh. Right.” Valerie grimaced and they all got to their feet, then stood there awkwardly for a moment. His blood was hammering in his veins and he really didn’t want to walk away from this adorable girl or her dog when this was the most human he’d felt in forever. Valerie looked up at him again, did that same blushing grin, plus a tiny bite on her lower lip that made his hands twitch to reach for her or something. “Right. Well, I am sorry, Jamie, and I guess we won’t make you any later than we already have. So, yeah. Have a good day. And…um…thank you. For your service.”
His muscles immediately turned to stone and the smile evaporated in the face of paranoia. “What?”
Valerie grimaced and buried her face in her hands. Sarge whined, but remained seated politely at her side despite obviously wanting to beg for more pets. “Oh my god, I shouldn’t have said that. I’m so sorry. You didn’t say anything…I shouldn’t have brought that up…shit. I sound like such a creep. I’m so sorry. It’s your scarf. I crochet scarves and I give a pile of them to the VA every December as Christmas gifts for the vets who don’t have somebody and fuck I shouldn’t have said that, but I remember that scarf because I really loved that yarn and I couldn’t remember where I got it so I only made the one with it so I know I made that scarf and this is so awkward, I’m so sorry…oh!”
She squeaked in surprise and went stiff as a board when he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her right off the ground. He couldn’t help it, though. A second after he’d done it, he worried that this was the kind of thing girls pepper-sprayed you for, but then she melted and was hugging him back as he buried his face in her hair to hide his tears “Thank you,” he said, putting all the emotion he’d been bottling up into those words so she’d know how deeply he meant them. “Thank you so damn much.”
Sarge barked and rubbed more dog hair all over his legs as he circled them, trying to join the hug. Valerie made some sort of helpless whimper and, voice quivering, said, “You don’t need to thank me. I just wanted guys like you to know they were appreciated. I’m glad you liked it.”
“Liked it? Sweetheart, you saved my fucking life.” He laid a fervent kiss on her temple right where silk-soft curls were rippling out from under the edge of her hat. Valerie squeezed him back tighter. “Can I buy you a coffee?”
“I thought you were late for something?”
“Fuck that, I’m buying you a coffee. If that’s okay.”
Valerie giggled and some part of his heart that he hadn’t known existed anymore melted a little. “It’s very okay.”