“How you doing Anderson?” Blaine turns to see his friend David walking towards where he was sitting on the ground. “I'm...I'm alright.”

Last night, US Marine Sgt. Blaine Anderson led his unit in a night raid underground. Their mission was to release any citizen that was being held hostage. They were almost out when Blaine heard the gunshot and saw the man on his left fall flat to the ground. Blaine dropped to his knees next to him when another man from his unit dropped down next to him. “Go!” He shouted through the noise of the gunshots around him. “I'll stay with him!” Blaine knew this man vaguely. This was his first tour. He was tall and clumsy but stronger than ever when things got serious. Blaine nodded and clapped his shoulder before running for cover and aiming for the shooter. That's when he saw the man he had just talked to not even thirty seconds ago fall to the ground.

David nods. “We lost two men last night.”

Blaine looks down at his hands, which he found he wasn't able to keep still. “I know. I saw.” Blaine drops his head in his hands. “What the hell is wrong with me, David? This is my third tour! You'd think I'd be able to handle losing men by now.”

David shrugs. “It's hard, man. Not everyone can handle it. But you've come so far, Anderson. Remember your first mission?

Blaine remembers. Of course he remembers. He would always remember. He had made friends with a lot of the guys, but there was one guy he was really close with. Matt. They knew each other from boot camp and got assigned to the same unit. They were on their first mission—which also happened to be a night mission—and they were outnumbered. Blaine's head was spinning trying to take everything in. Men were running frantically around him, searching for cover, aid, ammunition-anything to keep them alive and fighting. He finally got his shit together and was just about to shoot when he realized Matt wasn't next to him anymore. He ducked and dove and fired while he frantically searched for Matt.

“Where's Matt?!” Blaine shouted to the marine next to him. “I can't find him!” Blaine just barely missed a shot to the head as he ran behind a small dirt hill for cover. “Matt!” Blaine sat there for a moment, his eyes searching for his friend in the darkness. There was no point- there was too much going on and it was too dark to even tell who was who. What seems like hours went by. Blaine was dodging, shooting, and yelling. He couldn't get his mind off of Matt; where is he? Is he okay? Is he hurt? Is he dead? That awful feeling in the pit of his stomach was only getting worse as time went on. Blaine jumped into a small ditch for cover. He could feel his heart beating faster and faster and he thought it would just pop right out of his chest. And he wish it had, because then he saw him. Lying on the ground facedown, motionless.

“Blaine?” David shook Blaine's shoulder lightly. Blaine jolts and then nods. “Yeah, yeah I know.” He raises his head slightly, and that's when he notices something in the dirt a little ways ahead of him. He slowly walks over to it, picking it up carefully. A note? Stay safe! Was written on it with a perfectly drawn heart next to it. Blaine flipped it over and wiped the dirt off of it. A picture. A picture of the most beautiful man he's ever seen.

It was a professional potrait, for sure. The man in the picture was sitting with his arms folded on a table, a gray back-drop behind him. He had the most stunning eyes Blaine had ever seen. They were a mix of blue, green, gray and just a hint of yellow. They were simply stunning. He was wearing a a light blue v-neck with very thin black and gray stripes, a black ¾ length cardigan and a bulky black bracelet around his left wrist. His brunette hair was perfectly coiffed upright, his eyebrows perfectly arched. And his smile. His smile was so simple and innocent and almost looked fake. But Blaine could see the smile in the boy's eyes. It was a real smile. And it was perfect. His skin was pale but flawless nontheless. This man was just simply...beautiful.

“Whatcha find?” David asks from where they were sitting. “Anything go-” David was cut off by the explosion. Blaine was thrown back from the force of the explosion. He hit his head off the ground and immediately blacked out.

Blaine was back in boot camp. But he was the only one there. Or at least he thought until he heard a booming voice from behind him. “Anderson, good to see you again!” Blaine whipped his head around to see Matt standing behind him. “Matt?!” Blaine's eyes grew wide with shock and confusion. “I..I thought...You're supposed to be..”

“Dead?” Matt cut him off. “Yeah...I am. I'm just here to haunt you.” He laughed softly.

Blaine laughed as well. “Dude it's so good to see you!”

“I know! How've you been? Staying safe?”
“You know it, bro. What have you been up to?”

“Oh...yanno...just kickin' around. But I...listen. I need to talk to you.”

“A-about what?” Blaine cocked his head and furrowed his eyebrows.

Matt's tone suddenly got very serious as he leaned in closer to talk to Blaine.“Anderson..it's about to get really tough out there. I need you to stay strong and pull through, alright? Don't ever give up or doubt yourself. You know what you're doing out there and you're a smart seargent. Stay focused at all times. Got it?”

Blaine nodded and swallowed hard. “Got it. I'm gonna make it outta here. For you, man.”

Matt smiled and brought Blaine in for a hug. “How have you managed to stay alive this whole time? Last time I saw you you were literally shaking in your boots.”

“Like you said, I'm a strong seargent now.” Blaine spoke matter-of-factly and raised an eyebrow.

“Nah, I think you're just lucky.” Matt winked, then started walking away.

Blaine took a step forward. “Hey wait! Where are you going?”

“I gotta go, man. Stay strong out there. Oh, and keep that good luck around. I don't know what you're doing bro, just don't stop.” And then he disappeared. Blaine stood there trying to gather what Matt had said in his mind when he heard another voice.

“Anderson?” Blaine turned around but there was no one there.

“Anderson!” Blaine eyes fluttered as they opened. A man from another unit – he didn't know his name – was standing over him.

“W-what happened?” He blinked a few times and slowly sat up, looking around him. The place was a disaster. People were running around frantically, calling out names of people he's only heard once or twice. First aid kits were dispersed around the lot. “What's going on?”

“There was a small attack. An explosion. We lost..we lost three men.”

“Who?”

“David Rogen, Michael Sweeney and Justin Marcoux.”

Blaine froze. David. David is dead. Blaine struggled to keep himself from just getting up and running. Running as far as possible. He needed to get away. This was getting to be too much for him to handle. First Matt and now David? He finally nodded, but kept his eyes on the ground.

“You're lucky you're alive, Anderson. If you were about twenty feet closer to the explosion you'd be dead. You must have a good luck charm or something.” The man patted Blaine's shoulder and got up to help someone who was injured.

Blaine shook his head and reached into his pocket for his cantine. Something fell to the ground as he pulled it out. Blaine picked it up and examined it again. The picture of the boy was still in the same great condition as it was before he blacked out.

“Lucky...” Blaine mumbled to himself.