“Sometimes I get scared when you leave,” Claire says, not looking at you. She’s fiddling with some piece of her motorcycle to keep her hands busy. “That you’ll go out and never come back.”

You’ve shared a bunk for a while now. You’re her friend—one of her closest ones. Claire cares about you more than she likes to admit. Yesterday you’d come back injured. Nothing life threatening, but what if it had been? She hadn’t said goodbye that morning.

What if…

She needs to stop thinking.