Monica forced a smile as Gray told her they could leave if she had to. "No need, I'll be fine," she didn't want to admit it, but she was still a little shaken up. The whole side of her body that the explosion had effected was nearly trembling, and she was afraid to look down at her cast for fear that the wound would open itself and she would come close to bleeding out once more. She instead forced herself to focus on Gray; his smile, his messy hair, his sparkling eyes. With each breath she felt herself coming back to her current reality. She was sitting in Sergio's with her best friend, and she was happy. 

Monica let Gray take the first slice, and soon after watching him start it she realized just how starved she was. The woman smiled as she grabbed a slice and chuckled as the gooey cheese stretched from the slice to the whole pizza. 

"Mmmm," Monica covered her mouth with her hand, "This is just as good as I remembered it!" She took another couple bites, and chased the pizza down with a sip of the drink in the cup. She looked at Gray with a smile in her eyes, "You remembered my usual! Cherry Coke," she chuckled, taking another drink. Monica almost spit out the liquid as she laughed at Gray's suggestion. 

"Boyfriend?" She patted her lips with the napkin before continuing, "I haven't had a boyfriend since Jason Maize during the second half of junior year. Remember him? He was a jerk," she smiled. It was easy to joke about it now, but back then she had been heartbroken. Jason had been incredibly handsome, tanned and tall and athletic. He had also broken up with Monica through his friends, and had cheated on her with some of the other girls. Gray had helped her through that, just like he had helped her through every other breakup. 

"I only had a few relationships while serving that could be considered deeper than just the bonds you form when you're suffering together," she stirred her straw around in her cup, "There was a man named Dan Brown," she continued, "He was around our age, and he was a really great guy. He was selfless and kind," she took another drink, "There was one village we were in, and he made a scared little girl a doll out of straw. It was touching how happy it made her. Those people have next to nothing and here everyone's complaining about whether or not leather shoes are Italian," she leaned back and crossed her leg over the wrapped one. 

"Dan and I were in another small village when a roadside bomber drove a car and detonated it just beside the building we were in," she sighed, "I got off easy," she continued, "At first the doctors thought I'd be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, but I proved 'em wrong. Dan, well, he took the blunt of the blast and was killed instantly." She stayed silent for a moment, thinking back into any other relationships. Her squad leader had been kind to her too, a man by the name of Austin O'Connell. She wasn't sure what had happened to him; she hadn't heard anything from him since she returned to the states. 

"Long story short, no boyfriend," she repeated with a small laugh, "I'm still surprised you don't have a girlfriend or a fiancée or whatever yet," she teased him, "A good looking nerd like yourself," she smiled. 

The two had demolished the pizza in a fairly short amount of time. Monica met Gray's gaze and with a smile, "Let's drive around the town! I want to go to all our old spots," she said, "The lake, those old hiking trails," Monica sighed at the wonderful memories.