"You're like a bad penny," I allow with a soft smile, grateful for the decided change in tone even if I know Major well enough to know it's forced. I hate this; I've always hated this, every time it's happened. But it is what it is. What we are.

He's not really wrong. We never manage to stay away from each other even when we know we have to be apart.

"I should go," I say, glancing down the shoreline. "Some of these people might need medical help."

It's true, the evidence laid out plainly in the people retching and crying against the sand. And if it's an excuse, too, it's not one either of us didn't see coming.