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Memorial Day was a solemn day as a whole. Not just for the average American with empathy capable of acknowledging those who deserved the greatest respect. The ones that gave up their lives for freedom. As a kind of sort of man of the law himself, Matt felt their sacrifice in his heart to a degree too. It touched him, despite having never been in the military or had any family that had served.
Matt had learned that active soldiers and veterans felt a sad weight on their shoulders that he would never understand. None liked to be thanked for their service. Very few enjoyed the parades. The majority preferred simple ceremonies in their communities, visiting graveyards to remember their fallen brothers and sisters.
Frank was no expectation. Matt was sure they were visiting random veterans graves and not the people he’d known directly. He wasn’t prying nor asking questions. It didn’t feel like his place, because his boyfriend didn’t like to talk about the time he served much. Besides, all veterans needed to be remembered. Obviously there was a percentage that probably hadn’t had any family.
Dutifully, Matt handed Frank another red poppy. He was laying the flower at every grave in Cypress National Hills Cemetery. The sun had set long ago and the ceremonies concluded. A perfect time for them to privately express their gratitude, while making sure every soldier had a moment of remembrance.
The two of them would be walking the graveyard long into the early morning hours. Matt didn’t mind. He didn’t often do lawyer stuff anymore and his schedule was mostly his own unless he took on the rare case. It worked. Back in law school, he should have known the second he took matters into his own hands there would be no abiding by others rules. Limitations.
Frank understood that. He supported it. Both of them had bonded over it, particularly after Matt quit trying to be something other than who he was in his heart. No one else got it, except for him.
Walking forward, Frank held out his hand. He kneeled. Matt squashed imagining how much more muscular the man’s ass could get after all this up and down. Talk about being rude and insensitive… to the soldiers, not his boyfriend’s very appreciated backside.
Frank was sensitive. People didn’t expect it and no one alive knew it. Matt melted, every time he got the honors of experiencing it. The way he was right now. Under the guise of darkness, with a blanket of unspoken words.
Matt didn’t need to hear the words to hear the message. Frank’s soft aching heart, probably thinking things he should scold his boyfriend for the way he’d had to when they first began a real friendship. Before they’d become something more. He’d settle for holding him later though, quiet in the apartment they shared, where he could keep mourning in private.
Once more, Matt would remind Frank he wasn’t alone anymore. Someone wanted him around, as much as his boyfriend didn’t think he deserved to be. A slow journey that he was working down. Still, progress was progress and publicly honoring his fallen comrades without violence was part of that.
Standing up again, Frank let out a small sigh. Matt wondered what the gravestone before them said. He didn’t ask, despite the curiosity. Instead, he moved on silently. Hoping his big strong Marine was finding the solace he needed. God, granting the soldiers like him, a similar peace wherever their souls rested.
A hero is someone that understands the responsibility that comes with their freedom. Matt wanted to tell Frank that was exactly what he was and that his fellow soldiers had to be proud. He doubted it would be well-received. Leaving it to be one of those things that he kept to himself, like the words ‘I love you’.