A/N: Hey guys.. this is AH.. just so you know. Paul's in the army and his girlfriends name is Ally, who, yes, is not a character in the book or anything. i made her up. Let me know what you think, should i continue, or dump the story?

Disclaimer: i am obviously not SM. but i do however own all my characters i made up.

Dear Paul,

I miss you. More and more everyday. I know you miss me just as much as I miss you. In just 5 months you'll be home for 2 weeks and I'm counting down the days until you'll be here. I have a little calendar and I check the days off when I get up in the morning. I promise you that when you come home I'll make it the best time of your life. And remember, I don't break my promises baby!

I've thrown myself into my job, because I can't stay home by myself to much, or I start to miss you more. I've been traveling with the hockey team a lot lately. They told me I don't need to go, but as an athletic director I feel as if I should, and just because it's hard to be home. I only stay home about 4 days a week, sometimes less. I feel bad that I haven't been hanging with everyone lately. They always act so lovey dovey and I can't sit there and watch it. I know, I'm a bad person, but I can't help it.

Jared and Kim are finally getting married, but they want to wait until your come home… I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell you this, because Jared is supposed to be sending you a letter… he wants you to be his best man. Only if you want to, you know. I'm going to be Kim's maid of honor. I'm happy she asked me, but bummed because I have to wear a dress and I could totally do without that, but I'm assuming you already knew that.

Emily finally had her baby. She's adorable. Her name is Anabelle. She is a spitting image of Emily and I can definitely tell she's going to be a heart breaker. If Sam has anything to do with it she'll never have a boyfriend, that you can count on.

I finally mastered the guitar baby! I can't wait for you to come home and hear me play. I've been working on it whenever I can and I think I finally have it. I've learned to play so many songs that it's incredible. I've been working on the singing part of it too, but as you know my voice isn't all that great.

A few of my colleagues try and talk to me like they know what I'm going through. I just want to punch them in the face and tell them to shut the hell up because they have no clue. No clue what so ever. Only Jenna Mourey knows,because as you know her husband is currently deployed too, but she goes through the same things I am and I know it ticks her off just as much as it ticks me off, but what can we do? Nothing I suppose, people will just continue to be idiots and piss me off.

I've been keeping up with the news on how thinks are going over there. They don't sound so good and all I can ask of you is that you stay safe for me. I don't know what I would do if you didn't come home to me. I think I would lose my mind. That's probably all I can ask of you though, I know you're trying your hardest and baby I'm so grateful for that and I hope you know it.

I'm still talking to Morgan on a daily basis. I heard that John finally came home, so she's pretty excited about that. He's leaving again in a week though, but I know she's happy to have him back for the time being. He's told me about you though and how you don't talk to many of the guys anymore and that you drink a lot. Why? Baby don't do that to yourself. I'm alright over here, just missing you a lot. Please stop drinking so much, it pains me to know that. Please, please just stay safe.

I just want you to know that I'm so incredibly proud of you, more than you'll ever know. I know your mom feels that way too and I'm certain you'll be receiving a letter from her soon. I stop by her house at least two nights a week, sometimes more. We don't usually do much, but we talk… a lot of the time its about you. She's always telling me stories about you, to try and make me laugh and forget about all the bad things happening. It works too. And let me just say I didn't know you were such a little hellion! She sure had her hands full.

I love you baby, so much. I can't wait to see your beautiful face in 5 months. I can't wait to have your arms around me, keeping me safe. The time will go fast, I promise. Come home to me honey, okay? I love you so much.

Love with all that I have,

Ally

I set the letter down and I could feel the tears forming in my eyes. I miss her so much. It hurts to know that she can't be at home without feeling so lonely.

"Hey man, what's wrong?" Mark asked me as he came into the room followed by the rest of the guys. None of them laughed at me though, because there is nothing funny about a soldier crying.

"Nothing," I whipped the tears from my eyes and folded the letter up and put it in my box of letters from Al. I think I'm going to need a bigger box soon. She sent me a letter about every week, sometimes more if she was having a bad week. It was so hard reading the parts about her loving me and how much she missed me. That broke my heart into little tiny pieces.

"Letter from Ally?" he guessed.

"Yeah," I sighed at put my head in my hands.

"You'll be home before you know it man," he promised me with a pat on the shoulder before walking out of the room.

I nodded. The army's taught me a lot. It taught me that even if you think you have it bad, you probably don't have it as bad as most people. I was currently stationed in Afghanistan and it's absolutely terrible here. People are in danger and we're here to help. I've seen to many children who don't get enough to eat at night and will never grow strong. Being here makes me appreciate what I have back home. So much.

I sighed and opened my next letter, which was from Jared.

Hey man,

How are things? I know, dumb question to ask… but I felt I should ask it anyway. I miss you dude and I can't wait for you to come home so we can have your man time again. That was always the best.

Ally misses you, but I'm sure you know that. I haven't seen her in a while and I often feel bad that she doesn't come around here as much. I know why though, I know it hurts her. I do call her a couple times a week just to make sure she's okay, just like you asked man, just like you asked.

So I guess the main reason I'm writing this is because I'm getting married. I can't believe it! I'm so excited, I love Kim to pieces and can't wait until the day comes. I was hoping that you'd be my best man? Of course we're waiting to have the wedding until you come home. I would never get married without my best friend their, whether he's my best man or not.

Well I'll see you in five months man and trust me it'll go by fast. I love you brother.

Your friend,

Jared

Oh Jared. He's such a knucklehead sometimes. I knew I could count on him to watch over Ally for me though and that I'll be forever thankful for. She's what I live for and I'm glad he's looking after her.

The next letter, was from my mom.

Dear son,

I hope this letter gets to you. It's almost April here, which means you'll be home in a few months. I can't tell you enough how proud I am of you and how much I miss you. I'm sure Ally's told you all of that though, right? I worry about her sometimes ,Paul. One day she'll seem fine, but in another she won't be herself. I know it's just from missing you and she'll be okay. I'm so thankful you pick such a great girl though and I hope when you come home you plan on proposing to that girl, because she is definitely worth marrying. She's my favorite of all the girls you've ever brought home to me. God Paul, some of those girls you used to date? Sheesh, sometimes you'd give me a mimi heart attack from just the sheer look at them! Half of them barley wore clothes! I'm finally glad you came to your senses though. That's all I could have asked I guess.

Well I miss you my baby boy. I hope you're all right and I wish the best for you and your team. Please come back home safe, okay? Don't give your momma a heart attack baby.

Love,

Mom

And for the second time today I wiped my eyes that were filled with tears. God I missed my momma. After my dad left when I was 8 it was just me and her. We used to do everything together, that is until I turned 15 and decided I was to old to hang out with my mom, even thought she was probably the coolest mom in the entire town.

I looked around the room to see if anyone was in there and pulled out the box that was under my bed. I opened it and pulled out the pictures of Ally. I ran my fingers over her golden tan, bright blue eyes, her long, shiny, auburn hair, plumb lips, high cheekbones, long elegant legs, her perfect hour glass figure. I broke down and started crying. I miss holding her in my arms and night, having her snuggled up to me, being able to lye there for hours talking at night. I miss her so much… so much it hurts.

I put the pictures away and decided I'd spend the last hour of my free time writing letters instead of being with the guys. They were all bachelors. They hardly knew what it was like to be away from the love of your life for a year or more at a time. They're just silly boys right out of high school that don't know what loves about.

"Hey man," Mark said as he walked back into the room.

"Hey," I nodded, continuing my letter to Al.

"Writing to Ally?" he asked as he sat down on his bed, right across from mine, starting to write his own letter.

"Yeah," I nodded and smiled.

"Tell her I said hi, will ya?" he asked me as he nodded to my paper.

"Sure," I said. Mark was one of the guys I bunked with that was not a bachelor. He had his own wife at home that he was hoping to come home to any minute, although we'd be going back at the same time. He lived in California, while I lived back in Washington.

"How's Alexandria?" I asked. Alexandria was his wife.

"She's okay, ready for me to come home.." he trailed off.

"Yeah, I know, Ally's ready for me to be home too," I sighed, looking out the window of our bunk.

"When're you going to marry her, man?" he asked me.

"I want to ask her when I get home," I said.

"She's a great girl," he nodded.

"Yeah she is," I smiled, thinking about how great she was.

"Smart girl too," he commented.

"Sure is," I nodded.

"Alright, well we better get a move on or we'll be late," He said as he moved to get up.

"Yeah, proably," I nodded. I signed the letter and slid it into the envelope and brought it with me to drop it off at the office.

_._

"Paul," my commander said.

"Yes sir."

"Why don't you and your group head into town and take over?" he said to me.

"Yes sir," I nodded to him and gathered the boys to bring them into town.

We went into town and there really isn't anything exciting that ever happens. Usually we just make sure nobody gets hurt and that everything it going well, but that day… that was an unusual day.

"Shit, Paul, Mark, Andrew watch it!" Luke yelled. As soon as he said that there was an explosion, I ran and ducked for cover. Fuckers were trying to mess with us. When the it calmed a little I went to see where Mark and Andrew were.

"Shit!" I yelled as I saw Andrew lying unconscious, "Call the ambulance!" I yelled, "Now!"

I hate it when this happens. I feared that we were going to lose Andrew. He had some pretty bad burns and I knew if anything did happen, I'd have to be the one to write the letter back home. This was what I hated most, breaking someone's heart.

"How is he?" the medic asked.

"Not well," I grimaced, "I fear we might lose him," I admitted.

"We'll try everything we can," the medic promised as they put him in the back of the ambulance.

"Did you guys check out the building?" I asked my crew.

"Yes sir."

"Everything okay?"

"Yes sir. The building was empty when we checked," Eric answered.

"Good," I nodded, "Let's head back," I said and started to walk away. I needed to check on Andrew. I had to make sure he was going to be okay. His wife and kids at home would be devastated if he wasn't and I couldn't have that. I can't break someone's heart like that.