A light Montana breeze cooled the warm summer air as it lazily blew by. Not a cloud could be seen in the sky as the sun beat mercilessly on the living things beneath it. A young man leaned against the wooden fence in front of him, oblivious to the heat and bright sunlight. He watched the horse graze lazily as his mind ran a thousand miles an hour, trying to think of the right things to say in the near future. His mind was made up, he knew what he had to do. The hard part was, how to tell his family and friends. Sighing, Daniel Purcell knew that his family needed to know before it was too late, but he didn't know how they were going to take the news. The young cowboy knew how his girlfriend would probably take it, but he wasn't entirely sure. She always had a thing for a man in uniform, though she couldn't stand danger. What about his best friend, how was she going to take it? Becca was always a mystery to him. Every time Danny thought he had her figured out, she would always surprise him and react a different way. That's one of the many things he liked about her, he thought to himself as he smiled. Becca always kept him guessing.

Suddenly, Danny's world went dark as a pair of cool hands covered his eyes. Already knowing who it was, his smile grew as he decided to play along.

"Guess who?" A light feminine voice asked from behind him.

"Hmm, Annie?" He answered jokingly as he said his girlfriend's name. Danny could feel his friend's warm breath on the back of his neck as she laughed.

"No, dummy, try again." She teased.

"You're weird, Becca. You do know that, right?" He asked, suddenly tired of this game. There was some serious matters that he had to deal with at the moment. Bright sunlight meet his sky blue eyes as Rebecca's hands fell from his face. Turning around, Danny looked into his best friend's hazel eyes, seeing the sparkle of humor in them.

"Wow, you really know how to sweet talk a girl, Danny. How in the world did you get Annie to go out with you?" Becca's lips pulled up into a bigger smile. Danny couldn't help but to return her smile as he answered her.

"Only because she isn't as smart as you." He teased. Becca's eyes widened as she erupted into laughter. As the young man listened to her laugh, Danny didn't know what he liked the most about her. Becca's heartwarming smile or her laugh that sounded like ringing bells on a Sunday morning. He watched as she took a slender finger and wiped a tear of humor away from her eye. Still smiling, Becca leaned her slender frame against the fence, standing close to him. With her being this close, Danny was able to detect the scent of vanilla and rose drifted faintly to his nose as another breeze blew lightly past them. Even though Becca swore up and down that she doesn't wear any type of girly fragrances, Danny knew that she did. Deciding not to launch into that age old argument again, Danny glanced over at his friend, trying to build up his courage to tell her his news. Becca's brown cowboy hat sat tilted back on her head, hiding the top part of her shoulder blade length honey brown hair. Her cream colored skin held no flaw, always having a healthy and happy glow. Bright sunlight reflected the green specs in her hazels eyes. She may not have the blond hair, blue eyes that guys fell head over heels for, but to Danny, she was beautiful. She had curves in the right places, though not as pronounced as his girlfriend's. Becca was slender, but not too skinny. Beneath all that beauty, Danny knew that she was even more beautiful in her own way. She was smart and feisty, but knew when she needed to back off. She was caring as she was stubborn. Whenever someone got hurt or needed someone to talk to, Becca was always there to help.

"Earth to Danny, you still awake." Her teasing voice distracted him from his thoughts, only to have guilt grip him hard.

"Yeah, sorry, Becks. Didn't mean to mentally wonder off like that." He apologized quickly. Danny looked away quickly, feeling ashamed for thinking about how beautiful his friend is instead of his girlfriend. A small tinkling laugh escaped from his friend's full pink lips.

"It's okay, I do the same thing to you sometimes." She commented lightly. Danny's only response was to nod slowly. Sensing her tilt her head to the side out of curiosity, the young man knew she was about to ask him something.

"What's bothering you, Danny?" She asked, seriousness replacing her earlier humor. He could feel her hazel gaze on him as he thought about his answer. Letting out a small sigh, he answered softly.

"I volunteered to go to Vietnam."

(Okay, so this is my very first story on here. Please, please, please let me know how it is so far. I know it's just the first chapter at the moment, but reviews would be great. Good and bad ones are accepted (though I really hope for good ones).