Author's Note: Quick response, always awesome! I'm glad people aren't just flat out rejecting this, also, I brought on tears...I cried while writing it too...Jeyton sorry, no JulieAdam in this one, Adam probably will pop up at some point, everyone probably will! And harumscarum, no he's really dead, but the non linear structure means that he will still be crucial to the story. I don't know why I managed to get this chapter out so fast, but I did. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 2: I Told You So

December 2002

"Hello?" Dean shouted entering his house for the first time in months. That his leave fell over Christmas was too close to perfect.

"Dean!" Julie squealed running from the back of the house. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. "You're home." She fingered the gold buttons on his dress uniform.

"And happy to be home," He smiled, "Happy to be with you." She smiled as he touched her face, and slipped his hand through her blond hair, which was now several inches shorter than it had been. "You cut your hair."

"I know," She smiled, "It was just getting in the way." He laughed and kissed her.

"There he is," His mother walked through, "Our big hero."

"Hey Mom," He smiled and hugged her.

"Oh it's so good to have you home," She said.

"I'm glad to be back home," He said, he winked at Julie. "If you two don't mind I'm going to go take a shower and get changed."

"Of course," Mrs. Portman said, "But first," She whipped out a camera. He laughed as she snapped a picture. "I'm so proud of you." She said, hugging him again and kissing him on the cheek. She walked away.

"When we can get a second alone," He said grabbing Julie's hand, "I want to talk to you about something."

"OK," She smiled and kissed him. "And you look really hot in that."

"Well you know that's half the reason why I joined the army," He laughed, "To turn you on."

"Afghanistan?" She stared at him, late that night, as they sat with their legs crossed on the couch. "But you're stationed in Germany."

"I know," He sighed, "They're moving my unit, so that they can move people from Afghanistan into Iraq, and,"

"You can't go to Afghanistan Dean!" She said. "There's actual fighting in Afghanistan."

"Julie," He said and touched her face. "I know this sucks, OK? Trust me, I'm not happy about it," She sighed. "But I'll actually get to do something, and going after the Taliban, I mean the whole reason I did this was because,"

"You did this to get money for college," She looked at him. "That's what you told me." He kissed her.

"That was part of it," He said softly, "But the other part was that after September 11, Jules, how could I not?" She nodded. "That's not all I wanted to talk to you about."

"It's not?" She said. He shook his head. "What else? You got some German girl pregnant?"

"No," He laughed. "No, not at all. I love you, so much," He kissed her. "More than anything else in the entire world. And I want us to have a future," He took her hands and swallowed, "I want to be with you for the rest of my life."

"Dean," She whispered as he pulled a ring box out of his pocket.

July 2007

Julie stood up staring blankly at the flag draped casket. She felt so strange, everyone staring at her. She was too young for this, burying the love of your life is supposed to be something you do after you've shared a lifetime together. She didn't even technically know what her status was. She wasn't a widow, but she felt like one. As the color guard that was present saluted and began to fire off the traditional rounds, she flinched. She felt Fulton's arm circle around her reassuringly.

"It's almost over," He whispered in her ear. She hated this. She felt so completely helpless. And why were they shooting? Why were they mimicking the very thing that had killed him? They removed the flag from the casket, folded it precisely and went to hand it to his mother, who shook her head and nodded to Julie. She stepped forward and accepted it, finally bursting into the tears that she'd been holding back all morning. Dean had been so proud of being a soldier. How had she forgotten that? How had she lost sight of something that was so important to him?

April 2006

"What do you mean you're reenlisting?" Julie gaped at him. "Dean, what about us?" He looked at her.

"Nothing's going to change," He insisted, "It's just,"

"Another year," She said, "A whole year! I can't wait much longer." She kissed him gently. "I want to get married, I want to start our life together."

"Julie, we're going to have all of that," He assured her, "We're going to get married, have kids, all of it. But this is important to me, it's my duty!"

"You've done your duty!" She shouted. "You've done it constantly for the past four years. But what about us?!"

"I thought you understood," He shook his head.

"I'm trying to understand," She sighed, "I've always tried to, I never could. You said that you loved me more than anything else in the world. Why can't you put me first for once?"

"I am," He touched her face, "Julie, you're always the first thing I think of, if I do this, I'll make officer, do you know how much more money,"

"I don't care about that!" She said shaking her head, "I care about you, home, safe, with me." He kissed her. "Dean," She whispered.

"I promise you," He said, "This is the last of it. I'll be a sergeant, and I'll get a hell of a pension," She laughed, "And you can go to law school, and we'll have everything we've ever wanted." She nodded. "OK?"

"OK," She swallowed, "But I reserve the right to say I told you so if anything does happen!" She pointed at him. He laughed and kissed her.

May 2007

Dean smiled, sitting reading the latest letter he'd gotten from Julie.

"News from home Portman?" One of the other guys asked.

"Just wedding plans," He laughed. "She bought a dress."

"Don't know how you do it man," He shook his head, "You've been engaged to her for how long?"

"Almost five years now," Dean sighed. "I can't marry her while I'm still here though. She's barely cut out for the army girlfriend thing, I don't think she could handle army wife."

I don't know how much longer I can take being away from you. I know it's just a few more months, but I miss you so much. Just wait until you see Kayla, she's gotten so big! She asked about you specifically when I was up in Minnesota last week. I know you were afraid she wouldn't remember you, but there's obviously no need for that. I think about you every second, dream about you every night and pray for you every time I see something beautiful. Stay safe and come home to me. I have nothing else to say. I love you, I love you, I love you!

Yours Always

Julie

December 2007

Julie stood in front of the tombstone, shivering under her fairly thin coat. The sun was going down and she could feel the wind coming in off of the lake. She loved Chicago, though a part of her sometimes wanted to run away, either home to Maine or back to Minnesota, away from his city, his home. But school was here, the home that she owned was here. Her life, or at least what was left of it was her. She quietly lay a Christmas wreath over the stone and then fingered the engraving.

Sgt Dean Anthony Portman

1982-2007

Soldier – Friend – Beloved

"I told you so," She whispered. It was the first time she'd been able to say it.

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