Edward
His alarm woke him up a quarter past four in the morning. He got up quickly and rose from his bed. His room was separate from the rest of his teams. Ever since he had getting the nightmares he decided to stay away from his team to not worry them too much. It was no bigger than the closet in a master bedroom. A cot was in the far corner of the room with a green blanket and pillow. His two sniper hang on nails into the wooden walls and his bags were waiting at the door already packed to go. There was a shelf next to his cot where the alarm and a picture of his family lay. He picked it up and smiled slightly at it. It was supposed to be a professional photo but Emmett at the last second had made such a horrid face that we had to print it out just to show everyone. His door opened suddenly and Seth peered into the doorway.
"Hey," Edward said placing the picture down. "You feeling better?"
"I'm still pretty sore but the pain meds are definelty helping," Seth said rubbing his shoulder. "But it's time to go. An officer told me we are leaving in an hour. So get ready the team is almost done."
"Yeah okay. I'll meet you guys there."
Seth nodded and closed the door silently. After Edward was sure Seth was gone and had not forgotten something he changed his clothes. He exchanged his white t-shirt and gym shorts for a dark green shirt with the Marine logo on it and long cargo pants. He strapped on his tan combat boots as well making sure it was looking presentable before grabbing a baseball cap from his duffel looked into the mirror as he straightened it over his messy bronze colored hair.
He looked around his room one more time before grabbing both of his duffel bags and walking out the door. After going through the inner workings of Camp Lancer before finally reaching the door that lead him outside. The sky was still littered with stars and the moon lit his way towards his team who were filing out paperwork. When he got close he patted Emmett's shoulder and Emmett bumped him back a little harder than he had.
"So are we good to go?" he asked.
"Almost," Jasper said eating some kind of granola bar. "They are fueling the plane right now and once the other teams are ready we leave."
"Alright." he said.
"And then once we land it's three more hours of straight driving back home. Great." Collin said.
"Shut up First Sergeant." I told him
"You got it Captain." he replied.
When the time came they announced the plane was ready and his team began to head out towards the plane. There were two other teams joining them one of them had a friend he made in recruit training six years ago.
"Well, well if it isn't Edward Cullen." said Richard.
"How are you doing Rich? Mom and Dad still paying for your private schooling?"
"Yes actually. Just made it through officer school. Once I come back I'll be a Captain of my own team." Rich said extending a hand for him to shake.
Edward dropped his bag and shook his outstretched hand firmly. After introducing Rich to his family they had begun to take off so he strapped himself into his seat quickly and gripped onto the sides off the seat with all he had. Emmett tried to stifle a laugh from behind him an Jacob raised an eyebrow next to him.
"Your still afraid of heights?" Jacob asked.
"Just the takeoff." Edward said through gritted teeth.
They managed to take off okay and after ten hours of turbulence they finally landed in sunny California. It was almost midday so when the hatch doors opened the light blinded he so much it made him feel like a vampire as it burned him. After his eyes adjusted he saw Tessa there waiting for him with her combat uniform still on and a pistol strapped to her waist. Tessa had been a friend of his since the first grade. She had joined the military same time as him and had followed him into sniper school. There they had become the best, out in the field they had become a deadly duo.
"Edward," she said shaking his hand. "Welcome back to the U.S."
"Glad to be back." he said.
Her black hair was tied up in a bun which was mostly hidden by her camo hat. She had copper like skin and she was only about two inches shorter than me. She had these really unique sea-green eyes with some speckles of gold. They then began to walk towards the garage where he and Emmett had parked their cars eight months ago before their fifth deployment. To hear his car purr like a giant cat again was the best sound he had ever heard of in his life. After they had packed their cars and got in they made their way to Forks, Washington.
"So hey Edward it's your sister Alice's birthday today right?" Seth asked from the back seat.
"Yeah she'll be 21."
Seth nodded and returned to fiddling with something in his bag. He tried to look but couldn't so he returned his eyes to the road. Jacob had taken up shotgun next to him and began playing with the radio to find a song and Brady was passed out next to Seth. After hours of driving they finally reached his house which was practically cut off from the rest of the world. It was secluded in the dense green forest with the signature Forks mist hanging in the air. it was almost never sunny here, not that he minded. Edward pulled up behind Emmett on their gravel driveway and got out, opening the truck on the way.
"Jeez I wish Forks had a bigger airport so we could land here instead."
"I second that idea." Collin said.
Poor kid has 6'3''. He had barely any room to stretch with all of the guys piled in there. Once grabbing bags they all reached the front door of the house and he hesitated to knock.
"Well what are you waiting for Frost knock already." Jasper said impatiently.
He knocked on the door and heard shuffling as a person ran to the door. After a minute the door opened and his adopted mother, Esme was there. She looked no different than six months ago when he left for his last deployment. Her brown hair was in a messy bun and her heart shaped face lit up as she realized who was at the door.
"Hey Mom." he said.
She started crying and enveloped him in a hug. He kissed her cheek and she went to hug the rest of his team.
"I'm so happy to see you! Come in you came at a good time." Esme said.
They walked into the house and the smell of baked goods and spices filled the air.
"It smells good Mrs. Cullen." Collin said.
"Thank you dear. Let me go get the others they will be so delighted to see you!" Esme said.
She scurried out into the backyard and he peeked out the door to see what they were doing. Before he could admire the decorations he heard Rosalie scream. He smiled at her and waved.
"Hey sis." he said.
She opened the sliding glass door and enveloped him in a huge hug.
"Oh my god Edward this is such an amazing surprise!" Rosalie said.
"Don't mind me." Emmett said. "Very important boyfriend over here."
Rosalie went to hug Emmett and both himself and his team looked away when they started sucking face. Yeah it's pretty weird that his brother and sister are dating, but they aren't blood related so technically it's fair game. Jasper was dating Alice as well which made it seem like Carlisle had a thing for playing matchmaker.
"Where's pixie?" Emmett asked after he was done sucking face with Rosalie.
"She is coming with a friend, she doesn't know we are having a birthday for her yet."
"Awesome. What do you need help with, I'll be more than happy to help Mrs. Cullen." Seth said.
"No Seth, you just took a bullet yesterday, go help frost the cake or something. We'll do the heavy stuff."
"Yes come I could still use you over here Seth." Esme said as she dragged him to the kitchen.
"Sure thing Mrs. Cullen."
"Where is Carlisle?" Jasper asked.
"He ran to the store to pick up the cake." Esme yelled from the kitchen.
"So what can we help with Mom?" he asked.
She smiled. "Everyone can go help do the decorations and making this place look clean. I invited lots of Alice's friends it's going to be a big party."
We went straight to work as we moved furniture out of the way, climbed ladders to hang decorations on the ceiling and moved anything that someone can easily break.
"Good job team." I said when the work was done.
"I need a beer." Seth said.
"Get me one of those too man." Emmett said.
"Boys." Rosalie scoffed.
I heard the crunch of gravel before everyone else because of my trained sniper ears but Esme had spotted her first.
"She's here!" Esme said as she peered through the window.
"Where's Carlisle?" Jasper asked.
"He followed them back. I can hear his car pulling in right now." I said.
"Damn Edward, how do you know?" Rosalie said.
"I'm a trained Special Ops Sniper, Rose I have to be good at everything."
"Well you better be good at hiding." Esme said.
Everyone found a knock or cranny to hide in, and I hid behind a plant.. I scolded myself for thinking how good this foliage was for cover, he needed to stop thinking military for a minute. The door opened and Esme flicked on the lights and we all jumped out.
"Surprise!" we all shouted.
The little pixie dropped her purse and the keys in her hand. Then she started crying. She ran to Jasper and Seth gagged when they started kissing. Alice came to hug us one by one and she slapped my arm.
"What the hell Edward! You couldn't call to tell me you were coming?"
"It was supposed to be a surprise, pixie." I said.
"Well I'm glad you're here. You have to meet my friend Bella." Alice said.
I smiled not very excited, I knew this was the girl my team wanted to set me up with. She might be on the overload with makeup and dresses. He didn't even want to start with the shoes. The girl he assumed was Bella walked in but her faced was covered in brown paper bags. I went to help her as she seemed to be having difficulty.
"Here let me help." I said. I could hear my team trying to contain their laughter.
"Thanks." she said.
After taking the bag away from her face I was completely stunned. She had mahogany hair that went just past her shoulders, and an oval face that complemented it perfectly. Her lips were full and her eyes were a warm chocolate brown. What surprised him was that she wasn't wearing little to no was beautiful, he wondered why a girl like her didn't have boyfriends or worse husband. Wait did he saw worse?
"Your welcome." he said.
"Bella this is Edward," Alice said. "My older brother I told you about."
She smiled politely. "Hi, Bella Swan."
"Pleased to meet you."
"Don't forget about other best friend over here."
"Oh," Bella looked over my shoulder and smiled big. "Hey Jake."
White hot anger burst through me. No not anger, jealousy. I tried to contain it and keep a blank expression but Emmett caught a glance of it and a smirk grew on his face that he tried to hide but was failing. I put the grocery bag in the kitchen and rejoined everyone in the living room. There Carlisle was hugging my team. He came over to me last and hugged me tight.
"Nice to see you again Edward."
"You too Dad." I said.
"Alice go upstairs and change before everyone arrives dear. They are actually late." Esme said checking the clock on the wall.
"Come on Bella I have a dress you can wear!" Alice said.
"No thanks I'm good."
"Too bad you are coming with me. Rose can you help me?" Alice said.
"Of course let's go."
The girls went upstairs with a struggling Bella. As soon as she turned the corner Emmett tackled me.
"Oh man I saw it in your eyes man! You're in love!"
"Quiet down!" I said.
"Edward finally got himself a girl."
"We just met. I don't even know if she likes me."
"Trust us on this man."
"Whatever."
"I have your clothes in each of you guys rooms. It's a formal party so no complaining." Esme said.
"Yes Mom." I said.
"The rest of you I got your clothes right here." she said.
I walked upstairs and into my old room. Nothing in there had been touched from since the last time I was here. My queen sized bed was still neat and my bookshelves still contained my odd assortment of books. My sheet music was still on my nightstand next to my bed and my closet still organized. I looked behind me to make sure no one was looking and went underneath my bed. I looked up and all my guns were still there.
My pistols, my rifle and a sniper still in good condition. My ammo box I knew was stored in a shoebox in my closet. The sniper looked quite dusty and dirty so I pulled it out and set it on my bed. I would have to clean it sometime today. I looked on the other side of my bed and found my clothes for today carefully laid out. I could tell Esme pulled it from Carlisle's stash not having time to buy me a new one. It was a classic black suit with a white tie. I guess Mom knew I like the classic kind of stuff.
I quickly changed into my suit and put the sniper back. I would have to clean it later. I walked out of my room and joined up with Jasper. He was wearing the same suit as me but with a blue tie.
"Blue?"
"Alice's dress is blue. I thought we should match." Jasper said.
I shook my head. "Let's go lover boy."
We walked down the steps and the rest of my team was waiting. Esme came over and fixed my tie which wasn't tied.
"Have you forgotten how to tie a tie?" Esme said.
"I like it when you do it." I said.
"Mama's boy." Emmett joked.
I sent him a glare. "Watch it, Bear"
"Easy Frost." Emmett laughed throwing his hands up.
"Come on boys the parties about to start behave." Esme said.
Everyone started to arrive a few minutes later and Seth got the door for everyone. Girls wearing dresses showing way too much and guys wearing suits without the ties tied correctly. Everyone dug into the little snacks and the refreshments, laughing with friends. He and his team stayed back leaning against the wall watching the party move into the backyard with the makeshift dance floor and the huge cake that said; Happy 21st Birthday Alice!
"Hey it's the birthday girl!" a guy said.
Everyone clapped as she walked down and she smiled. She had a dark blue dress which matched Jasper's tie and her hair was in curls. Which was odd seeing she always had her hair spiky. Jasper pushed himself off of the wall and went right to Alice.
"And there goes Jasper."
"We won't see him for awhile." said Seth.
Rosalie was next and she received more attention from the men. She had a blood red dress that showed enough cleavage to drive any man(except him) crazy. Emmett looked like he was drooling.
"Go get her Emmett, before someone else does." Jacob said.
Emmett went and grabbed Rosalie from the crowd and took her out of his sight.
"Oh hey here comes Bella." Brady said.
He looked up and saw a women that made every other girl in the room look plain. Her dress was white and it went down just past her knees, and it wasn't lacy or showed too much. It was perfect as if the dress was just for her. Her makeup was light, but he knew she was beautiful with or without wore flats and not heels which twinkled from the glitter. She blushed at the attention she was grabbing and tried to get away but many of them were asking for her to dance.
"Go and get her Edward before someone else does." Collin said.
His team pushed him in her direction and he fixed his tie and suit and cut between the men until he reached Bella. They were all trying to win her hand continuously asking for her to dance. Some were trying to grab her arm to pull away but he got there first. He pushed a guy off of her and lead her away.
"Thank you, that was getting out of hand." she said.
"Your welcome. You looked like you needed some military assistance." I joked.
"I told Alice this would happen too."
"Well I could act as your personal bodyguard."
We stood in silence for a minute and I caught in the corner of my eye I see my team looking at me waiting for me to grasp something. I listened closely and noticed the DJ turning up one of my compositions, and Alice gave me the thumbs up. I mentally sighed at their plans but decided to go along with it.
"Would you like to dance?" I asked extending my hand for her to take. She looked at me like I was crazy.
"I can't dance if it was to save my life. I'm very clumsy."
"It's all in the lead." I reassured her.
She hesitantly took my hand which felt like electricity running through my veins, and I lead her to the dance floor. She seemed clueless on what to do so I helped her. I took her right hand and put it on my shoulder and grasped her left hand. I put my left hand on her waist which thankfully didn't bother her.
We began to dance and I had to on numerous times make sure she didn't fall. Thank God she wasn't wearing heels it would have been much worse.
"So how long have you been in the military?" she asked.
"Six years."
"How old are you now?" she asked.
"Don't you know it's rude to ask someone their age?" he said with a slight tone of humor in his voice.
She blushed. "I'm curious."
"24. I enlisted right at 18." I said.
"Wow." she said.
It was silent for a minute and we continued to dance.
"A guy on your team said you're the best sniper? I think it was Seth?"
"Seth was exaggerating, but yeah I am one of the best. It's the only thing I can do well."
"I doubt it." she muttered.
"Why do you think otherwise?" I asked. I smiled and she seemed dazed for a moment.
"Um... I mean you are the Captain right? You need to be flexible." she said.
"Hmm. You're right. I do know how to use all of the guns but that's about it. That's why we have teams. A different person specializes in something different."
"Oh."
The song ended and we stopped dancing.
"That was fun thank you." she said.
"You're very welcome." I said.
It was getting late and the air was getting colder by the minute. Before Bella could get cold he took off his jacket and placed it on her shoulders.
"That's very cliche." she commented.
"Well I like being cliche sometimes." I smiled.
"Hey Frost! Get over here man!" Jasper called.
"In a minute!" I yelled back.
"Frost?" she asked.
"My codename in battle. When something's serious we normally call each other by our codenames. So let me go see what they want."
"Alright soldier." she said. She tried to give me back my jacket but I pushed her hand away.
"Keep it. I'll come back to get it from you later." I said.
She blushed and I walked over to my team to see why they would interrupt a perfect moment with a perfect girl.