A/N: So, this has difinitely been my favorite chapter to write so far, although I'm not quite done with the next chapter, which will also be quite good. I really really hope everyone enjoys this chapter, because it's probably my favorite.

I've had this chapter written (as in completely finished) for about six days now and I feel like I've almost rewritten it with all my editing.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Bringgggg Bringgggggg Bringggggg

Gabriella rolled onto her side. There was an obnoxious buzzing, that vaguely reminded her of an alarm clock, coming from her bedside table.

Bringgggg

Knowing it wasn't her alarm clock ringing at 2:04 A.M., she sighed. It was her damn phone. Who the hell was calling her at this time? She hadn't even been asleep for three hours yet.

Bringgggg

She picked up her phone, but didn't recognize the number. Hoping that it wasn't a prank call from someone, she reluctantly answered her phone. "Hello?"

She could hear the sound of boots clomping on the floor from wherever this mystery person was calling her. The phone sounded static.

"Ella?" Hearing the simple response, she immediately felt her eyes gloss over. There was only one person in the world that called her Ella. That particular person happened to be her fiancé who was half way across the world.

"Troy? Baby, is that you?" Gabriella called back into the phone, hoping desperately that this wasn't a dream.

"Yeah, it is me baby. Merry Christmas." She let a tear slip down her cheek. It was him. He was calling her on Christmas morning.

"Merry Christmas to you too Troy." Gabriella didn't know what to say. She rarely received phone calls from him. "How are you?"

"I'm good. How about you? Are you in Albuquerque?" Gabriella had learned early on that when he called he wanted information about her and his family. He was able to write her letters almost every week, but he only received information on her whenever he was able to call, which was at most once every two months.

"Yeah, there was a big snow storm and I left Denver early." Gabriella tried desperately to shake off her tiredness.

"What have you been doing at home? Have you seen my family?" Troy had missed so much. He had no clue what Gabriella and his family had been up to. Last time he had been able to talk to Gabriella, Matt's wife was about to have his first child.

"I've been spending a lot of time with your family. I had dinner at their house on the twentieth. I got to see Matt's daughter, Sophia, for the first time and then I took Liam shopping for Christmas presents a few days ago." Gabriella would be his only information source. He had no idea on how out of touch he would be, not only with her, but the whole world.

"Really? I'm kind of shocked that Liam would want you to take him shopping." Troy chuckled, his oldest brother had a kid and his youngest brother was now thirteen. A lot had changed since he left.

"We all were. He misses you a lot Troy. We all do." Gabriella pulled her legs up to her chest. She appreciated being able to talk to him, but it was always difficult and she would inevitably have a breakdown every time he called.

"I miss you all too. You have no clue how much I miss you and my family." Troy paused for a second. "I love you Ella."

"I love you too Troy." Gabriella freely let the tears flow down her cheeks.

"Have you opened my present yet?" Troy wanted to know if his fiancé had opened his heartfelt letter and present he had requested his mother to get.

"No, I am going over to your parent's house tomorrow. I'll open it then." Gabriella smiled. He was quite possibly the sweetest man in the world. Even though he was struggling to stay alive, he wanted to get her something for Christmas.

"How is everyone? When was Matt's daughter born? Does Mason have a girlfriend yet?"

"They're doing fine. Sophia is three months old. She's adorable; she has Matt's blue eyes and Julia's blond hair. And yes, Mason has a girlfriend, they have been together a few months now." The separation between the two was becoming unbearable. "Your Mom and Coach are as adorable as ever."

"How's your mom doing?" Troy wanted every detail about everyone.

"Well, Mom has a new boyfriend."

"You're kidding! She finally has a boyfriend? What's his name? Have you met him yet?" Troy knew that since Maria's divorce, she hadn't really had a consistent boyfriend.

"His name is Marcus. He is tall and handsome and I meet him this week. He fixed up Mom's patio and mows the lawn. Better step up your game Bolton." Gabriella giggled, of course Troy had nothing to worry about.

"Well, you better stay away from Mr. Tall and Handsome otherwise I'll have to hunt him down." Troy paused for a second. "So, what have you been doing the last few months? Anything exciting?"

"Just working mostly. I've gotten a lot of cases these past few months. I've won all of them." Gabriella didn't like talking too much about herself during these conversations. She knew Troy would be disappointed at how much time she had spent missing him.

"That's great Ella." Gabriella could almost hear him smiling through the phone. "I'm so proud of you. I knew moving to Denver would be the right choice."

"You are always right Troy." Gabriella wasn't going to deny that Troy was her voice of reason. "I'm proud of you though. You give me strength to make it through the day. You inspire me so much, I want you to know that."

"Ella, I have to tell you something." Troy paused, the smile spreading on his face. He had had a wonderful few days.

"What is it Troy?" Gabriella was curious as to what he was going to say.

"Guess where I am?" He had had an interesting few days. A lot of flying and a few scary moments. Now though, he was in a better place than he'd been in a long time.

"Where?" Gabriella heart stopped. Was he injured? Was he in a hospital in another country?

"I am currently in Germany." Troy smirked. She wouldn't be expecting that. She was about to receive the best Christmas present she would ever get.

"What? Why are you in Germany? Is everything okay?" Gabriella was now even more curious in where this was leading.

"Well, we left Afghanistan a few days ago. It took a few days to get out and we had a few difficult places to fly over. We needed to stop here to switch planes before we continue, I'll be here for two days." Troy was skittering around the point he was trying to make.

"Well, where are you going?" Gabriella still wasn't catching on.

For such a smart person, she could be really dumb sometimes, Troy thought. Maybe she was tired. "I'm coming home, Ella. For good. I should be arriving in Denver in three days."

"Oh my God! If you are messing with me you are going to be dead Bolton!" Gabriella didn't know what to say. Of course she was excited, the news just hadn't registered in her brain yet. He was coming home? In three days? How was that possible? Weren't they supposed to notify you in advanced before soldiers came home?

"I'm not kidding Ella. I'm coming home." Troy had been in complete shock over the news too. It wasn't common that something like this happened. Most soldiers were notified about a month in advanced before they would be leaving. Troy had been located in one of the worst parts of Afghanistan. He was one of the stronger men drafted into the war and had been placed in a very strong regiment. After a year and a half of fighting, they were all becoming exhausted and were running out of supplies. A new regiment had been flown in to replace them with only a few days warning. They had flown out of Afghanistan and were staying at a base in Germany until they could switch into a more adequate airplane that would fly them to New York City, where they would once again switch planes that would bring them to their hometowns.

Even more tears were flowing down Gabriella's face. "You are coming home," Gabriella stated. That was a sentence she had wanted to say for eighteen long months.

Troy chuckled. This was a large shock for both of them. "I'm coming home."

"This is the best news I've ever gotten Troy." It was. This Christmas would certainly be one to remember.

"I know, it is the best news I've ever gotten too." There was a natural pause. "Just think, three days and I'll be home with you."

"I love you Troy." Gabriella didn't know what to say.

"I love you too Ella." Once again it fell silent.

Then, all of a sudden, it hit her. She squealed for what was probably the first time since she was a teenager

On the other side of the ocean Troy laughed for one of the first times in a year in a half. It was real now; he was going to be home with his Ella in a mere three days. Sure, he wasn't home for Christmas, but it was close.

Gabriella's mother had heard her screaming. Running to her daughter's bedroom she expected something awful to be happening. She could hear pounding on the floor. As she opened the door, preparing herself for the worst, she saw Gabriella jumping up and down in a sweatshirt and shorts with her hand held up to her ear, a phone encased in it.

"Gabi, you scared me. I thought something bad happened." Maria placed her hand on her heart, seeing that her daughter was okay.

"Mama! Guess what! Guess what!" Gabriella was still on the phone with Troy but she couldn't contain her excitement.

"What honey?" Maria had an inkling that she knew what was going on.

"Troy is coming home! In three days Mama!" Gabriella had the largest smile she had ever had on her face. Her mother walked towards her and hugged her.

"Is that him on the phone?" Maria asked. It was either Troy or somebody informing them of Troy's homecoming. She assumed it was Troy, considering there was a large time difference and it was later in the day wherever he was.

"Yeah, it's him." Gabriella then realized that she had just squealed in his ear. "Troy, baby I'm sorry for screaming in your ear."

"It's fine Ella." Troy had jumped hearing the loud pitched noise and had no clue Gabriella was capable of producing the sound he'd heard.

"How much time do you have left?" Gabriella knew that when Troy's regiment received a cell phone, they all had to share the time evenly and their conversations were generally short and rushed.

"I'm using a phone at the base. I've got as much time as I want." They could talk for hours if they wanted to, and they probably would.

"Perfect."


Gabriella and Maria pulled up the Bolton's driveway, once again. Gabriella was resting her head on the window with a smile on her face. She'd been up until five o'clock that morning talking to Troy. Gabriella and her mother had spent the morning exchanging gifts and talking about Troy's return to the United States. There was so much to be done that Gabriella had never thought about. She would need to drive back to Denver, go grocery shopping, clean the apartment, and she wanted to get Troy a Christmas and welcome home present. And what about all the stuff she'd have to get for Troy? What if his clothes didn't fit? He probably gained a lot of muscle and maybe his shirts would be too small. He would need new boxers too; they'd been sitting in their closet for a year and a half. Then what would she wear when he got home? She knew it didn't really matter, but she wanted to look good for him and she would have to get some sexy lingerie too. She couldn't deny, without anyone to impress, her collection of undergarments had become a lot less interesting. Then, she would need to get condoms and go see her gynecologist so she could start birth control again. Which lead her to think that Troy would need to renew his driver's license and he'd need a cell phone. She would also have to call the school Troy had worked at to inform them he was coming home. Under law, they had to leave his position open for him, but who knew when he would be able to start again? It was winter break, would she be able to contact the school board or even the principal? And really, she would only have one day to get everything done considering that she was going to stay in Albuquerque today for Christmas and tomorrow her time would be consumed with driving.

But right now, what she had to do was tell the Bolton's that Troy was coming home.

Taking a deep breath before walking into the Bolton household, Gabriella tried to repress the smile that had been taking over her face.

"Come on Gabi, let's go in." Her mother knew how Gabriella was feeling. There was a lot going through her brain at the moment.

"Maria! Gabi! You're here!" Mason yelled as he walked down the stairs. Gabriella could see a longhaired brunette behind him. "This is my girlfriend, Mari. Mari, my future sister-in-law and her mother."

"Nice to meet you. I would shake your hand but I've got to put these presents down first." Gabriella greeted. Mason stared at her, she was in an unusually good mood.

"Nice to meet you too." Mari spoke quietly. All these Bolton men were sure attracted to quiet girls. Gabriella must have set a standard for all of them.

"Well, Mari just came over so we could exchange gifts. She has to go back to her house now." Mason didn't want to rush her, Mari really did have to go.

"Well, it was nice to meet you. Maybe I'll see you around." Gabriella and Maria continued into the living room while Mason walked his girlfriend out.

"Hey everybody!" Gabriella exclaimed when she saw the whole Bolton family sitting in the living room with the exception of Mason. They were sitting on different couches and chairs with various opened presents on the ground.

Jack stood up and hugged her first. "Well, you seem awfully happy today."

"Well, once Mason gets in here I have to tell you about our present." Gabriella winked at him. That was as much information as he was going to get.

"Our present?" Lucille questioned. What on earth were they all going to get?

"Yep, our present." Gabriella answered.

Mason walked into the room and sat down. Gabriella continued standing in the middle of the room. Maria sat down next to Lucille and squeezed her hand and smiled. She felt like she was part of the family, and hopefully she would be part of the family very soon.

"So, this morning Troy called me at 2:04." Gabriella continued, "He's going to call us soon."

"Really? He got enough phone time to call us now?" Lucille was excited. Gabriella had been the one to receive all of Troy's phone calls and now she was excited to be able to talk to her son.

"Yes, he-" At that moment, Gabriella's phone began to ring. Answering it as quickly as possible she shared a few quick words with Troy and the Bolton's were wondering what they were conversing about. "Yeah, I'll put them on speaker phone."

Hearing this, everyone huddled in a circle around Gabriella's phone. She put it on speaker and soon enough they heard Troy speak. "Hello? Am I on speaker?"

"Troy!" He heard his mother first. Just like when he was talking to Gabriella, he could feel his eyes gloss over. He didn't realize how much he missed them until he heard his family's voice.

"Hey Mom. How are you? How is everyone?" He continued. Gabriella and him decided he would break the news over the phone.

"We're good honey, we're good. How are you?" Lucille wanted to know her son was safe.

"I'm good Ma. Really good." He smiled. He'd missed his mom so much. "Who else is on the phone?"

"We're all here Troy." Jack spoke up. He was getting a tad bit emotional speaking to his son for the first time in eighteen months.

"Hi Dad." Troy didn't call him dad all that often. Ever since high school, he had begun to call him coach. After a year of them dating, Gabriella also began to call him that. Gabriella and his father shared somewhat of a fatherly connection, so by calling him 'coach' Gabriella felt like part of the family without having to call him Jack or dad. "Hello everyone."

Finally his siblings pitched in with various "Hey Troy's" and "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too everyone." This was the next best thing to being home for Christmas but he knew he'd be home very soon. "Should I tell them now Ella?"

"If you want to Troy." Troy wanted to tell them, and Gabriella was going to let him tell them whenever he wanted to.

"So, Gabriella and I decided that we want to get married in Albuquerque at that little church." Everyone was confused at this statement.

"Well, that's great honey." Lucille spoke to him and looked at Gabriella with her eyebrows scrunched together. "We can't wait."

"Thanks Ma." Troy slightly laughed. They were disappointed. "We were thinking about getting married kind of soon."

Everyone was silent. Why was he telling them this? Did Gabriella and him seriously make wedding plans while Troy was at war over the telephone?

Not hearing any comments to this statement, he continued. "Because I'm coming home in three days."

Everyone's mouths dropped. They certainly weren't expecting that. Lucille was the first one that let the tears fall down her face.

"Oh my, Troy." That was all Lucille could say.

"You're serious Troy?" Liam questioned.

"I'm serious Liam." Troy paused, "At least I think it's Liam."

"It's Liam, Troy." Liam replied laughing. Troy could still recognize his voice. "I miss you."

"I miss you too Liam. I miss all of you." Troy let the tears roll down his face. He was crying twice in one day.

"We all miss you too, Troy. We love you too." Matt spoke up. Tears were in his eyes but he refused to let them fall. He too, like Liam, regret picking on Troy so much in his younger years and was afraid he wouldn't have time to make it up.

"I love you guys too. I can't wait to see you all." It was all becoming so much more real. His parents and Gabriella knew. He was a little apprehensive about going home though. There was a lot he would have to do to get back into the swing of things.


Tears had been shared and they'd talked to Troy for about an hour before hanging up. They ate dinner and were now opening presents.

The Bolton's had opened each other's gifts that morning but had decided on waiting to open their letters from Troy until Gabriella and Maria got there. So far they had opened various video games, movies, and clothing items. Lucille stood up and went to grab the envelopes she had sealed that held various letter portions Troy had written. Handing one to each of her children, and a small box to Gabriella, she sat down next to her husband who put his arm around her and kissed her forehead. They decided to work their way through the Bolton's first. The letters were sweet and mostly consisted of funny childhood memories and mentions of how he missed each individual in a certain way. Gabriella was the last person to open her letter. She gently pulled the envelope off the top of the small box. Ripping it open, she unfolded the letter and began to read it.

Dear Ella,

Where do I start? There is so much I want to say to you. I should probably start out by saying I miss you. I would say that you have no idea how much I miss you, but you do. You know exactly how much I miss you, because I know you miss me just as much.

Having said that, there's so much that I miss about you. I miss sleeping next to you. I miss it when you hog the covers and I have to cuddle closer to you to keep warm at night. I miss kissing you before we leave for work. I miss how you would make me a salad for lunch like you have done since high school because you claimed a growing man needed to eat something healthy. I miss holding your hand. I miss hearing you giggle when I talk about my day while we eat dinner. I miss watching you fidget with your engagement ring when you got bored. I miss giving you a shoulder massage after a long day at work. I miss the way you would wrap your arm across my stomach and run your hand lightly up and down my side after we made love. I miss the scar on the left side of your back. I miss things I never thought I would. I miss everything about you Ella.

The second thing I want to say is that I love you. Words cannot express how much I love you, as cliché as it is. I want you to know that I love you more than anything else in the world and that I am going to marry you and we are going to have kids and live happily ever after.

I feel like I don't have any memories of the time before I meet you. You have shaped my life in so many ways. Whether you deny this or not, you make me a better person Ella. Life without you simply isn't a life worth living. I did not realize how dependent I am on you until I left Ella. I hope you know I never intend on leaving you ever again.

I've never told you this but I want to tell you about the first time I knew that I loved you. I was sixteen and you were fifteen. It was a few months before our first kiss. It was the first week of summer after our sophomore year of high school. We were sitting in my basement while my parent's were at one of my brother's soccer games and Matt was out with his friends partying after their final year of high school. You had convinced me to watch Friends with you. Again. I had ordered a pizza for us, pepperoni with sausage of course, that you refused to eat. For the first time, you confided in me that you didn't feel beautiful. Ella, that broke my heart. Watching you cry about how you didn't feel skinny enough and that your ex-boyfriend, and some other girls at school, had dropped some not so subtle hints about your body was one of the saddest things I'd ever seen. You told me that you wanted to throw up every time you looked at food and that you had only eaten grapes for the past three days. My heart was tearing listening to you. You were my best friend and seeing you hurt, made me hurt. I never thought such a confident person like you could feel that way, and I didn't understand Ella, I couldn't understand how you were feeling. I looked at you for inspiration. You were the most beautiful person I had ever meet, inside and out, and here you were, crying to me and begging me to help you. I wanted to take your pain away Ella, I really did. I would do anything to make you happy. I would take your pain and suffer for you any day. At that moment, I realized that I felt the need to protect you. I felt like I couldn't let anyone hurt you, because it hurt me too. I realized that I needed you to be happy, so that I could allow myself to be happy. It was my duty to make sure you were happy. At that moment, I looked in your crying eyes. The tears needed to stop, you were going to make me cry. There was nothing I could do to magically take the pain away. Then it hit me, I loved you. I never wanted you to be sad, I wanted to be your shoulder to cry on, I wanted to kiss you, I wanted to hold you, and I wanted to see you every single day of my life. At that moment in time, I realized that I couldn't see my future without you. I picked you up and held you in my arms and I told you everything would be okay, no matter what. I was going to do whatever it took to make you happy. To this day, I want to make you happy no matter what and hopefully I have succeeded. You are the most beautiful girl in the world Ella. I don't know how many times I have to say that until you will believe it, but you are and I don't want you to ever forget it. I admire you and aspire to be as good of a person as you are.

I would like you to open your present now. It's nothing special, I know, but I felt that I couldn't get you anything that would live up to this letter and I know that we didn't have these at home when I left. Hopefully we can use them when I get home. I hope you know that I love you and there isn't a second that goes by that I don't think about you.

Love,

Troy

She didn't want the letter to end. Looking up, she hadn't realized that all of the Bolton's, except for Lucille, had left and it was just her mother, Lucille, and her in the living room. Her mom had put her arm around her sometime during the letter. Gabriella handed the letter to her mother so that Lucille and her could read it. She looked down at the box that sat in her lap. It was larger than what a jewelry box could be, but smaller than a box that would contain a sweatshirt or sweater.

She took the ribbon off the box and started to tear the wrapping paper. Taking the lid off the box she began to sift through the wrapping paper. First she took out the DVD set of the first season of Friends. She smiled; they would definitely have to watch some episodes when he came back. The next thing she unwrapped was their kindergarten nametags. She couldn't believe that their mothers had found them. Then there was a box of microwave popcorn. They'd had many movie nights at which they had consistently burnt microwave popcorn and when they had moved in together nothing had changed. Finally, she found a picture from the night they'd had their first kiss, later that summer. Overall, the present seemed to be nothing spectacular to an outsider, but Troy had successfully managed to squeeze the moment they met, the moment they got together, and something that had consistently been in their life. It meant the world to her, considering there was an ocean between them.

Oh, how she loved him.


A/N: So I'm kinda nervous about people thinking that this story will be over soon, but it shouldn't be. I have approximately ten chapters plus an epilog planned for this story right now. Things might change, but that is my plan so far.

Also, I did some research for this chapter and I tried to mend some real army facts with the actual story that took place during the Vietnam war. If there is any incorrect information feel free to let me know! I don't know much about soldiers coming home from war and it is kind of hard to find information on the internet.