Un-betad

Characters aren't mine, that is all.

Word Prompt: humble

Word Prompts: Humble

The next day was agony even though my dad took me and my mom to the Opry Mills Mall in Nashville. My cell phone stayed glued to my hip, but it didn't ring no matter how much I willed it to. I wasn't sure how long this blackout would last, but I hoped Edward would call me as soon as he could…I missed his voice.

I stayed a few steps behind my parents as they walked happily hand-in-hand through the mall and into different shops. It wasn't that I didn't want to smile; it was that I lacked the reason to smile. In my heart, I was incredibly thankful that it wasn't Edward, but I felt equally guilty that it was someone else…someone Edward knew, maybe even someone I knew. Everyone that I had officially met were single, and I knew my mom hadn't been called up for a care team, but that just may have been because my dad was home.

Regardless, as time went on my nerves went up. After the second night, I wondered if Edward wasn't calling on purpose. Maybe he had seen too much or didn't want to talk to me, and after a brief call to Alice I knew he hadn't called home either. My mom tried to warn me that blackouts could take a while, but I was growing more impatient by the hour.

My dad was packing his freshly cleaned uniforms to make the trip back over, and I still hadn't heard from Edward. I pleaded with my dad earlier to find out if the blackout had been lifted. I felt a little less than humble begging my dad for information, but he told me that it had, but only a matter of hours prior which left me hopeful that Edward would call that night. When he didn't I was devastated, especially after hugging my father goodbye as my mom drove him to the airport. They offered to let me come, but I said no…I wanted to be alone, and they deserved some time alone. Everywhere we'd gone the past two weeks, I had been in-toe constantly, and I was sure they would breathe a little easier knowing I was safely tucked away at home.

I wanted to wait for my mom to come back, even though it would be well after midnight, I stayed up, popped some popcorn and grabbed the remote. The show 'Army Wives' had just started, and I grunted before changing the channel. I had never seen a show screw up our lives any worse than that one. When I got to the movie channels and saw 'We Were Soldiers,' I huffed and kept searching. I eventually settled on a Harry Potter re-run while I forced myself to eat the butter coated popcorn.

My eyes felt tired and my brain was so fried I almost missed when my cell phone went off. At first, it was like I was daydreaming, and then I realized it was really ringing. What was left of my popcorn bowl went flying as I jumped for my phone on the table.

"Hello?" I rushed quickly praying I hadn't missed him.

"Bella," Edward's voice was quiet and filled with sadness. I fought with the remote to turn off the movie so I could focus solely on Edward. "I'm sorry I couldn't call, I assume you know."

"I know something happened, but they haven't released any details or who. It hadn't been the seventy-two hours yet," I explained, and I heard a sigh. "I'm here, whatever you want to talk about, I'm here to listen."

Part of me wanted to jump through the phone and just hold him, but I knew I couldn't…like I equally knew I couldn't push him to talk either.

"Can we just talk about how you've been? I just got out with the chaplain, and I don't want to talk anymore right now. Guard is a little messed up right now, so my shifts aren't like they were before, but I had a few minutes and…" Edward's voice trailed on, as my heart broke. "I shouldn't be burdening you with this, I'm sorry, tell me how your day has been."

"Miserable until you called," I replied honestly. "And, you're not a burden, nor will you ever become one. I'm here through it all, I swear that to you, but since you asked it's been busy. My dad is gone now, but we spent the last few days going everywhere and more. We were in Nashville at the mall and every time I saw the words Opry Mills I thought of you. I've missed you, Edward."

"I'm kinda relieved to hear you say that and words can't describe how much I've missed talking to you. You've kept me grounded I think, more than anything else, and it was agony not being able to talk to you. I'm glad you had fun with your dad home though," he replied.

"I can't wait for Texas," I cheered enthusiastically with as much happiness as I could muster. "There was something I wanted to say though, and I was waiting for Texas to tell you, but, well, I just don't want to wait anymore okay?"

"Bella, whatever it is, it can't be worse than the things swimming in my head," Edward said sadly, and I realized I had set myself up in the most horrible of ways.

"Edward, it's not bad, I swear it. I just want you to know that I've fallen for you…hard. I know we said we'd do the whole close friends thing or be casual until we could figure this all out, but Edward, I love you. I didn't want another day to pass without you knowing that," I informed him sincerely, but when the line went quiet I got scared. I wasn't expecting to hear it back or need some sort of an explanation; I just needed him to know where I stood.

"Wow," Edward whispered quietly. "I love you, too. I have for a while; I just didn't want to rush things."

"Don't you know the Army's motto? Hurry up and wait," I teased, and I heard him chuckle.

"Bella, I probably won't be the same person you knew before, at least, that is what the Chaplain said I should warn you about," Edward started, but I quickly interjected.

"I know that. I know I've never been like the spouse of a deployed soldier before, but my dad isn't the same. He's never the same, but it doesn't make you bad, I promise I'm here, you're not going to scare me off. I just wish I knew who it was," I pushed gently.

"Do you remember the bowling alley?" he asked, and I made a noise so he knew I did. "It was Mc, um, you knew him as Emmett. He had just gotten into the guard tower with Stevens and the RPG flew out of nowhere. Stevens was thrown with the blast, but he'll be okay, but Mc didn't make it." The entire time Edward spoke I willed myself not to cry, because I didn't want him to hear my tears. Chills ran up and down my spine as I imagined Edward in a guard tower every night and the weapons that could throw at him, and the images of a happy go-lucky guy for joking with me as I bombed at bowling. Emmett didn't deserve to die, he had barely anytime to live, and I prayed for his family. His parents weren't listed in my binder so I wondered what family he had left. "We've been working on rebuilding and amping security, but it's been hard. His memorial was this morning."

"I'm so sorry," I whispered as silent tears fell down my cheeks.

"Bella, I don't want to leave things like this, but I'm being called. I promise to call again the second I have time. I love you, and if you can could you shoot my parents a text letting them know I'll call in a few days. Our downtime has been cut in half right now, so it could take me a few days to find the time, but I swear to you I'll call later today."

"I will, I promise," I swore even though I wanted to tell him to call his parents first because they were his family. However, I was too selfish, so after another round of 'I love you's,' we hung up, and I sent a text to Alice. I figured it was too late to call, but when my phone rang a few seconds later I was surprised to hear Edward's dad on the other line.

"Bella, is it too late?" Carlisle asked, but I immediately told him no. "Okay, good, I'm sorry, Alice came straight down when she heard from you and, well, how is he?"

"He's okay, upset, but okay. He lost one of his friends and that is never easy, but he sounded mostly like himself," I answered as honestly as I could without causing them to worry too much.

"Good, I'm glad he's okay, but he must be devastated to lose a friend. I never wished for him to have this life," he muttered the last part into the phone, and I was pretty sure he didn't intend for me to hear it.

"It'll be okay it just may take some time. This just happened, and he'll need time to process. Plus, he'll be coming home soon, so he'll have a break from it all," I said in an attempts to cheer his dad up.

"Yes, speaking of, did you have an idea on what date you wanted to fly in? Edward said he should be home by the middle of the month," his voice trailed on.

"I wasn't really sure to be honest, I mean, I don't want to be intrusive so whenever you'd like me to come is fine," I replied honestly.

"Oh, Bella, you're not going to be intrusive. In fact, Esme and I were just talking about seeing if you wanted to come up around the tenth so you can be there at the airport with us to pick him up. I mean, you may have to hang around the house with Alice for a few days before he gets here, but he told me to arrange all the travel," his dad went on, and I nodded my head to no one. This was the first piece of good news I'd had in a while.

"That actually sounds perfect, I know Edward said he would cover it all, but I have money and…"

"No, it's actually on us, though Edward told me to use his account, I won't be. Please, we owe him back more than you probably know, so let us do this," I could hear the pleading tone so I decided to drop it. I'd just have to find a way to do something for them while I was there, but I hung up with Carlisle after he explained that he'd start scouting out tickets for me to fly into Dallas. From there, they'd pick me up, and hopefully pick up Edward sometime after.

Of course, that was the plan.

What is a care team? It's a group of spouses, from another unit, that come in after a casualty notification to help behind the scenes. They'll work out childcare issues, meals, cleaning, phone calls...etc. Basically, anything the family needs that they shouldn't have to focus on.

Will Edward be okay? Of course, and I know plenty of soldiers who are okay even after multiple deployments. To the person who asked if I believed in HEAs? As long as they fit the story, yes, and in this case, I see no reason why E&B won't have one ;p

The Army has several unofficial mottos from "Hurry up and wait" to "If you think you've gotten it figured out, the Army will change it on you." That's my personal favorite right now, and something the Cullen's are about to learn first hand! Hehe it'll go along with a funny story for tomorrow' a/n!

If you're sick of hearing me say I'm tired, excuse the errors, I'm sorry-I genuinely am, and I still have to do minutes for a meeting...see where my priorities lay? LOL See ya tomorrow!