She looked at the pin on her blouse for what seemed the hundredth time and smiled.

It wasn't the same thing as an engagement ring, but that would have been a little premature seeing as how Ann wasn't exactly sure how Danny felt about her. She knew he cared deeply, of that she had no doubt because he let her know in so many different ways.

Whether it was dinner and a movie or a walk on the beach, her hand was rarely out of his grasp and if it was she was never far from his side. There wasn't anything that he didn't tell her or that he didn't want her to see and she became a familiar sight at the base, not as Major Walker's daughter but as Lieutenant McCawley's girlfriend.

Since Hank stormed out of her parents house on graduation day a week ago he and Danny still went on their daily runs, but he wasn't talking. She knew Danny felt badly for making Hank angry, but if he and Sarah weren't meant to be together, he needed to face up to that.

Danny was right when he said having Evelyn talk to Sarah would make things worse so she decided to talk to her friend and get her side of things. If she and Danny had a better picture of things maybe they could help after all.

She asked Sarah to meet her at their favorite spot on the beach and when she seemed to hesitate Ann wasn't sure why, but she showed up anyway.

She turned her attention back to a book she'd brought with her while she waited.

"Ann?"

She looked up to see Sarah standing in front of her and not looking too happy. "I'm glad you could make it. Why don't you have a seat?"

Sarah shook her head. "I can't stay too long. Final exams start tomorrow and I need to study."

She had changed in the last few months and Ann missed her friend's bubbly personality. She'd become so serious and Ann knew that she'd been under a lot of pressure during her final semester. That might be why she was seeing something that wasn't there and as Sarah's friend she wanted to help, if she could. "We haven't spent a lot of time together since Christmas and I was just wondering how you were doing."

"I'm fine, just really busy." Her answer was clipped.

"I understand. My last semester at Pearl High was busy too." Sarah's silence was uncharacteristic and as she put her book down Ann tried not to sigh.

"I see that Danny gave you his pin." She finally commented and her tone was flat. "I heard him talking to Dad about it."

She nodded with a smile and decided to dive in. "Last Saturday after I graduated. He brought me down here to give it to me and to talk about the situation between you and Hank."

"It's none of your business."

"You're right, it isn't. But we've always talked to each other about everything and you were the one who kept trying to push Danny and me together. And that wasn't really your call to make."

Sarah nodded. "That's true, but I wanted my brother to have a chance with someone who didn't treat him the way Caroline did and you fit the bill."

"You didn't like the way she treated Danny, so why are you treating Hank the way you are? He's hurt and confused because he feels that something has changed and he doesn't know why. What's changed so much that you're pushing him away?"

"You don't see it because you're too close." Was all she would say.

"Too close to what?"

"Ever since she came here, things have changed. Hank's been distracted and she's been monopolizing your time." Sarah told her.

Evelyn.

"Maybe he seems more distracted because ever since she got here you've been distancing yourself from him." She said gently, hoping that Sarah wouldn't take it as an accusation. "Could it be that you feel threatened by her because she's someone Hank knew before he met you? And just maybe you're giving yourself an out to break up with him before you think he's going to break up with you?"

It was then that Sarah sat down next to her. "She's moved into the lives of two people that mean a lot to me and it seems as though you've chosen her over me."

Ann took the older girl's hand to try and reassure her. "I haven't chosen her over you Sarah, any more than Hank has. She didn't know anyone except for Hank and Danny when she got here and we only got to know each other because we started to talk."

"Danny put her up to it."

"He did and I'm glad he did. I saw something that wasn't there and to hear it from her helped me to see that I was reacting over nothing." She replied honestly. "And along the way I made another friend."

"Hank put you up to this, didn't he?" Sarah frowned at her.

She shook her head. "No one put me up to this. I just don't like seeing either of you unhappy and Evelyn's stuck in the middle of a situation that she shouldn't be in."

"She's so pretty, and so nice."

"And so are you, whether you believe it or not. Hank cares a lot about you and I know you feel the same about him."

"That's what scares me. I care for him a lot and I know that he cares for me but it's not in the same way that he cares for her." Sarah admitted and looked as though she were going to cry.

Could Danny have been right?

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that he lights up like a Christmas tree when ever he sees her and I don't think that he realizes it. She does too and I don't think she realizes it either. They have a way of talking to each other that we don't and he seems so much more comfortable with her than me."

"That comfort probably comes from the fact that they don't have any expectations of each other. Evelyn has made it more than clear that she isn't interested in dating a military man and Hank knows that. He cares what you think and I would imagine that he doesn't want you to think badly of him."

"But if he doesn't feel that he can be himself with me, then what have we got?"

Sarah was right and it meant that she and Hank had to talk to each other. He needed to know what it was that she was feeling and she needed to know if they could weather this together.

"You don't have much if you don't talk." She pointed out quietly. "The one thing Danny and I always do is talk and it keeps misunderstandings from getting blown out of proportion. Sometimes he tells me more than I want to know but it's only because he doesn't want to keep anything from me. And from what Danny told me yesterday Hank has been up front with you about everything."

"He has." She seemed reluctant to admit it.

"Then I think you need to be just as up front with him about what it is you're feeling about him and about the situation with Evelyn. He has the right to know."

"He does."

"He does what?" Hank's voice got Ann to look up and she had never seen him look so tense. She could see that he and Danny were out for their afternoon run and both men looked a little winded. "What do I have the right to know?"

Danny held out his hand to her and she picked up her book and stood up. "Why don't you take my seat Hank? I think I'll take Danny for a walk so he can cool off."

Sarah looked at her as though she'd been set up and wasn't happy about it. "This was your idea."

"It was just a crazy coincidence. Talk to him Sarah, you need to clear the air and it would be better if you did it sooner rather than later." And she took Danny's hand.

"Then you need to stay." Sarah insisted. "You may not have deliberately set this up but since you and my brother are here you can referee."

"Sarah, this is between you and Hank." Danny told her.

"Says the guy who wanted me to spill my guts yesterday." Hank stated with a frown and continued to stand where he was.

"This comes from a guy who wanted every detail of my relationship with Ann and wouldn't clam up until I gave him something." He countered. "Now sit down next to my sister and start talking, the both of you."

Hank glanced at Sarah and sat down next to her. Neither seemed to be willing to start the conversation and Ann looked up at Danny, imploring him to do something and he nodded. "Hank, how do you feel about Sarah?"

"I like her a lot." He was straightforward in his answer.

"Is there anything more to it than that?" Danny continued.

"What are you getting at Dan?"

"It's a simple question." He didn't budge.

Hank looked at Sarah. "I don't know."

He nodded. "Fair enough. You haven't known each other very long and you're still getting to know each other, that's what dating is for. Sarah, how do you feel about Hank?"

"I like him a lot." She repeated his answer.

"Is there anything more to it than that?"

"I don't know." And she glanced at Hank.

"All right, that's a place to start. I guess my next question would be how long do you think it might take for you to figure out if there could be?"

"Not everyone figures things out as fast as you and Ann did." Sarah frowned as well.

"You seem to forget that Ann wasn't part of the mix for awhile, I had to deal with Caroline first." He reminded his sister.

"And you sure took your sweet time about that, McCawley." Hank reminded him and Ann couldn't help but notice that he used Danny's last name instead of calling him Dan.

"That's true. But once I did and once I realized that my feelings for Ann were changing I didn't waste any time in finding out how she felt about me." And he smiled at her.

"Annie?" Sarah looked at her to determine if her brother was exaggerating.

"He didn't waste any time." Hank answered for her. "Dan and I had more than one conversation about it and it seemed that his heart always overruled his head when it came to using his common sense."

She sensed it from the start because his behavior wasn't what she was used to and now she knew why.

"Did you ever have conversations like that with him?" Sarah asked and seemed to brace herself for the answer.

Hank's shoulders slumped forward and he glanced at her. "No. Whenever he asked I always put him off and would tell him that we needed to take care of his situation first."

A weight seemed to settle over the group and Ann knew that something monumentally bad just happened. Danny seemed to realize it too.

"So what do you want to do now?" He asked them.

Sarah looked at the dejected Hank and put her hand on his arm. "I think that you've been lying to yourself about Evelyn because I do think that you're feeling something for her. It's only right that you have the chance to explore that and find out if there's anything to it." And she stood up. "I won't play second fiddle to someone because of some misguided sense of loyalty you may feel for me. So I'm letting you go so that you can figure out what it is that you feel for me or for her." And without another word she turned up the beach and started to walk away.

Hank stood up and called to her. "That's not fair! You make a decision like that and then just try and walk away? Don't I have any say in this?"

She stopped and turned around. "Tell me that it doesn't mean anything when you run into her at the beach or around the base. Tell me that when you see me, you feel the same way." His hesitation seemed to confirm her fears. "Tell me that if you kissed her it wouldn't mean more than when you kiss me."

"I've never touched her Sarah and she's made it clear as crystal that she doesn't have any interest in me. What more do I have to say?" His frustration was evident and Ann knew that there wasn't anything she could do to help.

"That's not the point. Feelings change Hank, just look at Danny and Ann. It took him going away to school to get him to see her differently and if you'd asked either one of them a year ago if their feelings for each other could change they would have denied it."

"So I'm being punished for something that hasn't happened."

"It hasn't happened because we're still together. If you don't have that to worry about then you don't have to feel guilty if something does happen." She sounded so reasonable and Ann wondered if she hadn't been thinking about it for a long while.

"So that's it? I don't have anything to say about this?" He asked her and it sounded as though he were about to lose his composure.

"You can say goodbye." She answered him quietly, turned back around and walked away.

"This is your fault McCawley." Hank said without turning around to face Danny. "If you had just left well enough alone we would have figured it out."

"What you would have done is become more unhappy because the both of you would have continued to refuse to talk things out." He countered. "You weren't doing much of that until today and it seems to me that Sarah's done a lot of thinking about this."

"Then why didn't she tell me about it before today?" Hank asked, but still kept his back to them.

"I don't know Hank. Maybe she felt she couldn't, or wasn't ready to." Danny offered. "Maybe she's willing to see what might be there between Evelyn and you even if you're not."

"That's the second time you've brought it up and I wish you'd let it go. You know how she feels about guys in the service and here you are trying to push us together."

"I'm not trying to do that and you know it. We went through four years of the Academy together and you're the best friend I've ever had. I love my sister and want her to be happy but it was becoming pretty obvious that there was something missing with you two but it wasn't my place to say anything. I was hoping that it was just a matter of adjustment."

Hank finally turned around and looked at Ann. "What do you think about all this?"

"It sounds to me as though she put a lot of thought into everything she said. I think she also sees that it might not be meant for two of you to be together, but I don't think she believes it's specifically because of Evelyn. If Evelyn had never come here and things still weren't right with you, there would have been something else that brought her to her decision." She said honestly.

"Annie, are you happy? Do you know in your heart that you're with the right guy?"

She nodded. "I'm very happy and I do feel that I'm with the right man."

He cracked a smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "That would make sense since you're wearing his Academy pin."

"Did you ever consider giving your pin to Sarah?" Ann asked gingerly.

Hank shook his head. "I'm embarrassed to say it, but it never occurred to me."

"That's not something to be embarrassed about Hank. You know as well as I do that giving a girl our pin is a big deal and if you never thought to give it to Sarah there's a reason for that." He sounded so matter of fact about it and Ann couldn't help but feel bad for Sarah.

"I know."

"Are you going to be all right?" Danny asked.

"I need a beer." He said to no one in particular and started to walk.

Ann nudged Danny forward. "He shouldn't drink alone. If you're there with him he won't over do it."

"I think he needs some time alone to absorb all this." Danny looked a little doubtful.

"Yes he does, but not now. He's confused, he's hurt and I think that he's probably scared. If he does have feelings for Evelyn and she doesn't want to get involved, he's leaving himself open to get hurt."

"Ann."

"Go. You're his best friend and you need to be a friend to him now." She insisted as she watched Hank walk up the beach and she'd never seen him so upset.

Danny kissed her cheek. "I'll keep an eye on him but we've got an early call and he knows that. I'll talk to you later." He followed his friend and Ann saw him put a hand on his shoulder.

She leaned over, picked up her blanket and shook it out as best she could with her free hand before she headed home.