A/N: Tuesday was probably one of the worst days of my life. I came home in tears and that's all I'll say. After finishing homework I jumped into the story…

Chapter 20

"Come on Bells, you got to get up. We've got places to be, people to see, and coffee that has to be bought." Leah sat on the edge of my bed shaking me.

"It's too early." I snuggled back into the covers wrapping Edward's shirt tighter against me.

Leah laughed. "It's 12:00 Bella. I miss them too but that doesn't mean we have to sit and wallow. Come on babe, I bet you haven't be guy scouting since Edward."

"Fine, I'm coming." I rolled out of bed and made my way groggily to the shower.

She smiled with satisfaction. "Well, my deed here is done!"

I trudged into the bathroom and I heard her talking on the phone. "Yeah, I finally got her up. Meet us here in fifteen minutes." Emily, I assumed.

I stepped into the shower letting the warm water fall over my tensed nerves. I lathered my hair with strawberry shampoo and worked it into my scalp. I let the grime of yesterday fall off of me and down the drain. Finishing my shower I stepped back into the steamy bathroom and towel dried my body and hair.

I slipped on an over sized t-shirt and stepped back into my room. Emily was waiting for me with a curling iron and a bag of make-up. "Sorry Bella, Leah said you needed a little spicing up."

I shrugged and sat down letting them do the work for a change. After drying, straitening, and curling my hair it was done. Emily added make-up and then an outfit Leah had picked out. Emily was great with make-up and Leah had a thing for clothes.

After giving Charlie a quick goodbye I hopped in Leah's black jeep Cherokee and we headed off toward Port Angeles. We stopped on the outskirts of Forks when we came upon a yellow Porsche stuck in a ditch. A tiny girl with short spiky hair was standing at the side of the road chattering into the phone looking at the car. If you looked up beautiful in the dictionary she'd be the definition.

"I think we should help." Leah said pulling over.

We hopped out of the car and crossed the road over to the girl. "Hey, are you alright?" I asked her.

She looked up and smiled at me. "Yeah, my brother will be her in a minute. It's these darn wet streets."

I nodded. "Tell me about it."

She flipped the phone shut and turned back to our conversation. "So, are you girls from around here?"

Emily nodded. "Yeah, Leah and I are from La Push and Bella lives in Forks."

The girl looked up at me. "Wow, I guess I'll see you at school then. I'm Alice by the way." She held out her hand and I gasped at how strong her grip was. "Our family just moved here from Alaska. My adopted father is due back in a couple of months but we went ahead and moved without him."

I nodded. "Wow, are you sure you don't need any help pulling out your car?"

She nodded. "Yup, Emmett will be right here." A red Jeep came around the curb and her eyes lit up. "There he his now!"

The Jeep pulled up next to us and a big burly man got out of the car. His curls bounced on his head and I couldn't help but notice that he too was insanely beautiful. "Jeez Alice, how did you manage to do this?"

He examined the damage and she shrugged. "Sorry, I was a little out of it." She said through her teeth.

He watched her expression and he seemed to know what her cryptic saying meant. Leah sighed and tugged at my sleeve. "Well, we better be going." She smiled sweetly.

I nodded. "Yeah, but it was nice meeting you." I smiled. "I'll see you at school."

Alice grinned. "Thanks and you too."

We crossed the road once more and climbed into the car. As soon as we were down the road a little ways Leah looked up into the mirror and talked to me. "She was really pretty."

I nodded. "And so was he."

Leah licked her lips. "Oh yes he was."

I laughed. "Yeah, Alice seems cool though."

Emily shrugged. "Yeah I guess." She powdered her perfect face. "She seems too perfect though. Maybe it's just me though."

Leah elbowed her. "Yeah, well coming from the prettiest girl in la Push."

Emily put away her lip-gloss and pushed Leah away. "You're conceded enough for the both of us."

Leah laughed as we pulled into the mall parking lot. "Where do you want to go first?" I asked as we got out of the car.

"I need some more jeans." Leah stretched as she got out of the car. "And I'm hungry."

I just laughed and shook my head. "Leah? Where are your manners?"

She shrugged. "I guess I left them at home."

We filed into the food court entrance and our day of non-wallowing started.

EPOV

The sweat rolled off my face as I jogged toward the mess hall. I stepped into the air conditioner and was glad for the sharp contrast. I got in line beside a few women and they batted their eyes at me. For goodness sake… this was the Marines, not a pick up bar.

The food was basic slop and what looked like gravy. It defiantly wasn't Bella's food. Just the thought of Bella's homemade macaroni and cheese made my mouth water. The smell of slop brought me back to the present and I stepped out of line and walked over to where Jake and the other guys.

"How about this food?" Jake asked me poking his meat with a fork.

"I was just thinking about how it isn't anything like Bella's." I grinned mimicking Jake.

Jamie wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "It's not that bad once you get past the gag reflex."

Chris rolled his eyes and stuffed some slop in his mouth. "Just take it like a man."

I laughed and held my nose stuffing the food in my mouth. I needed the protein with as much sweating I would be doing. Giving up on trying to eat I filled my water bottled up with fresh water I took a long gulp before plunging back into the burning desert day.

(A/N: Sorry… I don't do well with military time so I'll just use regular time. It'll be a lot easier for both you and me.)

We weren't due to our stations till 7:00 and it was 6:30. I stretched and then headed over toward our building. "Might as well get an overview of the day." I said to my self.

I stepped into the control center and was greeted by our tour guide from yesterday. We now knew him as Joe, just Joe (he wasn't good with titles). "Hey Joe." I greeted him with a nod.

"Hey Masen, how you liking Gwanglecemo?" He elbowed me but still managed to keep a subtle appearance.

I shrugged. "I'd rather be home but a man's got to do what a man's got to do."

Joe smiled. "Ah, you are the young Confucius."

I shook my head. "Nope, just a man who had his heart stolen."

Joe chuckled. "Thief?"

I smiled. "Nope, love."

Joe nodded. "I've seen it many times in my day. Only experienced it once though. You better keep a hold of her." He paused. "Well, sorry to break our heartfelt moment, but since you're not doing anything do you mind relaying a message for me?

I shrugged. "Sure, what's up?"

"I need you to tell Dr. Cullen that I'm taking out the men in barracks four and five for a supply run today. He needs to be notified incase of possible injuries. As you can imagine we want to be as careful as possible in enemy territories." He paused. "We're leaving in ten minutes."

I nodded. "Sure, no problem. Is that all?" I had been wanting to talk to Dr. Cullen anyway.

"Yeah." He answered.

I turned to salute him and headed out the door to the hospital wing. The heat hit me once again and I had to resist the urge to shrink back into the AC. The sand crunched under my boots and scorpions scuttled like desert mice into holes and under rocks.

I grabbed the door handle of the hospital wing and pulled it away when the hot metal came into contact with my hand. The heat was ridiculous; it was only 6:50 in the morning. I once again grabbed at the handle and pulled it open sliding my foot in to stop it before it closed. I wedged the door open with my body and slipped into the cool room. Various medical machinery beeped and groaned.

I glanced around the room until I saw Dr. Cullen. I walked up to him to relay my message. "Dr. Cullen?"

He looked up from his chart and smiled at me. "Why hello. How can I help you Mr…" He paused. "Sorry, I never got your name."

"Masen, Edward Masen." I answered him.

"Right, Edward. How can I help you?" He glanced at a chart in his hand idly.

"Joe sent me over here to tell you that they are leaving in approximately ten minutes to do a supply run. He's taking barracks four and five." I answered glancing around the sterilized room.

He nodded. "Very well."

He walked away from me and quietly spoke to a couple of nurses and they proceeded to get things ready. "So Edward, tell me a little bit about yourself."

I shrugged. "Well, I'm from Forks Washington. I lived with my parents and my younger brother until I joined the Marines. I'm engaged to an amazing girl named Bella and we're planning to get married on Christmas Eve."

He ushered me to sit at the small table in the middle of the room. "Interesting. Coffee?" He offered.

I nodded. "Sure."

A nurse brought me some coffee and Dr. Cullen started to speak again. "Actually my family is in the process of moving to Forks Washington. I'm supposed to go home in two months but sometimes things don't always go as planned."

I nodded. "Yeah, tell me about it. War wasn't exactly planned for Bella and me."

He nodded. "Sometimes life throws us curveballs, but when life gives you lemons… make beef stew."

A/N: Sorry for not updating yesterday. I got home late from school and then I had to deliver doughnuts for a fundraiser for church. Anyway I hope you liked it.

The last line comes from a show that used to play on MTV. I don't know if you remember the "Andy Milonakis" show but it was great! Anyway that's from the theme song. Also this chapter has a lot of foreshadowing in it.

Review! (Maybe I'll update faster.)

Kayla