Chapter Five: Dear Hawkeye

Margaret was stunned. She sat down, and scanned the letter again. No matter how many times she read it, it still said the same thing. Hawkeye was in love with her. She couldn't believe what Hawkeye had written. She knew they had gotten closer in the past months, but she hadn't known she felt that way about her.
There was another reason why she was so shocked. She had never really admitted it to herself, but she knew she was in love with Hawkeye.
She decided to write a letter back to Hawkeye, as she felt the same way he did. She had no idea how to say what she felt. What did she feel? She wasn't sure of that herself. She was happy, for obvious reasons. She was also nervous, for several reasons. She knew how she felt, and how Hawkeye felt, but she didn't want to ruin their friendship. They had finally gotten comfortable with their relationship as friends, and she didn't want to ruin it. There was another reason. She had been hurt, more than once, and she wasn't eager to be hurt again. She knew Hawkeye wouldn't hurt her on purpose, but she was still hesitant. Still, she felt, in a way, she owed him something. He had told her a lot about what he felt; now she decided to do the same.
She went, got a pen and paper, and sat down. After thinking for a few minutes, she began he letter.

Dear Hawkeye,
I must say, your letter came as a big shock to me. I had no idea you felt that way.
I am a little hurt, though, that you think I would just ignore you, or come and yell at you. I'll at least talk with you about this. We are friends, at least.
I was actually a little hesitant about writing this. That was one of the reasons. I don't want to ruin our friendship. We finally reached the point where we aren't trying to kill each other, and I like that. I don't want to mess it up.
There's another reason, probably the biggest. You know that other men have hurt me. I know you wouldn't do that on purpose, but I'm a little afraid to risk it.
In spite of that, there are a few things I feel that you should know.
Hawkeye, as much as you shocked me, I think I'm about to shock you just as much. I agree with you, we've gotten much closer. Now I know just how close. Hawkeye, I feel the same way as you do. I don't know how, or when, but I've fallen in love with you too. Before this, I just didn't know how to tell you, so I didn't. After I got your letter, I figured it was probably safe to tell. So, now you know. Love, Margaret Houlihan

She got up, and quietly crept over to the Swamp. She put the letter on the ground, and peeked in. She saw Hawkeye lying on his cot, staring at the ceiling. She knocked, and saw him sit up. She turned and ran to her tent.

IN THE SWAMP

Hawkeye was lying in his cot, in the Swamp, trying to sleep. In reality, he was very awake; He was worried about what would happen with the letter. He had no idea how she would react, and was almost wishing he had never sent the letter. Suddenly, he heard a knock. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had imagined it. Then, he heard footsteps scurrying away. Intrigued, he stood up, put his robe on, and quietly opened the door. He looked around, then down, and saw the letter. He bent down, picked it up, and went back into the Swamp. He sat down and began to read the letter, A few minutes later, he had finished the letter. He continued staring at the letter, in shock. When he had written the letter, he had tried to anticipate Margaret's reaction. This was, without a doubt, the last reaction or response he had expected. He lay back down, and stared at the ceiling, thinking into the later hours of the night,

A FEW DAYS LATER

Margaret and Hawkeye had avoided each other, by unspoken agreement. Neither knew what to do about the other. So, they stayed away from each other, wondering what they would do next. One day, there was a deluge of wounded. Everyone spent twelve hours in the OR, patching the young boys that were brought in. Afterwards, Potter headed to his office, BJ and Charles to the tent, and Hawkeye to the O-Club. Hawkeye walked over the Officer's Club. It was deserted; the only other person in the bar was the bartender. He sat down at the counter. "Bartender, give me a beer. No, make that a scotch." HE rested his head tiredly on his hand, then when his drink came, took a long drink. He sighed deeply. Then, he heard someone come up to the bar, a few feet away from him. "Bartender, give me a beer." He looked up quickly. "Margaret?" She looked over at him. "Pierce? I-I didn't see you." She quickly grabbed her drink, and sat down at a table across the room. Hawkeye hesitated a moment, then walked over to her table.
"Is this seat taken?" he asked softly. She looked up at him, then slowly shook her head no. He sat down.
"Margaret, we need to talk. We can't keep avoiding each other." He took her hand and held it, and when she didn't pull away, continued. "We need to talk. Please." She stared at their joined hands, then looked at him. "Okay, Pierce. What should we talk about?"
"Oh, I don't know. The weather, the war, home. Margaret, you know what we need to talk about. The letters. What else?"
She continued to stare at the table. Hawkeye was discouraged. "Look, Margaret, I meant what I said in my letter, every word. And-" he hesitated before adding this last part, softly, " I thought you did too."
Now she looked up at him. She saw the hurt, anxiety, and sadness in his eyes. "Oh Hawkeye, I meant what I said too. I just wasn't sure how to talk to you about," she spread her hands helplessly, "Any of this. It happened literally overnight." Hawkeye looked at her a moment, then shook his head. "No, it hasn't happened overnight. At least not for me. Margaret, I've felt this way for a long time. I've just never told you." She gave him a small smile. "To tell you the truth, I've felt this way for a while to. I just didn't know what to say to you." Hawkeye smiled back at her, his eyes now full of happiness, but still a little nervousness.
Hawkeye took a deep breath. "So, know what do we do? Are we going to forget we ever had this conversation, or are we going to." He broke off, not sure how to finish. She could see the question on his face. He looked into her eyes. He started to lean forward, slowly, waiting to see if she would do something. She smiled, and leaned forward to meet him. Their lips met, in a sweet and simple kiss. After a few moments they pulled away. They looked at each other, surprise and a little nervousness on their faces. "So, Margaret, now what are we going to do? I don't know about you, but I've fallen head over heels in love with you, and I have no idea what to do about it. " She thought a moment, then said, with a smile, "Well, I haven't fallen head over heels in love with me, but I think, no," she added, "I know I've fallen head over heels in love with you, but I know exactly what to do about it."

And with that, she learned forward and kissed him.

THE END

So, what did you think? Thank you to all the help you've given me, especially to HM Writer and Phoenix 1536. Please, R&R!!!!! I need it! And check out my other Mash stories if you likes this one!!!