Everyone. Here's chapter 4. I know everyone wants Hawkeye to jump into Margaret's arms and then live happily ever after. Well, that would be no fun to write, so the chapter is headed in a different direction. Don't worry though because there will be a happy ending. Enjoy :-)

"You're in love with me?" Hawkeye was in an absolute panic. He never thought that Margaret would actually reciprocate his feelings. Now he didn't know what to do.

"Hawkeye. Yes, I'm in love with you… I thought that you had feelings for me too." Margaret was looking down at her lap and playing nervously with her hands.

"Margaret… I have to go… I have to get outta here!" At this, Hawkeye walked out of Margaret's tent and headed to Rosie's.

AT ROSIE'S

Hawkeye sat at the bar thinking. 'How can she love me? I'm unmilitary, a prankster and a womaniser. She can't love me! There's no way. I'm the complete opposite of her!… Then again, I fell for her and I know we're opposites. What am I gonna do? I've probably offended Margaret. I can't lose her. How do I approach her without her killing me?' Just as this last thought was going through his mind, BJ came in.

"Hawk, I've been looking for you." BJ then realised that Hawkeye was not ok. "What's wrong Hawk? You look upset."

"Thanks Beej, I didn't want to only feel like crap, I also wanted to look it." There was bitterness in his voice.

"Hawk, tell me what's wrong. I may be able to help." BJ sat on the stool next to Hawkeye's.

"How can you honestly help a man who's a complete failure in his personal life? I've screwed up big time Beej. Big time. I think I may have offended someone and I don't know how to go to the person to apologise for being such an idiot!" BJ could only smile. He knew his friend to well to know whom he was talking about. Only one person in the world could cause Hawkeye Pierce to crash into a depressive state.

"It's Margaret, huh?" Hawkeye looked at his best friend and nodded.

"What did you do? It couldn't have been that bad?"

Hawkeye gave a weak smile and retold the incident.

AT THE SAME TIME IN MARGARET'S TENT

Margaret was crying out of shock. 'How could I have read the signals so wrongly? I thought he cared. He showed me so many times. What happened?'

Margaret kept recalling the moment in slow motion. Hawkeye's reaction was what hurt her most. 'How could he act like that? Even if he doesn't love me I am his friend. What just happened?'

Within 15 minutes, there was a knock on the door. 'Could it be Hawkeye? No, it's not him.'

"Who is it?"

"Margaret, it's the Colonel. Can I come in?" Colonel Potter had seen Hawkeye leave in a hurry and he was worried about Margaret.

"Sure sir, come on in." While she said this, she wiped away her tears of bitterness and anger. She didn't want the Colonel to see her in that fashion.

"Margaret, are you ok? I saw Pierce leave in a hurry and I wanted to know if you were ok after that." Margaret gave him a reassuring smile.

"Colonel, I'm fine. Really. We just had a little disagreement, that's all. It's nothing serious."

The Colonel was an older man who had been in love for over 30 years. He could see Margaret was hurting and Pierce was the cause of this pain. "Margaret, what happened? Please tell me. You know I think of you as a daughter. I don't like to see you upset."

Margaret looked into the Colonel's eyes. She could see caring and sincerity in them. She saw more caring than her father had ever shown her. He had never cared if a man hurt his daughter. He knew that all his 'General' friends were with his 'little girl', but he never said a word. He thought that she would be promoted easily this way and that's all he cared about. Margaret felt like opening up to the Colonel.

"Well sir, Hawkeye came into my tent to demand to know what was wrong with me…" Margaret recounted the event from beginning to end.

After Margaret had finished, she was crying. The Colonel was shocked at Hawkeye's reaction. Even he had suspected that Hawkeye had feelings for Margaret. The Colonel could only comfort Margaret.

"My dear, he'll come around. I know him. He won't let you stay upset. He'll come and talk. It might just take him some time before he comes over. Don't worry about him. He's probably just in shock and wants to absorb the 'bomb' you dropped on him. Give him time." Margaret smiled and wiped away her tears.

"Thank you sir. I'll wait." The Colonel got up from Margaret's cot and walked out, not before giving her a kiss on the cheek.

AT ROSIE'S

BJ could not believe what Hawkeye had just told him. He never would have thought that Margaret would have been the first to confess her feelings. She WAS braver than he thought.

"Now that you know, Beej, what do I do?" Hawkeye looked very worried and upset.

"Hawkeye, I can't tell you what to do, but I can help you to decide. Now, do you love Margaret?"

Without even blinking Hawkeye responded. "More than anything Beej. She means the world to me. I just don't know if we could last. We're in the middle of a war. Do I love her because of the war or because of who she is?"

BJ just looked at his friend straight in the eyes. "What do you really think Hawk?"

"Beej, I love her. I know I love her."

BJ smiled and said. "Give yourself some time to cool off. Go and see her tomorrow if you feel up to it. She will be calmer by then and you can talk. Tell her how you feel and tell her why you reacted that way. By the way, why did you react like that?"

"Because, I was shocked. I never thought that she could feel the same way. I was an idiot, oh boy, was I an idiot."

"Well, at least Margaret loves that idiot, so go to her."

Hawkeye nodded in agreement and returned to the Swamp. He had to prepare for what was coming.

- o -

How will Margaret react to Hawkeye's apology? You will find out soon :-)