Yay the chapter you've all been waiting for! Only one more chapter after this! Hooray! I'm thinking of doing a sequel...
Margaret hesitated at the doors of the mess tent and Kara pushed her inside forcefully. Margaret stumbled inside and blushed as everyone stared at her. She shuffled over to Igor and he poured some eggs onto her tray and scooped a lump of spam beside them.
Margaret cringed and went to sit down beside her nurses, who had satisfied themselves with only a cup of coffee. Kara quickly sat sideways on the bench, blocking the only available seat at that table.
"Come on Kara," she hissed. The nurse only smiled and shook her head.
"There's a seat over there Major," she said innocently, indicating the table where Hawkeye and Potter were seated.
Margaret shot her an icy glare as she made her way to the other table and sat down to Hawkeye's right.
""Morning Major," Potter greeted cheerfully. Margaret only grunted in response, whishing she was wearing her hair down so she could hide her flushed cheeks behind it.
"What's with you?" Hawkeye asked.
"Shut up Pierce," she seethed.
He looked at her in surprise and then began to poke sullenly at his food.
"You seem madder than a wet hen," Potter commented, with some concern. "What's wrong?"
Margaret blushed and tried to smile. "I'm fine, really." He nodded, not really believing her and went back to studying the strange shapes his eggs were making.
"Pass the salt," she mumbled to Hawkeye who was still staring at his tray. "Hawkeye," she said a bit louder. She wasn't sure if he was ignoring her of just completely absorbed in his thoughts.
Margaret sighed in exasperation and reached across Hawkeye to grab the salt shaker. She heard Potter inhale sharply and she looked up quickly.
"Major are you…" he paused, frowning in confusion. "Are you engaged?"
Hawkeye's head jerked up and he stared at Margaret's hand. She gasped and jerked her hand back. The nurses had convinced her to wear the ring on her left hand, but the more she had thought about it, the less it had sounded like a good idea. No she was stuck. She had been hoping no one would notice and she could slip out quickly and switch the ring back to her right hand.
"I uh…" It seemed as if the room had suddenly grown very warm. Margaret took a shaky breath and looked back up at the Colonel," she could feel Hawk's eyes boring into her.
"Um, well yes, kind of." She finished lamely, praying that Potter would stop with the questions.
"How can you be kind of engaged?" he asked in amusement. Margaret dared to look at Hawkeye who was staring at her with such intensity that it made her entire body shake like a leaf.
She quickly stood up and tried to make it to her tent before she collapsed, when she finally heard Hawkeye's voice.
"Hang on Hot Lips," he yelled. Margaret stopped, knowing he would just follow her if she kept walking.
Once he caught up to her he cautiously put a hand on her shoulder. Margaret stayed with her back to him, her head hanging.
"Just let me alone," she whispered quietly, her voice quivering noticeably.
"Did they tell you?" He asked calmly. "About the ring, I mean."
Margaret took a deep breath and then spun around. "Yes, they did." She replied coolly, trying her best to appear calm and aloof.
"So Captain, I appear to have an advantage over you," Margaret paused and laughed forcefully, Hot Lips kicking into gear. Hawkeye stared at her blankly so she continued.
"The girls wanted me to spread the rumor that we're engaged all over camp, but I didn't think I would be that mean." Margaret flashed a bright smile and began to feel her heart calming down as lies spewed out of her mouth.
"You're very lucky that I was in a good mood. Maybe next time you should be more careful to check the background of items before you toss them around."
Margaret slipped off the ring and handed it o him quickly before heading over to post-op.
Hawkeye watched her leave with a tolerant smile. He had recognized her character switch immediately. He calmly slipped the ring into his pocket and followed Margaret into the building. He knew she only resorted to acting like Hot Lips when she didn't see any other way out.
"Margaret, come here." Hawkeye called, once he was inside.
Margaret was surprised by the annoyance she heard in his tone and she sulked towards him.
"What do you want, Captain?" She asked coolly, still trying to maintain the upper hand.
"I want to give you this ring. And yes, I am fully aware of the background of it." He looked her straight in the eye and Margaret found herself desperately trying to avoid his gaze.
"Now I don't know what your problem is, Margaret. But from now on will you please just tell me if you don't want my gift, instead of acting like you're doing me a favor?"
"Well how am I supposed to act?" Margaret was beginning to feel very awkward and defensive, her voice was almost at a high screech. "Tell me Hawkeye, how do women usually act when some guy, who they thought hated them, walks up and gives them a ring that belonged to their mother? A ring that they promised to give to their wife!"
Margaret's face was deep red, and her voice was shaking terribly, as well as her hands. "Are they supposed to jump into his arms? Are… are they going to feel happy over such a gift? No!"
Margaret closed her eyes in an attempt to calm herself down. Hawkeye stood silent, watching her closely, waiting for her to finish.
"Damn it Hawkeye." She said quietly. "You can't give a girl a gift like that without any explanation and then expect her to act normal when she finds out what the meaning is behind it."
"You want an explanation?" he said in response. Margaret nodded, so Hawkeye gently grabbed her shoulder and led her to an empty cot.
Margaret sat down and Hawkeye knelt in front of her. "I think you know that I'm not exactly the bravest guy you'll meet. Whenever there's something dangerous happening, you'll usually find me hiding under my cot."
"That's not…"
"Let me finish," he said gently. Hawkeye grabbed onto her hands and began to stroke them gently with his thumbs.
"My mother told me to give that ring to the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Those were her exact words, and so I thought I could make things easier on myself by just giving you the ring." He paused and shrugged slightly.
"Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Margaret nodded stiffly, holding back her tears. "You're saying that you think I'd be great to climb in bed with but you didn't want the commitment so you found a loophole in your promise."
"You can be so pigheaded!" he groaned. "Come on Margaret, that's not what I meant at all. If I had the nerve to ask you to marry me I probably would have, but I didn't think there was a chance in the world that you would say yes, but I still felt as if I had to at least give you the ring, otherwise I would be breaking my promise completely."
Margaret's mouth dropped open at that statement and she was beginning to have trouble breathing.
Hawkeye smirked and shook his head. "But by your reaction today I think there might be a chance that I was wrong." He looked at her hopefully, waiting for any kind of encouragement before continuing; he found what he was looking for in her eyes that were starting to shimmer brightly with tears.
"I'm sorry for acting like an idiot." Margaret held her breath as Hawkeye reached into his pocket and pulled the ring out again. "I was acting like a coward and I'd like to try again. Will you ma…"
Margaret leaned forward and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and cut his sentence off with a long hard kiss.