Y'all are so dang lucky that I have an awesome beta who gets me my chapters on time, and without her, this story would suck. Thank you once again SimplyDazzling(:


Edward Masen was calling me, from thousands of miles away. After six months of writing letters to him you think I'd be squealing. But, no, what do I do when he finally calls?

I move the phone away from my ear.

"This is kinda important; can I meet you guys at the green?" I asked Brenner, holding the speaker part of my phone with my other hand. Brenner was giving me a puzzled look but shrugged nevertheless and nodded his consent. I grinned at him in thanks.

The girls were putting the bag straps over their shoulders and were walking towards the practice putting green next to the club house. I glanced uncertainly at my bag where Rose was lingering. I wanted to get away from them so I could talk to Edward alone and now. Sighing, Brenner grabbed my bag and slung it over his shoulder. I grinned wider at him as he rolled his eyes.

With everyone else going that direction, I made my way over to the club house where I could talk to him on the deck that overlooked the course. I had played here before and generally didn't like it very much. So I figured if I was going to sacrifice some of my practice time I might as well try to make some mental notes about where I would be competing.

"Sorry, umm, hi Edward," I finally responded gleefully as I brought the phone back to my ear.

"Is this a bad time?" The voice that that question belonged to startled me once more. I didn't necessarily like comparing assets of the human body to food. . .it just didn't really click for me. But in this case, when he spoke, it reminded me of honey. Warm, melting honey.

"Nope. This is fine," I assured him quickly, just so glad to be able to finally put a voice to the unknown mystery man.

"Aren't you in school? I thought you would be, but my shift just ended and I needed to call you before I had to catch some sleep," Edward explained nervously.

"Technically I would be in school, but it's our first meet today so I got out early." I could have sworn I mentioned that in one of the letters I wrote to him. But I really wasn't holding onto the notion that he hung onto to every word I had ever written. So it's not like I was even in the least bit annoyed.

"Oh shit, that's today? Sorry, I forgot. This is a bad time, isn't it?" Yes Edward, let me just hang up on you right now so I can go putt for an hour and listen to Brenner talk about hard work and passion. I rolled my eyes.

By now I was through the club house and standing at the deck. It was a huge deck, but surprisingly there wasn't anyone up there. I was too distracted to try and get a feel for the course at the moment so I gave up trying basically before I even started.

"No, the meet doesn't start for like an hour," I assured him, not in the slightest bit bothered by missing practice time.

Edward paused, slightly confused. "Shouldn't you be practicing then?"

"Nah, I'm so amazing that I don't need it," I retorted with mock-buff confidence. I could practically hear him rolling his eyes.

"If you say so." I waited for him to continue, you know, start the conversation that he was calling for. When he didn't, the awkward silence filled the line and made me extremely uncomfortable.

"So, my letter," I prompted.

"Yeah. . .umm, so I read it," he finally responded with casualness.

"Who woulda thought? What with it being a letter and all," I replied with my usual playful dryness. It was a lot easier now that we were talking on the phone – I could be as expressive as I wanted. And he would – hopefully – be able to tell when I wasn't being serious.

Some called it sarcasm. I preferred the term wit.

I heard a chuckle over the line and smiled. "Well, I figured I actually needed to talk to you about this, instead of just send a letter. God, it feels good to hear your voice for the first time." Now I grinned and blushed.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." I stopped for a moment to gather my thoughts. I was a tad bit overwhelmed in that instant. "So might as well cut to the chase. . .my letter. What did you think of it?"

"Well, thanks for inviting me, obviously." Oh Lord, it was like pulling teeth.

"No problem," I answered. As I was waiting for him to toss the ball back to my court, I perched on a chair by a glass table.

"The thing is. . .I'm not really sure if this is the best choice. Hell, it could be a great choice though, I just don't know." I felt a bit of disappointment course through me. But it was overruled with the fact that he thought it might be a good choice too. Right then, listening to him, I wanted more than anything for him to come.

I knew I wanted him to come, but now I realized just how badly I wanted that. I wanted to take him to our cabin, my summer paradise. I wanted to relax on the beach and ride Carlisle's boat with him. I wanted to go four wheeling through the woods. I wanted to lounge on the couch and do nothing at all.

I just wanted to meet him. So, so badly.

"Okay. . .so, let's just talk about it then, I guess," I insisted with ration. That, objectively, was something an adult would do, and my subconscious was kind of proud of my reason while my inner monologue continued its ramble.

"I don't want you to think I'm not extremely grateful for the offer. I really am. But first of all, I don't think your family really wants me there much at all. No father would want a man of legal drinking age, whose been living in the desert for months and had a bit of different upbringing than normal standards to their house with their daughter." Well. Let's just dive right into it then.

I disagreed. "Carlisle's not like that." Okay. . .maybe just a tiny bit. . .

"Bella, he's your dad. I know he probably doesn't show it that much, but I know that's how he feels. If I had a daughter I sure as hell wouldn't let her have a swearing soldier come over for a month." That made me go silent. I ran my tongue over my teeth, wondering how to respond to that.

"You're right, my dad would not approve. Charlie would have a hissy fit over even the suggestion." I tried to keep my tone not as cold as I thought I sounded.

That got him. I felt a little bad as I softly heard him swear over the line. I didn't want to make him feel bad; not at all, but he wasn't making a relevant point in the current argument.

"Bella, I'm really sorry. I'm also sorry I'm such an ass. I should've been more sensitive to that." The velvet voice got even softer. This wasn't a surprise. I had read his letters – he wrote with such an art; of course he would talk the same way.

I shook my head, not in the least irritated with him. I actually was finding myself with some patience for this scenario. I didn't want him to apologize or berate himself, but something else he had said piqued my curiosity.

"It's okay Edward. I shouldn't have said it like that. I know this is a little weird. . .at least for me, but what did you mean when you said the thing about you being in the desert for months? What does that have anything to do with Carlisle not wanting you at the house?" I hated to sound naïve, even in my thoughts, but could there be a disease native to Iraq that is contagious when you come back to America? I think I would know about that if there was though. . .

Edward cleared his throat rather uncomfortably. After that I heard some sort of low chuckle, like someone was trying really hard not to make their amusement known. By someone I meant Edward, who was, at the moment, doing a real sucky job of that.

"Well, umm. I'm not quite sure how to say this. . ." You know when you can tell when a person is smirking, without even being able to see them? Yeah. This would be one of those times.

"Honestly is always nice," I sighed slightly exasperated and a wee bit on the sarcastic side.

"Okay, err, well. So, when you're in the army, out here at a secluded base in Iraq, you have a very limited social life. And, um, relations with other soldiers on base is extremely frowned upon, and those are pretty much the only people that you see. So, when you get back from the desert, men typically have little more. . .tension. And most feel they really need a woman to–" I had let him ramble way too long, to the point where I was blushing scarlet.

"Yup! Gotcha! I don't need an explanation of the Y chromosome. Thanks though." I didn't think he would have gone on much further then that, but that doesn't mean I hadn't been a little worried.

"Sor–"

"I know, I know. I asked." I interrupted him.

"But Carlisle is your guardian and that doesn't change much. I doubt Esme would want me in her home either."

I snorted. Not so delicately.

"Ph, no, she was all for it. She was the one who helped me convince Carlisle." I informed him cheerfully, chuckling as I thought back to that conversation.

"Oh. Well. . .I wasn't expecting that." he answered, slightly thrown off guard. I smirked. God, I loved Esme.

"I don't think there's anything really stopping you from coming here, Edward," I told him when he didn't say anymore.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," he suddenly stopped me.

"Isn't four whoas typically the common standard?" I questioned him.

"Typically." The smirk was back again.

"Just checking. Proceed with your whoas," I grinned, amused.

"Thank you. As I was saying, I said firstly before, so you should have assumed there would be more than one point. Secondly, even if your family doesn't mind me there, I will feel like I'm barging in on your summer family time. And thirdly, well, I'll get to that in a moment."

I scoffed. Family time? What the hell? Who actually did that for every day of the summer? Oh man, the three of us got on each others nerves as it was and that was only for a few hours at a time. By August, Esme always seemed to find more weddings to plan and Carlisle picked up more shifts at the hospital. I scoffed again. Summer family time? Ridiculous. And that's exactly what I told Edward. I also added that it was an extremely lame-ass excuse.

He conceded.

"Well you said thirdly, so lets here it," I exhaled, not in the least exasperated. I felt like after this conversation was over I would be.

"I. . .I'll only be able to be there for less than four weeks. Well, you already knew that. But, I'm just worried that. . ." he paused thoughtfully for a moment, seeming to consider his next words. "Bella, I know if I come we'll have a great time together, and I don't doubt that at all. But I don't have many people close to me, many friends I guess, the ones I have are here at base. I don't have to worry about saying goodbye to them and going off for a year. I don't want you to have to deal with that heavy of a separation."

Holy shit. Summer family time was a hell of a lot easier than this little hurdle.

I breathed in deeply through my nose and looked slowly around as I contemplated what to say to that. My thoughts were in a crazy mess. I needed something to just calm my mind down from overdrive. I gazed around until I saw a small pond on the 17th hole of the course. It was a beautiful little pond; it made me ache for summer and time at the lake. And that was exactly what I needed.

I knew that I would probably get attached to Edward, hell, I was already attached to Edward. I knew, and so did he, that if he came, at the end of our time together it wouldn't be a very desirable parting. But it would be nothing I couldn't handle. It wouldn't be losing him like my parents – he would be doing his job. And his job was the reason we even came into contact with each other in the first place. It reminded me of something my mom used to say to me.

"Nothing lost, nothing gained." I said simply. The silence from the other end caused me to elaborate, "I think if you come, I'll show you an amazing summer. Yeah, it will be difficult to say goodbye at the end of it. But it will be the price to pay. I can handle it, and I know you can too. Nothing is stopping you from coming."

Logically, I had just won that argument. Now it was just solely up to him to try it or not.

"The ball is in your court, Sergeant," I said with a smile. If he signed all his letters like that, why not call him it? I liked the ring of importance that it had as it rolled off my tongue.

"Well spoken, Miss Swan, well spoken," he replied appraisingly.

"Did Emmett tell you that Rose asked if he wanted to visit her during his leave?" I don't know if I was still trying to convince him or just make friendly conversation. I think I just hated any type of phone silence.

"Yeah, he did mention that. Who would have guessed those two would get along with each other?" Edward chuckled, as did I quietly under my breath.

"Rose always comes up to our cabin with us in the summer. I'm sure – if Emmett does decide to come –we could definitely have them both stay with us." I had just thought of that, but suddenly my thoughts were racing, excited by that possibility. But then I remembered that Edward hadn't even said yes yet.

"Well, if you come that is," I added quietly. I couldn't use my doe eyes over the phone. Internally I let out a few profanities.

"You know, Bella. . ." I immediately smiled. That wasn't a lecturing tone. That was a what the hell tone. I knew it; I used it all the time.

"Screw it. I'm coming." I allowed myself the biggest smile I could produce as he said it. Then I let myself get extremely excited.

Edward was actually coming. That thought made endless possibilities speed through my head in a nanosecond. But all the different scenarios were dulled by the one that I was the most thrilled about. I would actually be able to meet Edward. In person; face to face.

"You are one hell of a negotiator, Swan," Edward chuckled. His tone had become much more relieved and relaxed, probably from actually having made the decision. That made me question how long, and how much he had been thinking through this particular choice.

"Get used to it, Masen," I responded playfully. I was just as relieved to have an answer from him as he was.

We spent awhile talking about all the letters. I answered some of the questions he had and vise versa. At one point I was actually twirling a few strands of hair in between my fingers. Of course once I realized that I was doing this I moved it right away and stuck it in my pocket instead.

I didn't realize how long it had been. I jumped when the door leading from the club house to the huge cherry stained deck opened. It was none other than Brenner looking impassive. Shit. I hoped he wasn't mad that I had been out here for awhile. I glanced away from him and looked over at the practice greens; sure enough all of the teams were here and ready to go.

Turning back so that I was facing the course, I grimaced. I didn't want to say goodbye to Edward. But then I realized that he had to go to sleep and I had to play a meet.

"Edward, I gotta go. The meet is going to start any minute." Holy. . .I couldn't even think of the right profanity to insert; had we been on the phone for almost an hour?

"Okay, yeah, I better let you go." I couldn't help but hope that the unplaceable emotion in his voice was hesitance. "Well, go kick ass, Bella." I grinned. Oh I planned to. I reluctantly thanked him and said goodbye. I then concluded that, probably due to my own loning, he did in fact sound hesitant.

Sighing heavily, I snapped my phone shut. I thought about what had just happened for a peaceful and content moment. Then, sighing yet again, I turned to face the strangely none-commenting Brenner.

"Is everything alright?" Well if someone had died I wouldn't be here.

Why were my thoughts so bitter? Oh damn, I was turning into Rosalie. That was a depressing thought. I convinced myself it was just because my phone conversation had been cut short.

"Yeah, just peachy," I grinned at him. He raised his eyebrow at the display of emotions that had just flickered across my face. Now I wasn't bitter, I was just happy again. Edward said yes!

"Who's the reason I let you miss badly needed practiced?" Badly needed my ass. I rolled my eyes at him. The general public all had a certain respect for soldiers; I would assume Brenner wasn't any different. Might as well tell the truth.

"I was talking to a soldier. He's over in Iraq."

Brenner raised his eyebrows once again, looking surprised and almost. . .impressed. I was mildly insulted. "Is he a relative of yours?"

"Not exactly. . ."

"Oh! Is that the boy that Rosalie said you are chasing over seas?" he asked in revelation. What the. . .? She had made that stupid little comment all the way back in January.

"Coincidently that would be the same guy. . .how on earth do you remember that?" I really wasn't comfortable talking about this with him. So I turned the tables. And as it was, I was extremely curious.

"Well it's not like you get a lot of guys, Bella."

"Gee. Thanks," I retorted dryly. Brenner sighed and rolled his eyes.

"That's not what I meant so shut up. You have never showed any interest in a particular boy over the time I've known you." Stop saying boy, I groaned internally.

"I have a boyfriend, Brenner." Elliot and I had decided to keep up the pretense of dating. I didn't really care. I liked not having to turn the guys down when they asked me out. Now they just don't ask me out; problem solved!

"It's a good thing I'm not 17 or I might actually believe that load of. . ." he trailed off. He made it a point not to swear around us, he was awful at it, but it was a point nevertheless.

"Does everyone know that Belliot is crap?" I asked in exasperation.

"No," he said with his own exasperation as he stretched out the 'o' in no. His tone made it seem like I was the irrational one. "But you wouldn't date a basketball player; they're not your type."

Oh my Lord. . .

I was about to interrupt him and comment on his weirdness factor at the moment but he continued. By now in the conversation he was leaning against the railing of the deck and I was standing across from him, wanting to bury my face in my hands. "No, you on the other hand would be the one I peg for being strong enough to go into a relationship with a soldier."

My lips turned up a tiny bit at his slightly hidden compliment. "Just friends, Brenner. Don't get ahead of yourself."

"Right back at you. Now would you please go. I would enjoy starting the season off with an ass whooping." I grinned at him, and I got a genuine smile back from him and the two of us walked down the stairs to the green. "I know you hate this course, but I have a good feeling, Bella."

"So do I," I grinned, content with everything at that moment.

I took first in that meet. My score was tied with my personal best. I didn't know how I did it – I hadn't been focusing at all. I just couldn't wipe the dumb, cliché, overly happy grin off my face the entire time.

That night I fell asleep with my new trophy on the bed stand next to me. Everyone thought I was thrilled to have done so well; I had beaten the number one in the state. And that was fine – they could continue to think that. But only one thing mattered to me that day.

Edward, my soldier, was coming home.


I'm running out of ways to make you see
I want you to stay here beside me
I won't be ok and I won't pretend I am
So just tell me today and take my hand
Please take my hand
Please take my hand

Just say yes, just say there's nothing holding you back
It's not a test, nor a trick of the mind

It's so simple and you know it is
You know it is, yeah
We can't be to and fro like this
All our lives
-Just Say Yes, Snow Patrol


Yay! Edward's coming home! Who woulda thought he'd be stubborn about it?
This was my Christmas present to you! My birthday present to you will be a whole chapter of Edward in person, first day home. Now...the only question is, when is my birthday? (;
Holy crap! The shitload of snow has got to stop! Whose with me?

-I need your help, yes you, the reader barely skimming this. My sister (SimplyDazzling) and I are in the middle of quite the debate. I watched Titanic for the first time. Needless to say I sobbed for 20 minutes. (I'm being legit. 20 minutes.) Justine thinks that Remember Me was way sadder.
Remember Me or the Titanic?
Your opinion?