A/N: Hi! You guys are awesome. I loved waking up to your reviews. Thank you for the warm welcome back to Ficsville. I hope I didn't miss anyone in my review replies.

Ashmerlin, you are an angel who makes my jumbled up thoughts look pretty. :)

Hope you're ready to kickstart your weekend with a little bit of Soldier Man and his Brunette Beauty. ;)

Chapter-3: EPOV

As I figure out their lunch routine, I start dropping by the school to have lunch with my sister and Bella after that first day. Mostly, Bella keeps quiet as she watches us banter back and forth.

A week after getting back home, I start my assignment here as a drill instructor for the new recruits. Luckily for me, the training base is just a short drive away from Rose's school. So whenever I get done earlier than expected, I drop by the school to escort my sister home … and to get a glimpse of my brunette beauty.

After about a month of this pseudo-stalking, Rose corners me on our drive back to her home. "Okay, out with it," she says in her no-nonsense voice. "What are you doing, Edward?"

"Escorting my baby sister home," I answer cheekily.

Rose, however, doesn't take the bait. "I mean with Bella," she clarifies. "What are your intentions with her?"

I lift an eyebrow in question. "Are you going to play parent now?"

She pinches my arm to shut me up before saying, "I'm asking as her best friend and your sister. She's not in a good place in her life, Ed, and you ..." She doesn't complete the thought, letting it hang in the air between us.

"And I leave in five months," I finish for her. "And there's no guarantee that I'll come back."

Rose glowers at me. "Shut up. You will be back after this tour."

I nod, knowing how much she fears losing me. "I will, Rosie," I say, wrapping a comforting arm around her. "I'll try my absolute best to come back to you."

For a few minutes, she doesn't speak, clutching my shirt in a tight fist as she leans into me. In her silence I read the constant trepidation she must live in while I'm overseas.

I allow her the time to compose herself and then ask, "What's wrong with Bella's life?"

Shaking her head, Rose offers me a sad smile. "That's her story to tell, not mine. Just promise me you'll be careful?"

I remember how the last time I tried to date a girl on my vacation time ended up with her finding a reason to break things off with me a few weeks before I was to be shipped off. I give her what I hope is a reassuring smile as I ask, "So do I have your blessing to I ask Bella out?"

She sighs. "Okay … as long as she agrees. Don't stress her out."

Turns out, I didn't have to stress myself out either. About a fortnight after my talk with Rose, I ask Bella out.

She says yes.

So that weekend finds us taking the ferry to Bainbridge Island. As we wander around the island filled with tourists, Bella and I walk side-by-side, our shoulders almost brushing, but not quite.

After taking in the exquisite sights and tasting the local cuisine, I lead her to the beach where we can gaze upon the Seattle skyline with the tranquility of the sea keeping us company.

A few moments pass before Bella looks curiously at me. "Do you love the sea?" she asks me.

For a second, I'm taken aback by what she means until I realize that I smiled as soon as I stepped foot on the beach. Shaking my head, I tell her, "In Iraq, you get dust and dry land … lots of it, but not much sea. So when I come home, it feels like my eyes are thirsty for the sea."

"You served in Iraq?"

Her voice is quiet as she asks the question.

I nod. "Three tours so far. This time will be my fourth."

The corners of her mouth pull downward as she takes in the information. "Is it still overly dangerous there?"

I shrug, trying to play it cool so I don't scare her away. "Not the way you see on the news, I'm sure," I tell her. "It just gets a little... depressing when you're out there all alone, you know?"

Without words, she slips a hand in my own as she steps closer to me.

The warmth of her hand in mine makes me feel most alive since I had left the country over a year ago.

I don't know the exact moment our feet stop moving, but they do. I turn my face sideways to look at Bella and ask the question I had wanted to ask the first time she called me "Soldier Man".

"Bella?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I kiss you, please?"

There's a moment of silence as she searches my eyes for the answer to some unspoken question, and then biting her lower lip, she nods.

Reaching out, I slowly put a little pressure on her chin, making her let go of her lip. Then slowly, I move in, allowing her enough time to move away if she doesn't want this. When she doesn't move, I carefully brush my lips to hers.

Once.

Twice.

And a third time.

Then I move away, allowing both of us the time to process what just happened.

A/N: I'll give you a chance to process that too. ;)

I actually researched quite a bit about the area while writing this chapter so I hope it's not outrageously different from the reality. However, if that happens to be the case, I hope you'll allow me a little creative liberty with the setting as someone who has never been anywhere near the United States of America.

Please share your thoughts with me and leave a review. I love hearing from you.

Thanks for reading.

See you tomorrow.

Love,

Ann