A/N: I thought about just jumping the gun to when Ned returns… but I kind of forgot what I wanted to do so I just started writing and this is what came out lol. Lots of love xx Mariah

Katie was woken by the sound of the phone ringing. Bleary-eyed and covered in Cheetos that have fallen out of the packet when she fell asleep on the couch with Hannah, she blindly grabbed for her phone on the floor and saw the caller ID.

It's Ned.

She was immediately awake then, even if she really wasn't. She rubbed her eyes, pressing accept and tucking her phone near her ear.

"Hey baby," her voice was soft as she yawned.

"Katie?" Ned's voice was sharp and clear.

"Ned," she breathed. "Hey."

"Did I wake you?" He asked. "I thought it was like eleven in Grandview. I hoped you'd be awake."

"No, okay yes." She said, relaxing into the couch. She pulled the blanket that was bundled around her hips up to her shoulders. "I've just had a tiresome start to the day. Hannah came over after. We ended up taking a nap."

"Oh! That's right, you both started work today, didn't you?" He chuckled and there was a shout in the background. The phone crinkled as he yelled, "Shut up. I'm on the phone. Sorry about that. How did your first staff meeting go?"

"It went well. I'm not the only new teacher this year, plus I have Han, and we both still know most of the teachers from when I went there." She sighed, stretching. "It'll take time for them to see me as a teacher you know, but it went well."

"I bet," Ned said. The line went silent for a while. "How are you doing babe? Anything new with Mason? Has he stayed away?"

"I've been good. It's getting so warm that I wore shorts today." She explained, sitting up and grabbing a throw pillow to put behind her back. "When you get back we'll have to take a day and go to the beach or something."

"That sounds good." He said. "So something happened with him? You ignored my question."

"Ned," she sighed, running her hand through her hair. "I just don't want to talk about it."

"What happened Katie?" Ned pushed.

He wanted to know why Katie felt the need to keep this stuff from him. He felt a twinge of jealousy as he thought about what Mason could've done. But that it wasn't Mason that made him jealous, though he felt himself wanting to do a set of pull-ups in hopes of his arms doubling in size.

"You don't want to know," she muttered. She sunk into the sofa, thinking back to last week. Mason had kissed her and she'd let him. "Ned, please."

"Katie, just tell me. I know you aren't asking for this. I know this isn't your fault. I love you." He paused, sighing. He rubbed his chin as he settled into his chair. "I'm your husband. I wish you would tell me what happened."

"You wanna know? He kissed me the night I came back from bringing you to the city." The line went silent again. The boys could be heard yelling over the baseball game in the background and she sighed. "Ned?"

"Did you kiss him back?" He asked.

"No. I would never kiss him back," she whispered, her tears finally spilling. There were another few minutes of silence before she filled it with another question. She wanted to talk about him. "How've you been? Is Jason treating you better?"

"I'm okay. It's been a rough few days, actually." Ned's voice was low, tired. He sounded like he needed a day off. Katie knew he did and couldn't wait until he came home. She knew he couldn't wait either. "Tension has been building between us and such. Plus it doesn't help that Sarg has been running us ragged every morning with drills."

"Isn't he always?" She sighed, knowing how often Ned would talk about running for hours or doing obstacles courses over and over until their entire squad would go through in under three minutes.

"Yeah, I suppose so." He answered.

"Is everything okay? Did you get cleared for the day before graduation so we can get dinner alone? It will be our only time alone all weekend. I'll be flying down with your mom on Thursday and you and your buddies will meet us and the rest of their folks at the airport, right?" She asked.

"Yeah. Uh, there's been a change of plans," Ned said. She could practically see him rubbing the back of his neck anxiously. "The boys invited me to go out for drinks."

"Oh," she hummed, her heart sinking.

This couldn't be happening. She'd been waiting and looking forward to having one night alone with Ned. To celebrate all of his accomplishments without his mother breathing down their necks.

"They extended the invitation to you, of course, but I didn't know if you'd want to go drinking." He replied, sighing. "But I can tell them we can do it another time. I know that we both want some alone time."

"I do want some alone time, but I think that would be fun," she smiled, pushing her sadness away. He didn't want to be without her and that's all that mattered. "I'd love to see all of your friends."

"It's a date then," he hummed. "You know," he chuckled then, and she let his laughter warm her up. "I could ask the guys to give me some alone time to skype you tonight."

She perked up immediately, sitting up. "Really? I could use some face time."

The phone crinkled and he shouted, the background noises ceasing. "Hey, could you guys give me a half an hour? I need some time with my wife."

Laughter was loud after that, until another man's voice flooded her ears. She recognized it immediately. It was Jensen, his roommate. "Hey there Katie, it's Jensen. I'll get the boys out of your hair for another hour, okay?" Jensen was always good at distracting the men of their room for a bit of time.

"Hi, Jensen. That's awfully sweet of you. I'll owe you a beer when I'm down there." She laughed. "Beat Ned at poker yet?"

"I'll take you up on that beer for sure. And poker? Not yet," Jensen chuckled. "But I think I will before graduation at least once."

"Just know when he's faking his bluff," she said. "That's how I beat him my first time."

"Good advice," Jensen said, laughing. "Alright. Here's Ned. Enjoy your hour."

"Sorry about that," Ned huffed. "It took all of my strength to get that back."

"I bet it did." Katie laughed, moving off the couch and lying the blanket over Hannah. She ran up the stairs and grabbed her laptop. "I'm going upstairs to boot my my laptop up."

"Wanna get dirty?" Ned chuckled, wanting to keep the mood light. Just like she did.

"You know it. We just have to be quiet, Han is asleep downstairs on the couch." She snickered.