A/N: I have not posted a story in ten million years, and I'm so very sorry for that…

But yay new story!

AU one-shots are pretty nice too…

"Juliette?"

That voice. I recognized it. I knew it all too well…

I looked up from where I sat, reading a copy of Pride and Prejudice. A stray piece of hair hung in my face, so I tucked it behind my ear as I sat up straighter.

There he was.

His hair was magnificent. That golden shade of blond gave me heart palpitations. Oh goodness. Those stunning green eyes... They stared directly into mine, and I felt a tug on my heart. I hadn't seen him since…well, since we went our separate ways. He joined the army. I went to college. That day at the airport was one that still haunted me. The tears we shed were genuine. He was leaving, and so was I…

But now, he stood directly in front of me. Grey blazer, golden cufflinks, sleek tie, snug trousers…

Aaron.

I coughed, and closed my book, setting it on the table of the booth. My jaw was practically on the floor. He said he would be returning in fourteen months. It had only been six. He had written a letter to me just two weeks ago, about how he couldn't wait to see me at Christmas. My breathing quickened. He was here. He was here.

Did he seriously just surprise me like this? In the middle of public? That bastard. He knew I would make a scene.

And I certainly did.

I leapt from my seat, wrapping my arms around him so tight I was sure I was suffocating him. I had to stand on my toes to reach him, because he was a giant, but that wasn't the point. Aaron was back. The last six months had practically been hell.

The day he left, I didn't get out of bed once. I lay in bed, reading letters he had written me when he went on trips and we couldn't speak. I listened to his favorite songs. The ache in my chest was unbearable. Loving someone was entirely different than missing them. When you love someone, you have a constant need to be closer, know more, and be together. That can be satisfied, for the most part. But missing someone, having an endless hurting in your stomach, having dry eyes awfully dry eyes from all the tears you have cried, is hopeless. Unless you know they're going to return, it's a struggle. It's almost unbearable. He was going to be out in the action, shooting, fighting, killing. There was no guarantee that he would come home. That he would return back to me.

The first month was definitely the worst. Kenji was extremely worried about me. About a week after he had left, I was feeling so low, so desperately low…I thought about it, about ending everything... But I knew that if Aaron returned, and I was gone, it would kill him. We loved each other so much it tore us both apart. I would never want him to hurt so badly. I had promised to protect him from this terrible world. I promised to kiss away the pain.

The third month was the best. I got a part-time job at the library in the city. I work there in the evening after school. It's not very busy, so I get time to study or do my own reading. I love it, honestly. I got several letters from him that month. We talked about our future. Those letters I cherished more than all of the others. Knowing that this man wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, and I with him, was unimaginably fulfilling. He even admitted to wanting a kid, or two. That, I wasn't so sure about…

This past week, I was feeling rather sad. I'd just drowned myself in books. I'd finished several, and decided to read some classics. Mr. Darcy was so far not looking like a fantastic dude like all of the reviews say of Jane Austen's novel.

And now, after all the lonely nights I spent clutching my pillow and praying he would come home safe and sound, that he would return to me, he held me as tight as I did him.

Tears spilled out of my eyes, onto his prim suit. His strong arms were firm around him waist, and he buried his face in my hair. I could feel the grin on his lip as he kissed the top of my head. I sniffed rather loudly, pulling back from him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, wiping my eyes with my sleeve, taking his hand tightly with the other. He grabbed my arm gingerly and put my arm down, wiping my eyes for me with his thumb. That sexy grin of his flashed, and I swear my heart melted.

"I thought I'd surprise you for your birthday. Is this going to be a problem, love?" His thumb worked faster now, as more tears trailed down my cheeks. Hearing him speak filled me with so much joy. Just knowing this was real, and that he was right in front of me.

"Not at all," I smiled, and let out a pathetic chuckle. "Gosh, Aaron, I'm a mess…."

He leaned down to my ear, and I could hear the smile in his voice. "A rather hot mess, might I add." I rolled my eyes and pulled him to me, gently placing my lips to his. Our first kiss in months, in the middle of a crowded café, and I could not be happier. His arms returned to where they had been on my waist before, and I circled my own around his neck. I was enveloped in the sweet taste of his lips on mine, and could have drowned in that bliss.

He pulled away from me to tug on my hand, toward the exit. "Come, love. Let's head home, alright? We can have more fun there. It isn't very polite to display affection in public." He was teasing me, and his smirk made me want to roll my eyes at him again. But I let him pull me out the door.

We did indeed have some more fun at home.