Tiffany Ann Davis (known as Tiffy to close friends and as Ann at work) could hardly believe it. Her first assignment and she got to cover the homecoming of the war heroes. She worked for a small newspaper, with limited reporters. No one with more experience was around when the breaking news of the early arrival of the USS Nimitz, the carrier carrying the war heroes arrived. It was a whole day early. Tiffy's heart was already beating fiercely with the excitement of her first job, and as the she watched the magnificent ship dock at the port the fierceness of her heartbeat sped up. This was it. Her chance to shine as well as watch history in the making. Little did she know that she was just about to become part of that history.

The crowd and her waited for awhile as the men came out. Shouts and screams of support were everywhere. "Welcome Home!!" People were yelling. "There's my husband!! There's my baby!!" Shouts were heard everywhere. The person that everyone was looking for was a man by the name of Jerald Taylor. He had led a whole group of people into the middle of a war zone in the middle of the night to rescue a bunch of abandoned kids and injured soldiers in the way. He was the hero that people had been talking about for days. Tiffy stood on her tiptoes, which was hard in her 3 inch heels (the price to pay when you are just barely 5'), to see him as he appeared on a platform that someone had prepared for him to speak at. His voice rang out and Tiffy turned on her tape recorder and began scribbling notes furiously.

"Thank you everyone for coming. My men and I appreciate it. I would like to thank you for your overwhelming support. I know you a lot of you think I'm a hero, but the truth is that I'm not. I did lead my men into the battle zone, but I wouldn't have been able to do that without the help of someone very special. He was the one that heard the screaming; he was the one that told me that we needed to help. Once we got out there, he never gave up hope that those kids were there. He made sure all the kids were safe, and that all the soldiers were taken care of. I would like to show my appreciation to Sgt. (umm, if anyone knows the correct rank of an enlisted Marine in for five years I would be very grateful. *g*) Charles Goldwin. The crowd clapped wildly as Sgt. Goldwin took the stand.

Tiffy's looked up from her scribbling only to gasp her breath and feel heart stop. It couldn't be, could it? But it was. She would never mistake that lock of unruly dark hair that hung on his forehead, or the kind stare of those baby blue eyes, or the way he rubbed his forehead and shoved his hands into his pockets when he suddenly became shy or nervous. It was Charlie. Her Charlie, at least until he unceremoniously walked out of her life after telling her that he had never really loved her after spending almost their whole lives together. She hadn't seen him in close to five years. She hadn't even known that he was in the army, let alone the war. She felt a certain urge to run to him and thank God that he was alright, but on the other hand she wanted to slap across the face for breaking her heart, for leaving her alone to raise Amy by herself, for going off to war where he could die without telling her. She stood frozen to her spot not sure whether or not she should go on her tiptoes to see him better. No she thought; the view I have is fine. You do not need to see anymore of him, it will only break your heart when he leaves that stand and disappears from your life again, she reminded herself.

"Thank you Jerry," Charlie said as he nodded to his elder and returned his attention to the crowd. "I didn't really do all that much, just what anyone in that situation would do. I couldn't let those people die. I don't think anyone would be able to live with themselves if they know someone was dying and they didn't help. That's all I did. Help other people in need." He turned and walked away as the crowd cheered him. He really didn't have anything to say to these people. The attention was nice, but he'd only done what any decent human being would have done.

Walking away, he heard people shouting questions at him, but since he didn't feel like talking he didn't answer them until one voice rang above everyone else. "Wait! Please answer some questions!" That voice. Her voice. It was the voice that haunted his dreams at night. It was Tiffy. It couldn't be, could it? He scanned the crowd half hoping it was her, but scared that it was his mind playing tricks again. Charlie believed it when he saw her in the press box trying to stabilize herself on tiptoes. A passing thought of she's still trying to look taller passed through his mind as he saw her. Should he acknowledge her or not? "Sure I'll answer some questions," He said as he answered his own question and looked intently into her green eyes. Eyes in which he recognized a fire brewing in.

His eyes were burning a hole in her soul. They had always had and she could still feel it after all these years. "What do you intend to do with your life now that you are home?" He smiled at her. One of those million dollar smiles that melted her heart every time. Don't get taken in by that smile, Tiffy. He doesn't recognize you, he uses that smile on everyone. He uses it to get what he wants. Remember that and you'll do fine. Why are you even questioning him? Oh that's right you think you can get some answers from him. Honey that's not going to happen with millions of people here and watching nationwide.

"I plan to go home and catch up with my friends and family. It's been awhile since I've been had contact with them." Five long years to be exact he thought.

You got that right, Charlie. Five years and counting. You have explaining to do to everyone when you get back. But that was not a conversation to have with so many viewers here. Maybe if she could just hint at what she wanted, he would give it. "Anyone special at home you've been missing?"

This roundabout way of talking in a secret code was getting to Charlie and really annoying him. He wanted to talk to her not read between the lines so to speak with what she said. "Come on Tiff, just come out and say it. You want to know if I missed you."

The crowd had become silent now. It was obvious that something was going on between the two of them, especially since they seemed to know one another and Charlie had been ignoring the questions of the other reporters.

"Yes. I want to know if you missed me. Is that so selfish? I shouldn't care at all but I do. So, did you miss me? At least a little?" She hoped she didn't sound too pathetic with the last sentence. Especially with Amy watching. Oh God! Amy was watching, how would she explain this to her? No time to think about that right now. Deal with the situation before you first.

She stared into his eyes as he spoke hoping to recognize the truth if it was to be found there. "Yes I missed you," was his plain and simple answer, but it said so much to her. It was the truth, she could tell, but it opened up a whole new field of questions to her.

"Why?!" Was all she could scream at him. There was too many people around for what she wanted to scream, such as you bastard, or how dare you lie to me, or how dare you scare the hell out of your family for disappearing, but she couldn't. Not here, not now.

Charlie could tell her mind was racing with a million different questions. He needed to be near her to explain. Shouting out answers was ridiculous. He stepped down from the podium and made his way to her. The crowd made a clear path for him, for which he was grateful. He nodded his thanks to them as he reached her. He could tell they were watching this intently and were hanging on every word that he and Tiffy said to each other, but at this point he didn't care who heard him. As long as Tiffy heard and listened he would be fine.

Standing as close as he could without touching her, Charlie answered, "Why, because I love you. Always have and couldn't stop if I tried."

Tears forming in her eyes, Tiffy could hardly believe what she heard. She'd dreamed of this moment for a long time. He admitted that he loved her. She hadn't been seeing things in his eyes that night when had told her that he didn't mean what he had said. She felt herself get caught up in the moment and not worry about the how or why he could have made her feel so miserable on purpose. She smiled one of those cruked upper lip smiles that he loved and said, "I love you too." Plain and simple and they both know it was the truth.

That was all it took for Charlie. His heart soared when he heard those words. He wrapped his arms around her, picked her up and swirled her around. Both of them were laughing as the cameras around them flashed hysterically trying to catch the moment of the hero and his lost love reunited.

When the moment died down, Charlie set Tiffy down. She felt so exhilarated, but then she looked around herself and reality sank in. Hello Tiffy. This is Charlie. The man who broke your heart, apparently on purpose by the looks of it. Get away as fast as you can; you can't let him do it again. You can't trust him, he'll only hurt you. With that bit of reasoning she looked at Charlie and said, "I can't do this. I can't trust you anymore," before turning and disappearing through the crowd.

She heard Charlie calling her name, but she kept on going. Too scared to look back or else be swept into the trap again. The trap of men that she had sworn off of. They couldn't be trusted, especially that one.