When Charlie pulled up in front of Hilliard's house it was almost six. She had no clue why she had even come. She told herself that it was to talk to Devon, but in reality it was so that she wouldn't have to be alone. She froze on that thought. She had never considered herself lonely before. When she had gone away to school being alone meant being safe.

The front door opened and Devon was there waving at her. It was too late to turn around so she got out of her car and walked up the walk.

"Come in and meet my husband. We decided to grill out." Devon led the way to the back porch. It was odd to have someone playing hostess to her in Hilliard's house.

When they hit the backdoor the dogs were there to greet her. She gave them each pats and then directed her attention to the two men at the grill. They looked a lot alike and could almost pass for brothers. Hilliard was a little taller but not much and his hair was a shade darker, but the real difference were the eyes. Hilliard's were green and Josh's were grey and cold as they assessed her. There was something about him that made her uneasy and she was having a hard time putting her finger on it.

"Charlie, I'm sorry I don't know your last name," Devon said as she began the introductions.

"Temple."

"Charlie Temple, may I introduce my husband Josh McIntire. Josh this is Charlie." Charlie stayed on the other side of the porch not making a move to shake his hand. She just nodded a greeting.

If he thought it odd he didn't say anything as he nodded back.

"I'm having some wine Charlie, would you like a glass?"

"No thank you, I'll stick with water."

Devon excused herself to get the water, and Charlie took a seat at the table while Ares promptly sat on her feet.

"So Charlie tell me all about yourself," Devon said as she returned with their drinks.

"There's not much to tell." Charlie knew that Devon's line of questioning could lead nowhere good.

"Where are you from?"

"Here, Virginia." Charlie took a sip of water after clearing her throat uneasily.

"So are we, Josh and I. Where in Virginia?" Devon wasn't giving up, despite the cold shoulder Charlie was trying to throw her.

"The Arlington area."

"So are we!" Devon seemed excited, but all Charlie felt was sick. She should have gone far away to school and not stuck so close to home. She didn't know why she stayed. She had often wondered.

"Do you work?" Devon asked, providing Charlie with a chance to change the subject that she took quickly.

"No, but you do. Dr. Hilliard tells me you are a psychologist as well."

"Yes, I focus on body language."

Charlie was pleased that she had turned the conversation off of herself, but when Devon didn't elaborate Charlie had to think quick to keep the conversation off of herself. "How did meet your husband?" She looked over at the two men who were bent over the grill.

"We grew up together." Devon followed her gaze and smiled lovingly at her husband

"They look a lot alike. They could pass for brothers."

"Yes they could, they hear that a lot."

The two women were silent for a while as they watched the men grill, but Charlie did her best to keep her gaze from wandering over to Hilliard and focused on Ares who was still sitting on her feet.

Devon broke the silence first. "So Kellan said that Will wore his uniform to class a few weeks back. Did all the girls get hot and bothered?"

"Some of the guys too." Charlie took a sip of water to hide her smile at Hilliard's sharp look.

"I bet Will loved all of the attention, he's a bit of an attention hog. You should see Kellan and Josh in their uniforms," Devon said, looking appreciatively at her husband. If Charlie didn't know better she could have sworn that Devon was playing up Hilliard.

"I imagine if Dr. Hilliard showed up in his uniform he wouldn't be recognized."

"It's just a uniform, he looks pretty much the same in or out of it." She looked over at Hilliard assessing him. Charlie wanted to disagree. She knew exactly what he looked like out of it.

"And how do you know what Kellan looks like out of his uniform Devon?" Josh turned to her his eyebrow raised in question as if he had read Charlie's thoughts.

"You know what I mean Josh!" Devon blushed at her husbands misunderstanding.

"It wouldn't be just his uniform." Charlie said, now aware that they were being listened to. "I imagine he would have to shave that thick beard and cut his scraggly ponytail."

"It is not scraggly. I've worked very hard on this ponytail," Hilliard objected loudly. Charlie had to agree with him. He had thick wavy hair and his ponytail was fairly impressive, but she couldn't help the smile that played around her lips at the fact that he fell into the trap so readily.

Hilliard looked at her, his eyes narrowing as he realized he was being teased.

"There are a few students who think that he looks like an egotistical hippy." Charlie continued, eager to hear what Devon's response to that would be.

"No way. Kellan is a lot of things but egotistical and hippy are not two words I would use to describe him." Devon shook her head in disagreement.

"Will agreed with the egotistical part," Charlie said seriously.

"Nope, Will has always been a bit jealous of anyone he sees as competition for the ladies. He was forever calling Josh all kinds of names until he married me." Josh looked far from impressed with their banter as he took a sip of beer and looked over at Charlie, still assessing her.

"Why do you keep the beard Kellan?" Devon asked, studying him as if she had never considered the question before.

"It makes life easier in more ways than one." He shrugged.

"Here's to not shaving." Josh lifted his beer.

"It also helps to keep the female students away." A little devil in Charlie made her add.

Kellan grinned one of his heart stopping smiles. "That too."

Charlie shook her head unable to not smile back.

"When he finally shaves it in a few weeks you'll have to tell me what everyone's reactions are, yours included." She set her wine down ready to change the subject. "So tell me about you research? What angle are you planning to take?"

Charlie started to fill her in one the details as the guys moved into the kitchen to put together the rest of the meal.

"You're from a military family?" Devon asked as the men started to bring out the food.

"Not originally, my mother married a Captain when I was about ten years old." Charlie said it before realizing the trap that she had fallen into. Devon was good there was no doubt about it.

"So you chose to focus on a subject that you have a little bit of knowledge about. Smart." Devon nodded as she started to serve herself some salad.

Josh moved to sit on Charlie's other side and Ares let out a low growl when he pulled out the chair.

"Ares come," Hilliard commanded, and when the dog had moved Josh finished pulling out the chair.

"I think Ares thinks that Charlie is his girlfriend," Devon joked at the awkwardness.

"No, Charlie dislikes strange men and Ares senses that and feels the need to protect." There was silence and Charlie didn't try to deny it.

After a few minutes of tense silence Devon broke it in the worst possible way. With the worst possible question. "So I don't know any Temples, do you Josh?"

Josh shook his head as he took a bite of steak.

"What was your stepfather's name, is he still a Captain?"

Charlie froze. It was the same question Hilliard had asked her and she had gotten out of it then, but now it would be harder. "I have no idea," She said hoping the subject would be dropped. She could feel Hilliard watching her closely. She wiped her mouth with her napkin pushing here plate aside.

"Well what's his name, maybe we know him."

"It doesn't matter." She cleared her throat taking a sip of water.

"Well maybe our families know each other." Devon wouldn't let it go, and Charlie could feel herself breaking out into a cold sweat.

"It's just a name Charlie." Hilliard added, not attempting to help her.

"Wren." She almost choked on the name.

Everyone went very still as they all stared at her.

"Admiral Gerald Wren is your stepfather?" Hilliard asked.

"Yes." She said swallowing hard. "I guess."

"You guess?" Josh sounded astounded.

"Let's change the subject." Hilliard said no longer eating.

Then the other shoe dropped. "If Admiral Wren is your stepfather then that makes Brad Wren your stepbrother, and Laura-,"

"Yes," Charlie said reaching for her water again, hoping no one noticed that her hand shook as she took a sip. She was so focused on not spilling her water and Devon was so focused on the fact that they knew her family that they both missed the look that Hilliard and Josh exchanged.

"Tabitha is you mother? I didn't know she had a daughter."

Unable to take anymore, Charlie rose abruptly and excused herself, walking into the house and through the front door. She would take a walk around the park then drive herself home after she had calmed down a bit. Her heart was about to come out of her chest and she was finding it hard to breath. All she kept hearing was Devon saying, 'I didn't know she had a daughter.' One thing she had never allowed herself to do in the past ten years was feel sorry for herself. She was a survivor, she had gotten through it and she would continue to do so.

She walked for about an hour, until it started to get dark. When she arrived back at her car it was to see Hilliard leaning against the side of it waiting for her. He looked calm and relaxed like he was just out enjoying the warm spring evening, but as she drew closer she could sense the tension in him.

"I'm sorry I was rude to your friends," Charlie said on a whisper, her good manners to ingrained not to offer the apology, and for some reason she didn't want Hilliard to think badly of her.

"No, I'm sorry we were rude. It was obvious to all of us that you didn't want to talk about it but we pushed it." His voice was low and rough.

"It doesn't really matter." She began again as she reached for her car door.

"Yes, it does, and it's very clear that it does, so don't try to say it doesn't."

Charlie didn't know what to say to that.

"Are you O.K. to drive?"

"Yes." His eyes met hers but, as usual, she was unable to read what he was thinking. Did he think badly of her? Her step-father was an Admiral now, maybe there was come Navy code that said he couldn't like her if she spoke badly of a commanding officer. Not that she had spoken badly.

He nodded and stood up. "I'll see you next week."

She moved to unlock her car door and opened it. "Next week," she assured him and climbed into the car.

*******

Kellan entered the house and walked into the kitchen where Devon and Josh were waiting silently, and he and Josh exchanged another look, but this time Devon caught it.

"What does that look mean?" She was almost in tears. "I can't believe I said that."

Josh put his arm around her and pulled her close giving her a kiss on the top of her head. "I don't think what you said even touches the tip of the iceberg."

"What do you mean?"

The men exchanged a look again.

"Tabitha and Admiral Wren have always been so pleasant." It was a fact that they were longtime friends of both her and Josh's parents.

The men remained silent, not giving Devon any clues as to what was really wrong.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"Something that we will continue to not tell you," Josh said softly.

Devon looked from one to the other then resigned, she nodded. "Let's go Josh." She went over to Kellan and gave him a hug. "I'm sorry."

He hugged her back not saying a word. What could he say, he was not about to tell her that Lieutenant Brad Wren had tried for SEALs but didn't make it because he was not a team player, or that he almost cost a few men their lives during training because of laziness, or that he was almost court marshaled for rape and that the only reason he escaped it was because the girl mysteriously dropped the charges at the last minute. The thought of Charlie having to share a house with him...He suddenly remembered her comment about locks and how there had been none at her stepfathers house. It all made sense and he wished to God it didn't.

"Devon can you give us a minute?" Josh asked, giving her another kiss before pushing her towards the door.

Josh stood next to Kellan facing the living room, watching his wife as she fiddled with her phone.

"She asked me if it was a military thing not to have locks on the doors. She said her stepfather didn't have them in his house either." It was said very low so Devon couldn't hear. "I think I'm going to be sick," Kellan muttered.

"We're assuming the worst Kellan. She has never said anything bad happened to her."

"We've seen the signs too many times not to recognize a rape victim Josh. How many war zones have we been in where the women see us and act the exact way Charlie does?"

"The last thing that woman needs is your pity if something did happen," Josh insisted.

"I will never look at Wren the same way." Hilliard shook his head as he thought of the distinguished Admiral. The automatic dropping of Admiral said it all for both of them.

They had always assumed that the woman had been lying about Brad, especially when she dropped the charges. Sure, he wasn't liked by very many people but that didn't make him a rapist. But knowing that Charlie had been sent away to school at fifteen, which was about the same time that Brad would have been attending Annapolis, was just too much of a coincidence.

Josh put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Finish the quarter, get through it then figure it all out. You don't have to do it tonight."

Kellan nodded. He had shared some of what had happened between him and Charlie with Josh on their last trip, and it was wise advice that he would do his best to follow. There were only four weeks left in the quarter. As long as they didn't get called away again.

As if on cue his phone buzzed and so did Josh's.

"Damn training," Kellan muttered as he looked at his phone. He knew he had to call Charlie to dog sit. His sister wasn't back from her trip. He had programmed Charlie's number into his phone the day she had started dog sitting for him just in case, but he hesitated to dial it.

"I had better take Devon home."

Kellan nodded as he hit the call button.

"Hello?" Charlie answered after the fourth ring. She sounded hesitant.

"I have to leave Charlie, can you-?"

"Sure, I'll come back," she said without even letting him finish, and Kellan was taken so much by surprise he was silent.

"Are you there?" she asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Yes. Thanks."

"No problem."

He hung up the phone, wondering for the hundredth time what made Charlie tick.

*******

Charlie knocked on the door and when there was no answer she let herself in. The dogs greeted her then moved down the hallway and laid outside the bathroom door.

Realizing that Hilliard had not yet left, she went to the kitchen and started to clean up the dishes. The plates were still on the back porch and she was in the middle of bringing them in when Hilliard walked into the kitchen.

Holding two plates with half eaten steaks still on them, she looked up to find him looking at her with an odd expression.

"What?" She turned around to see who or what was behind her.

He glanced at her one more time then looked back down at his wrist as he fastened his watch.

It gave Charlie a chance to look at him, his hair was damp and pulled back into his ever present ponytail, and she could smell citrus and something spicy, it was a smell that he always left behind him. He was wearing a well fitted t-shirt and his camos were tucked into his boots, and this time she noticed his dog tags that hung around his neck.

"You don't have to do that." He looked up at her, his eyes meeting hers as he motioned towards the plates.

"So you want me to leave them out there until you get back?" She motioned toward the back porch like she was about to take the plates back outside.

He smiled at her sarcasm. "I'll just say thank you."

"You just go right ahead." She cocked her head to the side waiting, amazed at her sudden attitude.

"There is a bit of sass in there, isn't there?" He walked towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

Instead of backing away Charlie stood still as she slowly looked up at him. She noticed that her heart rate had accelerated but not out of fear. This was something new. Her stomach felt like she was on a roller-coaster as it bottomed out then quickly ascended.

"Thank you," he said just before he lifted her chin with one hand and placed a kiss on her lips.

She automatically closed her eyes. His lips were warm and gentle as he teased hers with his. It was over quickly, as soon as it had started it had ended, but her knees were a little wobbly as he traced her cheekbone with his thumb. Realizing that her eyes were still closed she opened them and blinked, staring at his chest as she licked her lips. "A kiss wasn't necessary."

"No, and it probably wasn't a good idea either. But it sure was nice."

She looked up at him and as usual his face was an unreadable mask.

Charlie nodded then moved away towards the sink. "When will you be back?"

"I have no idea." He tucked his dog tags into his shirt and turned to reach for a bag that sat by the back door.

"For the record I think I would like you better with the beard." She didn't know why she had said it, and as soon as it was out she wished she could take it back.

"I'll have to think about that one," he said as he walked out the backdoor, slowly closing it behind him.

Why on earth had she said that, and why did she think she would like him better with his beard then without? She had never seen him clean shaven. There was no doubting that he would be shockingly handsome without it, maybe too handsome. It was his eyes. With a beard covering half his face it drew attention away from the chiseled jaw and full lips, it made a person focus on his eyes.

And to her, a person with a beard never seemed to be into appearances overly much. Then it dawned on her; he had been hiding like she had. His beard and long hair, coupled with his uniform of dress shirts and jeans, had hidden who he was just as much as her baggy clothes, makeup free face, and ponytail protected her from unwanted male attention.

She knew her reasons, to her any male attention was bad attention, but what were his reasons? She doubted that he was afraid of women, in fact he had seemed the exact opposite. Was he trying to distance himself from being a SEAL?

Realizing that she wasn't going to figure it out in one night, she finished the dishes then fed the dogs.

When she walked into the bedroom to prepare for bed she looked at the covers that were still rumpled from that morning. Had she really slept beside him? Had it only been that morning. Suddenly feeling very tired she changed into her pajamas, brushed her teeth then climbed into bed.

As she snuggled into the pillow she realized that it still held his scent. A scent that was starting to represent something important. Not willing to look too hard at it, she closed her eyes and drifted off, feeling safe and secure as the dogs snores lulled her to sleep.