Chapter 1: "Hey we were childhood friends until you left town for some reason or another and I've been stuck here and now for some reason you've come back and are hoping to reconnect AU"

"Not bad, Celia, not bad at all," Celia said to herself after crunching the numbers for her bakery. "One more month of profits like this and you might be able to afford to hire a person or two," she muttered. She heard her phone buzz and groaned, picking it up and scowling at the caller ID.

Unknown Number

"Like hell," she snorted, ignoring the call and packing up her books to stow them away in the safe under her desk. "Don't know who you are, unknown," she muttered as she turned off the light in her office and went about double-checking the rest of the bakery - her bakery - to make sure that everything was in order before leaving.

She was unlocking the door to leave when she saw movement at one of the tables on the patio, frowning when she realized there was a man sitting outside, looking at his phone; he looked up as soon she had started unlocking the door, jumping to his feet when she stepped outside.

"Sir, we've been closed for nearly an hour now - whatever you need is going to have to wait until the morning," she said, not stepping out of the door completely.

"I've been trying to get a hold of you for three days," the man said, rubbing the back of his while smiling nervously at her.

"That isn't creepy at all," she deadpanned, the light of the street lamp illuminating his face; she gasped softly when he came a bit closer, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Wait - Howzer?"

"I wanted to give you a heads up to let you know I was back in town, but you changed your phone number and weren't answering the new one -"

"-I don't answer calls from numbers I don't recognize," she responded. He stopped when there was a fair three feet separating them, clearing his throat nervously.

"My, uh, my old man told me that this is where I could find you, since you moved out of your parents' place." He looked up at the building and smiled brightly before looking at her again, "I'm glad to see you got that bakery you always wanted!"

"Yeah, almost two years!" She tried to cheer, but it came out weakly. "So… what are you doing back in town, exactly?"

"You didn't hear?" He said, perking up a bit in surprise, "I'm back in town."

"I can see that," she said, finally closing the door to the bakery, "but for how long?"

"Until I quit my job at the recruiter's office," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. She choked on a laugh, shaking her head as she shoved her key into the lock forcefully.

"Helping other kids get out of this podunk, dead-end town that's held up by the fact that it shares a ZIP code with one of the top five private universities in the state?" She asked, getting a small sense of satisfaction out of the way he winced.

"That isn't fair." She laughed and locked the door, yanking her key out and tossing it into her purse.

"Let me know when you figure out something that is fair," she answered, getting out her car keys and crossing the parking lot.

"Wait - Celia!" Damn his long legs! She cursed herself when he intercepted her in hardly three steps. She glared up at him, her hands shaking at her sides.

"Get out of my way, Howzer."

"Not until you hear me out."

"I will mace you -"

"-That's my jacket." A tense silence washed over them as Celia squeezed her eyes shut and muttered a cuss word to herself. "Tell me if you've seen anyone else."

"Why do you even care?" She demanded.

"I've missed you."

"You stopped writing me two years ago - when I was starting my business, when I could have used some extra emotional support -"

"I was a commissioned officer, Celia," he said quietly. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, running her hand through her hair. "You cut your hair."

"If you've been a commissioned officer, what are you doing here with a job at the recruiters office?" When he failed to respond she scowled and sniped, "If you're looking to recreate senior prom night, my dad sold the truck last year." She tried to step around him, groaning in frustration when he sidestepped to intercept her again. "I am this close to screaming -"

"-I'm scared." She stopped and looked up at him, seeing the way his eyes wavered in spite of his locked jaw. "I'm terrified, Celia, and right now I'm looking for the slightest bit of comfort I can find - and since I was fifteen, the only times I've felt genuinely safe have been when I'm with you."

"What has you so scared that a tough guy like you can't walk right by it?" She whispered, her voice shaking. He took a step back so he could lean over and tug up his pant leg, revealing the metal joint at his ankle. "How -?" She gasped.

"It only comes up to about here," he said quietly, tapping his fingers about halfway up his calf, "and I got to keep a lot more than some of the other guys."

"Four years of high school in JROTC, four years at a military academy, only to get your foot blown off in two years?" She whispered in disbelief, watching him adjust his pant leg and stand up again.

"Technically eighteen months - I've been in physical therapy since then, getting used to the thing." Things were quiet before he admitted, "That's why I'm scared. I spent so many years working towards a single goal, and then this happened..." he gestured at his foot weakly.

"So... what do you want from me?" She asked, looking up at him. "I'm not the girl I was back in high school, Howzer," she told him gently, "I don't know if I can give you what you might be looking for."

"And I'm not the guy I was back in high school, which means I'm not looking for what I had in high school - what we had in high school," Howzer responded, adjusting his pant leg as he stood up straight. She looked around the empty parking lot and sighed, dragging one of her hands down her face.

"How did you even get here?" She asked weakly.

"My dad dropped me off," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You say you aren't the same guy, and yet you still keep rubbing the back of your neck when you're nervous," she said, "you're going to -"

"-Give myself a bald spot?" He interrupted her, finishing her sentence before she had the chance. "That was what you told me the first time I asked you out."

"Junior prom," she confirmed with a nod and a small smile. She pressed her lips together, her expression thoughtful; Howzer waited patiently. "Do you want to come over for tea?" She asked quietly, smiling at the way his shoulders slumped as he sighed with relief.

"Yes," he said, smiling brightly at her.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"So, what even happened?" Celia asked, handing the cup of tea to Howzer before sitting down on the opposite end of the couch from him. "Not necessarily about the missing foot, but… what made you decide to come back here?"

"To be honest, I missed it," he said, looking thoughtful. "I know I called this town a 'dead end podunk' six years ago, but now…"

"But now?" She pressed.

"I've realized that it's… cozy here," he said, "and back when I was a kid, that was suffocating. But after the shit I went through overseas, it feels like something I need."

"The quiet won't drive you insane?" She asked, smiling at him as he took another sip of tea. "I remember that was another point you made."

"I need the quiet," he muttered; his statement was promptly contradicted by a soft squeaking sound at his feet, accompanied by something brushing against his good leg. He looked down and blinked in surprise at the sight of a tiny Siamese cat walking across his feet and jumping onto the couch, bumping its head against his arm. "Um -?"

"Hey there, Sugar-baby," Celia cooed, crawling towards him so that she was sitting with less than a foot of space between them, her legs curled under her so there was space for the cat to curl against against her. "This is Sugar," she introduced. "I found her outside of the bakery when I was still looking for a location. I took finding her there as a sign." The cat agreed with her by meowing, although it sounded more like a squeak. "I'm surprised she likes you."

"Why, does she hate most of your visitors?"

"No, she's terrified of them," she laughed lightly, petting the cat. "She's very jumpy; she spends most of her time hiding in my room or the bathroom. But besides that she's a good kitty." She scratched the cat under the chin, and Howzer found himself smiling at the tiny motorboat in its chest. Howzer looked between Celia and the cat curled against her, setting down his cup as soon as his tea was finished.

"Hey, Celia…" He said quietly, pulling his leg up on the couch so he could face her completely, Sugar immediately leaping off and chasing after a toy mouse.

"Hm?" She looked up to meet his eyes and he cleared his throat.

"The last time I saw you, after graduation… You said you were going to tell me something. But when I told you I was going to military school, you said it didn't matter anymore. What was it?"

"That was six years ago, Howzer," she sighed, leaning her head against the back of the couch. "I can honestly say I have no idea." She frowned a bit, raising her head and keeping her eyes fixed passed his shoulder. "To be honest, I don't even remember telling you that."

"Oh." There was a peaceful silence between them before Howzer cleared his throat again. "Celia?"

"Hm?"

"C-can I… I know I don't have a right, but…" She looked intrigued, and he cleared his throat again. "You remember how we used to cuddle on my parents couch when they were both gone?" She chuckled and scooted away, leaning back on the couch so her head was resting on a pillow on the opposite end, gesturing for him to come closer.

"C'mere, you big dope." He sighed and slid down the length of the couch, his arms against her sides as he rested his head on her chest. He let out a sigh of contentment, closing his eyes as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, one of her hands going to play with his hair.

"...Your boobs are bigger than they used to be."

"Howzer!"

A/N: And then they FUCKED.

It's more-than-likely to happen in the other chapters, but I wanted to start with something cute and fluffy.

**Edit: I did more research into military recruitment and stuff because that's totally a thing I see Howzer doing in modern!AU's and edited some stuff. I know the details/semantics don't really matter to a lot of people, especially when I'm exploring my thirst, but oh well.

Also, there may be some chapters where I explore the potential for Howzer to have PTSD, because let's be real - in the manga/anime, what everybody has been going through is total grounds for PTSD. But this is an important point:

I am not romanticizing PTSD. Do not romanticize PTSD. Romanticizing PTSD is an awful thing to do.