2. From I to Us

"Luke!" Felicia squealed, attempting to pull her fiancé out from under the umbrella the man had propped up in the sand. The six-foot-4 blonde man often cursed his fair skin when it came to outdoor events. He wasn't as bad as his elder brother, who took pale to an all-new, nearly florescent level. However, those Germanic roots ran deep, and the sun was not his friend. Unless looking like a lobster ever came into fashion.

Speaking of older brothers, Luke looked too. His left at the chime of a dry laugh. There was his big brother and his typical grin. "Looks like you got your hands full, little brother." William quipped under his umbrella. Since the wedding announcement, the elder had been having far too much fun at his younger brother's expense. William had maintained that he would stay a bachelor for as long as possible and not fall into the 'marriage trap,' as he liked to say. Although most people who knew him would say the only one trapped in that situation would be any poor woman who got stuck with Will.

The younger groaned, declining to rise to his brothers teasing and let himself be tugged away. " Yes, yes, what is it, Felicia? " 

"Don't be such a stick in the mud!" Felicia said, stomping her foot cutely in the sand. "Vikki and Anthony have much fun swimming. Why don't you come to swim with me?" 

"Well, someone has to wait for everyone else, right? If we leave William to do it, he will fall asleep. And you know how Randal is about my brother." Luke crossed his arms, trying to avoid looking directly at Felicia's overly adorable, pouty face. He thought that pointing out the mutual friend who had so much hatred toward his brother might get him out of going swimming. The ocean was beautiful, but Lukes's streaming subscription to NatGeo meant he'd seen one too many episodes of "When Sharks Attack," While the chance seemed slim, the likely hood was never zero.

"But Liz will be with him! She wouldn't let him leave. Oh, um... You wouldn't happen to know if Eva was coming too?" Felicia looked nervous at the mention of her lover's intense co-worker.

Luke worked for a government laboratory, doing what Felicia wasn't sure about. But she trusted the man, so she never bothered asking much about it. Felicia had met most of Luke's co-workers, like Liz and her husband, Randal. They were friendly, and Liz was bubbly, so Felicia enjoyed her company. Randal was... Randal. Then there was Eva. Mostly she was harmless, but she just gave people the creeps.

"No, she and Conrad had plans today. Taking some day trip, I think." Luke said, trying his bed not to recall Conrads rushing about the time tic plans the man had set up.

"Hello!!! " The sound of a bright female voice came from behind them. It was Liz bounding down the beach, holding down her sun hat as she ran. Randal was doing his best to follow. The poor man looked like he was going to fall over carrying everything.

"Liz!" Felicia cheered, bouncing up and down before running to hug the woman.

Liz grinned, her long brown hair flowing in the summer breeze. "I get to meet all of your friends from the hospital finally, hmm? " She asked, looking over at Felicia's twin, currently cussing out her boyfriend, who was chasing her with a crab.

"I see Vikki and Anthony are still getting on. " She giggled and pointed to the pair's antics.

"Ah, yeah, you know them!.. Oh, Francis and Oliver are somewhere. I hope Oliver didn't bury him in the sand again. You know, last time, he didn't put air holes in." Felicia looked around with a bit of fretful sound before spotting the two practically eating each other's faces in the surf.

Liz spotted it too, and her camera was out, grinning and snapping photos. "I hope Randy and I are still so in love at that age." Both women sighed at the thought before laughing at themselves.

Luke just smiled and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was what he had signed up for. Then again, he wouldn't change it for the world. There weren't many women like Felicia, and he felt lucky to have her. "You ladies get comfortable. I'm going to go help, Randy." Luke said as he walked off to help Randal, who was being tormented by William, which was also not an unusual occurrence.

The two men were the eldest of the friendship group and had been in the same high school. Randal and William were opposites, yet somehow ran in the same circles. Strangely, they had become friends even if Randal would jokingly call the other man the ' bane of his existence.'

Meanwhile, the ladies chatted amongst themselves and almost missed the sound of a car parking just above the beach. They turned and noticed the cherry red SUV and its slender blonde occupant, who struggled with a large sun cap and beach bag. The figure worked a moment in the warm summer wind.

"um, hello." A small voice floated along the breeze as the girl hailed them from the descending stairs from the parking lot.

Cassie made her way down with a bright smile and a wave. This drew the attention of the group below.

Luke, the tallest of the three, currently setting up the coolers, looked down at the beach, squinting his blue eyes. "Randal, what is Conrad doing here? He went on and on about his hot weekend away. Also, what's with the hat....wait.."

"Idiot, that's a woman," Randal said, rolling his eyes. "Though you're right; if I was drunk before noon like your family, I might think it was a man."

"Duche," William quipped, tossing an empty beer bottle at Randal. "I remember college, and you passed out on the front lawn of the beta house with your pants around your knees.

All Luke could do was shake his head. "both of you stop."

Just then, a blur of red hair darted past them as Felicia ran, nearly tackling the approaching blonde. "Cassie! You came! I didn't think that you would! I'm so glad you made it!"

It wasn't long before the bubbly girl dragged her shy coworker over by the hand. "Luke, this is Cassie Baker, the girl I told you about."

Cassie stood tugging at her thin coverup waving at the large man before her. "Hi, it's so nice to meet you. Felicia keeps telling us about you and how wonderful you treat her."

Randal and Luke exchanged a look, and before they could comment, Liz came around shouting about a 'filthy old man.' Probably Francis had commented on her bikini. " Oh, Conrad !...what did you do to your hair? " She said before getting a little closer. " Oh, not Conrad…I'm so sorry you look so similar to him. Forgive me; I'm Liz. ", she said, shoving her hand out.

"My name is Cassie," the young nurse said with a smile as she took the offered hand. "Funny though, I have a brother named Conrad."

"That wouldn't be Conrad Jones, would it?" Randal interjected, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah! How did you know? " Cassie was pretty confused at this point. She felt odd walking into a room after everyone talked about her.

"I think we might." Luke offered, "We have a military liaison our laboratory works with. His name is Conrad Jones. Small world, huh? "he said, rubbing the back of his neck. Luke flushed at the earlier compliment. "Also, thank you so much for your kind words, and it's nice to meet you as well, finally. Felicia is always talking about you. " looking at the girl up close, he was struck by how much she looked like their absent co-worker. He found it hard to believe the boisterous soldier could have such a polite and quiet sister. Then again, anyone who met William found it hard to believe they were related.

Speaking of today's self-proclaimed beach Master, he looked up from digging in the ice chest when he caught sight of the slender fair-haired girl to the left of his brother. William suddenly felt like he'd been kicked in the chest. That gentle face and wide blue eyes that he could just get lost in. He didn't think this lovely girl looked anything like the boisterous Jones at all.

No, he could never mistake this person for anyone else. Something in him knew that as his mouth went dry and, for once in his life, left him speechless. It was wild the way the world seemed to slow down. Will hadn't felt such a quick draw of attraction since high school. Of course, nearly any pretty face and pair of pert breasts could have sent his heart into a flutter. Now he was grown, and most people, women included, tended to bore him to death.

He wasn't the only one. Cassie saw the muscular, pale man staring at her like he was starving. With a bit of blush spreading fiercely across her face, she couldn't hold his stare. Cassie dropped her gaze and smiled softly. "Yeah, small world. We don't talk much, so I wasn't sure what he was up to with the military these days." 

That's how things began, a single glance on a summer day—a chance to meet among friends, and soon... you're more than just friends.

Soon there were long in-depth conversations, exchanged numbers, and even longer calls. The kind of phone calls that lasted until the sun came up and left them both tired but happy for the day ahead. They would talk about nothing and everything, learning more and more about each other. Despite the extended conversations, the two had great times going out when schedules allowed.

Cassie found out William worked at the Museum of all places as a war historian. He was a brilliant man for all his ego; he also had a soft side which showed in how he cared for his pet canary named Fritz. There was something so magical in watching the man talk about his passions and going to each exhibit and speaking with such excitement yet reverence. He told her of his best day at work, and it brought a tear to her eye. The museum had thrown a banquet for WWII vets. William said the things those men had taught him that day would stick with him for the rest of his life.

Six months later, William moved out of his brother's basement and into Cassie's apartment.

Luke sent Cassie a fruit basket to thank her, with a card saying, "I thought it would take a bomb to get my brother out of this house. Well, he's your problem now, JK Congrats!"

So now Cassie had her everyday life, regular job, wonderful friends, and family. And someone to come home to. Everything seemed beautiful in her world, and nothing could take that away.

For the next year, things would carry on like that. The two were getting ever closer, feeling like their whole lives had been steps from where they were. Comfortable in each others' arms each night and every morning, just like every other day, they would exchange "I love you " when the other left for work. Never once did either think one day it would be the last time.