A/N: Thank you once again to my incredible reviewers, and to everyone who follows this lil' here story. I never thought this would be the reaction when I first started writing it! When I logged on to see that I had gotten 6 new reviews in one day, I almost fell off my chair, I kid you not! :D
So, as you know, I always try to include at least one little, background event into the story that actually happened. This chapter's one is about Gene bleaching his hair back in the States; I just got my copy of 'A Company Of Heroes' and OH MY GOD! Ahahah. So, anyway, without further ado!
Enjoy, sweetheart. I was scared Emilie might be starting to rub off as a typical Mary Sue, which is the last thing I'm aiming for, (no offense to those who write Mary Sues; they can be fantastic if written right) so I wanted to put the next few chapters in to kind of counter than, you know?
xx
"Allow me to escort you out of the town."
Eugene's offer made her blush, though she attempted to cover that up by smirking and raising her eyebrows sceptically. "What a gentleman you are, Eugene Roe," she teased. They were now standing in the centre of the town, amidst the rubble; all the civilians had since retreated to their homes, along with most of the Americans – the ones that weren't on guard duty, discussing confidential matters or simply getting drunk to take their minds off the concentration camp. Emilie had the half-Cajun to distract her, something she was thankful for. She hardly knew him, but the things he made her feel were ridiculous; if it had happened in a book, she probably wouldn't have believed anything like that could ever possibly happen. Then again, she had never exactly been the Queen of Romance to start with. "But I think I can handle walking alone."
"Are ya sure?" He looked a little disappointed. She was glad she could even detect that; usually, those shutters behind his eyes that all medics seemed to develop sooner or later stopped any indication of emotion from seeping through.
Emilie was silent for a moment, thinking things over, taking her sweet time to simply mock him. Then, finally, she replied, "Fine. Sir, will you please escort a poor, little vulnerable lady out of the town and protect her from the big, bad soldiers?" She batted her eyelashes before chuckling.
They were probably going to the darkest recesses of Hell for joking when just a little way away was the most horrible thing Emilie had ever seen inflicted on other people. But there was no time to take things slow in a war, and by God, she was going to make the most of what little time together they had; who knew what tomorrow could bring? Either one of them could be dead. And she knew Eugene felt the same way. At least she was sure of that much. Not much else made sense, especially why he would want someone like her. It was probably meaningless, just a fling in wartime, a mere blip in time. And yet… No, she didn't dare think of what could be. She was so used to having whatever she loved ripped away from her. Loved? Emilie shoved the thoughts aside, instead opting to concentrate on the now, something she wasn't at all used to after spending so long worrying about the past and future.
Gene smiled and began to walk ahead, stopping for a moment and looking over his shoulder to check she was following. She was. Emilie and Eugene walked side by side. The temperature had plummeted since, winter and spring still battling out whose turn it was to control the weather. She edged a little closer to the man beside her, seeking a little extra warmth and hoping he wouldn't notice. But, when the corners of his lips twitched, she knew he had. Still, he made no move to question her.
"What if someone sees us?" she wondered out loud, looking up at him for a second before dropping her gaze to stare straight ahead. The moonlight turned everything it touched to a brilliant, pale silver. "Isn't there a non-fraternisation policy or something?"
He shrugged. "No one ever listens to rules." Glancing down at her, she saw a small smirk grace his features. "Once, before we were shipped over to Europe, me and some of the other guys decided to pull a prank. We stopped up a tub, filled it with peroxide and bleached our hair. It can't have been very healthy, but ol' Easy's never been real good with rules."
Emilie grinned despite herself. Her hand suddenly had a life of its own and she reached up to tussle his hair playfully, earning her a surprised but amused look. As they made their way through the entrance to the town where an American soldier was standing guard, he made no move to stop them, simply nodded to Gene, who blinked back in response.
They walked in a comfortable silence, though merely being near him was enough to send warm lightning crackling through her body, giving her goosebumps. She had never known herself to be quite so stupid. Emilie finally came to a halt a few hundred metres from the village, repositioning her crutches so she could turn to him. "And this is where we say goodbye," she announced softly, smiling crookedly ever-so-slightly. But when she saw his face was serious, her joking manner faded, looking into his eyes, her breath hitching in her throat.
At that moment, a twig snapped behind them, and they both whipped around, straining to see in the darkness; a thick cloud had just passed over the moon. She felt Gene stiffen beside her. But Emilie could still see the dark outline of the figure before them. Her eyes widened. Her first reaction was anger at being interrupted, but her second was concern. He had seen her with Gene. Usually, she wouldn't give a flying shit about the pain-in-the-ass corporal's opinion, but she could lose everything if he relayed what he had seen back to her CO. Who would her CO believe: her or him?
"Well, well, well," purred Eberhardt, staggering slightly and making her narrow her eyes. "What do we have here?"
