"Would you trust me to save your life?" Alexander looked up at the question that came out of nowhere. At first, he truly thought about the question, debating his answer. He was about to say yes, but then saw the playful smile on John's face.

"Of course not," Alexander grinned as John laughed.

"That is probably for the best." They joked about this all the time, usually after one of them had done something unintelligible. For example, John had just dropped his gun three times in a row as they were heading off to train. Earlier that week, Alexander had lost his pen, and taken an hour to find that he had tucked it behind his ear. While this question was of course a joke, as they had been fighting in the war together for months, Alexander had to wonder why he had thought about his answer for so long. Perhaps because there was a lilt of true concern in John's voice when he had asked the question today.

"Alexander?" John snapped his fingers in front of Alexander's eyes.

"I apologize; I was lost in thought." Alexander pulled his overcoat tighter to his chest as a winter wind blew. "Were you saying something, dear Laurens?" John smiled softly and blushed. Alexander was lucky he and John were in the back of the group that had gone out to practice, or else they could be found out by the others.

"No, but I feared you might run into a tree again." Alexander frowned, remembering the several times he had been so lost in thought that he ran into a tree or bush or person. A few weeks prior, John had caught Alexander as he tripped and fell in their tent. As if on cue, John took hold of Alexander's arm and tugged, causing the smaller man to collapse into John's side. A spindly tree passed by in the place Alexander had just stood. He huffed as he moved away from John, who snickered at his embarrassment. "Would you trust me to save your life now?"

"No."

The world erupted into light, and everything changed.

Now, they stood in a hastily built tent filling with the summer heat. They ignored the hot air, but made their own. Quick, shy kisses as one passed by the other; soft touches to arms and legs and faces that would be considered too intimate to most; caring smiles and whispered romantics and loving glints reflecting in each other's eyes. Though the room they shared was only for them, they still kept quiet about their love.

"Alexander..." John whispered in the boy's ear. The hot breath and tone of voice the came from John's lips made Alexander shiver, besides the warmth of the season. "It is late. You need to go to sleep." It was only then that Alexander saw that the only light he had came from the candle on his desk. He then looked back down at the letters he had been writing for hours.

"John, I still have to finish these-"

"We both know that you have finished all of the urgent letters."

"Just let me-" Alexander was silenced when John blew out the candle, making the room become as dark as the night sky. The only stars they could see were in their eyes.

"As long as you share a room with me, you will go to sleep at a reasonable time," John said as he dragged Alexander up and away from his desk, earning a grumble as a response. "You know very well how exhausted and irritable you will be tomorrow if you do not go to sleep now." As Alexander walked through the small room, he tripped.

A flash of light went off in Alexander's mind.

What the hell was that?

He nearly fell to the ground, if not for John's arms wrapping around him and bringing their chests together. John smirked as he said, "Would you trust me to save your life?"

Alexander didn't respond. Instead, he thought, Something is wrong.

"Alexander, are you alright?" John looked down at him in concern.

"I...I am...yes," Alexander replied.

Another flash, but this time, instead of light, he saw a silhouette.

"Alexander?" John still held the smaller boy close to him.

Yet another flash.

Alexander took a few steps back, much to the other boy's dismay.

"Alexander, what is wrong?"

"I am not sure..." Alexander mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"John, do you recall when you stopped me from walking into a tree?"

"What?"

"I know that it is a strange, unimportant moment to remember, but-"

"I have done no such thing."

The silhouette was made of blurred color this time.

This has happened before.

"What do you mean? None of this has happened before."

Something is wrong.

"I think you need to get to sleep."

It was a person, floating before him.

"John, what is going on?"

"War, my dear Alexander."

John threw Alexander to the ground just before a gunshot sounded. The vision of John in Alexander's head went dark. A bullet tore through John's chest as he smiled down at the terrified boy below him. Crimson drops splashed onto Alexander's petrified body, forever staining his mind.

"Would you trust me to save your life now?"

John's body went limp, and his breathing halted as he closed his eyes and fell to the ground. Alexander burst into tears and screamed.

"NO!"