Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long guys! If you're curious to know the casting of my characters check out my profile page. Hope you enjoy!
As the girls walked back from the field and into the town they were chatting away with great anticipation for their big night out tonight. But as usual, their idle gossip soon turned to playful banter as Sybil played her favourite past time of teasing one of her friends. And this time she had Lily in her sights.
"Lily, you've got it so bad for Donny!" Sybil announced, and both she and Evie exchanged knowing looks with each other as they began giggling idiotically in her direction. Lily was beginning to get fed up with these snide little comments and thought that her friends resembled a pack of hyenas with their constant laughing and snickering.
"What do you mean?" she feigned ignorance but did a poor job at concealing it. And as a result of this, Sybil flung herself in front of the unsuspecting blonde and began a theatrical performance in which she took up to role of Lily Coulson as though she were a famous actress on stage in a Broadway production.
"Oh Donny, I don't know how to play baseball, will you show me?" she mimicked Lily's voice in an extra high and girly manner, accompanying the voice with over dramatic gestures to highlight how pathetic she was as she clearly pinned over the man that had captured her heart. "Oh Donny, your head, does it hurt?" she continued, re-enacting the night Donny had walked into a signpost and she clasped her hands together over her heart as she fluttered her eyelashes at the girls in a ridiculous manner. To be honest, Sybil had managed to capture the obvious love struck nature and general patheticness of her friend to a tee.
"Like you're any better" Jean accused and began her own theatrical performance in an effort to cheer up Lily, who was now sulking with a face that resembled a smacked backside. "Oh I'll show you boys how it's done! Oh Aldo I know how to grip a bat as good as any of the guys do" she mocked with Sybil's trademark cheeky winks. The other girls were howling with laughter, so much so that even prudish Evie had to press her hand against her ribs to ease the stitch she had as a result of laughing so hard.
"So who do you like then?" Sybil asked after glaring at Jean, trying to divert the attention away from herself knowing that she couldn't think of a good enough comeback to what Jean had said.
"None of them, they're all horrible. Give me a good old fashioned English lad any time" Jean declared and all four of them gave a patriotic cheer before bursting into giggles and incurring the disapproving looks of the vicar's wife and some of the congregation who were marching up to the church hall for their weekly Women's Institute meeting. The girls thought they were nothing but a bunch of old sourpusses anyway and didn't give a stuff what they thought. Well, all of them accept perhaps Eve who was always frightened of getting into trouble.
"You'll be lucky if any of them come back in one piece the way things are going at the moment. You best get it where you can, when you can" Sybil crassly informed her with a rude and provocative gesture. Evie instantly turned around to check if the vicar's wife had seen what she had done but thankfully she was too far up the hill to have taken any notice. She turned back to her friends with a scarlet face and gave a quiet sigh of relief. She loved her friends, she really did, but they could be so unrefined and crass at times.
"Actually Bertie and Harry are back on leave, I'll have you know. Bertie's sister said so yesterday" Jean told her otherwise, feeling rather smug that she knew something that gossip mongering Sybil didn't.
"Bert and Harry?" Evie suddenly perked up.
Albert Sutherland and Harry Baker were two lads who were the same age as the girls and had been their classmates when they were still in school. Whilst in their youths they had been nothing short of nuisances, torturing the girls relentlessly by hiding frogs in their desks and throwing spiders at them, they had now matured into fine young men and were currently residing in His Majesty's army.
"Haha, does Harry still fancy our Lily?" Sybil inquired, getting back to her favourite hobby of embarrassing the poor girl.
"He doesn't fancy me!" she snapped back defensively, her cheeks flushing as crimson as Evie's had done moments before.
"Wonder what he'll do when he finds out he's got competition?" Sybil continued, pretending she had never even heard Lily speak whilst discreetly elbowing Jean in the side with glee at the reaction she was getting out of their friend.
"He doesn't...he...I...oh just shut it or I'm going home" she spat getting more flustered by the second.
"Oh stop being so mardy, we're only teasing" Sybil sighed impatiently. Apparently she was the only one in the group that could take a joke!
"Bertie's nice though, isn't he?" Evie stated with dreamy eyes. She had always fancied him, a nice wholesome boy with jet black hair and pale blue eyes. She was desperate for him to notice her but was too timid to do anything about it.
"Really? I thought you liked the Kraut. You couldn't stop staring at him" Jean observed.
"I...he's handsome and all but..." After all, no one could deny that Hugo Stiglitz was an eye catching figure. Big and muscly and handsome to boot. But something about him frightened her, and it didn't help that he was German.
"He's a psycho!" Sybil finished off for her. She had never met a man who was as unsettling as he was, with his imposing physique yet quiet demeanour. She often wondered what went on in that head of his as he sat on the sidelines observing everything that was going on around him with those cold, steely eyes of his. The more she thought about it, the more it sent shivers down her spine. Only God knows what a man like that thinks about.
"He's not, he's just hardened. You can see it in his eyes. He's probably seen some bad things in his time and it's toughened him up" Lily defended. But Sybil couldn't help but let out a shrill 'ha' at her friends psychoanalysis and decided to lighten the mood once more by making a crass observation.
"You were looking at his eyes? I was more interested in his rear. He's got a backside of steel if ever I saw one" and the girls, with the exception of Evie who merely rolled her eyes at her disgusting minded friends, burst out into loud hysterics once more.
"Oh Sybil, you're so wicked" Lily managed to say through broken laughter and gasps for air as she linked arms with the girl and seemingly forgotten that she had been annoyed with her less than five minutes ago.
The day flew by and soon the girls found themselves in Sybil's bedroom getting ready for their group date. Sybil took charge of styling the friends, determined to make them look as glamorous as possible in an effort to show the Basterds that even Hollywood beauties such as Veronica Lake and Rita Hayworth had nothing on the humble northern English lass. Their lips were painted red and they did the best they could with the rest of their make up rations. Sibyl herself was dressed in an oriental dress of black silk decorated in pink cherry blossom, a gift from her father who had purchased it in the late 30s on his travels with the navy to Singapore. Lily's outfit was much humbler in comparison, being a dark blue dress adorn with white polka dots. But with a bit of love and attention from Sybil and the girls, who had loaned her some red accessories to go with it, she looked the belle of the ball.
What she didn't know however, was that the girls were on a mission to hook her up with Donny tonight whether she liked it or not.
"Don't you think we're a bit too dressed up for the pictures?" Lily inquired as she studied herself and Sybil in the dresser mirror and fiddled with a flower in her hair. She couldn't decide if she liked it or not and ended up just pulling out, tossing it on to the bed with the rest of the discarded make up and accessories.
"You can never be too dressed up, sweetie!" was Sybil's cool response and Lily supposed that she should have expected such an answer from her.
It was 6:45 pm and the girls left the house, slowly making their way towards the Gainford Gardens bus stop. But on their journey down the lane they were met by a pleasant surprise in the guise of two young men in the King's uniform coming in the opposite direction. Their faces were over come with joy as they came to the realisation that they knew these gentlemen. It was none other than Harry and Bertie, and with that they tottered over to them as fast as their clumsy heels would allow.
"Hey girls" Bertie greeted with a genuine smile of delight at seeing his old childhood friends again and throwing both arms simultaneously around Eve and Sybil.
"Hi" all four girls chorused together as they embraced the two men with hugs and kisses. But when Lily put her arms around the shoulders of Harry, the taller and fairer of the two men, the two of them both went to kiss each other upon the cheek and ended up brushing lips instead. Lily took a step back, her face aflame with embarrassment, and quickly turned on Bertie, embracing him with a deep hug so she could bury her face in his shoulder. Harry had dropped his head to the floor bashfully but he could not conceal the little grin upon his face. The thought of some day kissing Lily was all that kept him going through the hell hole that was war.
"So hows the war going fellas?" Sybil asked, the unofficial leader of the group and taking special care to flutter her elongated lashes in the direction of the boys whilst pouting her lips in in effort to look sultry.
"The less said the better" Bertie stated, casting down his eyes towards the ground in avoidance and the girls began to feel awkward as they were brought to the sudden realisation that war was not all glamour and prestige like the movies would have you believe.
"Well, it's a good job you've got us lovely ladies to keep your spirits up then isn't it?" Sybil stated in an effort to lift the mood and she gave them both one of her cheeky winks. It seemed to have worked already as Bertie was instantly besotted by her and couldn't help but be captivated by her beauty, especially her charming cherry red lips.
As Bertie and Sybil chattered away like two sparrows, Harry had finally gained the courage to look up from his shoes and address the group for the first time, his eyes squarely on Lily. All regarded him eagerly. It was a well known fact in the town that Harry Baker had been in love with Lily Coulson since he was fifteen years old. Even Lily's mother knew and had not so quietly hinted at the prospect of courtship to her daughter but she had utterly disregarded it. She would never make the first move with a man and poor Harry didn't have the guts to ask her out. He was convinced that all the horrible pranks he had played on the girls in his youth had come back to bite him in the backside.
"So, where are you girls off to tonight then?" he inquired in general although the question had been personally directed towards Lily. Lily opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, somewhat resembling a guppy fish, and in the end Sybil ended up answering for her.
"We were going to the cinema..." she began but before she had the chance to finish off her sentence Harry excitedly blurted out,
"Mind if we join you?" His eyes were hopeful and eager.
He was still somewhat shy around Lily but if the war had taught him anything it was to take chances and make the best of life whilst you can. He was going to ask her out...eventually. He just needed to pluck up the courage. Maybe they could watch a scary movie and she would cuddle up to him in the dark when she got frightened. Or perhaps they could go for a drink or two afterwards, that would help loosen his tongue and inhibitions. He just had to take it step by step for the moment. He was sure he could charm her given half a chance.
"Erm, well I... I don't think it would be your cup of tea really" Jean deliberated diplomatically. After all, none of the girls wanted them to intrude on their group date and she knew that the lads would kick off if they knew there were Yanks in town, never mind if they were hooking up with 'their' girls, as so many British men had concluded since the arrival of their allies.
"Come on, we love the cinema. I'd even sit through a romance" Harry laughed nervously, not seeming to get the hint that his company was not desired.
"Well we kind of just wanted it to be us girls" Jean announced, trying to think up a good excuse on the spot in order to spare the boys' feelings.
"Oh no, they're here!" Evie mumbled just loud enough for the girls to hear and all four of them turned around to see the Basterds walking towards them against the orange and violet background of a sunset. Lily and Sybil exchanged looks of horror whilst Jean emitted what appeared to be a groan of pain.
"...And them lot" she lamely finished off, her face scrunching up in preparation for what might occur as she brought her hand to her mouth.
The Basterds arrived less than a minute later, all dressed smartly in their pristine military uniforms that had caught many an English girl's eye. Harry and Bert eyed them up and down suspiciously as they greeted the girls.
"Ladies" Aldo greeted with a mock bow of the head as he took hold of Sybil's hand and kissed it as though he were a gentleman of old. She couldn't help but emit a girlish giggle as he did so and Bert felt his blood boil at the nerve of the man. To him he looked nothing better than a sleazy slimeball who was out to get whatever he could. And judging by his accent, he was American! Well, all of a sudden Bert had decided that he did not like Americans very much.
"Fellas, these are our old school friends, Harry and Bertie" Sybil introduced after placing a firm and loving hand upon Aldo's arm. "These are our new American friends. This is Lieutenant Aldo Raine, he's part Apache you know" she grinned as though she were the cat that had gotten the cream, not realising that her assumption of Aldo being part native Indian was incorrect and that he had actually acquired the nickname because of his love of scalping his enemy's corpses.
"How do you do?" Bertie muttered through gritted teeth, trying his best to appear the gentleman by extending his hand out to Lieutenant Raine but in his head he was calling him all the names under the sun. Not that Aldo and his men couldn't sense the Englishmen's hostility towards them. But they avoided any confrontation less it upset the girls and make them miss the film.
"Very well sir. And yourself?" he politely replied but his sincerity was just as dubious as Bertie's was. He didn't have much time for snot nosed little English boys. In truth he disliked most Englishman, who had deluded themselves into thinking they were still a great colonial power and so continued acting high and mighty against them. The only people he didn't mind in this country were the pretty English girls who had a penchant for nylon stockings and were willing to do anything to acquire them.
Bertie didn't even bother with a reply this time, he just answered him with a curt nod of the head. Sybil could sense the tension between the men and so decided it was about time they all got going.
"Well, gotta dash fellas. We'll see you around though, yeah?" she brightly announced, now hooking her arms around Aldo's and trying to stir him away from a virtual stare out with Bertie. But it wasn't Bertie she should have been worried about.
During all this time, Harry had stood silent, glued to the spot glaring at the group of Americans before him. He had shown a particularly interest in one of them, a man who was much broader and burlier than the rest with dark, bushy eye brows. He had been giving Lily the eye and she had coyly been returning it back. Now as the girls began to congregate around the Americans like flies around manure, he watched as this particular man approached Lily and offered her his arm for the evening. His heart fell into the pits of his stomach when he witnessed how her face lit up with joy at the offer. His right hand began to curl up into a fist as he saw them talking to each other in hushed tones, both of them grinning from ear to ear, Lily playing with her hair nervously. The sight sickened him and it had not gone unnoticed by the other girls, who were desperately trying to get the Basterds to move a further twenty feet down the lane in order to reach the safety of the bus stop. But Harry wasn't about to let them go without voicing his thoughts.
"Lily, I thought you were better than that!" he exclaimed. His opinion of her had changed completely within five minutes. She was little better than a hussy now. One of those loose girls who hung around with American soldiers in exchange for favours. He expected this of Sybil, and perhaps even Jean and Evie, who were little better than sheep. But he had never imagined the sweet, innocent girl he had known since childhood would effectively become a harlot.
Bertie was shocked by this outburst, surprised that his usually quiet and even tempered friend would ever say such a thing, especially towards the girl he had harboured secret feelings towards for almost a decade. He attributed it to the war. They'd both been at Dunkirk and seen the horror of war right before their very eyes. Things seem different after witnessing the corpses of fallen comrades who had once been close friends. Perhaps he was in shock. Perhaps he was disappointed that the one thing he had idolised at home, the one thing that had kept him going, had disregarded him completely for another man. He couldn't blame Lily for this. As far as he knew, she didn't even know that Harry liked her, although it had been completely obvious to the world and its wife.
Lily, though hurt by Harry's words, had thought it was best to not even acknowledge the comment and began to walk off with the girls and the Basterds. She thought it was best not to cause a scene, especially after witnessing the commotion caused by the Basterds at the Red Lion. But as soon as she made to walk away, Harry had stepped forward and grabbed her arm in an effort to stop her. But before she could even complain that his hand which had clamped on to her arm like a vice was hurting her, Donny had jumped forward and gave him an almighty shove in the chest.
"Get your fucking hands off her!" he yelled, pushing him so hard that he nearly knocked Harry off his feet.
"Don't tell me what to do you God damn Yank. You're not even a Yank are you, you fucking Yid!" Harry shouted, observing the trend of dark hair, swarthy complexions and large noses that betrayed the groups' Jewish origins.
"Harry!" Lily and Jean protested, disgusted that their friend could say such a thing but the Basterds were now in uproar.
Before Donny could react to the derogatory slur, Aldo had placed a strong, firm hand upon his shoulder, noting his friend's eyes had lit up in rage and looked almost demonic at the moment.
"Hey Donny, cool it" he warned.
Aldo had been reminded time and time again that they were to keep a low profile in England. Well the bar brawl wasn't going to do much good for their image, he couldn't very well allow a scuffle with the local boys to occur. He knew that Donny and the others would beat the crap out of them given half a chance and they were all itching to put their training to practise and have a good fight. And as much as Aldo loved to take part in a good fight himself, he knew he had to obey orders. He didn't fancy getting chewed out again.
The other Basterds, however, were not so quiet in voicing their opinions and had been egging him on relentlessly.
"Donny!" Hugo and Utivich had shouted in encouragement, stepping forward and backing their comrade. The mere sight of Stiglitz made Harry slightly wary but his strong German accent made his blood boil even more. It appeared to Lily that she would have to take charge and try keep the peace between them all. After all, this time it was technically her fault. At least that was what she believed anyway.
As Donny began to square up to Harry, she placed herself in front of him and forced him to look her in the eye, hoping that it might have a calming effect upon him and deter him from doing anything stupid.
"Please! Don't be such an idiot" she begged, desperate to diffuse the situation. But it seemed that her words fell on deaf ears and he tried to nudge past her, though fortunately for her Aldo had managed to hold him back. Bertie had also resorted to restraining his friend although Harry kept managing to wriggle free from his grip, only to be caught once again within his bear like hug.
Thankfully for the girls, who had been watching the events unfold in utter disbelief, salvation came for them in the form of a red double decker bus that was slowly making it's way down the winding road towards their bus stop.
"Come on, the bus is here. Just leave him" Lily pleaded, now linking her arm around Donny's and leading him towards the bus stop, although he was still reluctant to move. He would have probably overpowered her if it hadn't have been for Aldo who was tracing after him, repeating his slogan of Save it for them Nazis, over and over again. With a few more threats and expletives exchanged between Harry and Donny, the Basterds reached their destination and hopped on to the bus.
Five minutes later on the bus...
"I'm gonna get those motherfuckers if it's the last thing I do on this God damn island. You guys with me?" Donny had enquired and was met with a positive murmur of approval as the rest of the Basterds all smirked at each other in the knowledge that they'd get to vent some of their pent up anger. Even Aldo couldn't help but join in with the fun. Perhaps they could get a bit of revenge on the last day before they were dropped into France. They could think of it as their own private target practise before they went Nazi hunting.
"What are you guys smirking about?" Sybil inquired as she noted that the boys had been talking in hushed tones and were looking suspiciously happy. She had suspected they had been telling dirty jokes and wanted to get in on the action. The rest of the girls had risen their eyebrows out of curiousity.
"Just that we've not been to the movies in a long time" Omar had smirked and the rest of the basterds quietly snickered at the private joke. Donny beating people up with his baseball bat was their own private entertainment.