AN: We'll be getting to E Block soon, so don't worry!

Time

October 1950

"The wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy." - Omar Bradley.

It didn't hurt the first time, not like everyone had said it would. Her Mother had said she'd go to hell if it didn't hurt; sex before marriage was wrong, a sin, something to be damned by. It shouldn't have been enjoyable. Maybe the amount of adrenaline that had pumped through her body, through their bodies, had made it so much more easier, exciting and pleasurable. It didn't hurt the time after, either, any of the times after. They'd even done it once, fucked real hard when Percy's Mother was in the next room. They'd stifled their moans behind soft hands, quivering, hungry lips. He didn't speak during the sex though, Percy, instead silently biting at her neck, collar bone, grabbing her breasts between his hands and thrusting deeper inside her until both shook with an enthusiastic orgasm. And no one knew. No one saw the two adolescences running around - Allie giggling madly, Percy just trying to find somewhere to quickly satisfy his needs. Because he'd never had someone like Allie, as good as her, that had stuck with him for this long. Two months. Normally they left after the second time, turning against his sadistic qualities and want for constant sex and lack of conversation. Sometimes he muttered dirty words against her skin, maybe on purpose or just the heat of the moment, Allie didn't question it.

'Dun't tell anyone.' he had growled the last time, a week ago, nipping the bare skin of Allie's shoulder as she sat on the edge of the bed, enveloped in a blanket, hair tousled, smelling of him.

Who would she have told? Jimmy wasn't here and her Mother only gave her fleeting glances, both women only sitting together other than dinner when the post came. Jimmy hadn't wrote them yet, but they weren't worried. They just wanted some news, something to break the silence and awkwardness that they had become so accustomed too.

And Percy still wouldn't tell her where that black eye had come from. Maybe he had been stupid enough to fall over, maybe it was his father. All Allie knew was there were many things with Percy Wetmore that were better not to be questioned.

Standing in the kitchen, looking down at her mother who was at the table preparing dinner, Allie tilted her head to the side, partly in another reality, a dream world of previous times with Percy. A smile had just pulled at her lips when something rattled the door and fell onto the patched hallway carpet. Both looked at one another. The waiting and longing the had built up over the past weeks had now sunk into a stupor of uncertain anxiety to what the letter could say. That letter, because there was no other option to what had just fallen through their letterbox. It was from Jimmy.

Dropping the potato into the cooking pot, Jane glanced at her daughter, half rose from her seat, half wanting to sit back down. They were secretly wondering who was going to get it, neither of them moving, only hesitating. They didn't want bad news. No one wanted bad news.

'Mam?'

'I'll get it-'

'No. I will.' voice firm, Allie slowly padded down the hallway which seemed to stretch a mile. It was only a small envelope, thin looking like a slice of wafer. But it held so much possible threat, for the words 'death' could be written ever so short and briefly. Though it had been little over five months, and three of those has been in training, there was still chance for loss. Jenny, a girl a few years junior to Allie had lost her brother the previous week and it had set everyone on nerve. But he had been sent into the thick of it, deep into the action and disaster. No one knew where Jimmy was. You could end up anywhere, - Alex York down the road had been sent to Catterick Garrison.

Picking the envelope up with a normal, calm composure, Allie let the paper settle in her small hands before turning back to the kitchen, her Mother now standing in the doorway, face set for the worst. 'Don't look like that, Ma'. He'll be alright.' He had to be alright, he was her older brother, she still needed him to protect her from the world, to talk to when she needed help. And she needed help now.

Together, Mother and daughter moved into the lounge, sitting side by side on the dull brown sofa with the letter on the table before them. It was a short letter, they found when they had finally opened it, just dated, signed and foretold that he'd be coming home soon, he was 'sure of it'. Allie wasn't, and nor was Jane, but neither of them said anything. You needed to be optimistic in times of war.

Rereading the small, square bit of paper over again, Allie looked up as her Mother moved into the kitchen, back to her old self and pulling on an apron. 'Ma, where you going?'

'Dinner won't make itself - you read what he wrote, Jim's going to be fine. We still need to eat.'

Watching Jane leave, Allie shook her head, delicate fingers scrunching up the edges of the letter. He wasn't alright, how could she not see that? 'I'm doing fine. The training is hard but it is worth it. I am glad you made me see sense, Ma, this is where I'm supposed to be.' Sense? Jimmy hadn't wanted to go, had said so from the start, but Jane had guilt tripped him into doing it. It was only because everyone else was going. They couldn't be the only family down the lane that didn't have a son, brother, husband, at war. What would people think of them then! Allie scoffed, standing and discarding the letter as rubbish. They weren't Jimmy's words, not really. It was like a letter from a stranger.

Stopping in the kitchen doorway, arms folded over her chest, Allie thought of Jenny-Anne; had Jimmy written to her? She was six months pregnant now and people had started talking. War wasn't a good time to get pregnant. You then became a disgrace, an outcast; but it was also something of an acceptance for you had the excuse of husbands, fathers being killed in the war. Excuse? - truth.

'Why you making so much?' Five bowls sat on the worktop, along with a sack of potatoes, a handful of carrots and a portion of meat wrapped in paper. 'Who's coming over-?'

'We got something else to celebrate tonight, darling. Just go get dressed, something fancy, and I'll call you when dinners ready.' looking over her shoulder, Jane gave her daughter a genuine smile, glad to have something to busy herself with. Glad to have good news from her son. Everything was going to be alright; tonight was going to run smoothly and Jimmy would be home in time to marry Jenny-Anne.

Sitting down on her bed, staring at the dress in dislike, Allie tucked her legs beneath herself and stared at a ticket stub she'd kept from a date with Percy. It had been fun, for the most part. They'd gone to watch the movie, sat down in the dark of the back row as the projector played over them. But then Percy had got bored and moved around a lot, got in the way of peoples sight, started a fight. It was covered in polka dots, the dress, with a pretty white run of material around the square neckline, a small belt around the middle to pull it in. It was ever so pretty. She just didn't want to wear it. The talking downstairs had gone on for half an hour now; David Casey. What was he doing here? She couldn't escape from him anymore, always forcing himself against her, asking her if she was coming out, buying her things she didn't want but any other girl would gladly accept without a word. Allie wasn't like every other girl, at least she didn't think so. She liked Percy Wetmore, though she sometimes wondered if he truly liked her. He wasn't as affectionate as David, as clingy and tight, though he was sometimes distance, only not during the sex. The sex was great.

'Alison, you get yourself down here right now! Keeping your guests waiting!'

Sighing at the name and standing, nose flaring, Allie moved to the dresser table, sitting on the small stool to examine herself in the mirror. It had pictures around it; some were of her and Jimmy when they were little, one was of her father, - though they didn't talk of him - a few were family shots, where they were forced together in ugly suits and dresses, and the last one was of Percy. She'd taken it when he wasn't looking; he'd got mad for that, but she'd still taken the photo with her. Pulling auburn hair back with a clip tucking it behind her ear and from her face, Allie slowly retired to getting dressed.

Downstairs, the table was smartly laid out. David sat at one end, his brown hair slicked back in a way that only suited Percy, in Allie's opinion, and his mother and father sat opposite one another, leaving Jane and her daughter at the other end. When she'd entered the kitchen, Allie had stopped and attempted to retreat, pretending she had forgotten something because she knew what was coming next.

'You don't need nothing more, sit down.'

'Yeah, Al; you look amazing alright.' David added, smiling clumsily, while Allie just nodded towards him, hiding her face with her hand.

The parents spoke for most of the dinner, talking about things that didn't interest the two children, though David had to nod in a few places and laugh when his father did. A big guffaw that irked Allie badly. Sipping her drink without a word, she moved the food around the plate constantly, until the conversation arrived at her. Her mother had been watching Allie expectantly, waiting for a reply to a question she hadn't heard. Staring, nonplussed, she waited for it to be repeated again. Though it was then that she saw him; David, got down onto his knees beside her, with a small box in his hand.

'David, what d'ya think ya' doing?' she breathed, staring in horror at the white box he was surely about to open. Reaching out a hand, Allie clamped it shut, almost trapping his fingers.

Not offended by what she had just done, David reached out to take her hand, smiling lopsidedly as his parents on looked, almost in tears.

'Allie Wilson: will you marry-'

'No.' standing so fast she almost knocked him over, Allie grabbed the edges of her dress and moved around him, shaking her head until she was in the kitchen doorway. Jane had rose from her chair, attempting to calm her daughter. What would the Casey's think? Surely Allie was joking.

David looked to his parents for console, to ask what to do next but they just continued to stare, shocked. 'Of course you're surprised, Allie, marriage is a big commitment, but don't answer right away-' Jane soothed, reaching for her daughters hand.

Shaking her head repeatedly again, Allie then turned away, grabbed her cardigan and left. 'I can't.'

Leaving the Casey's and her mother in a state of utter bewilderment, Allie got onto her bike and rode the ten minutes to Percy's house. It was big, grand looking; better than her own, anyway. He had to be in, this time he had to. Forget the past few weeks where he'd ignored her, not been there to see her, support her. This day was important, she needed him more than ever, to tell her that saying no hadn't been stupid. To tell her she had done the right thing by leaving David because Percy loved her, too. Because she loved Percy Wetmore. All through the time with him, that was all she could think. Though he was stubborn and sometimes cantankerous, he still made her laugh, or sigh with pleasure as he ran his hands over her smooth alabaster skin. She liked it when he cupped her face, forced her to kiss him, rather than David who now continuously asked and took away the surprise. With Percy she took risks. With David she committed to a life of discontent.

Jumping off the bike and leaving it on the drive, Allie tried to straighten her dress best she could as she lifted a shaky hand and knocked on the door. Her heart had never beat so fast; it was in her chest, her ears, a weird feeling against her forehead, between her eyes. Cheeks reddening, she tried to fan herself, still banging with the other hand. Where was he? Why wasn't anybody answering-

'Percy-'

The door had just opened, but her heart stopped. It was his mother. She watched Allie with a great uncertainty, as if questioning what she was doing on her doorstep. Waiting for a moment, she took in the young girls nervous exterior.

'Where's Percy?' Allie asked, all hope clinging onto the words 'upstairs' or 'in the garden' but the reply that came wasn't that had been expected.

'Didn't he tell you; he's gone to American. My sister got him a job down at E Block-' the rest of her words didn't matter. Mrs Wetmore could have said anything and Allie wouldn't have known it. He'd gone to America? When? Why hadn't he told her? Sinking down onto the Wetmore's front doorstep, Allie placed her head in her hands, though not fast enough for the tears had already fallen. As Percy's Mother glanced around nervously and tried to scoop the girl up, Allie simply continued to cry, grabbing her hair with tight fists, shaking her head in confusion. Why had Percy Wetmore left her without a goodbye? What was she to do now?