The next morning I get shaken awake by Braun.

"Don't sleep in." he tells me. "They don't like it when people sleep in."

"R-right. S-sorry." I get dressed and straighten up my area, putting my few possessions in my duffel bag.

When we go to get breakfast, Beilschmidt pulls me aside before I get there.

"Y-yes GenLt?" I ask cautiously, trying to pronounce the German correctly.

"Leutnant Williams, you didn't complete the course in six minutes yesterday."

"I-I'm sorry."

"I am too." he says after a minute.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"Just follow me." I nod and follow him. He walks kind of stiffly, but as if he was going somewhere unpleasant, not a soldier's stiff walk. That just makes me nervous.

We stop in front of a tent he hadn't shown me before.

"Well, since you couldn't finish, you will be training with my bruder. He is also a Generalleutnant, and that is how you will address him."

"Y-yes s-sir." He gives me a sympathetic look before pushing me into the tent. A strong, tall, slicked-back blonde haired man is in the tent He looks up at me when I stumble inside.

"You are Leutnant Williams?"

"O-oui." I don't know where the French came from, but as soon as it passed my lips, I instantly regretted it, seeing the cold glare I receive from him. "I-I mean, y-yes. I-I'm L-leutnant W-Williams. S-sorry."

"We will start training right away." He stands up and has me follow him.

He leads me to the forest. We jog for a while. He yells at me to keep up with him, and I try my hardest to, but the terrain is very uneven and covered in fallen branches and roots and a lot of things to trip over. I do trip a few times, but I get right eck up.

The rest of the day is full of vigorous training that wears me out. I can barely keep up with the Generalleutnant, but I try my best to. By the end of the day, I'm exhausted and sweaty.

I stumble back to my tent and collapse on my cot.

"Hard day Williams?" Schäefer asks with laughter in his voice.

"It was terrible." I groan out.

"Well, if you could run the course like everyone else, then you wouldn't be in this situation Gruber says.

"Hey, ease up on the poor kid Gruber." Braun says. "He woke up just two days ago. He won't be able to run that course for a while, and neither would if you if you had been in his situation."

"I wouldn't be in his situation, because I'm smart enough to not be caught off guard."

Both of them start arguing in German, leaving me to watch them, confused. After a few minutes though, it seems like they'll start fighting. I get up before that happens and get in between the them, putting a hand on each of their chests.

"Please stop arguing. Please don't fight. Don't worry about me, and I try my best, I really do." They stop arguing, but they still look mad. I sigh and lay down to rest.

At about the same time as last night, I sneak out again to go train alone. I go easier on myself this time, but just a bit.

Three days go by. I switch between training with the GenLt, whose name I learn is Ludwig, and everyone else. I train alone at nights. Tonight, however, is different.

I'm doing some push-ups when I have this feeling that someone's watching me. I continue with my training. When I go to jog again, I go behind some trees, hoping to find the person watching me. I don't see them, but when I start to go back to the course, someone grabs me from behind and covers my mouth.

"Don't be afraid." GenLt Beilschmidt's voice softly says. "You work so hard; harder than anyone I've seen before. Could you tell me why?" He holds me close to him. I'm glad the dark hides the small blush forming on my checks. He removes his hand from my mouth so I can speak.

"Y-you said I'd make you p-proud. So, to m-make you proud, I d-decided to tr-train real hard."

"So you did this for me?" He hugs me from behind, and I feel my blush deepen. "I like you." he whispers.

"E-eh?" I blush even darker red, and I'd probably look like a tomato if you could see me.

"I like you. Don't tell anyone; it's our little secret." He gently kisses my check. "And you are making me proud." He gently nuzzles and kisses my neck before letting go of me. "Go get some sleep; you've trained pretty hard tonight."

"Ok G-gene-"

"Call me Gil when we're alone, OK Matthew?"

"O-Ok. G-Gil."

He takes my hand and brings me back to my tent. No one's around, luckily. "Don't tell anyone about this, OK?" he whispers.

"Don't worry. I-I won't." I quietly promise him.

"Kesese. Gut, gut." He gently kisses my forehead before he lets me in my tent.