The Spirit of the Corps » Band of Brothers

44: The Way of War

Charlie didn't know how to feel about saying goodbye to James. She'd only known him a day, after all - the thought of which made her stomach do a flip of mixed excitement and guilt; her mother would be scandalised if she knew Charlie had already kissed him.

But as Charlie stood with him outside the Easy Company barracks, she resolved not to worry too much about how she was feeling and concern herself only with how he was; she'd been overseas and done this job before, whereas he only had his limited training to go off of and no tangible idea of what he was throwing himself into (literally).

James' handsome face was drawn in worry, his eyebrows pinched tightly together as he looked at all of the men hurrying in and out of the barracks. It was the exact kind of chaos Charlie had paid witness to when the men had been deployed at the last minute for D-Day. Even the world around them looked the same - the same darkness of early morning when the sun was yet to rise, the same slight chill in the air before the heat of the day to come, the same chattering of nearby magpies - and she didn't like it one bit.

"It'll be okay," Charlie said quietly, unsure of what else to say. Since she'd arrived the only words they'd exchanged were greetings; all of the excitement from their kiss the night before had evaporated from the air between them. Such was the way of war. But Charlie didn't want to stand in silence anymore, watching the world move around them and knowing that she was watching vital final minutes die. "Bull's great," she said, speaking of James' squad leader. "He'll look after you, I'm sure of it."

James nodded, finally dragging his eyes back to her. When he did, he mustered the very best smile he could for her, and Charlie could tell how much effort it cost him. She appreciated those dimples that much more for knowing how little he wanted them to appear.

"Yeah," he said at length, giving one nod and trying to relax his expression. "And I'll see you when you get over there."

"You will," Charlie promised. She reached for one of his hands and gave it a gentle squeeze. When she made to pull away he grabbed it right back, keeping his fingers wound through hers.

Captain Winters called out to the men that they had five minutes left before they needed to be loaded up onto the trucks, and Charlie gave a start. She hadn't only come to say goodbye to James and she'd already spent so much of her limited time with him.

Turning back to him, she started, "I should go and say goodbye to..." but her words faded when she saw the look in his eye, the same one he'd given her through the darkness the previous night when he'd been about to -

He kissed her. Right there, in front of everyone, directly on the lips.

Charlie made a surprised squeak in the back of her throat. She didn't have time to shut her eyes before he was pulling away again.

Already, Charlie could hear the likes of Malarkey, Skip, Alex, and Alton heckling her.

At that moment she wanted nothing more than to hide, but James needed her to be there for him, so she stayed and gave his hand a final squeeze. Besides, she had other people to bid farewell. When James finally said goodbye and released her hand, she went off to find her friends, her face hot and her hands clammy and her stomach doing backflips all the while.

"Well, well, well," Malarkey said as she approached him and the others, "if it ain't little Charlie Lancaster, all grown up."

Charlie groaned. "Stop."

"And here I was thinking I stood a chance," said Alton with a smirk.

Pressing the backs of her hands against her hot cheeks, Charlie made a show of rolling her eyes. "You're supposed to be saying goodbye, not embarrassing me!"