The Spirit of the Corps » Band of Brothers

97: Happen Like This

What had originally been decided as, "We don't need to keep it a secret, but let's not shove it down anyone's throats either." quickly turned into, "How long can we go before people realise we're a couple?" without Charlie or Floyd ever having to exchange a word.

They'd entered the party together, because it would have been too obvious if they'd gone to the effort of arriving separately, but there was no hand holding. And though initially they'd planned to stay together, they'd soon been separated after heading over to get drinks. Floyd had been drawn into conversation with Lip and George while Charlie had been quick to greet Don and Henry, and after that they were pulled to opposite sides of the room.

Being away from him now, after everything that had transpired between them, felt to Charlie like a painful tightness, like the red string tying them together had been pulled taut, the distance between them now as far as it was willing to stretch. It almost ached not to be right beside him, touching him, listening to his voice, in the same way it had once ached every time she reminded herself he didn't love her. But it was a nicer ache this time, one of anticipation as opposed to despair, because though she wasn't with him now she knew she would be soon enough, and that was the best thing she could imagine.

"Hey! Are you listening to me?" Janovec demanded where he'd been regaling Charlie with some story or other.

She hadn't intended to zone out - in fact, she'd consciously tried very hard not to - but Janovec wasn't a very good storyteller. Halfway through one story he'd be reminded of a different one and race to tell that instead, and then do the same thing again, so he only ever told her half of the stories and didn't explain the context very well anyway. It had gotten increasingly difficult to follow what he was trying to explain when she'd heard Floyd's laugh from the other side of the room and gotten distracted.

"Yes," Charlie blurted without thinking. She hadn't meant to lie, it had just slipped out.

Janovec, however, didn't notice her deceit. "Oh," he said, smiling. "Okay." And then he carried on talking.

Out of the corner of her eye, Charlie saw Floyd looking at her, and it was almost painful to try to force herself not to look over at him too. Was he smiling? And if so, which smile was he wearing - the charming smirk or the amused grin or, her favourite of all of them, the crooked little smile?

It was the crooked one. Her favourite one. And it widened when she met his eyes across the room.

"- so now Cap'n Speirs has seen my cock," Janovec was saying. "He ought'a have liked that."

"Wait," Charlie said, tuning back into the conversation and turning abruptly away from Floyd. "What?!"

Janovec laughed. "He's my CO, I couldn't just stay in the bed. I had to stand at attention." He said this as though he was entirely convinced anyone else would have done the exact same thing had they been in his position. And Charlie knew he was entirely convinced of this when he added, "You're telling me you wouldn't have done the same?"

"Yes!" Charlie said, her jaw hanging agape, random little laughs wandering out of her mouth as she pictured the scene and then tried to force the mental image away. "That's exactly what I'm telling you!"

Janovec just laughed and brushed her aside while raising his beer bottle to his lips. "Yeah, well, you're an officer, so it don't count."

"You're crazy," Charlie insisted with a shake of her head and a short, shocked laugh.

Janovec grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Freckles," Floyd said, appearing at her side. He spared a nod to her companion. "Janovec."