Band of Brothers Imagines

Smoking - Chuck Grant x Reader

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You admired Chuck's rough, tanned hands as he lit his cigarette and put it to his soft, kissable lips. As you watched him smoke, you thought about how they felt on your own, often gentle, but rough and needy when it had been too long. Neither of you would ever mention it in the morning, and that's how it had been between you since a chilly, lonely night in England. Friends by day, lovers by night. You could never quite work out just what Chuck thought of you; you'd convinced yourself that he just regarded you as a friend, but the tenderness of his touch when you lay in his arms made you wonder.

"Y/N, are you even listening?" Chuck asked. Anyone else would ask that question accusatorially, but Chuck sounded concerned, his kind eyes holding you in his gaze.

"Sorry Chuck," you mumbled. "My mind wandered a little," you smiled at him to show that there was nothing to worry about.

"I was just telling you about a letter I had from home, have you had any recently?"

"I had one from Anna, my cousin, the other day," you grinned, thinking of the letter.

"Anything interesting?" Chuck returned your smile, but his was soft and somehow innocent, even after a year experiencing such brutality.

"Well, actually, when I wrote to her before, I told her a little about you. I don't mean about..." you trailed off. It was the first time either of you had discussed your night-time adventures during your days of companionship. "Anyway, in her letter she said she wouldn't mind a boyfriend like you, and I thought it was funny is all." Chuck mocked offence, holding his hand over his heart.

"I'll have you know that I would be a fabulous boyfriend Miss Y/L/N," Chuck's smile was now even wider and he winked at you, making your heart beat faster and your stomach flutter, as if butterflies were trying to fight their way out.

"Oh, I don't doubt it," you felt your cheeks flush and giggled lightly, trying to play off the way the exchange made you pine to find out just how fabulous a boyfriend he would be. The two of you stood there in silence for a couple minutes, Chuck finishing his cigarette, and you watching him, mesmerised by his strong jaw and stunning features.

"Y/N, will you come to California with me, when all this shit is over," he turned to you and asked the question so quickly that you thought for a moment you'd dreamt it. Chuck winced slightly at his awkward proposal, wishing he could rephrase the question more eloquently. Usually Chuck was careful with words, taking his time to pick the right ones, but the big question he'd been wanting to ask you for so long made him too terrified to think through his word choice. You saw his cheeks heat up and his eyes search yours for a response, but you couldn't quite let yourself believe that the moment you'd dreamt of for months was finally happening.

"What if one of us gets their brains blown out on some remote Japanese island?" you laughed, trying to dispel the awkwardness you had just created, wishing, like Chuck, that you had phrased your response far better. It was now your turn to wince at yourself. You scrambled around for something to say to make the situation less uncomfortable, but instead you landed on "Anyway, who says I haven't got a boy waiting for me back home?". You did more than wince now, mentally kicking yourself for saying something so stupid. Chuck smiled, but there was sadness in his eyes, thinking that you were trying to let him down gently.

"Tell me about that cousin of yours," he let out a small laugh, and you grinned too. The awkward atmosphere hung in the hair, until you broke it by reaching out to stroke his soft cheek.

"Did you really mean it, Chuck?" you whispered, letting yourself imagine your life together in sunny California; your wedding with the big white dress; your children crowding around you as you read them a bed-time story.

"Yeah," he leaned down and pressed his lips against yours with so much passion that you had to steady yourself against him.

"Then there's nothing I'd love more than to come back to California with you," you felt tears prick in the corner of your eyes and his smooth fingers lovingly wiping them away as you stood there, smiling up at your future husband.