Band of Brothers Imagines

Two Years Apart - Bill Guarnere x Reader

You and Bill were polar opposites. He was outgoing, brash and loud, and you were quiet and sensitive. Your differences meant that you fit perfectly together: he drew you out somewhat and you were always there to calm him down. Your relationship moved fairly slowly; dating was certainly not something new to Bill, but being in love was and it scared the hell out of him. In fact, in the entire year you were dating, he could never once bring himself to tell you he was in love with you, too fearful of your reaction. To him, going to fight the Nazis was less terrifying.

And that's just what he did.

On a hot summer day, Bill took you on what was meant to be the most romantic date you'd ever been on, complete with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers and soft kisses. Despite the trouble he'd gone to in order to make the date perfect, it was far from enjoyable: Bill was soft around you, but never this soft. The pit of anxiety in your tummy only grew as he continued acting so out of character.

Then he told you.

He was enlisting in the paratroopers. He'd be leaving Philadelphia, and you, behind. You tried to tell him you didn't mind waiting for him, but he was determined to, in his words, set you free.

You never saw him again, and you did your best to forget about him, although you found yourself listening eagerly to any news of him that his family passed on to yours.

///

"What's this, huh, Bill?" Joe studied the well-thumbed photograph he'd just discovered among his friend's belongings.

"Nothin'," Bill lunged for the photo, but given that he was still bed bound, he found himself unsuccessful.

"How come I've known you for two years and I ain't never seen a picture of this dame before? Why you been holding out on me?" Joe raised his eyebrow teasingly, but his questions came from a source of genuine curiosity.

"It ain't none of your fucking business, Toye," Bill again made an unsuccessful play for the photograph.

"Come on, Bill, you can tell me," Joe carefully tossed the photo over to his friend, who snatched it up and didn't let it out of his grasp.

"'Cause I know what the guys are like. You show 'em a picture of your broad and they ain't gonna drop it." Bill's voice was quiet now, and in that moment he was more serious than Joe had ever seen him.

"You can't seriously be expecting me to believe that you've had a girl waiting for you all this time?"

"That ain't funny, Joe, I already know that I ain't no fucking catch," Bill was starting to sulk a little now, and his friend knew him well enough to tell.

"No, I mean, the way ya carry on. Bill, you've done almost as much fucking in the past two years as Tab, and that sure as shit is saying something," Joe chuckled.

"She ain't my girl no more," Bill finally confessed.

"She send you one of them letters?"

"Nah, she didn't send no Dear Bill letter," Joe grinned at his friend's remark. "I chucked her before I left home."

"What ya do that for? Bill, if I had a girl at home who looked like that, I wouldn't throw her over for nothing," Joe leaned over to nudge his friend, although he nearly fell out of bed in the process. Bill just shrugged, using it to signal his refusal to elaborate.

///

Two days later, Joe was sitting in the hospital cafeteria for the first time in his wheelchair, relishing in finally being well enough to leave his bed. The slop he was served with had never tasted so good to him, and it was whilst he was enjoying his normally inedible meal that he noticed you.