#everett blakely x oc

[winniemaywebber]

Honeysuckle Rose • Part 3

featuring @ginabaker1666 's oc Valencia <3

part 1 part 2 masterlist

olive's playlist

taglist: @sagesolsticewrites @ginabaker1666 @hephaestn @manonsmanicmind @bobparkhurst @bloodynereid

Kneeling down to greet the dog, Olive lets out a giggle as he sniffs at her face. “Was it you I heard?” she murmurs, hoping the man in front of her doesn't hear. The dog looks back at her with, somehow, a knowing look in his shiny eyes. “How did you bring me here?” 

Olive begins to stand, making a nod towards Benny. “He likes you,” he says, now himself bending down to pet the dog. “That was fast.” 

“That wolf likes everyone,” a blonde man pipes up from near the airplane door. “So long as they smell good or have food, he's their friend.”

“Hey, Gale, don't tell her that,” Benny replies through gritted teeth. Gale realizes in a second what he means. 

“Oh–oh I mean, well….yeah, I guess he's taken a shine to her quicker than he did with most of us.” With that, he clambers into the plane, his cheeks a little flushed from Benny's sudden confrontation. Olive giggles at the exchange, stood there awkwardly.

“Well, I'd better go,” he says, letting go of Meatball's leash. “Go to Kenny, boy,” he softly commands as he gestures across the airfield to a young man, his curls under a woolen hat, much too hot for a day like today. The dog bounds off in the opposite direction, Benny shaking his head and smiling. “Ah, guess he wants to see his girl Tattie instead,” he pauses for a moment, his eyes coming back to you. “It was nice to meet ya, Olive.”

“Yeah, you too,” she smiles demurely, beginning to walk away. 

“Will you be around later?” He shouts over the noise. “I'd love to take you for a drink when I'm back.”

“Oh, sure,” she replies, her face turning a little red. “I'd like that.”

“Okay. Great. See ya.” 

Olive turns away and begins to show panic on her face. “What the fuck is going on?” She asks herself under her breath. “How on earth did I get here?” She begins to breathe in and out slowly, butterflies rising up in her stomach as she recounts the way Benny looked at her. ‘Not my usual type,’ she thinks, struggling to find a sense of direction. ‘But still, cute.’

Finding herself somehow still following the dog - if he led her there, she thinks, maybe he has a good idea of where to take her now - she comes across him barking loudly at a dark haired woman who can't quite seem to wrangle him and tend to her work. She stands at medium height in a blue fitted jumpsuit that is perfectly tailored in all the right places, the color of it bringing out the chocolate brown of her eyes. As Olive takes her in, Meatball begins wrapping himself about her legs, the leash basically tying her up. 

“No, no! Darn dog, why don't you ever listen. Meatball, stop. Stop!” she yells, obviously exasperated. 

“Hey, hey,” Olive says, trying to bring the excited dog to a stop. “Stop wrapping yourself around this nice lady, huh?” Olive gently begins unraveling the leash from the woman's legs, the woman looking down at her gratefully. “There we go,” she says, fussing with the dog's ears as he pants in her face. 

“Gee, thanks,” the woman begins with a sigh. “I can never seem to control him. Only Benny seems to know how. You must be some sort of dog whisperer.”

“No, ma'am,” Olive responds, laughing. “He just seems to have taken a shine to me.”

“You can say that again,” she grins, her red lips smooth and shiny. “I'm Tattie. What's your name?”

“Olive. Olive Lewis,” she says for the second time that day. Tattie turns her head to the side slightly, looking her up and down. 

“Don't suppose you want a job for the day? I'm a girl down. Helen is sick in bed with God knows what and I can't take care of this dog and make sure these boys are placated when they get back. Wanna help out?”

“I'd love to,” Olive responds keenly. “What do I need to do?”

“Can ya pour coffee?”

“Sure can, with a pretty smile too,” Olive says, remembering her hellish shifts as a barista between acting jobs in London's busiest coffee shop.

“Well, then. There we go. Come on, I'll show you around.”

“Here's our little Clubmobile. The boys usually come here before making their way over to the hardstand. They can grab coffee and donuts here. They've probably already eaten breakfast, but it's a little bit of home, isn't it? Lord knows these fellas need some normalcy in all this.” Olive nods, understanding. When living in London, Olive loved nothing more than recreating Pearl’s steak pie, eating it while watching her favorite soap opera. A little bit of home. 

Tattie then gestures over to the other woman in the truck. The brown haired, green eyed beautifully made up girl nods politely at Olive as Tattie introduces them, Olive seeing a little scowl as she does so.

“Valencia can take it from here. I'll be back.”

Valencia walks up to Olive, her red lips pursed a little. She reaches a hand out in greeting and shakes Olive's, who is a little taken aback. 

“Tattie introduces me as Valencia, but please call me Val.” 

“Alright, Val,” Olive replies, winking. The scowl seems to melt away instantly, her pretty face softening.

“My gosh, you're English,” she giggles. “You may be the first  American Red Cross girl from England. Boy, aren't we special!”

“Only for today, apparently. Let's not celebrate it quite yet, Val.”

“No, you'll be back. I'll make sure of it.” She nudges Olive playfully. “I like you already.”

—

“So, you can see we’re not exactly rushed off our feet here when the boys go up,” Val says, sat on a chair with her legs up on a table, fiddling with her perfectly manicured nails. “I sometimes help Chick with some secretarial work to pass the time. Typing records, that kind of thing.”

Right on cue, a man comes bursting through the door of the hut, making Val jump. “Talk of the devil,” she murmurs, standing up quickly. “Jesus, Chick. Almost jumped outta my skin.”

“Then you best start being on your guard a little more. Less relaxed. We're at war!” he laughs. “Be a doll and grab me a coffee?”

“I'll get it,” Olive says, her eyes darting between the two nervously. Chick's eyes seem to narrow when he hears an accent that is not American, his head jerking back a little in surprise. “How do you like it?”

“Cream and sugar, please, Miss, uh–”

“Lewis. Olive.” She departs the hut, making her way into the truck to see Meatball finally resting, his head on Tattie’s legs as she reads the newspaper. 

“Who's that for?”

“Val told me his name was Chick?”

“Oh, shit,” she says, putting the paper on the counter. 

“Hey, don't worry,” Olive says, pouring the coffee into a paper mug. “I volunteered.”

“It's not that I'm worried about,” she says as she sees Chick walks slowly up to the door of the Clubmobile. “Watch the dog.” 

Olive places the cup of coffee on the serving hatch of the truck, eavesdropping on the conversation between Chick and Tattie. 

“What in God's name is an English girl doing here?”

“I'm a girl down, Chicky–”

“Ms Tattie, you know I hate that nickname–”

“And I need an extra pair of hands while Helen is sick in bed.”

“You wouldn't need that if Demarco ever tried training that damn dog of his.”

“Chicky, come on,” she pleads. “Let me keep her on. She's delightful, already great with Meatball - can you believe he listened to her the first time she asked? - and she gets on so well with Valencia already. Please, Chick. Just this once.”

“Fine,” he relents, his Southern drawl really coming through on the exasperated word. He collects the coffee from where Olive set it and takes a sip, his face a picture of surprise. 

“For a Brit, you make a damn good cup of Joe, girl.” Tattie looks at Olive through the hatch and winks knowingly, Olive winking back and giggling.

—

“Come for a drink with us, Ol,” Val asks. “You can meet my guy…and maybe one of your own.” Before Olive can answer, Tattie throws a knowing look over to Val. “She already has, Valencia. Fell at Demarco's feet this morning from what I heard.” Olive's face suddenly turns a light shade of red, giggling under the gaze of the two girls. 

“Oooohh!” Val says, poking at Olive. “That was fast.”

“What can I say? Some Brits do work quickly when it comes to romance.” 

“I get it. He's cute!”

“Oh, absolutely. Just not my usual type.”

“Who is?” Val asks, a twinkle in her eye. 

—

Surveying her as they're about to enter the hut, Val looks her up and down. “You okay if I dress you up a bit? You can borrow one of my dresses. We're about the same size, Ol. Just until you get a uniform tomorrow.”

“Sure, I'd love that. I probably look like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards.” Opening the door quietly so as not to wake Helen, Val begins to tiptoe in until she sees the lights are on. 

“Oh, hey, girl! This is Olive. She came to the rescue while you were sick today. Seemed to appear from thin air, Tat said.”

“Hi,” the pale, dark haired girl says with a hoarse voice. “I'm Helen. Nice to meet you.”

“You, too. Feeling any better?” 

“Sure am. Nurse Tattie's orders to stay in bed despite my insistence actually helped. I'll be back out there with you both tomorrow.” 

“You are staying, right?” Val questions, already pawing at the scarf Olive had tied on her head this morning.

“If you'll have me,” she smiles. “I'm sort of in between things right now. I'd love to be with you both, if that's okay with you.”

“Uh, of course, girl!” Val replies, nudging her playfully. “Welcome to our little family. Now, let's get you dressed up.”

—

Val dabs at Olive's face a final time and sighs contentedly. “There, all done. Take a look.” 

Olive opens her eyes and gasps softly, a totally different person looking back at her in the mirror. It's exactly how she's always wanted to look: soft pin curls that had been twisted perfectly by Val's deft fingers, the subtle pink blush, brushed gently on her cheekbones, the flawless eyeliner upon her eyelids. The dress Val had picked, a soft blue shade that brought out the light brown of her hair and her hazel eyes fit perfectly, just as she had thought. Val smiles gently at Olive's reaction, reaching down one last time with a lipstick brush in her hand. 

“This is my favorite shade,” she grins, those red lips standing out underneath her green eyes. “Let me try it on you.”

At the final smudge, Olive looks at her reflection once again, and grimaces. “Eugghh,” she scowls. “Val, I think this shade only looks good on certain people. And by certain people, I mean you.”

“And Everett,” she says wistfully, her eyes twinkling as she dips a wash cloth in a bowl of water and begins to wipe at Olive's mouth. The two girls make eye contact and giggle, knowing exactly what she means. “Let's try this one,” she says, once again digging around her makeup box. She holds a more pink-red shade up to Olive's face and nods, dabbing at the stick with a new brush. “There, much better.”

—

“Helen, are you sure you're not coming?” Olive asks as her and Val stand up to leave. 

“No, dolls. I'm almost at the end of this dang flu though, so I'll see you tomorrow? Olive, I'll make sure your bunk is ready for tomorrow night.”

“Did anyone change the sheet since Curt was in here with Nurse Itchy?”

“Eugh, no! I'm glad you reminded me. I don't want Olive sleeping in that.”

“Nurse Itchy?” Olive squeals, slightly confused but giggling nevertheless. 

“Nurse Itchy,” Helen nods, sniffling slightly as she laughs along. “She'd been getting everyone, uh, sick, which I think goes against some sort of code. Anyway–”

“Anyway,” Val interrupts, overlapping Helen. “I was fixing Curt's shirt - you may meet him tonight, he's been my best friend since we were sandbox kids - and he came by to pick it up. He decided to bring company and in return, probably caught the clap.”

“Yeah, him and five others,” Helen titters, shaking her head. 

“Oh, minging!”

“Eeewwww, ming-ing,” the other girls playfully mock in a faux British accent. “That's such a great word, I need to keep that in my pocket.”

“Minging,” Helen repeats as she lays her head on her pillow. “That's excellent!”

—

 Entering the club, Val grabs Olive by the hand and pulls her towards her ‘usual’ spot, right by the bar. 

“Jesus, Valencia,” Olive grumbles. “Almost pulled my elbow out of its socket.”

“Oh, don't be a baby,” she winks, pulling off her jacket and placing it on the back of her chair. “Anyway, had to rush for the perfect spot before Itchy and Co came along and took it. Look,” she points across the room to two men sat at the bar, deep in conversation. The taller one, with light brown hair looks over and winks. Val giggles, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “That's my Ev. Everett Blakely.”

“Oh!” Olive begins. “He's very handsome.”

“You got that right, doll. There, next to him, is his best friend. James Douglass.” Olive tries her best to look behind the tall Blakely, and as she does, she makes eye contact with James. It's as if the world stops turning for a second, her breath caught in her throat. “Fuck me,” she chokes out, pretending to fan herself. “That's one handsome bastard.” He pats Everett on the shoulder, his mouth agape. As smooth as silk, he winks at Olive and goes back to his conversation.

“Ohhhh,” Val teases. “More your type, huh?”

Right on cue, Demarco sidles up to the table, Meatball at his side.

“Hi,” he smiles, a hand outstretched. “Can I get you a drink?” Leading her to the bar, Olive turns around and nervously glances at Val who nods, egging her on just as Ev perches on the seat Olive just abandoned. 

“That'd be lovely. An Old Fashioned, please.” 

“Sure.”

“And how's my new best friend doing?” she asks, crouching to pet the dog. “Huh? You doing okay? Tired from running Miss Tattie ragged all day?”

“Ah, he's really no trouble.”

“Don't hear Tattie hear you say that,” she grins. “He tied himself up around her earlier and she was not pleased. Not to mention the fur on the donuts.”

“It's just an extra sprinkle of love!”

“It ain't love,” a voice calls from behind Olive. “I don't like hair in my mouth at the best of times as it is. But on my donut? Come on, Benny.” Olive turns to see Douglass, cheekily smiling at Benny, who, in turn, has clenched his jaw. 

“Come on, man,” he says, patting his shoulder. “You know I'm kidding.” Within an instant, Demarco's jaw has relaxed and he's laughing along with James, them playfully shoving each other. 

Demarco leans over the bar to order their drinks as James remains beside Olive. 

“Can I buy you a drink?” He asks, not making eye contact. 

“Oh, Benny's actually just getting me one. Maybe you can get me the next one. If you get there in time.”

“Oh, I see,” he teases. “Well, I'll try my best to keep an eye on you. The second I see that glass empty, I'm on it.”

“Sure,” Olive giggles. “I'll be waiting.” 

—

True to his word, the second Olive drains her glass, another is put in front of her. James is stood in front of the table Olive and Benny are sitting at, his chest slightly puffed out. “Told ya,” he said, clicking his tongue as he winks. Walking away, he joins Ev and Val at their table, pointedly pulling out an empty seat next to him. Pretending to join their conversation, he sips from his drink, his eyes dragging their way up and down Olive's body in such a way that she feels her stomach seize up in such a way that it makes her knees weak. She is glad to be sitting down, her thighs squeezing together as if they have a mind of their own.

“Right,” Benny says, putting his whiskey glass down louder than intended. “I gotta make sure Meatball gets outside before I get to bed. Will I see you tomorrow? I could walk ya home if you like?”

“No!” Olive blurts, panicking slightly. “I mean, no thanks. I'm good, I got it. But yes, you'll see me tomorrow. I'll save a donut for you and Meatball.”

“Perfect,” he says, standing up. “Goodnight.” He leans forward and kisses her gently on the cheek. Nodding at her, he leads Meatball out of the bar, Olive turning and puffing her cheeks out in some kind of unknown relief. 

She's alone for a millisecond before James is back beside her, handing her a cigarette. “You smoke?”

“I do. Can you believe I forgot mine in my purse at home?”

“At home? Don't you live here with Val and Helen?”

“Not yet. As of tomorrow, yes.”

“Can't wait for the prettiest girl in all of East Anglia to hand me a donut and a cup of coffee every morning.”

“Oh, stop,” she grins, the cigarette between her lips, feeling her cheeks grow pinker by the second. 

“Bet I can make ya laugh in one second.”

“Really?” She says, eyes narrowing. “Go for it.”

“What's the difference between a hippo and a zippo?”

“I don't know, James. What is the difference?” 

“One is really heavy,” he begins, pulling his own zippo from his pocket. “The other is a little lighter!”

The cackle that leaves Olive's body has her instantly clamping a hand over her mouth, the other on her stomach. “That's a great laugh,” he says, lighting her cigarette for her as her hand leaves her mouth. “Don't cover your mouth when you laugh, though. You have a pretty smile.”

“Thanks,” she giggles, taking a drag of the cigarette. 

“Come on,” he says, his own cigarette between his teeth. He wraps an arm around her shoulders and she instantly cozies up to him. “Come sit with us. Saved you a seat.”

Val smiles up at the couple as they sit down, James's arm only leaving Olive's shoulders for a moment. 

“Ev, this is Olive, who I was telling you about. She'll be joining us on the Clubmobile as of tomorrow.”

“Hey, Olive. I see you've already met my pal Dougie here.”

“Sure have. With a terrible joke, too.”

“Not the hippo zippo one again!”

“She laughed her ass off, Ev.”

“She's just being polite.”

“No, seriously. It tickled me,” she interjects, winking at Dougie. He grins back, lighting another smoke. 

“Another drink, sweetheart?” Ev asks Val as he gets up. 

“Yes, please, honey,” she smiles. 

“Olive?” 

“Yeah, go on then.” He nods.

“Dougie, come give me a hand, bud.”

As soon as the boys depart, a shorter man with perfectly slicked dark hair slinks up to Val. 

“Valencia, my best buddy,” he says, setting his beer on the table. “Who's ya new friend?”

“Curtis, you're a pain in my ass,” Val says through gritted teeth. “Get!”

“Alright, fine,” he laughs, winking at both the girls. 

“I don't want you to catch his itch,” Val laughs. 

“Honestly, I don't want to itch either, girl.” 

The boys return, Val instantly making heart eyes at her man. Dougie plonks down heavily next to Olive, his hand finding its way to her thigh. 

“So, tell me about yourself.”

“What do you wanna know?” she asks, sipping her drink.

“Everything. We got all night.”

[ginabaker1666]

Beat Me, Daddy, Eight to the Bar

For you, @ktredshoes 🥰

She’s a Red Cross Clubmobile Girl, and he’s the Flyboy with the Lucky Strike tucked behind his ear.

Here’s a little snippet of my current Blakely x Valencia (OC) WIP for ya!

“He’s a pain in my ass.” She had offered by way of greeting that morning.

“Dickie would probably sympathize with you, ma’am.” He grinned, hazel eyes fixed on her own green.

“Oh, don’t I know it,” she shook her head. “And you can call me Val, Captain.”

“Then it’s only fair if you drop the formalities as well.” A teasing lilt to his reply.

She shook her head at him, but leaned forward towards him, her torso now fully outside the open hatch she was serving the Airmen from. Pinching a donut between two fingers, she allowed her face to get just a bit closer to his, before she offered it to him with a wink.

“Safe flight, Captain Blakely.”

“Val.” He grinned, plucking the offered snack from between her red manicured nails, before tipping his crush cap at her and heading towards the truck where his crew was waiting.

[1d5soslittlemixonechicago]

Scream 5 & 6 Original character and love interest

Send a request for any of them with a story and title if you want to.

Ethan Landry x Everett Meeks-Martins(OC)

Armani Walker(OC) x Jack Champion

Jesse Hick(OC) x Chad Meeks-Martin

Rudy Anderson(OC) x Mason Gooding

Derek West(OC) x Sam Carpenter

Tyler Hayes(OC) x Melissa Barrera

Blake Barnes(OC) x Tara Carpenter

Matt Caswell(OC) x Jenna Ortega

Mindy Meeks-martin x Kingston Taylor(OC)

Chandler Bassett(OC) x Jasmin Savoy Brown

[the--sad--hatter]

The Weird & The Wonderful - Writing Challenge

I normally wait until the big milestones to do a celebration challenge, but I thought I would bring this one forward for obvious reasons. So this is my 4,400 follower celebration!

The Weird & The Wonderful. Magic, adventure, and just a touch of something sinister. The Prompts come from The Addams Family, Coraline, Alice in Wonderland, Tim Burton etc. Use the prompts how you like, make it funny or romantic, or dark and spooky. Use your imagination and have fun! 

The Weird & The Wonderful Masterlist - Read the finished submissions here. Please remember to like, comment and re-blog the authors hard work! 

Rules –

You do not have to be following me to participate, but ya know… It’d be nice. I’m lovely! Why aren’t you following me?

For the first time, I’m going to accept Dark Fic Submissions. Please tag them appropriately, as with anything that includes smut or potential triggers.

Fandoms – I am opening this up to more than just Marvel fics, please feel free to submit for DC, Arrowverse, The Witcher, Supernatural, X-MEN, The Vampire Diaries. (If you wanna submit for a fandom not mentioned, feel free to ask!)

There are no minimum or maximum word counts but anything over 500 words must have the ‘Read More’ feature please!

This is a reader insert challenge, no OC’s but Specified!Readers are fine. 

If you want to submit anonymously, please email your submission to me at thesadhatterfics@yahoo.com and provide me with a pseud or nickname to post on your behalf.

You can feel free to use the banner I made, if you so choose.

Please tag me in your submission so I can read and reblog. Unless you ask otherwise, I’ll add all submissions to a masterlist.

Absolutely no smut and/or romance for underage characters, this includes ageing up and/or down of characters to get around it. 

Submissions should be in by June 1st 2020.

 Prompts below the cut

Prompts – Please message me HERE to claim your prompt number and let me know who you’ll be writing it for. One prompt per person. In the unlikely event that all prompts are taken, I’ll add more.

 Quote Prompts

1 - “I have no plans to love you. No matter what. You can't make me love you.” Claimed by @myoxisbroken for Loki   2 - “I was kidnapped by aliens, they came down from outer space with ray guns, but I fooled them by wearing a wig and laughing in a foreign accent, and I escaped.” Claimed by @i-have-arrived-bitch for Loki    3 - “The world seemed to shimmer a little at the edges.” Claimed by @sweater-daddiesdumbdork for Bucky    4 - "Challenge her. There's no guarantee she'll play fair, but her kind of thing loves games and challenges.” Claimed by @lordofthenerds97​ for Loki   5 - “I would die for her. I would kill for her. Either way, what bliss.” Claimed by @Crowe with Loki   6 - “Last night, you were unhinged. You were like some desperate howling demon. You frightened me. Do it again.”   7 - "I'm just like any modern woman trying to have it all. Loving husband, a family. It's just, I wish I had more time to seek out the dark forces and join their hellish crusade." Claimed by @scarletnerd05​ for The Witcher    8 - “I'm a homicidal maniac. They look just like everyone else.”   9 - "It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then." Claimed by @badsext for Umbrella Academy Characters    10 - "It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!" Claimed by @stareyedplanet   11 - "'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!"   12 - “When I used to read fairy tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one!”   13 - “Everything in this room is edible. Even I'm edible. But, that would be called cannibalism. It is looked down upon in most societies.”   14 - “One person's craziness is another person's reality.” Claimed by                 @nekoannie-chan​ for Steve Rogers or Rumlow   15 - “I, myself, am strange and unusual.” Claimed by @cateyes315 for Loki    16 - “Good morning starshine! The earth says hello....” Claimed by @buckysknifecollection for Sam Wilson    17 - “You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are.”

 Song Prompts (Check them out on the Spotify Playlist I made)  (It’s up to you how you interpret and use the song prompt)

18 - The Magic by Lola Blanc

19 - Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones

20 - The Dismemberment Song by Blue Kid

21 - Not The Villain by S.J Tucker

22 - An Unhealthy Obsession by Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra

23 - Arsonists Lullaby by Hozier

24 - Control by Halsey Claimed by @official-and-unstable-satan

25 - Hunt You Down by Kesha

26 - I Put A Spell On You by Nina Simone Claimed by @ zandracourt For marvelverse

27 - Lust For A Vampyr by I Monster

28 - White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane

29 - Shatter Me by Lindsay Stirling & Lzzy Hale Claimed by @ brightsun-and-darkmidnight for Loki 

30 - Bad Things by Jace Everett Claimed by @thefifthmaraud3r

[written-in-sunshine]

Fandom List And Ships

Updated: 12/9/18

This is the current list of fandoms and pairings that are requestable. It’s a long list (12+ pages), and I can always add more if the need arises. Bolded fandoms are the ones I am currently in the mood to write for, and I will try to update that as much as I can. Italicized fandoms are something I might consider working on soon and can easily be pushed back into.

Please look at this list before requesting something, it’s in the rules.

Fandoms under the cut!

Adventure Time

Flame Prince/Fionna

Flame Prince/Prince Gumball

Hot Dog Prince/Lumpy Space Prince

Lord Monochromicorn/Cake

Marshall Lee/Flame Prince/Prince Gumball

Marshall Lee/Prince Gumball

As Told By Ginger

Carl Foutley/Blake Gripling

Carl Foutley/Hoodsey Bishop

Assassin’s Creed

Altair Ibn La-Ahad/Malik Al-Sayf

Desmond Miles/Shaun Hastings

Ezio Auditore/Leonardo Da Vinci

Federico Auditore/Vieri De Pazzi

Haytham Kenway/Charles Lee

Kanen'tó:kon/William Johnson

Kadar Al-Sayf/Gian ‘Salai’ Giacomo

Petruccio Auditore/Gian ‘Salai’ Giacomo

Ratonhnhaké ton (Connor Kenway)/Thomas Hickey

Rauf/Kadar Al-Sayf

Talal/Malik Al-Sayf

William Johnson/Thomas Hickey

The Babysitter

Bee/Allison

Bee/Sonya

Cole/Melanie

John/Allison

John/Bee

Max/Allison

Max/Bee

Max/Cole

Max/John

Sonya/Allison

Beetlejuice (Both Movie/Cartoon Verses)

Beatleguise/Lydia Deetz

Camp Camp

Max/Daniel

David/Daniel

Max/David

Max/David/Daniel

Nerf/Preston Goodplay

Neil/Harrison

Neil/Nikki

Quartermaster/Daniel

Catherine

Johnathan ‘Johnny’ Ariga/Tobias ‘Toby’ Nebbins

Orlando Haddick/Tobias ‘Toby’ Nebbins

Orlando Haddick/Johnathan ‘Johnny’ Ariga/Tobias ‘Toby’ Nebbins

Thomas Mutton/Astaroth

Vincent Brooks/Catherine

Vincent Brooks/Astaroth

Crossovers

The Bye Bye Man/The Crooked Man (The Bye Bye Man/The Crooked Man Crossover)

Jack/Max (The House That Jack Built/The Babysitter Crossover)

Jason Dean/Firkle Smith (Heathers/South Park Crossover)

Jason Dean/Lucas Ward (Heathers/Dismissed Crossover)

Jason Dean/Victor Criss (Heathers/IT Crossover)

DC

Bane/John Blake

Blackfire/Starfire

Cyborg/Beast Boy

Deadshot/Diablo/Harley Quinn

Francis “Hotstreak” Stone/Richie “Gear” Foley

Joker/Harley Quinn

Killer Croc/Babydoll

Killer Croc/Diablo

Killer Croc/Harley Quinn

Killer Croc/Scarecrow

Poison Ivy/Harley Quinn

Raven/Terra

Red X/Speedy

Robin/Beast Boy

Robin/Red X

Robin/Red X/Speedy

Robin/Speedy

Deadman Wonderland

Ganta Igarashi (Woodpecker)/Shiro

Nagi Kengamine (Owl)/Azuma Genkaku

Senji Kiyomasa (Crow)/Toto Sakigami (Mockingbird)

Tamaki Tsunenaga/Rokuro Bundo

Tamaki Tsunenaga/Yo Takami

Wretched Egg (I refer to her as Sorae after Ganta’s mother)/Minatsuki Takami (Hummingbird)

Yo Takami/Ganta Igarashi (Woodpecker)

Death And Cremation

Stanley/Jarod Leary

Devil’s Carnival

The Devil/Tamara

Scorpion/Tamara

The Twin/Hobo Clown

Digimon

Matt/Tai

Willis/Davis

Dragon Age

Alistair Theirin/Cullen Rutherford

Alistair Theirin/Kallianne Cousland

Anders/Ethan Hawke

Anders/Fenris/Ethan Hawke

Anders/Jowan

Anders/Jowan/Ethan Hawke

Anders/Karl Thekla

Anders/Karl Thekla/Ethan Hawke

Anders/Sebastian Vael

Anders/Sebastian Vael/Ethan Hawke

Arishok/Carver Hawke

Arishok/Ethan Hawke

Ashaad/Ketojan/Saemus Dumar

Ashaad/Saemus Dumar

Bartrand Tethras/Carver Hawke

Bemis Cousland/Lysander Amell (OC Ship)

Blackwall/Carver Hawke

Cole/Dorian Pavus

Cullen Rutherford/Dorian Pavus

Cullen Rutherford/Ethan Hawke

Cullen Rutherford/Illeah Lavellan

Cullen Rutherford/Tempestia Surana

Danarius/Dorian Pavus

Duncan/Cailan Theirin

Fenris/Carver Hawke

Fenris/Ethan Hawke

Fenris/Sahir Nadeer (OC)

Greagoir/Irving

Herren/Wade

Jarvia/Isabela

Jowan/Sister(Mother) Petrice

Justice/Seneschal Bran

Ketojan/Saemus Dumar

Leliana/Josephine MontilyetLoghain Mac Tir/Maric Theirin

Meeran/Carver Hawke

Sebastian Vael/Ethan Hawke

The Iron Bull/Dorian Pavus

The Iron Bull/Solas

Varric Tethras/Ethan Hawke

Varric Tethras/Merrill

Varric Tethras/Solas

Zevran Arainai/Alistair Theirin

Zevran Arainai/Mortine Mahariel

Dreaming Mary

Boaris/Mary(Mari)

Father/Mary(Mari)

Foxanne/Bunnilda

Gwendell (Glenn)/Mary(Mari)

Ed, Edd, ‘n Eddy

Eddy/Edd

Kevin/Edd

Kevin/Rolf

Johnny/Jimmy

Sarah/Jimmy

The Evil Within

Reuben ‘Ruvik’ Victoriano/Leslie Withers

Sebastian Castellanos/Joseph Oda

Fallout Universe

Barrett/Murphy

Benjamin ‘Benji’ Montgomery/Derek Segraves(MLW)

Butch DeLoria/Derek Segraves(MLW)

Charon/Derek Segraves(MLW)

Charon/Iib Townshend(FLW)

Colin Moriarity/Andy Stahl

Desmond Lockheart/Derek Segraves(MLW)

Everett/Derek Segraves(MLW)

Flash/Derek Segraves(MLW)

Karl/Justin

Mercenary/Moira Brown

Sole Survivor/Sole Survivor

Three Dog/Gob

Timebomb/Derek Segraves(MLW)

Vance/Ian West

Wally Mack/Derek Segraves(MLW)

Wally Mack/Paul Hanon

Walter/Leo Stahl

Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest

Zak Young/Pips

Final Fantasy

Balthier/Vaan

Cloud Strife/Kadaj

Fang/Lightning

Genesis Rhapsodos/Sephiroth

Gilliam ‘Gil’ Blat/Angeal Hewley (OC/Canon Ship)

Gippal/Baralai

Layle/Keiss

Loz/Yazoo

Lulu/Yuna

Paine/Rikku

Reeve Tuesti/Vincent Valentine

Rude/Reno

Seifer Almasy/Zell Dincht

Snow/Hope

Squall Leonhart/Irvine Kinneas

Tseng/Rufus ShinRa

Wakka/Tidus

Zack Fair/Cloud Strife

Gravity Falls

Mabel Pines/Pacifica

Robbie/Dipper Pines

Thompson/Mabel Pines

Wendy/Tambry

Harry Potter (Movieverse) - ON HIATUS

Blaize Zabini/Saemus Finnegan

Dean Thomas/Saemus Finnegan

Lee Jordan/Saemus Finnegan

Oliver Wood/Marcus Flint

Ron Weasley/Draco Malfoy

Severus Snape/Lucius Malfoy

Harry Potter/Hermione Granger

Heathers (Movieverse, Slight Musicalverse)

Jason Dean/Lucas Ward (Dismissed Crossover)

Heather Chandler/Heather Duke

Heather Duke/Veronica Sawyer

Jason Dean/Firkle Smith (South Park Crossover)

Jason Dean/Vernon Sawyer (Male Veronica)

Jason Dean/Veronica Sawyer

Jason Dean/Victor Criss (IT Crossover)

Kurt Kelly/Ram

Veronica Sawyer/Heather McNamara

Veronica Sawyer/Martha Dunstock

Hellboy (Movieverse)

Hellboy/Abe Sapien

Hey Arnold

Helga G. Pataki/Rhonda Wellington Lloyd

Nadine/Rhonda Wellington Lloyd

Stinky Peterson/Sid

Torvald/Stoop Kid

Inception

Dom Cobb/Ariadne

Eames/Arthur

Insidious

Josh Lambert/Parker Crane

Josh Lambert/Specs

Tucker/Specs

Invader Zim

Dib Membrane/Zim

Red/Purple

Tak/Gaz Membrane

The Iron Giant

Dean/Hogarth

IT (2017)

Belch Huggins/Victor Criss

Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh

Bill Denbrough/Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh

Bill Denbrough/Beverly Marsh

Bill Denbrough/Stan Uris

Butch Bowers/Patrick Hockstetter

Butch Bowers/Victor Criss

Henry Bowers/Belch Huggins

Henry Bowers/Belch Huggins/Victor Criss

Henry Bowers/Victor Criss

Mike Hanlon/Bill Denbrough/Stan Uris

Mike Hanlon/Patrick Hockstetter

Mike Hanlon/Richie Rozier/Stan Uris/Eddie Kaspbrak

Mike Hanlon/Stan Uris

Mike Hanlon/Victor Criss

Patrick Hockstetter/Avery Hockstetter

Patrick Hockstetter/Belch Huggins

Patrick Hockstetter/Belch Huggins/Victor Criss

Patrick Hockstetter/Henry Bowers

Patrick Hockstetter/Henry Bowers/Belch Huggins

Patrick Hockstetter/Henry Bowers/Belch Huggins/Victor Criss

Patrick Hockstetter/Henry Bowers/Victor Criss

Patrick Hockstetter/Victor Criss

Pennywise/Pennywise

Pennywise/Victor Criss

Richie Tozier/Eddie Kaspbrak

Richie Tozier/Stan Uris/Eddie Kaspbrak

Jeepers Creepers

Jeepers Creepers/Darry

Kick-Ass/2 Movieverse

Todd Haynes/Katarina Dombrovski

Dave Lizewski/Chris D'Amico

Javier/Chris D'Amico

Kingdom Hearts

Axel/Demyx

Axel/Marluxia

Larxene/Namine

Lexaeus/Zexion

Luxord/Demyx

Luxord/Marluxia

Luxord/Xaldin

Pence/Olette

Rai/Fuu

Riku/Sora

Roxas/Xion

Saix/Demyx

Saix/Xemnas

Seifer/Hayner

Vexen/Marluxia

Xigbar/Demyx

Xigbar/Xaldin

Krampus

Howard/Tom Engel

Krampus/Max Engel

Krampus/Tom Engel

Tom Engel/Max Engel

Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler

Claude Faustus/Alois Trancy

Pluto/Grell Sutcliffe

Undertaker/Grell Sutcliffe

Undertaker/William Spears/Grell Sutcliffe

League Of Super Evil

Doomageddon/Doktor Frogg

Red Menace/Doktor Frogg

Left 4 Dead/2

Keith/Dave

Keith/Ellis

Louis/Francis

Nick/Dave

Nick/Ellis

OC/OC

Lollipop Chainsaw

Gideon Starling/Elizabeth Starling

Lewis Legend/Swan

Nick Carlyle/Juliet Starling

Vikke/Josey

Zed/Mariska

Zed/Swan

Mad Max

Angharad/Capable

Dag/Capable

Dag/Cheedo

Dag/Toast

Max Rockatansky/Blood Shed Ted

Max Rockatansky/Imperator Furiosa

Nux/Slit

OC/OC

Rictus Erectus/The Ace

Stank Gum/Scabrous Scrotus

Marvel

Alex Summers/Hank McCoy/Sean Cassidy

Alex Summers/Sean Cassidy

Azazel/Emma Frost

Azazel/Kurt Wagner

Bruce Banner/Tony Stark

Erik Lensherr/Charles Xavier

Hank McCoy/Charles Xavier

Hank McCoy/Sean Cassidy

Lance Alvers/Pietro Maximoff

Loki Laufeyson/Tony Stark

Mortimer Toynbee/Emma Frost

St. John Allerdyce/Pietro Maximoff

St. John Allerdyce/Tabitha Smith

Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

The Incredible Hulk/Tony Stark

Todd Tolansky/Kurt Wagner

Todd Tolansky/Pietro Maximoff

Tony Stark/Pepper Pots

Wade Winston Wilson/Bob, Agent Of Hydra

Wanda Maximoff/Anne-Marie (Rogue)

Miraculous Ladybug

Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng

The Mist (2017)

Tyler Denton/Adrian Garf

Monster Prom

Amira Red/Miranda Vanderbilt

Amira Red/Polly Geist

Brian Green/Damien LaVey

Brian Green/Damien LaVey/Liam De Lioncourt/Oz Yellow

Brian Green/Oz Yellow

Damien LaVey/Liam De Lioncourt

Liam De Lioncourt/Oz Yellow

Scott Howl/Football Team

Scott Howl/Liam De Lioncourt

Scott Howl/Vicky Blue

Vera Oberlin/Polly Geist

Vicky Blue/Polly Geist

Monsters University/Inc.

Brock Pearson/Claire Wheeler

James P. “Sulley”  Sullivan/Michael “Mike” Wizowski

Johnny J. Worthington III/Randall “Randy” Boggs

Nadia Petrov/Taylor Harbrooke

Night In The Woods

Angus Delaney/Greggory Lee

Bea Santello/Mae Borowski

Casey Hartley/Greggory Lee

Levy/Steve Skriggins

Jeremy “Germ Warfare” Warton/Selma Ann “Selmers” Forrester

Outlast

Edward “Eddie” Gluskin (The Groom)/Terry “Theresa” Harriss (OC)

Portal/2

Adventure Core/Fact Core

Cave Johnson/Caroline

Cave Johnson/Evil Cave Johnson

Chell/GLaDOS

Companion Cube/Turret

Logic Core/Curiosity Core

Weighted Cube/Defective Turret

Wheatley/Space Core

Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time (Movieverse)

Garsiv/Dastan

Princess And The Goblin

Prince Froglip/Princess Irene

Rick And Morty

Abradolf Lincoler/Nancy

Birdperson/Tammy Gueterman

Brad/Morty Smith

Greaser Morty/Punk Morty

Lucius Needful/Summer Smith

Rick Sanchez/Morty Smith (in all/most incarnations)

Summer Smith/Jessica

Regular Show

Don/Rigby

Mordecai/Rigby

Skips/Benson

Rocket Power

Lars Rodriguez/Twister Rodriguez

Otto Rocket/Sam Dullard

Saw

John Kramer/Amanda Young

Lawrence Gordon/Adam Faulkner

Logan Nelson/David (Saw .5)

Lukas Faulkner (OC)/Adam Faulkner

Lukas Faulkner (OC)/David (Saw .5)

Lukas Faulkner (OC)/Scott Tibbs

Lynn Denlon/Amanda Young

Mark Hoffman/Peter Strahm

Scott Tibbs/Adam Faulkner

Scott Tibbs/Lark

Silent Hill

Butcher/Valtiel

Pyramid Head/Alessa Gilespie

Walter Sullivan/Murphey Pendleton

South Park

Bradley (Cartman Sucks)/Leopold “Butters” Stotch

Christophe “Ze Mole”/Firkle

Christophe “Ze Mole”/Kyle Broflovski

Christophe “Ze Mole”/Leopold “Butters” Stotch

Clyde Donovan/Bebe Stevens

Craig Tucker/Gregory of Yardale/Tweek Tweak

Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak

Damien Thorn/Firkle

Damien Thorn/Phillip “Pip” Pirrup

Eric Cartman/Bebe Stevens

Eric Cartman/Firkle

Eric Cartman/Wendy Testaburger

Filmore Anderson/Firkle

Gregory of Yardale/Tweek Tweak

Ike Broflovski/Firkle

Kenny McCormick/Bradley (Cartman Sucks)/Leopold “Butters” Stotch

Kenny McCormick/Firkle

Kenny McCormick/Kyle Broflovski

Kenny McCormick/Leopold “Butters” Stotch

Kevin McCormick/Firkle

Michael/Pete

Michael/Firkle

Mike Makowski/Firkle

Mike Makowski/Larry

Nathan/Firkle

Quaid/Filmore Anderson

Quaid/Firkle

Red/Henrietta Biggle

Ryan Ellis/Larry

Scott Malkinson/New Kid

Scott Tenorman/Firkle

Stan Marsh/Firkle

Stan Marsh/Gregory Of Yardale

Stan Marsh/Pete

Stan Marsh/Gary Harrison

Stan Marsh/Wendy Testaburger

Trent Boyett/Firkle

Token Black/Clyde Donnovan

Token Black/Clyde Donnovan/Bebe Stevens

Team Fortress 2 (I have OC’s for this)

Demoman/Soldier

Engineer/Medic

Heavy/Medic

Pyro/Medic

Pyro/Scout

Pyro/Sniper

Sniper/Medic

Sniper/Scout

Soldier/Engineer

Spy/Scout

Spy/Sniper/Scout

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Leonardo/Donatello

Raphael/Casey Jones

Raphael/Michelangelo

Until Dawn

Billy Bates/Mike Munroe

Josh Washington/Chris

Josh Washington/Mike Munroe

Matt/Chris

Matt/Mike Munroe

Matt/Mike Munroe/Jessica/Sam/Billy Bates

Mike Munroe/Jessica

Mike Munroe/Sam

The Walking Dead

Glen Rhee/Daryl Dixon

Merle Dixon/Daryl Dixon

Rick Grimes/Daryl Dixon

We’re Back

Louis/Cecilia Nuthatch

Yami No Matsuei/Descendents Of Darkness

Hisoka Kurosaki/Asato Tsuzuki

Seiichiro Tatsumi/Yutaka Watari

Zootopia

Chief Bogo/Benjamin Clawhauser

Finnick/Gideon Grey

Larry/Gary

Nick Wilde/Judy Hopps

Pronk Oryx-Antlerson/Bucky Oryx-Antlerson

[ginabaker1666]

The Way I Am

Beat Me, Daddy, Eight To The Bar: Part Three

Everett Blakely x Valencia DiRosano (OC)

The realities of war begin to dig their way under the skin of the men and women at Thorpe Abbotts, leaving some with more on their shoulders than they'd care to carry. New and existing friendships help to brighten a dark day, while Val and Everett admit truth's they can only say to each other. Featuring @winniemaywebber's Olive Lewis from the Honeysuckle Rose series.

Part Two Follow along with the Eight To The Bar Playlist

Non-mision days were, naturally, a favorite of those who lived on Thorpe Abbotts airbase. A lot of the boys would still go up for practice missions, but it would leave a lot less what-if’s and nerves on the ground because the Luftwaffe was nowhere to be found, and the only thing they needed to worry about was taking off and landing safely. Those days, the Red Cross girls would still set up the Clubmobile for the boys, greeting them with coffee and donuts and a friendly smile as they trekked out to the hardstand. Today, almost all of the boys were going up on a practice run. They had already seen Brady and the  M’lle Zig Zig crew, Bucky and the crew of Mugwump, followed directly by Buck Cleven and Our Baby. Benny DeMarco had lingered at the truck, the pilot infatuated with the newest Red Cross girl, Olive. Olive had seemingly come out of nowhere, according to Tattie, but the girls had wasted no time at all in taking her in, despite her accent and dry British humor, she fit in like a missing puzzle piece amongst them. 

When Benny had asked if the girls would be willing to keep an eye on Meatball while they went up for practice, Olive was first out of the truck to greet the husky. Val suspected it was so that he didn’t actually go inside of the truck and make a mess of things like he somehow tended to do. When he got restless, Olive had offered to take him for a walk, and since it had been quiet, Val had ushered Helen off as well to keep Olive company. Tattie had taken the jeep to go pick up supplies for the truck on the other side of the base, which left Val alone. 

“You running the show alone today?”

Val looked up from where she was reading her copy of Screen Romances to find Ev and Douglass standing in front of the Clubmobile. Dougie’s hands on his hips, a wide smile stretching across his mouth. 

“Is my favorite Flyboy and his bombardier bringing up the rear today?” She smiled upon seeing them, her gaze immediately finding Everett’s from behind his aviators. 

“Just coffee if you can spare it, Val.” Douglass requested, politely declining the donut she had pointed to. 

“Oh, it’s okay for me to make you coffee again? I don’t need to go find Olive for you? She teased, already moving to pour him coffee from the carafe. Benny DeMarco wasn’t the only one who had taken a shine to Olive. 

“I saw her on my way over,” He shook his head, but the smile remained. “She was with Helen and Meatball.”

“DeMarco asked us to keep an eye on him while you boys went up today, so the two of them took him for a walk.”

Val reached through the hatch with his coffee, the handoff seamless as he accepted the coffee, the cup immediately coming up to his lips. 

“You’ve got the magic touch, Val.” He hummed, eyes closed in satisfaction. 

“I won't tell Olive you said that.” She rolled her eyes with a shake of her head as he gave her a half hearted salute and cheeky smile, before turning and heading towards the hardstands.  

Everett remained by the truck, flight gear and sheepskin jacket making him look every bit the pilot that she knew him to be. He was squinting up at her in the early morning sun, sunglasses now hanging from the pocket of his jacket. Even with his crush cap on, the sun was in his eyes. He looked like a little boy when he did that, and Val couldn’t help but find him utterly adorable. 

“Coffee for the road, handsome?” She grinned, holding a cup up, nodding her head towards the back of the truck where the doors were open. 

He smiled and moved around, meeting her at the back and stepping up on the first step, as she came to stand in front of him. 

“Hmm did you make it the way I like it?” 

“You mean, did I leave it black? Yes, Everett, I did.” 

“Someone woke up on the sassy side of the bed this morning.” He watched as she pulled her hand back, holding the coffee away from him. 

“This is going to cost you, Captain.”  She grinned. 

“Oh yeah? How much then, Miss Val?”

“Hmmm I’m thinking it’s at least worth a good morning kiss.” 

“Well, what kind of man would I be if I refused payment?” 

Stepping up one more step, he came as close as he could so she wouldn’t have to lean down, and gently, carefully, dropped a hand to her waist to steady her before planting his lips on hers. The kiss was quick, but not without feeling. The pair were very much aware that they were on working hours when he was flying and she was at the truck, so they tried not to get too carried away. But, still, he hated to go up if only for practice, without giving her a proper goodbye. 

“Payment accepted.” Val grinned as they parted, her hand falling to rest over his that remained on her waist, the other handing over his coffee before she spilled it. 

“Thank you,” His smile was wide as he took the cup from her hand, taking a sip and sighing as the liquid warmed him. “Perfect.”

“I don’t see how, there’s nothing in it!” She eyed his coffee skeptically. 

“I wasn’t talking about the coffee, sweetheart.”

“Oh, well, in that case I’m inclined to agree with you.”

He was about to reply when Douglass appeared around the back of the truck, head sticking out from behind where the doors were open, just over Everett’s shoulder. 

“Not that I’m not enjoying getting to drink my coffee but, we can’t get moving without the pilot, pal.”

“Dougie, you have the worst timing.” Ev sighed, shaking his head as Val laughed at the pair. Sometimes she couldn’t help but wonder if they were the couple and she was just third wheeling. 

“Go on,” She urged him, stepping down from the truck to guide him towards where he needed to be. “You have to fly and I need to clean up here.”

“I’ll see you later, yea?” He dropped a quick kiss to her cheek just to see her smile again.

“Yes, either after you get back or at the club later with the girls. Now, be safe up there, okay?”

“You have my word.” He nodded. 

“You have mine, too!” Douglass joined in.

“Christ sake,” She shook her head. “Both of you get a move on, I don’t want to hear Harding bellowing about how I held you up.” 

At that, both boys turned, coffee in hand, and made their way to the hardstand to prep for their practice mission. 

Climbing back into the Clubmobile, she began to clean up what she could; covering the donuts with a towel, and wiping down the counter so that it was free of any spilled milk or sugar. Once she was satisfied, and knew Tattie would be too, she promptly parked herself back in front of her magazine to pick up where she left off. 

“Jeez, Val, don’t look so busy!”

Looking up she found Jack Kidd and Chick Harding, the taller of the men giving her his signature sarcastic scowl, which she was always happy to return. Ever since Bucky had been demoted from Air Exec, Jack seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face with most of the men. He had tried, once, to use it on her when he caught her and Ev saying goodbye at the truck, but Val had turned and given it back as good as she got. Jack had very quickly learned that while Tattie was in charge of the Red Cross girls, Val was the muscle, and if she was mad at you, heaven help the poor soul. Helen was starting to think Val and Jack just made faces at each other to see who could look meaner at this point, because it never lasted long before one of them broke and cracked a real smile.

“Wake up with a bug up your ass again, Jack?” She smirked, closing the magazine and leaning on her elbows out the hatch. 

“I’m here and not home so, yea.”

“Aww, well, loosen up and I’m sure you’ll feel better.”

Harding stood, amused, watching the two seemingly square off, before Val broke first, offering a genuine smile that Jack returned. At that, Chick stepped up to the hatch to get her attention. 

“Valencia…”

“Chicky…”

“Jesus,” he huffed around his cigar, smoke billowing around him at her use of his unauthorized nickname. “Don’t call me that.”

“Okay, whatever you say, Chicky.”

Behind him, Kidd snickered, but quickly covered it with a cough. 

“Valencia…” Harding warned. 

“Fine…” It was long and drawn out. “You boys want coffee? I’ve got a few donuts left too.”

“Please,” Harding spoke, the words muffled around his cigar. “Why are you out here by yourself?”

“Helen and Olive took Meatball for a walk, and Tattie should be back any minute now. She took the jeep for supplies.”

“That damn dog get near the donuts again?” Harding tried to lift the towel she had placed over them, eyeing up the treats. 

“No, he did not get near them.”

“Good, I’ll take one then.”

Shaking her head, she handed him his coffee and donut before she turned her attention to Jack. Before she could ask him what he wanted the sound of Tattie on the jeep filled the air. 

“You two playing nice?” Tattie looked between Jack and Val. 

“Yes, Tattie, don’t worry,” Kidd chuckled. “I know when I’m beat.”

Grinning, the brunette stepped off the jeep, the back loaded with supplies for the Clubmobile. 

“Give me a second Tat and I’ll come help ya!” Val called out to her. 

Nodding, Tattie grabbed the small box that had been resting on the front seat next to her and made her way into the Clubmobile, while Val finished up with the boys. 

“Jack? Coffee?”

“Sure, Val, thanks.”

“Remind me again…”

“Just black.”

Nodding with a smile, Val poured him a cup, leaving it black. Plucking a donut from the tray, she handed him both, waving him off when he tried to protest at the donut. 

“Go on, I can’t let them go to waste.”

“Appreciate it,” Kidd nodded. “You taking the rest out to the ground crew?”

“That’s the plan.” 

“Good, those boys are working hard.”

With that, Chick and Jack gave her a wave before walking off back towards the control tower, where she had assumed Red was waiting for them. Watching them go, she quickly exited the truck and made her way to the jeep to help Tattie unload the boxes she had picked up. Helen and Olive should have been back, but knowing they had Meatball, it might have been a small blessing that they could unload the jeep without the husky getting under their feet for a bit. 

“Red Cross sent more rations. Coffee and fixings to make more donuts for us,” Tattie groaned, lifting a box and walking it to the truck. “Looks like we’ve got enough sugar to get us through the next month or two at least.”

“That’ll keep the fellas happy.” She agreed. 

“Nicked a few sweets for us girls, too.” Tattie winked as she stopped by the truck. 

“Your last name does have its advantages.” Val laughed, giving the scarf tied around her head a quick fix. 

“Mhmm, and you wouldn’t have been able to sweet talk the supply officer into a few Hershey bars?”

Before Val could reply, the sound of an engine far too close to where it should have been sounded above them, followed by a crash. The sound of the Land Girls screaming, and flames igniting in the trees out by the perimeter of the base caught their attention immediately, their faces turning to panic. 

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph!” 

“Did you see what tail number it was?”

“No, I can’t see anything except smoke.”

“Get in the Jeep, come on.”

Tattie wasted no time jumping back behind the wheel, Val practically throwing herself into the seat beside her as they sped off to the hardstand. The fear was rising deep within her chest the closer they got, and she had to will herself to believe that Everett and his crew were not the ones ignited in flames somewhere in the trees. As if someone had their hand around her throat with no intention of letting up, she drew in ragged and uneven breaths. 

“Val… deep breath doll, come on…” Tattie’s voice sounded far away, like she was underwater and couldn’t break through the surface. 

“You girls shouldn’t be out here!” Ken Lemmons yelled as soon as Tattie parked the jeep by the Ground Crew. 

“Kenny…” Val turned to him with wide eyes, and the nineteen year old had never seen someone he considered a spitfire, look so terrified. 

“It’s Baynard and his crew.” He sighed, knowing her question before she had even asked it. 

“Jesus…” The relief she felt melded with the sadness that slammed into her as she remembered handing Baynard and his Navigator their coffee that morning. He was one of the newer kids- anyone younger than her was a kid in her eyes- and hadn’t even flown a first mission yet. 

“Took a turn too early and went into a dive, couldn’t pull himself out of it.”

“He was just a kid…” Val shook her head, trying to understand just how the world could be so cruel. 

Tattie’s hand came to rest on her shoulder, and when Val turned to look at her friend, she noticed that she looked just as upset as she felt. The boys liked to joke that the girls could be the last pretty face they ever saw, and the reality of it seemed to hit the pair on them with the force of a thousand B-17’s. 

“Tattie, let’s uh, let’s get back to the truck and let the boys uhm…”

“Yea, yea alright.” She put the jeep back into gear, and the two women sped off back towards the Clubmobile. 

When they returned, the boxes they hadn’t finished unloading remained on the grass, Helen and Olive standing amongst them with Meatball eagerly sniffing at them. 

“What the hell happened out there!” Olive yelled over the engine of the jeep. 

“Baynard, he uh… him and his crew they…”

“Fuck sake! That was them?”

“Yea, it was them.” Val stepped out of the jeep with a sigh, immediately letting it support her body weight. 

“We just saw them this morning…” Helen sighed, body slumped back against the Clubmobile. 

Val could only nod, the fear that had her in a chokehold slowly beginning to subside. To think it could have been Everett, or Curt, had made her blood run cold. The idea of losing either of them was a reality she prayed to god she never had to face. 

“Val? You alright?” Helen was suddenly in front of her, Val’s hand in her own, the woman trying to meet her eyes. 

“Yea… just, scared shitless if I’m being honest.”

“Oh honey, I know…”

“Could have been either of them, Helen. And I’m not keen on being alone.”

“Oh chicken, you’ll never be alone. You’ve got us.” Olive joined them, taking Val’s other hand in her own, a soft smile on her face. 

“I need to get used to being called chicken as a term of endearment.” Val laughed, dropping her head to Olive’s shoulder. 

“There we go,” Olive grinned. “Feeling better?”

Nodding, Val pushed off from the jeep, moving to help with the rest of the boxes so that they could close up the truck and head off to the mess for lunch. 

“Meatball! No!!” 

The three girls looked over to where Tattie was standing, hands on her hips, as Meatball ripped into one of the boxes with his teeth. 

“I’m going to kill DeMarco…” she sighed. 

——————————————————————————————————

Exiting the Red Cross hut, Val and Olive were surprised to see Curt waiting outside for them. The pilot was dressed sharp, grinning from ear to ear as the girls spotted him. 

“Can I walk ya to the club, Val?”

“You can; I’m hard pressed to ask what you want, Curt.”

“Honest to God, just wanna walk ya.”

“Curt?”

“Helen told me you were a bit rattled after today, and I just wanted to make sure you’re alright…”

Val stopped walking, turning to face Curt with a soft smile. 

“Olive, I’ll catch up.”

“Okay,” She nodded. “I’ll save your seat.”

“Thanks.” Val turned to her friend, watching as she walked across to the club, immediately intercepted by Benny who had been waiting outside with Meatball. 

Turning back to Curt, she saw him fidgeting with his sleeves before finding her gaze again. 

“Curt, I’m alright. Honest…”

“Nah, I know you’re alright but, I wanted to just, double check, ya know?”

“Curt, are you alright?” His fidgeting was so unlike him that it had her worried. 

“Oh sure, yea I’m just fine.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I gotta be alright for my crew, ya know? And for you and my Ma back home.  But, sometimes, it all just feels… well, I feel it.”

“Well, it’s okay to feel it. You can admit that to me, Curt. I wouldn’t think anything less of you.”

“You’d better not, you’re my best friend.”

“Curt…” She sighed. This was usually when she’d begin to get exasperated with him. As usual.

“B’Sides… if anything happens-“

“Curt…”

“If anything happens, you gotta write to my Ma, alright?”

“Curt, how can you ask me to do that?” She whispered. 

“No one knows me better than you, Val. It’s gotta be you, alright?”

“How can you put that on me, huh?”

“Just promise, would ya, ya stubborn woman!” He threw his hands up at her. “I’m not planning on leaving anytime soon, for fuck sake.”

“Fine! I promise, okay?” 

“Thank you,” He grinned, but she could tell it didn’t reach his eyes. “Now come on, I think we both need a drink.”

“After what you just asked me, I need more than one.” She groaned, allowing him to toss his arm over her shoulder and guide them both to the club. 

“Well I’m only buying ya one,” He looked up with a smirk. “You got Blakely now, he can buy you the second one.”

“You’re unbelievable.” 

“Nah, I’m very believable.” 

Pulling the door open, he walked Val to the table where the girls were already sitting, promising to be back with her drink. It left her shaking her head as she sat, baffled still at the conversation they’d had outside, and how he had turned on a dime from sarcastic Curt, to a scared boy right in front of her.

Turning to the girls, she noticed that Olive wasn’t with them, and knowing Benny had caught her on her way in, she wondered if him and Douglass were already vying for her attention. 

“Where’s Olive? With Benny or Dougie?”

“Ladies room.”

“Okay so which one is probably waiting outside the door for her?” Val chuckled, trying to bring herself back. 

“Dougie.” They replied in unison, laughing at the image of him hanging out outside the ladies bathroom. 

Helen gestured behind her, and before she could ask her what she was looking at, the one voice she had been yearning to hear all day since that crash, had finally eased the anxiety gnawing at her from the inside out. 

“I was starting to wonder where you were.” 

“Ev…” His name came on a breath, and she turned in her seat to see him standing behind her, dapper as ever. 

“I didn’t see you come in with the girls,” He rounded the table and perched himself against the arm of the chair next to her, casually bringing his drink to his lips. “Everything okay?”

“Oh, everything’s fine. Curt caught me as I was leaving the hut with Olive and wanted to talk.”

He nodded, slipping into the seat next to her with ease, his arm coming to rest around the back of her chair. His fingers gently moved over her shoulder, causing her to shiver and slide just a bit closer to him. 

“You okay sweetheart?” 

Shaking her head as if he had to ask why she had moved closer, she was about to give him the what for, when the other man in her life suddenly reappeared. 

“Course she’s okay! She’s got a drink now!”

He carefully slid a martini glass in front of her, and she couldn’t help but notice it was missing some off the top. 

“Thank you, Curt. And would you look at that, he taste tested it for me too.”

“What a guy, I know I am!” Curt beamed, not even caring that she had caught him. 

“You didn’t bring one for the rest of us, Biddick?” Tattie baited him, knowing it would get a rise out of the pilot and take the heat off Val. 

“My mistake, Tattie. What are you and Helen drinking this evening?”

“Rum and cola,” She replied, bringing a cigarette to her lips. “And they’re not to be taste tested.”

“Well then, I’ll be back with those.”

“Curt, why don’t you join us when you come back, yea?” Val looked over at him, and then at Ev, who nodded over at his fellow pilot in agreement. 

“Yea, Biddick, you can’t leave me outnumbered here…” Ev offered, the two men sharing a silent conversation. 

“Well, alright then. I'll be right back.”

Once Curt had reached the bar, Val pressed a chaste kiss to Ev’s cheek. 

“Thank you.”

“What for?”

“You know what for.” She grinned. 

“Well, in that case, you’re welcome.”

“You two just going to gaze into each other's eyes all night, or are one of you going to go and save poor Olive, who’s been cornered at the bar.” Helen gestured to where Olive was now at the bar, Douglass, Benny and Curt, all trying to buy her a drink. 

“Jesus Christ almighty, Everett, you need to keep him on a leash.” Val sighed, pushing her chair back, standing to go rescue her friend. 

“Maybe we can ask Benny if he’ll lend us Meatball’s.” He called after her as she went, the two girls at the table with him laughing. 

“Okay boys, that’s enough,” Val pushed through them, just enough to get to Olive’s side. “Curt, I have two very thirsty friends waiting on you at the table.”

“I was just-“

“Helen and Tattie are waiting.” She fixed him with a look, and he quickly turned back to the bar to order two drinks for the girls and a whiskey for himself. 

“You two,” She turned on Douglass and DeMarco. “If you’d like to talk to Olive, come and sit with us.”

“Oh uh…”

“The table, Dougie,” Val grinned, a saccharine sweet smile stretching across her lips. “Benny, you and Meatball are welcome to join us.”

With that, she linked arms with Olive and marched her back towards the table that Everett and the girls were still occupying. 

“You could rule the world, Valencia DiRosano.” Olive shook her head with a laugh. 

“No, but I could certainly whip these fellas into shape.”

Neither girl had to turn around to know that all three boys were following dutifully behind them, looking more like lost puppy’s than the actual dog that was part of their little hodgepodge group. 

Four Red Cross gals, three pilots, a bombardier and a husky all crowded around a table as the band played on around them. Val had slid into Everett’s lap at one point, and Meatball had dutifully taken up her empty seat for himself, paws on the table like the good boy he was, simply enjoying the people around him. If she had to admit it, he was the best behaved fella at the table. Curt was currently telling a -very animated- story from back home that included Val, and a blonde that hadn’t gotten the hint that he was uninterested. 

“I ain’t never seen anything like it,” His arms flailed wildly around him, almost knocking the glass from Benny’s hand. “One minute she’s across the room, and the next, she’s got this girl by the elbow, hauling her out like-“

“Like trash, Curt. Because she was trash.” Val sniggered, pointing across the table at him while Everett held her in his lap. 

“So we know who to call when we need a quick exit then, is that it?” Benny chuckled. 

“Call Tattie, she’s just as good as I am.”

“Oh please! You’re the muscle, you managed to tame Kidd of that god awful scowl he’s been wearing for weeks.”

“That’s Egan’s fault,” Helen groaned. “Went and got himself demoted.”

“How exactly do you get demoted from Air Exec?” Dougie pondered, lighting himself a cigarette before it was quickly proffered by Olive, who plucked it from his fingers with a grin. “Hey!”

When she handed it back to him after taking the first inhale, no one at the table missed the slightly put out look on Benny’s face. Thankfully, they were saved by the Hundredths regimental photographer coming over to their table, camera in hand.

“You lot up for a group shot?”

“Absolutely!” Tattie grinned, maneuvering everyone so that they were all crowded together, Meatball front and center, tongue wagging in delight at all the attention. Val remained perched in Ev’s lap, her right arm wound around his neck, the left holding his that was firmly on her waist. Across from her, Dougie had pulled Olive into his lap, the blue eyed man looking rather pleased with himself. Curt had squeezed himself between Helen and Tattie, sitting on their laps, as Benny squeezed in between Val and Tattie, with Meatball. 

“Alright you guys,” Joe, the photographer hollered over the band. “On three…”

He counted off, and the flash captured the moment perfectly. He took a second, just to be sure, before the group untangled themselves. 

“How about you two,” He turned to Val and Everett. “Captain Blakely? Miss Val?”

“Oh! Thank you Joe!” She beamed, standing from Everett’s lap so that they could take a proper photo.

Adjusting his jacket, Everett wrapped both arms around her, holding her close as she rested one hand on his back, the other against his chest. They barely registered their friends watching, or that Joe had snapped the first photo of them simply looking at each other. When he had them turn to smile, Val felt as though she might burst; wrapped up in Everett’s arms, everything felt as it should. Her friends, the man she adored, the music around them and even Meatball. It didn’t escape her that this was the first photo they’d taken together, and she’d cherish it for the rest of her days.  

“I’ll get those to you all soon as I can.” Joe had bid them farewell after taking a few more of their group. Curt was especially excited to send the picture of him and Val home to his Ma. Proof they were both alright, he had said. Val suspected he just wanted to prove she hadn’t strangled him. Yet. 

“Thanks Joe!”

As he made his way to the next table, Curt stood from his spot at the table, holding his hand out to Helen, cheeky smile on his face. 

“Humor a poor sap with a dance?”

“Well; you’ve been surprisingly well behaved tonight, Curt, so why not.”

She allowed him to take her hand and guide her from her chair to the dance floor, where they began to sway to the tune of the band. 

Val and Tattie watched as both Dougie and Benny seemed to have the same idea, and sensing that DeMarco had sat and watched Olive with Douglass, Tattie stood from her seat, and tugged Dougie with her towards the dance floor. 

“Come on, you. Let’s stretch our legs, hmm?”

“Sure, Tattie…” Dougie followed her towards the center, eyes just barely catching Benny leading Olive to the dance floor as well. 

“May I?” Everett held his hand out for Val, who accepted without hesitation. Joining their friends on the dance floor, the band kept the tunes slow and romantic for a bit longer than normal. Val didn’t miss Dougie and Benny swap partners after the second song finished, the two of them remaining well behaved, lest ruin the mood of the evening for everyone. 

“The pair of them are lovesick.” Everett shook his head, watching as Olive joined Dougie, and Tattie moved into Benny’s hold. 

“Olive is definitely overwhelmed by it all,” Val looked up at him. “But between you and me, I think it’s Dougie who’s stolen her heart.”

“You think so?”

“She looks at him a certain way that she doesn’t when Benny comes around. I think she loves Benny but she may be falling in love with Doug.”

“Love, huh? That’s a big admission.” 

“Well, when you know, you know.” Val shrugged, tucking herself back against his chest. 

“Ain’t that the fuckin truth…” Ev whispered to himself, glancing down at the woman in his arms. 

He’d had a feeling when he first saw her in the club that night that something had been irking her, and when she had mentioned Curt wanting to talk, he thought it had been something he had done. The two of them were constantly arguing like siblings, the occasional real disagreement popping up, but they had seemed fine at the table, so maybe it really was nothing. 

“How did it go up there today?” She peeked up at him, and that’s when he saw it. The worry behind her eyes. 

“That’s what’s bothering you…”

“Nothing's bothering me.”

“Please, don’t lie to me…” 

“I don’t want to do this here,” Val eyed the room cautiously, before nodding towards the doors. “Take a walk with me?”

“Of course honey. Come on.”

He led her from the club, now outside in the dewy, English air. They walked hand in hand, silently, until they found a suitable place to talk without anyone hearing them. 

“It’s not like me to get scared but, today…”

“You heard about Baynard.” He guessed. 

“Tattie and I saw it happen.”

He hadn’t expected that she’d seen it. Hearing about these things was never easy, and the girls were all so friendly with the fellas that they began to grow attached to some of them. You remember how they take their coffee, or to ask about their sweetheart back home. Anything to bring a smile to their faces. 

“Jesus…”

“We were unloading the boxes into the truck, and the next thing we saw was the tail of a fort in the trees, black smoke and fire. Fire like I’ve never seen in my life.”

“Honey…”

“I just thought…” She sucked in a deep breath, trying to focus on something, anything. Anything except for the way her chest was seizing up and her eyes were watering. “What if it had been you, or Curt. I just don’t know what I’d have done.”

“I’m so sorry that you spent all day worried.”

“Kenny told us it wasn’t you… it shouldn’t be that grief comes with relief, Ev.”

“I know,” He sighed, taking her hands in his. “I wasn’t even off the ground yet when it happened. Yet… yet I felt this odd sense of thank god. Thank god it wasn’t my crew, my friends…”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Anything honey.”

“Are you ever scared? Scared that you might go up one day and, and-“

“Every day,” He admitted. “Scared we’ll live the rest of our lives stuck in East Anglia, fighting this goddamn war. Scared I’ll go up and it’ll be the last time. Scared I’ll end up stuck in the Stalag while you’re here alone. Scared to break your heart most of all.”

“Everett, no…no don’t say that.”

“We could be scared together. No one else has to know.” 

“Yea…yea let’s do that,” She huffed out a laugh, wiping at her eyes. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for, sweetheart. It’s alright.”

“You weren’t supposed to see me cry.”

“No? But then I don’t get to do this.”

Carefully, he took her face in his hands, kissing away the tears that stained her cheeks. Slowly, carefully, his lips blazed a trail down her left cheek, stopping to place a kiss at the corner of her mouth before repeating the process on the right side. Once he had kissed her tears dry, and only then, did he allow his lips to find hers. Under the cover of night, he did his damndest to kiss away her fear and anything that scared her. He harbored enough fear for the two of them, and if he could ease hers just a bit, he’d do what he could. 

The sound of footsteps rounding the corner, crunching against the gravel pulled them apart. They found Dougie and Benny standing there, both wearing the disappointment on their faces with no attempt to hide it. 

“Ev,.” Doug sighed. “We gotta go. The light’s on.”

A/N: Thanks for reading! This series will continue for Blakely & Val, so if you enjoyed this, please like, comment, reblog- whichever is your poison. Feedback is always welcome & my ask box is always open. If you want to be added to my tag list, or removed, let me know! A big huge thank you to @hephaestn for the stunning new mood board.

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[hesbuckcompton-baby]

“you look like you could use a hug.”

thank you to @thru00thepages22 for this prompt!! enjoy some George x Blakely <3

Word count: 962

Blakely was staring. Brow furrowed, he sat, frowning, at his desk, drumming the tip of his pen incessantly against the edge of the table. Since the moment he'd first laid eyes on George that morning, he'd been unable to look away, tracking her every move with keen attention. Dark circles ran rings beneath her eyes, and she was on what was at least her third cup of coffee. Even more disturbingly, she was distracted. If there was one thing George Aarons never was, it was distracted - she was the best, rolling out messages with such focus and rapidity that none of the Americans had ever quite been able to catch up. But in the last ten minutes, he had watched her lose track four times, tearing the sheet from her typewriter with a sigh of frustration every time she made a mistake.

Yesterday's mission hadn't been good. It hadn't exactly been bad - they'd seen much worse, taken much greater blows than the four planes they'd lost the previous afternoon. As far as Blakely knew, George hadn't even known any of the lost crews, all of whom had been replacements - a group she seemed to make a pointed effort to avoid. Yet there she was, clunking away clumsily at the keys, appearing utterly miserable.

It was almost startling how much it bothered him, so when she got up he made to follow, trailing a few metres behind her as she crossed the floor towards the kitchen, empty mug in hand. Reaching her just as George was about to make another cup of coffee, he held out a tentative hand, scarcely grazing her arm. "Think that's probably enough for one day, huh?" Everett spoke softly, gently prying the cup from her as she looked up at him with a frown.

"S'only my second one," George protested, although she made no physical effort to stop him.

"Uh-huh, well, that's definitely not true," He shrugged, leaning back against the countertop. "So?"

Sighing, she threw up her hands in surrender. "So what?"

"You gonna make me work for it, Aarons? You're fucking up all your work - and I'm saying this from a place of love, but you look like shit."

George sucked in a long, deep breath, and a spark of panic shot through Blakely as it suddenly appeared as though she were about to burst out crying, bottom lip pulled taut between her teeth, eyes welling up with tears. "Ssshit, no-no, hey-" Pushing himself away from the counter, Everett stepped forward, swiftly bridging the gap between them, his hands on her shoulders as he tried to meet her gaze.

She groaned frustratedly, wiping away her tears with such force that her hands left faint, pink marks on the flesh of her cheeks. "Jesus Christ. Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"I dunno... nicely."

Releasing a huff of laughter, he gently squeezed her shoulder. "You want me to stop being nice? That's a new one."

"Shut up," George tittered slightly, shaking her head as she gave his chest a kindly shove. But the moment her amusement subsided, her expression dulled again, and a deep frown creased Blakely's expression.

"Ok, seriously. You gotta give me somethin' here, honey," He sighed.

Looking up at him, she shrugged. "It's just... tomorrow's gonna be one year since Curt died... And I slept like shit, and I'm tired, alright?"

For a moment it was silent, the air suddenly hanging so thick between them that George felt like suffocating. When she'd awoken from the few hours of sleep she'd managed to find last night, Frankie had been in bed beside her, a wordless understanding of precisely what was happening. All she could think about was the moment she'd found out Curt was dead, looping it over and over in her head - she could still hear the beeps of Morse code, could remember so vividly the split second she realised what the message was spelling out, the report falling to her before anyone else even had a clue.

Wordlessly, Blakely stepped forward, closing the gap as his arms wrapped around her, pulling her into his chest. Without hesitating, George reached her arms around his back, cheek resting against his front, his hand against her hair softly holding her in place. She took a deep, steady breath, inhaling the scent of his cologne as his thumb traced back and forth across her back.

"Does it ever feel weird to you?" She asked after a while, voice hoarse and muffled against the fabric of his shirt. "That we're like this, when he was your friend."

"No," Everett uttered, without so much as a pause to think it over. She felt him shake his head, his chin brushing against her hair. "He'd kick my ass if he thought I'd let you be alone."

George chuckled. "Yeah... you're probably right."

"Always am," He nodded, squirming as she pinched him in the side as a silent reply. Letting out a laugh, he pulled back just far enough to look down at her face, sweeping a few stray strands of golden hair out of the way. "Y'know what I think?"

"I'm sure I'm about to find out," She teased.

"I think we should get outta here - take the day. Tomorrow too."

George's brow arched in question. "You want me to skive?"

"I'm just guessing at what that means - but yes."

She snorted, tilting her head to rest her chin against his chest as she looked up at him. Leaning down to meet her, Blakely briefly touched his nose to hers before pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. As he met her gaze once more, a smile was beginning to curl her lip, that glint he always loved returning to her eye.

"Fuck it. Let's go."

"Whatever you say, dear."

[ginabaker1666]

I've Got A Crush (On You)

Beat Me, Daddy, Eight To The Bar: Part Two

Everett Blakely x Valencia DiRosano (OC)

There are days at Thorpe Abbotts that some would call low maintenance. Those are the days where Benny DeMarco is just a boy with his dog, John Egan gets to play baseball, and Everett Blakely is just a guy who gets to romance a pretty girl the best way he can given the circumstances.

Part One Follow along with the Eight To The Bar Playlist

Warnings: Making out with Blakely should be a warning in itself, so, that and some heavy petting. Proceed as you see fit.

Some days, life on base moved quickly. There was the hustle of early mornings, brewing enough coffee to indeed fuel an army, and make sure that each man was sent off with a wink and a smile before a mission. The sounds of engines roaring from the hardstand, the ground crew shouting at each other as each plane taxied and ultimately, took off into the clouds. Those were the days that seemed to never end; waiting for the return with bated breath, counting the planes as they approached the air field, looking for red or green flares to indicate if a fort was carrying wounded onboard. 

Then there were the days that seemed to stretch into nothingness. Breakfast in the Mess Hall was a relaxed affair. The boys would sit around and sip their coffee leisurely, the Red Cross girls all crowded at a table near the back, gossiping about this and that, until one of the boys would walk by and silence them with a wink and a smile. They would spend those days helping out the nurses in the hospital, refilling and restocking what they’d need when a mission day would roll around. They would prepare what they could on the Clubmobile truck, or indulge themselves in some reading, or a walk into town if the weather was favorable. Some of the girls who were handy with a needle and thread would offer to patch up the stray jacket, or sew a patch to someone's sleeve if they needed. None of the Flyboy’s were going to do that themselves if they could help it. On days like those, Val would often be in Chick Harding’s office, to type out the odd letter or mission debrief that wasn’t too gory. 

“You can’t see that one,” He’d said one day. “It’s too much.”

“I grew up with Curt Biddick. Nothing is too much.”

From that point on, they’d come to respect each other in some weird way. Val suspected it had to do with the fact that he typed slower than her grandmother back in New York and she couldn’t type at all. 

Today was one of those days. The base was a bit relaxed; Ken Lemmons and his crew were working tirelessly to patch up the forts that had come back from the last raid. Some of the pilots were hanging around the hardstand, watching to make sure their planes were in good shape, asking questions or simply keeping the ground crew company. Benny DeMarco was playing fetch with Meatball in the field, taking advantage of the rare sunshine. Tattie had coerced Bucky into driving her down to the hardstand with coffee and donuts for the boys working, and Helen was helping stock the hospital. Val had been summoned to Harding’s office after breakfast, and as lunchtime rolled around, she was putting the finishing touches on the report of a mission that had been green flares on the return. 

Pushing back from the typewriter, she stretched her arms out, before standing, pulling the paper from behind the ribbon, and stacking it on top of the others she had already completed. Chick was sitting at his desk, puffing away at his cigar, reading the paper when she approached.

“Val, you should have been a correspondence gal instead of joining the Red Cross.” He grinned, hand outstretched to accept her offering of the reports. 

“And miss out on making coffee and donuts for you fellas?” She rolled her eyes with a sarcastic grin, folding her hands under her bust. “Is that all you got for me today?”

“Yea, go on. Looks like Biddick is lingering outside, kids probably waiting for you.” He craned his head back to peer out the window, spotting Curt sitting on the stairs of the control tower, smoking a cigarette. 

“Pain in my ass.” She shook her head with a sigh, and offered a wave as she turned to leave the office. 

“You always call him that.” Chick called after her. 

“Because he is!” She called back from down the hall, not missing the slight scowl from some of the secretaries. Apparently having the affections of both Curt and Ev Blakely had put her out of their favor, in some strange way. They didn’t mind when she brought them the leftover donuts from the truck though; then she was in their favor it seemed. 

Pushing the door open, she immediately spotted Curt, still on the stairs of the control tower. Walking across the path towards him, she stood, blocking the sun from his face with her hands on her hips. Just as she looked down at him, he looked up, a cheeky smile on his face, his crush cap sitting at a jaunty angle on his head. 

“Heya!”

“Hi Curt…”

“Why do you sound so put off, eh? I just wanted to say hi to my best friend!”

“You want something.”

“I can’t just say hi?”

“Sure you can” She began walking towards the direction of the Red Cross hut, and Curt quickly jumped to his feet to follow her. “But it’s usually accompanied by a favor, so spit it out.”

“Val…” He groaned.

“Curtis Biddick. Spit it out.”

He heaved a giant sigh, before launching into the favor she knew he needed from her. 

“You uh, remember the other night at the pub?”

“When you clocked that RAF clown? Sure, I do.”

“I ripped my shirt.” He ducked his head down, looking anywhere but at Val. 

“Fuck sake, Curt…” 

“Could you please, please, be a doll and patch it up for me?”

“Your mother would give you a clip on the ear if she heard that.”

“I said please!”

“No, that you tore your shirt fighting.”

“Oh…” He whispered, and she could see him fighting the urge to get melancholy for home.

“Bring it by the hut after dinner and I’ll see what I can do.” She had finally conceded. 

“You’re the greatest, ya know that?”

“So you like to remind me,” She stopped outside the hut, turning to face him. “Not that I’m not enjoying this conversation, Curt, but this is where I leave you.”

“Yeah alright, bye doll face!” He tipped his hat and gave her an exaggerated half bow, before turning and heading in the opposite direction of the Red Cross hut. 

Just as she was about to push the door open to the hut, a jeep came rounding the corner, the gravel crunching under its tires. She was quite surprised to see Helen in the passenger seat, Harry Crosby behind the wheel and Bubbles in the back.  

“Well, look at this trio!” She grinned as Harry stopped the jeep in front of her. 

“Val, get in!” Helen grinned, waving her hand wildly. “We’re headed down to the hardstand!”

“What’s going on down there?” She conceded to Helen’s request, climbing into the jeep and settling next to Bubbles, who tossed an arm over her shoulder almost instantly.

“Uh, Bubbles?”

“Croz has a lead foot. Trust me.”

Nodding, Val leaned forward just a bit so that she could speak to Helen.

“So why are we going to the hardstand?”

“Well, DeMarco was playing fetch with Meatball, but when Bucky showed up, it turned into a small ball game with some of the boys.” Val didn’t miss the wink that Helen threw her way, indicating that a certain Captain Blakely was likely to be down there with the other men, and that Val might like to witness the sight for herself. 

“We all know how Egan is when it comes to baseball…” Val rolled her eyes, one hand gripping the seat as Croz took a particularly sharp turn. Bubbles tightened his grip on her shoulder, and she didn't miss the knowing look he gave her as if to say I told you so. In a bid to distract herself from Croz’s formidable driving, she continued the conversation. 

“You two plan on joining the game?” Val turned to look at Bubbles. 

“Oh no, but it’s good fun to see the Major pretend he’s Mickey Mantle.” Bubbles snickered, loosening his grip on her shoulder as Croz turned onto the road that led to the hardstand, the jeep coming to a stop.  

It was no surprise that John Egan had organized a semi professional- his words- shirts versus skins ball game that had Gale Cleven shaking his head from where he was perched on his own jeep. The Major looked like an extra from Test Pilot, but that wasn’t immediately what pulled Val’s attention away from the trio she was with. It was Everett Blakely standing in the makeshift outfield, uniform shirt unbuttoned, green army issue tank tucked into his trousers. His hair, normally styled to perfection, had come free of the gel, and was curling over his forehead. His hazel eyes were hidden behind a pair of aviator sunglasses and he was laughing at something Hambone had said. When the bombardier caught sight of her, his sharp elbow had lodged itself in Everett’s ribs, the pilot scowling at his friend before following the other man's gaze. His grin widened as soon as he spotted Val.

The brunette perched on the hood of a jeep in her Red Cross jumpsuit, legs tucked underneath her criss cross applesauce, her red lips stretched into a smile as she laughed at something Helen had said. He watched as Tattie bounded over towards the other two girls, the trio now squeezing to make room so they could all watch comfortably from the hood of the jeep. Croz and Bubbles remained with them. They kept offering up commentary that he couldn't hear but wished desperately that he could, because they kept making Val laugh, and Everett Blakely wanted to be the one to do that. Especially on a day like today, with the sun shining across the airfield, the forts sitting pretty on the hardstand like statues, everyone was relaxed for a moment, and there was a pretty girl that he wanted to give all of his time to. He was so lost in the daydream that he barely heard Brady yelling for him to look out, almost missed the baseball flying at his head, and was almost out for the count had Hambone not pushed him out of the way to grab it before it hit the ground. 

“Christ, Blakely!”

“Sorry!” He hollered, looking between Ham and Brady with apologetic eyes. 

“Stop making eyes at Val,” Hambone mumbled under his breath so only Ev could hear him. “You get knocked in the head, you’re going to see Smokey, not to the Red Cross hut, dummy.”

Everett winced then, realizing that the last place he wanted to land was the hospital under the watchful eye of Doc Stover and the nurses, because he had been careless. That would get him nowhere with Val except farther away than where he wanted to be. Chancing a glance in her direction, he found her gaze focused on him, the sly smile on her lips telling him she had caught him staring, and watched him almost take a baseball to his head. With a slight shake of her head, she gestured for him to focus back on what he was doing as Ken Lemmons made a valiant attempt at scoring a run. In the end, the ground crew chief had been unsuccessful in his at bat, and Bucky had shouted for the end of the inning. 

“SEVENTH INNING STRETCH!” He called across the field, gathering those in the outfield to join the rest of the men around the cluster of jeeps. 

“Christ Bucky, I’m standing right here.” Tattie scowled up at him, his shouting having been from his spot directly beside her. 

“Sorry Tat…”

“Yea, yea, always sorry.” She shoved him playfully. 

Val hadn’t noticed Everett come up behind her on the left, until he was leaning beside her, lighting a cigarette. 

“Better be careful out there.” She turned to him with a wink. 

“Can’t help it,” He blew a puff of smoke out in front of him. “Saw something pretty.”

“Flirt.”

“And proud of it, sweetheart.”

“Better not be flirting with anyone else, Captain.”

“Just you, sweet cheeks.”

Val wrinkled her nose at the nickname, plucking his cigarette from between his lips to take a drag, before handing it back to him. 

“Okay, doesn’t like sweet cheeks.”

“Sounds funny.” She shrugged. 

“Aright, sweetheart, won’t use it again.”

“That’s better.”

“Yea? You’re my sweetheart then?” He grinned, leaning forward so his elbows were placed either side of her now outstretched legs. 

“Thought I already was…” 

“In that case, save me a dance tonight?”

“Just one?” She grinned, leaning forward to bait him.

“As many as you want, beautiful.” He leaned forward, lips brushing her cheek, mustache tickling her skin, causing her to giggle. He was in deep. He knew it, she knew it, and their friends knew it. Thank god he knew how to swim. 

Val knew that Curt wasn’t going to listen when she told him to drop his ripped shirt off after dinner, because when she had gotten back to the Red  Cross hut with Helen and Tattie, she saw him sneaking out with one of the nurses on his heels. That explains why she hadn’t seen him down at the makeshift ballgame earlier. 

“Oh Christ, was he with her the whole afternoon?” Tattie grumbled. 

“Looks like it,” Helen sighed. “Now our hut is going to smell like Curt Biddick and whatever cheap perfume she wears.”

“Val, can’t you scare her a little?”

“You know the answer to that, Tat. But I’ll try and get through to Curt.”

“At least tell Biddick to do it somewhere else. We’re not running a brothel.”

“What was he even doing in there?”

“Ripped his shirt the other night and asked me to patch it up. I told him to drop it off after dinner, not while I wasn’t there.”

“You should make him wait,” Tattie turned from where she was currently propping the door open with a spare chair to air out the hut. “It stinks in here.”

“I would, but who wants to hear Harding hemming and hawing about it.”

Tattie conceded at that, and left to go sit outside to smoke, while Val got settled on her bed with a small sewing kit, and Curt’s shirt. 

After dinner had concluded, the men and women all retreated to their respective huts to get ready for a night in the Officers Club. The boys would change into their Class A uniforms, shedding their bomber jackets and outdoor attire. The woolen jackets that hung above their beds would be pressed until each seam was meticulous, and their accolades would be pinned to their collars on full display. Curt’s shirt had magically reappeared by his bunk after dinner, and he had no doubt that Val was responsible. 

The Red Cross girls would happily divest of their jumpsuits, and step into lingerie, pantyhose and a clean uniform skirt and white blouse. Their jackets proudly displayed the Red Cross logo on the shoulders, and their hair that may have been haphazardly pinned or up in a scarf to get through the day, would be reset and pinned almost as best as a salon back home could do it. Each girl armed with their Victory Red lipstick and a pack of smokes, they would step into their heels, link arms, and make their way to the Officers Club to join the men. 

The band was playing something upbeat, and Val knew it was only a matter of time before Bucky would be singing his heart out with them, to almost everyone’s dismay. He was currently nursing a whiskey off by the bar with Buck and Curt, and she just barely caught him regaling the pair of the events of today’s game, even though everyone knew that Gale Cleven didn’t like sports and Curt was giving the nurse from earlier a look from across the room. When her gaze met his, she didn’t miss the wince that overcame his face as he watched her entire demeanor change. 

“Let me get you a drink!” Were his first words, turning to face the bar and missing Val’s hand coming up to grab on his ear. “Oww! Valencia!”

“In my hut! Have you lost your mind!” 

“I went to drop off my shirt and she, well…”

“My hut is not a brothel. Tattie’s pissed, Curt, so you’d better apologize.”

“I’m sorry!”

“To her, not me, though I will accept it.”

“Can you let go of my ear now? Jesus, what, did my Ma teach you that?”

“Get Tattie a drink and go over and apologize.” She relinquished his ear with one final tug, smoothing her own jacket before turning to Gale and John and offering them both a wide smile.

“Don’t know how you do it, Val, but you’re the only one he listens to.” Croz offered up from behind her. 

“Just a little tough love is all, Croz.”

“Well, it looks like he’s trying to smooth it over with Tattie.” Bubbles pipped up. Where one was, the other was not far behind. 

“She’s going to make him work for it,” Val laughed, turning back to the bar to order a drink. “And he should work for it. Brought that filthy nurse into our hut.”

“I’ll talk to Smokey,” Bucky offered. “She’s, uh, been a bit of a problem with some of the other men, and honestly, I don’t need anyone else getting sick.”

“Sick… oh my god! Did she… you weren’t kidding about Dye were you!”

Before Bucky could answer or Val could run off and find Helen and Tattie with the gossip, she felt a gentle hand at her elbow. She turned to find Everett standing in front of her, sharp as a tack in his uniform and holding a drink for her. 

“My hero!” Val cheered, accepting the drink from him with a smile, leaning up on her toes to drop a  kiss to his cheek. “Thank you, Everett.”

“Saw you putting in some hard work with Curt, and thought you might be thirsty.”

“Oh Christ, I’m sorry you saw that.”

“The ear thing? Absolutely terrifying. My mother used to do that when I was a kid if I didn’t listen.”

“Sounds like your mother and I would get along.”

“I’m counting on it.” 

“Well aren’t you smooth.” Val winked, lifting the glass to her lips, taking a sip, not missing the way he watched her. 

With a quirk of his lips, Everett let his hand rest gently on Val’s back as he led her to a table that he had secured earlier with Douglass. He didn’t need to ask if she wanted to go sit with him, there was an understanding that seemed to just happen when the pair were together. Besides, he knew she’d want to nurse that first drink before he got her out on the dance floor- hopefully before John Egan decided to serenade them all. 

Approaching the table, Val found that Douglass was sitting between Helen and Tattie, and he looked absolutely engrossed in every word that passed between them. 

“You girls pick up a fourth while I was gone?” Val teased, sliding into the chair that Everett pulled out for her. He immediately took up the spot to her right, now sandwiched between her and Tattie, while Helen was to her left. 

“Don’t let him fool you, he’s good at the gossip.” Helen laughed, lighting a cigarette. 

“Oh! That reminds me!”

“Did you handle the nurse?” Tattie raised an eyebrow at her, causing both Everett and Douglass to turn to her with worried eyes. “Curt apologized by the way.”

“I saw, good.”

“Handle?” Douglass asked her. 

“I handled Curt.”

“What nurse? What exactly did Curt do?” Everett looked at her concerned, and she simply let her hand fall to his, giving it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. 

“I caught him sneaking out of the Red Cross hut with you know who today…” she started. 

“That one gets around.” Douglass sighed, shaking his head. 

“My god, Doug, you are a gossip queen!” Helen grinned. “What else do you know?”

“Let Val finish her story, then we can peel back the many complicated layers of James Douglass!” Tattie cackled. 

“Well, when I mentioned it to Bucky, he said he would have a word with Smokey about her, because he doesn’t need any other guys getting sick.”

“What kind of sick could she-“

Both Everett and James turned to each other, looks of sheer disgust crossing their faces as they realized what Val had just said. They too had heard the rumor about Dye, but no one could really figure out how it had started,  if it was true, or who gave it to him. 

“It was true about Dye,” Val spoke a bit lower. “She gave him the clap…”

“Oh she’s vile!” Helen exclaimed. 

“She certainly is,” Val agreed, before turning to the boys. “Now you two, if you’re going to sit with us and listen in, it’s a secret. Got it?”

“Yes ma’am.” Douglass mock saluted, cigarette between two fingers. 

“Ev?”

“Not a word, sweetheart, I got it.”

“Good,” she grinned, draining her drink just as the band moved into something softer. “Now, I think it’s time for a dance.”

“What the lady wants, she gets.” Everett grinned, taking one last sip of his own drink before taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor. 

“You think he’s alright over there?” Val quirked an eyebrow over towards where Douglass still sat between Helen and Tattie. 

“Don’t worry about him, he’s in heaven.” Everett chuckled, spinning her once before gently pulling her close, wrapping one arm around her back, the other holding hers. 

“They’ll eat him alive.” She chuckled lowly, her cheek pressed against his as he swayed them slowly. 

“Don’t wanna talk about Dougie while I’m dancing with you.” He gave her hip a gentle pinch causing her to scoot just a fraction closer to him. 

The arm she had wrapped around him settled firmly in place, her fingers dancing through the soft hair at the nape of his neck. 

“Hmm, then what do you want to talk about?”

“How cute you looked sitting on that jeep today.”

“I was in my jumpsuit, that’s hardly cute honey.”

“I think it’s adorable.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Absolutely,” He pressed his nose against her hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo and perfume. “Everything about you is adorable.”

“I don’t think anyone has ever described me as adorable before,” she sighed. “Usually it’s difficult, loud, or my personal favorite, unladylike.”

“Not a shot,” Ev pulled back to look at her, his hazel eyes finding her green. “Anyone who said that didn’t know what a good thing they had.”

“You really are something, Everett Blakely.” Val sighed, moving back into him to let her head rest against his shoulder. 

“I hope that’s a good thing…”

Before Val could respond, the band picked up again, Blue Skies filling the room followed by a collective groan by everybody present. Everett and Val broke apart, now standing side by side as they waited for the inevitable. 

“ITS MY SONG, BUCK!” 

Looking towards the band, they both clocked Bucky dancing his way behind the microphone, his arms flailing wildly as he danced along with the music before he broke into song. 

“Has Buck never told him just how bad he sounds?” Val looked up at Everett from under his arm, her eyebrows almost meeting her hairline. 

“We’ve all told him,” He shook his head. “He doesn’t seem to care that he sounds like a donkey.”

“That’s one way of putting it.” She rolled her eyes. 

“Come on, let’s get a drink.”

Everett let his arm that was around her shoulder guide her back towards the bar, where Helen and Tattie were currently with Douglass and Benny DeMarco, Meatball at their feet. The poor dog wasn’t sure who he wanted to give his attention to at the moment, so he seemed to be moving between them. 

“Cute date, Benny!” Val grinned, bending down to scratch behind Meatball's ears. 

“I thought so too,” Demarco grinned. “He loves you girls.”

“Aww well we love him too.” Helen grinned, joining Val in giving the husky some attention. 

“Tat?” Benny looked over at her. “Do you not love him?”

“Of course I love him,” She shook her head. “I just don’t love when his fur is all over the clubmobile.”

“She’s got a point, Benny. Last week my donut had fur all over it.” John Brady had joined their group, the Upstate New Yorker’s usual stoic demeanor seemed softer in the lighting of the Officers Club. Val suspected he had gotten a letter from his sweetheart back home. 

Standing from where she was still crouched with the dog, she smoothed her skirt, accepting the martini glass from Everett with a grateful smile, his arm moving to wrap around her waist. He ducked down, lips pressed against her ear and spoke so only she could hear him. 

“Want to take these drinks to go?”

“Go where?” She looked up at him. 

“You trust me?” 

She answered without hesitation. 

“Yes.”

The pair made a quiet exit from the club; not saying goodbye to their friends, Everett led her out into the balmy summer air. He quickly lit two cigarettes, passing one to her as they walked, trying not to spill their drinks as they crossed the cobblestones and rocks that filled the paths between huts. 

“Everett where are we going?”

“Well, that jeep right there for starters,” he grinned, tugging her along to the jeep that sat parked outside the officers hut. John Egan’s jeep. 

“Is that Bucky’s?”

“Yea…”

“Does he know you’re borrowing it?”

“If I have to listen to him sing, this is the least he could do.” 

He guided her to the passenger side, and once she was settled in the seat, he handed her his whiskey, before making his way around and into the driver's seat. 

“Hang onto that for a minute, okay?” His words muffled as he spoke around the cigarette currently wedged between his lips. 

“Alright… but you still haven’t told me where we’re taking the stolen jeep.”

“Borrowed, not stolen,” He winked. “And can’t I surprise you?”

“Sure, sure,” She grinned. “But I’m not sure what’s out here that I haven’t seen already.”

“I’m sure I can change that.” He teased, turning the key in the ignition and shifting into gear. 

He drove them away from the Officers Club and the huts, down past the control tower and offices until finally he turned onto the road that led to the hardstands. Though he was a much better driver than Croz had been, Val still struggled to keep both drinks from spilling as he caught the occasional stray rock under the tires. 

When the jeep finally slowed, coming to a stop, Val looked up and immediately gasped at the fort that they had parked in front of. She knew they were big, but to see one so close, and with only the headlights of the jeep shining on it, made the B-17 parked in front of her look both eerie and incredible. The words Just-A-Snappin were painted on the nose, and Val couldn’t help the surprised look on her face as she turned to Everett. 

“This is yours!”

“Yea, this is my other girl.” He grinned, turning the engine off and pocketing the keys. “Thought you might like to see her.”

Val couldn’t help the shudder that ran through her when he called her his girl. That, coupled with the image of him in the pilot's seat, controlling something so incredibly powerful, made her press her knees together without even realizing she had done so. 

“Wow… she’s stunning. I mean it, Ev!”

“She’s good to us,” He reached towards her and took the whiskey glass from her hand. “Gotten us there and back safe so far.”

“Well, she sounds pretty amazing,” Val turned in her seat to face him, tucking her legs up underneath her. 

“Wanna go up?” He grinned. 

“Now!?”

“No time like the present. Let me see if Ken left the stairs out.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth, had he hopped out of the jeep, the tail end of his cigarette between two fingers, whiskey glass barely secure in the other three. She watched as he strutted over to the plane, checking for the stairs, before ducking back under the wing and shouting over to her. 

“I’ll have to give you a boost, honey.”

“I’m sorry?”

“No stairs, so we're going to have to go up through the hatch.”

“Uh, Ev?” She was kneeling on the front seat of the jeep, one hand on the windshield to steady herself, the other clutching her half finished cocktail. 

“Yea?”

“Where exactly is the hatch?” 

He laughed outright, but made his way back over to her. Extending a hand once close enough, he helped her step out of the jeep, and walked her over to the plane. They ducked under the wing, and finally came to a stop off to the side, a small door on the belly of the plane with the words Jerry, if you can read this, start prayin painted on the side. 

He reached up and pulled the small hatch open, and Val just stood there staring at him. 

“Wait so, if you give me a boost how the hell are you getting in?”

“Don’t worry about me,” He drained his glass, gesturing for her to do the same. “I’ll get up same as I always do.”

Val nodded, and handed over her now empty martini glass, waiting as Everett placed it on the ground next to his own empty glass. They’d have to remember to grab them on the way out, lest Kenny and the ground crew find them in the morning. 

“Okay,” Ev dusted his hands off on his slacks, coming to stand behind her. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be…”

“On three then, I’m going to just, pick you up.”

Turning over her shoulder to catch his gaze, she gave a wink before speaking. 

“Don’t let me fall.”

“I won’t,” His hands came to rest gently on his waist. “Precious cargo.”

Adjusting his grip, he counted just in her ear, his warm breath fanning against her skin. When he got to three, she felt herself being lifted off the ground, and into the small hatch of the plane above her. Using her arms to help lessen her weight against him, she hauled herself up as best as she could given her skirt, until she was seated on the floor of the plane. The darkness that surrounded her was eerie, and she was about to say as much before Ev’s hand appeared in the hatch with a small flashlight. 

“Here, hold this a minute while I get in.”

Val positioned the light on the opening for him, and watched in absolute awe as he gripped the top of the hatch and pulled himself up, swinging his legs into the plane in one fell swoop. The sheer strength that it must take for him to do that had fireflies dancing in her stomach at what he must be hiding under that neatly pressed uniform. 

Once on his feet, he took the flashlight in one hand, and one of hers in the other, before guiding her along to what she could only assume was the cockpit. 

“Down here’s the nose. Dougie and Bubbles camp out here when we’re up.” He pointed to a small desk, and what she recognized as a Norden Bombsight. She had seen it in reports in Chick’s office but never up close. 

“I’ve seen those in the reports in Chicky’s office, but never up close.” Val whispered, running her fingers gently over the equipment. 

“Wait… you call him Chicky?!”

“It’s a joke, really.” She turned to him. “I dared Tattie to do it in exchange for a pack of smokes and she’s never one to turn down a dare.”

“That’s actually the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Do not call him that to his face. Only the girls get to do it.”

“Oh I won’t. But I might have to dare Dougie one of these days.”

She swatted his shoulder, a gentle slap, but he caught her hand before she could pull it back. He turned and looked up, before gesturing with one arm to the small step up towards the cockpit. 

“Careful, it’s one step but it’s big.”

Nodding, Val held onto his one hand, before using the other to balance as she stepped up and into the cockpit of the fort. This, she could already tell, was Everett’s favorite part of the plane. 

“Left or right?” She called down to him. 

“The right,” He appeared behind her, and as she shuffled into the seat on the right, he settled himself in the left seat. “Prettiest co-pilot I’ve ever had.”

“Oh is that what I am? Your co-pilot?”

“Well, you’re in the co-pilot's seat,” He grinned, reaching over and taking her hand. “Unless you’d rather be the pilot. Lots of responsibility when you’re the pilot.”

Val let her eyes sweep over all of the buttons and controls, shifts and knobs, dials and numbers. She couldn’t make sense of a single one of them, except for the yoke in front of where Everett sat. That much she knew was for steering the plane. 

“How do you remember all of this?”

“A lot of practice. And a good co-pilot.”

“You and Via have been flying together all this time?”

“Yea. Dougie’s always been in the nose, and Bubbles and his lucky snow globe are always on the maps.”

“Sounds like a pretty reliable crew.”

“I’ve got room for one more, if you’re interested?”

“Oh really?”

“Yea…”

“What’s the job description? I’m already awfully busy pouring coffee for all the Flyboy’s and making sure everyone gets a donut. Meatball fur free, of course.”

Everett laughed softly and gave her arm a gentle tug, pulling her over into his lap in the pilot's seat. Her legs were stretched out to the side, feet just barely touching where she had been sitting. His arms came to rest around her waist, while one of hers wrapped around his neck. The other had a handful of the lapel of his jacket. 

“Hey there.” She grinned.

“You are the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen,” He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her nose. “Have I told you that yet tonight?”

“Maybe, but I’m not opposed to hearing it again if you really think so.”

“Gorgeous.” A kiss to her nose. “Beautiful.” A kiss to her left cheek. “Lovely.” A kiss to her right cheek. 

“Ev…” His name left her on a breath, evaporating into the air around them. 

His hands slid up from her waist, the touch soft, gentle, the opposite of how she’d imagined he might pilot the plane they were sitting in, until they were cradling her face. 

“Mine?” He pressed their noses together, left hand sliding down to cup her neck.  

“Yours.” 

That was all he needed to connect their lips, the sparks that had been dancing around them for weeks finally igniting. She tasted like gin and lemon juice; he of cigarettes and whiskey and neither could get enough of the other. The moonlight spilling through the windows of the cockpit offered just enough visibility that they could see each other, but the cover of darkness allowed for them to touch. To feel. As Val pulled away with a gasp for air, Everett chased her lips, pulling her back against him until he could feel every inch of her pressed against his body, her arms wound around his neck as she opened her mouth to him, allowing him that first step, that touch of his tongue against hers, as he continued to kiss the air from her lungs. 

Her hands desperately fumbled with the buttons on his jacket until they had come open and she could shove it from his shoulders. Releasing his hold on her, he quickly leaned forward so he could pull his jacket the rest of the way off, carelessly tossing it onto the now vacant co-pilot’s seat. His nimble fingers returned the favor, slipping the button on Val’s blue jacket open before divesting her of it and allowing it to accompany his own. 

She surged forward, pressing her chest against his, lips moving feverishly against his own, her hands dragging down his arms. She could feel the muscles under the fabric of his shirt, forearms and biceps flexing as his own hands moved over her and found purchase on various parts of her body. 

“Fuck… Could kiss you all night.”

Dragging his mouth from hers with what felt like Herculean effort, he kissed his way across her cheek, down the sharp slope of her jaw to the juncture behind her ear. His mustache trailing behind each nip and gentle suck of her skin, her perfume lingering in their wake as he stirred parts of her that no one ever had before. A soft moan escaped her throat, her head tipped back exposing more of her neck for him to feast on. 

“Ev… Everett…”

“Hmm, what baby, what is it?” His voice was muffled, lips moving back towards her own while his hands slid gently up her ribcage, fingers brushing the underside of her covered breasts. He pulled away to find her eyes, her gaze hazy as she focused on him in the dark, breaths coming in sharp inhales and heavy exhales. 

He let his thumbs move back and forth from where they were, his fingers flexing as he tried to control every urge inside him that said it would be alright if he made love to her right here. But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t do that, not to her, who deserved something more than a romp in the dark of his plane for their first time together. He’d give her whatever she asked for, while doing his best to remain a gentleman. At least, that was what he told himself. Until she wrapped her fingers around his wrist and softly guided his hand up, north of her ribs until his right hand was cupping her breast. Until she urged him on, silently begging him to continue touching her as best as they could in the cramped space. 

“Don’t stop…” She whispered, threading her fingers into his hair and pulling him back to her mouth. 

“Never.” He murmured against her, the hand that held her so reverently giving a gentle squeeze. “Not until you tell me to.” 

Val’s hands slid from Everett’s hair; her nails raking against his scalp until they came down around his neck. Without thinking she was tugging at his tie and opening the buttons at the collar. The rational part of her brain was no longer thinking. Everything around her was Everett. His hands on her body, fingers tugging her shirt free from the waistband of her skirt so that he could touch her skin against skin. Just as his hands slid up her back, fingers brushing the band of her brassier, her lips found his neck, teeth scraping against his pulse. 

“Val…” His head hit the back of the seat as she moved lower, her lips dragging across his exposed collar bones, leaving open mouth kisses up the column of his neck. “Christ, honey…” 

Just as he popped open the first button on her blouse, a voice rang out from the open hatch, causing Val to wince and Everett to curse under his breath. 

“Hello? Anyone up here?”

“Oh shit, is that Lemmons?” Her eyebrows flew straight to her hairline at the thought, and when Everett nodded in confirmation, she couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her. His hand came down over her mouth to muffle the sound, as he called back down to the ground crew chief. 

“Uhh yea, Ken, it’s just me!” 

“Captain Blakely? That your jeep out there?”

“Yea. I’ll be down in a minute.”

Val’s head dropped to Everett’s shoulder, her breathing uneven as she tried to suppress the giggles that hadn’t quite subsided yet. Getting caught up in the cockpit of a fort hadn’t been on her agenda for the evening, but neither had Everett’s surprise adventure. She knew it was only a matter of time before they kissed, and hell, she had been counting on it for some time now. What she hadn’t counted on was that once they started they wouldn’t be able to stop.  

“Hey, you alright?” Ev’s hand was still pressed against her back, the warmth of his skin burning against her own. 

“Yea, just wasn’t expecting to be interrupted,” She looked up at him, his hair a mess from where her hands had gotten to it. “Wasn’t expecting to almost… either.”

“I should have slowed us down,” He let his head fall back against the seat. “You deserve more than, well, the cockpit of a plane.”

“Well, I did tell you not to stop.” She grinned. 

“And who am I not to oblige my girl when she wants something.”

“Another time,” She leaned forward to press her lips to his softly. “Until then, feel free to sneak me up here and kiss me as often as you’d like.”

“I’ll have to remember that. And not to bring a jeep next time so we don’t get busted.”

“Speaking of… we’ve got poor Kenny cooling his heels down there waiting for us.”

“Better button up.” He gestured to her blouse with a nod of his head and a wink. 

“Same goes for you, Captain, because I made a real mess of you.” She grinned. 

“Yes ma’am.” He chuckled, pulling his hands away from her to do up the buttons on his shirt. 

Val moved from his lap, doing her best to tuck her shirt back in, and put her jacket back on. She was sure her lipstick was smudged all over her face, and her hair had to look like a bird's nest by this point, but there was nothing she could do about that. She tried to tuck back whatever loose strands had fallen free, rolling her eyes as Everett smirked at her. He had decided against redoing his tie, instead stuffing it into his pocket. As he stood, eyes focused on her and not the area around him, his head came in contact with the ceiling above him, a dull echo resounding through the cockpit. 

“Fuck!” 

“Shit! Are you alright!” 

He turned to her, and couldn’t help the smile on his own face as he watched her try and not laugh at him. Her hand was covering her mouth, but her eyes were sparkling with mischief. 

“I’m fine sweetheart,” He held out his hand to guide her down. “Now let’s go before Lemmons sends a search party.” 

“Don’t let me fall…” she gripped his fingers tightly as he stepped down first, before he turned to guide her out of the cockpit, and back down towards the hatch. 

“Let me go first, and I’ll help you once I’m down.”

“Okay…”

He made quick work of jumping from the plane, and once both feet were on solid ground, he turned back towards the hatch for her. 

“Jump, honey. I’ve gotcha.”

“Easy for you to say.” She mumbled, before sitting herself on the floor of the plane, legs dangling below her in the night. With a deep breath, she pushed herself out of the plane, and true to his word, Everett had caught her around the waist. 

“Told ya.” He winked, setting her back on the ground. 

Brushing herself off, Val turned to find Ken Lemmon’s looking at her, eyes wide, lips quirked into a smirk. 

“Evening, Miss Val.” He offered her a wave. 

“Hi Ken. Did we wake you?”

“No. Got up to use the can, and uh, saw the jeep. Thought maybe Major Egan was up on the wing again.”

“Sorry… we didn’t mean to make trouble.”

“Hey, it’s the Captains fort, no trouble for me at all.”

“We’ll get out of your hair, let you get back to bed.” She grinned, hand searching for Everett’s as he stood next to her. 

“Goodnight you two,” Ken gave a wave as he turned and made his way back to the ground crew's hut. “Don't forget your glasses!”

Everett winced and doubled back to where he had left their empty glasses from earlier, while Val turned and made her way to the jeep. Once he joined her, he passed them over to her while he dug the key from his pocket and started the engine. With one hand on the steering wheel and the other resting on her knee, he drove them off back towards the huts. They passed a few stragglers leaving the Officers Club; Benny Demarco and Crank were sitting outside with Meatball, the dog taking off in a run after the jeep as it passed causing Benny to groan and both Val and Ev to laugh. He eventually got tired and began trotting his way back to where Benny was waiting. 

When Everett pulled the jeep up in front of the Red Cross hut, he noticed that the lights were still on inside, which meant Tattie and Helen were either still lingering at the club or waiting up for Val. 

“Looks like they might be waiting for you.”

“Gossip queens…” she shook her head with a fond smile. 

Letting the two glasses rest on the seat between them, she turned to face him, hand reaching for his own. Just the feeling of his skin on hers had her wanting to make him turn the jeep around and go back to the hardstand and finish what they started. 

“Can I kiss you goodnight?”

“You’re asking permission to kiss me? Everett, you’re practically wearing my lipstick, sweetheart.” She smiled, but leaned closer to him anyway, indulging him the moment. 

“Please?” He whispered. “Valencia, come on, I’m trying to be a gentleman. Walk you to your door, kiss you goodnight…”

“Okay, okay!” She conceded. “Yes, Everett, you can kiss me goodnight.”

He met her in the middle, hand sliding up to cradle her face as their lips found each other. Her fingers slid through his already disheveled hair, nails scratching against his scalp. She could feel him shudder under her touch, and had to keep reminding herself that it would be worth it to wait just a little longer for him in that way. 

Pulling back only when the need for air grew too strong, Everett let his thumb softly move against the apple of her cheek, his forehead pressed to hers. 

“Go on, before Tattie comes out here looking for you.”

“Don’t wanna…”

“Me either, but there’s tomorrow, and I’ll be waiting for you. Promise.”

“Tomorrow…” She sighed, nuzzling into his warm palm. 

“I’ll pick you up in the morning and we can walk to the mess together. Sound good?”

“Sounds perfect.”

With another soft kiss to her lips, Everett released his hold on her, allowing her to step out of the jeep and take the few steps to the door of the hut she resided in. He knew he wouldn’t get any sleep that night, thoughts of bright green eyes and a mischievous smile dancing in his mind's eye until the sun came up and he could see her again. He waited until she was safely inside the hut, the sound of Helen’s voice floating through the air as Val rejoined the girls finally. With a chuckle and shake of his head, he drove the jeep back to the Officers Hut where he found John Egan outside, smoking a cigarette with Douglass. 

“So, how’d it go?” Dougie stood up, flicking the butt of his cigarette in the makeshift ashtray. 

“Thanks for letting me borrow the jeep, Bucky.”

“Anytime you need me to break into song so you can make an escape with your gal, I’ve got it handled.”

“I think everyone else would be very opposed, but I appreciate the offer.”

“I’m not that bad.”

“You are, but that’s alright. You mean well.” 

“Night Blakely…”

“Night, Major…”

Everett had one foot in the door before Douglass was pulling him into the light, his blue eyes looking at him with scrutiny. 

“What?”

“Man, she really did a number on you! Was she wearing any lipstick when you brought her back?”

“Doug…”

“Victory Red is definitely your shade, Ev!” He cackled, heading for his bunk while Everett moved to the mirror that hung by the wall, checking his reflection with a smile. She had indeed left her mark, and if he had any say in the matter, he wanted her to do that for as long as Victory Red was in production. 

“Goodnight, sweetheart…” 

Part Three

A/N: Thanks for reading! This series will continue for Blakely & Val, so if you enjoyed this, please like, comment, reblog- whichever is your poison. Feedback is always welcome & my ask box is always open. If you want to be added to my tag list, or removed, let me know!

Tag List: @rowdy-redhead @winniemaywebber @sagesolsticewrites @bobparkhurst @rosiesriveter @victoryrollsandredlips @bcolfanfic @major-mads @footprintsinthesxnd @roosevelt-stalin-cocacola @justheretoreadthxxs @claireelizabeth85 @hephaestn @ktredshoes @barrykeoghussy @peachessndreamss @hellfirequinnie @spinteresting @prettyinlimegreenboots @manonsmanicmind

[hesbuckcompton-baby]

George and Blakely

I've been spending the last eight months / Thinking all love ever does / Is break and burn, and end / But on a Wednesday in a café / I watched it begin again

[winniemaywebber]

Honeysuckle Rose • Part 4

part one part two part three

masterlist

mood board by @hephaestn

taglist: @ginabaker1666 @sagesolsticewrites @hephaestn @manonsmanicmind @derry-rain @bobparkhurst @bloodynereid

Her head leaning on her hand, her elbow on the table, Olive feels Valencia glance across at her. She has seen her eyes softening as James talks, unaware that her mouth is slightly agape. A sharp kick under the table snaps Olive out of her trance, Val shaking her head and smiling, those gorgeous red lips parting and showing her perfect teeth as she makes eye contact. “Breathe, Ollie,” she teases, as the boys engage in a conversation about something or another. 

“Sorry,” Olive mumbles, awkwardly sipping her drink. “I'm not usually like this.”

“Maybe it's the booze?”

“Oh, probably. Yep, that's it. Not the most handsome man I've ever seen taking interest in me. Not that at all.”

“The most handsome, huh? Jesus, don't let him hear you say that.”

“Why not?” Olive giggles.

“He'll never fit his head through that door ever again. Not to mention us never hearing the end of it.”

“You girls wanna take a couple laps in the Jeep? Watch the sunrise?” Dougie asks, looking pointedly at Olive. 

“We're all far too drunk to drive, Doug, and I ain't walking all that way,” he pauses for a moment, feeling Val's eyes focus on him. “Only walking my girl home.” The classic furrow softens immediately. 

“That's what I thought, Everett. Good answer.” 

“What do you say, Olive? Wanna take a walk with me?”

“Sure,” she replies, nervously. She glances over at Val, who nods towards her as Ev helps her with her jacket. 

“Olive, see you tomorrow. Can you get here in time?”

“Oh, I'm sure I can,” a panic rising in her chest, hoping that somehow she was able to get back. Whether any time had passed between the two worlds, she had no idea and was terribly nervous to find out. Alas, she had to get home and check on Pearl, relieving Joan of her duties. But a few more moments with Dougie seemed so incredibly tempting that she felt herself taking his open hand and rushing out the door with him into the cold, morning air. 

“You don’t have a jacket?” He asks as he sees her shiver the second the warm club is behind them.

“Didn't plan on staying this long, actually.” 

He laughs a little, pulling off his own jacket. “Here,” he says, wrapping it around her shoulders. He pulls the sleeve up as she puts her arm in, her brow furrowed in confusion.

“What are you doing?”

“Wanna hold your hand.” 

His hand slips into hers and they begin to head towards the hardstand. Olive, pontificating how to make a quick exit without seeming rude, is distracted from her thoughts by an orange ember coming towards her face. Holding a lit cigarette in front of her, she knows he expects her to take it in between her own fingers. Instead, she drags on it from where he holds it, not once breaking eye contact and his mouth drops open.

“So, uh,” he clears his throat, moving the cigarette back to his own mouth as soon as she has blown smoke from her lips. “Where did you grow up?”

“Here,” she smiles. “I just moved back from London.”

“London? Wow, why?”

“Oh, errm,” she stutters, trying to formulate a story that has little substance but is not a lie. “I, uh…lots of things. I had a few things not work out. My grandma took a fall just over a year ago and she needs a carer. I decided to come home and take over.”

“That's real nice of you, Ol. I'm sure she's grateful.”

“I'm sure, too. She'll never say it, she's a grumpy old girl. But, I love her. She's my pal. Taught me how to be tough and I'm thankful for that.”

“Tough, huh?”

“Mhm,” she nods, realizing they are almost at the aircraft she fell from this afternoon. “What about you?”

“Lansing, Michigan. You probably haven't–”

“Never heard of it,” they overlap, Olive giggling and instantly going to cover her mouth with her free hand. 

“Hey, no. You gotta stop that.”

“Why, Dougie?”

“Because you have a pretty smile. And you shouldn't hide it, especially when it's me making you do the smiling, huh?”

A moment of silence passes between them as they reach the wing of Just A-Snappin, coming to a stop. His hand on her cheek, hers on his back. “Tell me more about Michigan,” she murmurs, their noses almost touching.

“It's real pretty,” he replies, his hand going from her cheek to her hair to move a strand that's blown in her face. “Real pretty in the fall especially.” He sighs, his thumb gently stroking her mouth. “I'll take you one day.”

“I'd love that,” she replies, moving closer. Just as their lips are about to meet, a loud, shrill horn noise is heard over the tannoy, followed by a thick accent. 

“James Douglass,” it commands. “Put that girl down and get to bed!” 

“Dammit, Red,” he mumbles, turning away for a second and squinting up at the tower. “I swear he has eyes in his ass, that guy.”

“Is this goodnight?” she asks, handing the jacket back.

“It is. I'm sorry. I wanted to walk ya home but–”

“Look,” she says, kissing him gently on the cheek. “The sun is rising.”

For a moment, he holds her close to him before breaking away, kissing her softly on the cheek, too. 

“Goodnight, Olive,” he says, beginning to walk backwards towards his destination.

“Goodnight, Dougie.” 

The second his back is turned, Olive begins to run in a full sprint towards the Red Cross Hut to retrieve her clothes. To her relief, Helen is snoring softly in the soft light of the sunrise, Val nowhere to be found. Assuming she's still with Ev somewhere around, she delicately places the dress upon her bunk, pushing out any wrinkles and creases with her hands. Pulling her shirt, overalls and boots back on, stuffing the headscarf in her top pocket, she makes a hasty exit, extremely careful to not disturb Helen. She sighs softly and turns over, causing Olive to freeze as she tiptoes towards the door. Luckily, she remains asleep, the rapid movement not waking her once. 

Returning to the plane and making sure there are no eyes on her, Olive runs around to the hatch she stumbled out of earlier. Seeing it left open, she hesitates, trying to reason with herself to stay. Thoughts of how devastated Pearl would be creep into her mind, cementing the decision. With a sigh, she climbs in, somehow finding long forgotten core strength. She reaches down and shuts the door with a slam, waiting a few moments. Closing her eyes, she waits, the blazing afternoon sun coming through the windows causing her body to overheat instantly.

Sadness crawling all over her, she kicks the hatch open again, her body suddenly heavy. Jumping out much more gracefully this time, she lands heavily in her boots, the scene around her seemingly unchanged. The group of girls she had originally been with were back in their usual spot, Olive now traipsing over to them casually, trying not to be seen. Heather greets her with a smile, her absence apparently unnoticed. 

“Taking a look at the plane?” She asks before the final crowd of school kids of the day make their way around the circuit. 

“Something like that,” she titters, grabbing a rake. “What time is it?”

Heather raises an eyebrow as she looks at her watch, trying to gauge the time as the warm sun reflects the watch face. “Errrm, it's two pm.”

“Oh!” Olive says, surprised. Seemingly no time had passed at all. 

—

“Hiya, Pearly Girly,” she greets, walking into the house. Kicking her boots off by the door, Olive begins to walk into the kitchen, reaching into the beige fridge to quickly gulp milk straight from the glass bottle that was delivered this morning.

“Hey, you,” Pearl greets, hobbling in with her stick. “Get a glass, for goodness sake!”

“I only wanted a gulp,” Olive laughs, now seeing that she'd somehow chugged half the bottle. 

“Some things never change, do they? You've been doing that since you were wee.”

“Old habits die hard, Grandma. Where's Joan? Am I late?”

“No, doll,” Pearl says, shaking her head. “She's out in the garden. Funeral director called.”

“Ah, shit,” Olive replies, peeking out of the window that's shrouded by a worn net curtain. She sees Joan pacing up and down the garden path, arms crossed and face growing more furrowed each second. “I'll make her a cuppa. You want one too?”

“If there's any bloody milk left,” she teases, leaving the kitchen. Olive titters and shakes her head as her back turns, clicking the kettle on. 

—

Pearl and Olive sit opposite one another, sipping from their mugs despite the boiling hot weather outside. 

“So, good first day? How did you like it?”

“Oh, I loved it,” Olive replies, a huge smile on her face. “I met some really nice people. Red Cross girls, took me under their wing and–” Olive pauses, realizing what she has said, seeing Pearl’s confused face. It settles in an instant, the ringing in Olive's ears subsiding as she sees her face return to normal.

“I used to love their jumpsuits. The headscarves they'd wear through the day while their hair was setting for a night at the club. I was always envious. There I was, sweating, beetroot red with a rake and overalls, while they were there looking all glamorous, handing out coffee and donuts to these handsome men. I would've traded places in an instant.”

Olive giggles. “I don't blame you, Pearly. I bet they were all beautiful.”

“They were,” she says, wistfully. “There was one man that caught my eye right before we moved. I never got his name, nor did we ever speak but you bet your bottom I was sat watching his every move whenever I could. He always had this dog with him–”

Olive, taking a sip of tea, inhales at the wrong moment and chokes as she hears Pearl’s words. “Jesus, Olive,” she laughs, trying her best to throw a napkin her way. “Wrong pipe?”

“Oh, yeah,” she replies, coughing a few more times. “Something like that.” It couldn't be the same dog, the same man. Surely not? Shaking her head through the shock, Olive trying to make sense of everything that's happened in the past few hours, Joan enters the room looking a little less stressed than the last times Olive has seen her. 

“Hi, Olive,” she smiles. 

“Joan,” she greets. “How are you?”

“Oh, better now I've got that sorted. Funeral home wanted to go through the order of service, and wanted to know how long my grandson's speech was going to be. You know our Kyle can talk.” Joan looks at Olive, her lips pursed slightly. “You remember Kyle, Olive?”

“Oh, er, yeah. I sure do.” How could she forget? Seeing him on the train while on her way home had brought up so much disdain that she'd felt nauseous for hours afterwards. Kyle, the first and only guy she'd let break her heart, and she'd let him do it because he somehow broke through all the toughness Pearl had taught her - and used it to his advantage.

“I do wish you two had worked out–”

“I wish he'd have been able to control himself and not sleep with my best friend.” 

“Olive!” Pearl scolds. Standing up, Olive announces her leave.

“I need to shower. Nice to see you, as always, Joan. See you tomorrow.”

—

Olive sits on her bed, wrapped in a towel and tries to breathe slowly. Laying down on the bed, her wet hair soaking into the pillow case, she closes her eyes and begins to try and ‘center herself,’ an exercise she'd been taught in Movement Class at drama school. Feeling her lungs inflate and holding her breath for just a moment, Olive hears a small knock on her door. 

“Ollie Pop?” Pearl calls, her voice etched with concern. “You alright?”

Breathing out slowly, Olive sits up. “Come in, Grandma.” As she does so, she puffs heavily and sits on the bed beside her. 

“I like our Joan, but her grandson is a twat.”

“Granny!” Olive shrieks. 

“What? You know if I curse, it's serious. He is. A stupid one at that.”

“Yeah,” she replies, sighing. “Besides,” she pauses, the panic attack pushed aside. “I'm a tough girl. Just like my Grandma.”

—

Laying in the softly lit room as the sun rises, Olive tries her best to read by the glowing lamplight emanating from her bedside table. The words scattering on the page, blurring into one another, she snaps it shut and sits up quickly as her alarm clock beeps, not wasting a single moment. Despite a night of minimal sleep, Olive gets ready in a flash, trying her best to remain as quiet as possible to not disturb Pearl who she can hear snoring from her room. Opening the door with a small creak, Olive smiles sweetly as her beloved Grandma sleeps peacefully, pictures of her husband on display on the table directly next to the bed. Closing the door quietly, Olive goes to the kitchen and boils the kettle for her morning green tea, waiting for Joan to come take over. Despite Olive figuring out that only a little time passes between worlds, she does not want to risk Pearl ever being left alone. Sipping at the hot liquid, she watches the sunrise through the garden window. Closing her eyes and breathing deeply, her mind goes back to the previous sunrise she saw, under the wing of a plane with Dougie. 

Finishing her tea, Olive quickly runs back to her room to collect her dog-eared copies of A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest, hoping to find time for some light reading throughout the day. Joan arrives soon after, instantly apologizing for yesterday as she walks through the door, eyes wide with anxiety. 

“Joan,” Olive says, waving her apology away. “Not you that should be apologizing really. You're fine. It's fine and we're fine.”

“Phew, good. Our Pearl awake yet?” Olive shakes her head.

“Not yet. She seemed to fall asleep pretty quickly last night, too.”

“She's a lot more relaxed now you're here, Ol. She knows you're safe and I think that pleases her.”

“I'm glad to be here,” she pauses, smiling awkwardly. “Right, off to work!” 

“Do you need something for lunch?”

“No, thanks,” she smiles, quickly adjusting her headscarf. “I'll grab a donut.”

—

Practically skipping to the airplane, she takes a quick look around to make sure nobody has eyes on her. Only a few early morning museum visitors are around, going into the building itself, trying to keep out of the cool morning air. Satisfied that nobody can see her, she clambers into the plane, body flopping into the aircraft like a hard loaf of bread. 

“I gotta get better at this,” she murmurs to herself, wincing as her core tightens. Leaning down, she slams the door shut and waits. A dog barks in the distance, her eyes clamped shut in fervent hope. She opens her eyes and gently fiddles with the door, her head sticking out slightly. Waiting on the ground is Meatball, tail wagging the second he sees Olive. 

“Hi, buddy,” Olive squeaks when she lands on the floor, a lot more graceful than yesterday's breathtaking bump. “Good morning!” Taking him by the leash, she retrieves her bag and begins to walk to the Clubmobile. 

“Hey!” She hears as her back is turned. “Who said you could take my dog?” There's Benny, a playful smile on his face that Olive instantly reciprocates.

“He did, actually. Waiting right there to greet me.” 

He laughs, leaning down to stroke the dog. “He just was excited to see his new best friend.”

“And so was I,” she replies, handing the leash to him. “I'd better run. Can't be late for my first day!”

—

“Aaah! You're here!” Val squeals, squeezing Olive into a quick embrace. “Come on,” she says, taking her by the hand and leading her to the hut. “Tat got a uniform for you, Lord knows where from but I gave her my measurements and what do you know, there was one spare, exactly your–our size.” 

Hanging on the small locker next to a bunk, is a blue jumpsuit, emblazoned with the American Red Cross logo on one pocket.

“Here's your space,” Val says, gesturing towards the locker. “We have our own showers so we keep most of our stuff in there, toiletries, make up, what have you. We usually use this for trinkets, but decorate how you see fit, doll.” 

Placing her satchel on the bed, Olive removes her clothes and slips into the jumpsuit, it fitting her like a glove. She stuffs The Tempest into one of the huge pockets while Val takes in her new look.

“Oh!” Val gasps, hands on her cheeks. “Don't you look adorable! Wait til Dougie sees you!” Rolling her eyes, Olive looks in the mirror one final time before heading to the door of the hut, Val close behind.

“Helen is already there,” she says, linking her arm with Olive's. “We'd better get there before she's rushed off her feet! Most of the boys are on the ground today, but they'll still be wanting coffee and donuts from us.”

“Makes sense,” Olive responds, waving to Tattie as she zooms past in her Jeep. She waves back, a smile on her face, the wind of the cool morning blowing through her perfectly styled hair.

“Tattie gets a Jeep?” Olive enquires, hoping there's no tone of malice within her question.

“Oh, yeah,” Val says, nodding. “She's the head honcho. She's General Spaatz's daughter, after all.”

“I dunno who that is, Val. Enlighten me.”

“In simple terms? Commander of the Eighth. That's all I know, to be honest. Don't make me go further than that, because I simply couldn't tell you.” She grins, flashing those beautiful teeth. “I'm so glad you came.”

“Me, too.”

—

“Olive! You're here!” Helen shouts through the hatch of the Clubmobile. Climbing down the stairs, she greets her new friend with a hug. Not used to this much affection all at once, Olive basks in it, feeling her face glow.

“Morning, Helen. Thanks for fixing up the bed.”

“You're so welcome, Ol. Nobody will be itching in our house! Not on my watch.”

“You'd think that should be the nurse's job, but here we are.” Val says, her tone scathing as she leans on the counter, flicking through a new copy of Screen Romances, Laraine Day and Robert Young upon the cover, cheeks pressed together. 

“Oh, I love Screen Romances,” Olive pipes up as Val reads through, that famous furrow brought out in concentration. “The gossip columns are savage.” 

“Oh, they so are,” Val responds, looking up, her eyes rolling slightly. “I live for it. I love the cattiness, the scathing remarks. Ugh, wonderful. I'll let you know if anything juicy comes up,” she says, nodding towards the hatch. “Someone's here to see you.”

“Donut from the prettiest girl in East Anglia, please.”

“Hey, Dougie,” she blushes, leaning out of the truck slightly.

“Look at you,” he says, biting his lip a little. “Blue really is your color.” 

“Oh, stop,” she replies, cheeks glowing even redder. “You're just angling for an extra donut.”

“Maybe,” he says, leaning up to meet her in the hatch. “And a kiss.” 

“Well, handsome, I can only give you one of those things right now,” she says, a donut in hand. “Meatball hair free, too. Must be your lucky day.”

“It sure is. Can I get a coffee too? Just cream.”

“Coming right up. No sugar?”

“Not when you're around. I'm sweet enough on you.”

“Are you trying to make me keel over?” She scolds, pouring the coffee into the cup. Brow furrowed, she hands him the cup, followed by a quick smile.

“Jeez, too much time with Valencia already. You've got that furrow perfected.”

“Maybe it was always within her, James,” she shouts, head still buried in the magazine. “Little help from me, and you being insufferable brings the best furrows out in people.” Olive shakes her head, giggling at the banter between the two. 

“Will you be at the club later?” Dougie asks, sipping the coffee. 

“I assume so,” Olive shrugs. “Why?”

“Oh, no reason,” he teases, winking as he walks away. 

“She's right,” Olive shouts from the Clubmobile. “You are insufferable.”

—

Both Dougie and Benny turn the second Olive enters the club, linked arm in arm with Val and Helen who stand either side of her. She meets the eyes of either man in turn, feeling her cheeks glow with that familiar heat the second she makes eye contact with Dougie. 

“I saw that,” Helen teases as they sit down, the same table as the previous evening. “You smiled when you saw Benny…”

“Helen–” Olive cuts her off, her cheeks now red with embarrassment instead of the previous limerence.

“But I saw that twinkle in your eye when Dougie looked at you.” 

Val nods enthusiastically, lighting a cigarette before offering one to her companions. Her attention on them is taken away the moment Everett walks up to the table, her eyes glowing as he greets her with a kiss on the cheek. 

Olive feels a presence behind her, before a glass - an Old Fashioned - is put at her place on the table. She turns to see Dougie, standing behind her chair with a whiskey in his hand. 

“Thanks,” she says, demurely, hoping that the blushing is now at bay.

“You owe me a dance later,” he says, winking as he walks back to the bar before she can even muster an answer. 

“Does he always do that?” she asks, turning to Val and Ev. “Ask a question then piss off to the other end of the room?” The couple and Helen burst out laughing at her tone, still not quite used to Olive's dry British humor. Not able to contain her own laughter due to theirs, she tries to pull herself together to reiterate the question. Ev is the first to compose himself, Val dabbing at his eyes with her handkerchief as he gasps for air a final time. 

“Nah, not always,” he finally says, looking for his friend at the bar. “He's just nervous, I think.” 

—

Feeling a wet nose at her bare ankle, Olive squeals and finds Meatball under the table. 

“Aaah, hi buddy!” she says, placing her drink on the table and beginning to pet him. “Were you good today? We missed you!”

“Speak for yourself,” Val mumbles under her breath as she reapplies her lipstick , only loud enough for Olive to hear,  causing her to shoot her a glance and giggle. Making sure Benny didn't hear, she smiles up at him. 

“Hi, Benny. How was your day?”

“Better now for seeing you. Let me get this fella squared away. D'you wanna dance?”

“Love to,” she grins, placing her jacket on her chair. Val winks at her as she exits, clutching Benny's arm as he gives the dog to Buck and a few men around him before leading her to the dancefloor.

“I'm warning you, Benny,” she begins as they begin to sway together. “I'm not much of a dancer. I hope you enjoyed having toes.”

“I'm just as bad, don't worry. Just wanted a moment alone with you.”

“That's sweet,” she replies, smiling as she places a hand on his shoulder. 

“So, how was your first day?”

“Oh, it was wonderful, thanks.” And she means it. It's the most fulfilled she's felt in years, these new people welcoming her and taking her under their wing. Everything that went wrong in London feels like a million light-years away; and being here, maybe it is. Benny narrows his eyes at her answer, trying to gauge any hint of sarcasm he may have missed. She shoves him playfully as they dance, giggling a little. “I'm being serious, Benny. It's exactly what I need.”

“If you say so,” he replies, smiling as he spins her away from him. With that spin, she crashes into none other than James Douglass, who automatically takes her in his arms. 

“Dog needs taking out, Benny,” he teases, gripping Olive's hand. He quickly spins her to a new spot on the dancefloor and grins. “Told ya, you owed me a dance.”

“I didn't hear you asking, James,” she teases, feeling her cheeks flush as his hand lands on the small of her back. “It was more of a statement.”

“Right, right,” he says, breaking away. “Will you dance with me?” 

“Yes, I will. But you'd better apologize to Demarco when he gets back.”

“Oh, I'm not sorry for anything, doll.” She tuts at him, letting him lead her nonetheless. Him touching her feels like lighting coursing through her veins, feeling her hair stand up on end. He moves closer as the band slows, their noses almost beginning to touch as they move in unison to the swelling music. Her inhale becoming his exhale, she moves and plants a soft kiss on his neck. She feels him gasp into her ear and it's enough to make her weak at the knees. Looking over his shoulder, she sees a light begin to flash red above the door.

“Hey,” she murmurs, gesturing towards the light with a movement of her head. “Does that mean something?” He turns and looks, his eyes suddenly downcast as he sighs.  

“Ah, shit. Yeah.” 

“I'll walk ya home,” Benny pipes up, suddenly behind them. 

“Nah, I got it, Benny,” James replies, taking his grip off Olive.

“No,” Benny says, a little sternly. “I'll do it. Olive, you ready?”

“It's fine, I can–” she tries to say, but is once again cut off by incessant squabbling, the two men fighting like catty school children. Looking towards Val for help, Olive sees Everett talking to a man with big brown eyes, hair slicked back into a soft pomp, his body seemingly racked with anxiety. Everett and Val gently push him in Olive's direction, him ushering her away unnoticed.

“Thanks,” she sighs, staring into the pretty cow eyes of the man that rescued her. 

“No problem. Harry Crosby,” he says, gesturing to himself, a hand on his chest as he introduces himself. 

“Hey, Harry. Olive.” He stretches a hand out and she shakes it.

“I heard the commotion. I'm heading back to write to my wife. She would never let me live it down if I wasn't a gentleman to others. I'll walk ya home, Olive.”

“Oh, Harry. That's so kind. Thank you.” 

As he holds the door open for her, she hears the arguing come to a sudden stop followed by a surprised “Crosby?!” and Val storming up to them. “Stupid boys,” is all she hears as she exits the club with Harry, her arm linked platonically with his. 

[winniemaywebber]

Honeysuckle Rose • Part 5

part one part two part three part four

masterlist olive's playlist

taglist: @sagesolsticewrites @ginabaker1666 @hephaestn @manonsmanicmind @derry-rain @bobparkhurst @bloodynereid @archival-hogwash

“Whatcha readin’?”

John Brady stands a few meters away from where Olive is sat, deep in her crumpled and aged copy of her favorite Shakespeare play. She quickly snaps it shut, expecting to be left alone for a little while longer after tiptoeing out of the Red Cross Hut, rising earlier than she anticipated. The gray morning sky had a tint of yellow to it, the sunrise surprisingly warm on her face. It was a sense of warmth and calm belonging she hadn't felt in years and she wanted to savor the moment. Creeping into the Officer’s Club with her book, curling up in one of the large armchairs on offer, she had hoped for a few more moments of peace before the day began. Sensing Brady was having a similar issue, standing there, packing his pipe, she blinks up at him and smiles. 

“The Tempest. In my opinion, the best Shakespeare ever wrote. You know his work?”

“Boy, do I!” He replies gleefully, lighting the pipe that's now in his mouth and shaking the match to extinguish it. “It's my girl's favorite, too!”

“No way! Get outta here. That's amazing.”

“She sure is,” he puffs at the pipe, his eyes glazing over at the wistful mention of her. “She's a schoolteacher. Teaches English to high school kids and she gets so excited at the time of year when the curriculum allows her to share her love of William.” 

“I like the sound of her already. What's her name?”

He smiles, a plume of smoke leaving his lips. “Jules. Juliet.”

“Juliet?” Olive replies, smiling softly at the  apparent coincidence. “As in ‘of the sun’?” 

“The very same,” he responds as he begins to turn on his heel. 

“You'd better tell her about this in your next letter to her, Brady,” she jokingly scolds. “I need someone to read my Shakespeare essays and reviews. She sounds perfect for the job.”

“Oh, she'd love that,” he laughs. 

“No need to be sarky now, John,” she says sullenly, eyes now back on the page she left off from.

“Never!” He holds up his hands in surrender. “I'm being serious. She'd love that. Give me whatever you want her to read.” 

“Bet!”

“I'll pass some good passages on to Dougie, see if he'll give it a try.” 

“John,” she smiles, eyes twinkling. “Please try.”

—

Tattie rushes in an hour later, her eyes widened with stress as she applies her red lipstick on the move, somehow managing to get the shape perfect without a mirror. “I'm so late,” she moans, walking around the club like a headless chicken. “And so hungover. Olive, be a doll and go start setting up the–”

“Already did, Tat. Coffee hot and ready for our boys.”

“The donuts are in–”

“Yep. Got those too. Sitting pretty on their trays, napkins right next to them. Don't worry, I got it covered.”

“You're a darling. I'll buy you a drink at the club tonight to say thanks.”

“Perfect!”

—

Today being a non-mission day did not mean the girls weren't busy. Right as Val and Helen got to the truck, surprised to see Olive so bright eyed and awake - “it'll be the four coffees I've gulped in the past two hours” - the boys came to the truck thick and fast. First was Brady and his crew, M'lle Zig Zig, all wanting their second breakfast of coffee and donuts, Olive and Brady giving one another a knowing nod as she passed him his cup. Next were Bucky and the Mugwump crew, Bucky somehow even more amped for the morning than Olive was, his loud voice booming across base so far that the girls were almost sure the loud noise would have the inhabitants of the local village out of bed thinking it was some type of foghorn pulling them out of their slumber. Not far behind were Buck and Demarco, the crew of Our Baby. 

“Hi, Ol,” Benny says, softly. “Good morning.”

“Benny,” she smiles, handing him a coffee before he's even asked. “And where is the most special guy of all?” A single bark comes from next to Benny, Meatball panting at his side. Olive exits the truck to greet him, knowing that if she invited him up, that would be it for the donuts - nobody was a fan of dog hair sprinkle variety.

“You mind watching him? I know it's only a practice, but I still don't wanna risk it.”

“Sure, Benny. We'll hang out, terrorize Kenny at some point, get him good and tired.”

“Yeah, Kenny needs that,” Benny smirks. 

“You know what I mean,” shoving him playfully. “Be safe, okay?” 

“Yeah, Ol. Always.” 

—

Meatball was getting restless as a few stragglers made their way to the hardstand after visiting the Clubmobile. Despite being tied up, he was trying his best to run, his little face all sad when he realized he wasn't able to roam. 

“You got it from here, Val? That dog is chomping at the bit for a run around.”

“Absolutely, Ollie,” she nods, opening her copy of Screen Stories at the page she'd left off from yesterday. “Anything to make sure those donuts stay Meatball hair free.”

“Thanks, chicken. Be right back. Helen?” She turns to Helen, her beautiful dark hair pulled expertly under a headscarf. “You wanna come too?”

“Please!”

The two begin making their own way over to the hardstand, Meatball pulling keenly at the lead to hurry his companions along, seemingly excited for some carefree recreation time. 

“Morning, ladies!” Ev Blakely comes towards them, brown leather jacket and aviators. Olive giggles, knowing exactly how weak at the knees Val was about to be at the sight of her man in his gear. Dragging behind was the man that had the very same effect on Olive, his hair perfectly slicked back, his sheepskin jacket perfectly fitted on his broad shoulders.

“Helen,” he greets. 

“Dougie,” she replies, a slight wink to Olive as she takes her cue to depart. 

Looking around to make sure nobody is watching, he takes Olive in his arms. “Hi, pretty.”

“Hi, Dougie. Good morning.”

“Good morning indeed,” he winks, kissing the corner of her mouth. “You look beautiful as always.” 

“Stop,” she giggles. “You're looking pretty good yourself.”

“Don't we make a fine pair, doll?”

“We sure do, darling.”

A screech interrupts the moment, Meatball taking off like a shot the second he spots Kenny, sending Helen flying through the air. 

“I'd better go rescue my girl, there.”

“But I wanna stay with my girl here,” he murmurs, winking.

“Your girl, huh?” she says, narrowing her eyes at him. “Very presumptuous. You haven't even asked me.”

“D'you want me to?”

The answer burns up in her body, the yes wanting to spill out so fast that it almost makes her nauseous. She isn't one to be so forthright, forcing the agreeable answer down as fast as it tries to escape her lips. 

“Maybe,” she instead teases, looking up at him flirtatiously through her lashes. “Please be safe, Dougie.”

“It's only a practice, doll.”

“Nevertheless,” she murmurs, her hand stroking his cheek. “I need you to come back to me.”

—

A familiar rumble distracts Meatball, the ball flying past his face as Kenny throws it across the airfield. 

“Meatball!” He yells, trying to get the dog's attention. “Get it, boy!” He stands, stuck to the spot, waiting for Kenny to throw the ball that's already been chucked meters away. 

“I don't got it, dummy! I threw it thatta way. You weren't lookin’!” 

“Aw, leave my pal alone,” Olive pouts, scritching Meatball under the chin. “Here, look,” she says, standing up again. She balls her hand into an almost-fist, an invisible spherical shape in the palm of it. “Go get it,” she yells as she throws the ‘ball’, Meatball taking off like a shot in the direction in which Kenny had thrown the real ball previously.

“Jeez, that darn dog.”

Olive laughs, before turning to the landscape, the sky a cloudless blue with fields rolling along underneath it. The rumble getting louder, Olive shields her eyes with her hand as Meatball brings the ball back to Helen, who instantly screams at the sight miles from them. 

A plane comes hurtling out of the sky, the trees catching fire instantly, a loud BANG heard over the noise of the Land Girls screaming in horror. 

“Holy shit,” Olive gasps, her heart caught in her throat, her body suddenly clammy all over. Helen walks over and grips her hand, her breathing equally as shaky. 

“Get outta here, girls,” Kenny urges, throwing himself into a Jeep.

“No way, Lemmons.”

“I'll come find ya if–” 

“Don't say it.”

“Olive. I'll come find ya, kay?” She simply nods, somehow not able to formulate a coherent thought. With Helen by her side, she feels her hand being tugged on. 

“We'd better get back to the truck,” she says, ushering Olive along. “It'll be okay, doll. Promise. Now, one foot in front of the other please.” Taking Meatball's leash, Olive lets Helen lead her.

Both breaking into a sprint with Meatball running slightly ahead as they approached the Clubmobile, unopened boxes all around it, they manage to catch up with Val and Tattie who had sped back in Tattie’s Jeep. 

“What the hell happened out there?” Olive yells over the sound of the running engine. 

“Baynard, he uh… him and his crew they…”

“Fuck sake! That was them?”

“Yea, it was them.” Val steps out of the jeep, leaning against it with a heavy sigh. Olive begins to walk towards her, gesturing for Meatball to stay put. 

“We just saw them this morning…” Helen remembers, head on the Clubmobile in sadness. 

Val can only nod, not quite able to speak yet due to the shock. A moment of silence is shared between them, Olive trying her best to breathe and calm down. Tears prick at her eyes and threaten to spill out onto her face, and she blinks them back with all her might. “Be a tough girl,” she whispers to herself. “Tough girls don't cry.” 

Helen removes herself from the side of the Clubmobile and walks towards Val, who, still leaning on the Jeep, remains in shock and unblinking until Helen's words bring her back to them. 

“Val? You alright?”

“Yea… just, scared shitless if I’m being honest.”

“Oh honey, I know…”

“Could have been either of them, Helen,” she says sadly, talking of Ev and Curt. "And I’m not keen on being alone.”

“Oh chicken, you’ll never be alone. You’ve got us.” Olive says, joining the two girls, taking Val’s free hand in hers, offering the same comfort as Helen.

“I need to get used to being called chicken as a term of endearment.” Val laughs as her head weakly drops to Olive's shoulder.

“There we go,” she grins. “Feeling better?”

Val nods reluctantly, as she pushes herself up off Jeep to finally stand, walking towards the abandoned boxes. Gesturing for the other girls to give her a hand, she suddenly freezes, that all too familiar scowl appearing between those perfectly outlined eyebrows.

“Meatbal! No!” The three girls look over to where the yell came from and see Tattie, hands on her hips in frustration, the scowl on her face almost rivaling Val’s as Meatball rips into one of the boxes, bouncing on his paws with excitement to try and hold it down as the cardboard escapes from him at every bite.

“I’m gonna kill DeMarco,” Tattie sighs, arms crossed. “Olive, tell your man to train his damn dog!”

“Not my man, Tat,” she replies, feeling Tattie’s pointed look burning into her as her back is turned. 

“Either way,” she sighs, her expression suddenly softer. “Someone needs to tell him.”

—

After a long day, the girls showered and got ready for an evening at the club. Finally taking some lessons from Val and Helen, Olive had, for the first time, managed to set her hair into soft curls with minimal help. While they had set, the girls had insisted on doing her makeup, transforming her into the soft, pink-cheeked girl she was beginning to fall in love with. Val insisted on filling in Olive’s brows and Helen had taken over the lashes, carefully daubing the ink on them with painstaking concentration, her tongue sticking out as she did so. 

“There,” Helen had sighed, closing the mascara box with a soft snap. “Absolutely perfect.” After getting herself ready first, Helen had arranged to meet her other girls at the club later on, keen to soothe the woes of a long day with Tattie as soon as she possibly could. 

Exiting the hut half an hour after Helen, Val and Olive found themselves surprised to see Curt waiting for them, leaning on the building ever so cooly. He had a playful grin about his face, Val rolling her eyes and groaning the second she saw his expression. Olive giggled as he approached them, Curt giving her a wink.

“Can I walk ya to the club, Val?”

“You can; I’m hard pressed to ask what you want, Curt.”

“Honest to God, I just wanna walk ya.”

“Curt?”

“Helen told me you were a bit rattled after today, and I just wanted to make sure you’re alright.”

Val stops walking, and gives her friend a soft smile. Taking Olive’s hand for a second, she gives her the same smile. “Olive, I’ll catch up.”

“Okay,” she nods, still smiling. “I’ll save your seat!”

Olive begins the short walk to the club from where they had been standing, and sees Benny outside with Meatball, beaming as he sees her.

“Good evening,” he says, loosening his grip on Meatball’s leash as she approaches. 

“Hey, Benny,” she replies, bending down to greet Meatball too. “Hi, buddy, what’s up? Ready for a dance? You owe me one for tearing up all those boxes this morning.”

“Oh, shit. He did what?”

“Tore up a whole box of paper cups. Tattie went ballistic and had a sour face for the rest of the day. You should probably buy her a drink to soften her up a little.”

“Y-yeah, probably a good idea,” he responds, holding the door open for her. “After you, Miss Olive.”

“Thanks, doll.” 

As she walks into the warm, welcoming atmosphere of the club, she spots Dougie right away, standing at the bar with Everett. He’s so handsome that it takes her breath away, feeling herself get a little lightheaded as he senses her eyes on him, smiling sweetly at her as he stubs out his cigarette. 

“Uhm, excuse me for a second, Benny,” she says as she begins to make her way towards the direction of the ladies room.

“Sure. What’ll it be this evening?”

“The usual. Thanks, Benny,” she smiles, his kindness causing a pang of guilt to build up in her stomach, her eyes suddenly pricking with tears as she walks away. 

—

“Get a fucking grip, Ollie,” she says to herself as she hides in a cubicle for a few moments, centering herself the way her drama teacher had taught her. Filling her lungs with air and feeling them deflate, the built up anxiety drifting out of her with each breath. The panic, however, is still there, and the guilt is practically choking her, as two large tears drop onto her lap, taking her by surprise. Benny being such a kind, sweet man, being so genuine - any girl would be lucky to have a man like that. Her thoughts, however, quickly turn back to Dougie; the way the world practically stops turning whenever he looks at her, the way he makes her belly laugh at every opportunity. How he makes her weak at the knees, how he touches her subtly as if it’s their little secret. Realizing she had been in the bathroom a lot longer than anticipated, she washes her hands hurriedly and makes her exit. 

Just outside the door stands Dougie, two glasses in his hand. 

“You sure took your time.”

“God forbid a woman take some time alone,” she giggles, looking down at his hands. “That one for me?” She asks hopefully, the liquid within the glass looking familiar. He nods, handing it to her. 

“It is. Bought it as I came in. And luckily, that wasn’t long before you strolled in with our friend DeMarco.”

“Oh, it’s like that is it?”

“Maybe.” He takes the steps that are separating them and wraps his free arm around her waist. “I really wanna fucking kiss you right now,” he murmurs near her ear. “Can I?” 

Wanting nothing more than to finally feel his mouth on hers, the way she knows it would make her toes curl in delight and give her goosebumps over her entire body, she eyes up their surroundings and shakes her head.

“Not in front of the bathroom, James. Pick a better spot.” He sighs, resting his head on her shoulder. She nuzzles into him, her free hand tickling the back of his neck. “We’d better go,” she whispers sadly, not wanting to let go of him. 

“Don’t wanna,” he purrs into her, nuzzling into her neck now. 

“Dougie,” she pleads, reluctantly moving her shoulder. 

“Fine,” he sighs, his hand now on her face. “You better dance with me later.”

“Deal.” He walks away, leaving her there alone, which she is grateful for. Finding a lone spot right by the bathroom, she downs the drink given to her, the feeling of the alcohol rushing through her veins catching her by surprise. With one more deep breath, she makes her way back to the club where she knows her friends are waiting on her, stopping at the bar to drop off her empty glass.

Stopping is a mistake - within a moment, Olive feels herself accosted by not just Benny and Dougie, but Curt, too. Feeling incredibly overwhelmed, Olive looks around to find her friends gathered around their usual table, Val and Ev gazing into one another’s eyes as if nobody in the room - nor the world - exists. 

It’s Helen that catches Olive’s eye first, Olive’s panicked gaze causing her to stand from her seat suddenly. Murmuring something to Val, she breaks her gaze from her man to stand up, pushing her chair back as she does so. 

“Okay, boys, that’s enough,” she scolds as she pushes through the small crowd to get to Olive’s side. Olive, thankful for the rescue, clings to Val’s hand without a second thought, Val rubbing the back of her friend’s hand in comfort. “I have two very thirsty friends,” she says, referring to Helen and Tattie while staring right at Curt, “waiting on you at the table.”

“I was just–”

“Helen and Tattie are waiting,” she reinstates, a furrow fixed on him that makes him look like he’s about to jump out of his skin. It works, of course, as he hurriedly gets the barkeep’s attention, ordering two rum and cokes and a whiskey for himself. 

“You two,” She turns to Douglass and DeMarco, that furrow still fixed between her brows. “If you’d like to talk to Olive, come and sit with us.” Olive feels her hand being squeezed in comfort  as she remains silent, the panic attack still swelling within her chest. 

“Oh, uh…” Dougie stutters, struggling to come up with an excuse.

“The table, Dougie,” she grins, the smile relaxing the furrow and showing her beautiful teeth. “Benny,” she turns to him now, who is bent down, petting Meatball, trying to avoid the confrontation. “You and Meatball are welcome to join us.”

Taking Olive by the arm, Val gets them back to the table in a flash. Olive smiles, shaking her head and finally able to formulate a coherent sentence.

“You could rule the world, Valencia DiRosano.”

“No,” she laughs, her eyes slightly wrinkling at the edges with glee. “But I could certainly whip these fellas into shape.” 

They all crowded around the table, snagging extra chairs from other groups with a pretty smile to make room for them all. Four Red Cross girls, three pilots, a bombardier and a dog, all sat around a small table, looking every part a hodgepodge group. Val had got up from her chair and sat in Ev’s lap as he’d patted his knee with a twinkle in his eye, Meatball instantly jumping into the empty chair the very second she had stood up from it. That got a laugh from the whole group, as he perched on the chair with his paws on the table, quite the distinguished gentleman; the most gentlemanly at the table, Olive thought, as Curt regaled a tale loudly of an event from old times that of course included Val and a blonde that she described as “practically garbage.” Everett holding her in his lap as he laughed, Curt’s voice getting more animated and louder to keep the attention on him.

“I ain’t never seen anything like it,” he reiterates, his arms flopping as he does so. “One minute she’s across the room, and the next, she’s got this girl by the elbow, hauling her out like–”

“Trash, Curt. Because, she was trash,” she sniggers, her words overlapping his in a rushed frenzy. Olive hears Benny chuckling to the right of her. 

“So, we know who to call when we need a quick exit, then, is that it?”

“Call Tattie,” Val laughs, taking a sip of her drink. “She’s just as good as I am!”

“Oh, please!” Tattie replies from across the table. “You’re the muscle. You managed to tame Kidd of that God awful scowl he’s been wearing for weeks.”

“That’s Egan’s fault,” Helen says with a sigh. “Went and got himself demoted,” she says, mostly to Olive who has a confused look on her face. 

“How exactly do you get demoted from Air Exec?” Dougie ponders to Olive’s left as he lights himself another cigarette. Olive stares at him as he does so, the first small breath of smoke leaving his mouth as he talks. Without thinking, Olive reaches over and plucks it from pretty fingers, grinning all the while before placing it in her mouth and taking a drag. “Hey!” he teases, hand going to her lips to grab it back. She hands it back after only one inhale, feeling Benny’s sad eyes on her back as it all takes place. 

“You lot up for a group shot?” A man, stood with a camera around his neck walks up to the gang.

“Absolutely!” Tattie grins, having everyone get into place so they fit. She has Benny place Meatball up front, already doing his best pose with his tongue hanging out in happiness. Val stays put on Blakely’s lap, her arm around his neck and his on her waist. In a swift movement, Dougie pulls Olive onto his lap, looking like the cat that got the cream.

“Hi,” she giggles, trying to sit pretty, his blue eyes following her every movement. Curt had somehow squeezed himself in too, between Helen and Tattie with Benny close by.

“Alright, you guys. On three!”

—

To Olive’s surprise, Curt holds a hand out to Helen. “Humor a poor sap with a dance?”

Not hearing what else is said, Olive sees Helen take his hand as he guides her from her chair to the dancefloor. Olive sees a nod pass between Val and Tattie as Tattie stands, tugging at Dougie’s hand. “Come on, you. Let’s stretch our legs, hmm?”

“Sure, Tattie…” his eyes quickly glazing over as Benny offers Olive his hand. 

“Shall we?”

“We shall.”

The music swells all around them, Olive and Dougie making eye contact as they dance with their respective partners.

“You know,” she begins, Benny swaying with her gently. “We’re spending this time together and I still know so little about you. Tell me about yourself.”

“Well,” he starts, his expression full of thought. “I lived in Chicago before I enlisted. I decided to enlist in 1940.”

“Wow,” Olive replies, taken aback. “Earlier than a lot of these boys.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he nods. “I was just determined to serve my country. I knew something was coming even before Pearl Harbor, and I wanted to make sure I could be a part of it.”

“That’s very brave, Benny. Stuff like that doesn’t go unnoticed.”

“Just doing my job, Olive,” he says with a shrug. “It’s what we’re all doing.”

At that moment, Olive feels herself being softly pushed into another partner, Tattie signaling Benny to dance with her. 

“Oh, I see what she’s up to.”

“It was my idea.”

“Yeah, no shit, Dougie. Color me surprised.” Nevertheless, she feels herself smile at him, both of their eyes softening as they look at one another. She suddenly realizes what happens between Val and Everett. At this moment, nobody else in this room - nor the world - exists. It’s just her and James, swaying to a slow love song, his hand in hers and the other on her waist. She closes her eyes for a second, a slow breath leaving her pursed lips. 

“You okay?” Dougie asks, his voice etched with concern.

“Yes, doll,” she replies, her hands going around his neck. 

“You’re lookin’ at me like I’ve hung the moon in the sky or somethin’,” he grins.

“Because I think, maybe you have.” She lets her head fall to his shoulder, him planting a gentle kiss on her forehead. 

“Is this a better spot?” he asks, his lips brushing against her nose as he leans his neck down slightly. Coming back up to face him, a worried expression on her face, she shakes her head once again.

“I’d love nothing more than to have you kiss me, Dougie–”

“Then let me.”

“Not in front of Benny, darling. That’s not fair.” 

“Yeah, you’re right,” he says, his eyes downcast. “But you want me to, right?”

“I do. I absolutely do. It’s killing me to have to deny myself that. But I’m not here to hurt people, nor make them upset. Can you understand that?”

“I can,” he smiles, sadly. “You’re so fucking sweet, Ol. Just adorable.”

“Sweet on you,” she replies, her lips pressed to his cheek. 

“Ah, shit,” he murmurs, his eyes focused on something above the door. Benny walks over, patting him on the shoulder. “Gotta go, buddy.”

“Yeah, Benny. Be right there.”

Olive turns and sees the familiar red light beaming over the club, the band finishing suddenly in the middle of their song. 

“I’ll see you in the morning, okay?” She says, her voice suddenly tightening. 

“I know. I can hardly wait.” Clearing his throat, he leans in again and finds her ear. “Goodnight, goodnight. Parting is such sweet sorrow.” Olive pulls away, brows furrowed in amazement and confusion.

“You’ve been talking to Brady, huh?”

“Come on, Ol. He said his girl likes this one, so I thought I’d try it, too. Finish it.” Olive laughs at the sudden seriousness on his face, his blue eyes suddenly resembling Meatball’s. She breathes, trying to compose herself.

“That I shall say goodnight till it be morrow. There. Happy now?”

“See, wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“You’re insufferable, James Douglass.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s why you like me.” 

[ginabaker1666]

You Go To My Head

Beat Me, Daddy, Eight To The Bar: Part One

Everett Blakely x Valencia DiRosano (OC)

She's an American Red Cross Clubmobile girl, and he's the Flyboy with the Lucky Strike tucked behind his ear. Fate has a funny way of intervening- and Fate's name just happens to be Curt Biddick.

Follow along with the Eight To The Bar Playlist

When Captain Everett Blakely landed Just-A-Snappin on the Thorpe Abbotts airfield, he knew two things. The first, was that it had been a fucking haul from Greenland. All he wanted was a drink, and to collapse into whatever the base was passing off as a bed. The second, was that the pretty brunette with the striking green eyes offering him a choice of coffee or whiskey upon entry to the Interrogation Hut, was someone he wanted to know. 

Valencia DiRosano. Val, for short, was a Red Cross Clubmobile girl who also moonlighted as a secretary for Chick Harding when he needed someone to take notes or type up his reports with a little extra speed. She was kind, but a real New Yorker with the mouth to back it up; so it came as no surprise to him when he found her laughing at the bar with Curt Biddick. Childhood friends, he had come to learn on the morning of their first mission. He had watched, amused, as Biddick jumped into the Clubmobile and attempted to fix his own coffee, but not before Val gave him a hearty shove out the back door and onto solid ground. 

“You’ve been here less than a week, Curt. Do I have to write your Mother already?”

“Aw come on Val!” He was holding a carafe of the coffee in one hand, leaning back inside the Red Cross truck. “We’ve been friends since the sandbox, doll face! Please!”  

“Curt, you step back on this truck and you’ll be in the med bay before you even see the inside of your plane.” She scowled, green eyes narrowed at him as she snatched the carafe from his hand. 

“Killjoy.” He sighed, winking up at her as she handed him a cup of coffee, no doubt, fixed the way he liked it. 

Blakely was shaking his head as he approached the Clubmobile, smiling up at Val as she offered him coffee that he didn’t hesitate to accept. She was always armed with a smile, and some days he felt she saved one especially for him, but he wouldn’t tell anyone that. 

“He’s a pain in my ass.” She had offered by way of greeting that morning. 

“Dickie would probably sympathize with you, ma’am.” He grinned, hazel eyes fixed on her own green. 

“Oh, don’t I know it,” she shook her head. “And you can call me Val, Captain.”

“Then it’s only fair if you drop the formalities as well.” A teasing lilt to his reply. 

She shook her head at him, but leaned forward towards him, her torso now fully outside the open hatch she was serving the Airmen from. 

She’d be lying to herself if said she hadn’t been attracted to him since the minute she saw him. Striking hazel eyes, a finely trimmed mustache over his upper lip, and perfectly styled hair. The latter two seemed to be a requirement for Flyboy’s, she had noted. And he always had a cigarette tucked behind his ear should he need it. 

Pinching a donut between two fingers, she allowed her face to get just a bit closer to his, before she offered it to him with a wink. 

“Safe flight, Captain Blakely.”

“Val.” He grinned, plucking the offered snack from between her red manicured nails, before tipping his crush cap at her and heading towards the truck where his crew was waiting. 

Dougie already liked to give him a hard time whenever he was caught ogling her at the Silver Wings Club from across the room. He no doubt had seen the exchange between the pair, because when Everett slid into the spot next to him on the truck, the bombardier wasted no time in letting him have it. 

“You two set a date yet?”

“You’re a pain in the ass.”

“I’m your best friend,” Douglass elbowed him. “I’m supposed to be a pain in your ass.”

“Lucky me.” Blakely groaned, taking a sip of his coffee. 

He wouldn’t tell anyone, but it was the best damn cup of coffee he’d had in months and he was sure it had everything to do with the woman who had made it for him. 

When he returned from that first mission, Bremen, she was waiting in the Interrogation Hut just like the day he had first descended on the air field. Armed with coffee and whiskey, she spotted him as soon as he came through the door. He wasn’t sure, but he could swear the smile on her face that she was offering to all the boys stretched just a bit wider when she clocked him. 

“Captain.” 

“Val.” He grinned, fingers sliding around the rim of the whiskey glass she was holding out to him. 

“Nice to see you safely on the ground.” 

“Well, it’s nice to be on the ground again.” 

Douglass was behind him, pushing him along to their designated area so that they could get this part over with as quickly as possible. It was one thing to be up there getting hammered with flak while praying for your life, but to have to relive it so that The Brass could get all the details straight, was the worst possible version of deja vu. 

“Right, I need to uhh…”

“No, of course,” She nodded, picking up one of the coffees and handing it to Buck Cleven who had just walked in with John Egan. The Major looked positively rattled, and when she went to offer him a whiskey instead, Major Egan intercepted it for himself.

“He doesn’t drink.” Blakely whispered to her, answering the silent question on the tip of her tongue. 

Val nodded in understanding before offering both Major’s a smile, watching as they moved further into the room. Then she turned back to Everett, giving him a gentle nudge towards where the rest of his crew was currently sitting. 

“Go on, I’ll see you later. I’ve got to clean up here.” She had smiled at him as she began moving around the room to pick up the empty glasses. 

“Blakely!” It was Colonel Harding, and he was standing in that way he often did, with his hands planted on his hips, and eyes narrowed in his direction. 

Quickly shaking himself from his fog, he moved towards the empty chair next to Douglass, silently begging his friend not to say a word. At least not with the rest of their crew around. 

They had been in Interrogation longer than he wanted to be there; the mission had been scrubbed, and Harding had wanted all the details. The how, why and when. But it was never the who that they focused on for too long. The who being the fellas who had died up there, whose blood was currently being washed out of the inside of the forts that made it back. Whos mothers didn’t know it yet, but were going to receive a letter from Major John Egan expressing his deepest sympathies for the loss of their son. His fort had been lucky, making it back to Thorpe Abbotts in one piece, and while he wanted to take the time to acknowledge that, he knew that his mind wouldn't let him. He would have to acknowledge the lost, and the broken pieces of this first flight before he could move on. 

Leaving the Equipment Hut, he found Curt exiting the base Hospital. The stocky, former Brooklyn boxer looked slightly stunned, and when Everett made eye contact, the pilot gave a nod, before changing course to walk alongside him. 

“You good?” Blakely spoke first, eyes cutting to the hospital they had just left in their rear view. 

“Yea, wanted to check on Dickie.” 

Dickie would have normally been in the co-pilot seat next to Biddick, but with Major Cleven riding with Biddick’s crew on this flight, Dickie had been down in the tail gun. 

“What happened up there?”

“Frostbite,” Curt sighed. “Grabbed the tail gun without gloves on.”

“Jesus, he alright?”

“Smokey said it ain’t too bad, but could be a few weeks before he’s back in the seat.”

“Well, better frostbitten than dead I suppose.”

“Yea…” Curt trailed off. “How ‘bout you boys? Yous all make it back in one piece?”

“For the most part, physically at least.”

“Yea, I hear that.”

They walked silently towards the Officers Hut, the only thing on Blakely’s mind at the moment; a hot shower and change of clothes. He supposed that most of the fellas would make their way to the Silver Wings Club later in the evening, so long as the red light stayed the hell off and let them be. He hoped he wouldn't have to see it blinking again this week, but this was war, and it just didn’t sound promising. 

Just as he was about to pull the door open to their nissen hut, Curt stopped him, hand pushing the door closed and forcing them both to stop walking. 

“French 75.”

“You asking me to buy you a drink, Curt?” He raised an eyebrow at the shorter man. 

“Val’s drink is a French 75.” 

“I’m almost afraid to ask…”

“I ain’t blind.” Curt shook his head. 

“I thought maybe Dougie tipped you off.”

“Oh, he did,” Curt winked, and Blakely couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh. “But I also seen yous two by the Clubmobile this morning, and she almost sent poor Tattie flyin to give you a drink back there.”

“How come you uh…how come you and her never got together?”

“Nah, I love her to pieces but not like that.” 

 He nodded, understanding exactly what Curt meant when he said that. 

“Okay then…”

“B’sides, you heard her. I’m a pain in her ass.”  Curt grinned wildly, and Blakely could see that he was proud to be Val’s very own pain in the ass. It was the same type of smile that Douglass gave him when he bestowed him with the very same compliment. 

“Yea, she did mention that.” He shook his head. 

“C’mon, let's go, I stink of fuel.” 

By the time the band was playing, the Silver Wings Officers Club was filled with Airmen, and a mix of Red Cross and local women who had been invited by some of the pilots and crew. It was a hearty blend of people, and it wasn’t long before the dance floor was filled with couples. 

Val was sitting with Helen and Tattie, the trio partaking in their favorite activity when they weren’t working: people watching. Discreetly, from behind their martini glasses, they would observe the goings on of the club, and who was doing what. It was also a subtle way for them to learn a little more about the men so that they could chat to them as they left for a mission. 

“Wait, but she was seeing Egan last week!” Tattie spoke in a hushed voice. Even with the band playing, she didn’t want anyone hearing her. They were currently fixed on a local East Anglia girl who had been seen around the club before, most recently with Major Egan, but none of the women could remember her name. 

“I guess she’s seeing Dye now.” Val sniggered from behind her drink. 

“I heard he had the clap.” Helen chimed in. 

“Egan!?” Val’s eyes went wide. 

“No, Dye.”

“No! From who!” 

“I don’t know who gave it to him!” Helen rolled her eyes. 

“Not who gave it to him,” Tattie sighed. “Who did you hear it from?”

“Funny enough, John Egan.”

“I wonder how true it is, then,” Val shook her head, taking a sip of her drink. “He’s probably just sore over losing her to Dye.” 

“Well, Flyboy’s are like that.” 

“Not all Flyboy’s are filthy, Tattie.” Helen groaned. 

“No, you’re right,” Tattie grinned. “Val’s seems like a gentleman.”

Helen and Tattie were both bearing bright grins in her direction, and all she could do was roll her eyes as she drained the last of her drink. 

“You two are incorrigible.”

“So you weren’t flirting with Captain Blakely this morning? Helen leaned across the table at her.

“I was doing my job.”

“And this afternoon, in Interrogation, was your job to almost mow me down to get to him? Tattie raised an eyebrow at her. 

“You were in my way, Tat…”

“Well then,” She grinned. “If he’s not your Flyboy, then I don’t know why he’s making his way over here with a drink in each hand.”

When she looked over to where Tattie’s gaze was focused, sure enough, there was Captain Everett Blakely, striding across the room towards their table, with a martini glass in one hand, and his whiskey in the other. She couldn’t very well hide the smile on her face as he approached, and knew that when she finally retreated to the women’s hut later that night, both Helen and Tattie would be there to pull every detail from her before they fell into their own beds. 

“Ladies,” Blakely grinned, gaze landing on both of Val’s companions, before finally settling on her. “Val.” 

“Captain Blakely.” She grinned, their game of formalities causing him to roll his eyes with a smile. 

“Are we still doing that?” He asked. “This is hardly a formal setting.”

“Everett…” She allowed his first name to slip past her lips just the once, and watched as his eyes lit up at hearing her say it. “Are you drinking for two tonight?”

“Do you think so little of me that I would?”

“Oh, so that one’s for Douglass?” She teased. 

“Actually, it’s for you. French 75, right?” He offered her the martini glass in his left hand, their fingers brushing as she accepted it from him. Just like they had that afternoon as she handed him his whiskey. She couldn’t help it. She could feel her cheeks warming up at the simple gesture and hoped that her rouge would hide it. She wasn’t sure she’d be that lucky, however, as his warm gaze was trained entirely on her. 

“And who told you that?” 

“Let’s just call them a reliable source.” He nodded, lifting his own glass to his lips, though she didn’t miss his grin. 

She’d barely noticed Tattie and Helen slipping away from the table, the former immediately snatched up by James Douglass for a dance, while Helen; well, she wasn’t sure where she disappeared off to. Had her friends given her up that easily to him? Surely it hadn’t been Curt; he was everything a protective big brother should be, minus the bloodline. She couldn’t imagine her childhood friend willingly offering up any sort of information to a potential suitor. She knew better than anyone what he was like back home any time they had doubled with his flavor of the month and someone she met that wasn’t entirely turned off by her friendship with another man. 

She’d resolve to find out who the reliable source was, but for now, she was intent on enjoying the company of the man who still stood in front of her. 

“Would you like to join me?” She looked up at him through her lashes, red lips stretched wide with a smile just for him. 

“I’d love to,” he returned the smile, and with a grace she hadn’t known a man to possess, ever, slid into the seat to her left. “Besides, what kind of person would I be if I left you here alone?”

“Not a very good one, I suppose.” 

“Exactly, and my mother raised a gentleman.”

“Well, I’ll have to thank her then,” Val teased from behind her glass. “There are so few of you left.”

“I’ll consider myself lucky then, to be a gentleman worthy of your time.”

“You’re a flirt, Captain Blakely.”

“Are we back to the formalities?” He sighed, arms outstretched on the table in front of him, body slightly slouched in his seat. 

“I’m only joking,” her hand fell to his arm, and she couldn’t help but admire the ropes of muscle she felt beneath the fabric of his uniform jacket. “But you are a flirt.”

“Do you see me flirting with anyone else here?” 

That had her caught in his gaze, so much so that she barely noticed Curt striding into the room, and Helen intercepting him at the bar. She was sure that had he noticed her, he’d have skidded over to her and Blakely in such a state, demanding a dance with his best friend, that it would leave the Captain stunned and so put off, he’d never speak to her again. 

“Val?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you alright?”

“Yes,” shaking her head to dismiss the thoughts, she focused back on Everett, and how her hand was still resting on his forearm. “I promise it’s not you.”

His gaze softened, his head immediately turning from her to survey the room, trying to pinpoint exactly what, or who, had caused her the momentary distress. 

“There’s someone in here you're trying to avoid.” He didn’t question it, so much as come out with it directly. 

“Not avoid, per say…” she sighed. “But, I’m enjoying your company, and Curt just walked in and he has a habit of, well…”

“Being Curt?” He supplied a helpful smile. 

“Driving away any man I’m interested in.” She had said the last part so quietly, head ducked down, that he strained to hear it. 

“What was that?” His thumb and index finger gently cradled her chin, lifting her face back up towards him. His eyes were boring into her, hazel locked on green, and she couldn’t pull herself away even if she wanted to. 

“I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Curt and I grew up together.”

“Yea, I heard it mentioned once or twice.”

“Our mom’s got close when we were kids; we lived in the same building growing up, and they’d usually toss us in the sandbox or let us run around the garden while they gossiped. So, Curt and I became like siblings.”

“Go on…”

“And like all good siblings, and in true big brother fashion, he likes to embarrass me in front of anyone I’m with.”

“Well, I’m not deterred by Curt Biddick.” He grinned, giving her jaw a gentle pinch with his two fingers before pulling back.

“It’s why I stick to the formalities with you…”

“Well, if it’s not too bold of an ask; unless you really need to, I’d prefer you call me Everett. Or Ev. Whichever suits you.”

“Okay…” 

“Now, can I be bold once more?” He was trying to get her to crack another dazzling smile, and he’d be damned if the night ended before he succeeded. 

“You’re pushing your luck, Everett.” 

“There she is,” he grinned. “Could I have this dance?”

“I’d love nothing more.” She smiled, watching as he stood before gently taking her hands to guide her from her chair. 

Drinks forgotten for the time being, Valencia allowed Captain Everett Blakely to lead her out onto the crowded dance floor. When he found a suitable spot, he gently twirled her before pulling her body close to his. His hands were warm, but not overly so, and she found that as one rested gently on the small of her back and the other held hers, that it was a comforting feeling she had been missing for quite some time. Not even dancing with Curt made her feel so at ease, and that normally would have worried her. Something about Everett Blakely and his warm hazel eyes pulled her in, and made her want to stay in his embrace for as long as possible. As he swayed them gently, his warm breath fanning across her cheek caused her to look up, her head lifting from where she was resting it on his shoulder, her gaze meeting his.

“Hell of a song.” He spoke softly, words just for them to hear. 

She hadn’t noticed what the band was playing until he said it, the tune of You Go To My Head filling the club. 

“Appropriate, don’t you think?” 

“Absolutely,” his hand resting on her back pulled her just that much closer, the pins on his uniform catching on the button of her Red Cross jacket, but neither seemed to mind. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my head since I landed last week.”

“Is that so?” Her hand that had been resting gently on his shoulder had somehow wrapped around him, her fingers finding a home in the soft hair at the nape of his neck. 

“Think you might like to stay there a while longer?” 

“Just a while?”

“As long as you like, sweetheart. I want to know everything about you.” 

“Well, I’d say you’re off to a good start.” She whispered, her head moving back to his shoulder as the band moved into another song. Neither making any effort to part. 

Neither of them saw it, but Curt was watching from the bar with a proud grin on his face. 

Part Two

A/N: Thanks for reading! This series will continue for Blakely & Val, so if you enjoyed this, please like, comment, reblog- whichever is your poison. Feedback is always welcome & my ask box is always open. If you want to be added to my tag list, or removed, let me know!

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Make a new post with the name of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of now non-descriptive or ridiculous.

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Beat Me Daddy, Eight To The Bar - Everett Blakely x Valencia (OC)

Love Letters Part 5 - Robert “Rosie” Rosenthal x Jo Harris (OC)

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