The Spirit of the Corps » Band of Brothers

93: Pretending Not to Be Magnetic

Mabs watched the two of them from one of the three tables separating them and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Were they both really that oblivious? There was Floyd, staring at Charlie like he thought she was about to disappear into thin air, and there was Charlie, sneaking glances at Floyd out of the corner of her eye whenever she thought he wasn't looking.

Mabs would not meddle, that much she'd vowed to herself. Not after what had happened with James. The guilt of that, of seeing Charlie as she'd been after she'd lost him and knowing that Mabs herself had been the one to push them together, had been too much to repeat. But it really was infuriating to watch. And Charlie was much more stupid than Mabs had ever guessed if she actually thought Mabs didn't know about her and Floyd. Of course she knew. Not only was she her best friend, she hadn't been born yesterday.

Boo wasn't looking at anyone but George, but George kept her updated on the situation and theorised about what had happened between Charlie and Floyd after they'd left last night. "Do you think they kissed?" he murmured to the girl in his lap, whom he loved more than the use of his vocal chords.

"Maybe," Boo said quietly. She was studying George's face in profile and smiled when he looked down at her to kiss her nose.

He bent his face closer to hers to whisper, "Do you think they fucked?" and grinned when she laughed and swatted at him.

"No!" she exclaimed, pushing his face away. No one batted an eye at them or cared enough to ask what they were discussing. The two of them were always like this.

"Charlie's much too innocent for that," Boo said, quieter now, once her laughter had died down.

"Tab ain't," George argued.

Boo shook her head. "He loves her too much to cross any boundaries with her. Every time he so much as lays a hand on her he looks like he's handling diamonds." She sighed. "That's probably why they're still not together. He's too scared to cross a line."

George breathed a laugh. "Never thought I'd see the day."

Boo smiled. "They're good for each other," she said, hazarding a glance over at them to see them still not looking at each other. She laughed quietly and George followed her gaze. "Two magnets pretending not to be magnetic," she said.

George laughed. "Yeah," he agreed, pressing a kiss to Boo's temple. "They'll figure it out soon enough."

Autumn kicked Floyd under the table and, when he startled and looked over at her, she stared at him blankly.

"What?" he asked, shaking his foot out beneath the table because, actually, she'd kicked him pretty hard.

"You're staring," she said, unimpressed. "And it's making everyone within a mile uncomfortable. So either go over there and sit with her, or stop."

Beside her, Lieb snorted.

"I'm not staring," Floyd protested, resisting the urge to look back at Charlie again, just to see if anything had changed since he'd last looked. "I'm just making sure she's alright." He shrugged. "She looks pale." Only half a lie; she did look pale, but he knew she was alright. When he'd last looked over she'd been smiling at something Malark had said, looking cosy as she sat there all wrapped up in her blanket.

So cute.

"Well, she threw up half of her vital organs earlier," Autumn explained. When Lieb laughed again, she smirked. "You're a bad influence, Tab," she went on. "Mabs said she found you two drinking cognac."

"Sounds like a party," Lieb commented.

Floyd clicked his tongue. "That was her idea, not mine."

"Don't blame her!" Autumn ordered.