Love You Till The End (Robert Zussman x Reader)

39 - Y/N L/N

August 25, 1944
Paris, France

Zuss and I were woken up by the sound of pounding on the door. We both quickly got up from the bed, grabbed our guns, and raised them, expecting someone to barge into the apartment. Instead, someone began to speak and I lowered my gun once I recognized the voice.

"Wake up, lovebirds! We're liberatin' Paris tonight!"

"Goddammit, Aiello," Zussman muttered as he set his gun down on the bed, "I'm about ready to kick his ass."

"I'll join you if you do," I joked.

We began to gather our belongings soon after our rude awakening. As we got ready to leave, I couldn't help but feel a bit sad that we were going back to the same routine. I was going to miss not having to worry about my duties as a soldier. I was especially going to miss spending time alone with Zuss. Now, I was back to worrying about the "what if's."

"You ready to go?" Zussman asked. I nodded and smiled at him, trying to hide the fact I was feeling worried. He smiled back before walking up to me and putting his arms around my waist.

"We'll get a place we can call our own someday, mark my words. We'll go wherever you want to; Chicago, New York, San Francisco, you name it," he said, looking down at me.

"You know I would love that, Zuss. I just can't help but worry that we might not be able to do all the things we've talked about."

"I worry too which is why I try n' take it one mission at a time. If I think about all we have yet to do, I'll just give myself a scare, so I try not to," he explained and I gave what he said a thought. The future is so uncertain even when you're not fighting in a war and your life's at risk. I guess it's better to be hopeful than scare yourself.

Zussman kissed me on the forehead before he began to walk off.

"Wait," I grabbed hold of his arms gently.

"What's wrong?"

"If I remember correctly, you told me to 'wait till we get to Paris' a couple of weeks ago. I'm sure you remember since you said it the day that sweetheart Pierson ratted us out," I said before I started to laugh.

"Oh, how could I forget that lovely day?" he replied sarcastically.

I ran a hand through his hair and gently pulled him close to me.

"I'd just like to know, what exactly am I supposed to be waiting for?" I whispered into his ear. When I pulled away, his face was red and I could tell he was trying his hardest to contain himself. I knew what he had meant when he said it, but I couldn't help but act like I didn't know in order to make him flustered. I always find it interesting when I see these different sides to him.

"I- uh... I refuse to be interrogated, Ms. L/N," he cleared his throat and scratched his neck as he backed away from me. He then picked up his bag and turned towards me again.

"Maybe you'll just have to wait till we liberate Paris," he said with a wink before walking out of the bedroom.

As I grabbed my coat off the bed, the picture of Zuss and I fell out. I picked it up and looked at it for a moment. I was reminded once again of how innocent we had been when it was taken. Even though we had plenty of training, we didn't know a damn thing about what we were heading into. We didn't know we'd make it this far and we still don't know how much longer we have. Who knows how much longer this war will go on, but I sure hope we're there to see it end.

* * *

I spent the rest of the day talking to my platoon as we waited for orders. We sat around and talked about the upcoming invasion and how we hoped it would go. There was a lot of talk between most of the men about dancing, drinking, and picking up French girls after the invasion if it turned out to be successful.