Love You Till The End (Robert Zussman x Reader)

40 - Y/N L/N

August 25, 1944
Paris, France

The celebration didn't just stop after the fireworks. I mean, how could it? The French people had fought hard and lives had been sacrificed to liberate this city that's very important to them. Witnessing the French people chant with joy had put a smile on my face. It made me feel glad that the war had given me this good moment to remember.

Turner gave us the rest of the night to enjoy ourselves, so the boys and I went on a search for alcohol and a place to relax. We eventually came across a tavern not too far from Hotel de Ville, the hotel we had liberated, and we could hear the loud playing of a band coming from inside.

When we stepped inside, there were plenty of people already in there: American soldiers, French soldiers, and civilians who were drinking, laughing, and dancing amongst themselves. Some French and American soldiers were showing each other their weapons and things they had collected. I also noticed a few soldiers were sitting at tables and playing cards while others flirted with French girls to see if they'd get lucky.

The boys and I found ourselves an empty table, and it didn't take long for all of us to end up with a mug of beer in our hands which the bartender gave to us for free. We sat there silently for a moment, taking drinks from our mugs and looking around at the celebration going on around us.

I had anticipated the liberation of Paris for so long and the celebration that was expected to come after, but now that it was happening, I felt a bit lost and it seemed like the boys were feeling the same way. We hadn't been given freedom like this in so long. Sure, we have been given time to rest before, but now we had been given permission to have some fun and it felt odd to me. I felt like I needed to adjust to what was going on around me before I could join in. I figured the alcohol and my friends would help me let loose, eventually.

"All right, I got alcohol in my system and I'm ready to have a good time tonight. Cards anyone?" Aiello spoke loudly over the music as he set his empty mug on the table and pulled out a deck of cards from his bag. He made a motion towards the bartender to bring him another mug of beer before he shuffled the cards.

"Winner takes all," Zussman said with a smirk as he removed the pendant necklace from around his neck and placed it in the middle of the table.

"You're on, loverboy!"

We played a few rounds of cards and it sure as hell was entertaining since Aiello and Zussman got very competitive. They eventually decided that cards wasn't good enough to compete for the necklace, so they switched to arm wrestling instead. They both came close to pinning each other's arm down, but Zussman was able to successfully pin down Aiello's arm first.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me!" Aiello jumped up from his seat.

"Looks like I'll be takin' this again," Zussman said, snatching the necklace off the table and holding his hand out for Aiello to shake, "And before you say anything, just shake my Jewish hand and move on."

I was shocked at what Zussman had said and I quickly looked at Aiello to see if he'd say anything back. All he did was grumble before shaking Zussman's hand and walking off to get another drink.

"Better watch out, Zuss. He might just take that necklace from you while you're sleeping," I joked as I lit a cigarette.

"Ha, I'd like to see him try. Speakin' of watchin' out, look who decided to join the fun," Zussman signaled for us to look towards the entrance of the tavern and we turned to see Pierson heading for a bar stool.

"Pierson and fun don't belong together," Daniels remarked.

"Yeah, that's right, so don't have too much fun or you'll get yourself a court martial," Zussman said with such seriousness on his face that the rest of us couldn't help but laugh.