Queen One Shots

Love and War - Brian and Roger

A/N: I was inspired to write this as it is VJ Day today. We will remember them.

The Second World War started when I was only 16. Like all the boys my age, we wanted to join up and be heroes like our the older members of our families who fought in World War One.

Secretly, behind our parent's backs, me and a few friends went to the recruitment office. I was good at hiding secrets. You see, one of my friends is a boy called Roger, he's a bit younger than me and just as keen to join the army. We are a bit more than friends though, Roger is my boyfriend. We've been close since I could remember, that makes it easier to hide our real relationship as everyone assumes we are just the best of friends.

Roger wanted to join the army because some of his family died in the First World War. He wanted revenge in a way and he wanted the glory they got before they died. When we went to the recruitment office we hoped we could all form a 'Pals Battalion'. This meant that you could be in the same group as your friends when you go off to war.

But that's not how it worked out for us.

"How old are you boys?" The recruitment officer asked

"16" Roger answered

"You've got to be 18 to join. Come back as soon as you are" The officer then waved us away as we all sulked home

The other boys in our group went the next day and told the officer they were 18 but Roger was too afraid of being found out. He always hated to lie. So, together we waited for our 18th birthdays. There was no way I was signing up without Rog.

The day of Roger's 18th birthday came and not long after that we went back to the recruitment office. War had been going on for a few years now and they were thankful for all the men they could get.

"Age?" The officer asked Roger, signing him up before me

"18" Roger answered

"Occupation?" He then asked

"I'm a dentist's apprentice" Roger told him

After a few more questions, Roger was signed up and ready to go. It was my turn now.

"Age?"

"18" I answered like Roger

"Occupation?"

"I work in a shipyard" I told him

"Ah" The officer frowned, "We can't sign you up. You're working in a reserved occupation"

"What does that mean?" Roger's eyes widened

"It means I have to stay home Rog" I sighed

"You're work is needed" The officer stated

"What about me?" Roger quizzed

"You're signed up, you can't do anything about it. Training starts next week. Come here at 9am sharp" The officer told Roger as my heart sank

Roger would be going off to war without me. I never really wanted to fight, I'm a bit of a conscientious objector, but I wanted to be with Roger and if that meant going off to fight with him then so be it. Now it felt like he was being ripped away from me and there was nothing we could do about it.

Roger ended up in Burma, fighting the 'forgotten war'. Most people only cared for the fighting that was going on in France. When VE Day came I had very mixed feelings. I was happy that the war was finally coming to an end but sad that Roger was still out there and fighting. I was also worried because I hadn't got a letter from Roger in almost 4 months. In his last letter he was saying that he had just got better from getting an infected snake bite. I couldn't even begin to imagine the conditions he was surrounded by. He was fighting the enemy and the landscape.

A week after VE Day the celebrations had begun to calm down but everyone's spirits were still high. However, that was the day I got a letter that I was dreading. Roger had been captured, missing in action. He could be tortured, starved, even dead by now and all I had was a letter to say he was missing.

I didn't know if I would ever see him again, especially now he was a prisoner of war.

Then came VJ Day, August the 15th. Half of me expected Roger to be back soon after, but he wasn't. I began to fear the worst. I thought Roger was dead. I had heard how ruthless the war was out there from people who had come back. That only upset me more. Those people had limbs missing and huge scars on their bodies. I didn't want Roger to be hurt in that way.

Roger was, and always had been perfect to me. He was extremely understanding and caring too. I was terrified to tell him that I was homosexual, I almost didn't. Deep down I knew that he wouldn't judge me in any way. We were 14 years old when I told him. We climbed the big tree in my back garden so we weren't in sight. His first reaction was a big smile and then he kissed me. It was the most amazing moment of my life. He then put a finger to his lips and shushed me. I nodded and just smiled too, although I wanted to scream and shout with happiness. We talked about everything we felt before it got dark. That's when our relationship as boyfriends really started.

I had now been months since VJ Day and I've lost hope. I began to mourn Roger and there wasn't a day that would go by without me crying. I had his army photo framed on my wall in the living room. We always planned to live in a house together when we were older so we could be together all the time. I fulfilled that dream and bought the house and moved all of mine and Roger's stuff in. His mum gave me his stuff as she knew our plans to be 'housemates'.

I struggled to sleep nowadays. Nightmares of Roger being tortured and treated badly filled my mind at night. I sat outside by the front door with the noon sun on my face. All the sleepless nights must have caught up with me because the next thing I know is that I'm being woken up by a car driving on the gravel track to my house.

I slowly get up and look to the car. It's a taxi. I didn't know my mother was coming to visit me.

The next thing I saw really blew the air out of my lungs. Out of the taxi came Roger, dressed in his uniform with the biggest smile on his face. I was frozen completely to the spot. Here, stood about 20 metres from me was the man I love, the man I thought was dead.

The taxi drove away and Roger began to walk towards me.

"Aren't you going to say hello? Forgotten me already?" Roger smirked

"H-hi" I managed to say before crying my eyes out and rushing over to him. He ran to meet me in the middle of our driveway and we wrapped our arms around each other. Never wanting to let go.

"You won't believe the stuff I've seen" Roger wiped a tear away. Only now I was able to take in his features. He was skinny, oh so skinny. I could practically see his bones! He looked so mature in his uniform though, I almost forgot that he was only 22. He had changed a lot, there was no denying that.

"I've missed you so much. I thought you were dead" I told him

"Nearly was...many times" he looked down. I placed my hand on his cheek and lifted his head up. After quickly checking for onlookers I dived in for a kiss. It felt like a kiss from a romantic movie you'd see at the pictures where the camera would spin around the couple and fireworks would go off behind them. God it felt good to have him home.

"What took you so bloody long?" I joked, "What happened?"

"I was captured and taken to a camp. They gave us hardly any food and I ended up getting some sort of jungle disease. I was hardly conscious most of the time so I don't remember much. The camp was liberated and I got some proper treatment in a proper hospital. Then they sent me home and here I am" Roger told me

"Are you hurt?" I then asked

"A few wounds" Roger nodded

"I don't think I could've done it, you know?" I frowned

"I'm glad you had to stay home. So you didn't see what I saw. I would've spent most of my time trying to protect you anyway, war is heartless and you have to try and learn to be heartless" Roger explained

I nodded in understanding before saying, "We've got a lot of time to talk about it. When you're ready, I'll always listen to you"

That night I held on so tightly to Roger. As I held him I could feel his hip bones and took a mental note that I need to feed him up. Many things have changed with Roger but I know that inside he is the same boy he left as and I'm so very happy that he is back.