With those she held dearest all gathered together, smiling and laughing and throwing arms around each other just because they could, Charlie felt her heart grow ten sizes. This, she knew, would be a memory she locked away for a rainy day. This would be what she turned to when the world felt so bleak she couldn't understand what worth there was in fighting for it anymore, when she couldn't remember what it had been like to live outside of combat.
As Skip spun her under his arm as they danced to the upbeat swing song Boo was playing on the record player, Charlie tipped her head back and laughed brightly into the blue of the sky. These were the kind of moments that made life worth living, the kind of moments that made her so determined to save the men who came to her with the life draining out of them.
She would hold onto this. Through it all, she would make sure to remember this night and its joy and how she felt for the first time in her life that she was exactly where she was meant to be.
When the dance ended Charlie carried on laughing, and when Skip bowed to her gallantly she dropped into a curtsey. It wasn't nearly as graceful as what her mother would have liked, but her mother wasn't here, and she didn't care. Incidentally, neither did Skip.
Charlie felt that she had spent the whole night so far dancing. First had been Alton, then Malarkey, then Bill - who had insisted, because he hadn't yet gotten to dance to her despite all the times they'd been out together - and then Skip. She decided she was finished dancing, at least for a little while, and followed him off of the small patch of grass which had somehow become a makeshift dance floor. When she came to a stop, she found herself standing beside Floyd, who was also seeking respite from dancing after Boo had made him dance with her.
Wordlessly, he offered Charlie the bottle of wine he was sipping from, and when she looked up into his face he was grinning. Charlie took it and took a long gulp, her throat dry from exertion, then coughed as it went down, which made Floyd laugh.
"How come your boyfriend's not here?" he asked at length, after she'd handed the bottle back and he'd taken his own swig from it.
"He's not my boyfriend," Charlie said, sending him a warning glare with no actual heat behind it. "And because I didn't feel like inviting him. I wanted to have fun with my friends, not worry about whether I was saying or doing the right thing to make him like me."
Floyd's eyebrows pinched together at this. "Freckles, he already likes you. There ain't a single thing you could do to make him change his mind."
"How do you know that?" she wondered, taking the bottle back from him and drinking from it. It was red wine, which she much preferred to white, though already she could feel it sending tingles to her extremities, putting a levity in her head. "Are you an expert on men now as well as women?"
Floyd rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "I know because you're you, and you're impossible to dislike."
"You say that as if we were immediately best friends," Charlie pointed out, turning to him. "If I remember correctly, we didn't get along at first."
"And if I remember correctly, that's because you thought I was being a dick to you when actually I was just joking."
Charlie scoffed, shuffling on her feet as she searched for an adequate response. "Well, how was I supposed to know you were joking?!"
Floyd tilted his head back and laughed. "I'm not accusing you of anything, Freckles, I'm just explaining."
Sighing, Charlie passed him back the bottle. "I still think the 'Freckles' nickname wasn't always so good-natured."
Indulgently, Floyd rolled his eyes. "Think whatever you want, Freckles."
She wore a self-satisfied grin at him letting her win the debate. "I will, thank you very much."
He passed her back the bottle and she took a long draught of it, revelling in the warmth of the crimson liquid as it went down, but when he held out his hand to take it back, she thrust it behind her back.
"Freckles -" he began to complain.
"In exchange for the bottle back," Charlie said, cutting him off, "you have to give me a dance."
"A dance," Floyd echoed, straightening up. "That's all?"
"That's all," she agreed, matching his taller posture.
"You could ask me for anything and all you want is a dance," he went on, attempting to clarify.
Charlie shrugged one shoulder, swaying from side to side and tilting her head to the side, coquettish. "I'm a simple girl," she told him, grinning. "Easily pleased."
"Oh, I don't think that's true at all, Freckles," Floyd replied with a grin equally as wide on his face.
"On what grounds?"
"On the grounds that I know you better than anyone." He was getting closer to her with every word, joining in on her little game but playing it better than she did. "So, you wanna ask for something else, or just the dance?"
Tilting her chin up, Charlie adopted an air of defiance. She refused to let on that he'd flustered her. "I still want the dance," she said, her voice decisive, "but I also want..."
Floyd waited patiently while she thought up her second demand, smirking at her all the while.
"I also want you to stop being mean to James and the other replacements, both to their faces and behind their backs."
He pretended that this was the hardest thing anyone had ever asked of him, playing it up just to make her laugh, but eventually he conceded. "Deal," he told her, holding out a hand.
Charlie put her own hand in his and shook it, gazing up at him through her lashes, her blood fizzing with the impact of the red wine. When they both retracted their hands, he laughed.
"I was actually waiting for the bottle."
"Oh."
Charlie gave him back the bottle, but instead of drinking from it he set it aside and offered her his palm. With a little bow, he asked, "May I have this dance?" A nod and a giggle his confirmation, Floyd led Charlie back onto the patch of grass they'd both not long since vacated and drew her in close as Boo changed the record in the record player.
Charlie tipped her head back to look into Floyd's face and smiled softly when she found him already looking down at her. She'd never before noticed their height difference and how, even though he was taller and broader than her, his size made her feel safe instead of intimidated. And she'd never noticed the flecks of gold in his warm brown eyes, and how they lit up in the sunshine.
A moment later, the quiet in the air around them exploded into vibrant colour, the song Boo had picked loud and fast and joyful. Before Charlie could so much as laugh at how high Boo had turned the volume up, Floyd was spinning Charlie under his arm and lifting her up, forcing her to let herself relax and follow his lead.
The dance was so fast and her laughter so frequent that Charlie couldn't get any words out. Floyd couldn't either, laughing at how easy it was for him to make her laugh. And then, when she was gasping for breath as Floyd drew away from her and then pulled her right back into his chest, the first droplet landed on her skin. A pinprick of cold on the hot skin of her arm, Charlie never would have guessed what it was if it wasn't then followed by another, and then another, and then another.
"It's raining!" she shouted to Floyd over the music, her smile painting her words in joy.
Floyd simply shrugged, not seeming to mind in the least, and continued to swing her this way and that, his dancing enthusiastic but never not careful to keep her steady on her feet.
The rain started to pour as the song neared its end but no one minded much. The record player was safe inside and who cared if they got wet? The men would be back in their fatigues tomorrow, their dress uniforms sent off to the laundrette, and the women would be out of their day dresses and back in their own uniforms. So everyone kept dancing even as the rain fell, breaking the heat and making their dancing just that bit more spirited.
The big group of them stayed outside into the night, even as the rain fell in sheets. Charlie was sure she'd be sick of dancing by the end of the night, but each time she did it she only seemed to enjoy it more.
Still, there came a time when she was soaked to the skin and breathing heavily, and her laughter had given her the hiccups. Now, she thought, she was finally ready to call it a night.
Charlie turned to Skip and Alex, who she'd been standing with, and opened her mouth to say so, when Malarkey appeared out of nowhere, red hair plastered to his forehead, and offered both of his hands out to them.
With a roll of her eyes and a hiccup, Charlie placed her hand in his while Alex scoffed and batted his other one away, but nonetheless the three of them followed him over to where Charlie just now noticed a group gathering. Everyone was dripping wet, their hair scraggly and tangled and their clothes hanging heavy, but they were smiling so brightly they could have started a fire in spite of the downpour.
"One last dance," Boo pleaded to no one in particular. If Charlie hadn't known her better she would have thought that Boo looked a little bit tipsy, leaning all of her weight into George on her right even as she had her other arm linked with Hoobler's, on her left. That was when Charlie realised everyone was linking arms.
The next thing she knew, she had both of her elbows linked with Skip and Alex's, and their circle was locked up. Whatever song was playing - a happy tune with sad lyrics - was part way through, but they danced to it anyway. By the time it ended, Charlie was all laughed out and truly exhausted.
A silence like radio static fell when no one raced to change the record now that they'd gone through every song, and they were left with the hissing of the rain. Charlie let herself lean into Skip, dead on her feet, and laughed when he mock-groaned under her weight. Nonetheless, without further complaint he shifted to stand up straighter so he could hold her up better and let her wilt on his shoulder.
"Guess we better call it a night, huh, fellas?" Hoobler asked, earning scattered mumbles of assent.
"You guys host another one 'a these shindigs soon, alright?" Bill demanded, starting to make his way inside along with Joe Toye.
"You'll be lucky to get an invite with the way you drank us dry," Autumn called after him, which made Joe Liebgott, standing beside her, snort.
Bill chortled at this. "You'd 'a missed me if I weren't here."
"Like a fork in the eye," Autumn retorted in a tone that suggested she agreed.
"Hey, Charlie, you thinkin' about standing up anytime soon or are you gonna make me stand out here all night?" Skip drawled.
Charlie hummed her consideration. "I'll have to get back to you on that."
Mabs laughed as she came over. "Come here, darlin'," she said, holding out both hands for Charlie to grab onto. When she did, Mabs pulled her upright and they both leaned into each other. "We'll all catch our deaths if we stay out here any longer."
"I had so much fun," Charlie mumbled, resting her head on Mabs' shoulder. All the wine she'd drunk had made her head feel heavy. All of a sudden she wanted nothing more than to be dry and warm and tucked up in bed with a blanket. Now that the air had turned cold again, she couldn't help but miss her bed at home.
"Me too, honey," Mabs muttered back around a soft smile. "Me too."
"We should do it again, like Bill said," Charlie went on.
Mabs laughed lightly. "Yeah, we should."
Tired, Charlie watched the world go by with eyes half-lidded as Mabs led her to the stairs, then mumbled something incoherent to make Mabs stop when they found some of the men still lingering by the door.
It took a moment for Charlie to untangle herself from Mabs, but when she did she held out both hands for Floyd and stumbled into him. "You were gonna leave without saying goodbye," she complained to him, voice quiet as she spoke into his chest.
Floyd took a moment to reply. Just when Charlie was going to repeat herself to make sure he'd heard, he answered, "Goodnight, Freckles."
Charlie smiled and nuzzled closer to him, then groaned loudly into his soaking uniform when Mabs called her name from over by the stairs.
"Say goodnight, Charlie, it's time for bed."
"I could sleep right here," she mumbled, her arms hanging limply by her sides as she leaned all of her weight into Floyd.
Mabs scoffed a laugh from behind her. "Ya could, but ya won't. Now leave him alone and come to bed, would ya?"
Charlie groaned again as she forced herself to stand up straight, then found a smile left over from her night of making some of her favourite memories and put it on just for Floyd.
"Goodnight," she told him.
A slow smile spread across his face like warm butter over bread. "Night, Freckles."
"Detestable girl," Mabs was teasing as Charlie turned and made her way towards her on the stairs. "You're lucky I love your annoying ass."
But Charlie only heard what she wanted to hear of that statement, and she gave Mabs a smile like the sun as they climbed the stairs together. "I love you too, Mabs."
Mabs rolled her eyes and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and together they made their way up to bed. And when Charlie was alone in her room once more, wearing dry pyjamas and tucked snugly under the covers of her bed, she actually kind of did feel like she was home. A different home to the one she'd left behind, to the one she'd longed for earlier, but a home all the same.