4th May, 1945
Hitler was dead. However the war was not yet over. Easy Company was in Bavaria with the intention of capturing Berchtesgaden; the home of the Nazi Party and its Third Reich. Of course, before his suicide, Hitler had ordered his SS to make Berchtesgaden their final stand against the allied invaders which was why on a roasting hot afternoon in May, Easy Company were sat waiting for engineers to come and blow the massive roadblock out of the way so that they could get moving on closer to that very destination.
They had tried firing a number of bazooka rounds and grenades and anything else they had, but none of it had even put a dent in the massive roadblock. Everyone was restless and bored. Even George had long since given up his usual incessant chatter and jokes and looked as glum as everyone else did. Leaning against the railing of the truck, Evelyn let the sun beat down on her face and couldn't help but compare the sweltering heat to the biting cold of the Bois Jacques; the thought of that place instantly making her heart lurch in remembrance of those they had lost and of what had happened to Bill there. She tried not to think of it but sometimes it just popped into her mind along with every other awful thing they'd been through before she could stop it.
"You think this is hot, you wanna be back in Frisco in the middle of summer," Joe smirked when she poured some water onto a handkerchief and held it to the back of her neck.
Evelyn gave him a wobbly smile, hoping he wouldn't notice the way she grimaced slightly at the mention of San Francisco. It was still very much a sore point for her and something she knew she was going to have to talk to him about at a future date, but since leaving Landsberg they'd had no time alone so the opportunity hadn't arisen. The thought of not living in Philly, and not living close to her family, seemed to get that little more difficult to bear each and every time it was brought to her attention. The thought of one day settling down with Joe and having children, knowing that her parents and siblings wouldn't be right around the corner to visit or help out left a knot in her stomach. But equally so did the thought of discussing her worries and concerns with Joe who had already started planning out their life back in San Francisco.
"I can just imagine Ev now lying on the beach in a polka dot bikini and a pair of ridiculous looking sunglasses," Skinny grinned. "'Oh Joe, could you just rub a little more of that sun lotion on my back'."
"Shut up," Evelyn kicked him, but her eyes were twinkling with silent laughter.
"Yeah and stop thinking about my wife in a bikini," Joe eyeballed him.
"Oh come on, Joe," Skinny exclaimed. "It's not like I was thinking about her naked. Although, I kind of am now."
"Who are we thinking about naked?" Perconte climbed into the back of the truck after relieving himself in the trees.
"Ev," Bull muttered, sucking on his cigar and grinning at the way Liebgott's neck was reddening in annoyance.
"No we're not," Evelyn pulled a face. "Nobody is thinking about me naked, you bunch of sickos."
"Well, you can't exactly stop us," Sisk muttered. "I'm doing it right now."
"Shame you'll never know if your imagination matches reality though," Joe scoffed.
"I'm sure I could find a way," Skinny smirked. "You know, I could accidentally walk in on her in the shower or something."
"Hey, if you get to see Ev naked then I wanna see too just to see if it matches what I'm imagining," Perconte frowned.
"I've seen Ev naked," George piped up with a grin.
"When have you ever seen me naked?" Evelyn was livid.
"Wouldn't you like to know," George wriggled his eyebrows. "But if you're gonna twist my arm then I'll tell you. Back in Mourmelon after the drop into Eindhoven when Bill decided to steal that motorcycle and get himself sent to hospital for a while, you remember I was entrusted to guard you during shower time?"
"You looked!" Evelyn gasped. "George, how could you do that?"
"It was one time," he rolled his eyes as though she was making a mountain out of a molehill. "What can I say? Curiosity just got the better of me."
"And?" Skinny asked.
"And what?" Evelyn raised an eyebrow.
"You know what," he winked. "But for the rest of you fellas, let me just say that Lieb has got his hands full wherever he puts them."
"Ooh and nipple area? Dark or peachy?" Perconte asked with a grin, knowing that he was embarrassing Ev and annoying Joe and really enjoying it.
"Yeah come on, Luz, you gotta tell us," Skinny demanded.
Covering her face Evelyn groaned, wondering how the afternoon had taken such an awkward turn.
"I'd think very carefully before you answer that, Luz," Joe warned him.
"You guys are so dull," George tutted. "Honestly fellas, it's a shame Lieb's made an honest woman of our Ev because after what I saw in Mourmelon, I would have happily had her."
"Nice to know you love me just for my personality George," Ev muttered sarcastically.
"Aw Evelina," he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her against him. "Even if you had a body like my great aunt Maud's I probably woulda tried my luck anyway. Then again maybe not."
"Alright stop now," Evelyn elbowed him in the stomach making him groan. "You're really pissing me off."
"And me," Liebgott agreed.
"You know, you two have become so boring since you got hitched," Skinny commented. "You're like a walking advertisement for celibacy."
"Do you even know what celibacy means Wayne?" Evelyn asked him. "It means never having sex."
"Well I didn't fucking know that, did I?" he snorted. "I actually meant you're an advertisement for always just having casual sex."
"Well casual sex is all you'll ever get anyway because I can't imagine a woman who would wanna settle down with you forever."
"Ouch," Wayne hissed. "Ev, did I ever tell you how much I love that sharp tongue of yours?"
"Bite me," Evelyn scowled.
"Oh the things that does to me."
"Stop it, Skinny," Lieb scowled at him this time. "Hey, aint that Sink?"
Everyone craned their heads to look and sure enough Colonel Sink had just pulled up to speak to Major Winters.
"Hopefully he's gonna let Winters know when we can get moving from this goddamn road before the fucking French beat us to the Eagles Nest," Liebgott muttered.
"With any luck," Perconte agreed.
As there was a general muttering of annoyance and discontent about the possibility of the French reaching Berchtesgaden before they could, Sink's jeep reversed past them and Evelyn smiled when Sink caught her eye and nodded, his own eyes warm and smiling upon her.
"Hey did you see that Joe?" Perconte nudged him and smirked. "Sink was giving your wife the eye. I reckon you got yourself a bit of competition there."
"Sink wishes," George chuckled. "Although Evelyn, I once grew a moustache 'cause the girl I was seeing told me that it really provided a more intense experience when I was servicing her downstairs region so just think of what Sink could do with that moustache."
"Is that true?" Perconte asked, rubbing his fingers across his face. "And there was me thinking that girls preferred clean shaven faces because of rashes. I swear George, I think my brain is about to explode from this new knowledge."
"Honestly though Ev, how is it you and Sink are such good pals?" Skinny asked, completely ignoring Perconte's excitable chattering. "I mean, what did you have to do to get him to let you stay here after the mis... after what happened?"
The mood in the truck grew tense, and George clipped Skinny around the back of the head with a glare that any big brother would be proud of.
"Jeez, I'm sorry," Skinny looked truly apologetic. "I didn't mean to say that."
"It's fine, Wayne," Ev patted his hand reassuringly. The lurch of her heart when she thought about that awful event hurt less and less each day, or maybe it was just that it was getting less and less difficult to cope with, but either way it didn't make her react the way it once would have. She had truly cried all of her tears over it and there were none left. That's what she told herself anyway. "As for me and Sink; let's just say that Joe and I have more in common with Colonel Sink than we could ever have thought. And on that note fellas, I need to go and find somewhere to empty my bladder and escape from you perverts for a few minutes."
She could feel everyone's eyes on her and she knew that they most likely thought she was going because she was actually upset and trying to pretend otherwise. Part of her wanted to make sure they all knew that wasn't the case, but they were a bunch of worrying old women and she doubted she could say anything to make them change their minds. Jumping down from the back of the truck, she waved off Joe when he told her not to go too far out of sight, and she chuckled out loud when George started proclaiming loudly that she should venture deeper into the thicket of trees because he had no desire to see her peeing.
Evelyn could still hear the guys chattering and arguing about something as she emptied her bladder, and it was over that noise that she just about heard the sound of weeping coming from her right. Frowning, she yanked up her trousers and decided to investigate.
"O'Keefe?"
Patrick looked up, his baby face and his young eyes filled with such raw anguish that it felt like a punch to the gut.
"You alright, O'Keefe?" she stepped closer, glancing down for a moment when he scrubbed in embarrassment at his wet cheeks.
"Yeah," he answered, his voice cracking as tears fell again.
Without a word, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a cuddle; something that he clearly needed because he gripped her for dear life and sobbed like a child in their mother's arms. Tears pricked at the back of Evelyn's eyes as his anguish engulfed her and all she could do was hold him and murmur words of comfort that she didn't even realise were coming out of her mouth. A thought popped into her mind; a memory of Joe Toye holding her in this exact same manner when she found out Henry had died back in Carentan, and she could feel that same sort of pain radiating from O'Keefe.
When he finally stopped crying and he lifted his tear stained face to her, she smiled warmly hoping that he would forget his shame at having broken down in front of her and realise that she didn't judge him for it whatsoever.
"I haven't been sleeping so good," he explained without her having even asked, fixing his gaze firmly on the trees behind her in an effort not to meet her eye. "That place it..."
As his voice faded into nothing, Evelyn realised what was going on with him. They were all struggling with the aftermath of what they had discovered at Landsberg. It was something none of them would ever forget, but perhaps the horrors of Bastogne and the shock that had been D-Day and all of the days to follow had somehow allowed them to pretend that after their initial shock and disgust at finding the camp, they were doing a good job of carrying on as if nothing had happened. They were all doing a good job of just getting through each day and only allowing the repugnance of what they had seen to affect them as they slept or when they were having quiet moments of relaxation.
Nothing- no amount of training or stories from British soldiers- could have ever prepared those in Easy of the things they would see during this war; things that would haunt them for the rest of their days. And while Evelyn thought those first few days of fighting in Normandy were a shock, she couldn't comprehend how it was for O'Keefe and the other replacements to have come across a place like Landsberg without having had any first hand experience of the evils of war before that. Fighting and seeing those you cared for being wounded or killed, feeling unable to rid one's hands of the tinge of blood, hearing bullets whizzing past your ear or barrages and explosions were nothing compared to seeing starved and brutalised people whose only crime was being the wrong religion or race. It was so incomprehensible that even though they had witnessed it with their own two eyes and felt a part of their souls and hearts be torn off and left in that place, it almost seemed surreal. There was nothing they could ever see again in life that would be as horrific as Landsberg. So to those young men who weren't as desensitised to war and its brutalities, the grief and the confusion must have been even more overwhelming.
"Perconte was right. We all came over here piss and vinegar, looking to join the action but we had no idea," he whispered.
"Neither did we, Patrick," she reached out for his cheek. "Neither did we."
"How do I explain this to my mom when I go home? How do I tell her what we saw and what happened to those people?"
"I don't know," Evelyn admitted truthfully.
"I don't think I can tell her."
"I understand that. I really do. But we have to tell them. Back home people are living like the war is over by all accounts, and that's because the way they see it the war in Europe is practically over and the Germans are almost defeated. They have no clue about the destruction and the devastation that's left behind; the families and homes torn apart; the people who will live with what they've been through for the rest of their days. So we tell them about Landsberg, and we tell them why we were here. We tell them that our men who lost their lives or parts of themselves didn't do so in vain. They did so because of a mad man who would have done to our country what he did here. And you know what, O'Keefe? They'll never understand. They'll never understand the looks in those people's eyes; they'll never understand the smell and the pain as they cried out everything they had been holding in for years. They'll never understand what it was like to see women in that camp dying with their babies inside of them- babies put in them by the very people who treated them worse than a worm on a fishing hook.
They'll never understand but I'll still tell them. It's the least they deserve and it's the least our men deserve. So, when you come home and your mom holds you and cries that she missed you and that she's glad you're home safe and whole, you tell her you're not whole and you never will be but that you're not broken. Because if those people we saw in Landsberg didn't break then neither will we. That's the least we can do to honour them.
Now you wipe those tears away, O'Keefe and you use that pain inside of you to keep going. We're almost there. I can feel it; we all can. Hold on."
With a nod, O'Keefe forced something that almost resembled a smile onto his face and disappeared back out through the trees.
"Did you actually believe any of what you said or did you just say it to make him feel better?"
Evelyn turned to sleep Major Winters walking towards her. His hat was in his hands and in auburn hair glistened as the sunlight caught it through a gap in the trees. His blue eyes were as warm as the still air around them and immediately Evelyn found herself at ease just as always in his presence.
"I believed what I said about telling people back home what we saw and the reason why," she sighed. "But I don't believe what I said about him not being broken. He is broken; I think we all are, Sir."
"You're right," he nodded sadly. "War is evil; we've experienced that first hand. But even in war you can find empathy and often unexpected kindness; especially from those who have no wish to be in this position any more than we do. There is decency and respect for your fellow man, or woman, and that has been true since time began. There are countless examples of this throughout history. However, what we saw at Landsberg and what other regiments have been finding all across the continent, there is nothing of humanity and decency in those places."
"Not to mention what they all lived through before they were even put in the camps," Evelyn added. "Joe told me some of what the people in the camp told him and it was just... there are no words to describe it. Horrific doesn't even do it justice."
"No it doesn't," Winters agreed. "All we can hope is that those who did this will get what they deserve."
Evelyn was shocked by the vehemence and anger in Winters' voice; a tone that she had never heard from him before. She had also never heard him ever wish anything bad on anyone; not even in Bastogne when the Germans were bombing the shit out of them. He was a good man with a kind and pure soul, but even the most easy going and forgiving of people could never forgive something like this.
"You know what the worst thing is about that comment, Sir? They could hang every single one of those bastards and it still won't ever take away what happened, will it? It still won't stop those people hurting and mourning what they lost and what they went through?" she bit on her bottom lip as it started to wobble.
The injustice of it all was too much for her. Every time she looked at Joe and saw the glazed over look in his eyes, her soul hurt for him. To know that he and his family could have been those very people and all because of something that was beyond their control; something that didn't make them bad people in the least was sickening.
"You're quite right," Winters agreed sadly. "It won't."
"And to think there were those who signed up thinking that the war would be barely anything more than a walk in the park that would have them shoot a couple of Germans and then come home war heroes," Evelyn scoffed. "None of us had any idea what would happen or what we would see here, did we?"
"No idea at all, Evelyn. No idea at all."
... ... ...
Berchtesgaden was beautiful. And very eerie. It was the most stunning little town surrounded by hills and mountains. It was obvious that those who lived here, or had, were people of great importance and great wealth, and while the atmosphere of silence was unnerving, there wasn't a person in the company who wasn't taking in the grandeur and beauty of the place with awe. Aside from the rumble of trucks, the silence of all of the men was deafening. There was just a strange sort of feeling in the air and everyone seemed to be affected by it.
"Do you reckon anyone's left here or have they all gone?" George whispered to Evelyn.
"No idea," she shrugged. "If I had to put money on it, I'd say they all left because they can't deny being a Nazi if they live here, can they?"
"Fair point," George agreed. "This is eerie right?"
"So eerie," Evelyn nodded.
"Wanna go find some crap to take home with us?"
"What?"
"Come on," George grabbed her by the hand. "Everyone else is gonna get all the good stuff before we even get a look in."
Following George into one of the buildings, she saw that he was right. Skinny and Perconte were literally grabbing anything that wasn't nailed down and Joe came running down the stairs with his hat full of cutlery and God only knew what else, looking entirely too proud of himself.
"Look at this shit," he held his hat out to show her. "Real silver cutlery. Imagine when our folks come for dinner and they see all of this."
"I don't want any of it," Evelyn frowned. "I don't wanna be sitting eating my dinner with cutlery that belonged to these pigs."
"Ev, it's just cutlery."
"Just Nazi cutlery," she argued. "I'd rather eat with my hands for the rest of our lives."
"You're being ridiculous," Joe huffed. "I'm taking it home and if you wanna eat with your hands like an animal then be my guest."
"I don't even want it in my house," Evelyn told him firmly.
"Well it'll be my house too so I get some say," Joe glared.
"Are you two honestly arguing over fucking cutlery?" Frank frowned at them.
"They're probably only doing it so they can make up for it later," Wayne snorted.
"Fuck off, Skinny," Evelyn spat. "You're an idiot.
She stormed off with a huff, and Liebgott rolled his eyes at her antics. She could be so immature sometimes it was untrue.
"What the fuck was that all about?" Liebgott demanded when he finally caught up to Evelyn.
"Nothing," she answered.
"Then what was the big fucking drama about fucking knives and forks for then?"
"I told you, I don't want them," she said. "And I can't believe you would want them. How could you even think about sitting night after night eating with those things knowing what the people who they belonged to did? What they did to your people."
When Joe's face fell, the pain in his eyes made Evelyn immediately regret telling him why she was so bothered about the cutlery. He had been trying so hard to cope with what had happened at the camp that it was wrong of her to bring it up, but she needed to make him see why she was so sour about what he was doing.
"Joe, I'm sorry," she sighed. "See this is the problem with being born a Guarnere; we don't think before we open our mouths. I didn't mean to upset you, I was just-"
"Nah you're right, we don't want this shit in our home." Liebgott interrupted her, tipping his helmet upside down so that the cutlery fell to the ground with a clang so loud it made Evelyn cringe. "I just want you to have the best of everything and I saw them and I thought that you'd love them, but I should have thought about it properly."
"I don't need the best of anything," Evelyn murmured, her eyes filled with such love for him. "I just need you and nothing else."
"Well if you guys aren't needing these, I'll take them off your hands," George appeared. "And by the way guys, we're moving out."
"Already?"
"Major Winters has given us the glory of being the first up the Eagles Nest," George grinned. "The question is are you running or are you walking?"
"George, how long have you known me?" Evelyn asked, forcing thoughts of Joe from her mind.
"A few years now," he frowned. "Why?"
"Ok, in all of that time when have you ever known me to willingly run anywhere?"
"Yeah but this isn't just anywhere, Ev, this is the frigging Eagles Nest," George exclaimed.
"Then you run up there if you're so damned excited," she pulled a face. "But unless Sobel's gonna be there screaming that I've got two more minutes to get to the top then I aint running nowhere."
"We'll see about that."
... ... ...
The place was awe inspiring. No one could deny that. Perched upon a mountain, surrounded by the most beautiful scenery anyone could ever proclaim to have seen, it was easy to see why such a place was the jewel in Hitler's empire. It was stunning. But amidst its beauty was also an air of strangeness. Evelyn felt it now just as she had felt it in the golden elevator that had brought them up into the main part of the... home? Home seemed like the wrong word because she couldn't imagine anyone calling something like this home, but what else could it be called? Being there seemed so surreal; like a dream. Evelyn couldn't decipher the many emotions she felt.
Hitler was no longer alive yet she felt as though she wanted to smash every little ornament and wall and window that existed just in the hopes that the man would see it from where he was hopefully rotting in hell. Another part of her wanted to cry and lament the injustice of the fact that they were here and they had lost so many all for a man who had ruined countless lives and condemned others to a lifetime of torturous memories, to then just kill himself in the end anyway. And yet another part of her just wanted to enjoy this place for the truly beautiful experience it was.
"Can you believe this place?"
Evelyn turned to look at Malarkey who held out a bottle of what looked to be champagne, and with a shrug she took it from him and drank.
"You ok?" Don frowned at her.
"I dunno," she sighed. "I just feel... this feels strange you know. This place is breathtaking but all I feel is anger. I feel angry that the man who managed to cause all of this shit, the loss of so many of our friends, was spending his time here when he wanted a holiday. A holiday from imprisoning and killing innocent people and causing a war that's torn families apart and ruined people's lives?"
And promptly Evelyn burst into tears, leaving Malark to glance around with a grimace before wrapping his arms around her and holding her close while she cried. At one point, Lipton walked past them and narrowed his eyes in concern but Malarkey waved him away with a mouthed promise that she was fine.
"Sorry," Ev croaked, lifting her head eventually and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Being here is just a little overwhelming."
"It's ok, Ev, we all know you're just a great big crybaby as well," Malarkey teased, grinning good-naturedly when Evelyn smacked him lightly on the chest.
"I swear I barely ever cried when I was back home in Philly. But since being with you guys all I do is cry at the drop of a hat."
"That's a lie," Don snorted. "Bill told me and Joe Toye back in Toccoa that you would, and I quote Bill here, 'cry at a turd crossing the road'."
"Is that supposed to be a Philly accent?" Evelyn frowned. "Don't ever attempt that again 'cause it was horrific. And also, Bill's full of crap, so don't believe everythin he says."
"So he was lying when he told me that you once cried for three nights in a row because when your mom put you to bed and said she hoped the bed bugs didn't bite you were too terrified to sleep? Or was he lying about you believing that snakes could come up the toilet when you were six so you refused to go to the toilet and ended up shitting yourself at school."
"Oh my god, when did he tell you all of these things?" Evelyn groaned, choking out an embarrassed laugh. "I swear I'm gonna chop off his other leg when I get home for that."
"And you know what, Ev? You could do that and he'd still beat you in a race afterwards," Malarkey smirked. "Never met a man braver than your brother. Never met a woman braver than you either."
"Shut up," Evelyn's cheeks flushed and she elbowed Don playfully, chuckling when he wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head.
"I mean it," he murmured. "I'll admit that when you first joined Easy I didn't care that you were a girl, but there were occasions when I thought you would never make it through training let alone through all of this."
"Gee thanks, Don."
"Look I'm crappy with words sometimes, but what I'm trying to say is that if you need to cry every day to keep on going then I won't judge you and neither will anyone else. We'd have been lost without you through this, Ev and when we get home I'm gonna tell everyone I know about the toughest women I've ever known."
"And I'm gonna tell everyone about the auburn haired sweetheart who always pushed through the hard times with a kind word and reassurance for everyone else," she smiled up at him. "I love you, Donald Malarkey."
"And I love you. But just for the record; if Liebgott ever asks me about this conversation I'm going to deny I ever said that."
"Don't worry, Don. Your secret's safe with me."
... ... ...
The sun was setting, casting a golden ember upon the glorious mountains and the rolling hills of Berchtesgaden. Looking out into the distance as a chill tickled the back of his neck, Joe took a long drag on his cigarette and waited patiently for the footsteps behind him to come closer. When Evelyn sat down beside him hesitantly, he turned his head to look at her.
"Hey you," she smiled nervously. "Mind if I sit with you for a while?"
"Sure," he shrugged. "As long as you're not gonna fight with me again about cutlery."
"I'm sorry," she sighed. "I didn't mean to argue with you about it. I should have just gotten my feelings across in a calmer, more adult way I know. One day I won't fly off the handle but I'm afraid I've been pretty spoiled my whole life without even realising it so be patient with me, yeah?"
Liebgott snickered at that. "Spoilt is the right word," he murmured, wrapping an arm around Evelyn's shoulders and pulling her against his side so he could bend down and kiss the top of her head. "But I still love you even if you do bust my balls and turn into an angry little monster over the slightest thing."
"And I love you even though you fart worse than my brothers combined in your sleep."
"Just wanna put it out there, Ev, that it aint exactly silent from your end either half of the night."
"I fart rainbows I'll have you know," she snorted. "Cotton candy smelling ones so I don't know why you're complaining."
"Speaking of brothers, you written back to Bill yet?"
"Not yet. I wanna write him something really upbeat and happy and tell him how excited and happy I am about him and Frannie getting married but I just don't have it in me. I mean I could write the words but Bill would see through it all and somehow know I'm not feeling myself and he'd wanna know why and he'd start worrying and I just don't wanna do that to him. He has to live with his wound from Bastogne forever and he don't need to be worrying about me on top of that."
"And you don't think worrying about you is all he'll have been doing since he left anyway?" Joe smirked down at her. "Ev, as a big brother I am telling you that if you thought Bill worried about you while he was with you, he's going to be worrying about you a thousand times more now that he's not here. That's just the way it works. I say write the letter, and when he replies and asks what's wrong- which he will- you can just bullshit that it's the usual things; this whole shitty debacle, missing him, missing home, whatever you wanna say."
"Yeah but if Babe or Johnny or someone writes and tells him about Landsberg? Then he's gonna know that's why the tone of my letter doesn't seem right."
"You really think anyone is writing about that place, Ev? We're all still trying to process it and deal with it. No way we're thinking of writing something like that down; not yet at least. Well, I know I'm not."
"I guess," Evelyn agreed, her eyes tearing up as she thought about O'Keefe earlier on in the day. "Can we talk about something else?"
"Sure we can," Lieb kissed the top of her head. "Wanna talk about how cute I think you are when you sleep at night and you clench your fists under your chin?"
"That's just so I can always be prepared to punch you in the face if you annoy me," she teased.
"That right, huh?" Joe grabbed her by the face; harder than usual but still gentle and she felt her stomach flip at the way his eyes darkened hungrily. She bit her bottom lip and Joe groaned, before standing up and yanking her up by the arm. "Come on."
"Where are we going?" she asked, breathless with eager anticipation as Joe led her to the building that would be housing Easy that night.
The place was empty but before Evelyn could even ask where everyone else, Joe shoved her into a
small room that must have belonged to a child given the single bed and the décor. But Evelyn didn't have time to take much notice of their surroundings because Joe was tearing at her uniform, yanking off her boots with a huff of impatient irritation so her trousers could follow them on the floor. His mouth was against her centre, devouring hungrily and his lips and tongue making almost obscene noises as they feasted on her like a man starved.
"Joe," her voice cracked as she begged pitifully. Her hands were tugging at his hair as her hips bucked, chasing the release that was already so close to the surface. Gripping her hips to keep them still, Joe brought her right to the edge only to chase it away time and time again, and when he finally allowed her over it he lapped at her juices, his tongue keeping the tremors long after they should have subsided.
Standing up, he hurriedly divested himself of his own clothes, throwing them on the floor to join Evelyn's and then climbed up beside her on the bed. Their mouths were melded together and when he slid inside of her without warning, Evelyn hissed and her teeth caught his bottom lip. He kissed away her breathy apology, licking the blood from his lips before using his tongue to mimic the movements of his hips as he thrust into her relentlessly.
Gripping her thigh hard and pulling it up to wrap her leg around his hip, Joe stroked the loose wisps hair back from Evelyn's forehead and kissed her there tenderly, brushing his nose against hers as his breathe huffed upon her cheek and their hips clashed together over and over again.
"I love you," he panted, his movements growing erratic and desperate as his own release neared and as soon as he felt Evelyn clenching around him he spilled into her with a grunt, not caring in that moment about any consequences that their lovemaking may bring. After all, Evelyn's monthly still hadn't returned so it was unlikely there were any repercussions to be had anyway. Kissing Evelyn leisurely, his tongue suckling at hers gently, he pulled back and smiled down at her. "One day, when we're home, I'm gonna get you in bed and we're not gonna leave it all day and night long, and I'm gonna do all the things to you that I can't do here because we have to be so fucking quick in case one of our idiot friends walk in or in case we get in trouble. Imagine it; I could get into trouble for fucking my own wife?!"
"I love it when you call me that," Evelyn smiled, her cheeks flushed and her hair falling out of its bun.
"What? My wife?" Liebgott's giddy grin matched her own.
"Yeah," she traced his lips, giggling when he pretended to nibble at her fingers.
Taking her hand, he rubbed his thumb over her empty ring finger and his face sobered. Without a word, he leaned across the bed so that he could reach his clothes on the floor and Evelyn pinched his bare butt cheek playfully while he rummaged around in one of his pockets.
"Close your eyes," he ordered, sitting back up and closing his fist tightly around something that Evelyn couldn't see. She narrowed her eyes and smirked, thinking that he was up to no good and Joe huffed. "Close your eyes, Ev."
Reluctantly, and with a grimace of anxiety on her face that made Joe chuckle, she frowned when she felt something cold slide onto her finger and her eyes were open before Joe could even tell her to open them.
"Joe," she breathed in awe.
"It's nothing fancy," he shrugged almost in embarrassment, kissing the gold winding willow band and then looking at her with eyes full of intense emotion. "After we got married and we stayed the night outside of Landsberg, I found an old couple who were looking to make some money. Anyway this belonged to the wife's mother or something and I thought it would be perfect for you. I was gonna give it to you sooner but after Landsberg I didn't think... Well, the time just wasn't right. I know it's not the most expensive ring or anything, and I'll get you something better when we get back home but for now I just wanted you to have something."
"Joe, it's beautiful," Evelyn whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks as she fingered the winding curves of the band. "I wish I had a ring for you."
"Guys don't wear rings," Joe muttered, entwining his hand with hers and pulling her against him.
"Some guys wear rings," Evelyn smirked. "I kinda like the idea of you wearing a ring. Tells all those other girls when we get back home that you're spoken for already."
"Doll, you don't have to worry about other girls," Joe snorted. "You're the only one for me and I'll make sure every single one of them knows it."
Later when they found the rest of the company, Evelyn made a point to show off her brand new ring to their friends. And for just a short while she was content to pretend that she and Joe were just like every other married couple in the world.
Hopefully the time would come soon enough when they really could be.