for wexhappyxfew, who also thought it'd be fun to fake date george luz.
***
It all started as a practical joke.
Okay, maybe not. Jokes were meant to be funny, and practical jokes were meant to dupe everyone else except for the ones in on it. Sitting on your workbench, you stared as the young man across you went into great detail of everyones reaction to the two of you.. well, fake dating. Except now, nearly a month into the con, you wished it wasn't fake, and he had no clue.
If you were being honest, it really all started with George Luz. The company joker had found his way into your office in Toccoa, where you had been working as a nurse, and training to work on medical transport planes for the Airborne.
The man limped into your office, his face grimacing with pain. "Hey, nurse," he started, trying to casually lean on your metal desk though it was anything but casual, "My leg kinda hurts when I walk." Strain was plastered all over his face.
You had heard of the grueling training all the soldiers were being put under, so you were used to them coming in for strained muscles and the like. "What company are you under?" you asked, guiding him to sit on your metal desk so you could inspect him.
"Easy, ma'am."
Whistling, you helped him sit up and took out your pen. "I hear you boys run up Currahee nearly everyday."
The man shrugged, bashfully looking at you as you inspected his thigh, "Eh, we do it so often its almost as easy as breathing."
You paused what you were doing and looked at him, "Well, if it was so easy, what happened to your thigh then?"
"Alright, fine," he frowned, leaning in closer to you, his voice barely above a whisper, "You'll need to keep a secret." Squinting at him, you nodded. "I tripped and fell."
Holding in a laugh, you shook your head and walked towards the freezer unit in the corner of your office that stored cold presses. "Lucky for you, Mr. Easy-As-Breathing, you just pulled a muscle." You saw him jokingly wipe away non-existent sweat on his forehead and smiled. "10 to 20 minutes, press this on the swelling to stop it," you said, handing him an ice pack, "And rest that leg."
"Thank you, ma'am," He hopped down from the desk on his other leg, and wobbled to the door. "It's George Luz, by the way. In case you need to write it on your," he twirled his finger, pointing at your nurse's notes, "thingie over there."
"Nice to meet you, George. I'm Y/N." you smiled, "Be careful."
"I'm always careful!"
***
Your head in your arms, you groaned, the throbbing pain in your temple possibly getting worse.
"You okay, nurse?" you heard a man ask, and looked up to see Bill Guarnere. He had come in a few times to help deliver supplies to your office. He looked at you in concern, mouth in a frown.
"My head just hurts," you replied, nodding towards the corner of your office, "You can leave those there." Bill carried the box filled with nursing supplies and plopped them on a stool.
He turned to face you once more and said, "Your boyfriends gonna be so sad to hear this. His angel, you know that's what he calls you?"
You couldn't believe your ears. Lifting your head up slowly, you looked Bill in the eye. "What did you say?"
"Yeah, Luz right?" he replied, looking off into the distance, "None of us could believe it. Congratulations, by the way. He's a great guy."
You stood quickly, the entire world tilting. With your blood boiling in your ears, you didn't even let Bill finish as you were out the door.
"Nice chatting with ya'!" you heard him call for you, but you were already halfway towards their billet by then. You stomped as fast as your legs could take you. Boyfriend? Luz? You met the guy yesterday, you thought to yourself in disbelief.
The migraine in your head long gone, you stopped in front of their billet and took a deep breath. You pushed open the door, not realizing how light it was and it swung open and banged on the wall. All heads in the room turned to you, and your cheeks turned a beet red. "Is," you said, your voice trembling, "Is George Luz here?"
A few men smirked at each other. "Luz, your girlfriend's here." one of them yelled, and George came skidding out of the washroom in the back. His eyes opened in terror and just as you were about to correct the skinny man who referred to you as Luz' girlfriend, he pushed you out the door with a hand clasped around your mouth. You heard the men laugh behind you, making you even angrier.
George quickly shut the billet door behind you and looked at you sheepishly. "Hey, Y/N." was all he managed to get out before you quickly interrupted him.
"What the hell, George?" you exclaimed, lightly jabbing him in the chest, "What's everyone saying about this girlfriend business?"
He rubbed his chest in pain and grimaced at you. "Ow, what's that for?" George mumbled, shielding himself from your hand. "What? It's hilarious! They think I'm so cool for snagging a dame like you."
Your mouth fell agape and you were about to tell him why it was a horrible idea when the Easy boys started filing out of their billet, hooting and whistling at the two of you. "Break it up, lovebirds!" a tanned one yelled, calling Luz, "We have 3 minutes to get to the training ground."
George looked back at his friends before grabbing your head in a panic, planting an awkward kiss on your nose and yelling a quick goodbye.
And that's how you became George Luz' fake girlfriend.
***
It all started as a practical joke.
But now you were in love with him. He sat across you talking about how his friends all love you too, and how worried he was that the secret would come out. George spent nearly all his free time loitering around your office and often brought you random gifts whenever he could in order to keep the façade alive for the past month.
Sitting on a chair in the corner of your office, he paced continuously as he spoke, waving his arms in grand gestures, scheming about their next plot to fool his friends. Rather, his next plot. "How about we stage a fight?" he asked, suddenly stopping in front of you but his eyes were everywhere but on you. "I'll even let you slap me!"
George said it with so much excitement, you nearly took up the offer to slap him right away. "Don't you think this is going a bit too far?" you responded, fiddling with your fingers on your lap, "I mean, the guys seem to really like me. I can't imagine how disappointed they'd be if they found out."
"Of course they like you, Y/N," George rolled his eyes, before settling his gaze on you and smiling. You expected something heartfelt, but instead he said, "You take me off their hands."
You rolled your eyes and shook your head, "Whatever, George. But if this all blows up in your face its your own fault."
They were quiet for awhile until he nudged you with his knee. "In all honesty though," he smiled genuinely, his voice quieter this time, "Who wouldn't like you? You're the kindest, smartest, funniest, and best nurse any company could ever ask for."
You squinted your eyes, staring down the brunet man. "Was that a genuine compliment, Luz?" you grinned, trying to brush off what he had just said as friendly, "Wouldn't want you falling in love with me now wouldn't we."
He shrugged with a grin, "Already am, sweetheart." Your cheeks burned and he quickly added, "We're dating remember!"
It was all just a joke to him, you had to remind yourself. "That's hilarious," you mumbled, "I need to go back to work." Standing, you quickly brushed past him and sat back down on your desk. He clearly didn't know what upset you, because his face fell because of your cold demeanor and tipped his head in goodbye.
"See you later," he tried saying, but you simply nodded in response.
***
It all started as a practical joke.
But now you were heartbroken. When George Luz said later, he definitely meant it. The day was over, and you packed up your stuff to head back to your billet. You still thought of how rude you were when he said goodbye, and how you should probably explain why your demeanor was like that. As you stepped outside, you were greeted by the one and only. He was seated on a bench outside your office, a cigarette between his lips.
Plopping down beside him, you gently pulled the cigarette from him and took a puff yourself. "What are you doing here?" you asked as you handed it back to him.
"I," he started but quickly paused, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration, "I honestly don't know."
You let out a dry laugh and bumped his shoulder with his, "I'm sorry for how I acted awhile ago. I just didn't think that joke was all too funny."
George nodded and looked at you. "Sorry," he whispered, but he didn't ask further, which disappointed you.
"It started off as a joke, ya know?" you continued, "But I really feel like I'm the one getting fooled." He looked at you, confusion evident on his face. "Because the more I spend time with you, the more I get to really like you. Then I remember its just all jokes for you, just a stupid prank, and then I get sad because I wish it were real."
George paused, and looked back down at the ground. "Well damn, Y/N. I thought the same thing," he replied, turning to you with a slight smile on his lips. "If I'm being honest, none of the guys think I'm cool for snagging a dame like you." he teased, repeating his line from when this whole thing started. "I think I'm really cool just because you talk to me, though." He smiled and messed up the hair on your head, and you breathed a sigh of relief. He laughed, and at the sound of it, you couldn't help but laugh too.
"So now what?" you asked him, gently fixing your hair that he messed up, "Are we gonna tell them it was all just a joke?"
With a mischievous glint in his eye, he put his arm around you and grinned, "How about we don't?"
"What are you on about now, George?" you said exasperatedly, but hints of a smile were on your face.
"How about I take you on a real date?" He grinned, cupping your cheek with one hand, "I got a weekend pass and Sobel hasn't even once looked my way this week."
A wide smile spread on your face and you nodded, holding onto the hand he had on your cheek, "I would love that, George. I really would."
"Guess I'll have to tell the guys I got the prettiest nurse in camp to go out on a date with me."
It started off as a practical joke, but now it was your reality.
***
a/n: shannon has been so loving and supportive towards my writing since i started posting, she didn't request this but i decided to write it for her as a thanks!
she's also an incredible writer, i go through her book every night, so definitely check out everything she's written if you haven't. i promise its more than worth it.
i hope you like this! and thank you for reading.
with love,
𝓖.