cursed ➤ j.egan

THIRTEEN

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN | music |
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The last mission hadn't gone well. Not even one B-17 hit their target. Their was too much flack in the sky and too many German planes trying to shoot them all down. Lucy herself had taken a hit to the fourth and second engine of her plane.

But somehow she managed to touch down a few kilometers from the air base, safely as well which was a pure miracle. She flew that plane on a mere whim all the way back hanging onto a thread of thin hope.

Hope was probably one of three things getting her through now. As was the same for most of her crew. Hope was what kept them going. Was what led them into the sky and into the heaven like battle grounds, in which they fought in. High above the clouds and any civilization.

Due to the heavy chance of death every time she flew for the first time in a while Lucy was being granted permission for a weekend leave to London. Which she had been looking forward to dearly.

Until she found out this morning that her friend - or whatever he was to her - John Egan would be accompanying her to London on his own leave as well.

So now here set the pair of them inside a bar or more a jazz club in central London chatting away and drinking twice as much. Which in it's own was already a plan filled with disaster waiting to happen. It was risky drinking this much around the man that Lucy has been having a little too many thoughts about recently.

"How do you like London?" The third man who Lucy had found out was called Thomas asked from her side.

For some reason the man had joined the pair several minutes ago and had started asking them both an array of questions and striking up conversation.

"It's alright. Nothing compared to America." Lucy replied on their behalf. 

This club was a lot more reserved than most American clubs had been. A slower more jazz like music played with couples dancing in the middle of the room and in around the chairs occasionally bumping into one of the round wooden tables.

The American clubs were much more up-beat with people quite literally snogging each other in play day and many people would be very, very drunk.

"So you're American?" Thomas said and smirked, though he was so drunk it just made his face look lopsided.

"Couldn't tell?" John's gruff voice said.

Looking at him now Lucy took note of his furrowed brows and hard eyes as if he was angry at something, or rather someone as he shot a few glares Thomas's way.

"You got me." He said and held both his hands up. "Your accents gave it away."

"Uhuh." John grunted making Lucy slap his arm gently indicating for him to be a little nicer.

In response he simply shrugged and downed the shot glass in his hand. That was filled with a familiar light brown liquid, whisky.

"If you'll excuse me I'm going to take a trip to the ladies room." Lucy informed them both and slowly got up and left them both to chat.

However when she returned Thomas was gone. Not just from the table, but from the club entirely. She looked around for him but found no signs of the English man.

Sitting back down she looked to John who sat that staring down at the glass in his hand as if he was contemplating something.

"We're missing the mission today." He stated what had been troubling him and continued to look down.

"What?" Lucy questioned.  

"They are all up their flying right now, risking their lives and here we are." He thought of his comrades even at this time, he thought of Gale and the others.

"John look at me." She told him but he didn't.

"We could be there, helping."

Lucy thought that with the grip he had over the glass in his hand he might jusy break it.

"John Egan look at me." Lucy said yet again and when he didn't she moved her hand onto his chin and pushed his face lightly to look at her. And when he did his eyes light up in certainty.

"What?" He now asked.

"We earned this, we've flown a fair few missions to deserve this." She reminded him of their exploits.

John didn't say another word. But he remained staring at Lucy.Until the music in the club got louder with a familiar song that both of them knew.

And slowly Lucy found herself saying something she never thought she would say.

"Why don't you sing?"

"You want me to sing?" John said sounding astonished. Lucy nodded in contentment.

"Are you feeling alright, doll?" He asked and placed his hand on her forehead to which Lucy playfully batted away.

"I feel fine. Now do you want to sing or not!" Lucy said getting more attention from the people around them.

"Alright then." John said and stood up walking over to the microphone in the middle of the floor surrounded by dancing people.

He gripped the microphone and started to sing. When he did Lucy buried her head in her hands for a moment regretting what she had done. Eventually she worked up the courage and looked at him only to find his eyes already glued onto her.

"That one was for Lucy Cleven." John said into the speaker at the end. Very few clapped.

When she heard her name fall from his lips a light row of pink glacéd over her cheeks. Slowly she rose and walked over to him.

"Well that wasn't quite what I was expecting." Lucy muttered as she came to his side.

"What can I say? I'm a man of very many talents." He winked and took the glass in his hand, downing it in one go.

"Liquid courage?" Lucy asked him seeing as he had taken double the amount of alcohol than her.

"Something like that." He replied and tilted his head to get a better look at her.

The two stood in a comfortable silence for a moment before John spoke up again.

"Did you mean what you said the other week?"

"What did I say?" Lucy asked back but she had a few vague ideas on what he was going to mention.

"When you asked me to kiss you. Would you still want that?"

Lucy thought for a moment. Of course she still wanted him to kiss her. But she wanted the kids to be full of no regrets. Maybe, now was the right time, maybe it wasn't. How would she know?

"Yes." She breathed out in reply. John nodded and shot her an affectionate smile that spread throughout his face, wrinkling his cheeks.

He had already started to inch closer to her from the start of her saying yes. Now there sides were together.

Slowly he moved his head down and took her lips. Grinding against her his hands found her waist and snaked around. Lucy moved her own hands into tangle with his dark locks.

In a matter of moments the kiss deepened. It felt like it was only them in the club as the rest of the world disappeared behind them. Moving in sync Lucy pulled away for air.

John rested his forehead against hers and the pair of them exhaled and inhaled the oxygen they had been lacking for the past few minutes.

"Let's go." John hushed into her ear.

Lucy nodded and let him take her hand. Leading her out of the club and onto the streets of London looking for a place to stay the night.