The two lovers oneshot

The two lovers

Edward and Harold were great friends in the eyes of their parents’, ignoring ladies in order to spend time with each other. They were both very similar, which explained their liking of one another, so much so that their parents had proclaimed that they were like brothers.  They both never like to spend time with the so-called fairer race and instead preferred to spend time with each other. In each other's arms they were just Eddie and Harry the two boys who loved each other.
Of course, they lived in a time of homophobia so they were unable to be public unless they were willing to be prosecuted but they found solace in each other and that was what mattered. In the peak of their time of love, the great war happened and Eddie went to go fight purely because he wished to keep England safe while Harry was unable to join because he was too weak and but instead supported his boyfriend and wished him well.
Eddie was unable to share his one that was waiting for him with the other lads as they talked about their passes with their blonde hair and how pretty they were. No instead he chose to talk about his boyfriend as if he were a girl. For if him liking the same sex was told to his commander he would be honourably discharged and all of his medals confiscated. This is of course was along with the fact that liking the same sex was illegal and he would likely be prosecuted along with his husband.
In the war Eddie saw his newest friends get blown apart while going could only stand there and watch. He saw on end his best friends get shell-shocked and be sent to hospital and how less than a month later would return still shell-shocked but cured in the eyes of the officials. He saw how men with so much life in them slowly wither away as their will was drained from them. He saw laughter die out simply because the voice no longer worked.  He saw men smiling as death took them feeling a sweet relief. He saw men cry when they thought no one was watching, clutching dog-tags in their hands until the knuckles became white. They would only stop crying when tears stopped coming and no one minded the cries since they all knew that each had lost someone. In his case it was his best friend who had fell no less than two weeks earlier and he himself would clutch their dog tag and cry at night otherwise the beasts would think he was weak and target him. The things he saw plagued him enough that he was unable to sleep. Each second of closed eyes bringing new torments awake. He himself was shell-shocked and sent to a hospital and treated. The pain never ceased and he had lost all feeling in that one leg. But he was still sent back to fight alongside his comrades and watch as an hour became years and second became days.
Even sending letters back to his loved one, he was unable to feel joy except from knowing that the other was alive. His letters were controlled so he could never write the solid truth and could only write the lies thrust on him by the government. However, he and Harry had once made a code in which they used to communicate in front of their parents to hide their relationship. He used these codes in order to convey what he wanted, however it was severely limited.
One day (he never could remember what day it was let alone the date) all he knew was that it was one day closer to the end of the war. He had been told that his squadron had to go over the top. He knew he was going to die. His only consolidation being that his last words to his husband, they had been able to tie the knot because on Harry's birth certificate he was a female so it was allowed, had been “I love you”. He thinks he will be able to die knowing that his Harry would still be alive even though it aches him to leave him to live in this world while he moves on.
Back home Harry reads the telegram. It said that his Eddie was dead. The government then went on to try to console him but he knew it was all lies. The Government would just give compensation and then forget he ever existed. Harry decided that if he ever were to have the chance he would fight for England and die just as Eddie had.
In no man's land lies the body of Edward. His eyes are glossy and lifeless unlike how vibrant it had been before as he would dance in the dead of night with his love. His body is slack and he is laying face down with his head turned to the side and his eyes open. His limbs are splayed out under him. Blood is oozing out of him from the bullet wounds and the shrapnel digs further into his face and legs. His comrades lay beside him all in a similar gruesome state.
Eventually one would come across his body and carry his dotage until they themselves would pass. Though fate would not be so lenient to let Harry die and instead would have him fight in another war and then proceed to live on for many years more and he would be stripped of any medals. Than around 60 years in the future he would finally get those medals back and his story would be told. He would see his nieces and nephews grow old and have kids and grandkids. He would tell them the story of how his life was during the war and eventually he would die in his sleep and join his lover to be with him for the rest of time.