Love You Till The End (Robert Zussman x Reader)

27 - Y/N L/N

June 1, 1944
Devonshire, England

Things are getting serious now. We're soon going to be sent off to invade some beach. Sending mail home had been put to a stop which made a lot of us worry because we weren't sure if the last letters we had sent home were really going to be the last.

Today is our last day at camp since we are going to be put on a ship again when it comes time to invade the beach. We won't be on a ship for a week this time so I've heard. Before we get put on any ship, we have to head to Portsmouth, England which is about a two-hour drive from Devonshire. I don't doubt that they might also make us march occasionally.

Lieutenant Turner had let us in on a very small amount of information about this new operation we were being sent to accomplish. It's known as Operation Overlord and it's going to be set to happen on June 5th. Our main objective is to invade some beach and push the Germans back. Since they have control over France, our goal is to take France from them. There are a few beaches across the coast of Normandy that we and our Allies are going to be invading. We're working alongside the Brits and the Canadians and we all have code names for the beaches since the Generals wants this to be as secretive as possible, so the enemy doesn't know what to expect. The beach we're invading is under the code name Omaha.

Lieutenant Turner told us that sticking to our training is very important if we want to push the Germans back. The most important thing is to never bunch up when we get on the beach. We had practiced how to get off the boats and to spread out on Woolacombe Beach many times. It was just a matter of time before we discover if that training was any help when we either succeed or fail at accomplishing the objective.

The Army's been treating us very good. They've been giving us hot meals and hot showers lately. I know I can't take what we were being given for granted. We'd soon be showerless and stuck with K-rations or C-rations for who knows how long.

The men had just arrived back from their showers and I was sitting on my cot, waiting for Lieutenant Turner. I couldn't shower until the men were done and he had to stand guard at the shower tent because of an incident that had happened a few weeks ago.

I had been showering when I heard talking very close. When I started to look around, I spotted a head peeping into the shower tent. I screamed loudly and Lieutenant Turner heard since he had been nearby when this happened. He ran over and caught the three men just as they were about to run away. Turner busted their chops and they came close to getting court-martialed. One of them got demoted from Private First Class to just Private. They all were being watched very carefully since then.

Speaking of ranks, I'm now a Private First Class along with Zussman and Daniels. Stiles remained as a Private, but he doesn't seem to mind since he's officially been assigned as a war photographer. As for Aiello, he's a Technician Fifth Grade now. It's a good feeling when you get ranked up. Not to mention, you get more on your paycheck which is nice.

I walked outside of the tent and waited. It wasn't normal for Lieutenant Turner to be late and I figured it had something to do with all this Operation Overlord stuff.

"Waitin' for someone?" Zussman said as he came out of the tent.

"Lieutenant Turner, actually. He guards the shower tent for me because of the... uh... incident that happened a few weeks ago," I said, shaking my head.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Couldn't believe they pulled that crap. Listen, I know this probably won't sound right, but it's gettin' late and who knows when Turner is gonna come. If it ain't a problem with you, I could guard the shower tent for you," he offered.

I accepted his offer because I trust him. I also just really wanted to sleep since I knew tomorrow was going to be a long day, so we headed to the shower tent together.

As I quickly washed up, I thought about our walk to the shower tent. There hadn't been much conversation. I could feel a nervous tension between us. Most likely because of what was set to happen in the upcoming days.

My feelings for him had grown and I knew I was making a mistake. If we weren't in the Army, I wouldn't feel so terrible about liking him. I guess I'm just being realistic. One of us or both of us could die. I know I shouldn't think about that, but we basically signed our lives away when we enlisted. You're not guaranteed to come back home alive. That's really hit me since our time to get into combat has gotten closer, but I know I can't let it get to me. It'll only make things worse.

As I was getting dressed, I suddenly heard yelling outside.

"Private Zussman! What are you up to? Is L/N in there? You better not be doing what I think you're doing!"

I quickly got dressed and ran out of the tent to see Turner storming towards Zussman. He was trying to explain himself.

"Sir, it's not what it looks like. I was... uh... guardin' the sh-shower tent for her b-because we weren't sure when you were coming."

"Is that true, L/N?" Turner turned towards me.

"Yup. Zuss isn't a peeping Tom, sir. Nothing to worry about here."

"Alright, then. Get to bed, soldiers. Long day ahead of us tomorrow," Turner said, eyeing Zuss suspiciously as he walked off.

"You nearly shit your pants, didn't you?" I told him as I laughed.

"I'm not even going to argue with you. I was pretty damn scared."

We talked about the upcoming days as we walked back to our squad's tent. Before we headed inside, Zussman stopped me.

"Is something wrong?"

"Well, y' know, with this whole Operation Overlord stuff gettin' started soon, none of us really know what the hell to expect. I just wanted to tell you that I've got your back. I've always thought that we've made a pretty good team since basic," he said, giving me that small smirk of his.

"I'm glad to hear that because I've always thought the same. I'm no liar when I say that I've got your back too," I said, holding out my hand.

We shook hands, but in reality, I wanted more than that. I had to resist the urge to kiss him. I felt a bit shocked with myself because of how badly I wanted to kiss him, but I also felt a bit worried that I had missed my only chance.

* * *

June 3, 1944
Portsmouth, England  

We were surrounded by many other platoons when we arrived in Portsmouth. We had witnessed a few fights since some of these soldiers didn't take an accidental bump into them very lightly. There were a few ships waiting for us to board as we slowly got closer to the ocean. It was pretty crowded and we weren't able to move very fast.

"God, not this shit again," Aiello said as he eyed the ships.

"Tell me about it," Zuss grunted.

"At least we won't be on it for a week this time," I told them, trying to add some positivity to our situation.