Half Sick of Shadows » Band of Brothers [2]

Deleted Scene: Juliette's Birthday

a/n:
I wrote this very quickly and spontaneously last night. Felt like writing my boys again. This one takes place in Bastogne. Much love! <3

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The first of January, 1945. Tom could hardly believe he was still alive. Each New Year's Day was a blessing but this one didn't much feel like it. Last New Year's Day their trio had been a quintet. How had they gone from five to three in just a year? Even worse, this year would be the first time since meeting her that he wouldn't be celebrating Juliette's birthday with her.

She was now twenty-three. It seemed strange to think it. He tended to forget how young she was, especially with all of the weight on her shoulders and how she always seemed to just bear it. All that responsibility and yes, she'd shed a few tears from time to time, but she always just got on with it after that.

He wondered, not for the first time, how she was bearing this. The Gestapo. Interrogation. Torture.

It was Will who pulled him back from the edge of his spiralling thoughts.

"Happy New Year, Tom," he said, voice quiet but face ever-smiling. He was another one who always just got on with it.

Tom looked up at him where he was crouched on the edge of his foxhole, arms crossed tightly across his upper body in a bid to salvage whatever dwindling body heat he had managed to retain. Looking at him there, burrowed into his clothing but still smiling so brightly that even his eyes were squinted, Tom couldn't help but smile back. "Happy New Year, Will."

"Can I come in?"

Tom laughed. "You don't have to ask, you silly bugger. Get in here."

Will laughed too, though the sound emerged muffled through his scarf, before he dropped down into the foxhole and settled himself back into the dirt beside Tom. Whilst it was a tight fit, at least the presence of another body raised the temperature a tad. Tom swore he had never been so cold. British winters seemed warm in comparison to this - yet another nostalgic dream of the past he longed for so desperately it sometimes felt as though he couldn't breathe.

"Days at school feel dead long ago now, don't they?" Will spoke into the silence, as though reading his mind.

When Tom glanced sideways at him he found Will's big brown eyes already on him, curious and owl-like. Again, he couldn't help but laugh; even when so much had changed, Will would always be Will.

"Yeah," Tom replied eventually, still laughing to himself. "Yeah, a lifetime ago," he agreed.

"Never thought I'd end up doing this," Will added mindlessly.

"What?" Tom answered, a smirk on his lips as he glanced at him once. "Crouching next to me in a hole in the ground in Belgium? I've been dreaming about this moment since I was a little boy, me."

Will laughed brightly and shook his head. "I mean being a spy." He hesitated and locked his eyes on the wall of dirt opposite him before adding quietly, "I know I don't do anything dangerous or, really, as important as the rest of you, but I'm really proud to be part of this team. I don't know if I've ever told you that." He sighed. "I wish I'd have said it back when everyone was still here."

Tom scoffed. "Will, you think you're not as important as the rest of us?" His tone revealed his disbelief. "You're a vital part of this team. We wouldn't ever get anywhere without you and God knows how many times you've saved all of our behinds with your quick thinking." Tom ran a hand down his face, gnawing on his frozen bottom lip if only to get some feeling back into it. "This team wouldn't be anything without you, Will, and don't forget it."