During the war, Joseph was a pilot who commanded his squadron and flew overhead into battles and dropped bombs onto German cities nearby to where he was stationed. He was a strong willed 19 year old with a sense of justice and a beating heart for his lover whom he left in his hometown back in England. He had sworn that when the war ended, he would return to his one and only and they would marry and live in a small house near the rocky beaches of the English shore.
And so, when the war finally did end, Joseph made good on his promise. He stepped out of the last train cart for the evening and looked onward, searching. His eyes scanned the myriad of faces until his own stern grey-blue eyes met with caring hazel ones that were speckled with golden flecks. Upon seeing Joseph, they began to well up, and the person who those kind eyes belonged to took a shaky step forward.
"Joseph?" the person whispered, but despite the noisy sound of trains and chatter in the station Joseph heard them as if they were right next to him. The man ran up to his lover and called out their name.
"Matthew!" Joseph cried, stumbling towards the man he cared so much for. Matthew caught him in his arms, and again they looked into each other's eyes for a moment before slowly embracing. For a minute, they both stood in the station, holding one another, whispering about how much they missed the other. Other couples in the station were doing the same, but only this pair was getting strange looks, but it was to be expected. They were both men, and it wasn't right for them to do this. Yet, they still held on to one another. Eventually, they let go of each other and made their way out of the train station, not bothering to listen to any of the snide comments people said about them. After all, it was a delicate time and the police were too preoccupied with getting everything in order to apprehend the two gays, though surely the couple would have to be more wary of their displays of affection when others were around in the future.
Joseph and Matthew walked home along the busy streets of Chester, and the man who had previously been so high up in the sky saw the damage he had been doing to German cities, yet in his homeland. Various houses and other buildings were either destroyed or at least damaged in some way, and looking down one street he could see that the entire row of houses he had frequented so many times to bother both his and Matthew's shared childhood friend Millie, was completely gone. The only thing left was rubble and families who had nowhere to go. Matthew had already written about that bombing, and had specified that Millie was, thankfully, unharmed and staying with her aunt until things had been rebuilt and she could move back into the neighbourhood. It was a little disappointing, since Joseph quite liked going out with her for a drink, seeing as she could keep her liquor down much better than Matthew. Though, he will admit it was almost too cute the way his dearest would try and impress him by taking a sip and swallowing it with tears in his eyes because of the burning sensation the liquid gave. Joseph chuckled to himself as he gently reached for Matthew's hand and intertwined his fingers with his partners. The other flinched at this and his cheeks faded into a rouge as he looked at the man who was holding his hand, as if to say "you know we can't do this, what we did at the train station was pushing it", but this only made Joseph want to see how far he could push things before Matthew would draw the line. But, he wouldn't do anything now, not with how happy he is to finally see his other half after so many years.
"Can we go home quickly? i need to do something" Joseph asked, a serious tone weighing down his words, which surprised Matthew seeing as how just a moment ago he had been so playful.
"O-of course" Matthew replied, concerned.
"Thank you, Matthew, it means a lot to me" Joseph replied tenderly, making his sombre eyes go soft for a moment, making the other's heart beat faster and face turn an even deeper red than it already was. Matthew looked away in embarrassment but squeezed Joseph's hand ever so slightly to make sure that he knew his 'thank you' was appreciated. After all, Joseph really only displayed affection to tease and fluster him, though maybe being away for so long had made him more open to displaying genuine affection. He continued to contemplate what else might had changed in him whilst his dearest was at war, until he found that they were both face to face with the door to their flat.
"I'm sorry to disappoint, but I didn't remember to take my keys with me when I left, so if you didn't mind . . ." Joseph started.
Fumbling with the keys, Matthew unlocked the door to reveal the small flat that awaited beyond. The light from the sunset flowed into the room and settled on the furniture. It really was a below-average sized room, but to Joseph, who'd had to live in a room with at least seven other pilots for years, it felt enormous. He looked the room over, reminding himself of everything he'd forgotten. How the bed was sat underneath the window, the wardrobe so inconveniently placed so that every time he rolled to the right he'd hit his head on it. The small table with an even smaller china vase in the centre of it that held two white lilies, and looking down he noticed his chair was neatly tucked in, revealing the marks on the wooden floorboards where he would constantly lean back on his chair, much to Matthew's dismay. looking over to his right he saw the small kitchen where his lover made their meals, his favourite of which was apple pie - God, he missed desserts like that. No, in fact, he just missed desserts in general.
"Joseph" Matthew interrupted his thoughts, shutting the door behind him. "um . . . so, why was it that you wanted to come back so abruptly?"
"Ah, thank you for reminding me - you know I'd almost completely forgotten what this place looked like, it really makes you appreciate what you have-" he cuts himself off as he turns around sharply, grabbing both of Matthew's wrists and slamming him against the door, giving his lover no time to react before he kissed him lovingly. "-that includes you as well"
Joseph let go of Matthew's wrists and went to go lie down on the bed, exhausted from the eight hour train ride, leaving Matthew standing stunned, back still against the wall.
"That was it?" he wailed in confusion, fooled get again by the mastermind that was his beloved. Unfortunately for him, his reply came in the form of gentle snoozes. Matthew sighed as he went over to take Joseph's boots off, and covered him with a blanket. "Goodnight" he whispered, and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek.