Getting Over It

Chapter 6- Finale

"Well I'm..."
He took a deep breath. Was he ready for this? Was it too soon? Would he be sucked off after this? He didn't want to go, but he felt like he had to say it. These people were his friends -scratch that- his family, and if he couldn't tell them this then who else would listen?
He cleared his throat and began.
"During the war, I had my second in command, Lieutenant Havers -the great uncle of the young Scott Havers who came to the house not that long ago. We were very close -closer than I ever was to anyone- and we spent numerous nights together walking the gardens, making plans and in my office discussing schedules and regimes. Over the course of the war, we spent more and more time together and I realised too late that... that I loved that man-" Lady Button gasped, appalled, but everyone shushed her and signalled for Cap to continue. It took him a few more moments, he expected nothing less of Fanny, but it hurt nonetheless, "for ages, I tried to convince myself I didn't, that it was just a missunderstsnding, that I could be fixed, but I realised I couldn't... none of my prayers were answered. I still loved him no matter how hard I tried not to. Eventually, I wanted to tell him. I'd formulated so many plans to do so but couldn't carry out a single one. By the time I'd written a letter to tell him how I felt he had gone off to the front lines and never returned. He had said his goodbyes but my cowardice kept me back..." he could feel a tear brimming from the corner of his eye and he wiped it away instantly.

"Oh Captain," Alison said. This was the first time she'd heard the full story in a way he was willing to talk about it.
"I had no idea mate..." Julain bowed his head, almost ashamed in how he tried to force him to come out. He'd obviously had his suspicions, but nothing like this.
"Its not bees the works of the devil," Mary reassured him, "it bees the works of the Lords. A blessings."
"Thank you, Mary..." Cap managed a small smile. A huge weight had just been lifted off his shoulders and he felt light in a way he never had. Something was still there though. A cold sense of disgust. He didn't know where it was coming from until he looked up and saw Fanny leave. Deep down, he knew she wouldn't be happy, but he had hoped that maybe she'd changed.
"I'll talk to her," Alison rushed off.
"Back in day," Robin started, "Man love whoever. Man love man. Man love woman. Woman love woman. Man love sister. It not matter."
Everyone recoiled at the last one. Luckily times had changed in the last however many years.
"Well we're proud of you, Cap," Pat patted him on the shoulder, "and nothing has changed between any of us. Well... maybe Lady Button..."
"Yes, well I don't wish to discuss it any further. You all know now, much to Julian's pleasure I presume." He rose, "now, I do belive we have an hour until the next club. Has that one been rescheduled too?"
"Still film club," Pat smiled.
"Right," he rocked back and forth, "I'll see you in an hour then." He made his leave.

Cap had made it less than half way down the corridor before he was chased by an unmistakable voice.
"Captain! Captainnnn!"
"Yes Kathrine?" He span on his heels to face Kitty.
"Well I know you said you didn't want to talk about it, but I was thinking. Robin said in his day that a woman can love a woman and since it still okay for you to love a man, is it still okay for a woman to love a woman?" She began fiddling nervously with her dress.
"Well, of course. There was that wedding not long ago between them to lovely women and it seemed perfectly normal. In my eyes and eveyone else's," he smiled reassuringly.
"Oh goodie!" She beamed, "I'm so glad. Thank you Captain!" She hugged him and he froze for a good moment before he patted her on the back.
"Er, I just want you to know that if there's anything -anything at all- that you wish to talk about, then my door is always open. Well not physically, but you know what I mean."
"Thank you," she let go, smiling up at him once more before she made her way down the corridor to find Alison.

"Heyy..." Julain came up behind him, "listen, I know you're not one for talking aboth this and I'm not one for apologies, but I just wanted you to know that-"
"It's alight. Honeslty. Curiosity got the better of you, nothing more." Cap didn't want this to go on any longer, especially since he knew he'd have to face Lady Button sooner or later.

A day or so passed and the Captain hadn't heard a word from Fanny.

Despite him saying he didn't wish to discuss the matter with anyone, he got asked questions daily, and although his reactions would suggest otherwise, he didn't mind all that much. That was until the questions started coming from Fanny.

"Why?" She asked days later, "how?"
"Fanny listen, I can't change it. As Alison said, I am who I am and there's nothing that can be done. Trust me, I've tried."
"What do you mean 'you tried'?" She stopped pacing the room.
"Every way in the book. I tried them all from when I was young up until I accepted it. Every way I could find, I tried to convince myself I wasn't like that, that it was something else, that I could be fixed. None of it worked." He cleared his throat and sat down.
"Well... Alison has said times are changing and considering I would deem you as my closest friend I suppose I'll have to live with it. Evidently you can't be changed so there's no point trying"
"Thank you, Fanny, that's all I ask..." it was a better outcome than he'd expected, though he still hoped for better. He assumed Alison had something to do with it.

As he vacated a room, he heard a voice from below him.
"You're welcome."
Cap looked down at the floor to see a severed head laying there, "Humphrey?"
"I don't usually like to toot my own horn, but I talked to her about it the same way I did at the wedding. Told her it's normal and all that."
"Thank you, Humphrey..." For the third time that day, he smiled, "genuinely, thank you, soldier." He picked up his head and located Humphrey's body.

The weeks passed and the baggage the Captain had lugged around for decades had been kindly taken for him. He'd finally gotten over it. He still missed Havers and definitely cared about him but it was no longer painful to think about him. Parts of him still ached, however not in the way they had. He still hadn't been sucked off, though that seemed to be a thing to deal with another day. Besides, he wasn't read to leave everyone behind. He wasn't ready to leave his family.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! I don't know why this book took me so long to write, but I guess I just needed some time off. I did get to a point where I thought no one was reading it, however I got assured people were, so thank you so much for that :)
See you lot soon :))
-Francis