Endlessly [h.s.]

fifteen

"You look better." Mary offered Rosemary a small smile after they had sat in awkward silence for a few minutes.

Rosemary picked at her salad completely uninterested in pretty much everything, "Yeah, I got some sleep last night."

"How's he doing?"

Rosemary had long since gotten his letter, he'd been gone for nearly a month now. She still wasn't very happy with anything, but she was coping the best she knew how to.

She shrugged and picked at her salad some more, "He's okay, kind of has to be or they get on his case about it and it isn't very pretty to say the least."

Mary nodded and picked at her food as well, it was hard to talk to Rosemary now that Harry was gone, she was so...fragile and not really there at times and it was hard to talk about anything other than the war these days, it was everywhere and they had to cover every piece of information they received.

                                                                                                     . . .

"Hey man, can I ask you a question?"

Harry chuckled very lightly, "You just did Drouger, but yes, go ahead."

Jack blew into his hands as they walked, it was unbearably cold out but Harry didn't seem to mind it at all, "Do you have insomnia or is something other than the war keeping you up at night? I hear you shift uncomfortably all night and I don't know, I kind of feel bad."

Harry sighed and looked up to the sky, the stars were finally visible tonight and yet, he couldn't find it in him to smile, he wasn't entirely happy without his Rosie, "Something other than the war."

Jack watched him curiously, wondering why exactly he always looked up at the stars so much and why he looked so sad every time he did it, "What is it, if you don't mind my asking?"

He saw Casseopia and remembered how Rosemary had begged him to tell her about it for hours because they'd gotten snowed in and a small smile finally found its way to his lips at the memory, "My fiancè back in London."

Jack smiled softly at him, he didn't particularly see him as a romantic but it did make sense now that he thought about it and now he kind of felt bad for the poor guy, "I see. How's she handling all of this?"

Harry found himself laughing lightly and warming his hands by rubbing them together, he never thought anyone would ever be interested to know and he was away at war so she obviously wasn't handling it too well, "I'd say a bit worse than I am; it doesn't help that she has to hear about it every day, she works at Radio London."

Jack seemed to be astonished at the mention of her work, he listened to that station every waking chance that he got, "Rosemary Evans!? You're engaged to Rosemary Evans!?"

Harry actually found that quite amusing that he guessed correctly on the very first try and laughed genuinely, Jack wasn't such a bad guy, "Yes, that's her. You listened to the station a lot I'm guessing?"

Jack was genuinely excited to talk about her now, he had this massive crush on her for years and now that he was talking to her finance he could learn a few things and maybe even get an autograph or something, "Yeah! I listened to it just about every day, the way she talks about things is...I don't know how to explain it-"

Harry was smiling now because of the affect she had on other people as well, he knew all along that it wasn't just his heart that she held captive, "Brilliant?"

"Yes! Exactly! Wow! How did you meet her?"

Oddly enough, Jack's enthusiasm to know about her made him feel better, just to have someone to talk to helped so much and talking about Rosie only made it that much better. It was like someone had just lifted a bit of that heavy weight from his shoulders and it was refreshing. He hoped that she had found someone to help her do the same back home.

"She actually bumped into me while she was leaving the station and made me drop all of my things. That was three years ago in the beginning of December. She's actually the first woman that didn't make fun of me for what I was going out so late at night to do."

Jack backed off a bit because he was very vague with his last sentence and he was a bit scared to know the answer to his next question, "And what would that be?"

Harry laughed lightly realizing his mistake, "Astronomy. I like to look at the stars. She absolutely adores it now and I love that about her, she's so open to everything even if it's strange and not many people like it."

"That's why you go outside and look up so much! Makes sense now. What's she like?"

Jack lit a cigarette and Harry tried not to grimace, smoking really wasn't his favourite thing, thoughts of Rosemary had him smiling though, "She's very kind and charismatic. She's funny and very smart and she's very beautiful. She's simply brilliant all around. An angel if God ever made one."

Jack nodded thoughtfully and glanced at Harry to find him smiling to himself, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, "Do you have any pictures of her?"

Harry perked up, the pictures that he had of her were his favourite possession other than his cat Missy and his pocket watch, "Yes, tons! I brought quite a lot because they were already tucked into my journal. I take it you'd like to see the face behind the voice?"

Jack had been dying to see what this captivating woman looked like since he first tuned into the station accidentally a few years earlier, "If you wouldn't mind."

Harry nodded and dug around under his bunk until his hand came across the familiar leather of his journal. It's smooth surface strangely comforting to the touch despite the fact that it was just one of his keepsakes.

A photo fell out and he flushed and quickly retrieved it which made Jack laugh, "Can't see that one can I?"

Harry smiled as he remembered what she'd said, "And, if someone sees it, you can tell them just how lucky you are because that's your fiancè."

Harry shook his head, a bright smile on his lips, "No, she made a joke of it but I'm not as...thoughtful? as she is sorry."

Jack laughed again, "No worries, I understand." Apparently a lot of the guys had pretty graphic pictures of their sweethearts so Harry didn't feel too awkward about it.

Harry pulled out a few photos and handed them to Jack to look at, "These are my favourites so please be careful with them."

"Did you take these?"

Harry smiled remembering each moment in little flashbacks, "Yeah, I did."

Jack nodded thoughtfully, a smile of his own quickly forming as he examined each photo, she was beautiful but it was also very clear that he was the one that had her heart, "She certainly loves you." He pointed to a photograph his mother had taken of them on Christmas, Rosemary had her arms around his neck as she smiled up at him, his hands around her waist as he held her close and mirrored her smile.

Jack handed him the photos and he tucked them away once more, Harry couldn't help his smile, "Yes, she certainly does."

                                                                                                        . . .

Harry, my heart,

      Have they told you where they're going to put you? I hope not the front lines :( I saw a shooting star last night and I'm sure you know what went through my mind. I miss you. You'll be happy to know that I've put a bigger bed in your, I'm sorry, our bedroom. Missy really likes it, she sleeps cuddled up next to me now it's quite sweet. She misses you too, the poor thing searches the house for you all day and calls for you. She's gotten better from where she was just after you'd left though so that's good. Have you found anyone to talk to yet? It helps to talk about you now actually. I met this woman down at the diner who's going through the same thing, except she's already married and they have an adorable little boy. I feel better having her to talk to now but I still miss you terribly. I would do anything just to sit on the phone with you and hear your voice again. I love you so very much.

                                     Your beautiful Rosie xxxxx