Take Me Home. - Dunkirk - Alex - Harry Styles

Four.

To get onto the larger boat, they were going to have to climb up a rope net that was cast over the side.

Alex wouldn't let it show, but he was worried about Elizabeth and how she was going to manage the climb. It's not that he didn't think she could do it, it was just that most of the other men were getting antsy and they hadn't even reached the boat yet.

He nudged Tommy, who was beside him and he gestured to Elizabeth who was staring up at the ship, chewing on her bottom lip.

Dusk was starting to fall and it was hard for them to see but then, out of the mist, the large boat came into view and as they sailed closer, the men started getting ready to disembark inching closer and closer to the edge and Elizabeth found herself getting jostled around once more.

Tommy, as if finally understanding what Alex was trying to silently communicate with him, nodded and the young man wordlessly started pushing against the woman.

"What are you doing?" she squeaked, her hand reaching back to grip his as they neared the water. She wasn't going back in there. Not tonight.

"'m getting you up there first," Alex whispered and she stopped struggling, "You're small and these men, they're not going to care that you're a woman. All they're going to care about is getting themselves onto that boat."

"Oh," she said softly, bracing herself when the boat came to a shuddering stop and almost instantly, the men surged forward for the rope and Alex moved so he was between them and her.

"Here," he mumbled, spotting an opening and he reached over to grab hold of the rope to hand it to her.

"Thanks," Elizabeth said quietly, and climbed out of the boat, onto it and she felt his hands on her waist again so he could keep her steady and she felt the feeling that crept up on her earlier, return.

Quickly, she started pulling herself up, finding its harder than she thought it would and grunting every now and then when one of the other men knocked into her.

Alex and Tommy were watching her carefully, making sure that she made it to the top before they followed in her footsteps, climbing up with surprising ease.

Elizabeth was waiting patiently at the top but she let out a gasp when she heard a painful scream come from down below, quickly looking over the railing to see that one of the men had slipped in between the two boats and was now trapped and she watched helplessly as he had to be freed by some other soldiers.

Alex took her hand once he had climbed up, ignoring the confused looks that Tommy and Gibson were sending him. "You can't help him." he whispered, following everyone else as they shuffled towards the door which would take them below deck.

There was another nurse standing at the top of the stairs who was handing out life jackets to them and Tommy took one with little hesitation and disappeared down below.

Gibson, who was in front of Elizabeth and Alex, took one but didn't go downstairs, instead pushing past the nurse to make his way down to another level on the deck of the ship which made her a little bit worried.

"Here you go, Love," the nurse smiled at her, snapping her out of her worries and handed her a life jacket and she took one last look after Gibson before following Tommy down.

The belly of the ship was filled with young soldiers, all of them crowded around numerous tables as they tucked into some bread and jam, which made Elizabeth's a stomach growl.
It had been a long time since she had eaten anything.

As she reached the bottom of the steps, she could feel herself starting to sweat. Whether it be from the amount of people in here or the fact that she was on another ship, she couldn't tell. She could feel the blind panic starting to build up inside her.

Alex could sense her uneasiness as they continued through the crowd of soldiers and after snagging two pieces of bread, holding both bits in one hand, he took her's again.

She couldn't have been more grateful.

The rag tag group of three found themselves in a spot that was a little less crowded, next to another table filled with bread and jam along with the weakest looking tea she'd ever seen.

"Here," Alex mumbled, handing her a piece, smiling softly when she murmured a quiet thank you before looking at Tommy, "What's wrong with your friend?"

Elizabeth looked at him too, seeing him looking around the boat, more specifically the doors, which were being shut and sealed.

Tommy swallowed the food he was chewing before answering, "He's looking for a quick way out. In case we go down."

She stopped chewing, her anxiousness skyrocketing as she and Alex peered around again.

"Put that on," Alex then instructed, nodding to the life vest that she had placed down on the table and she quickly did what he said, tightening the straps so it was secure.

"Do you think he's okay up there?" Elizabeth asked Tommy, referring to Gibson, "He must be freezing."

"I'm sure he'll come down," Tommy mumbled, "Might just need some air."

"He's a bit of a strange one, your friend." Alex muttered through another mouthful of bread, "Haven't heard him say one word since we've met."

"He's probably just in shock," Elizabeth said, sticking up for the young man who wasn't here and Alex looked down at her, a smirk on his lips.

"Ah she does speak."

"She does," she agreed, deciding to change the subject, "What regiment are you both from?"

"Highlanders."

"King's Own." Tommy mumbled.

"And Gibson?" she asked.

He shrugged, "I don't know. He hasn't spoken since I met him."

Both Elizabeth and Alex shared a glance. Okay, that was strange. She had just assumed that they were friends when she saw that the two of them knew each other on the beach. Or at least been in the same regiment.

"Come on," Alex said, instinctively taking her hand to lead her through crowd of soldiers to a spot which was comfortable to stand in and so they were stood at the bottom of the stairs to the exit.

Elizabeth looked around the hull again and seeing that there were very few nurses tending to the wounded, she handed the small piece of bread that she had left to Tommy and smoothed down her tattered uniform.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked, catching her hand when she moved to walk by him and she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I'm going to do my job."

"Stay close?" he murmured, his lips ghosting the shell of her ear.

He couldn't tell you why he felt the need to say that to her. He just had a feeling that something was going to happen.