No Bravery | dunkirk au

Across The Stars

November 5th, 1943. 

Stargazing had become Alex's new favorite activity at night. Instead of sleeping, he would just lay there on the ground, tightly wrapped inside of his thick coat, the flowers Pia had gave to him when they had bid their farewells close to his heartbeat, where they could be warm. 

So far, the sky had been clear enough, each night, to let him admire the stars, shining brighter than he had ever seen them, as if the cold air of the night did wonders for their sparkling lights, making him feel like he could actually feel them feathery touch his skin, acting as his most prominent beacon of light during those dark dark days. 

The flowers had started to die down - after all it had already been almost four days since he had got them for his blonde haired angel - but Alex had yet to let them go. Deep down inside of him he knew that he would've never done that; he knew he would've kept them with himself through thick and thin, had it been the last thing he ever did. He wasn't able to explain it, had you dared to ask him, but somehow those flowers made him feel closer to Pia, who was now at least 3 days of walk far from him. Just by looking at them, he was reminded of the short blissful moment in which he had recreceived them, how Pia had put them on his palm, holding his hand and slotting her fingers right through his own, how she had kissed his cheek, lingering her lips there, how she hadn't let go of his hand until it was physically impossible for her not to do that. Everytime he thought about that - and he had done that quite a lot, those past three days - a new wave of butterflies flied wildly through his stomach, and the very spot Pia had kissed started tingling, as if she was kissing it all over again. 

To be fair honest, Alex had never properly experienced such strong emotions in regard to a bird, not even in the early stages of what he had now come to consider just a juvenile infatuation that he had once had with Sarah, back home in England. Thinking about it felt like looking back into a past life, one where Alex hadn't truly lived as his own, but rather as what everyone was expecting from him. So, understandably, all of this was fairly new to him. He felt incredibly stupid everytime his cheeks lit up just because he had thought about her, or her smile, or her soft and delicate pink lips. Those were things for girls, he was supposed to be a soldier; one that had joined a mission to save others. What would have the reaction of the ones he was supposed to protect been, if they had ever found out he blushed like a little girl anytime the name of his most guarded angelic secret was even briefly mentioned by his most inner thoughts? 

And yet, Alex had kept the flowers, where no one could see them, in fear of them taking the piss out of him, listing him under the 'pussy' category. Something he couldn't bear to deal with, not under the circumstances they were forced to live under. 

After leaving their safe heaven in the middle of the southern countryside, Pietro, Tommy and Alex had walked alone for at least a couple of hours before reaching the meeting point: the outskirts of Naples where, hidden inside of abandoned buildings, about fifty men had been waiting for them. 

Fixing his belt, Pietro had motioned to both Alex and Tommy to stay back as he inspected the area, to determine if it was safe enough for them to keep going; once he had reached what looked like a devastated building, he had raised two fingers to his mouth and had whisteled loudly, the sound of it almost piercing Alex's eardrums. He had flinched, but had manage to resist the urge to cover both his ears. After a short silence, a faint whistle had come from the insides of the building, and the three men had whipped their heads in the directions where they had heard it come from. 

Pietro's mouth had twitched, and he had whistled again, twice. Again, silence. 

And then, slowly, a man as tall as him had walked out of the building, his open arms contrasting with the stern look on his face. He had approached them, both of his hands landing on Pietro's shoulders, nodding at him. The two had exchanged some words in italian, words that Tommy and Alex hadn't understood - apparently, the games they had played with Pia had served them nothing to be able to comprehend a full and articulate conversation.