Imperfectly Perfect

“But you don’t know that!” Frankie insisted, standing firm at the door of Callum’s tent.

“Yes I do Frankie!” Callum retorted, standing equally firm next to his bedroll. They were meant to be walking to the aid post together, needing to finish preparing for the battle coming in the next few days.

Frankie, however, had other plans.

“You didn’t see him though! I don’t think I’ve ever seen such longing in a person's eyes before” She continued, hands flinging about passionately. Ever since they had met Ben the day before she had been adamant that there was something between him and Callum, that, as if their life were a novel, they were destined to be together.

It would be annoying if the stupid optimist inside Callum wasn’t eating it all up.

“Funny, because I saw the same longing in your eyes yesterday” he sassed, his grin a mirror of Frankie’s own patented smirk. After all, he had learned from the best.

Frankie’s jaw dropped, affronted, and she signed “that is a low blow Callum Highway, and get my grin off your face!” She pushed her hair back behind her ears angrily and checked her watch, realising their never-ending argument was going to make them late.

Annoyance radiating off her in waves she signed “this is not over” and ripped open Callum’s door flap, and stormed out.

Callum groaned before walking through the flap and out, running to catch up to where she had sped walked away. He grabbed her hand to get her to slow down, relieved when she didn’t throw him off.

“It’s not like I don’t appreciate the message Frankie, I do, I just don’t want to get my hopes up over nothing” Callum explained, still holding her hand as they walked.

“I know Callum, but I want you to enjoy getting your hopes up” Frankie countered “I really think there’s something between you guys”

Callum breathed in deeply and looked away. It didn’t really bother him how hard Frankie was fighting for this, but he hated the fact that he was actually believing he could have something with Ben, that he was becoming optimistic about it.

In Callum’s experience, optimism had never led to anything good.

To him, it was just an indicator to the universe of how much you wanted something, of how happy it would make you, just so that it knew exactly what would hurt the most to have ripped away. Such as when he had hoped, wished, and even prayed to a God that he didn’t even believe in to spare Mick from the draft, and he ended up being the first person Callum knew to get his letter.

Optimism just didn’t help.

He breathed out and opened his mouth to reply when suddenly they were interrupted.

“Alright, guys?” Mick said, walking up next to the pair, causing Callum to jump.

“Jesus Mick, scared the shit out of me there,” Callum said, hand on his chest to try and help catch his breath.

Mick laughed heartily and slapped Callum on the back, “sorry son” he said, before asking “so what were you two talking about before I interrupted there? Looked a little heated.”

Callum and Frankie shared a look. Frankie’s said he’s your friend, you should make up an excuse! And Callum’s said you know all of my excuses are terrible! To which Frankie retaliated by looking away, ending their stare-fight and leaving Callum with the responsibility of coming up with something.

“Uh, just about, um, medicine?” Callum eventually landed on, and despite the cool French November air Callum felt warm under his collar.

“You don’t sound so sure of yourself” Mick replied, his eyebrows drawn together slightly, making his grin look confused rather than easy.

“No no I’m sure” Callum assured, wracking his brain for something believable to say “Frankie she uh, doesn’t think bandages should be used.”

Frankie pulled on his hand sharply as a punishment for his idiocy, and honestly, Callum knew he deserved it.

Mick, to his credit, took it in his stride “really? What should we use instead then doctor”

Frankie turned her head to the two men, a smile on her face that Callum knew was pained but to Mick probably just looked polite “oh, I uh-” she scrambled quickly for a believable answer “-don’t think we should use anything, blood clotting is far more effective”

Callum marvelled at her quick thinking for a second and squeezed her hand to show it, an action that was unsurprisingly not returned.

“Uh, okay” Mick replied, stroking a hand over his beard “you know I’ll be sticking to bandages but you let me know if your method ends up being any more effective”

Frankie laughed politely and said “I will, I will, anyway I need to see a soldier about a leg ache so I’ll meet you at the aid post later Callum”

“See ya,” Callum said as Frankie walked off.

He turned his head to Mick to start a new conversation, one preferably without any made up medical opinions, when he saw Mick smirking suggestively.

“What?”

“Don’t think I didn’t see what you two were doing?” Mick said, nudging Callum’s shoulder - or rather the middle of his bicep on account of their height difference - with his own.

“I don't-?” Callum said, confused. They had just been walking from what Callum could remember.

Mick raised his eyebrows, still smirking, and said “your hands? Or do you hold hands with all of your ‘best mates’?” He put ‘best mates’ in air quotes.

Callum’s jaw dropped and his eyes became wider than the diaphragm of his stethoscope.

“That wasn’t- we’re not-” Callum tried to get out, stumbling over his words as clumsily as a toddler trying to climb the stairs.

“Ah don’t trouble yourself about it Callum, I won’t say a word,” Mick said, tapping his nose with his forefinger and walking off.

“Mick it’s not what you think, we-!” Callum called after him, the day already feeling two weeks long.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Callum didn’t mean to go everywhere Ben did that day, but if he had meant to then he would be succeeding.

It felt like everywhere he turned he was running into the guy, and it wasn’t like Callum hated seeing him around, rather the opposite, but he did hate the fumbling mess he’d turn into around Ben. It frustrated Callum to no end, he was a doctor for fucks sake, people skills were kind of in the job description.

Thankfully, Ben never stayed long enough for Callum to do any real damage to their hopefully blooming relationship, but he did stick around long enough for Callum to thoroughly embarrass himself.

Frankie said he came off as charming, Callum knew he came off as a knobhead.

He first ran into Ben an hour or so after Mick had left while organising medical supplies - he had been not so kindly told to do so by the head nurse, Ms Carter, after he joked about how messy the cupboards were, Callum swore she had something against him - and Ben had walked in with another soldier in his platoon who was cradling his left hand. It had been wrapped in a suspiciously red cloth, his face a contorted mess of pain.

“Hey, Doc! Johnson’s fucked his hand, mind taking a look?” Ben called over to Callum, who promptly trapped his hand in the cupboard door. Hissing in pain brought his hand up to his chest, a mirror of Johnson, and squeezed his eyes shut for a second. Before he opened them he felt a warm hand cover his shoulder. He almost relaxed into it before he realised how much of a bad idea that was.

“Hey, you alright?” he heard Ben say on his right, and Callum immediately snapped his eyes open at the sound.

Callum had meant to tell him he was fine, that he injured himself like this all the time, that there was no need to worry. What came out of his mouth however was “you cut your hair.”

Ben chuckled, confused, and brought a hand up to his freshly shaved sides that Callum would be imagining running his hands through right now if he wasn’t trying to figure out how to disappear into thin air.

“Uh, yeah, yeah I did, you sure you’re fine?” He gave Callum a look of concern, and Callum felt an undeniable urge to facepalm at his social ineptitude.

“D- uh- yeah! Yeah, I’m fine!” He sputtered out, shaking his hand and grimacing when a spark of pain shot through it. “I’m uh, just naturally pretty clumsy”

Ben chuckled slightly, a relieved expression replacing his concerned one and said “really? I thought you doctors were meant to have steady hands”

“Nah that’s surgeons, I am but a lowly emergency med doc” Callum replied.

Ben laughed again, lightly slapping Callum’s shoulder, causing a wave of warmth to spread throughout Callum’s body. It would be funny how smitten Callum already was with Ben if it didn’t get him in situations like this one.

“Hey uh, could I get some help here?” a weak voice asked from behind Ben. Callum quickly looked up and saw Johnson sitting heavily on the bed, face pale from the likely horrific pain coming from his arm.

Callum cursed himself silently, soldiers never came to the medical tent unless they really hadto, so whatever was wrong with the man definitely couldn’t wait for Callum to flirt with his totally out of reach crush

“Oh, yes of course! So sorry” Callum said before rushing over.

“He sliced it open on his bayonet” Ben informed Callum as he walked over “fucking incredible amount of blood.”

“Blood always looks like much more than it really is” Callum replied almost automatically, having given the same response to worried family members hundreds of times during his rotations back in England.

He gently took Johnson’s hand in his own and carefully unwrapped the cloth, causing the soldier to hiss when the air touched his wound. It extended diagonally from the bottom right of his hand to the base of his pointer finger and Callum immediately felt bad for making the guy wait so long. The cut was deep and the skin was ragged, and Callum wondered if he could get the guy some whisky for when they cleaned the wound out. He would give him painkillers but they had to conserve them for bigger injuries like blown-off limbs, and besides, whisky was more effective.

As Callum thought through a treatment plan he felt Ben’s hand land back on his right shoulder.

“I’m gonna head off Doc, lieutenant will have my head if I’m away any longer” Ben informed Callum, flashing him a smile that made Callum’s heart stop.

“Uh, y-yeah sure, of course, can't go without a head, can you?” Callum sputtered out, and he started working out how long it would take him to walk to the nearest cliff.

“Uh, yeah, definitely not” Ben replied, smile less stunningly beautiful and more ‘what the literal shit is this guy talking about is he alright’.

Or at least that’s how Callum interpreted it.

Callum watched Ben go as he walked out of the tent, and sighed, wondering how one man could be so gorgeous just by walking.

Until he was snapped out of it by Johnson asking if he was going to let his wound clot instead of bandaging it like Mick said he would.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

The next time Callum saw Ben was during lunch.

He and Frankie had been on their way to their usual spot to eat - a quickly dying patch of flowers a couple of hundred yards away from the aid post that Callum liked.

They’re such a nice colour, Frankie.

Yeah, dying brown, so pretty.

They had just gotten their food when Callum spotted the nurse with the messy bun Frankie liked, and, because he was an amazing friend, he pulled Frankie over by the arm to where she was sitting.

“The fuck are we going?” Frankie asked bewilderedly, tripping slightly as Callum yanked her along.

“Spotted that nurse you liked” Callum explained jovially, “we’re going to have lunch with her.”

Frankie’s eyes widened comically and she stopped in them in their tracks “are you fucking insane?! I can’t just go up to her!”

“Uh, and why not?” Callum challenged, crossing his arms and looking at Frankie with an expression he hoped was commanding.

Frankie looked at him incredulously, and Callum worried for a moment there was something on his face “well for starters we’ve never actually fucking spoken! What am I meant to do, sit down out of nowhere and ask how her day’s been?”

“Well, yeah” Callum replied, struggling to see the flaw in her plan.

Frankie just rolled her eyes and blew a piece of her hair out of her face. Callum could see the cogs turning in her brain and she considered her options. There was option A, don’t try to talk to the nurse and suffer through Callum taking the piss out of her for it, as well as risking him not even trying with Ben anymore, or option B, start a conversation with the woman and hope to God she didn't embarrass herself.

Frankie looked at Callum for a moment, her face a stony image of furious contemplation, before groaning out “Ugh, fine,” and stomping past a smug Callum before she lost her nerve.

The nurse was sitting at a very scuffed up brown picnic table. Her hair was again in a messy bun at the bottom of her head and her hat was sitting next to her food while she ate. Opposite her was a soldier, who she seemed to be having a friendly conversation with. Callum couldn’t see the guy’s face since his back was to Callum but he seemed to be a little short, had soft brown hair that looked freshly shaven, hair Callum wouldn’t mind running his fingers through actually and - wait, oh fuck, fuck.

The soldier was Ben fucking Mitchell.

“Uh, maybe you shouldn’t speak to the nurse,” Callum said after stopping in his tracks. Frankie looked at him, baffled, before whipping around to see what was bothering him.

When she turned to look back at him there was nothing but pure exasperation on her face, and she signed “fuck off, if I’m talking to my gay crush then so are you” before dragging him over the same way he had been dragging her.

“No no, you were right this was a mistake and - oof” Callum exclaimed after Frankie shoved him into the table, smacking his knees against the bench and causing him to slap his hands against the table to avoid falling further. He looked back at Frankie scathingly, but she just signed “you’re welcome” back at him.

Callum knew she was just making sure Ben would notice him so he couldn’t run off, but fuck there must have been a better way to do it, he thought as he rubbed his sore knees.

“Uh, alright there doc?” Ben asked, bemused. He was on Callum’s left and had turned so that he was fully facing Callum, body twisted in a position that looked uncomfortable. Callum quirked an eyebrow at the sight but didn’t mention it.

“Uh, yeah, just tripped over my own feet there” he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, “C-can we sit with you two?”

“Of course!” the nurse said, and Callum swore he heard Frankie gasp when she did. Callum went to roll his eyes before remembering his freak out about Ben in the aid station the day before and quickly decided not to be a hypocrite.

“Cheers,” Callum thanked, before sliding onto the bench next to Ben. He sat his lunch down - a bit of beef and bread and some water - and looked up at Frankie who was doing the same, albeit with a very obvious blush.

Once she was looking at him he signed “nice blush,” smiling cheekily as he brought his hands up the side of his face to say “blush.”

Frankie scowled and formed a circle with her hand, bringing up to her forehead, down, and back up to call him a dickhead.

Callum went to retaliate when next to him Ben choked on the water he had started sipping. Callum thwacked him on the back as he coughed.

“You alright soldier?” Frankie asked, and Callum could hear her doctor voice threatening to take over.

“Fine fine, just went down the wrong pipe is all” Ben replied, gasping for air slightly as he thanked Callum with a nod.

“So Frankie,” the nurse began after Ben caught his breath, “I’ve been meaning to ask you, and I hope this doesn’t sound rude but-” and Callum winced a little knowing where the conversation was going.

In their time being friends Callum had seen Frankie deal with a lot to do with her being deaf, or more specifically people’s reactions to her being deaf. She already surprised a lot of people by being a woman in medicine, but being deaf on top of that? Callum honestly didn’t know how she hadn’t murdered someone yet.

She got all sorts, from other doctors treating her like a student rather than a professional probably more skilled than them, to patients outright refusing to be treated by her out of fear she’ll do a bad job. It was infuriating, and Callum had no idea how Frankie remained so calm when it happened.

Once, Callum got in an argument with another doctor who was being incredibly demeaning towards Frankie. He had been talking over her, second-guessing her in front of patients, basically doing everything he could to let Frankie know he didn’t respect her. So Callum, furious at his friend being treated like shit, told the guy off, initiating an almost screaming match with him.

Frankie had pulled him out of the room to somewhere just them. Callum had been worried she was going to cry or something equally heartbreaking, but what he hadn’t expected was her getting mad. At Callum.

“What the fuck was that?” she had signed at him, anger radiating off her in waves, making Callum recoil slightly.

“Why are you mad at me? He was being an asshole!” Callum had signed back, feeling blind-sighted, and slightly hurt Frankie was being so mean when he had just been trying to help.

“I know! But you can’t scream at every asshole, Callum!” Frankie had replied, hands exploding into furious sign.

Callum scoffed angrily, before signing “I was just trying to protect you!”

“I don’t need you to fucking protect me! I need you to support me!”  Frankie had replied, seething.

That’d made Callum falter for a second, confused, because wasn’t that what he had done?

“What do you mean?” he’d asked, a dreadful feeling he had done something really wrong creating a pit in his belly.

Then it had been Frankie’s turn to scoff before quickly signing “I don’t need you to fight my battles, I am perfectly capable of doing that myself and I don’t need getting babied by you when everyone else already does so.”

Then Frankie tucked her hair behind her ears, face relaxing into a calmer expression “I didn’t want to make a scene, but you took that decision away from me when you stepped in without asking.”

“Frankie,” Callum had breathed out, feeling like a bigger asshole than that shitty doctor.

Frankie had smiled at him sympathetically then, and signed “thank you for caring, but please fuck off if you think I can’t protect myself”

Callum had laughed a little at that, and signed “I’m sorry, I thought I was doing the right thing, but I was just treating you like everyone you hate.”

“Next time just follow my lead yeah? If I want you to yell at someone I’ll tell you” Frankie had replied, giggling as she did.

That had made Callum smile and he nodded in agreement before asking “anything I can do right now?”

Callum would never forget the soft, loved-filled expression Frankie had, her eyes sparkling before opening her arms, signalling him to come in for a hug, which he gladly did.

Callum smiled at the memory and knew no matter what the nurse said Frankie would be able to handle it, and he was always ready to jump in if she asked.

“-it’s just I’m always seeing you two signing and you know, I don’t want to be rude but-”

“You want to know if I’m deaf?” Frankie guessed, cutting off the nurse’s nervous rambling by placing a hand on hers.

It took everything in Callum not to gape at the sight, absolutely bewildered as to how Frankie could go from being starstruck at the sight of the nurse to fucking holding hands. The thought of him holding Ben's hand made him feel sick with anxiety.

“Y-yeah, as I said, I didn’t want to be rude, you know, ruin your first impression of me” the nurse replied.

Frankie smiled at the woman, “nah, don’t worry about it, and yeah I am” she moved her hair to better show off her hearing aids “got the machinery and all.”

“Woh, must be a right pain lugging that about all the time,” the nurse said, studying Frankie’s ears intently.

Frankie laughed, and squeezed the woman’s hand “ah, you get used to it.”

They locked eyes for a moment, and Callum felt as though he was interrupting something private before the nurse jerked a little, and exclaimed: “oh how rude of me I haven’t even introduced myself yet!”

She stuck her free hand out towards Frankie and said “I’m Bernadette but everyone calls me Bernie” Frankie shook the offered hand with the wrong one since the right one was still holding Bernie’s other hand [I am literally so sorry for that sentence lmao] and she was not about to let go.

“Frankie” she responded, smiling as though she had won the lottery.

“I’m Callum!” Callum interjected, causing the pair opposite him to turn around, surprised, as if they had forgotten Ben and Callum were there. He responded to Frankie’s glare with a grin.

“Nice to meet you” Bernie responded, smiling unlike Frankie, and stuck her hand out to Callum, who shook it firmly. “I assume you’ve already met Ben?” She asked.

“Yeah yeah,” Callum replied, before turning so he was facing the side of Ben’s face and adding “saw me nearly break my hand this morning, actually.”

He had expected Ben to laugh, maybe tease him a little, but he was met with silence as if Ben hadn’t even heard him. Callum frowned, worried he had said something wrong and now Ben was ignoring him, despite that being impossible since he had barely spoken ten words to the man since they got here. In Callum’s defence, he wasn’t exactly rational when it came to Ben.

“Ben?” Bernie prompted, causing Ben to start and look around at the three of them.

“Sorry, zoned out for a second there” he turned to Callum a sheepish smile on his face and asked, “what did you say?”

Callum blinked, unable to think for a second with Ben’s focus entirely on him, distracted by those steely blue eyes gazing into his own. “Uh, just, you saw me about break my hand today,” he ended with a smile, hoping his words didn’t come off as awkward as he felt.

Thankfully, it seemed that they hadn’t, since Ben let out a bark of laughter and exclaimed “oh yeah! Didn’t half frighten me.”

He turned back to face the women and started to regale them with the story of that morning. Callum let his gaze linger on the soldier, momentarily curious as to what had just happened, if Ben really had just zoned out, or if there was something more.

After a moment, however, he turned back to the women in front of him, deciding to leave it alone.

It was probably nothing.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

The next time Callum saw Ben he had meant to ask Whitney something but had completely forgotten what it was when he saw Ben next to her.

He was going to walk - not run, Frankie - back to the other side of the medical tent when Whitney caught his eye and waved him over.

Shaking slightly Callum slowly walked over to the pair, hoping the ground would swallow him up before he arrived.

Thankfully, Ben walked away before Callum got there, bidding Whitney a quick goodbye before heading towards the exit. 

Thank fuck Callum had thought, glad to miss another opportunity to do something strange in front of Ben.

On the way out, however, Ben brushed shoulders with Callum and flashed him a smile, which would have been fine if it hadn’t suddenly turned Callum into a baby giraffe still learning how to walk. He tried to smile back but instead tripped over a nearby table, sending him crashing to the floor.

If Callum ever needed confirmation that the universe hated him, this would be the moment.

“Callum, are you okay?” came Whitney’s worried call as she rushed over to his side, crouching down to grab his face and check it for injuries.

“I’m fine, I’m fine” Callum reassured her, grinning at her in a way he hoped was heartening for her “just as clumsy as ever.”

Whitney smiled back and gave his shoulder a playful shove “I swear you hurt yourself more than those soldiers out there.” Callum laughed and nodded in agreement, and watched her walk back to whatever she had been doing.

She wasn’t wrong, not by a mile, Frankie and Mick were always getting at him to be more careful as if he wouldn’t if he could. If Callum was superstitious he would think his clumsiness was a result of being followed around by dickish ghosts that pushed him into things for the love of it.

“Fucking hell, sorry mate,” Ben said behind Callum, causing Callum to snap his head up to look at Ben. He was stood over Callum, eyebrows pinched together, eyes wide, and his mouth in a frown. All in all, he looked worried about Callum.

Callum felt his heart flutter.

“N-no don’t be, you barely touched me” Callum replied, trying to school his features into something not totally lovestruck.

“I should’ve paid more mind to where I was going” Ben grumbled, extending a hand out towards Callum.

Callum looked at Ben’s hand for a beat, an awkward moment passing by before Callum caught on and grabbed Ben’s hand to help haul himself up, quietly screaming internally because holy shit they were holding hands.

Only, they completely underestimated each other’s strength and each pulled way too hard, causing Callum to crash into Ben, arms flying around the man’s shoulders to steady himself, Ben’s coming up to grab Callum’s waist.

In the kerfuffle, Callum’s eyes found Frankie, who had just walked into the tent. She took one look at the chaos, smirked at him, and signed “idiot” before walking away.

If Callum hadn’t been freaking out he would’ve been impressed by how effortlessly cool she managed to be.

“Uh,” he heard Ben say, and was quickly reminded of what was happening. He ripped himself out of Ben’s arms, ignoring how cold he suddenly felt, and stood up straight.

Callum has had his fair share of traumatic events but fuck if that wasn’t the worst thing he had ever done.

“S-sorry!” he managed to stutter out, a hand reaching out to brush a speck of dust off Ben’s uniform before thinking better of it and bringing it up to rub the back of his neck nervously.

Ben huffed out a laugh and smiled slightly, “no worries, underestimated my own strength a little there.”

Callum smiled anxiously, mumbling out a feeble “me too.”

“Well uh,” Ben began, eyes drifting over to the exit “better um, better head.”

“Yeah, yeah of course! Don’t let me keep you”

Ben nodded and took a step towards the exit, before pausing, obviously having some sort of internal debate. He looked back at Callum and said “actually, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” he dropped his voice and leaned in closer “would you meet me out by the tree? Have something I need to say.”

Callum felt his breath catch in his throat.

At the base, there was very little greenery. The most they got in the way of green spaces was a couple of patches of quickly dying grass, those dying flowers Callum loved, and a few shrubs littered about. However, right near the outskirts of the camp was a massive elm tree. It was comprised of five dark brown trunks, each with a multitude of branches spiralling off in every which way, creating beautiful, weaving patterns between them, and since it was winter most of the leaves had turned brown and fallen off, leaving it bare and naked.

What made Callum lose his breath however wasn’t the tree itself, it’s what it was knownfor, what it was known to be used for.

The thing about the tree being so close to the boundaries of the base was that it was very removed from the main areas. It was about a five-minute walk from the nearest building or tent, meaning you were very unlikely to bump into anyone, and more importantly you were very unlikely to be overheard or seen by anyone.

It was common knowledge that the tree was used for things people would rather keep private, like settling arguments with fists away from meddling superior officers, trading drugs under the cover of the moon, two (or more) people enjoying a night together in the privacy unafforded to them by their tiny tents or the trenches. It was a no man’s land of sorts, where the rules didn’t apply because there was no one there to enforce them.

Callum gulped, and breathed out a “yeah, what time?”

Ben exhaled and grinned slightly as if he was relieved Callum had agreed.

What if that smile means he- a small, hopeful voice in Callum’s head began before he ruthlessly cut it off.

“Nine tonight” Ben replied, before winking and adding “don’t be late!” Before turning on his heel and walking out of the tent.

Callum watched him leave, dumbstruck, head empty except for one thought.

Frankie’s going to have a fucking field day.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

“Run that by me again” Frankie signed, movements quick and her face a picture of solid disbelief, not dissimilar to her expression when Callum signed with her for the first time.

“I fell over, he pulled me up, and before Ben left he invited me to the fucking tree” Callum signed back, movements equally quick. He sat down heavily onto one of the beds meant for patients (not before quickly scanning the area for Ms Carter, who’d have his head if she caught him), then sighed out deeply and suppressed the need to sink his head onto the pillow and scream.

It was nearing 8:45 and Callum was shitting himself.

“Right well, what are you doing here? You’d better get going” Frankie signed, giving Callum’s knee a shove when she was done.

“I don’t know if I can, what if it’s something bad?” Callum replied, worrying his lip as worst-case scenarios flashed before his eyes. What if he had said something wrong at lunch? What if Ben tried to pressure him into getting him drugs? What if, and the thought of this made Callum’s stomach drop, what if he knew about Callum’s crush and just wanted to beat the gay out of him?

As he fretted Frankie rolled her eyes and dropped herself onto the bed. She took his hand, looked straight into his eyes, and said “stop. Fucking. Worrying.” She punctuated each word with a squeeze to his hand, making Callum smile despite himself.

He wanted to go, he really did, itwas just so risky.

“But-” he began, before Frankie huffed and quickly brought her free hand up to cover Callum’s mouth, cutting him off.

“No fucking buts! You are going, end of” she exclaimed. She studied Callum’s eyes for a moment before continuing “if I take my hand off will you say that you’ll go?”

Callum looked back at her and thought for a moment. On one hand, he might be walking into a beating, but on the other, he might be walking into a situation he thought could only live out in his dreams.

The risk was real, and there was no guarantee that Callum wouldn’t end up hurt, but he was a fucking army doctor, taking risks was a part of the job.

Taking a deep breath in and out through his nose Callum steeled himself and nodded once, prompting Frankie to slowly lower her hand, eyes locked with his as she did, watching for a sign of him going back on what he had just promised.

She didn’t find one though, and once Callum could speak he said “I’m going to go,” causing Frankie to smile a wide, happy smile, her eyes crinkling because of its strength.

“Well, good luck soldier, and you’d better tell me everything” she replied, before pulling him into a crushing hug.

Callum laughed, and hugged back equally tight, rubbing a hand up and down her back. He was still scared about meeting Ben, but with Frankie’s support his fear felt less crushing.

They pulled back, and after a beat Frankie signed “I love you.”

Callum broke into his own face splitting grin and signed back “I love you too.”

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Cautiously, Callum walked the unfamiliar path to the tree. He’d never had cause to go before, he only knew the way because another doctor insisted that he had to and showed him. At the time the man’s insistence had annoyed Callum, but now he was immensely grateful.

It had just gone 9pm, and Callum was coming up to the tree. It was a cold night, and its numerous branches were all covered in frost, beautifully lit up by the moonlight. Rather romantic, Callum thought, before scoffing at himself for even entertaining such an idea.

As Callum got closer he realised Ben was standing under the tree, hands anxiously hitting against each other. Callum didn’t like to see Ben worried, but it was better than him being angry.

Suddenly, Ben’s head turned towards Callum, and they locked eyes. Ben looked nervous, eyebrows punched together, the corners of his mouth turned down, and his hair slightly messy as if he had been threading his fingers through it just for something to do with his hands.

“Ben, are you alright-” Callum started, before he was cut off by Ben grabbing the lapels of his jacket, and pulling him in for a searing kiss.