Romantik/intimität – Auf den 2. Blick (Für’s Team)

[servena]

Titel: A Second Look
Challenge: Romantik/intimität – Auf den 2. Blick (Für’s Team)
Fandom: Band of Brothers
Charaktere: Babe Heffron, Eugene Roe, Renée LeMaire
Sprache: Englisch
Team: Schwarz
Kommentar: Das ist jetzt aber echt das letzte!!

“So you’re just gonna look over there longingly for the rest of the night like the bi disaster you are? I need more beer for this.”

A Second Look

“Earth to Babe”, Bill says and knocks their beer bottles together to get his attention.
Babe turns his head. “Huh?”
“You’re staring.” Bill’s grin is wide and relentless.
“I’m not staring”, Babe protests. “I was just thinking.”
“Right, looking into the direction of that handsome guy at the bar for almost five minutes was just a coincidence.” At Babe’s look he adds: “I’m straight, not blind.”
Babe sighs and takes another swig of his beer. “It doesn’t matter anyway.”
“You should go over, introduce yourself.”
Babe sinks down in his chair. “Bill, you know I suck at this.”
“So you’re just gonna look over there longingly for the rest of the night like the bi disaster you are?” Bill asks. “I need more beer for this.”

Babe does indeed look over there more times than he’d like to admit. He just can’t help himself, the guy is totally his type. He’s dark-haired and pale and looks very good in his jeans and the white shirt.  He’s also clearly waiting for someone.
So just as Babe has worked up enough nerve (and drunk enough beer) to even consider going over there to introduce himself, he has to watch a blonde woman enter the bar and kiss the subject of his desire on his cheeks as a greeting.
And even worse, before he has time to get unfairly pissed-off at her, he realizes that she’s absolutely stunning. She wears her hair in a French braid that a few strands have managed to escape, and even from all the way over here he can tell she has a beautiful smile.
He lets his head sink onto the table. “Just kill me now.”
Then he tries to get himself together. For the next fifteen minutes, he doesn’t look over once. So when Bill’s telling him that they’re looking over to him, he just scoffs. “Yeah, they’re probably laughing about me.”
“I don’t think they are”, Bill says, but it’s Bill and he’s had at least two more beers than Babe, so he takes everything he says with a grain of salt.
But when the waiter sets another beer in front of his nose, he’s still clear-headed enough to frown and say: “I didn’t order this.”
“It’s from the lady at the bar”, the waiter says, nodding into the direction Babe has studiously avoided for the last half an hour.
“See”, Bill just says.
Babe’s natural reaction is to panic. “Oh God, what do I do.” He dares to throw a glance over there, just in time to catch the woman smiling at him. He hastily looks away. “What does that even mean.”
“I think it means you should go over there and say thank you”, Bill says.
He needs to fully empty the new beer before he has the courage. Even then he probably looks like he’s walking towards his own beheading.
They immediately look up as he reaches the bar. “Uh, thanks for the beer”, he says, one hand nervously rubbing over his neck.
“No problem”, the woman says. Up close she’s even more beautiful in an understated, natural way, and she has a French accent that sounds just lovely. “Would you like to sit down with us? We could get a table.”
“Uh”, Babe just says. This is not going where he’d expected this to go, even though if asked he wouldn’t be able to say where that would be. But then he just bites his tongue and nods.
He follows them to a small table in the corner, where they sit down with their backs to the wall and he slides into the chair opposite. The table is so small that they almost bump their knees together.
“I’m Renée”, she says and extends her hand. He grabs it, noticing that her grip is firm while he wills his hand to stop shaking. “Babe. I mean – that’s my nickname”, he rushes to say.
“Nice to meet you, Babe.” She smiles at him. It lights up her whole face and it’s difficult to look away. “And this is Eugene.”
Eugene doesn’t say anything, just glances at him and gives him a nod. He seems shy, which somehow makes him cuter and also makes Babe feel a bit better about himself.
“Would you like something else to drink?”
“Uh, another beer would be alright”, Babe says. Eugene nods in agreement.
She moves to get up, and there’s a moment of silent communication between the two of them that passes too quickly for Babe to understand, but it ends with Eugene mumbling “Je te déteste” as she stand up. Babe is floored as much by his deep, smooth voice as by the French.
When Renée passes Babe, she bends down to whisper in his ear: “He’s just shy.”
Eugene looks about as mortified as Babe would feel in his position, so he decides to try to break the ice. “So, does that mean people call you ‘Gene’?”
Eugene shrugs. “Some people.” And before the silence can fully settle, he asks: “Why do they call you Babe?”
“Youngest of six children. My real name is Edward, but not even my parents call me like that.”
The conversation grinds to a halt after that, but mercifully Renée returns with the drinks quickly, setting down a beer bottle each in front of him and a yellow cocktail with a tiny umbrella in front of herself.
She takes a sip of it before saying: “So, Gene and I have been talking about you.”
“You have?” Babe yelps.
She just smiles. “Sure. We think you’re cute.”
Babe is fairly certain that his face is as red as his hair right now. “You do?”
“Of course.” Her face is so honest that he doesn’t even get the idea to doubt her. “So, normally I wouldn’t be this straightforward, but I got a shift early tomorrow so I don’t have that much time. What do you think?”
For a moment no one speaks and the noise of the people around them envelop them. Then Babe asks carefully: “About what?”
“About coming home with us”, she says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
He waits for them to laugh, but they don’t. Instead they just look at them expectantly.
“Uh”, Babe says. His mind feels like it’s been wiped clean.
“We live in walking distance, in case you’re concerned”, Renée adds. She’s really thought off everything.
In the end, he doesn’t have to contemplate it for long (which is good, because five beer don’t lend themselves to long contemplations). If he misses this opportunity he’s going to kick himself for it for the rest of his life. “Yeah. Alright.”
“Wonderful”, Renée says brightly.
They finish their drinks quickly and then they all but drag him out of his chair. Briefly his chances of getting murdered cross his mind, but he’s reassured that at least Bill will know who did it.
Speaking of Bill: As he leaves, he can just catch Bill giving him a thumbs up from their table.
Turns out he was right after all.