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It had been well over a year since you’d first met Carwood Lipton in the sweaty heat of the Georgian summer. It wasn’t quite love at first sight, although you certainly found him attractive, it was the man’s gentleness, his quietness, his intelligence, that made you fall head over heels in love with him. You never dared to say anything, but the adoration in your eyes and the deep blush on your cheeks whenever he was around made your feelings obvious to everyone. That is, everyone except Carwood Lipton.
Lipton’s love for you was obvious to the rest of Easy Company for the exact same reasons, only you were oblivious. And so, the two of you pined after each other, thinking the other so far out of reach when all you had to do was to say something.
Eventually, the guys got sick of it and decided to hatch a plan.
“Hey, hey, Bess,” Guarnere called the barmaid over. “Can you do us a favour?” He winked at her and she giggled.
“Of course, Bill, anything for you,” she replied, and to that Shifty went bright red, Toye just rolled his eyes and Malarkey giggled.
“Can you put up some mistletoe all around the joint? Ya know, everywhere. Make it look real festive,” Guarnere grinned and Bessie giggled again.
“Sure I can, Bill.” She walked away to serve other troops propping up the bar.
“I dunno about this, Bill, are you sure it’ll work?” Toye asked.
“Hell, I don’t care if it works or not, I’m gonna enjoy watching it either way,” Malarkey laughed.
“Oh, I don’t know, I don’t think we should watch if they do kiss,” Shifty commented.
“Of course it’ll work Joe, ain’t none of my plans failed yet,” Guarnere tapped the side of his head and tried to look intelligent, but failed somewhat. Toye mumbled a noncommittal response, deciding not to remind Guarnere of the many times his plans had failed.
“You really think they’ll kiss in public when it’s been over a year and they haven’t even kissed in private?”
“I know what I’m doing, alright Joe,” Guarnere replied, his jaw firm, and Toye just nodded.
The next night, the four men returned with you and Lipton in tow, although it had taken some persuading for you to both come out. Bess certainly hadn’t been stingy with the mistletoe, and it really was everywhere. Guarnere led everyone over to a large table, and maneuvered you and Lipton to sit next to each other, right under some mistletoe. So far, so good , Guarnere thought. Only neither of you noticed the mistletoe up above. Guarnere realised he’d have to try harder.
“Lotsa mistletoe in here, ain’t there? Lotsa necking,” he commented, gesturing to countless soldiers and their dates. You and Lipton gazed into your glasses, both feeling like you were intruding on a private scene by watching another couple lock lips, even though it was a crowded pub. Shifty’s face was positively scarlet. Guarnere rolled his eyes at Toye, who grimaced in sympathy, and wondered what to try next.
“I wonder if there’s any mistletoe around us,” Toye decided to help his buddy out, making a show of scanning the ceiling. Both him and Guarnere saw your cheeks heat up as you did the same, and noticed the sprig of mistletoe right above your head. You weren’t sure if you wanted Lipton to notice: you were desperate to kiss him, but you didn’t want him to just because he felt he had to. Fortunately for you and unfortunately for Guarnere, he hadn’t noticed.
“Would anyone like a drink?” Lipton asked, about to stand up and head over to the bar.
“You’re under the mistletoe, so stop stalling and just kiss,” Malarkey blurted out, causing Shifty to discreetly look away and Toye and Guarnere to grin and gaze at you and Lipton expectantly. After a few moments of excruciatingly awkward silence, you dared to move your gaze from the ground to Lipton, and found that he was looking at you.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he mumbled, giving you a small but reassuring smile. You hoped that he was willing to kiss you because he wanted to, and not because he felt pressured to by the intense stares of his buddies. You decided to be brave.
“I want to,” you replied, and quickly moved to press your lips against his, before you had the chance to chicken out. He was startled for a moment, and then he began to kiss you back. It was characteristically soft and slow, and was without doubt the best kiss you’d ever had. It was the first of many.