Work Text:
Gale was alone, which was rare when there was a gathering occurring. Gale had snuck away to the watch tower while he watched John talk and drink his way through every English dame in the pub. He never liked celebrations like this, and he never liked the feeling of jealousy when he saw John with his hands around a girl's waist, his lips tickling her ear as he whispered all of the things she wanted to hear. Tonight was more of the same, perhaps even more forward with his advances as the clock ticked closer to midnight.
The new year, Gale couldn't help but feel a little melancholy at the thought that the new year would just bring more fighting, more of his friends and subordinates dying in a war that showed no signs of ending. The minutes counting down to what could possibly be Gale's last year alive with the rate they're continuing at.
He's perfectly content to spend the last minutes of 1943 by himself when he hears clumsy footsteps clambering their way up into the watch tower. Gale turns quickly to the sound, sighing when he finds it's just John, all bright smiles and drunken eyes as he makes his way over to Gale.
"What are you doing here all in your lonesome? You're missing the party," John says, his words hesitant as he slumps down next to Gale, clapping his hand on Gale's thigh.
Gale wonders, selfishly, how many women had that hand on them tonight before John wandered to find him. Gale looks ahead at the rolling hills of Thorpe Abbotts, a couple forts reflecting the light of the moon that shines unobstructed in the night. It's beautiful, and Gale feels his heart warm at the thought that John left the party just to look for him.
"Thought you would have found a girl for company tonight, didn't want to damper your fun if you had," Gale mutters, pressing the toothpick in his mouth into his bottom lip.
John chuckles under his breath, pulling his flask from his breast and tipping it into his lips, kissing his teeth when nothing comes out of it. He tosses it aside and turns back to Gale, that same lopsided expression on his face.
"No dame wanted the pleasure of my company tonight. Guess I won't be getting a New Year's kiss tonight," John sighs, shaking his head as he looks down at where his hand rests on Gale's thigh.
Gale had been trying not to think about the heavy warmth on his thigh the entire time, chewing the toothpick in his mouth almost to a pulp with how intensely he's trying not to think about it.
The sudden clap of John's hand onto his thigh startles Gale to look back at him. He has a grin on his face, one that Gale knows is born of a stupid plan he's hatched in his drunken mind. John turns his body to face Gale's entirely, taking his hands and looking at his watch.
"We still have five minutes, but considering that neither of us have New Year kisses, why can't we be each other's?" John asks.
Gale stops, mouth hanging slightly agape as he looks at John's face. He doesn't seem to be joking, looks dead serious with that stupid grin on his face, and Gale swallows, shaking his head.
"Bucky, you're drunk. We can't kiss, we're men," Gale says, voice catching in his throat at the thought.
He hates how badly he wants to kiss John, hates how his heart blooms at the thought of John pressing his lips to his, the tickle of his mustache on his lip. It makes Gale squirm to see how serious John seems to be about the prospect. John doesn't falter, nodding and shrugging his shoulders.
"Come on, Buck, dames kiss each other all of the time, what's so wrong if we do it? We can start the new year off with something sweet. Come on, Buck, you have two minutes to decide," John says, hands warm and callused on Gale's.
They're where nobody can see them, no one would know they did it except for them. And it would fulfill Gale's deepest, darkest, wish, and John would be none the wiser afterwards. Gale sighs, turning towards John and nodding once, heart pounding a thousand miles a minute.
He looks down at his own watch. Thirty seconds to midnight. Thirty seconds until John kisses him.
John looks at him with soft eyes, steel blue in the moonlight as he looks deep into his eyes. He glances down at his watch and smiles, looking back up at Gale with a fond smile, so fond as he leans forward.
"Happy New Year, Gale," John whispers, and presses his lips to Gale's.
It's only for a second, almost purely to say that they've done it, they had a New Year's kiss, but Gale's reeling from the softness of John's lips, the way his mustache did indeed tickle his upper lip when he pressed against him. John pulls away and Gale thinks that will be the end of it, can't help but feel slightly heartbroken that it's over.
John looks into his eyes with something that glimmered in the low light, something that Gale couldn't quite place, and then John's hand shot up to Gale's face, fingers in his hair as he surged forward to kiss him again. This was far from the chaste kiss from before, and Gale can't help but gasp, hand coming up to hold onto John's as he's kissed.
John's lips move easily against his, already kissing him with a dizzying pace, one that Gale can't quite keep up with. There's a fire in his stomach when John grunts against his lips, squeezing his fingers around John's wrist as he tries to keep up with the pace of John's lips. He gasps when John opens his mouth with his tongue, tilting his head to kiss Gale even deeper, fingers scraping against Gale's scalp as he dislodged Gale's hair from its rigid styling.
The sound of a flare jolts them apart, the sky turning the sky a colorful green, the flare that symbolizes safety and life. It's then that what Gale and John have just done dawns on them, as more flares get shot into the air. Gale curses and moves to stand, wants to run away from what he has just done, but John grabs his hand, standing with him when Gale jolts upwards.
"Buck... please don't leave, let's talk about this," John pleads and Gale just wants to leave, to run, but the look in John's eyes makes him stay.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have agreed to this, what I did was wrong, what we did was wrong, I shouldn't have done this," Gale frets and John takes his hand, turning Gale to face him and pressing his lips to Gale's knuckles.
"Do you regret it?" John asks, voice soft.
"Yes... yes I regr-" Gale begins but John interrupts him before he finishes his thought.
"Tell me the truth, Buck, I know you're lying to me. Do you regret it?" John asks.
Gale can't think, all he can see is John's steel blue eyes, soft and probing as the flares light his face in hues of red and green. His mouth is dry and he can't seem to find the words. He shakes his head instead, squeezing his hands around John's and leaning forward to press another kiss to John's lips as his answer instead. It's sweeter than the last, but still filled with passion as Gale takes his hand from John's and laces his fingers into his hair.
John groans and takes Gale's head, kissing him deeper still as they stand here on the watch tower. The kiss fills Gale with dread and with passion at the same time, stomach roiling as John presses himself even closer into Gale's body, wanting every part of their bodies to be touching.
Gale feels like he's going to jump out of his skin, every nerve ending is hot as a live wire as John swipes his tongue into his mouth, he can't think straight, can't form a coherent thought when he's finally, finally, kissing John.
John pulls away and Gale reels when he sees the tiniest strand of saliva connecting their lips, panting when he sees John's red and swollen lips.
"You don't know how long I've been waiting to do that... fuck..." John whispers, chest heaving against Gale's.
Gale closes his eyes and dares to lean forward, tucking himself into the crook of John's neck, sighing as he moves to wrap his arms around John's shoulders.
"What took you so long?" Gale huffs and he can feel John smile against his temple.
"Was waiting for you to come to me. And I was right, we're ringing in the new year with something sweet, always knew you were a sap," John teases and Gale gives him a lighthearted shove to pull away from him.
Gale can almost forget where he is when he's here with John, can almost forget that the war has no end in sight and that they're just going to keep flying suicide missions until something breaks, but when John caresses his face and smiles at him like Gales his lover, he can forget about it all.