*****

Matt was finding it hard to sit still. He'd been sitting in the same spot with God-knows-how-many-other-men for hours, possibly days. He'd lost count. But at least he was sitting next to Luke. That was a good thing, he thought to himself. It was becoming obvious the war wasn't like they all thought it was. They thought it'd be over in a few days, a couple of weeks at most. But it had been going on for a year now, and Matt and Luke were now waiting to fight in a battle at Masuria.

Luke knew he would die. He knew when the war hadn't ended six months ago. He knew hundreds, maybe thousands of other innocent people were going to die. But he'd be damned if he'd let Matt die. The one person he'd truly loved in all his life. He knew how lucky he was to have found Matt. They had lived in the same city, London, all their lives, and they had found each other five years before the war had begun, and fallen in love. Before the war, there wasn't a night they hadn't spent together.

"Are you scared?"

Matt looked his lover in the eye, and answered truthfully. "I've never been more scared in all my life."

Luke entwined his fingers with Matt's, a small attempt at comfort. "Me too. But we're going to get through this. And we're going to live together, and die together of old age." Luke leaned closer. "You're not getting rid of me this easily." That caused a faint smile to spread across Matt's face. That smile disappeared as the shout came that the enemy was crossing No Man's Land.

The thoughts of what the other men would think left their mind as Luke and Matt ran over the top of the trench that had been their home for the last few days. Both holding a never-before-used rifle, and a bayonet strapped to their backs, they ran together across No Man's Land. About twenty other men reached the enemy before they did. Matt forced back a tear as he saw, out of the corner of his eye, a soldier he had talked to a few times, and quite liked, have his head explode as a bullet tore through it.

Luke was running, always aware in his head where Matt was, and saw the shrouded figure of a man raising a weapon, running at him at full speed. The man raised his bayonet above his head, and plunged the tip towards Luke's chest. The attacker fell dead when Matt shot a single bullet which ripped through the German's face.

"Are you alright? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No, no, I'm fine." Luke kissed Matt quickly and roughly. "You saved my life. I'll always -"

A small grunt came from Matt that made Luke's stop talking. "Matt? What's wrong?"

"I.I'm shot." Matt managed to sputter before he collapsed. Luke threw himself down at his lover's side.

Tears began to fall freely down Luke's cheeks. "No! No. you're going to be fine. You have to be. We're going to be together."

Shouts in German were made from afar. The part of Luke's brain that could hear those shouts knew the Germans were retreating.

"I.I love.you. I need you to know that before." Luke bent his head down and gave Matt the gentlest of kisses.

"You are not going to die. You've got an exit wound." Luke indicated where the blood was staining Matt's army clothing. His chest. "It's not that bad. It's not." Luke began to trembling, as the treacherous thought crept into his brain that he wasn't trying to convince Matt, but himself.

"You always were a bad liar. Luke? Hold me. Please?" Matt didn't have the strength to hold his head up anymore.

"You never have to ask, baby." Luke grabbed Matt by the arms, and gently dragged him so Matt's head was lying on his lap.

A minute must have passed, but it seemed like an eternity. A clich�, but it did. Finally, Matt spoke.

"L.Luke? I'm cold."

Luke's sobbing became full-blown grief as the life left Matt's body.

*end*