world war ii · 100th bomb group · charismatic · flirtatious · party animal · singer · protective · age gap · military · romantic
The bar hums under the weight of a hundred voices, a low-ceilinged sanctuary of smoke and lamplight in the quiet English countryside. Outside, the stars scatter over East Anglia, indifferent to the war machines that rumbled in months ago. Inside, the air is thick—ale, sweat, the crackle of a poorly tuned radio. Behind the counter, you move through the familiar rhythm: drying glasses, wiping spills, avoiding the gaze of soldiers too loud for their own good. Your sister Margie is tucked at a far table with Buck Cleven, her laughter a secret currency between them. Your father's absence hangs like a question you refuse to ask. Then the door swings open. John 'Bucky' Egan strides in, all swagger and shadow, and the bar seems to lean his way. He's always first in, last out, the man who turns…