evermore || eloise bridgerton

fifteen

I wondered that if she were a boy, would she still smile when my eyes met hers across a crowded room, would she teach the still servant's children how to read in her spare time, would she still hate the idea of marriage? Or would she revel in it, the loss of freedom no longer looming over her head.

Those thoughts clouded my mind and made my decisions less than rational. The result of this being me not realizing that I had fallen asleep until I woke up with Eloise's arm draped around my waist.

A feeling of bliss washed over me for a moment as I breathed in the fruity scent of her aura, the warmth of her hand, before panic overtook my senses.  I sat up in earnest and felt my heart begin to hammer in my chest.

Had her maid seen us? Did her mother see me? Did Simon come in to check on me and wonder why I wasn't in bed?

I quickly snapped my head towards her with the intention of waking her and sharing my fears but stopped when I saw how beautiful she looked asleep.

For the first time since the day I met her, she was still. Her chest rising and falling with each breath, eyelashes fluttering as she dreamed of something probably obscure like equal rights and whatnot.

My heart swelled nearly out of my chest. How did I get so lucky as to wake up next to a sight like this?

As I reached up to cup her head in my hands and to stroke her cheek, her eyes opened.

As her grey eyes stared into mine, I couldn't help but realize how much my world revolved around this girl. Where would I be without Eloise Bridgerton?

This was where I accidentally ruined the moment by sneezing and nearly giving El a heart attack. She practically jumped backwards, arms flailing and smacking me in the nose in the process of it all. 

What we had clearly failed to consider was that although her bed was fit for two people, there was much more room on the left side than on the right side. Eloise unfortunately only had 5 inches of bed behind her before I sneezed, but soon had none as I scared the ever loving shit out of her.

As my hand flew to my face in response to her wild arms I heard a loud thud followed by several blankets flying off the bed.

"I'm okay," El groaned from the floor. I poked my head over the edge of the mattress and threw her a lopsided grin.

She smiled up at me for a moment before frowning and sitting up abruptly, cupping my face in her hands and turning it from one side to another.

"Eloise what are you doing?" I asked, her intentions confusing me after she interrupted another moment.

"Your nose..." she trailed off, turning around and walking quickly across the room in search of something. 

My nose?

I reached up with my hand and touched the underside of my nose, bringing it within eyesight where I spotted her reason for concern.

"Oh it's just a little bit of blood silly, I thought I'd lost an eyeball," I scoffed, my tone joking.

She rushed back to my side, cupping my face in her hands, eyes worriedly studying my face. Eloise brought up the object she had gone searching for, a handkerchief, and started dabbing at my nose.

"Ouch," I winced at the pressure.

"Stay still," she muttered sternly, her hand gripping my chin to keep it still.

"Since when do you care about a little bit of blood? I tried to meet her eyes but she seemed too focused on the task at hand.

"It's not the blood I care about Lia," she replied after a few silent beats, "it's you."

I physically felt my heart falter and come to an abrupt stop in my chest. Attempting to maintain my dignity I threw her a cocky smile.

"Did I make the one, the only, Eloise Bridgerton soft?" she rolled her eyes at me.

"Yes well," she paused and smiled to herself before meeting my eyes, "being in love does that to someone,"

My heart did a somersault, kicking and flipping in a circle.

She loved me.

She loved me.

She loved me.

"You love me?" I finally choked out, trying not to burst into tears.

"Of course I do Aurelia," her expression making me feel silly for not understanding that she loved me.

"Right, yeah of course I knew that," I attempted and failed to cover up how flustered I was.

"Okay so now that we've established the obvious I'd like to get you back to your room so we aren't caught," Eloise as always never remained on one topic of conversation for too long.

I nodded and moved towards the door to leave.

"Lia, wait," I stopped and turned, "one more kiss,"

Well I couldn't say no to that.

She moved away from the bed and towards me. She cupped my face and our lips partially met, her inability to properly kiss me was because of the smile on her face.

"First you want to kiss me, and now you can't keep a straight face? Make up your mind woman!" I muttered against her lips.

She straightened her face and kissed me again, her thumb stroking my cheek.

I eventually made it back to my room with little fuss and no one noticing.

A couple of hours later as we were sitting in the parlour, listening to Francesca play the piano when a maid dropped a letter in my lap.

don't worry i didn't forget about this fic