[ this is the dress I had in mind for this scene ignore it if you want haha ]
also SURPRISE at the end keep reading for more hehe don't skip ahead !
"I need eating room," I remind Meg breathlessly, resisting the urge to whack her as she pulls the strings on my corset even tighter.
Meg rolls her eyes in the mirror from behind me where she stands, already made up in a ruffle covered pink dress with her hair up in ringlets. Her gaze meets mine and I purse my lips, earning a dramatic scowl from my elder sister, though the amusement in her eyes is apparent.
"You need air, not food," she huffs, and I eye my empty plate where two orange peels sit wistfully. Then, before my stomach even growls, she whispers to me, "I'm hungry too, but Sally said there will be wine and catering at the party."
I smile in relief. Of course Meg's hungry too–she just wasn't going to complain.
After a few more moments she's done with my corset, and moves to button up my dress in the back. It's long—floor length, and I'm wearing my brown flats with it—and green, made of gauzy material that feels like butterfly wings. Small flowers are embellished all over it, and the one sleeve is strung elegantly over my left shoulder.
Needless to say, it was an Aunt March purchase.
"Your waist is so small, Lillian." Sally muses across the room. "And I love that dress."
"I'd kill to be that skinny," a girl with blonde hair puts in.
I meet Meg's eyes in the mirror again, catching a quickly suppressed flash of jealously in her gaze before she smiles. The fact that Meg, perfect Meg, could be even a fraction jealous of me, makes me uncomfortable.
"Do you want to switch dresses?" I offer quickly, trying to ignore the gazes of other girls around the room. I feel like I'm a fish thrown into a tank of sharks.
"No, no," Meg laughs breathily, and begins to pull my hair up. "I like mine." Though she doesn't say it, I can tell she's appreciative that I offered.
She smiles contently to herself as she slips jewel-encrusted pins that belong to Sally into my hair, and moments later my blonde curls are up in a sort of braided low-bun with tendrils hanging around my face. I feel prettier than I've ever felt, and I once again wish Laurie were here to see it.
Laurie. I suppress a grin as his name is chanted like a mantra in my head, entertaining the school-girl crush I've begun to develop. Laurie, Laurie, Laurie.
"It's TIMME!!" Sally squeals, and cheers go up from the girls in the room, everyone rushing to add last touches to their makeup and clothes.
I'm thankful I've already bathed and opt for dabbing a bit of lavender oil on myself along with Meg, and then rubbing the rind of my leftover orange peel on my wrists and neck.
Hey, sounds dumb, but it works.
The girls in turn pass around droppers of peppermint oil and mint leaves to chew, and then we're off, bursting out of Sally's room and heading out to the stairs.
Everyone lines up on the stairs waiting to be announced, and grand amounts of people have gathered at the foot to watch. Meg giggles in front of me, and I grin, basking in the attention as well—it's hard not to.
"Announcing Lady Moffat and her guests—may the ball begin!" A man with a very official looking hat on booms, and we descend.
My foot has barely hit the landing when someone has placed themselves in my path.
"Madam," Sawyer hums regally, stooping into a dramatic bow. "If you would be so honored as to be on my arm tonight, I promise hour after hour of dance and complete merriment." His foot taps against the carpet, like he can't stand to be still even for a moment.
I watch him for a moment, taking in the way he's combed his brown curls down a bit and changed into a nice suit and jacket. His glasses make him look scholarly, but not in a way that would suggest he's anything but respectable.
"Why, sir," I begin, dropping into an equally low curtsy. "it would be my honor."
Sawyer grins and allows me to loop my arm through his, and then guides me through the house towards a lovely room filled with tables of food and waiters carrying glasses of champagne around. He plucks two glasses off swiftly, passing me one with a curious glance.
I accept it, and take a small sip.
We make our way around the room, talking to different people. Sawyer seems to know everyone, or maybe it's the other way around—everyone knows Sawyer. He introduces me to different girls who claim to have missed him since they last saw one another, and boys who went to school with him and Sally in a prep school in London.
I'd be content to just smile and meet people for the rest of the party, that being the less rigorous activity available, but when the music starts up and Sawyer offers his hand to me, I can't refuse.
We twirl together dance after dance, me laughing as we switch partners and partake in several different country-style dances that involve a lot of jumping and spinning. When the dances slow down and become more intimate, we take a break, walking over to get punch.
"This is the most fun I've had all week," Sawyer laughs, not even haven broken a sweat from the excitement of dancing. "Thanks for hanging out with me, Lily."
"No prob—" I start, and turn from the punch table to look at him, but my eyes have caught on a figure entering the room, and all of a sudden I'm breathless. He wasn't even supposed to come. Sawyer hear's my sharp inhale, and glances behind himself at the door.
Laurie.
He hasn't seen me yet, and I'm glad, because the look on my face would probably give away absolutely everything I'm feeling. He looks so—and he's wearing a suit, and his tie is a little bit loose to give off that care-free sort of vibe, and his hair is a bit tousled in the way it gets when he—and oh he's looking at me now.
I'm frozen.
"Hello, Lil'..." Laurie begins, having made it across the ballroom in only a few long-legged strides. The warm smile on his face drops a bit once he's by my side, and he stares Sawyer down with an odd look in his eyes. "And who might you be?"
"Sawyer," my newly acquired friend sticks his hand out eagerly, ever the bubble of energy. He either doesn't notice the territorial sheen in Laurie's eyes or he doesn't care. "Lillian here was just begging me to accompany her," he gives me a conspiratorial wink, as if we're sharing some private joke. "and now that you're here, I must be off. Lovely to meet you though, and lovely dancing with you, madam. I'm off to see if my brother showed up or not." Sawyer gives me another wink and bows dramatically, before sweeping away in a whirlwind of kinetic energy and pearly-white teethed grins.
The moment we're alone, Laurie turns to me, seeming to have decided Sawyer wasn't a threat. The smug look on his face turns into an expression of awe as he fully takes me in, not even bothering to hide that he's giving me a once-over.
"You look..." he begins, and then shakes his head, blinking slowly.
"You too," I offer quietly, and his eyes, warm and hazel, find mine with a smile. "Why didn't you say you were coming?"
He rocks back on his heels and shrugs, carding one set of fingers absently through his hair.
"I..wanted to surprise you." He smiles bashfully, and I can't stop the beat my heart skips from missing. "Even though I'm a bit disappointed to find I'm not your first dance of the night, may I be your next?" He asks, a note of shyness overlapping the amusement in his tone.
I nod slowly, and when he holds out his hand, I take it, allowing him to pull me out onto the floor. The musicians are playing a slow song, and only couples are dancing, the light from the oncoming sunset casting the room in a sort of orange glow.
One of Laurie's hands holds my own, and the other is feather soft on my waist. My other hand is on his shoulder, and as we sway to the music, I feel nostalgic of the first night we danced together.
"I meant to say you look beautiful," Laurie murmurs, his voice gentle and warm next to my ear, leaving a shiver rolling down my spine.
As if he felt it, he brings my body a bit closer to his, his hand moving to press gently against my lower back, urging me to stay close. Our faces are near, and I close my eyes blissfully, breathing in the gentle scent of him as it wraps around my senses.
"I'm glad you came," I mumble, and I feel his chest rise, then a slow exhale from above my own head.
"Me too," Laurie breathes, and holds me closer still. "I bet Amy would've loved this."
I try and imagine Amy here, and fail miserably. She'd either be the talk of the room or the brunt of it, and I know if she saw Laurie and I dancing as close as we are she'd die.
"Mhmm." I agree anyways, a tiny smile on my lips.
The song transitions into another slow song, and Laurie moves to twirl me gently, the layers of green fabric of my dress swishing around us in a sea of colors and embroidered flowers. I can't stop the laugh from bubbling it's way out of me, and when he spins me again, light catches on the beads of my dress in a spray of twinkles.
Laurie tugs me close to him again and, a smile in his voice, whispers to me, "it seems we've caught people's attention,"
I glance up and sure enough, a notable amount of eyes have settled onto Laurie and I as we move to the middle of the dance floor. He twirls me again for good measure, pulling another giggle from me.
"They're all looking at you," I whisper breathlessly as he pulls me back towards him.
He smiles softly and shakes his head, dipping his head down so his lips are next to my ear. "Trust me, darling—they're all looking at you."
Darling. The word sends a cacophony of butterflies off in my stomach, and my cheeks warm. Laurie tugs me closer still, and then my warming face is brushing against his, and I have to close my eyes or the proximity would be too overwhelming.
Seconds pass and then the music swells, the lights in the room dimming, and I pull my face back to look up at Laurie, finding his hazel eyes already on mine. A wordless exchange passes between us, and my heart begins to move faster as he smiles faintly.
"Lillian?" He breathes quietly, and it's a question.
I stare up at him silently for a moment, and then move my face towards his. He bends his head close and our noses brush. We stay that way just for a moment, the energy between us charged and crackling. He shifts a bit closer.
'Don't wake up. Don't wake up. This better not be a dream. Don't wake up.'
I'm chanting these thoughts over and over again in my head, when, all of a sudden, Laurie tenses up underneath my hands and pulls away from me.
What.
"Is that Meg?" He asks quietly, and I look up, a bit flustered from what almost might've happened, and follow his gaze.
My sister laughs at something a boy says across the room, her cheeks rosy from the half-empty glass of wine in her hand. She's laughing too loudly—smiling too big. Somethings wrong.
"Excuse me, Lillian," Laurie apologizes with his eyes, and then sweeps away from me across the floor towards her, and I'm hit again with the remembrance that he's not just a Laurence Boy, he's a March Boy now.
He belongs to all of us.
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I'm on the balcony of the second floor when Meg finds me. It's obvious she's been crying, and even though I'm not sure why, I feel I shouldn't ask. She sniffs and leans against the balcony rail next to me.
"I feel so stupid," she tells me after a while, and I look over at her in concern. "the girls started calling me Daisy and I just—I wanted to be someone else for a change."
"Meg, when did that begin?" I ask, then realize that isn't relevant. "Why would you ever want to be someone else?"
"I don't expect you to understand, you're perfect," Meg sniffs, and wipes her face with one hand. "I'm just so tired of being poor. This isn't even my dress!"
"Meg I'm sure Aunt March would—"
"I don't want you to have to keep giving me the dresses that Aunt March buys for you," she huffs, and turns to me, fixing me with a pained stare. "I wish we could have money of our own. I want to go shopping with the other girls—oh, to have the fineries they get to have. It just isn't—" I know she wants to say 'fair', but she doesn't, and I don't add it for her.
She's quiet for a long while, breathing in the cool air of the outdoors, and we watch the sky together, stars like painted specks the only thing interrupting the blackness.
"I feel sick. I shouldn't have drank and this corset is awful." Meg finally huffs, and gives me a dejected look.
I can't help it. I giggle.
"Oh hush," Meg huffs, but when I giggle again, she smiles. I force myself to quiet and sigh, turning to face her.
"You're perfect to me, Meg," I begin, and when she rolls her eyes I take her hands in my own, forcing her to look at me. "I wouldn't say it if it weren't true. I really do love you so much—and I'm not sure who Daisy is, but she pales in comparison."
This earns a smile out of her, and she sighs before pulling me into a hug. I hold her tightly, and we stay like that for a moment, before pulling apart.
"We ought to get ready to leave," Meg insists, seeming more herself again. "Laurie is sharing his carriage with us, again."
"So soon?" I tease, and she nods, a small smile playing on her lips.
"I suppose we have time for one more dance."
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The carriage ride home is silent, Meg asleep with her legs curled up in the seat and her head resting against the window, and Laurie rides next to me on the bench across, me falling in and out of sleep with my head against his shoulder.
I'm barely conscious of his fingers laced with mine resting on his leg all the while.
I must have slept for over an hour, because it seems like I blinked and then Laurie is rubbing the back of my hand gently, his voice a hum next to my ear.
"Lillian?" He whispers, rousing me gently, and I blink tiredly awake beside him.
"Mm?" I mumble, and sit up slowly, finding myself all the way over on his side of the bench.
I must've been really comfortable.
A bit embarrassed, I laugh shakily and then abruptly stop, my breath catching in my throat when I notice I'm holding onto his hand. A bit flustered I let go, and catch him smiling at the ground as he opens the carriage door to help both of us and a sleepy Meg outside.
"Goodnight Laurie," she murmurs, and touches him gently on the shoulder, before allowing the coachmen to help carry her bags inside.
The warmth of oncoming springtime has thawed the snow, and for what seems like the first time, Laurie is walking me across the grassy drive towards the door. He pauses for a moment once we get there, and the dim lamplight shining on his face makes him look almost ethereal.
"Thank you for dancing with me, once again," he starts slowly, and reaches out, his free hand slipping into mine, "I truly do enjoy spending time with you."
"And I you," I breathe, and swallow. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
We stand still for a few seconds in a comfortable silence, neither of us moving to go.
I don't know if it's the almost kiss from before that's bringing these emotions, or simply my constant overwhelming desire for a human connection, but I'm acutely aware of how close Laurie and I are, and of the way he's he's looking at me.
It hits me like a freight train—I want him to kiss me. I knew it at the party, and I know it even better now.
Laurie holds my gaze, his eyes, those warm, hazel orbs, focused on mine. He steps closer, and in those eyes is a question—it's like he's read my mind, and he's asking permission.
"Lillian, I—" he pauses, his voice strained, and his hands reach out, letting go of my one, brushing against my face lightly. His thumbs trace my cheekbones, his touch a flaming trail. My hands rise involuntarily to his arms, and I'm bringing him closer without even realizing it.
Thud, thud, thud.
"I should go inside," I whisper, my eyes widening a bit.
The blood under my skin is hot, and rushes quick as his eyes scan my face.
"Yes you should," He replies, unconvincingly. He sounds just as reluctant as I am. His hands move to my waist and he sighs.
His eyes lower to my mouth.
When he licks his lips, most likely upon instinct, my heartbeat jumps.
And all of a sudden, I can't control myself.
Knowing very well I'm throwing away everything Aunt March has instilled in me, most likely the trust of two of my sisters who are in love with him—I realize I can't stop this from happening. A thousand Laurie and Lillian's in past lives were here right now, and so will thousands more to come.
Laurie is a death sentence, and I throw myself at it.
One hand touches his face and I lean into him, pressing my mouth gently to his. It's a small kiss, lasting no greater than four seconds, but in all that short amount of time I know him all over again. His lips are soft, ridiculously so, and that sharp mint he always smells of is sweet and clings lightly to the hollow of my nose.
Laurie is frozen, as if stunned I was the one to make the first move, so I pull back, the fear I'm feeling reflected across my face. My cheeks are flaming red, I'm sure.
"Lily," he mutters, his eyes wide.
As if confirming I haven't ruined the moment he cups my face in both of his hands and pulls me back, molding his mouth very gently with mine. It's agonizingly soft, and he keeps kissing me slowly, like I'm some beautiful thing he needs to be careful with, all the while I'm kissing him.
I'd envisioned kissing Laurie a thousand times, but never like this.
It's even better than I'd imagined it'd be.
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im bad at writing kiss scenes nobody move
hehe also I hope you liked the surprise they finally made a move! please comment btw you guys' messages make my night