As soon as they hear the doors close, their heads shoot our way.
"Finally, there you two are," says mother.
Mother and Mrs. Rhodes walk over to us.
"We got the mail," I say.
"Oh, the mail is the least of our worries right now," says my mother hugging me.
Mrs. Rhode hugs Archibald.
"We were worried sick about you two, what took so long?" Asks my mother.
"Uh... there was a bit of trouble with the carriage," I reply.
"On the way here, a snake scared the horse, and it took a while for it to calm down," says Archibald.
"Did anything happen to you guys, are you alright?" Asks Mrs. Rhodes.
"Uh... yes, Archibald..." I say.
After thinking about what happened in the carriage, I realized... Archibald had protected me. The weirder thing was that I felt safe when he was holding me. Mother looks at me waiting for me to continue.
"Made sure everything was alright," I continue.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Archibald looking at me, soft expression on his face.
"Oh, well thank you so much Archie," says mother hugging him and Mrs. Rhodes then hugs me.
They finish hugging and back away.
"Well, here's the mail-" I say handing it to my mother, "Adrienne and Colette say hello."
"Ah, Adrienne and Colette, how are they?" She responds.
"They're alright. Very happy to see me just as I was them. They're also sorry they were able to make it to the ball," I continue.
"I wish I could see them to tell them it's alright and say hello personally," says my mother.
"Well, I am going to go out with them on Saturday," I tell her.
"Well in that case, tell them I said hello when you see them," she says.
"Oh, and Archibald is... also going, they invited him," I say.
"Alright," says my mother.
"Who are they?" Asks Mrs. Rhodes.
"Well in total it's my friends Adrienne, Colette, and Ezra. Plus, this other girl named Harriet and now Archibald," I say.
"They're good kids," explains my mother.
"Oh alright. Well, thank goodness you're both alright," says Mrs. Rhodes.
Mother nods yes and says, "go get cleaned up for dinner."
Archibald and I nod and make our way up the stairs. We walk in silence, heads down making sure we don't trip.
"Thank you," I say quietly.
"Whatever for?" He asks looking at me.
"For... protecting me in the carriage," I reply.
"Oh... no trouble at all. If you're going to die somehow I prefer it be me who does it," he says jokingly.
He lets out a soft laugh and so do I.
"See you at dinner," I say reaching my bedroom.
"See you at dinner," he says looking at me.
I walk into my bedroom, and he walks away to the third floor. I take a few minutes freshening up and go downstairs. As I'm going, I'm met with Archibald who is also walking down the stairs. We walk downside by side in silence until we reach the dining room. When we walk in, I see mother, father, Mrs. Rhodes, and Mr. Rhodes.
"Good evening," Archibald and I say.
"Good evening," says father reading a newspaper.
"Evening," says Mr. Rhodes.
Both of them speak in a serious tone.
"How was work?" I ask sitting down.
"What is it to you Odette? If I tell you, it's not like you're going to understand," says father, not even looking at me.
"Right," I say quietly, raising my eyebrows.
Mother rubs my shoulder and smiles at me, at smile back.
"How was work for you father?" Asks Archibald.
"Same old thing Archibald. You know, you should start looking into getting a job, I'm not going to have a lazy, good-for-nothing son," says Mr. Rhodes in a cold tone.
Archibald inhales sharply.
"Of course," he says.
We serve our food and start eating. Father has always been cold towards me. Way fonder of Archibald than he ever has been or will be of me. I just assume he loves me because he's my father, but he's never done anything to actually show it. He's extremely against everything I like to do, luckily mother always backs me up, and I'm pretty sure he's given up stopping me now that the knows I won't listen to him about this.
Archibald's P.O.V:
Father has always been cold towards me. Always making snarky remarks at me and rarely acknowledging my mother. The only person he talks to really is Odette's father, who is fond of me which I highly appreciate. Odette's father has been my mentor, always giving me advice when my father didn't, safe to say he's a father figure to me. I do feel bad for Odette, her father is cold to her, and my father doesn't care for her. She has her mother and my mother.
"So, Archie, how did you like your stay here? I have it clear you're leaving tomorrow?" Asks Mr. Darlington.
"Yes, I am, and it was lovely. Thank you so much for having me," I respond.
"I'm glad to see that after all these years, you and Odette still get along great," he continues.
Odette chokes a little on her drink.
"Sorry," she says and continues doing what she was doing.
"Yes, we get along perfectly, isn't that right Oddie?" I ask grinning at Odette.
"Yes, why wouldn't we?" She says fake smiling at me.
"Very good to hear," says Mr. Darlington.
Back to Odette's P.O.V:
Dinner goes by.
"Odette darling, why don't you go wash the dishes please? Just for today, Martha will be back tomorrow. I have some things to talk about with the Rhodes and your father," says mother.
"Of course, mother," I respond.
"Yes, and Archie, please go help her," says Mrs. Rhodes.
"Of course," says Archibald standing up.
We go wash the dishes in silence the whole time. He looks peaceful, and for some reason, this time I don't feel the need to disrupt his peace. Last time I ate with the Rhodes, I was angry the whole time. Archibald wasn't doing anything to me, just his pretense was enough to make me want to get up and storm out. However, this time, I wasn't angry the whole time. Dinner was actually enjoyable. We finish washing and drying the dishes. We leave the kitchen, and walk to the dining room. As soon as we walk in, all of their voices come to an abrupt end.
"I'm going to sleep," I say.
"I as well," says Archibald.
We all say our good nights, and I go up to my room, just as Archibald goes up to his. He was leaving tomorrow which is was happy for. Finally I'd be able to have some peace. I change into sleepwear and lay down, but once again I am met with my insomnia. Tossing and turning, yet I'm not tired at all.
