𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎 - 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚘𝚗

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛

Five months later

Florence was perched on a porch, she remained uncomfortably, the wind was slowly rocking her back and forth as the moon captured her attention. It was a full moon and it shone downed gracefully, it coated the grass lavishly in its essence. Florence further enjoyed watching the stars twinkle in her presence.

A noise behind her, creaked and penetrated her solitude, her head whipped back quickly and she was faced with Benedict. She relaxed again, and turned back to the night sky.

"You okay?" Benedict whispers, his words are coated in the night air and a light breeze wobbles his words. Florence nods but her head surges forward to rest on crossed arms that are held up by her clothed knees. Benedict's dressed more relaxed, his blouse collar is undone showing some skin, his trousers were casual too in contrast to Florence. She'd had the same dress on since that morning, adding some shoulder cover sometimes but never wearing it for long, she felt sore and aching all over due to her stays, but she felt no desire at all to rest herself.

The wooden porch creeks as he moves, he sits down next to her with a sigh, "Atty is sleeping, I'm ready to sleep but you're out here, you're not okay, Flo. Come on, talk to me, you'll be my wife in a few more hours."

Florence sighs, her eyes trained on the stars that sprinkle across the night sky leading to the full moon, "Everything feels like a bad omen."

Benedict turns to look at her but she offers him no recognition, "How so?"

"Just everything, your family isn't going to be here! And, well, they still don't even know we are due to be married, and only my family will be there, my father will make a whole show, my mother will be gone the whole evening, sobbing her way to her death, Viktoria might be the only semi normal family member of mine there. We'd probably have more luck and happiness if we just eloped," Florence complained, maybe she was projecting or maybe she wasn't, or maybe the moon and stars felt so attractive tonight, that she just wished she, Benedict and Astrid could run away under them, with no connections at all - or maybe it all was a lucid dream.

Benedict breathes in and just sighs, he wishes for nothing more than simplicity with Florence, to be her equal and to worship her, "Maybe we should. You know, elope."

Florence's neck almost snaps with how quickly it turns towards Benedict, "You would want that?"

Benedict nods, "Aslong as I am with you, I will be at peace with everything. I can not imagine a minute without you,"

Florence smiles shyly at him, "I don't think I'd want an elopement, necessarily, just having you as my husband now would put me at peace, and well the moon is shining on us, I think it'd be perfect to declare ourselves as man and wife before it's recognised by law." Benedict nods, a growing smile riding plainly across his face. He leans over to grab her hands and then he holds them, he runs his fingertip of several creases of her hand before pulling it to his lips and kissing her.

Florence laughs before pulling herself from his grip and standing up, before offering a hand to him, he takes it whilst grinning. They're a mess of fools in love, one isn't even properly dressed and the other is aching from being too dressed but they hold each other nonetheless.

"Benedict, we have to announce ourselves as married through the mouth before we dance," Florence insists, Benedict is smug as he listens to her but he nods along for her to carry on, "I pronounce us man and wife."

"Husband and wife, you Florence Bridgerton, are now completely my equal, the one I shall cherish forever, the one I shall only ever ask for my love from," Benedict speaks, his cheeks tinted a delicious pink as he says sweet ramblings to his now proclaimed wife.

"Who said I would take your name now," Florence teases, Benedict mouths back at her, 'me'.

They say nothing more than that, Benedict pulls Florence closer towards him, at first her head is at his chin, but he forces her into a dance routine, the moon being their only light system and even then it was flickering wickedly. Benedict mumbled some beats to an old song, he had always remembered and then they were away with eachother. Laughter fell from Florence's lips as she twirled with delight and excitement, in that moment they were one, they were no different from one another, they were two people who just happened to find themselves madly in love with one another, and it was beautiful.

They stop spinning for a while, and Florence's mind is jumbled because of it, but she's never looked at Benedict with such adoration as she does now, "I love you Benedict, you've always been my one and only. My mister nice, no matter what happened, I never forgot you for a second. I don't, and even then I didn't, want to go back to the life I had before you."

Benedict smiles so naturally at her, "You are the most important thing to me, Florence, I swear that until the end. I will love you until my body gives up on me." And with that he leans down to kiss her, the stars and the moon being their only witnesses.

authors note
so that's it - okay so for anyone wondering after this they do get officially married, and they are happy together, and that is all i want to say because im thinking of actually doing a sequel, but i would need your opinion because if not i can start another book, which im leaning more towards like a harry pottter one im not sure tho