florence - enola holmes

why have you run?

level of concern- twenty one pilots

"why have you run?"
tewkesbury asks me, while enola sleeps a couple feet away.
"from home, i mean." he clarifies, now sitting on the log next to me.
"we didn't want to go to miss harrison's finishing school for young ladies." i tell him as he chuckles. "why have you?"
i begin to slice his brown hair off with the knife enola had sharpened.
"well. uh, a tree branch broke above me while i was collecting wild mushrooms. it should've crushed me, but i managed to roll out of the way, an-" he stutters now looking at me as i have a chunk of his soft hair in my hand. "and i realized that..." he stops, staring into my hazel eyes.
"what?"
"you'll laugh at me."
"i won't." i say shrugging my shoulders, why would i?
he looks at me, then down to the fire in front of us.
"my life seemed to flash before me. i was just about to take my seat in the house of lords. i had these ideas about how we might progress the estate. but my family were set on me joining the army and then going overseas, just like my uncle." he tells me in an almost scared voice. "and i realized i was scared, scared i would hate every second of the rest of my life." he says, his hands shaking as he held them together in front of him.
i look at him in the eye before he turns away from me. "why would i ever laugh at that?"
"don't i sound pathetic?"
"no." i tell him as he finally meets my stare.
"why were they going to send you to the finishing school?" he asks me, to avoid the question i simply turn away and sigh.
"in the morning, enola will have us move fast. the bowler hat man will be hot on your tail-"
"where's your destination? i'm going to-" he cuts me off.
"london." i state as he just laughs to himself.
"well, then, shall we, uhm, stick together?" he recommends as i send him a gentle smile.
"if you like." he finishes with a light chuckle.
"no." i hear enola shout flatly from the side of the log.
"we'll all get to london and go our separate ways, apart from flora and i. understood?" she tells us, while tewkesbury looks down rather disappointed.
"understood." he tells her.
enola lays back down as i stand up and continue to cut his hair.
"totally. ah! entirely." he says in a pained voice.
"do you have to be quite so brutal with the hair?" he asks me.
"yes. you did say you wanted me to cut it after all." i inform him.

the next morning, enola, tewkesbury, and i are all sitting on the back of a sheep carriage.
"well, you would say that." enola says as we all laugh.
i'm sat in the middle, she's on my left, and tewkesburys on my right.
we continue to move down the dirt path as we're surrounded by large fields of grass.

we arrive in town as the sheep carriage comes to a stop.
enola goes under the wooden bar, hat in mouth, exiting.
i do the same as tewkesbury stays seated.
"oh, so this is where we part?" he asks us, looking more at me than enola.
this boy must have a staring problem.
"it is." i tell him, joking a bow.
he looks down for a moment before looking back up at us.
"then, thank you, florence holmes... and enola holmes, for helping me here." he says with a sweet smile.
"you were supposed to have forgotten those names." enola says from next to me
"then you'll both have to find another." he says softly, raising his eyebrows at me, as the carriage wheels away.
he continues to look at us as his figure becomes smaller.

*florence*

he'll be fine.
right?

enola pulls me by my arm as we begin to walk, which just so happens to be in the direction tewkesbury is going.

*enola*

london:
the beating heart of england.
mother will be here somewhere,
and though she prepared us for many things...