𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓

The interior of the carriage was warm and smelled faintly of tobacco and pine needles. The entire ride back to the March house was nearly silent with the exception of Jo and Meg's quiet bickering. The two girls sat on one side with a wool blanket draped over their laps while you and Laurie sat on the bench opposite of them. Every so often the tips of your fingers would brush against his. You wouldn't pull away and neither would he.

When the carriage finally pulled into the familiar drive, you hopped out first and made sure Meg was alright before rushing ahead to the front door and knocking. Within seconds, Aunt Marmee was standing before you with a look of amused concern. "Goodness gracious, what have you done?" She asked through her laughter.

"Meg's twisted her ankle at the ball," you explain, waiting for Marmee to step aside so that you could walk into the threshold. Soon after you came Jo and Meg followed by Laurie. He looked awkward yet content as he surveyed the quaint sitting room. Aunt Marmee walked around him and rested her hand on your shoulder. "Clear up that chair for your cousin, dear," she instructed.

Without wasting a second, you tossed your shawl onto the sofa and went over by the fire to take the crate of knitting supplies out of the cozy armchair. In that same second, Jo lowered Meg down into the chair with a melodramatic huff.

Thundering footsteps could be heard all throughout the house as Amy and Beth stomped down the stairs to greet you in their nightgowns. The two girls swarmed the sitting room and Amy rushed over to hug you. Now that the danger of getting home had been avoided, the entire situation became more laughable and you found yourself smiling at everyone fussing over Meg's foot.

With Amy still clinging to your side, you looked over to the doorway and saw Laurie standing there with his coat tucked neatly under his arm. Marmee tsked and shook her head, guiding him further into the house. "Oh come in, come in," she insisted. "My apologies for the chaos, Mr. Laurence."

"Just Laurie, thank you." He smiled at Marmee before his eyes drifted back over to you, nodding his head in acknowledgment. "I really must be going now, if you don't mind."

"Are you sure you can't stay longer?" Amy pouts with her chin against your arm. You stopped yourself from reminding her of her manners, finding yourself thinking the same thing. Laurie only shook his head, inching slowly back over to the door. "No, I really must be getting back to my grandfather. It was lovely to meet all of you."

You couldn't find it in yourself to ignore how his eyes lingered on you as he said this.

Everyone, excluding Meg, stood up to wave him off as he entered his carriage and rode back down the path toward the tall white house up the hill.

Later that night, you were sitting up in bed reading a book that you had brought with you from home. It was hard to make out the letters in the moonlight, but the glittering snow on the window sill helped greatly. It was only you and Beth in the room and she had long since fallen asleep. 

 Jo was upstairs in the attic where she paced back and forth for hours on end. She had told you all about her novel that she had been hard at work on for the last six or so months. Every few minutes you would consider going up there to ask her for a candlestick but you didn't want to intrude on her thinking.

Your mind constantly floated back to the ball and your magical dance with Laurie out on the patio. You could almost still feel the phantom touches of his hand on your waist from when he lifted you high up into the air, or his fingers intertwined with yours as you flew across the darkened porch.

With a sigh, you tucked your book underneath your pillowcase and rested your head down against it, hoping to fall into a deep and dreamy sleep filled with Christmas Eve balls and magical midnight dances. 

 (A/N: This one is super short, but I needed filler anyway. Hope you like it so far! I want to have this story done by Christmas but I'm never good with deadlines. Online school sucks. If you have any constructive critisism I would love to hear it! Any grammatical issues or anything and I'll get right on them. Thanks for reading!)