So I was watching 'Letters to Juliet' last night and I had a thought. What if Sophie didn't go to the wedding? What if Charlie and Sophie ended up like Claire and Lorenzo? So here's a quick one shot that I wrote! :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Letters to Juliet or Romeo and Juliet.
Sophie Hall slowly made her way towards the wall that was covered in letters. She touched the hole where the rock had been, hiding away Claire's letter. It was thanks to that letter that she had had the most awesome adventure.
Sophie giggled to herself as she remembered Charlie's facial expression every time she used that word. Awesome. She didn't use it much nowadays. In fact, she hadn't said it in a long long time. It hurt too much. She always thought of Charlie every time she used the word and the heartache was unbearable whenever she thought of the tall, blonde and posh Brit that stole her heart.
She sat down on the bench heavily and looked up at all the tearstained letters. Last time she had been here, she had been engaged to Victor and couldn't understand why all the girls were crying while they wrote. She had been so naive back then. So innocent.
But the adventure that she, Claire and Charlie embarked on showed her why the letters about love had been tearstained. She understood how much love hurt now. She had seen for herself real true love in Lorenzo and Claire. When the Italian embraced Claire on that hot, sunny day, Sophie had found herself welling up at the scene and she had had to turn away. That hadn't helped, however, because she had turned towards Charlie and she had suddenly realised that she was in love with the sarcastic but charming young man next to her.
Sophie's body wracked with sobs as she remembered leaving Charlie behind to go back to her Fiancé and get married. She had felt as though she was leaving half of herself behind and now she knew why. Charlie was her soul mate, her one true love. But now it was too late. Charlie was probably married by now with a couple of kids that had his unruly blonde hair and his British sarcastic charm.
Sophie had broken off the engagement to Victor the day she got Claire and Lorenzo's wedding invitation. She had sat Victor down and told him the entire story from when she found the letter to when they found Lorenzo and she realised she had fallen in love. She even included the kiss she and Charlie shared. Victor had sat in silence for a few minutes before he told her that he understood and that he had realised something had changed between them the moment they got back from Italy. They had parted on good terms and Sophie was a regular in his restaurant these days. Victor had told Sophie to go to the wedding and tell Charlie her feelings but Sophie had backed out of it at the last moment, not wanting to humiliate herself if Charlie didn't feel the same way. She had tried dating a few times but it felt wrong so, 14 years later, she was still unmarried and still in love with Charlie.
"Sophie?"
Sophie turned as someone called her name. She wiped away her tears and her vision cleared so that she could see the woman in front of her.
"Isabella? Is that you?" Sophie asked, standing up. When the woman smiled and nodded, Sophie grinned and hugged her. "How are you?"
"I'm fine thank you. Why were you crying?" Isabella asked, looking Sophie in the eyes. "Have you and Victor had a fight? Are you two on holiday here again?"
Sophie shook her head, laughing. "No! No! Victor and I called off the engagement about a week before Lorenzo and Claire's wedding. We're still friends though. So no, I'm not here with him. I'm here by myself this time. I just... I just wanted to come back and see Juliet's wall again. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't dreaming about meeting Claire and Lorenzo and... Charlie."
Isabelle stared at her for a moment then smiled sadly, "You are in love with Charlie. I can see it in your eyes."
Sophie just nodded and whispered, "Yes. Yes I am, Isabella. But it's too late now. I bet he's married and settled down."
Isabelle smiled and took her hand, "Come. I know who you need to see."
"Isabella! This is Lorenzo and Claire's house!" Sophie cried as Isabelle drove towards the massive house in front of them. "I can't be here! What if they've forgotten me?"
"Non Sophie!" Isabelle laughed, "They talk about you all the time! Of course they haven't forgotten you!"
Isabella parked the car and Sophie got out hesitantly before asking, "Charlie's not here is he?"
"Non. He finishes his work in London on Friday. He won't be back until Monday." Isabelle soothed her before knocking on the door. When it opened, Sophie found herself staring up at Lorenzo who looked like he hadn't aged a day since she last saw him.
"Sophie!" He cried, pulling her into a tight hug. He called into the house, "Claire! il mio amore! Come and see who is here!"
A moment later, Claire came into view. Apart from a few more wrinkles, Claire looked the same too.
"Oh, Claire!" Sophie cried, looking at her. "It's me! Sophie!"
"Sophie? Oh it's really you!" Claire replied, hugging her tightly. "I thought you had forgotten us!"
"Oh never Claire!" Sophie told her, tears falling. Claire brushed the tears away for her then her gaze turned to Isabella, "I take it you brought her here Isabella. Grazie!"
Before Isabella could reply, however, the sound of a car pulling up reached Sophie's ears. Sophie didn't turn around, guessing that it was just one of Lorenzo's children. However, the name that came from Claire's lips made Sophie freeze.
"Charlie!"
"Gran!"
Sophie turned to see Charlie getting out the car. He was still as handsome as ever, with his unruly blonde locks and baby blue eyes, and when he spoke he still had his British accent but Sophie could hear a light Italian accent in there too as though he spent most of his free time in Italy which he probably did. But his jaw was now more defined and it was obvious that he worked a bit too much from his tired looking eyes.
"I was going to surprise you Gran by being early! I finished work yesterday and got on a plane last night. But I..." Charlie trailed off as he finally caught sight of Sophie. Sophie's breath hitched. She disentangled herself from Claire's embrace and made her way towards the man who held her heart.
"Sophie?" Charlie's voice was rough with emotion and Sophie saw him glance down at her left hand, relaxing when he saw no wedding ring. Sophie mimicked his actions and let go of the breath she was holding when she realised he wasn't wearing a wedding ring either.
"Yes. It's me Charlie." She replied, her eyes glistening with tears. "I'm surprised you remember me."
They had reached each other now and Sophie bit her lip as Charlie raised a hand and put it on her cheek. "Of course I remember you Sophie. I love you, you silly American girl. I was going to tell you at the wedding but you didn't show up so I thought-"
Sophie's brain finally caught up with what Charlie was saying. He loved her. Charlie loved her. She cut off his words with a kiss, wrapping her arms round his neck and pulling him down so she could reach better. Charlie wrapped his arms round her waist and picked her up so that he didn't have to lean down.
When they pulled away, they could hear everyone behind them cheering, wolf whistling and cat calling. Sophie ignored them though and looked into Charlie's eyes.
She smiled up at him and said, "Well it's not quite 50 years like Claire and Lorenzo. But I think 14 years is a long enough wait. I love you Charlie."
"I love you too Sophie." Charlie murmured, pressing a kiss to her lips softly.
Sophie's smile turned into a smirk as she told him, "This day has been awesome."
Charlie's groan of annoyance at the word was the reply.
Sooo yeah... I didn't know how to end this! I hope you guys liked it! :D xxx