I got this idea from reading an adorable drabble by piemarys on Tumblr, so this is for her and hartnellss because I've been promising her new fic for probably centuries...Anyway, happy Valentine's Day to you all!
Candy Hearts
"Oh, my God, who even buys conversation hearts?"
Mary forced back a mean comment, half-wondering why she had even invited Edith to her anti-Valentine's get together, but then she remembered Sybil had given their middle sister the invitation. If only Anthony hadn't been in D.C. for the week, Edith wouldn't have been in Mary's hair. It was bad enough that Matthew had...or she had...they had broken up a week before Valentine's Day, but Edith had to be there to rub it in.
It was everything she wanted.
"They have really vulgar phrases written on them," Mary protested, remembering her hilarity when she'd seen them weeks before, thinking it would be funny to give them to Matthew. Oh, God.
"Why does it just say, 'edible underpants'?" Anna questioned, instantly covering her mouth in a fit of giggles.
"God, how old are we?" Mary questioned, grabbing her over-sized glass of wine and taking a sip. "Sybil, can you push play? I want to see how long it takes for Elizabeth Bennett to realize Wickham is just a wanker and Colin Firth is really the man for her."
"Someone's a little testy," Edith interjected, drawing her sweat pant-clad legs to her chest as Sybil started the movie, grabbing a handful of popcorn.
"She just misses Matthew," Anna attempted, although it was of little comfort to Mary.
"I do not," Mary replied in protest, taking another gulp of wine and cutting it with some of the candy hearts Edith found so unnecessary. "Why would I miss him?"
"Oh, I don't know," Sybil began, sitting cross-legged on the chair, her knees poking out from beneath her nightgown. "Maybe because you forced the four of us to spend Valentine's with you instead of our boyfriends. Not that I'm not excited for five hours of Pride & Prejudice with the potential for 'Would You Rather' and 'Truth or Dare.' Maybe a nice hour or two of karaoke?"
She could tell her youngest sister was trying to lighten the mood, but Mary wasn't amused.
"Nobody made you come," Mary said a little huffily. She got to her feet as the scene opened on Longbourn House, Elizabeth Bennett and her sisters watching as Mrs. Bennett chastised her husband about Netherfield and Mr. Bingley. "In fact, if you don't want to stay," Mary continued, walking to the door, "you can just go back to your boyfriends and-"
She opened the door quickly and found the last person she'd expected to see.
"Matthew!" Anna said immediately as Mary stared up at her ex-boyfriend, teeth clenched. Mary heard the film pause and she swallowed.
"What are you doing here?" she asked him, relishing in the fact that his hair was unkempt and he looked like he hadn't slept well for the past few days.
"I wanted to talk to you," Matthew told her, his hand reaching for her wrist, but she shifted out of his grasp. She heard the crinkling of paper behind him and saw a few roses poking over this shoulder.
"Well, I'm busy. My friends and I-"
"Your sisters and Anna," he corrected, bringing his bouquet of flowers out from behind his back, "who's basically your sister, aren't you?" He asked this over Mary's shoulder and she rolled her eyes. "Ladies," he said with a nod. "I'm sorry, but last time I checked, you all had boyfriends, right?"
"Are you trying to get me to slam the door in your face? Because I wouldn't mind," Mary told him, reaching for the door handle and ignoring the flowers intentionally.
"Come on, just let me say what I came here for and then you can get back to-" Matthew's eyes flicked to the TV and he cleared his throat. "Watching Pride & Prejudice for the hundredth time, are we?"
"Shutting the door," Mary warned, pushing it toward him, but he held out his free hand and stuck his foot in the gap.
"I'm sorry," he said, looking repentant for the first time since she opened the door, his blue eyes making her melt slowly as they always did.
"For what? Showing up here and making fun of my film choices?" she questioned, still holding the door against his foot. "Did you bring those flowers for another girl? Maybe Mrs. Beeton down the hall?"
"Well, as much as I love going after eighty-nine year old women. But I am sorry for the film comment...and for last week," Matthew amended. "Please, can we just talk about it, Mary?"
"I don't think there's anything to talk about, Matthew," she said hastily, forcing herself not to look at the flowers or his eyes. "You don't love me. That's fine. I don't care at all."
"Oh, clearly, that's why you threw me out of here last week without waiting for any explanation. That's why you're not taking my calls," he said. "If you had just let me explain-"
"Explain what, Matthew? How you don't love me? How you probably never will? No, thanks. No amount of flowers or apologetic looks could change that," Mary told him, hoping she was squishing his toes in between the door and its frame as she pushed on it harder.
"Ow! God, Mary, stop," he said. "Just let me explain."
"Oh, come on, just hear him out! He brought flowers!" Sybil interrupted. Mary turned her head and gave her sister a scathing look. "Oh, don't try that on me, I've had years to become immune to it."
Mary groaned and let go of the door, backing away. Matthew flexed his toes for a moment before looking up at her.
"Can we talk privately?" he asked.
"Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of my friends," she said, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared at him. He faltered slightly, but quickly steeled himself.
"I love you, Mary," he said simply.
Mary blinked at him, quickly frowning.
"What?" she asked, the pitch of her voice rising considerably.
"I love you," Matthew repeated, stepping toward her but he stopped, as though afraid she would slam the door against him again.
"Wait, what?" Mary questioned, her voice reaching decibels only dogs could hear.
"He loves you!" Anna, Sybil, and Edith shouted in unison. Mary turned her head to look at them, her cheeks coloring slightly as she shifted her attention back to Matthew.
"You...do?" she breathed, her voice as though all the air had been pushed out of her lungs.
Matthew's eyes softened.
"Yeah, of course I do," he said, moving closer. Mary's vision blurred slightly and she blinked to clear it.
"But you...you didn't say anything," she reminded him, surprised as he reached out to grip her arm.
"I was just caught off-guard," Matthew explained, bringing his other hand to her face. He traced his thumb across her cheek. "You barely gave me time to think. But of course I love you, Mary."
"Well, silence is never a good indication of reciprocated feelings," she said with a sniff.
"Forgive me?" he asked.
"The better question is, do you forgive me?" Mary asked. "I think I...might have overreacted."
"You think?" Edith asked with a snort.
Mary turned to glare at her sister, but Matthew tilted her chin back toward him.
"You don't need my forgiveness, Mary," he said gently. "I love you."
"You still love me even though I was a little crazy?"
"A little?" Edith pipped up again, but Mary heard Sybil jab their sister in the ribs.
"Yes," Matthew replied, ignoring Edith. "Do you still love me?"
Mary looked up at him, thinking about how to respond, but she was pelted with a few handful of candy hearts. Mary looked behind her again.
"Oh, my God, if you don't kiss him, I will!" Sybil groaned, lobbing a few more candies at them.
"Sybil! What about Tom?" Anna asked with a laugh.
"Hell, he would have kissed Matthew after hearing that speech," Sybil replied, giving Mary a pointed look. Behind her, Matthew laughed and Mary turned to him once more.
"You interested in Tom?" Mary asked him.
"Not especially," he replied with a roguish smile.
"Well, as much as I hate to be told what to do," Mary began. Draping her arms around his neck, she pushed herself up on the balls of her feet and kissed him. Matthew's arms wound around her waist and lifted her off the ground, the bouquet of roses bumping against her back.
"Oh, hey, none of that," Sybil said as Mary's feet dangled a few inches off the floor. "This was supposed to be a ladies' night."
With a laugh, Matthew set her back on the floor, grabbing her hand. "I suppose I shouldn't ask if I can stay?"
Mary shot a glance at her friends. "Unless you want to watch Colin Firth walk around in tight breeches for five hours," she told him.
"Tempting, but I think I'll pass," he said. "I'll call you in the morning."
"Okay," Mary said. "I love you."
Matthew broke into a smile. "I love you, too," he replied, kissing her quickly before passing the flowers over to her. "Happy Valentine's Day, darling." He turned his attention to her friends. "And don't you dare prank call me later," he warned them as he headed for the door.
"Oh, we wouldn't dare!" Sybil said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Mm, right," Matthew said. "Goodnight, love."
He kissed Mary's cheek one last time before letting himself out, giving her a final smile as she shut the door behind him.
For a few moments there was silence, but then Edith spoke.
"This heart says 'with tongue'," she read aloud. "Where did you even find these?!"
"Let's see if we can make a really dirty sentence out of these while Mr. Darcy acts like a snob," Sybil suggested, scooping up a handful of the candies as Mary settled on the sofa again, the flowers still in her hands. "We can send photos of them to Matthew."
"God, he'll love that," Mary replied, unable to keep the smile from her face.
"Just give him a few ideas for tomorrow night," Anna joked.
"I love it!" Sybil said with a laugh as she turned the film back on. "Maybe Matthew would be willing to try on some tight breeches?"
"Stop trying to steal my boyfriend," Mary scolded halfheartedly, eating a few of the candy hearts as her sisters and Anna broke into fits of giggles over a rather dirty sentence Anna had just composed. "No way are we doing that," Mary told them flatly, but her cheeks colored all the same.
Maybe they would.
Thoughts?