Author's note: This fic is inspired by The Autobiography of Jane Eyre, a YouTube adaptation of the novel. You should watch it if you haven't seen it!
This fic takes place while Jane is at the Rivers.
Rain. More rain. No walk today.
Jane flopped on the couch and fiddled with the lens on her camera. She could always shoot a vlog post, even though she'd already done two for the week. There was no else at the house at the moment. Diana was at a study group and Mary had a late dance class. And Simon? Simon was never here, even when he was here. He was always on his phone with the hospital or had his nose buried in a medical textbook.
The only person to talk to was the camera.
The doorbell rang and she jumped. Were Diana or Mary expecting someone? She certainly wasn't. Her heart stuttered as her mind turned to her usual "what ifs." What if it was him? What if he didn't listen and found her?
She shook her head. Stop it, Jane. It was Saturday afternoon, so it was probably just the postman or something. She cracked open the door.
"Rose?" She quickly undid the chain and opened the door wider. "What are you doing here?"
"Hi Jane," she said, her smile as wide and bright as if it had been a sunny summer morning rather than a rainy and cold winter day. "I just got the kids' photos from the nature walk developed. I thought we could go through them, pick the best ones and make some copies to hang in the classroom. Unless you're busy today –"
"No, that's a great idea," she said, glad for the company. Anything to distract her from her own thoughts. "Come in."
She ushered her inside and Rose looked around the living room with interest.
"Those are cool," she said, examining the postcards taped to the walls. "This whole place looks really cool."
"Yeah, they're mostly Diana's. And those are Mary's, obviously," Jane said, gesturing to the old dance costumes heaped in a chair. "They're not here right now. I'm the only one here."
"Were you filming?" She pointed to the camera on the table.
"Oh, no. I thought about it, but I don't really have anything to say right now." She put the lens cap back on the camera and put it in its bag. "Do you want anything to drink? Tea or –"
"Tea would be great." She shed her coat and sat primly on the couch. Rose had such poise, Jane thought, unconsciously standing up straighter as she got out two mugs and filled the kettle. Where did that come from? How did you get that?
"I can't wait to see what the kids have done," Rose said, dumping the stack of picture envelopes on the coffee table.
"It's probably a lot of pictures of the ground," she replied, laughing as she remembered some of her own early photography projects. "Or the sky. Or –"
"Bugs. Raymond is obsessed with bugs."
"How many pictures did he take of those worms he found?"
"I think he used up most of his film." Rose shook her head. "At least he didn't try to keep them as pets this time. He tried that with the class ant farm once and it did not turn out well."
"Yikes." The kettle boiled, Jane poured the tea and brought the mugs out to the table. "What's that?"
"Oh." She laughed self-consciously and picked up the DVD. "Jingle All the Way. It was in the bargain bin and I couldn't resist."
"You really like Schwarzenegger, huh?"
"Nothing hurts him – Only pain!" she said, dropping her voice to a deep rumbling imitation of the action hero. "That's from, uh, Conan. Classic."
Jane giggled. She wasn't an action movie fan herself, but she enjoyed Rose's imitations – and the kids did, too. "Have you seen all his movies?"
She shrugged. "Pretty much. We could watch this one later if you want. Even though it's a Christmas movie."
"That's okay," she said with a smile. "I actually love Christmas."
Two hours later
"So there are no stores in the whole of New York City with this doll?"
"It's an action figure. And nope."
"That seems...unlikely."
Rose sighed and took another handful of popcorn. "It's not his best movie. Ooh, you know what you should watch? Twins. Arnold and Danny Devito play identical twins, separated at birth."
Jane laughed. "That seems even more unlikely."
"That's half the fun of it. There's this one part – oh. Simon."
Jane turned to see the youngest Rivers sibling traipsing through the living room, dripping wet. He froze when he saw Rose smiling at him.
"Oh. Hello. What are you doing here? I'm mean – not you, Jane, obviously, but –"
"Rose came over to work on a lesson plan on photography for the kids. And now we're watching this movie." She held up the DVD.
Simon barely glanced at it. "I just need to get something to eat. I've got reading to do –"
"Why don't we order in? Pizza?" Jane said. "Rose?"
"Sure." Her grin faltered slightly, becoming shy and unsure. "Simon?"
Simon coughed and pulled out his phone. "I, um –"
Was he fake-texting? While Rose was right there? Jane sighed. If these two were ever going to get together, she was literally going to have to shut them in a room.
"Stay. Sit." She hopped up from the couch and nudged Simon into her place. "I'll order the pizza."
She scurried to the kitchen with her phone. In the living room, she could hear the movie pause, and then Rose and Simon, conversing in low voices.
They were talking. Good. She'd just leave them alone for a few minutes – but not too long, or Simon might find an excuse to run away again.
She scanned through the menus and magnets posted on the fridge, looking for the number of the pizza place she'd ordered from a few weeks ago. They made a white pizza with spinach, mushrooms and bacon so good she and Mary had nearly eaten the entire thing in one sitting.
"I thought you didn't like mushrooms," Edward would say.
Well, I like them, now, she thought. I like new things now. I'm different. Now.
When she'd had movie night with him and Adele, it had taken them 30 minutes just to order a pizza because they couldn't agree on toppings.
"Mushrooms?"
"Slimy. Adele, what do you want?"
"Peppers and olives, please."
"Olives sound good."
He made a face. "Olives? Gross. Pineapple?"
"Don't be weird."
"I'm not being weird."
"Fruit on pizza is weird. It does not belong there," she teased.
"Pineapple is actually one of the most popular pizza toppings in Australia," Adele said.
"See?" He nudged her shoulder playfully. "If the Australians like it –"
"Well, when we move to Australia, then you can have pineapple on your pizza."
She looked down at the list of toppings they'd compiled, scribbled out and rewritten and scribbled out again. "I can't even make sense of this anymore."
She balled it up. "What if we get a pan pizza with peppers and olives for Adele, and a large for us with half olives and pepperoni for me, and half sausage, ham and mushrooms for you?"
"And extra cheese?" he said, grinning like a five-year-old.
"You're cheesy enough already." She kissed him softly, ignoring Adele's disgusted groan. "But okay."
"Jane? Are you okay?"
Rose appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, coat slung over her arm.
"Fine." She shook off the memory. They'd been happy for a short while, but it couldn't last. "What do you want on your pizza?"
"I think I'm gonna go actually."
"What? Why? What about Simon?" She glanced out into the living room. The couch was empty. He'd left.
"He had to go back to the hospital." Rose gave her a tight smile. "It's fine. I really should be going anyway. I've got to teach Sunday school in the morning. You can borrow the movie, though, if you want."
"Okay," Jane said, stunned and more than a little angry at Simon. Why did he keep running? Oh, when he came home she was going to…she sighed. "Rose, I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Jane," she said, as kind and sweet as ever. "I'll see you Monday."
Jane watched her go, then threw herself back onto the empty couch, no longer hungry.
Some things couldn't last. But others never even began.