Success in the Shadow of Misfortune
By rese
Summary: Years have passed and so has any chance for their friendship to be renewed. But is it only due to stubborn hearts and the Atlantic Ocean, or has Laurie truly moved on to a better and brighter life without any Jo in it? Extremely AU.
Disclaimer: Little Women and its characters are owned by Louisa May Alcott and maybe some filming company which did a half-ass retelling. i.e. Not me.
Challenge: BRiNItA's challenge
"Laurie could actually get famous with his music in Europe after being rejected by Jo, and he could fall for one of Amy's English friends or a friend of the Moffats I don't know, and Jo could be doing very well with her writing so she travels to Europe too, and you can write about how Laurie falls for her again, and you could describe how lots of new people around him don't like the influence Jo has on him once they start being best friend again... and I'm thinking Laurie could read a short story Jo publishes and realise it's about the two of them, and Jo really do love him..."
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Prologue
The lady was much older and browner than the adolescent girl that lived in the back of his mind and he mused on the irony that Europe should suit her so well, even without him.
She stood beside him, looking down, away, anywhere but at his face which he suddenly felt might not have been as handsome as Bella would tell him. She wore a dark green dress, typically broad in the front and puffed in the skirts and it made him smirk. American civilian women and their homely appearances. And he continued to look at the dress with disdain, as if he hadn't considered the wearers, and more importantly that specific wearer, for many years the greatest creatures on earth.
He lifted a finger, brushing her linen collar, and saw her head turn away in confusion or perhaps discomfort under his dark gaze which unknowing to he, had haunted her for the past eight years.
He lowered his stare back to the white, pressed cloth by her neck and it reminded him of a time he'd been determined to forget, in a country he had abandoned for so long and the memory flood took him back to a place he hadn't wanted to go.