A/N : A little idea that popped into my head after rereading Little Women. I plan to do Brooke, Mr. March, Beth, Mr. Lawrence, Little Teddy(Jo's son), Fredss Vaughn, Nat Blake, and Marmee's POVs – I figure it would be a good writing exercise!
Chapter 1 – the studious eyes of Mr. John Brooke
When John Brooke was first introduced to his new pupil, Theodore Lawrence, he noticed a good many sthings. For one, the boy resented his new home; his lackluster eyes seemed oddly out of place on his youthful and sprightly face and frame. The young Mr. Lawrence also plowed through his lessons lethargically and without a shred of enthusiasm; Brooke supposed, upon further reflection, that this was because he did not have anything to look forward to after he had finished. The boy's skin, though not pale, lacked the natural touch given by the sun. Brooke pitied him as he scolded, and sympathized with him as he nagged.
But then one morning, shortly after the young Lawrence had restarted his lessons after a nasty cold, everything seemed to change. Mr. Brooke expected Laurie to be slumped reluctantly on a chair when he arrived. Instead, he greeted him with a bright smile and a rather chirpy "Good morning". He actually laughed, upon listening to a German children's tale, and he read with a newfound energy and enthusiasm that made Mr. Brooke very puzzled indeed.
He did not know quite what to make of the whole thing. In all his teaching experience, he had never seen such a dramatic, quick, and unexpected change of character.
And then, Mr. Brooke's delight turned to consternation. Upon becoming suddenly comfortable with his tutor, Laurie began to complain rather vocally about his workload. The boy was as restless as ever; now, instead of stealing glances at the clock, he kept stealing glances out of the window. He definitely did his sums quickly, almost as if wishing to get through the lesson as soon as possible, but unfortunately, this also meant that he did most of them incorrectly.
Soon enough, John Brooke found the reason for his new problems. In the middle of dictation one afternoon, Laurie uttered a rather curious exclamation.
"The Marches are regularly splendid girls", he said, pointing rather slyly to the window of the nearby house. And John turned, to see two young girls: one tall, thin, and rather loud, and the other uncommonly pretty. Brooke could not help himself- there was something rather striking about the latter's humble way of carrying herself, and her large, beautifully shaped, but somehow innocent blue eyes, that held his gaze for far longer than was proper. Suddenly realizing that he had been staring, Brooke hastily turned away and shook his head to recover his proper senses.
He glanced quickly at Laurie, to see if he had noticed anything, only to see him gesticulating wildly at – he breathed an unconscious sigh of relief – the taller girl. Brooke started in genuine surprise. His pupil had found a friend in this peculiar but rather energetic young woman; and from what he could see, the friendship would be a rather good one. For the young Lawrence's eyes were no longer lackluster. They glittered with enthusiasm, as did those of the girl. Laurie didn't seem to care that she was girl- in fact, after the girl left, he stared after her in a way peculiarly similar to the way he, John Brooke had been staring at her sister.
What was he thinking? He glared at the French book in his hand –perhaps the frivolous ways of its writers had somehow snuck into his head,- and he quickly slammed the window shut. But he couldn't bring himself to scold the poor boy – not when he had just looked so happy.
Instead, he settled on a compromise that would satisfy them both.
"If you can do all of your sums correctly, I will leave early, and you can meet with your new friends."
As the boy broke into a broad and rather infectious smile, Brooke took his seat, and the lesson went rather well from there.
In just a couple of weeks, Brooke was thankful for his little act of kindness, because Laurie introduced him one day to the sisters. And he found that Miss Margaret March – the beautiful young woman staying next door – brought some interesting emotions into his previously monotonous life. Day after day, he watched the effortless way that the younger Miss Josephine March and Laurie interacted, and he began to hope and wish, although he would never admit it to himself or anybody else, that he and a certain other blue eyed specimen could have a bond even half as special as that.
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