A/N: A look at what we might see from Downton Abbey's fourth season, as based on fan speculation and the most recent trailer. A little angsty, but I needed to get my panic out somewhere.
Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Downton Abbey. If I did, half of that trailer would be no more than a bad nightmare.
John saw the hurt in her eyes as soon as she stepped though the cottage door. Their home was neat, readied for Anna's arrival.
A little more than a year had passed since acquiring the cottage, and so much had changed. Mister Matthew had died, leaving behind young Master George and a heart-broken Lady Mary.
John risked a smile, but he quickly looked away as he met the cold, hard gaze of his wife. He should have known not to make a fool of himself.
Lowering his eyes to the wood of the small table he sat at, he remained silent as his untouched meal grew cold. Shame filled him, and his stomach churned as he felt the full weight of his actions. A scraping noise followed the shuffling of tired feet, and suddenly, Anna was seated at the table too, her wandering gaze taking in the meal before her. The pie had burned at the edges and the vegetables were terribly overlooked, turning to a mush as she picked up her fork and speared it through a carrot.
John still couldn't bring himself to look at her. What must she think of him now?
His actions earlier that day had been less than diplomatic, and he shut his eyes against the memory of Mr. Green's starched shirt wrinkling in John's firm grasp as he pressed the smaller man into the brick wall of the courtyard.
"Stay away from my wife. Do you understand me?"
With a smirk, the younger man had simply brushed the wrinkles from his shirt, straightened his tie, and before he reached the door, spoke, "You might want to wash your hands before you go home, you wouldn't want to get shoe polish on your wife's gorgeous skin."
The slam of the door left him alone and seething in the courtyard, his hands tightening furiously as his mind raced with the thought of another man blatantly looking at Anna.
The sound of Anna's voice lured him back to the present.
"Look at me, John, " Anna implored, her voice soft, quiet, but John remained where he was, his eyes carefully studying the tabletop, the way the lines of the wood met and turned and yet somehow remained perfectly parallel.
"Please, look at me." Anna's voice held none of the patience it had just seconds ago; instead it was hardened, determined. He had no choice. His stare flickered up to meet the cornflower blue gaze of his wife.
"Why couldn't you trust me to handle him, John?" Anna's lips were set in a hard line, no hint of a smile to be found anywhere.
John sighed, his shoulders slumping as if the weight of the world had come tumbling down atop him, and he was the only man who could bear to hold it up.
"I'm sorry. I am. I do trust you, I just don't trust him. I can't put my finger on it, but there's just something about him... Have you seen him in the corridors? He watches you, Anna..."
Anna sighed, shifting in her seat, quiet for a moment. John slid his eyes to the tabletop once more, his eyes burning with unshed tears. A palm stretched out across the table, fingers coiling, beckoning his own to meet her thin, graceful digits. Courage flowed through him at his wife's touch and John squeezed her palm between his fingers.
Anna smiled lightly at him and her fingertips fluttered against his wrist as she gripped his hand tightly in her own, her small hand betraying the sudden strength she displayed.
"Nothing can break us, John. I love you and only you. If he can't see that, he's blind. You and I? We're meant for each other, and nothing will ever change that- we're unbreakable." Anna concluded, nodding resolutely, a glint of stubbornness plain in her warm gaze.
For the first time since that morning, John was reassured.
Anna was right, they were unbreakable.
A/N: A final note to the fandom- EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT. I know it's not my best, but I had to get this out of my head so I can go continue Parts of a Whole instead of crying about the trailer. Leave a review letting me know what you thought!