The Best One Yet

By: Miss Phyllis Baxter (knockedoveralamp)

Ship: Robert x Cora

Word Count: 2422

Summary: New Year's Eve, 1888. Robert and Cora are engaged to one another. Cora's family is spending the holidays at Downton. Robert wants to kiss Cora at midnight, but finds it difficult to communicate his feelings as to why he wants to kiss her.

Robert knew that the two of them would be taking quite a risk, they weren't married yet. Yet, he would still ask her if she would permit him to kiss her at midnight. His parents had each other, her parents had each other, and even his sister had Marmaduke to kiss her at the start of the new year. The two of them would be wed in February, it wasn't as if they were merely courting one another; a simple kiss should not be off limits. But it would still feel awkward asking her for a kiss, especially since she knew he didn't love her the way she loved him. The very last thing he wanted to do was to mislead her by making her think that he did love her. He shook his head, they would be kissing a lot once they were married, he hoped. He had kissed her a couple of times before, and her lips were simply wonderful. Every time she permitted him to kiss her, it was an honour, and he really didn't want to press his luck with her. There was a part of him that felt as though Cora would be quite excited at the prospect of him wanting to kiss her.

He crossed the library a few hours before the new year, sitting down next to his fiancee. As soon as he sat down, Cora looked up from her book and straight at him, biting her lip gently. "Yes Robert?" she asked quietly. "I haven't done anything wrong, have I?"

"No, you haven't Cora, I promise that you've not done anything wrong," he replied, trying to find the courage to ask her the question he so desperately wanted to ask her.

Cora laughed softly. "I'm sure your mother would give a very different answer to the one you just gave me," she said quietly. "I'm sorry that I'm a disappointment to her. I hope that when my inheritance is put into the estate and what needs to be done is done, she'll see that I'm not as useless as I seem. Too bad you couldn't find an English girl with the money to save Downton."

"Cora, you know that isn't how I feel about you. You're my friend, you're not useless," he replied. "And soon we'll be married. But I just have something to ask you, and I hope you won't be offended by my asking."

"What is it?" she asked, closing her book and putting it down. "You know you can ask me to do anything within reason and I'll do it without a second thought."

Robert smiled lightly and looked at his fiancée, feeling his stomach turn quickly. Oh God, why did he get so nervous that he was nearly sick whenever he was around Cora? It's probably caused by the fact that you feel so guilty about not loving her you stupid pig, he thought. "I was just wondering if you would permit me to kiss you at midnight," he asked, looking down at his lap. You're a weak man and a heartbreaker Robert Crawley. She does not need to be nice to you at all. You're horrible.

Cora's hand clapped over her mouth and she felt a blush rising in her cheeks as she did every time her fiancé flirted with her. He didn't need to, she knew that he wasn't in love with her. She doubted that he'd ever fall in love with the woman who would soon be his silly American wife. He was the most amazing man she had ever met, what hope did she have up against these English girls who had shared life experiences with him? Without a doubt, he was in love with another woman and only flirted with her to stop her suspecting him. "Are you sure you want to kiss me at midnight?" she asked quietly, finally pulling her hand from her mouth.

"Of course I am Cora," he replied, laughing lightly. "You're my fiancee, why shouldn't I want to kiss you at midnight?"

"Because you don't love me and you never will," she suggested. "I mean your friendship means a lot to me, and it's all very well and good, but is it enough to spend the rest of our lives together?"

"Cora..." he started, hesitating to find the perfect words to say to her. "Just because I don't love you now doesn't mean that this time next year or even in two years won't be different. I don't want our marriage to be solely based on friendship, I want to love you like you love me. It's not fair to you to be stuck in a marriage where the love is one-sided."

Cora looked at Robert in silence, unsure of what to say or how to reply to this declaration. She knew she must have heard at least part of what he had said incorrectly. He couldn't mean that he did want to love her in the future, but she decided to go along with what she had heard. "Robert, I fell in love with you the first time I saw you, and if you're not in love with me by now, I doubt you'll ever fall for me. Your mother has been trying to turn you against me ever since I first met her and one day she'll succeed and you'll hate me for the rest of your days. I won't be able to take your friendship, maybe even your love until that day comes and it's all snatched away from me," she said, trying to hold her tears in her eyes, knowing that Robert would only get scared if they fell. "If you don't love me, don't kiss me, but if you do love me, you are more than welcome to kiss me as the clock strikes midnight. Is that agreeable to you?"

Robert gulped and nodded as Cora turned to leave the library. He sat down on the settee, picking up her book to try and focus his thoughts. Did he love her? He certainly cared about her a great deal, and he wanted her to be happy, but did that mean that he loved her? He knew he wanted to spend more time with her than he could in a day, every time he saw or heard something that he thought Cora would like to see or hear, he'd tell her about it as soon as possible, and he had never yet been wrong when thinking about something that she liked. She was beautiful, and he wanted to kiss her, hold her hand and, though he blushed to admit it, he wanted to take her to bed with him. Every time he thought about taking her to bed, his brain had to remind him that she was a lady and they would be wed soon enough and there would be all the time in the world to have her in bed with him after that.

He sighed and stood up again, taking her book with him as he went to go and ask his father what he thought about the situation he was in. Was he in love? Was he just lusting after her? Did he just want to be her friend? Those three questions kept falling around the inside of his head and he nearly walked into Cora's father for not paying attention. "I'm sorry Mr Levinson," Robert said quickly. "Have you seen my father?"

"No, I haven't," Mr Levinson replied, looking at Robert with curiosity. "Is there something you wish to get off your chest?"

"Yes, but I'd rather talk to my father about it," he explained.

Mr Levinson laughed. "Is it about feelings?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yes Sir, it is," Robert replied with a light nod.

"Then how about you and I sit down and discuss it. Americans do understand their feelings a lot better than the English do," he said, gesturing towards the library. Robert flushed lightly and nodded, unable to see a logical way out of this, even though he felt like he would be shot in his own home for even confessing to this man that he wanted to bed his daughter. Robert sat back down on the settee once he and Mr Levinson were in the library. Mr Levinson however walked to the table where the whiskey decanter sat and poured them each a large drink. He handed one to Robert as he sat down. "Now, tell me exactly what's going on."

Robert took a deep breath and a long drink before beginning to speak. "I asked Cora if I could kiss her at midnight and she told me that if I loved her, I could, but otherwise no. The problem is I'm not sure if I love her. She's lovely and beautiful; and I care about her and want her to be happy, but I'm not sure if that means that I love her. I want to spend every moment of the day with her, I'll see or hear something that she might like and I have to tell her as soon as I can. I want to kiss her, to hold her hand and I want to sleep with her," he blurted out before realizing that he had just admitted what he had hoped to avoid.

Isidore Levinson listened carefully to how Robert felt about Cora, and it was soon evident to him that Robert Crawley did in fact, love his daughter. Though he was glad to find out that Robert loved Cora as much as he loved Martha, it did worry him slightly that Robert wanted to bed his daughter before they were wed. He noticed the look on Robert's face as he finished speaking. He didn't mean to say that then. It just came out of his mouth before he could stop it, Isidore thought, smiling and shaking his head lightly. "Robert, my boy," Isidore started, taking a deep breath. "You're in love with Cora. It looks like you'll be getting that kiss, if you really were just telling me the truth about how you feel."

"Of course I was Sir," he replied. "Are you sure that I love her?"

Isidore nodded and finished his drink. "Do you want to know what told me that you love her?" he asked.

Robert shook his head. "The fact that you couldn't stop talking about her long enough to realize the words coming out of your mouth until I had heard them. That, and you've been clutching her book the entire time. You're thinking of it as a part of Cora and you don't want to let go of it," he explained. "I'm much the same with Martha's things. She'll leave something downstairs that's small and I'll carry it to work with me without realizing it." He replaced his glass on the table. "You should go and tell Cora how you feel. She might give you another kiss."

Robert nodded and looked down. He hadn't even noticed that he was still holding her book. How did Mr Levinson know that it was Cora's? He asked himself in thought, turning it to see the title. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. He chuckled, leaving the library with the book in his hand. He walked up the stairs humming lightly to himself, going straight to the door of Cora's room. He knocked twice and waited barely a moment for Cora to answer the door. He held out the book to her, deciding that he would start there. "You left this downstairs," he explained as she took it with a small, yet grateful smile.

"Thank you Robert," she said, her smile broadening, as she opened the door further. She was dressed in one of those fashionable tea gown's, and he felt himself flush lightly. She looked so beautiful. "Is there something else you needed or wanted to say?"

"Y-yes," he stammered lightly. "You look very beautiful in that tea gown, well in everything really. You look beautiful in everything you wear." Great going Robert, what a way to charm a lady. "And I've had a discussion with your father about my feelings."

Cora nodded and looked up at him, unable to read him through his nervousness. "And how do you feel about me?" she asked, prompting him after a moment had gone by where he was just looking at her with a nervous smile.

"I do love you Cora. I really do," he answered. "I want you to be happy, and I love you. And now I'll leave you to your tea. Enjoy it."

Cora reached out and stopped him as he turned around to leave. "I haven't got tea in my room, but since you love me, perhaps you and I could enjoy tea together downstairs in the drawing room?" she suggested, blushing lightly as she noticed their hands were clasped together.

"Nothing would make me happier my love," he replied, leading her down to the drawing room, not letting go of her hand. "And what would you have done had I not declared my love for you?"

"I would have asked you to leave me to the solitude of my room Robert," she answered. He chuckled and pulled the bell cord as Cora sat down.

"I love you Cora," he whispered, taking her hand again and kissing her knuckles gently before pressing another kiss to the ring he had slipped onto her finger only a few months before.

"And I love you Robert," she replied, leaning towards him to press a gentle kiss to his lips.

As the family and the guests of Downton Abbey stood in the drawing room, waiting for the new year, Violet Crawley noticed her son standing quite close to his fiancee, Miss Cora Levinson. She paid them no heed until, as the clock struck midnight and she and her husband shared a brief kiss, she noticed her son and soon to be daughter-in-law kissing for a lot longer than they should. When they eventually broke apart, they went to go and sit on their own and continue drinking champagne.

She had to admit that she wasn't Miss Levinson's greatest admirer, but maybe she could make her son happy. She didn't want her son in a loveless marriage, and she now saw that he might not be lost to one of those marriages that were becoming oh so common amongst their rank. She smiled with happiness for her son, hoping that this year might turn out to be his best year yet.