Author's Note: This story has been going through my mind for some time now. This is my first FanFic, and I might try my hand at writing more, depending on how this one is received.
Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Margaret, John, Richard Armitage, Daniela Denby-Ashe, or anything else you might recognize from somewhere else. This story comes from my own mind, and any similarities to other stories you may have read is purely coincidence.
He saw her reflection in the window when she came back to him, holding her carpet bag in one hand and the Helstone rose in the other. He turned around, surprised, and as a smile broke out across his face, he looked at her and said "Coming home with me?" She just smiled, handed him her bag, and stepped into the train compartment. He joined her, chose the seat next to her, and draped his left arm around her shoulders. It was as if he was afraid that she would vanish if he let go of her. As the train pulled northward out of the station, Margaret turned to face him, and smiling, they kissed each other with three sweet, loving, kisses. John couldn't help but smile - he felt complete again.
After their third sweet, smiling kiss, Margaret looked down into her lap at the rose, and then looked out the window at the passing scenery. The smile faded off of her face, and for a brief moment, she felt tears welling up in her eyes. She heaved a sigh, trying to steel away her tears, and John's grip on her shoulders tightened. He leaned into her ear and whispered softly, "Margaret? Tell me?"
Margaret wiped a tear away from her cheek, and gazing out the window at the passing scenery, she murmured, "I have to tell you that the man at the train station was my brother."
"I know," said John, reaching to hold her hand with his own right hand. As he gently caressed the back of her hand with his thumb, he whispered to her, "Margaret, I know. I'm sorry I doubted you."
Her tears were flowing more earnestly down her cheeks as she began pouring her heart out to the man she had always loved:
"I'm so sorry. You shouldn't apologize to me, for I am the one that has done all of the wrong. I turned you down, and lied to you when I told you that I did not like you at all and never had. I knew better than to think that you only wanted to possess me like some fancy bauble. And when you came to call on Mother just before she died, oh, how I wished I could have let you in to see her. When you looked at me with such contempt, standing in the foyer of our home, and told me that you no longer cared for me, it would have been better for me to have died at that instant. I could not have imagined any pain worse than losing my parents, but that moment broke something inside of me that I thought irreparable. I have loved you since I first saw you at the mill, and first knew of our connection when our fingers first touched as I handed you a cup of tea. If this is a dream, I do not wish to awaken. I don't think I could bear being without you again."
And with that, she buried her face in her hands and sobbed, every crack in her broken heart pulsating and bleeding with every sob that broke forth from her.
John rose from the seat next to Margaret, never breaking contact with her, and moved to the seat directly across from her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently beckoned her name.
"Margaret! Margaret, my love! Please do not cry so. Please look at me."
Slowly, Margaret lifted her head, and blue eyes met blue eyes. John took her hands into one of his, and gently wiped the tears away from her face with his thumb. He gave her a small smile, and as he gazed deep into her soul, he told her, "I love you, Margaret Hale. I have never stopped loving you. I, too, lied to you, and must beg your forgiveness. I told you that my foolish passion for you had long since passed, but please believe me when I say that if it were true, it was only true insomuch as my foolish passion was replaced with a deep-burning need to care for you and love you as the precious treasure you are."
Margaret shook her head sadly, and looking up at John, she said to him, "You are very much forgiven. Will you bestow such a blessing upon me, as well?"
John smiled and said to her, "Margaret, my dearest, everything has been forgiven. Some day, you can tell me your brother's whole story if you would like, but please know, you are very much forgiven, and I am very thankful that you are coming home with me."
Margaret slumped back in her seat, feeling quite exhausted from the outpouring of emotion that she had just experienced. She gently patted the seat to her right, and John obligingly returned to the seat next to her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders again, and Margaret nestled into his embrace. "We are going to have some explaining to do, John," Margaret said as she felt the love of the man sitting next to her pouring over her wounded heart like a healing balm. John nodded, thinking about the woman in Milton who had no idea where he had been all day. "Yes, yes we have some explaining to do," John said after a moment, "but as long as we are together, I think we can manage it. We are… together… aren't we?"
Margaret thought for a moment, and looking up into John's deep blue eyes, she said "Well, my answer would be a favorable one, if the question was posed to me again."
John smiled, and said to Margaret, "Margaret Hale, will you allow me to love you and cherish you and care for you every day for the rest of my life? Will you be my Mrs. Thornton?"
Margaret's answer was a gentle smile followed by an equally gentle kiss.