Disclaimer: Mansfield Park and From Mansfield With Love, all characters, places, and related terms are the property of Jane Austen and Foot in the Door Theatre.
Author's Note: Inspired by various Tumblr posts and comments on From Mansfield With Love's YouTube videos. This contains spoilers up to episode ten, and is very AU.
Mansfeels
Frankie swallowed back a laugh, catching her best friend's grin from the corner of her eye as she reached out and turned off the camera.
It was fun to play role with Ed. (Hopefully her brother would be entertained!) It had been quite a while since they'd done that. And she'd felt at ease, her usual self—
"Frankie, do you think someone will make a 'mansfeels' gif of us play acting?" Ed asked curiously.
Mansfeels… The red-haired girl inhaled sharply and froze. Oh. Ed knew. Despite loathing Tumblr, Ed knew!
Somehow he had found out about the posts: the commentaries, photos, captions, drawings. Undoubtedly he had seen that gif from Christmas! Did he know that her vlog had a tag?! About the long discussions regarding "Fredmund" vs "Bertice"?!
Frankie could have told Ed when she first stumbled over the posts. They'd have marveled and laughed it off. But she had been so stunned, in disbelief at first. And in the end she hadn't said anything to him. Because as the days passed she wasn't sure how to tell him; and she may have been guilty of re-looking up some of those posts (only four times did she go back and watch the mistletoe gif, honest).
Then she grew just plain flustered by comments on her videos gushing about Ed that ranged from, "He is a sweetheart!" to "Aw, Ed cheered her up," and "Ed and Frankie are so cute together!" The girl was left feeling like she was a character in a movie or TV series rather than little Frankie Price of Portsmouth with all the attention.
A side effect of all this was her sense of awkwardness, embarrassment whenever she encountered Ed. Looking him in the eye was a struggle.
And he knew. What must he think?
Frankie turned to him, eyes wide with dread, hands clenched. "I am so sorry, Ed!" she apologized.
"Frankie—"
She went on, "I did not think my videos would get a response like this! FMWL, mansfeels…" (Why hadn't she made the videos private? They were really meant just for Will.)
"Frankie—"
"I should have told you myself! You have every right to be embarrassed, upset, an—"
The girl abruptly fell quiet as a light kiss was placed against her cheek. She stared wide-eyed when Ed drew back.
"Had to get you to be quiet somehow," he said with a chuckle. While his tone was teasing, his smile was reassuring. He was giving her that look which she had noticed a handful of times before, when she had made excuses and hurried off, ducking her head. Even now she still couldn't understand it.
The boy grinned. "I don't mind mansfeels."
Frankie blinked. "You don't?" the words came out quiet, fearful.
"No. I think it is kind of cool."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Oh." It felt like a weight rolled off the girl's shoulders. She didn't resist when she was drawn into a hug.
"Is this why you've been acting strange lately? Running off all the time?"
Feeling her face heat up, Frankie silently nodded.
"Oh, Frankie," Ed sighed, hugging her tighter. "It hasn't been fun without you. I wondered if I'd done something wrong."
"No!" she instantly denied, pulling back. "It was just me and my worries." She glanced down at her hands
"It is fine," he said, firm voice drawing her attention back to him.
Hesitantly she smiled. "Thank you."
He beamed in return. "So does this mean I may get my old Frankie back, please?"
"You may," Frankie replied, giggling.
"Excellent! We should celebrate."
"Tea, biscuits, and donuts here?" she suggested.
He tilted his head. "I was thinking more of a proper celebration. We could go into the village tomorrow afternoon. Spend an hour in the teashop, Wander about. Poke our noses into the bookstore. Would you do me the honor, Miss Price?" His expression was hopeful.
Ignoring the butterflies in her stomach, Frankie nodded gravely. "It would be my pleasure, Mr. Bertram." She pretended to curtsey.
Clasping her hand, Ed bowed over it. "I look forward to it, my lady. I shall call for you at one o'clock."
The two exchanged grins, fighting laughter, before the boy headed for Frankie's door.
"And by the way," he turned backed, his expression both fond and bashful, "I totally vote for Fredmund."
THE END
