'Do you know what I'd much rather do? Take a nice walk in the night air. Like we used to.'
- Second Spring
We share the same sky
'My father… He would not approve of this.' Her boots the only sound in the silent autumn night, crunching on the dead leaves. Slowly his feet kept in step with hers, his gaze focused straight ahead, however his senses were focused on her small arm linked through his as they walked down the dimly lit streets away from her house.
He answered her in a deceptively calm tone. 'There are so many things your father would not approve of. I think you're going to have to clarify.' She stopped abruptly and he turned to face her, suddenly she looked distressed, shaking her head violently tears filling her eyes. 'Oh Nels, what are we going to do?' She lifted her arm to grip his shoulder. 'We can't do this anymore! Sneaking about! People are going to talk, someone will eventually see us!' She was becoming hysterical, her grip on his arm becoming painful and her voice rising to a pitch that was almost shrill.
'Harriet!' He lowered the arm she was gripping to her waist, taking hold of her firmly and pulling her to him so their noses were almost touching. 'Calm down.' With that she let out a a quick breath of air, her shoulders sagged and her eyes fluttered closed.
He cleared his throat awkwardly at their proximity, heat rising to his cheeks as he gathered courage to finally speak his mind in the presence of the most outspoken woman he'd ever met. Almost terrified of her response he finally spoke, 'I love you, Harriet.' Her head shot up and her eyes jerked open. Before she could speak he gripped her waist tighter, staring into her eyes he murmured, 'I love you.' Her face was a picture of shock, he pulled her into an embrace her head resting on his shoulder, not wanting to see her face when she rejected him. And she would reject him, a rich, beautiful woman so concerned with money, class, social mobility and pride. She wouldn't accept a man who had dropped out of college for the mere opportunity of marrying her, a man with no profession, no plans for a future. Nothing to offer her except the possibility of scandal.
'My father….' She suddenly murmured. 'And my mother. They cannot stop me.' She pulled away from his embrace violently, her hands pushed against his chest for leverage. She took several steps back, with a haughty expression that was ruined by the deep red flush that covered her face, she jabbed a single finger into his chest. 'If I chose you my father will know that you're a man of quality.' Her outstretched hand trembled, 'because I would never chose anything less.' His eyes widened in realisation, he took a step towards her, her palm flattening against his chest as he did so, resting on his racing heart. He slowly lifted his own hands taking her smaller one in his, as he did so she sobbed 'oh I love you Nels.'
He froze for a moment before blurting out, 'Then you will? You do?' Her flush darkening answered his questions, a grin broke out on his face and when their eyes met he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her. While it wasn't their first kiss, his heart was beating just as fast as it was on that day. Their relationship had never been a calm one but you couldn't deny that it wasn't passionate. In this moment he felt as if he were in the eye of a storm, undisturbed by life outside of this moment.'
When they parted she spoke, 'Nels…about marriage…' She looked away from him, it was impolite for a lady to be so forward about such things. He brushed the tears from her cheeks and responded, 'Harriet. Tomorrow I am going to ask for your fathers permission to marry you. And if he refuses I'm going to marry you anyway, no matter what.' He kissed her cheek, linking an arm through hers he began to walk her back towards her house. He felt brave and unusually confident, glancing down at Harriet demurely matching his pace by his side he smiled. He knew this strange switch of roles wouldn't last long, he fell in love with the confident and proud Harriet and he wouldn't have her any other way.
'Nels for gods sake must you walk so fast!'
Ah, it begins.
Authors note :-
I haven't written anything in such a long time I hope you'll all be kind in your reviews! Constructive criticism is appreciated of course. This is my first Little House Fanfiction, let me know if I should write another…or not!