This is a prompt story. Actually it's made up of three prompts (January 2014, March 2015 and May 2015). It's set after the film ends but it's all memories and flashbacks. I hope it's not too confusing. Enjoy!
Liesl would never forget the first time she laid eyes on Rolfe Gruber.
She was fifteen, going on sixteen. That meant he would've been sixteen going on seventeen. It was raining, not unusual for Salzburg and she was sitting in her bedroom looking out the window...
"What are you looking at, Liesl" Louisa asked her sister, coming up behind her.
"Nothing," Liesl replied dreamily. She did not want her sister to know what she was looking at.
"Oh yes you are," Brigitta chimed in. Liesl hadn't even noticed she was there. She guessed she shouldn't be surprised; Louisa and Brigitta did everything together. Right now though, she was too busy looking at him to think about anything else properly.
"Louisa, look at this," Brigitta continued, following Liesl's gaze to where it lay on Rolfe, who was currently ringing the doorbell.
Louisa gasped. "Liesl's in love," she squealed.
"I am not," Liesl replied indignantly, "He's just kind of...dreamy."
"You are so in love," Brigitta said.
Liesl had continued to claim that she was not in love, but as time went by it was clear that something was happening between her and the delivery boy. And then there was the day. The day she finally worked up the courage to talk to him. It had been a complete disaster in hindsight...
Walking across the foyer, she caught a movement outside. Without even thinking she crossed over to the door and opened it just as Franz entered the foyer.
Liesl couldn't get her mouth to co-operate. She was speechless. She was standing here with him.
"I have a telegram for Captain von Trapp," Rolfe said matter-of-factly.
"He's my father," she finally found her voice, but it was so soft. The words were barely audible.
"Right then," Rolfe said. "Would you give it to him?"
She'd lost her voice again, and simply nodded as she took the telegram from his outstretched hand.
"LIESL!" called a voice from upstairs.
"I-I have to..." she stammered.
Rolfe nodded. "It was lovely to meet you, Liesl," he said, winking at her as he mounted his bike and sped away.
By that fateful night a year or so later, when they had danced in the gazebo in the rain, she had been sneaking out to see him for a while already. She would always treasure that night, no matter what happened in the rest of her life. They had danced in the gazebo while the rain hammered down outside.
He had kissed her – her first kiss – before disappearing into the night. She had walked off in a daze, only realising that she needed to get back inside as she arrived at the door.
She knew she couldn't walk inside like this. She was soaking. Father was probably still awake, and after she had rushed off as soon as the telegram had been delivered, if he saw her she knew he would work it out.
The only option was climbing up into the governess's room.
In the end, that wasn't a bad idea at all.
They were going on a picnic. A picnic! She hadn't been on a picnic since Mama was alive. Everyone was thrilled. Liesl and her siblings hadn't been this happy and carefree for over five years. But ever since Fraulein Maria had arrived a week ago, things had changed.
She was letting them be children. Father was away and they knew as soon as he returned the bliss would surely end. So they savoured every moment they had.
She spotted Rolfe out of the corner of her eye, on the other side of the plaza. Before she could stop herself, she was waving wildly and he rode over to where she was standing.
Fraulein Maria and her siblings were all occupied over by the fountain and paid the sixteen year old no attention as she struck up a conversation with Rolfe.
She asked him if he wanted to join them on their picnic, but he turned down the offer, claiming they were for children. He also said her clothing was childish, which it probably was. She and her siblings were dressed in clothes Fraulein Maria had made for them out of her old drapes. It probably was rather juvenile, especially for her family. But she didn't care.
Fraulein Maria approached her and Rolfe at that point and the conversation ended abruptly. She had been sad at the time, but ten minutes later she'd completely forgotten about him.
She didn't think of Rolfe as much as usual after that.
The next time she saw him it was different. It was the biggest day of her life. Father and Mother had arrived back from their honeymoon trip. Rolfe had walked right up to her, handed her a telegram and walked away without so much as a goodbye.
That was also the day they left the country. They were hiding in the graveyard of the Abbey, trying to avoid the Nazis, and who should walk by but Rolfe! Despite being heartbroken over the encounter that afternoon, Liesl could help but gasp. She was so surprised when Father ran out and tried to convince Rolfe to come with them. For one fleeting moment she wished he had.
Mother had told her that the sun would come out, as it always does. When she thought about the relationship between her father and Mother, or even the relationship between her parents (she'd always thought of her mother as Mama, particularly after Father had married Mother), she knew she saw two people in love. Comparing those relationships to the one she had with Rolfe, she knew it wasn't real.
She had thought it was real; thought that Rolfe loved her as much as her Father used to love her and her brothers and sisters, as much as he had loved their mother. But as time went by she realised it was nothing more than lies.
She was still waiting for the sun. But she would wait as long as she needed to. Liesl wanted her next love to be true; be real. Like her parents. Not like her time with Rolfe. Mother was right. It was only just beginning. One thing was for sure. Though she may not always miss him, and she definitely wouldn't always love him, she would never forget him.