Elsie was exhausted. She'd managed to avoid him for the better part of two days. Meals had been awkward and he had tried to get her attention but she wasn't up to dealing with him yet. She forced herself to keep busy in the house and, truth be told, a butler and a housekeeper has less need of interaction than they usually alotted for.

The family was eating dinner upstairs, so she took the opportunity to get a few things downstairs when she wouldn't have to worry about running into him. Coming around the corner into the kitchen, Beryl raised her eyebrows at her. She probably could tell she was avoiding him. Elsie rolled her eyes at her in reply.

Turning into her sitting room, she found Charles sitting at her desk.

"What are you doing in here?" She blurted out, startled. "What about dinner?" He hadn't even changed. What was going on?

Pausing patiently, he appraised her for a moment. "Thomas needs the practice. I'm not going to be the butler forever, you know." He stood and raised his eyebrows at her as he said the last bit. "And it's only the family tonight." She frowned at him. Of course that was still his first concern.

Elsie closed the door. He saw her mouth tighten. He had to be careful. "I wasn't aware they had taken your office away." She snipped at him. This was exactly what she had been trying to avoid. "Or does Thomas require that too?"

He wasn't going to take her bait. Not right now. He waited.

Elsie looked around. He had his ledgers out on her desk. "How long have you been in here?"

"Oh, about two hours," he waved a hand at her desk, "your chair is awful. I don't know how you stand it."

"What?" She was pleasantly surprised but tried not to show it. "What for?"

"You've been avoiding me." He said it firmly, but not crossly. She waited for him to continue. "And I think we both know I owe you an apology." He paused. "I'm sorry that I followed you."

Elsie braced herself for the lecture she felt coming. She had been thinking about it for two days and she was sadly certain that he had been honest with her before. He was concerned about the running of the damned house. Impatient and feeling her irritation bubbling, she snapped at him. "And?"

Charles looked confused. "And what?"

"And you want to know if I can do my duties." She mocked seriousness. "Is that it?"

"What? No..." He stepped toward her, "I was..." He trailed off.

"You were what?" She was on the brink of anger again now.

He'd been sitting in her parlor for hours, waiting for this conversation, and he still didn't really have a good answer. If he were honest, he had hoped he could just apologize and then they could go back to normal. He should have known Elsie wouldn't let him off that easy.

He shook his head and put his hands out. She was glaring at him angrily. "We should keep our voices down" he implored. Elsie fought the urge to leave and slam the door in his face.

"I am on your side" Charles blurted out.

"I have a hard time believing that."

Charles looked like he'd been burned. "Why on earth would you say that?"

The mental and physical exhaustion boiled over and Elsie was suddenly entirely fed up. "Because you don't care."

Charles was shattered. He stepped toward her quickly, opening his mouth to speak but no words came out. He saw her lip begin to tremble and it broke him. "Please tell me what's going on," he whispered. His hands were still outstretched and hovered on either side of her.

Elsie was clearly fighting back tears now and a feeling of fear gripped him. "Please tell me it's not that bad..." he implored quietly.

"No it's not.." She hiccuped quickly and without thinking Charles wrapped his arms around her. He intended just to comfort her but instead of putting her head on his chest she looked up at him. Charles felt his breath stop in his throat, saw the tears in the corners of her eyes, and suddenly... he kissed her.

Elsie was shocked when he embraced her. She'd imagined the moment many times and it was even nicer than she had dreamed. She was not a petite woman but she felt tiny in his arms with her hands resting on his chest. Unknowingly, she held her breath when she looked up at him. She could see the concern on his face, the anxiety in his eyes. Time seemed frozen for an instant before she felt his lips on hers.

After a few moments, Elsie wrapped her hands around his neck and he held her even more tightly, wrapping his arms around her waist. Eventually, Charles pulled his head back and looked at her. Elsie was smiling sheepishly, but the smile crinkled all the way to the corners of her eyes.

"We're not supposed to do that," he mused quietly. But she could see he was suppressing a smile and he kept his arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Now, will you tell me?"

Elsie still could not entirely believe this was happening. In her parlor, no less. It felt a little bit like a dream - surreal. She let him hold her and relaxed a little, pulling her hands back to his chest. "The same as before. Dr. Clarkson wants to run tests."

"When will you know?" He lowered his gaze now and looked at her intently. She noticed, pointedly, that he had not said "we."

"A few months, at least." She sighed and looked away. He moved his arms to her shoulders and did hug her now.

Releasing her, he stepped back. It was like a spell had been broken. "Please, tell me if I can do anything." She could hear the sincerity in his voice, but it was as if the space between them had suddenly become an ocean. Confused, she stared at him. Charles sighed. She stood, frozen with realization. "We can't do this," he whispered with his hand held out in front of him, gesturing at the space between them, the sadness and frustration leaking through his voice.

She stood stiffly as he nodded at her with his lips drawn firmly together, before turning and opening her door.

Charles felt his heart racing and his pulse beating in his ears as he turned to leave her sitting room. He knew his hands were shaking from the effort of fighting back everything that threatened to rise in his chest. As he turned to close her door behind him, the last glimpse he saw was her with her hand flying to her mouth, her eyes bright and red. He sensed Mrs. Patmore's eyes on him as he stood in the hallway, catching his breath. It occurred to him that he should check on Thomas. Pulling off his tie angrily, he turned and stomped upstairs to change into his dinner jacket.

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A/N - Review it like you want it. The next update will be quicker. I had a bit of a crazy week and apologize for the delay