Dedicated to Percival- thank you for making me laugh, understanding my crazy ways and providing cake for those dull days.

Straightening the tie he was wearing, Florian stared at the walls before he heard the door behind him open and he turned to see the man he's come to see, standing in the doorway in silence. Florian had woken up that morning, hoping to talk to Josie, but instead finding out through Agnes that she had left early because she wanted to see someone before her shift started. Agnes' statement had immediately made him suspicious and he had decided to find out what was going on himself because he was not going to lose her, at least not without knowing why she had spent most of the previous evening sobbing in her locked bedroom.

"Mr Dupont, this is a surprise," Mr Grove commented as he looked at the younger man as Florian nodded, remaining silent while Mr Grove stared at him for a moment, wondering why he was here. "I am actually rather busy today Mr Dupont," he stated, knowing that Josie would at least be part of the reason why Florian was visiting his office that morning.

"It will not take long," Florian responded, determined that he was going to talk to the man. Agnes had told them the previous day that Josie had to see Mr Grove before work and after this meeting she had entered their home and locked herself into her bedroom, and he couldn't help but think their was a link between the two. Moving out of the doorway in silence as he noticed Florian's determination, Mr Grove watched as the Belgian entered his office, allowing him to shut the door before they both stood awkwardly in the office.

"Would you like to sit down?" Roger asked as he approached his desk, Florian facing him as he began to sit down.

"What did you say to Miss Mardle?" Florian immediately questioned, not wanting to wait any longer. He wanted to know what had upset the woman he loved and he was not going to spend time talking with a man who he did not know very well and who clearly did not like him. "I know you had a meeting with her last night and you said something to her, something that has upset her," he explained, still standing in the middle of the room as Mr Grove remained silent. How was he supposed to respond to that?

"And may I ask Mr Dupont, why it concerns what I said in a private meeting with Miss Mardle?" Roger responded as Florian watched him for a moment, observing the small smirk that appeared on the older mans face.

"She is my landlady and she is my friend, I care about her and if you have hurt her…" he began as Mr Grove shook his head.

"So you are not admitting that you are in an intimate relationship with Miss Mardle then, Mr Dupont?" Roger interrupted as Florian glanced down at his feet for a second, trying to think of an answer. He didn't know what to say in response to that. He didn't know whether he was supposed to be honest to this man, he wasn't even sure how much Mr Grove knew about their relationship.

"If I was in an intimate relationship with her, what would it have to do with you?" he questioned as Mr Grove stared at her. "You are only her colleague."

"But I deal with anything staff may do that would have a negative impact on the shop," Mr Grove stated as he continued to watch the younger man. He couldn't understand why Josie was in a relationship with this man or why he was interested in Josie. "And this relationship is both unbecoming of an employee of Selfridges and frankly embarrassing," he stated as Florian shook his head at him. "And I have to ask myself why you are even in a relationship with her Mr Dupont."

"I am in a relationship with her because I love her and I don't understand how our relationship is any of your business," Florian declared, no longer trying to hide what had happened between him and Josie. He was going to argue for his relationship until Mr Grove understood their relationship and he finally knew what he had said to upset Josie.

"In love? Don't be ridiculous. You're only infatuated with her because she has given you a home and found you work," Mr Grove stated as Florian continued to shake his head. "One day you will want a family, I understand that feeling because I have been through that, and you will leave her for someone who can give you a family. That will be the end of this relationship. You will marry another woman and she will be left alone," he explained as Florian stared at him for a moment, trying to realise how he knew so much about Josie's past while getting more frustrated with what the man was saying. Mr Grove may have married someone to have a family but they were not the same, that was clear. They had different ideas about life.

"You may have married someone in order to have a family but I would rather spend the rest of my life with the woman I love, with no children, instead of having a family with someone I only like because in the end we would be unhappy because I would not love my wife or family," Florian stated as Mr Grove remained silent. "And we are not the same person Mr Grove, we haven't different ideas about life and I am happy to just be with Miss Mardle. You have no influence over our relationship, you shouldn't have even got involved in the first place. I am not an employee of Selfridges and our relationship does not affect this shop in anyway and therefore you have no influence over it," he declared as Mr Grove remained completely silent. "Did you tell her that?" he asked as Mr Grove nodded, knowing that Florian was probably not going to leave until he got answers. He understood what it was like to be in a relationship with someone, to want to take care of them and defend them, and he also knew the determination to solve the other persons issues. "What did you tell her exactly?"

"Mr Dupont," Roger began.

"You tell me exactly what you said to her Mr Grove," Florian demanded quickly. "She has done nothing wrong in being in a relationship with me and you hurt her for no reason," he stated as Roger remained silent before Florian shook his head for a moment.

"You are the one who hurt Josie," he suddenly blurted out, realising why he knew so much about Josie's previous relationship before falling silent when there was a knock at the door.

"Mr Dupont I need to get on with some work," Mr Grove stated quickly, relieved that someone had decided to knock on the door at that point.

"Of course, I wouldn't want to interfere in something that has nothing to do with me," the Belgian stated before moving towards the door. "Mr Grove, I want you to leave Josie alone. I understand that you work together but you leave her alone when it comes to our relationship, it has nothing to do with you and you have hurt her enough," he declared before he opened the door, smiling at Kitty before he walked towards the elevator in silence. He had a reasonable idea now of what had upset her, he just needed to get her to talk to him. Stepping out of the lift, Florian smiled as he saw Josie working at accessories, completely focused on her work as the Belgian slowly approached. "Good morning Miss Mardle," he smiled, the brunette immediately glancing up at him in shock before looking around the room to see if anyone was watching them.

"Mr Dupont what are you doing here? I am working," she immediately hissed as he watched her in silence, approaching the counter while she stared at him. "Mr Dupont, I have customers to serve," she said quickly, desperate for him to leave so that she could carry on with her day.

"I know, that's why I am here Miss Mardle. I want to purchase some gloves," he declared as she nodded slowly, trying to work out why he was doing this. "There's a very special woman in my life and I want to buy some beautiful gloves for her as a present," he said quietly as she began to blush at his comment.

"Do you have any particular type of gloves in mind?" she questioned as he shrugged.

"I actually wanted to ask your opinion," he said quickly. "Which pair do you find beautiful Miss Mardle? You are, after all, the head of accessories," Florian explained as Josie bit into her lip nervously before finding a pair, resting them on the table while he watched her. "Why are these particularly beautiful in your opinion?" he asked quietly.

"The detail on them is just stunning, they're one of the most beautiful pairs I have ever seen" she explained as she ran her fingers across the detailing on the gloves, Florian nodding as he immediately removed the money from his pocket. "Florian…" she whispered quietly as they looked at each other in silence for a moment before he passed her the money, his fingers brushing against hers as she took the money from him. "Florian," she said quietly before she collected his change and passed it to him, his hand taking hers once again for a brief second. "You shouldn't be doing that, please stop," she said quietly, trying to pull her hand away from his as he kept hold of it. "Florian please."

"When do you come home tonight?" he asked quietly as she began to package his purchase while he focused on her, taking in everything she was doing.

"I will be home at around six," she said quietly as she passed his purchase to him before he nodded slowly.

"I will see you tonight then, thank you for the gloves Miss Mardle," he smiled as she nodded, not saying anything more before he stepped away and began to walk out of the shop.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Stepping inside the house nervously, Josie removed her coat and hat in silence before glancing in the direction of the living room door where she could hear Florian practicing the violin. She still didn't feel ready to talk to him about everything. All she wanted at the moment was to think about what happened, to try and get control of the events rather than letting them control her. Approaching the stairs, Josie glanced at the living room door once more before she quickly ran up the stairs, hoping that Florian wouldn't realise that she was home yet, even though she knew he was probably already aware of her arrival. Approaching her bedroom door, Josie quickly stepped inside before shutting the door and looking at her bed to see a familiar package sat on her bed. Sitting on the bed, Josie slowly unwrapped her one packing before staring at the gloves that he'd bought. She'd known they had been for her when he had purchased them earlier but seeing them in her bedroom had shocked her.

"Do you like them?" Florian's voice asked from the doorway, shocking her as she turned to face him in confusion.

"Florian they're beautiful but I can't accept these," she stated, placing them back into the box as he walked towards her and shook his head. "Florian, I know how much these cost and I don't want to know how much of your money you have spent on me," she whispered as he sat down on the bed, leaving enough space to make her feel comfortable as he slowly removed the gloves from the box and reached for her hand.

"It is my money and I wanted to buy you something that would make you smile," he said quietly as he pressed the gloves into her hand. "These are for you, they are a present," he stated as she glanced down at them before smiling, thanking him quietly as he continued to watch her. "There's the smile that I love," he declared as she glanced up at him before biting into her lip, tears appearing down her cheeks as he stared at her in shock. "Josie," he whispered as he moved closer, trying to comfort her as she shook her head and quickly moved towards the window, frustrated that she was unable to control her own emotions. "Josie please, I just want to help."

"I would just like to be alone please," she said quietly as he shut his eyes for a moment, hating that she would not talk to him. He just wanted to talk to her, to hold her and make her smile again.

"I will be downstairs if you want to talk Josie," he sighed, standing up before he moved towards the door. "Josie," he said before she turned to look at him, hating the sad look that was covering his face. "I know that he hurt you, I know that he keeps on hurting you," Florian whispered as she felt the shock appear on her face. "But I really do love you Josie and I want to understand what has upset you," he responded before he walked down the stairs in silence, Josie staring at the empty doorway before she wrapped her arms around her body. She didn't know what to do. She felt confused, lost and hurt. She wanted to run after Florian, hold him close and never let him go but she also didn't want to risk getting hurt once again. She was terrified that she would get comfortable once again in a relationship and then he would leave her, he would find someone else, someone who would give him a future and he would abandon her once again like Roger had done before him. Glancing down at the gloves she was holding, Josie stared at them before she shut her eyes and felt her tears run down her cheeks once again. She hated herself, why was she so weak? Why couldn't she just deal with it? She didn't even know what she was doing with her life anymore. She had no future with Florian. They would never have a traditional future together, they would never have children, they would always be judged by others because of their differences and she couldn't force that on him. She couldn't let him waste his life with her just because he believed that he was in love with her.

"I need to talk to Florian," she whispered to herself before she put the gloves down and moved towards her door. She had to talk to him. She had to make him see that he was making the biggest mistake of his life by wanting to be in a relationship with her. "I can do this," she muttered quickly before entering the living room to find him sat in his usual chair, a nervous look covering his face as she shut the door and stood in front of it. "Florian," she stated, her hands shaking as he stood up and moved towards her. "Florian, we can't do this anymore," she said quietly, Florian shaking his head at her. He didn't believe what she was saying, she couldn't be ending their relationship just because of one man's stupid comments.

"Josie please," he begged.

"You are such a kind and wonderful man Florian," she began as she attempted not to cry. "But you're young Florian, you think that you are in love with me but it's…" she whispered, stopping when he shook his head even more, he refused to believe her. She liked him, she wanted to be with him, they made each other happy, he was not going to be let her end the best relationship of his life because of Mr Grove's interference.

"I know that I am younger than you, I can't help that but that does not mean I don't understand what love is," he insisted, his hand resting on her cheek as her body tensed at the feeling. "I know that you believe that I will leave you, I know that you have been hurt and I know who by but I truly do love you Josie."

"You know who…" she mumbled, her face turning pale as she took in the fact that he knew about her past. "Florian…I...we have to stop," she muttered, still trying to get over the fact that he knew about Mr Grove and their previous relationship.

"No, I will not let him ruin this," he declared as he found her hand and held onto it. "I will not let him interfere in your life again Josie. He has hurt you once, you even told me that. You told me that he hurt you and made you feel like you didn't deserve to be loved Josie, but I will not let his comments ruin the relationship that makes you laugh and smile and relax. I will not let you push me away, the man who loves you, because you have been convinced that you don't deserve to be adored by someone. Josie I love you for who you are. I am not in love with the idea of a future with children because I know I can't have that with you. I am in love with you! I am in love with the way you wake up in the morning, the way you hum when you're happy, the sound of your laugh and the way you curl up in that chair in the evenings with a book, pretending to read it when you are actually listen to me practice the violin," he declared as the tears continued to silently run down her cheeks. "I am in love with you, for who you are, not for what you can and cannot give me and I need you to start believing in that," he whispered, stepping closer to her before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I know you hate people seeing you cry," he mumbled into her hair as she shut her eyes. "I will be in my room if you need me, I won't force you into talking Josie. I will wait, no matter how long it takes," he whispered before he stepped away and left the room while she stood perfectly still, her hand moving to cover her mouth as she tried to think of what to do.

She just felt so lost.

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