Roselyn looked out of the cottage window, her hands holding the worktop in the kitchen as servants rushed around and tended to the family's every need. She had not grown used to people waiting on her; she much preferred her time spent serving herself like she had done for over twenty years.

"You need to inform her sometime."

Roselyn looked over her shoulder as soon as she had heard her mother speak. Bethany stood by her daughter's side, waving away the serving maids as she rested her back against the wood and folded her arms over her stomach. Roselyn sighed and nodded in agreement with her.

"It has been three months since she last clapped eyes on him."

"Time has not healed her wounds," Roselyn protested to her mother. "I hear her mumble in her sleep. I listen to her call his name when she thinks no one is listening."

Roselyn sighed and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, patting the bun which sat on the top of her head. She watched as Elizabeth picked at another flower, her daughter having changed before her eyes in the past few months. Elizabeth kept her hair neat around her face, pinning some of it to the top of her head. She wore fine dresses with thanks to her Grandmother. They fit her properly and flowed on the ground around her.

She looked radiant. She looked how Roselyn wanted her to look when she had been a young girl. Roselyn had always felt that she had never given Elizabeth enough, and now she had everything she could possibly materially want. Of course it wasn't materials which bothered Elizabeth.

It was him.

It would always be him.

"The girl has a right to know where we will be going. The Sheriff of Nottingham has called on every nobleman near Nottingham to attend."

"Lord of Huddersfield Manor," Roselyn drawled, tapping her hand on the worktop as she shook her head. "I cannot return to Nottingham. You know what almost happened to me back there. I do not doubt that the Sheriff would want to see me there."

"He would not remember you," Bethany rolled her eyes. "I know that it is too dangerous for you to go back. Your father and I are not asking you to. We intend to keep you here and hidden. You are our daughter and Elizabeth our granddaughter."

Roselyn sighed and shook her head. "I do not like this, mother."

"It matters not what you like, Rose," Bethany sighed. "We will be perfectly safe in Nottingham. We have not been in attendance for many years now, and the last wedding we attended was that of...oh...someone from Hull? I cannot remember."

Roselyn nodded before they both looked back to Elizabeth pick at another flower. She kept silent for a few moments and then nodded, knowing that she had to do something instead of standing still and keeping quiet.

"I will tell her," Roselyn spoke, moving out from the cottage as Bethany placed an encouraging hand on her shoulder.

She wandered down the paved path and knelt by her daughter's side on the long grass. She took another moment to pull her skirts around her as her daughter turned her head to the side to look at her mother. She forced a smile onto her force before picking another daisy and adding it to the growing bouquet of flowers.

"It is a modest home," Elizabeth suddenly said. "I was just thinking about the amount of power which Grandmother and Grandfather hold in Huddersfield and then I compared it to their home. I had no idea they were so noble."

Roselyn chuckled lightly and shook her head. "Huddersfield is not like Nottingham. Mother and father know that there is no reason for them to have a vast home and have the taxpayers pay for it. They enjoy their luxuries, but they are not unfair."

Elizabeth nodded in agreement with her mother, daring to look at her with wide orbs. "They are nice."

"Yes, they are."

"Why did you think that they would not understand about you and father?" Elizabeth enquired. "I don't think that they would have cast you out if you told them that you loved him."

Roselyn took a deep breath and shook her head, her eyes cast to the floor as she contemplated her daughter's question. She wondered what she had done all those years ago. She knew that her parents had never approved of her relationship with Joe. But would they have kept her from him? Did she have any need to run away?

"My parents have mellowed in the past few years," Roselyn mumbled. "In all honesty, I did not think that they would approve. They had been lining up suitors for weeks...Joe...we were young and we grew scared...I...I was scared that they would never accept us. I wish that we had gone to them. I wish that we had not been so foolish. Mother said she would have understood. Fear took hold of us."

Elizabeth shook her head in wonder, pushing her hair from her face. "I think that they would have understood."

"It is too late to think of the past," Roselyn whispered. "Anyway, I wish to speak with you."

"About?" Elizabeth wondered.

"Mother and father are to travel to Nottingham on the morrow. I wanted to tell you earlier," Roselyn said, playing with her fingers as Elizabeth rested the flowers on her lap and picked a daisy from the grass. She pulled at the petals slowly, her mind still fixed on the mediocre things in life. It was easier to do that and get through the day that way.

"And?" Elizabeth wondered. "We obviously cannot go with them. Why are they going?"

"There is to be a wedding," Roselyn said. "The Sheriff has demanded all the Lords and Ladies throughout the area attend. Unfortunately Huddersfield is not many leagues away from Nottingham."

"And who is getting married?"

Roselyn watched as Elizabeth pulled the final petal and then moved her eyes to her mother, arching her brow and waiting for a response. Roselyn's mouth dropped open, as if she were about to say something before she pursed her lips together. She did not know what to say on the matter. Elizabeth smiled softly, her head tilting to the side.

"What is it?" Elizabeth wondered. "Mother, nothing you say can hurt me. I doubt it is Guy who is getting married."

And it was that silence which worried Elizabeth. She cocked a brow to her mother and shook her head back and forth; refusing to believe her mother's silence meant something.

"Guy?" Elizabeth whispered his name.

"To Lady Marian," Roselyn whispered and Elizabeth shook her head back and forth, refusing to believe what she was hearing.

Elizabeth stood up and backed away, the flowers falling from her lap to the floor. She backed away as Roselyn stood up, moving towards her daughter with open arms, trying to hold her once more. Elizabeth backed away, holding her hands up and urging her mother not to comfort her. She didn't need to be comforted.

"Guy and Marian?" Elizabeth checked, her stomach churning at the thought. "Why? When?"

"I do not know," Roselyn responded.

"How could he?" Elizabeth mumbled. "I need to see him...I have to see him...Marian would never marry Guy, even after three months."

Elizabeth paced up and down, her hands tugging through her hair before Roselyn tired and grabbed her daughter's shoulders, shaking her softly.

"It is happening, Elizabeth, and there is nothing more to it," Roselyn spoke, her tone harsh yet comforting. "He has not come for you and he has not asked for you. You cannot go back to him. He would have you arrested if he found you."

"No," Elizabeth shook her head back and forth. "I will not believe it."

"You should," Roselyn urged her. "I will not let you go back to him. I will not let him ruin your life. I have spent my days watching you cry over him. He has done enough damage to you and he shall do no more. Perhaps this will be the closure you both need."

Elizabeth pushed her mother from her and shook her head. "No...I do not need closure...I need answers..."

Roselyn watched her daughter storm back towards the house, her hands on her hips as she went and rushed away. She sighed and dropped her hands to her hips, shaking her head back and forth as she knew that she had to keep her daughter away from Nottingham.

...

Sir Guy of Gisborne felt nothing for Lady Marian. He had felt empty for months on end. Everyone in the household had noticed it. Everyone had seen him sit by his fireplace, holding onto his chin and pine over Elizabeth. He would never admit if, of course. He would never admit that he wanted her back, but anyone could see it.

His marriage to Marian was impending, but it was not something which bothered him. He could marry her or not; at the end of the day it made no difference to him.

He thought that marrying Marian would help him to move on from her. He thought that marrying Marian would make Hood suffer. He knew how much he cared for her. He was well aware of that. Hood had snatched Elizabeth from him. He had turned her against him, and now Gisborne would take the only one Hood cared for.

He would know how it felt.

Of course he had offered her marriage to help protect her and her father. Before Elizabeth, he always thought that he felt something for Marian. He wondered if he could find it again, but he was struggling to do so.

Marian had accepted his proposal, doing what she had to in order to keep her father safe. She had asked him about Elizabeth before, but he had cut her off, informing her that he felt nothing for the former servant girl.

Both of them knew that they were to be stuck in a loveless marriage. Both of them were well aware of that, but neither of them showed it.

Guy moved out from his thoughts, knowing that this marriage would be good for Marian and maybe for him. It would give him revenge on Hood and a chance to forget about Elizabeth. Her name still haunted his mind every single day. Everything that he did reminded him of her.

He slowly stood up after a moment, fully intending on going to sleep for the evening in a cold and empty bed, but a noise in the kitchen snapped him from his destination. He wondered if Sarah had snuck back in, fully intent on finishing the food for the feast the following day. She had been doing her best to prepare enough food which meant working late hours.

"Sarah, I told you that there will bring food from the Castle tomorrow," Gisborne called out, walking into the darkened kitchen, the sight of a cloaked figure startling him as she stood by the window full of moonlight.

He narrowed his eyes as he saw her lower her hood from her head and hold her head high. He would recognise her even in the darkness. He only thought about her every moment he had spare.

"Elizabeth."

Her name seemed to roll off of his tongue as the girl nodded in agreement and moved closer to Guy, wondering how he would react. The last time they had been in the kitchen had been three months ago when he realised she had betrayed him.

When she had ruined him.

"Guy," she responded, her voice curt before Gisborne moved back into the living room, his hands tugging through his hair as he closed his eyes. He shook his head back and forth as he thought about her stood in his kitchen.

Had it been a dream? Was she really here again?

She followed him into the room, the door swinging shut behind her as she went. She watched him stand in front of the fire, his back to her as she tugged at her sleeves, pulling them down her arm further.

"I need to speak with you," Elizabeth said, doing her best to sound braver than she felt.

"I said all that I had to say to you several weeks ago," Gisborne promised her and turned back to look at her, noticing the fine gown which she wore. He had not once seen her look so elegant before, her dress fitting her curves nicely and the yellow colour matching her flowing hair. She would have looked beautiful if it had not been for her gaunt face.

"Since when did you look like a Lady?" he wondered from her. "Have you been selling more secrets?"

Elizabeth inwardly winced and shook her head. "My Grandmother and Grandfather are important people."

Guy cocked his head to the side and folded his arms over his chest. "And you will not tell me who they are for fear of me being able to hurt them? Clever, Elizabeth, I suspect your mother is with them too. My, my, my, how you have grown into your role. Look at you stood there in finery."

"I had nowhere else to go," Elizabeth snapped at him. "I spent hours calling for you. I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to be-"

"-No, you would have been content spying on me for as long as possible."

"You know that not to be true!" Elizabeth roared, her anger getting the better of her as she took another steps towards him. "Do you have any idea what I have gone through? I spent days travelling to my mother and gained a fever. I have spent hours waiting to hear news of you, but there had been nothing."

"And why are you back now?" Gisborne wondered from her, shrugging his shoulders.

He tried not to let the sight of her get to him, but he couldn't help it.

"I came back because I heard about your wedding," Elizabeth said, "to Lady Marian."

Gisborne would have looked smug had the hurt on her face not caused him to stumble. Clearly she hadn't forgotten about him throughout the weeks.

"I suspect you came to offer-"

"-Nothing," Elizabeth interrupted him. "I come to offer you nothing. I come only to...to..."

Guy kept silent for a moment as Elizabeth dared to sink down into the seat he always occupied. He watched her sit up straight instead of slouch; placing her hands in her lap and holding her chin up as though she had been noble all along.

"Do you love her?" Elizabeth wondered suddenly, turning her wide orbs back to him and he inhaled sharply.

He kept quiet for a couple of moments, turning away from her as she patiently waited for an answer. He could attempt to be petty. He could attempt to frustrate her and tell her that he loved Marian more than he had ever loved her. He had vile words lined up in his mouth, but they all vanished as soon as he looked back to Elizabeth.

He gulped quickly. "The woman I loved betrayed me to the one man I hate the most in this world."

Closing her eyes, Gisborne saw the pain flash over her features and she gripped the arm of the chair, almost doubling over as a sickening feeling took over her. Gisborne moved to stand in front of the fire, his boots clicking against the floor and echoing into the eerily dark room.

"Hood took her from me," Gisborne's eyes bore into the fire, almost adding to its intensity. "I will take Marian from him."

"No," Elizabeth quickly moved to her feet then, almost tripping over her skirts as she did so. "Hood did not take me from you. I went on my own accord. I helped him willingly. I did what was right."

Gisborne's upper lip curled. Right. How did she know what was right?

"What was right?" he repeated back to her, turning to look at her once more. "Did it feel right when you whispered to him when I was absent? Did it feel right to come back to me and lie to my face?"

"You know it didn't," Elizabeth promised him and Gisborne moved his un-gloved hand to take hold of her cheek. He saw her relax into his touch, almost leaning towards him and begging for more as she trembled gently against his body.

He refused to allow her tears to weaken him. He would not have that.

"I have spent the past three months trying to forget you," he whispered, his eyes scanning her face and drinking in every feature of her. She rested her hand on top of his and heard him inhale sharply.

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth whispered back. "I never meant to hurt you."

Gisborne's mouth dried out as he finally pressed her against his desk, her hips pushing against his as he gripped them firmly in his hands. He knew that this was his weakness. She would always be his weakness.

"Why has she agreed to marry you?" Elizabeth asked, her mind wandering to Marian and she contemplated her taking her place; her being the one so close to Gisborne. "You do not love her...and she..."

"I am marrying her to protect her and her father from the Sheriff," Gisborne mumbled. "I am the only one with that power."

Elizabeth understood that much. She would have done anything to have her father back with her, even if it meant marrying the Sheriff himself. But Guy? He had volunteered to marry her.

"And you are willing to help her," Elizabeth clarified for herself. "You are willing to marry another to forget about me and get back at Robin Hood."

"I cannot spend the rest of my days pining over a ruthless, spying whore," Gisborne snarled as she questioned his motives.

It was then when she pushed him from her and slapped him across the face. Gisborne's shock remained evident as the atmosphere in the room became even colder than Elizabeth had thought possible. Her chest heaved as her cheeks turned red and Guy looked back to her, his hair hanging in his face.

"You insufferable bastard!" Elizabeth roared back at him. "I did what I had to do to stop people from being rammed through with your sword! I did it to help stop the Sheriff kill more people like my father! You know that I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to fall for you in the first place, God knows that, but I did. I did and I thought I saw a glimmer of something inside of you; something that made you want to repent, but then you do the opposite. You are the most...infuriating man I have ever met."

Guy said nothing as he watched her shake and listened to her ramble. He kept a hand on his stinging cheek as Elizabeth pushed her cloak behind her dress, noting that it had moved around her body. She kept quiet for a couple of moments and then spoke again, her voice calmer than before.

"I came back here after sneaking out from my mother's gaze. I don't even know why...I knew that you would never stop this wedding...but I had to try...because I still love you more than anything."

"And you think that is enough?" Gisborne wondered.

"Shouldn't it be?" Elizabeth responded. "I love you more than Marian ever could. I know that I betrayed your trust and I have apologised countless times now. Can you not see what this is doing to me? What this is doing to us?"

Guy looked down to the floor as she moved closer to him, cradling his cheeks in her hands as she searched his eyes.

"I would do anything to have you hold me again," Elizabeth admitted to him. "I would do anything to have you back with me."

Guy closed his eyes and shook his head, turning his hard stare back to her, pulling her wrists from him.

"And how do you expect me to believe anything that comes out of your mouth?" Gisborne wondered back from her. "How can you stand there and expect me to believe you?"

"Because this is me," she pleaded with him. "You know me, Guy. Every time I told you how I felt was not a lie. It never has been."

"And what?" Gisborne wondered back from her. "You think that will persuade me to take you back as my maid? Do you think that we can go back to pretending? You have changed, Elizabeth. You are clearly to inherit some vast Manor in your future."

"Huddersfield," she blurted out to him, cursing herself afterwards. "But that does not matter to me. I would go back to scrubbing floors if it meant I could stop this wedding. I will do anything."

Gisborne shook his head solemnly at her. "No."

It was that cold and hard word which felt like the dagger to her heart. He would not allow himself to be so weak in front of a woman again.

"You are a traitor, Elizabeth. You are as bad as Hood himself."

She winced. "And is he so bad for wanting to help people who suffer?"

Gisborne said nothing to her, stepping back from her as Elizabeth reached the point of desperation. She moved with haste, grabbing hold of Gisborne and pressing her lips against his, desperate for him to understand her. Gisborne remained shocked at her bold movement, his lips refusing to move against hers as she wrapped her arms around his neck, her hands pressing into his hair.

It took a moment before Gisborne slowly closed his eyes and moved his lips against hers, gently running his hands down her loose blonde hair. She dared to release him for a moment, her hands trailing down to his chest as he slowly moved her, forcing her to kneel down along with him.

He didn't know how it had happened, but he soon found himself laid on top of her in front of the roaring fire. She moved her legs apart, allowing him to fall closer as he ran a hand down her leg, pushing her skirts up as his fingers went. She bent her knee as her skirt fell down her thigh and Gisborne caressed her leg from her kneecap to her ankle, his fingers cold and causing her to shiver on the ground.

His lips never left hers as his hand moved underneath her gown at the shoulder, urging for it to move. His lips trailed from hers, moving down her neck and coming to her shoulder, pressing a tender kiss there as Elizabeth continued to nimbly tug at his black hair.

Her body was heaving underneath Guy's as he rested his head on her chest, the softness of her covered cleavage causing him to groan.

Elizabeth looked down at him resting on top of her chest before she dropped her hands to rest by the side of her body.

"You...I..." Guy stammered. He was lost for words. He had to admit that was a first for him.

"Please don't marry her," Elizabeth closed her eyes and pleaded with him. "Do not do this to spite Robin...to try to move on...please..."

Guy slowly propped himself up on his elbows, peering down at her as his forehead almost touched hers. She always had been able to have some kind of power over him.

"I cannot marry you," Guy responded. "You may be of power now, but I cannot...if the Sheriff knew then he would class you as a traitor...he would kill you."

"Then leave the Sheriff," Elizabeth pleaded him, her fingertips tickling against his neck. "Run away with me. Let us go to Portsmouth...leave on a boat and go..."

Gisborne shook his head. He had come from nothing. He had no intention of going back to nothing. He would not do it. He simply refused.

His thumb traced over her lip. "There is no way for us to be together now, Elizabeth. Marian is my second chance."

"Yet you do not love her."

"But I cannot love you," Gisborne said, pushing himself away from her and she instantly felt lost without his warmth. She scrambled to sit up, adjusting her skirts to cover her body. He stood and looked down at her, not knowing how to fix the mess they had found themselves in. "Loving you hurt me once."

Elizabeth's mouth gaped open and tears prickled in her eyes. She blinked to try and rid herself of them.

"I didn't want to hurt you, Guy," she pleaded him, stumbling as she stood up. "I never meant to...I only meant to help...please...you have to see that..."

Guy turned his back on her, knowing that her tears were his weakness. He could not deny that, nor would he try to.

"You can spend the evening sleeping in your old room," he told her, walking up the staircase as he did so. "I want you gone before tomorrow morning...before anyone sees you."

"Guy," she called to him, still stood by his chair.

He dared to turn his head to look back at her. He had been fooled by those doe eyes before. He had been fooled and she had spilled his words to his enemy.

"There is nothing more to discuss, Elizabeth," he informed her. "I have said all that I want to say to you."

He continued walking away from her, failing to see her fall to the floor, but he did hear her sobs for the rest of the night. He laid in bed, hearing her as she remained downstairs, crying softly underneath his floorboards.

He didn't sleep that evening, but he did hear her close the door before the sun came up, and that noise was enough to make even Sir Guy of Gisborne feel sorrow.

...

A/N: Quite a long chapter here and I hope it was okay! Thank you to Amaranthe Athenais, LittleDragonRider, starrysky7, ajdaisy, contentiousprincess, Guest, CupcakesAndAlive, ladymoonscar, Shira1111 and KatjaLilian for reviewing!

Just to clarify, this is nowhere near the end of the fic, but I am not following the timeline set by the show, sort of using their events but in a different order. I hope that's okay and do let me know what you think!