Hello, š
While I am very happy with a Heybourne ending, this story was written a couple of years back when the sisterhood were trying to save the series and get a HEA for Charlotte, so Sidney was considered the only endgame back then. This story has already been published under my own name, so some people may recognise it, but I thought it would be good to put it up to help balance out the stories in this anthology. I still plan to write a Heybourne story when I get a chance.
Thanks all, and I hope you enjoy! x
Sidlotte's Dream
A Sidlotte Story
By TheScribblerCMB
Both Sidney and Charlotte slept ill that night.
In a clammy haze, they each thrashed about amongst their oppressive bed clothes, the cotton sheets snaking over their limbs and binding them like ropes. The sweat of their brow collected in sticky pools and their damp hair veiled their noses and mouths like a suffocating rag that stifled and smothered their every sense, choking their very sanity. With scrunched eyes, haggard breathing, and hearts racing in erratic and excruciating angst, they each could not shake off the memory of that nightmarish day, one month ago, when they had parted forever, their goodbye brief and brutal upon the coastal hills of their beloved Sanditon. Writhing about as if in agony, they were both beset by the onslaught of unhappy thoughts which had plagued them day and night, never once leaving them in peace, tossing them about in a whirlwind of grief and guilt.
However, unknown to both Sidney and Charlotte, they each lay in their beds, scattered and separated across the miles that traversed throughout the counties of England, weeping for the loss of one another. Without uttering a word, their two spirits spoke in harmony, echoing the shared sentiments of their broken hearts. Breathing into the silent night, the two halves of their one soul mourned their estrangement across the void of the slumbering world of both tangible land and mortal responsibilities which lay between them like an abyss, a gulf of mistakes and misunderstandings both keeping and tearing them apart. As the dark sky gradually blanched into the dreary dawn, both Sidney and Charlotte finally fell into a fitful sleep. As they tossed and turned, they were disturbed by the same mirrored and menacing vision.
They dreamt that they strolled side-by-side, through a vast meadow, one which stretched beyond the horizon. The long grass quivered against their thighs, the breeze lulling it to and fro. The field was a luscious green and was home to a throng of vivid flowers, delicate petals which turned their smiling faces towards a radiant sun, a ball of warmth which bathed the scene in a pool of golden light, its rays frolicking across the landscape in a merry dance of May.
As they passed underneath the awning of trees, their jade and fern leaves waved at them like hands swaying in the breeze, and the light which shone down from a clear blue sky of the brightest blue, winked at them as they passed beneath the branches which yawned and stretched languidly in the heat.
Listening, they could hear the birds as they sang their twittering tunes in the trees, their chirps free from the cares of the world, and the cheerful sound dissipated the couple's own concerns and cast them away upon the lightsome breeze and off into the faraway hills.
The day was humid, and Sidney had stripped himself of his jacket and cravat, savouring the freedom of his less rigid attire. Charlotte trekked along in her muslin frock, and after daringly removing her shoes and stockings, she relished the feel of the soft earth tickling her feet, something that the country girl in her would never tire of.
Far in the distance, they could hear the soothing melody of the sea as it gently rolled upon the coves and shores of Sanditon, tickling the golden sand with its moist, salty kiss, before waving a fond farewell and dragging itself back towards its mistress, the sea.
The lovers continued hand-in-hand and blushed as their fingers intertwined, her little digits curling around his larger ones, each stroking the other with playful affection. Their bodies brushed innocently in their intimate proximity as they journeyed on, not knowing where, just content to be together.
Feeling a surge of joy wash over her, Charlotte ran ahead and began to dance, spinning in wide circles amidst an inflorescence of bluebells, her yellow dress swirling as she twirled. Sidney let out a hearty, rumbling laugh, as he watched the woman he adored look so carefree in his company. Chasing after her, Sidney clasped Charlotte's waist and pulled her tight to him, lifting her into the air and whirling her around as if she weighed no more than a feather. Charlotte giggled as she wrapped her elbows around his neck and revelled in the knowledge that his strong arms held her safe and would never let her go again, never. As Sidney lowered Charlotte to the ground, her body slid down his, and they breathed heavily at the sensation as sensual sparks shot through them from tip to toe.
There they stood and gazed at each other, gently swaying, dancing tenderly as one. Lightly rubbing their foreheads and noses together, they slowly inched their mouths closer, and their eyelashes fluttered closed in euphoria, the pair eagerly anticipating the instant their lips touched, inviting their first kiss since their sweet reconciliation. It had all happened so fast that they had hardly had time to appreciate what was happening around them and to them. In a fit of despair, Sidney had called off his ersatz engagement of convenience and ridden through the night to see Charlotte, near enough knocking down her poor parent's doors with his hammering thuds like a madman. Finally, when Charlotte had opened the door to him in her nightdress, Sidney had fallen to his knees before her, grabbed hold of the hem of her maidenly gown, and begged her forgiveness as he sobbed and spluttered through his clumsy speech. Stunned at first, Charlotte had soon dropped to her knees too, and after much laughing and crying alike in the pouring rain, Sidney Parker had offered Charlotte Heywood his hand, his homage, his home, and his heart, and she, well, she had accepted without a moment's hesitation.
And now, here they were, two days later, and for some strange reason, they had not yet kissed. Perhaps it was due to shyness, or perhaps it was just because the chaos and cheer of the past two days had overwhelmed them so much that they felt like such a significant, symbolic, and special event in their now secure relationship was best kept until the dust had settled and they both felt truly ready to enjoy it, ready to relish and revere each other as wholeheartedly as they deserved.
But here they were. The time was right. The setting was right. Their love was right.
Smiling at each other, they each leaned in closer, their eyes closed, their lips puckered, their souls on tenterhooks as they edged nearer and nearer to their divine destiny.
But it was not to be.
Suddenly, a freezing wind, as icy as the grave, whipped up around them, nipping at their flesh and chilling their very bones. Snapping open their eyes, both Sidney and Charlotte found themselves completely alone. Bewildered, they began dashing around, frantically hunting high and low for their companion.
'Sidney!' she shouted.
'Charlotte!' he yelled.
Nothing.
The peaceful pasture disintegrated and warped into a concrete city. The cheerful shades soon vanished, replaced instead by a steely and sterile grey. It was cold, so very cold, that they each felt their fingers and toes turning numb.
Shivering, they continued to search, disorientation and dread polluting their parallel dreams. Then thankfully, they each spotted the other in the distance, standing so very far away, with their backs turned. Exhaling in relief, they began to move forwards, impatient to be reunited.
But they could not.
They were stuck.
Panicking, they tried to break free from their invisible prisons, but they were each rooted to the spot like statues. It felt as if their feet were chained, their legs weighed down by rocks, and their bodies anchored in position. But still they tried, struggling to heave and drag themselves onwards, arms extending out, hands grabbing, fingers grasping.
'Charlotte!' roared he.
'Sidney!' screamed she.
As loud as they could, they both called out to each other, fighting desperately to reach their heart's desire. But the ghosts of their dreams did not hear them. They did not acknowledge the anguished cry of their lover. Instead, they simply began to walk away, their apparitions fading into obscurity.
'NO!'
'Wait!'
'Come back!'
'Please stop!'
'I LOVE YOU!'
But their screams were ignored.
Gasping for air, both Sidney and Charlotte awakened and bolted upright. In a haze of fright, they let consciousness attune their senses as they took in their surroundings. He was in London, she in Willingden, poles apart in every way. Looking around them, they each heaved a sigh of regret, neither knowing what they dreaded more, the memory of their nightmare, or the haunting reality that in their wake, they were still very much alone, their lover nowhere to be found.
However, grunting into the darkness, Sidney suddenly vaulted to his feet in one swift movement. Then, hauling on his boots, he marched to his door with determined strides and flung it open, the hinges creaking, the wood splitting as it smacked against the wall, creating a labyrinth of cracks in the plaster. With eyes as sharp as flints, his orbs smouldered with a blaze born of both feral purpose and passion, the intensity of which made him appear like a man possessed.
'Enough!' he whispered gruffly as he hurried onwards. 'Hold on, Charlotteā¦I'm coming for you, my love!'