Narrator's POV:
Early the next morning Mary found herself scrubbing the floor of her room as Martha got out her gardening clothes.
"It's such a shame that Mrs. Medlock insists on forcing you to do such labor." Martha sighed as she walked towards the window.
"Yes well, there's no stopping that madwoman." Mary rolled her eyes as she finally finished and walked towards Martha, she noticed Johnathan was outside walking around and her eyes were glued to him.
"Have you talked with him?" Mary asked as Martha suddenly turned towards her.
"Oh no miss, it's not my place to talk with him." She blushed and hurried out of the room, taking the bucket of dirty water out as Mary changed. She walked towards the garden and was sure to grab her gardening tools and began pulling weeds.
"So much work to be done." Mary wiped her brow as she heard a twig snap, she turned to see Dickon grinning.
"Let me give you a hand." He bent down and began helping her pull weeds.
"Ah." Mary lifted her finger and saw some blood as Dickon moved quickly and kissed it, drawing out the blood until it stopped.
"Here." He brought some water and a small piece of cloth, first washing her finger, then wrapping it.
"Thank you Dickon." Mary smiled at him as he smiled back.
"Why don't I go and ask Martha for some tea?" He stood as she nodded, she finished her gardening and washed off her hands and face. Dickon and Martha came back as she served them tea in the garden.
"Thank you Martha." Mary smiled as Dickon sat close to her.
"It's such a nice day." He stretched out as Martha agreed, suddenly hearing her name being called as she ran off, and into the arms of Johnathan.
"Hello there Martha." He smiled warmly as her cheeks reddened.
"I'm, I'm sorry Johnathan." She tried to pull away but he wouldn't let her go.
"Wait, I was the one that called you. I've been wanting to talk to you." He tried to look her in the eye as she flinched.
"W-what is it?" She asked as she shyly looked at him.
"Tonight, have dinner with me." Johnathan looked at her and spoke with a kind voice.
"I-I don't know if I can." Martha stuttered as she tried to pull away again.
"Martha, I won't bite, I promise." Johnathan brushed back some of her hair.
"I know that." Martha looked at him sternly as he laughed.
"Oh the timid little house-mouse is sticking up for herself now is she?" He laughed again as she furrowed her brows.
"I am not a house-mouse!" She napped as he laughed heartily again.
"Stop laughing at me." She pushed him as he stopped.
"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to laugh at you, you're just so funny. You make me smile, and I like that." He gently touched her cheek as her face turned tomato red.
"I'll think about dinner." She responded quickly as Johnathan perked up.
"Really? Great, meet me at my room around eight, I'll have everything ready. And wear whatever you like." He leaned in closer as she finally pulled away and Johnathan got the hint.
"I better get back to work then." He pulled away as Martha suddenly felt lonely when he walked away.
"I'll see you tonight!" She hollered out as he turned and waved.
"That tea was great, well I need to get to work." Dickon stood as Mary picked up the tea tray and walked with Dickon back towards the manor.
"Mary, let's meet tonight in the garden when everyone's asleep." Dickon spoke up.
"And why would we do that?" Mary asked confused.
"Wouldn't you like to see the garden with the stars out, and the moon. I bet all the night animals come out to play." He smiled brilliantly as Mary couldn't help but be curious.
"Sure, I'll meet you out here." Mary walked inside as Dickon waved goodbye as they went separate ways. For the rest of the day, Dickon couldn't stop thinking about his evening with Mary and what he had planned for that night.
As Mary went to her room, she managed to read a book while Mrs. Medlock was busy preparing for the arrival of Lord Craven and Sir Colin. As the day finally came to a close, and the sun sank beyond the moors, Mary put on her best dress and managed to quietly sneak out of the manor and headed for the Secret Garden, holding the key in her hand as she unlocked the door. She knew Dickon would be on his way soon so she hid behind a large tree as she giggled at the thought of scaring Dickon to half to death. She managed to get a good view at the night sky and held her breath as she saw the first star twinkling near the full moon. Suddenly she heard footsteps as she crouched down, taking a quick look as she saw Dickon enter the garden.
"Mary!" He whispered as he looked around, but not seeing any sign of her he stopped and smiled to himself.
"Playing hide and go seek are we?" Mary tried to contain her laughter as Dickon scratched his head. He began looking around as he drew closer and Mary took the opportunity to jump on him; but rather than landing on his chest, Dickon turned so that Mary wound up on top of him as they landed in the daisies.
"Boo!" She said rather loudly as Dickon blushed bright red, hiding any signs of freckles on his face. Their lips were so close, and Mary even found herself becoming a little embarrassed.
"I-I meant to scare you." Mary pulled away slightly as Dickon smiled.
"So I see." His eyes reflected the moonlight as Mary swallowed and sat up, still sitting on him.
"Well, I suppose we should go on the swing then?" She fiddled with her hair as Dickon chuckled.
"What?" She looked at him, clearly perplexed.
"You've got flowers in your hair." He sat up and began plucking out the daisies in her hair. There was a thumping in Mary's chest as Dickon's fingers gingerly touched her hair. Being ever so gentle as he pulled out the last flower, letting his fingers linger for a moment as they grazed her cheeks.
"There, but I must say you looked rather lovely with those flowers in your hair. Like a princess." He put his hand on the small of her back as Mary gasped. Suddenly Dickon had picked Mary up and carried her princess-style to the swing and gently placed her on the seat.
"There. May I?" He asked, indicating that he wanted to push her while she sat on the swing. Mary simply nodded her head as Dickon gave her a push, his hands were at about her waist as she felt herself blushing harder. But soon she was distracted by the scenery of the stars shining above her. She didn't feel it was nighttime at all, what with the moon gleaming as brightly as the sun. Mary felt her lips curve into a smile as she kicked her legs out. Dickon felt himself lost in the moment as he watched how Mary laughed; it had taken her so long to do so. After several more joyous filled moments, Mary insisted that she and Dickon switched as she struggled to push him a few feet off the ground. They began to laugh as Dickon put in extra effort to get himself off the ground.
"I see what you mean Mary, the night sky looks lovely." Dickon smiled brightly as Mary watched him.
"Oh, I need to rest, it was exhausting trying to get that hefty body of yours off the ground." Mary was about to sit as Dickon stopped himself.
"Sit here." He moved over and made room for her as Mary faced the opposite direction of him; hoping she wouldn't feel embarrassed around him anymore. But of course sometimes things don't always turn out the way you want them too. Rather than creating space, Mary was face-to-face with Dickon; she could see his flushed face clearly and assumed her cheeks were growing redder by the minute.
"Mary." Dickon whispered as he brought a finger up to brush against her lips, she parted them slightly as his thumb caressed her bottom lip.
"D-Dickon." She stuttered as he came closer.
"Please, stay still." He pleaded as she nodded her head, slowly closing her eyes as Dickon gazed at her face lovingly.
"I love you Mary." Dickon declared as Mary's eyes shot open, Dickon's gently pressed lips against her own as she froze. His lips felt so warm against hers, a tingling sensation erupted in her stomach as she closed her eyes and leaned into him, tilting her head as Dickon held her chin and slightly adjusted her face to his liking as Mary tried to speak. Then she felt his tongue stroking her lips as she let out a strange noise.
"What the bloody hell is going on here!" Sir Colin stormed in and pulled Dickon away from Mary as he began fighting Dickon.
"Colin stop!" Mary shouted as she tried to get near them.
"Mary, stay where you are. Colin, stop acting like a child." Dickon's tone was tranquil as he tried to get Sir Colin to calm down.
"How dare you do such a thing to Mary! That was her first kiss, she'll never get it back!" Sir Colin's expression was pained as Dickon felt slightly guilty, but knew what Sir Colin was trying to do.
"If she didn't want me to kiss her she could have stopped me." Dickon's eyebrows furrowed.
"NO!" Sir Colin began to hit harder.
"Colin, please! Dickon didn't do anything wrong!" Mary began growing sorrowful rather than angry.
"Damn you Dickon! If it wasn't for you, Mary would be mine!" Sir Colin began feeling all his anger come through in his punches.
"Colin, knock it off. Mary doesn't belong to anyone, it's her choice, she can figure out who she's in love with on her own." Dickon pushed Sir Colin back, but he was relentless.
"Dickon!" Sir Colin took aim for Dickon's face as he blocked the punch and took a deep breath.
"This is your last chance Colin, stop this or I'll have to." Dickon's voice was low and threatening as Sir Colin shouted curses at Dickon. Then Dickon's defenses were down just as Sir Colin knocked the wind out of Dickon; after regaining composure, Dickon looked up at Sir Colin.
"Well are you going to let me beat you like a sissy or actually fight me for Mary's affection?" Sir Colin took a fighting stance as Dickon gritted his teeth.
"That's it!" Dickon rushed at Sir Colin as the two quarreled.
"You two are acting like children! I hate you!" Mary ran off towards the moors as the two continued to brawl.
"Where on earth is Mary?" Martha looked around as she held herself and shivered.
"Martha, is that you?" Johnathan held up a lantern to her face as she nodded.
"I'm looking for Mary. I went to check on her and noticed her bed was empty. Dickon isn't home either and Lord Craven and Sir Colin have returned." Martha sounded worried as Johnathan opened his mouth to speak until they heard loud shouting and cursing.
"What's that?" Martha looked over towards the Secret Garden as she suddenly felt warmth engulf her once shivering body. She turned and saw Johnathan's coat draped over her shoulders.
"Keep it on, it's cold out." He smiled as she simply nodded, knowing once Johnathan made up his mind, there was no going back.
"I'm going to go see what that is." He began to walk away as Martha caught up with him.
"I'm going too, Mary and Dickon might be over there." Martha kept up with his pace.
"Is there something going on between those two? I've heard several rumors about that girl." He raised an eyebrow as Martha smiled.
"Perhaps, but that's between them."
"And what about that Colin fellow? Isn't he in love with her? Even though they're cousins?"
"Well, it's all a little confusing right now, but I'm sure Mary knows the answer." Martha gazed up at him; his icy blue eyes were reflecting off of the moon's light, his blond hair shimmering as she blushed.
"What's with that face?" He asked as he neared her.
"N-nothing, we'd better hurry." Martha walked faster as he caught up with her. They found Dickon and Colin fighting, Johnathan managed to get the two of them to stop, and found out what happened.
"Oh poor Mary." Martha felt saddened at how upset she must have become.
"Now the both of you go to my place and get cleaned up. Dickon you could get fired for this, and Colin, I'm sure Mrs. Medlock will restrict you to your bed again if you don't get yourself looking normal again. Martha and I will find Mary and bring her inside and I'll explain things to Mrs. Medlock." They both nodded as Johnathan took Martha's hand and began searching for Mary.
"The moors!" Mary said as Johnathan turned to look at her.
"What?" He was confused.
"She always goes there when she feels like escaping." Martha began leading him as he followed her, still holding onto her hand. When they reached Mary, she was shivering and full of mud; Martha took her inside and gave her a hot bath as Johnathan said Sir Colin had gone off on business for a couple of days which wasn't all a lie. After recovering the following morning, Sir Colin had gone off with his father on a week long business trip.