Benvolio
The door to the dungeons clattered open and I could hear her yelling at the guard before I saw her gown sweeping into the hall.
"-and I'll thank you not to be so horridly judgemental next time!" She was hissing at him. I wiped the tears from my eyes and pulled myself as close to the bars as I could manage, trying to see her as best as I could, all of her. Her dress was mused, her hair, completely escaping the pins it had been set in, and there were more than one streak of grim on her skin.
She was magnificent. She looked around, and when our eyes met, she stalked towards me, her lips parting ready to say something that I was certain would be forceful, and eloquent, and full of passion but I didn't want to hear it. I wanted to hear something else entirely.
"You thought this was from me?" I asked before she could speak, clutching the letter in my hand. She frowned for a moment, her brow furrowing beautifully as she stepped forward to see what I held in my hand. She paled when she realized.
"Who gave that to you?" She asked quietly, hovering just out of my reach.
"You dropped it. I picked it up before anyone noticed."
"I..." She glanced away. She was blushing now, and her eyes looked panicked.
"You thought I'd sent you a letter to tell you I love you?" I asked, knowing the answer all ready but desperate to hear her say it from her sweet lips. "You thought it was me who said I wished to marry you?"
"Benvolio-" Her eyes were darting around the cells, avoiding me at all costs. Look at me. I thought. For God's sake, Rosaline, look at me. Let me see your eyes.
"Please." I whispered aloud the last word that was in my head. Her eyes met mine. God in Heaven. She loved me too. I reached through the bars and pulled her close. Without waiting for my answer, or for her reaction, I held her head delicately in one hand, my other holding onto her back, as I leaned down and kissed her. We parted almost instantly, each desperate to see the other's reaction. It was clear she was as affected as I was. Before I could so much as blink, her hands were on my face, pulling me back in and kissing me with such a passion I could swear my heart ceased to beat.
"I love you." I murmured to her between the bars. "You are everything to me."
"I love you too." She looked deep into my eyes as she spoke and I could see the truth in them. "I love you, and I trust you, Benvolio." I knew how much that meant to her, what a power she put in that. She was giving me everything she had. I kissed her again and I could feel her tears on my face. Pulling back, I wiped them away, and held her through the wall of my prison cell.
"I will get you out of here, Benvolio. I swear it."
"I fear my uncle may be behind this." I admitted. "You will need stronger allies if you are to face him."
"He is not. He wishes for your release."
"Do not trust him so easily." I warned her. "I have recently discovered that he has been lying to me about the lineage of the Montague household. When my father died it was all meant to go to me upon my becoming an adult. Not just my father's personal sums, but everything, the name, the house, all of it. He has been lying, and stealing from me for years, just so that he may hold power. If I were to die in prison, or if the prince were to execute me, he is next in line. It is all he's ever wanted, at his fingertips."
"Perhaps, but this is one plot he didn't come up with. I've been talking. To the servants in all the great houses. There is a secret organization that lurks beneath the surface of the nobility here in Verona. They wish to unseat the prince and take his power for their own. I'm afraid the plot comes not from your house but from mine. They shall blame it on you until they are able to complete their coup. But you needed worry. I've gathered nearly enough evidence. We shall stop them, and prove your innocence, and you shall be freed."
"And we shall be married."
"As soon as we possibly can manage it." I grinned.
"You must hurry then, my dear. For I do not think I can wait another day without calling you wife."
"A day. That is all the time you give me to bring down a rebellion, save an innocent man from prison, and get a marriage license? A day?"
"Two days then. For your own convenience." I amended. She smiled at me.
"Fine. Two days. We shall be wed in two days time at whatever church agrees to do the ceremony the quickest and then we shall run away together. Somewhere without our uncles looming over us."
"No need to run far. Before I was arrested I purchased our home. Workers have been restoring it for several weeks now."
"You bought us a home?! Before we even decided that we were in love?"
"I knew I was in love, I just didn't know you were in love and regardless of our feelings my dear, you were and are still my best friend and I wanted to provide for you. Not to mention I've come into quite a sum of money lately and I felt the need to shower it upon my future bride." I kissed her again, and provoked yet another smile upon her fair lips.
"Very well. You are allowed this fancy just this once." She decided. "But now I must away."
"No." I groaned, pulling her close once more, feeling the metal bars digging into me as I pushed forward, desperate to be near to her. "Don't ever leave me."
"You've given me two days to overturn our very city. I'm afraid I must away. I have work today."
"Return to me, my love." I said, kissing her wrist. She gazed back at me happily.
"Always."
A/N: Sorry it's so short - I'm a bit blocked! I've been writing and deleting and writing and deleting more times than I can count and this is the only bit that really stayed through that process with any sense of finality, so I decided to post this at least so that I wasn't leaving you all hanging with nothing at all. Please, please, PLEASE send me reviews or PMs with ideas of what you think should happen next!
xoxo - E