Hi readers! First off, thanks to all of you that reviewed the first chapter. Some of you left requests, for certain ships so I've decided to write a big multi-chapter fanfiction, where I can hopefully include these. For now, enjoy this x
Tom stood staring at the smooth stone tomb that sat atop the grass. He had laid down the bouquet of flowers. It was a large bunch of roses, that were an orangey-yellow colour with a blushing pink at the edge of the petal. Rosa Peace. She had once told him the name of the beautiful flowers, stating they were her favourite. He remembered when her face lit up on the morning of her twenty-fourth birthday when she had seen the small bunch of roses sitting on the kitchen table for her. She had kissed him passionately on the lips, squealing in delight and ecstasy about them.
He remembered the way her lips felt against his. They were soft and warm and full and pink and very slightly chapped. He remembered how she kissed him at the end of her long day of working at the hospital. He remembered how it felt to run his fingers through her hair and how he loved to stroke it, feel the light silkiness of it brush over him in a dark curtain. He loved it even more when she had got it cut, embracing the modern woman that lived inside of her. As the memories flooded his mind her tried to keep the tears at bay.
In his hands he turned over the small flat jewellery box again and again, trying to distract himself. Old Lady Grantham had requested he come by the Dower House today about a week ago. When he arrived, he had been surprised that she presented him with a box, which when opened, contained a pair small elegant diamond earrings. She explained that they were intended as a gift for Sybil when her social season was over, but when war was declared, she had put them away and forgotten about them. "I then intended to give them to her after the birth of her first child," she explained. "But it wasn't exactly a celebratory time after what happened." He could hear the sadness in her voice as she explained that she wanted him to have them, and give them to Sybbie when she became sixteen.
He looked down at the box, thinking. Even before opening it, he sensed it might be jewellery, but he had expected something dazzling and ostentatious. In contrast, there were minimalist and simple. As he stared at them, he realized how much Sybil's grandmother had cherished her. How much they had all cherished her. Not just the Crawley family, but the people from downstairs that he had worked with before his dreams of him and Sybil finally came true.
His train of thought was suddenly broken as he heard footsteps approaching. To his surprise he saw Matthew. He looked rather sombre as he walked towards Tom holding a bunch of blue, yellow and pink carnations entwined with sprays of tiny white daisies. He lay them next to Tom's bouquet then stood staring at the stone. To Tom's surprise, he felt Matthew's arm reach out, and wrap around him. "I can't pretend I miss her as much as you do Tom," he murmured. "Because no-one will. But I'm sorry she's gone just as much as you."
Matthew kept his arm around Tom, the man he considered his brother. He felt that today, everyone would need support to get through the day. They all missed Sybil, every one of them in the house. He remembered that she seemed to accept him more than most when he first arrived from Manchester in 1912, when she was passionately protesting about the vote. Then he remembered that she had left those she loved for someone she loved above all else. So he kept his arm wrapped round Tom, holding him steady as they both tried to face the day of remembering her.
How could I leave out the bromance? Although I'm not sure if I did a good job it so let me know in the reviews. I basically live for reviews. Thinking of adding a third chapter, where I will take on Cora and Robert. After that, we'll see!
