Hey everyone! Look at this, a new chapter! Christmas break is now upon me, so fingers crossed I can finish the next three chapters. Perhaps an epilogue as well?

I hope you enjoy! And good luck to you not yet done with school and working through finals!

Chapter Twenty-Four

Here we go, Jackson thought to himself as he clamored out of the carriage and turned around to offer his hand to Emma. She smiled in quiet thanks, brushing her hand over his shoulder in serene understanding before heading off to follow their parents up to the entrance of Dreki Vollr. Next, he lowered Sarah to the ground and threaded her arm through his. Mr. Fitzherbert stepped out and whistled at the sight before him.

Warm light blared through all viewable windows, patching the ground with yellow squares. Each window displayed three burning candles nestled in boughs of evergreens and ivy. The past midwinter night might mean shorter nights now, but the six o'clock afternoon was already cloaked in darkness. The chilled air was filled with puffs of warm breathes from the multitude of servants, guests and their horses.

Jackson's chest squeezed. A few more steps and he'd be through the doors. Mr. Haddock would be through those doors, mingling with guests. Scratch that. He couldn't imagine him mingling; he would prefer to keep to himself to avoid the social embarrassment he'd convinced himself would fall upon him if he opened his mouth to speak. Part of Jackson wondered why. Why was he so sure that he would be in error that the he had to avoid all but close friends, all the while doing nothing for his image? Why wasn't he able to loosen up and mingle? He was sure the gentleman would be an enjoyable addition to conversations if he would embrace his occasional lap in social grace. Perhaps, he wondered, he never tries because no one outside of his friends give him the opportunity.

"Shame I hadn't been here before. I bet Mr. Liely throws some wild parties," the gentleman said.

"Overall, they are quite boring. The music is dull and so are the people. We will probably be one of the only pockets of amusement," Mary said as she climbed from the carriage without any assistance, looking quite pleased with herself for doing so. "Granted, Mr. Liely is a sweet man, but he's too gentle to be boisterous. He and Emma are truly a perfect match."

Mr. Fitzherbert laughed and offered his arm to his wife. "Shall we?"

She smirked and accepted it. "We shall. Are you coming, Sarah, Jack?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Right behind you," he said as he led his sister up the stairs and to the doors.

Once they were inside, a butler reached for their coats and shawls. The young man who took Jackson coat folded it carelessly over his arm, creasing it where it shouldn't bend. The young Mr. Overland was content to let it slip: they had enough to worry about. He'd rather his coat being sloppily handled than one belonging to someone who would act viciously.

But that hoped was slammed to the wind when a familiar voice cried out, "Crikey! You'll crease that, mate!"

The young man shrunk away from broad shouldered butler from Berk who was barreling towards him, his small eyes narrowed in annoyance. The dark haired man snatched the coat away and painstakingly corrected it, smoothing out the wrinkles.

"Who's was this?" he demanded.

The poor boy whimpered as he pointed at Jackson.

"I am sorry, sir—Oh, it's you."

He froze. Jackson wasn't entirely sure why; he felt guilty, being caught in this environment. "Mr. Edmund, a pleasure. May I enquire as to why you have abandoned your post at Berk?"

He snickered. "Funny. My services were requested and obviously needed." He brandished Jackson's coat to emphasize his point.

The young man smiled, and the butler started to return the gesture before his eyes caught sight of the man standing behind Jackson. The beady glare darted back to him, clearly demanding to know why he was here and blaming Jackson for having the gall to be associated with him. He wasn't sure how much Mr. Edmund knew of any sort of relationship between Mr. Haddock and himself, but he must have thought they were close enough for Jackson to refuse to associate with a sworn enemy. Part of him felt the same. After knowing, he wished he was able to purge the man from his life, but that was difficult when he was now his brother-in-law.

Jackson glanced over his shoulder to see the look Mr. Fitzherbert was giving the butler. With a deep swallow, he squeezed Mary's hand and pulled her along, whispering in her ear.

"My sister and her new husband," he said. He felt like he had to explain.

Mr. Edmund arched an eyebrow as if questioning why Jackson felt the need to say that.

The young man cleared his throat, giving his sister's hand a light tap. "Let us join the others, Sarah."

She nodded and, with a quiet nod to the butler, allowed herself to be led into the ballroom.

The high ceilings were dripping garlands of evergreen branches twisted with holly and ivy. The sting of rosemary assaulted his novels. The fireplace on the opposite end of the room roared with life; a large log with branches still poking out from the barky center sat nearby. The Yule Log. Tall candelabras stood sentinel an equal distance around the perimeter of the room. He spied a kissing bough over the doorway: the evergreens were bundled together with twine; the underside displayed five round apples and paper flowers were nestled among the sharp needles. There appeared to be others placed in various positions around the ballroom.

A string quartet sat perched atop a raised platform in a far corner. Their music stands and chairs were draped in ivy and holly. Jackson arched an eyebrow. That had to be frustrating to work around. Just as the thought flickered across his mind, the violinist knocked a leaf off his music sheet with a disgruntled scowl before awaiting his entrance in the piece. The multitude of dancers was oblivious to any discomfort the musicians were suffering at their expense. Couples wove in and out between each other, delicately touching their partner in a subtle sign of affection and interest.

"The servants must have put in quite an effort to put this all up today," he said.

Sarah nodded.

Jackson scanned the crowd, searching for their family. Mr. Fitzherbert and his sister were already on the floor, flitting among the other couples. His father sat on one of the chairs draped in red ribbon that sat along the walls. His mother stood at his shoulder, yammering away—most likely about who was with whom, which families had yet to make an appearance, which family would not be making an appearance, who had come out and who had yet to come out, and any other social detail she deemed important enough to put effort into remembering. He spied Emma sitting next to their father, politely listening to their mother.

"Shall we go save Emma from, Mother?" he asked Sarah.

She offered him a small but reprimanding smile as they headed over to their family. Emma greeted them with a gentle smile; their parents hardly noticed the new additions. Sarah perched on the chair next to her older sister.

"How are you doing?" he asked her.

She smiled softly. "Quite well. Mother is quite put off, though, because our host has yet to make an appearance. Apparently, no one has seen him yet."

"Hm," Jackson pushed out between his closed lips. "Has anyone else of the house been spotted yet?"

Emma opened her mouth to respond before it clacked shut as her eyes darted around him. He glanced over his shoulder to spy the man in question approaching them with Mr. Haddock close on his heels.

The gentlemen stopped next to him.

"It's pleasure to see you all again," Mr. Liely said with a greeting to each individual member of the family. "Ms. Overland, would you grace me with your presence for the next dance?" he asked, outstretching a hand to the eldest Overland child.

Taking a deep breath, Emma nodded and accepted his hand. She stood up and let him lead her out onto the dance floor.

Mr. Haddock looked down at Sarah and held his hand out to her. "Dance?" he asked.

The young girl blinked. Her eyes flitted to Jackson as if asking his permission to accept the invitation.

He smiled. "What are you looking at me for? Mr. Haddock was the one who asked you."

Sarah's lips curved slightly as she took the gentleman's offered hand and followed him to the floor.

His warm eyes followed the couple dancing, but he found himself focusing on the long fingers brushing against his sister and wishing he was her. He found himself yearning to be the one he gently caressed among the throngs of dancers as they weaved in and out, speaking at first in pleasantries and then soft nothings that warmed his heart though they added nothing to his knowledge. He wanted those green irises to focus on his face.

He blinked and shook his head, glancing over to Mr. Liely and Emma. He couldn't be thinking that way. He shouldn't be. It was too late. It was wrong.

Yet, he found his eyes drifting back to the freckled face and his heart clenched in his chest. He took a deep breath and turned around, searching for the balcony. He found the door leading out onto it and stepped out, shutting the door behind him.

The air had chilled significantly. His breath poured from his lips and nostrils in gray puffs of air before dissipating into the darkness. A sliver of moon cast an eerie silver glow around him. He rubbed his arms and walked over to the banister and pressed himself against it. His face flushed with heat to defend against the cold, and he was happy that for once he couldn't attribute the blush to a certain green-eyed gentleman.

The music faded in the ballroom before it picked up again.

The door behind him opened and shut quietly.

"Aren't I supposed to be the one moping around dances while you busy yourself with more dances than any one heart can handle?"

Jackson spun around, his eyes wide and heart spluttering.

The gentleman chuckled at his expression. "No worries, I won't share your secret."

He cleared his throat and looked up to the sky before turning around to stare out at the grounds. He knew Mr. Haddock was referring to him ducking out of the dance, but part of him felt like the comment was directed at everything: the gentleman's feelings for him, his feelings in general, the whole immorality of their situation. He trusted him not to say anything. Why would he? He would expose himself at the same time.

He heard a quiet cough. "I see that Mary's situation turned out for the best."

Biting his lip, Jackson leaned down, resting his elbows on the balustrade. "Yes, thankfully." He wanted to broach the topic of the gentleman's involvement. He wanted to thank him for all that he had done. He wanted to clear up everything between them. He wanted to know if he still felt the same. He just wanted those arms around him.

But, he couldn't say anything. All the words, all the questions were in his mouth, but his lips wouldn't open. He couldn't do this. He couldn't be so close to him. He could feel the body heat radiating of his body and hitting his back. He couldn't do this. This couldn't happen.

He stood and straightened his waistcoat. "As you brought to my attention, I have been neglecting my duty. I will not do so any longer." He turned and stepped to walk away, but a hand pressed against his chest, fingers wrapped over his shoulder, and halted his progress.

"I would hate to detain you much longer, but you would be of no use until this dance was over." He paused.

Jackson watched his Adam's apple bob. His eyes darted up to lock on the scar that looped underneath the gentleman's lips. His fingers twitched, wanting to trace it before he let his own lips graze over it.

"I have something for you," he said, removing his hand from Jackson's chest and he found himself missing the warmth.

"Hm?"

"A gift," he clarified, lifting his hand to eye-level to display a small black box; a thin silver ribbon was wrapped around it artfully.

"What is it?" Jackson asked dumbly.

There was that lopsided smirk. "Imagine not knowing what was in a gift. And here I thought the enjoyment was in the surprise." His expression grew serious. "Do you not want it?

"No," he replied a bit quicker than he had planned.

He saw the satisfied smile.

He frowned and took the box, turning it over in his hands. "Do you want me to open it now or not?"

"Whichever you prefer."

Jackson's breath hitched as he looked up to meet green eyes reflecting the moonlight. "Now," he whispered.

He lowered his eyes to the gift. His fingers hovered over the ribbon. It was so beautifully done; it would be a shame to ruin it. However, he couldn't open the box without removing the ribbon, so with a heavy heart he started to untie it.

"Is something the matter?"

"I hate to ruin it. It was done so nicely."

"Perhaps I may bring you boxes of tied ribbons in the future."

Jackson smiled as he pulled off the silver ribbon with a lighter heart now that he had a near-promise of more to come.

"Jackson! I have—" Emma cried, shoving open the door. She froze at the sight of them. "Oh." She blinked, fumbling over her words. "I am so sorry, I intruded. I will leave you two alone."

Mr. Haddock smiled and stepped away from the other, straightening his coat. "No worries, Ms. Overland. Your brother and I had just finished. You are more than welcomed to take him for yourself. Mr. Overland, a joy as always." With a swift bow, the gentleman left the siblings, shutting the door behind him.

Jackson pocketed the box before his sister could see it.

"Jack, would you like to say—"

"I believe you had something to say?"

She blinked and shook her head. "Yes," she said stepping forward. She took a deep breath. "You are the first I am telling, and I hope you will be supportive."

"Emma," he implored her, grabbing ahold of her upper arms, "When have I been anything other than supportive?"

She smiled and patted his cheek. "Jack, Mr. Liely and I are engaged."

"Pardon?"

Her smile widened. "Mr. Liely asked for my hand in marriage. I accepted."

"Really?" he asked, his lips twisting upwards to match hers.

"Yes. He told me how he had been ill advised in many things, but now he was going to follow his heart. He felt like he could trust that advice, and Mr. Haddock entreated him to come back and make amends. I know you don't particularly care for him, Jack, but I owe him so much. I don't know what—Jack? Jack? Jack, are you alright?"

He hadn't realized his expression had slackened until she was speaking to him. "Yes. I am quite fine. Just taking everything in."

"What is that?"

"What?"

She pointed at the ribbon in his hand.

"Oh," he breathed. His smile returned. "A present."

"A present?"

"Yes, for you. Your first engagement gift from your favorite brother," he said as he grabbed her wrist and tied it around the slender circumference.

Emma opened her mouth to say something, but shut it and simply smiled. "Come, Jack, I feel we should tell everyone else."

"Oh, won't Mother be a joy for the rest of the week. If you thought she was happy about Mary and Mr. Fitzherbert…"

"Oh, Jack." She swatted his head and turned, heading to the door.

"I really owe him for so much," he whispered to himself as he followed his sister out and made his way into the loud turmoil of his mother's reaction.

He steeled himself to finally talk to Mr. Haddock and sort out everything, to thank him for what he had done for his family, but he never saw the man the rest of the night. Even when he asked Mr. Liely where his friend had run off to, the man had frowned and said he must have retired early.

Jackson's fingers brushed against the box in his pocket. He decided that he would open it once he was alone in his room. But that night, when he finally managed to return home and retreat to the quiet of his room, weariness pulled at his eyes. It would be his first present in the morning he assured himself as he tucked it underneath his pillow and laid down to sleep.