Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, although wouldn't that be nice?
A/N: This story is completely written, and I aim to post at least 1 drabble a day, perhaps more as the weekend is only a few hours away.
_daybreak_
He kisses her cheek at the station, smoke billowing out behind him.
She tucks her handkerchief - lace trimmed with her initials embroidered at the corner, gifted by Her Ladyship five Christmases ago - into the pocket of his uniform jacket.
"Take care of them." He says, eyes over her shoulder where the other staff, the family, the village are all saying their own goodbyes.
She nods, knows he expects her to say the same back. She looks around him at the men and boys -too many boys - in their uniforms and says; "take care of yourself" instead.
He doesn't look as surprised as she would like, to find that she can be selfish sometimes. He meets her eyes again and if they were alone, she thinks he would kiss her, lips against lips. If they were anywhere else, she thinks she would pull him close, hold him against her and not let go.
This is why they have left their goodbyes to now, on the platform. She could not send him off to war with his honour broken and he could not leave her behind a fallen woman.
"It's time." He says after the whistle sounds, behind and around her cries break out and the carriages begin to fill, the station begins to empty.
His cheek is soft against her fingertips, shaven closely as always this morning.
"I'll have the sherry waiting." She says, feels the corner of his lips touch her palm as he smiles.
He is not the last to enter the train and she is not the last to turn away when the train is out of sight.
She wraps her arm around Daisy's waist, lets the girl hide her tearstained face against her chest.
The sun is still coming up on the horizon and the sky is clear. It's going to be a lovely day.
Such a shame, she thinks as she starts the walk back to Downton, that there will be so few able to enjoy it.