"So has anything important happened since we have been away?" Josie smiled as she turned to face him, the sheet wrapped around her figure as he lay beside him, the newspaper in his hands as he continued to read. Moving closer to him, she smiled as he moved his arm slightly, allowing her to curl up against him and read the newspaper as well as their smiles grew.

"Mr Selfridge has been written about again," Florian commented, pointing at the small article as Josie sighed, although not completely surprised, while wondering what had been written about her employer now. "It is about another event at the store, one that seems to have been successful," he explained as he scanned the article before glancing down at her as she smiled proudly. He loved how much she adored her work and her pride in every achievement Selfridge's made. "Do you wish you had been there?" he asked as she looked up at him and shook his head, quickly taking the paper away from him and throwing it to the end of the bed before kissing him.

"I would not miss being here for anything," she explained against his lips as he nodded. "I am sure that accessories is surviving without me," she admitted as her fingers began to play with his hair while he watched her. "It has had my full attention for years, it's time I started thinking about other things now," she declared before kissing him quickly and sitting up, reaching across for the robe that was on the floor before pulling it on over her body and approaching the door. "Tea?" she asked as he nodded and stood up, moving to climb out of the bed. "No stay, I will be back in a moment," she explained as he relaxed back against the pillows while she stood in the doorway, unable to remove the smile from her face. "Tea," she finally muttered, realising that she was just stood there, her sudden comment making him laugh as she quickly walked out of sight. Walking down the stairs, Josie smiled to herself as she entered the kitchen to make tea. Hearing a noise by the front door, Josie moved towards the door to see a letter now lying on the floor, confusion covering her face as she moved towards it and lifted it off the ground to see that it was addressed to her. Carrying it into the kitchen, Josie quickly prepared their tea before carrying them and the letter up the stairs, finding Florian sat in bed reading the screwed up newspaper. Resting the two cups on the bedside table, Jodie quickly found the letter and sat on the edge of the bed beside Florian as he reached across for his mug and watched her rip open the envelope.

"Who is that from?" he asked quietly, knowing that only a couple of people knew where she was.

"It's from Agnes," she admitted as he sat up behind her, his hand moving to loosen her robe before he pressed a kiss to her shoulder while she began to read the letter. "George has returned to London," she explained as Florian nodded, pressing a kiss into her hair as she relaxed back against him. "He is staying in the house at the moment and she wants to know whether I will allow him to stay," she added before she continued to read silently while he pressed various kisses to her neck. "I have to go back to London," Josie sighed as she reached the end of the letter, her disappointment obvious as she fell back against his body and allowed him to wrap his arms tightly around her. "People are beginning to ask where I am and Mr Grove is frustrated that I am not at work," she said quietly, clearly upset that she had to return to the capital so soon. "He has been round the house looking for me," she stated, frustrated that Mr Grove was interfering in her life. Turning to face Florian, Josie sighed as she noticed the disappointment on his face. "I'm sorry Florian that I have to return home so soon," she whispered, kissing him gently before he shook his head and wrapped his arms around her, the two of them lying down together as she shut her eyes.

"We should pack then and try to get the next train to London," he suggested as she stared at him. He was giving up his holiday at the coast to come back to London with her?

"You are coming back with me?" she asked as he nodded. "I wish we could just stay here forever, just the two of us," she admitted as a small laugh left his lips at her comment.

"You would go crazy just sitting here. You need to be working and ordering people around," he explained as she blushed at his comment. "You love your work and I would never want you to give up your career to just spend your time with me. We always knew that we would have to go back eventually," he stated, kissing her gently as she smiled against his lips.

"We will not be able to do this often in London," she commented as she looked at their entwined bodies as he stared at her. "It would have been awkward behaving like this just with Agnes in the house but now with George as well, we will not be able to be as open with our relationship," she explained as she sat up and climbed off the bed, moving towards her suitcase while he watched her. "There will be no hand holding or kissing, we can not be public about this," she stated, her determination obvious, as he climbed off the bed as well, wrapping his arms around her body when he reached her.

"We will make it work, this is not the end I promise," he whispered as she stared in the mirror, watching as he kissed his neck gently and held her tightly to him, neither of them prepared to hide just yet.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

"I am glad that you are back," Agnes admitted as she sat on the edge of Josie's bed and watched as Josie unpacked. Florian had left immediately after they had arrived in London, saying that he wanted to see Mr Selfridge about his offer and Josie had returned to the house to find that Agnes had just returned from work and George was asleep. "Mr Grove has visited every day, I told him that you were unwell and unable to see visitors," she explained as Josie smiled.

"Thank you Agnes, I am sorry for making you lie," Josie stated quickly, placing her empty suitcase under the bed before she sat down next to the other woman. "He probably thinks that I am on my death bed," she joked as Agnes smiled weakly. "How is George Agnes?" Josie finally asked, watching as Agnes' smile faded slightly.

"He was injured, it is not bad but he is home until he recovers," Agnes explained, clearly concerned as Josie smiled. "He has been asleep mostly since he returned really but he keeps waking up screaming. At times I don't even know what to do," she admitted, falling silent as Josie found her hand and squeezed it gently.

"He will be alright Agnes, I can not even start to think about what they have seen out there," Josie smiled gently as Agnes nodded once more before forcing a smile onto her face again and looking at the older woman.

"And you and Florian?" Agnes asked, her smile growing when Josie began to blush. "Have you dealt with your issues?" she questioned, already knowing the answer as she watched the other woman who was now glancing at her lap with a small smile decorating her face.

"Yes," Josie said quietly. "We have talked about everything. We have dealt with those issues," she explained as Agnes' eyebrows rose in confusion.

"You told him about Mr…?" she began.

"No and you can't either. I am concerned about what Florian would do if he learnt who I was in a relationship with," she admitted before standing up and approaching the door. "It is not exactly something that I want to be public knowledge anyway, the fact that I was in a relationship with a married man," she said quietly, clearly embarrassed as Agnes walked towards her and rested her hand on Josie's shoulder.

"It is none of my business what you tell Florian or not and neither is it my business to know about your previous relationships. It is, however, nice to see that you are happy though," Agnes smiled as Josie glanced at her for a moment.

"Is it that obvious?" Josie asked as Agnes nodded once more, Josie's head shaking as she looked at her reflection in the dressing table mirror and noticed the large smile that was continually on her face. Hearing a knock at the front door downstairs, both women glanced towards the door before Josie sighed and opened her bedroom door. "I'll answer it, it is probably Florian," she declared as Agnes nodded, the older woman quickly moving down the stairs and opening the door, not completely surprised at who was standing there. "Mr Grove," she greeted as he smiled at her.

"Josie," he replied, not noticing the way she flinched at him using her name. "I came to see how you were," he explained as Josie nodded, moving out of the way to allow him into the house. She couldn't leave him on the doorstep, he would begin to wonder why she was not allowing him into the house and she didn't want to be standing in the cold for long.

"I am a lot better today thank you. I must have caught influenza from when I was caring for Florian," she admitted as he nodded, the two of them entering the living room before they sat down in separate chairs and fell silent for a moment. "Agnes explained to me that you have been visiting but I was in no state for visitors," she lied as he continued to watch her. "And it would not exactly have been proper for you to visit me Mr Grove."

"Josie," he sighed again as she stared at him for a moment.

"How is Doris?" Josie immediately asked. "It must not be long before the baby arrives."

"She is good, thank you. The children are frustrating her at the moment but she is finding this pregnancy difficult," he admitted, aware that Josie wasn't looking at him as he talked. "Josie," he whispered again, knowing how much she had wanted to have a family of her own and that she had sacrificed that for him.

"And are you enjoying being a father? We have hardly discussed your children and you have a large family now. It seems quite silly that we've never talked about them at work," she said quickly, almost relieved when she heard the front door open and the sound of footsteps in the corridor.

"It is nice, hectic but it is lovely to have a family," he admitted as Josie stood silently, forcing another smile onto her face as she approached the doorway and looked out to see Florian removing his coat. "Josie when will you be returning to work? You have missed a lot of shifts in the last couple of months," Roger asked as Josie kept her back to Mr Grove and smiled at the younger man who looked at her and pointed in the room before mouthing to ask whether they had company. "Miss Mardle," Mr Grove said louder when she didn't respond, his voice forcing her to turn away from Florian to look at the man who was now standing in her living room.

"I will be returning to work again tomorrow Mr Grove. I am sorry for my recent absences but I could not help that I was unwell and I was not going to leave my friend when he was seriously unwell and had no one else to care for him " Josie stated, comforted by Florian's approaching footsteps as she entered the room while Roger shook his head in frustration.

"Josie, he is your lodger. This is becoming extremely inappropriate," he began to rant before Florian stepped into the living room, the two men glaring at each other for a moment as Josie remained completely silent.

"Mr Grove," Florian greeted as the older man nodded in recognition before standing.

"I will see you at work tomorrow morning Miss Mardle," Roger stated as he moved towards the door as Josie remained perfectly still.

"Of course. Thank you for coming to see me Mr Grove and do tell Doris that I am thinking of her," she responded before he disappeared, Florian and Josie remaining silent until they heard the front door open and close. Approaching the door to the living room, Josie shut it before turning to Florian. "How was your meeting with Mr Selfridge then?" she immediately asked as she walked towards him, the younger man nodding as a large smile covered his face again.

"He wishes me to perform at his house on Saturday for the whole evening," he explained as she smiled at him before she glanced across at the door, knowing that Agnes and George were still in the house and it would be inappropriate for her to kiss him right now. "I hate this…" he admitted as she nodded in agreement, smiling at him as he shook his head in annoyance. "What did Mr Grove want?" he asked quickly as she groaned.

"He wanted to know why I had not been at work," she stated, trying to brush off what had been talked about as he watched her for a moment. "Do you know what you are going to perform on Saturday?" she asked, desperately trying to change the topic as he remained silent for a moment. "Florian?" she questioned.

"Why did he…?" he began before noticing the look on her face and shaking his head. "I know a couple of pieces I will play but I need to practice some more," he explained as she nodded, glancing across at the violin case that was resting on a chair now. "Will you give me your opinion on them?" he asked.

"Of course," she smiled, moving to sit down in her usual chair before he approached his violin and began to prepare himself for his rehearsal, a content grin decorating both their faces as they began to relax in London again.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

He knew he probably shouldn't be sneaking into her room in the middle of the night but he couldn't help himself. Approaching her bedroom door silently, Florian glanced around, hearing and seeing absolutely nothing before he opened the door slowly and stepped inside and shut the door behind him. She was clearly asleep, her figure perfectly still as she remained curled around a pillow, a small smile covering his face at her odd way of sleeping. Sitting on her bed, Florian quickly brushed her hair away from her face and watched as her eyes opened slowly and she sat up.

"Florian?" she asked quietly as he nodded and kissed her gently, moving the pillow she had been curled around away from her before he relaxed beside her and felt her curl up against his side, her head immediately resting on his chest. "You should not be here, George or Agnes could have seen you," she panicked, even though she knew Agnes was aware that there had been some change to their relationship.

"I know you do not like sleeping alone," he said quietly as she remained silent, her eyes shutting as he brushed his fingers across her hip. "You were hugging a pillow Josie," he commented as she groaned, hating that he had seen that. "I know that you act all strong, you act like you are the strongest woman in the world and you are but Josie you do not like to be alone," he explained, the older woman surprised by how much he had learnt about her just through her recent behaviour. "And I don't know whether that is something you have always disliked or it is a behaviour that has originated from your previous relationship but if I am here, if I am in the same house and I know that no one will see me, I will not let you spend one more night alone."

"Florian, I am not a child and I am older than you. I can sleep alone, there is nothing for you to worry about," she quickly stated, even though she was extremely happy that he wanted to spend the nights with her. Remaining completely silent, Florian sighed at her response, knowing that she was becoming defensive before she gently leant up and pressed a kiss to his cheek before returning to where she had been lying. "I'm sorry for what I said," she finally whispered as her hand rested on his chest, his free hand moving to rest on top of hers before they fell silent, both knowing that they no longer needed to discuss the issue.

I am so sorry that I am being so slow at updating, I have so many things on at the moment and it's finding the time.

Your reviews have been so wonderful so please do continue to review, I love them and I will continue to try and respond to all your reviews.

It's not my favourite chapter but oh well, it's quite a long one and it gets them back into London where some drama will begin.