So this is set during the second week and is such a random idea but hopefully it works.
Thank you for your wonderful reviews again, you are truly wonderful and I am so glad that you're enjoying this story. Although I planned for this to end soon, it seems to get longer, so I have no idea when the story will end so I hope you continue to enjoy this.
I am thinking of writing another DuMardle story after this one, which features more of her previous relationship with Mr Grove. If this sounds like something you're interested in, do tell me so I actually write it.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Agnes muttered, responding to the knocking at the door as she tightened the dressing gown around her body before approaching the front door, opening it quickly to find a familiar figure standing on her doorstep. "Florian?" she asked in shock, staring at him as he stood in complete silence. "What are you doing here? You are supposed to be in Manchester?" she questioned, moving out of the way to allow him into the house before she noticed the dark marks that were staining his face. "Florian what happened?" she immediately questioned, clearly concerned as he shook his head and moved towards the living room, the brunette shutting the door before she followed him. She was surprised to see him. He was supposed to be in Manchester for another week, it was reasonably early in the morning, he had bruises covering his face and she was amazed that he had clearly come here first, because of his suitcases, rather than visiting his fiancee first. She knew how much Josie had missed him over the last week and she also knew how much he had missed Josie because of the letters she had received from him. "Does Josie know that you are back in London?"
"No," he responded before turning to face her. "Please don't tell her Agnes, not yet," he whispered as she nodded, directing him towards a chair before they both sat down. "She can't see me like this Agnes, she will worry and I don't want her too," he explained to the brunette who nodded slowly, understanding that Florian believed that he was doing what was best for his fiancee.
"I'm worried, what happened Florian?" Agnes asked as he fell silent again at the question. "Tell me what happened to you Florian, I might be able to help if something is worrying you," Agnes whispered, finding his hand before taking hold of it and squeezing it tightly, trying to find someway of supporting him. "Josie has missed you over the last week," Agnes smiled at the musician as he nodded, smiling down at Agnes' hand. "She'll be happy that you're home early, I think she's going crazy in that house on her own. She finds it too quiet without you, she doesn't suit a large silent house."
"There was a fight in Manchester," Florian admitted, thinking about Josie and how much he had missed her over the last week and how much he wanted to see her again. He wanted to hear her laugh and hold her in his arms again and bury his face into her hair and just feel at home again. "We went to a pub a couple of nights ago, just a couple of us from the orchestra. I believed we were friends, we got along and they were fun," he explained as Agnes nodded slowly, taking in everything he was saying while squeezing his hand to support him as she listened silently. "We had a drink together and they began to say things," he began before falling silent for a moment, glancing down at their joined hands. "About Josie."
"What were they saying Florian?" Agnes questioned, trying to support him as he shut his eyes for a moment, remembering all the comments they'd made about the woman he loved.
"They had only met her once, at the train station for less than a minute," he explained as she stared at him, clearly worried about him. "They said things, they wanted to know what Josie is like in…" he began before falling silent, realising that he shouldn't be discussing this with Agnes. It wasn't appropriate and he wanted to keep things between him and Josie private. It was their engagement and their relationship, he didn't want anyone else interfering and commenting on it in a negative way. He also didn't want Josie to find out why he had returned to London so soon and why he had bruises on his face because he knew how she would react. "I told them I didn't want to discuss my relationship with Josie with them or with anyone and then they started to be rude about her, about her age and other things and so a fight began," he explained before glancing across at Agnes. "Can you understand why I don't want Josie to know now?" he asked as she nodded.
"You're worried that she will get scared again," Agnes answered. "And that Josie will see this as a reason for why your relationship is not a good idea," the younger woman stated as Florian nodded slowly before sighing, running his fingers through his short hair. "Does it hurt?" she asked quietly, clearly worried as she took in the various bruises.
"Occasionally but not as bad as it was," he admitted honestly as she nodded. "They have gone down though since it happened," he explained as Agnes smiled weakly.
"You can't hide here until they go away Florian," Agnes stated, knowing that although he was trying to protect Josie from what had happened, he was making a mistake in hiding from her. "She is sat in that house, waiting for you to come home, missing you and I think she would just be happy to see you, bruises or none," she explained as Florian shut his eyes for a moment. "She's been working on something for you while you have been away and I know that she will want to show you, even if it isn't completely finished."
"I don't want her to worry," he said simply.
"Florian, she is going to be your wife soon. It's part of her now to worry about you. It's what happens when you fall in love with someone" Agnes smiled as he nodded weakly. "Like now, you are worried about how she will react, whether she will be scared about your relationship again, about whether she has made the decision and you are worried that she will hurt you both because she believes that she is doing what's best," Agnes explained quickly. "When you fall in love with someone so much that you want to spend the rest of your life with them, you are allowed to worry about them. Let her worry about you Florian, she's waited a long time to love someone as much as she does you."
"I will go and visit her now," Florian whispered, realising that he needed and wanted to see her, as Agnes nodded, smiling at him again before she squeezed his hand once more before letting it go. "Thank you Agnes, I am sorry for disturbing you. You were clearly still in bed," he responded, standing quickly as Agnes laughed.
"Florian, you and Josie are practically family to me, you are welcome around whenever you want," she stated, leading him towards the door as he collected his luggage, smiling once more at the young woman before stepping out of the house, saying goodbye to her one more before walking in the direction of his home. It was time that he was reunited with his fiancee.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Unlocking the front door of his home, Florian silently placed his luggage on the hallway floor before moving towards the stairs. Walking up them in silence, Florian quickly approached his bedroom before opening the door to see Josie lying in bed asleep, her arms curled around a pillow as a small smile covered his face. He really had missed her over the last week. He had missed this sight every morning over the last seven days, the beautiful and relaxed woman that he loved more than anything in the world. Moving towards the bed, Florian sat down in the space beside her before gently running his fingers across her face, brushing her hair behind her ear as she turned in the bed, clearly waking up. Opening her eyes slowly as she began to wake up, Josie stared up at him before concern appeared on her face, her hand reaching up to rest near his largest bruise.
"Florian," she whispered, her voice full of worry as she sat up. "What happened to you darling?" she asked, her hand resting gently on his cheek as he stared at her for a moment before he kissed her gently, her hands moving through his hair as he deepened the kiss. "Tell me what happened," she whispered against his lips as she stared at him, a small smile appearing on his face as he moved the pillow that was occupying his space before lying down, Josie cuddling into him as he kept his arms tightly wrapped around her.
"I have decided that the orchestra is not what I want," Florian admitted as she glanced up at him before nodding slowly, knowing that if he had come home a week early then he wasn't happy and the bruises were a clear indicator that something was wrong. "And some of the people who are involved, I do not want to be associated with," he explained as she nodded slowly, hoping that he would go into further detail so she could understand. He had seemed happy in the letters he had written her, he seemed to be enjoying every moment of his time in Manchester.
"You seemed happy," Josie responded as he smiled at her. "You never complained in your letters, you seemed to be enjoying everything about the orchestra," she whispered, brushing her fingers across his cheek as he kissed her again. "Florian, you have clearly been in a fight," she stated, wanting to understand why her fiance had returned home a week early with two large bruises on his face. "Tell me what happened," she begged as he shut his eyes, smiling weakly when she leant up and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I just want to help you, I want to understand what happened," she whispered to him, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips as he kept his eyes shut.
"I went for a drink with a couple of men from the orchestra," Florian began, keeping his eyes shut as she watched him. "The two men I introduced you too," he added as she nodded, remembering the two men who Florian had proudly introduced her to at the train station a week ago. "They started making some comments and we disagreed."
"What comments?" Josie asked quietly, determined that he was going to tell her about what had happened in Manchester.
"About you," he finally admitted, opening his eyes to look at her as shock covered her face. He was in this state because of her? Sitting up, Josie glanced across the room as Florian shook his head and sat up behind, wrapping his arms around her body as he pressed a kiss into her dark hair. "Please don't blame yourself Josie," Florian whispered into her curls as she shut her eyes for a moment. "I will always stand up for our future marriage Josie and I will not let anyone say things about you that shouldn't be said, especially by men who do not know you." he explained, pressing a kiss into her hair again as she remained perfectly still, knowing that she would probably regret what she was about to ask.
"What were they saying Florian?" Josie asked quietly, turning her head to look at him for a moment.
"They were asking me what you were like in bed," he said quickly, knowing that Josie would know if he lied to her. "And then they started commenting on the age difference," he continued as she shut her eyes, resting her back against his chest as he stared down at her. "Josie, we always knew that people were going to comment on the age difference. We agreed that we were not going to let this destroy us."
"So you decided to fight them Florian," Josie exclaimed, glancing up at him before shaking her head. "I can not believe that you got into a fight with two men over this," she stated, climbing out of the bed before moving towards the window and shaking her head while he watched her. "You can not fight every single person who comments on us. We are always going to be discussed because we are not a usual couple," she announced, turning to face him as he remained silent. "What were you thinking of Florian?"
"You! I was thinking of you, like I always do," he responded, climbing off the bed as she stared at him in complete silence. "I was listening to these men discuss my future wife, making these comments about the woman I love. I listened as they asked how good you were in bed, asking whether you were experienced, wanting to know about your body. They wanted to know things that shouldn't be public gossip, that should be private and they continued to comment on you and I was not going to let them talk about you like that, especially in a public place where anyone could listen," he declared as she bit into her lip, becoming pale as she processed what he was saying. "If you believe I am wrong, I'm sorry, but I will not apologise for standing up for our relationship and for you. I will always fight for us," he stated before falling silent, the brunette remaining quiet before she slowly moved towards the younger man and held her hand out towards him.
"Come with me," Josie said quietly as he watched her in confusion before nodding, taking hold of her hand before following her out of the bedroom. Allowing Josie to lead him towards Agnes' old room, confusion covered Florian's face as she glanced across at him for a moment before opening the door and stepping inside as he followed in amazement. "We do not need so many bedrooms in this house," she said quietly as he noticed that all the previous furniture of the bedroom had disappeared and instead a chair and his music stand occupied the room and new wallpaper had been applied to the walls. "I wanted you to have somewhere you could go, for yourself," she said quietly as he stared at the room in amazement, realising that Josie had made her her own music room. "It has a view too but it is not completely finished yet, I thought I would have another week,"
"Josie," he said in amazement, watching her in amazement as his smile grew. "I love it," he admitted, approaching her in silence before he wrapped his arms around her body tightly while she rested her head against his chest. "It's wonderful," Florian whispered, pressing a kiss into her dark hair while she remained perfectly still. "I'm sorry that I fought with them," he apologised as she shook her head, a sad look covering her face as she looked up at him.
"I shouldn't have acted like that, you were only trying to protect me and our relationship," Josie responded, kissing him quickly before he rested a hand on her cheek while she smiled at him. "I'm so glad that you are home, I have missed you so much," she admitted as he nodded, Josie's arms wrapping around his neck as he kissed her again, their hold of each other getting tighter. "You look ridiculous," she whispered, staring at their bruises as both their smiles grew at her comment. "You are not a fighter Florian Dupont, you are a musician, please don't get involved in anymore fights."
"I thought you would find it romantic love," he joked as she shook her head at him before laughing once more. "I didn't, I knew you wouldn't be impressed when you saw me Josie," Florian smiled as she watched him in amazement for a moment before kissing him again. "I am not planning on leaving you again, not for a long time anyway, so we can start planning our wedding now. We can actually start arranging getting married now."
"Yes," Josie responded, kissing him once more before she smiled against his lips. "Once I get back from work we can plan," she added as he groaned, her head shaking at him before she stepped away and took one more look at his bruised face. "Oh Florian," she whispered, her head continuing to shake as he stared at her. "Your face," she sighed, walking towards the door in order to get ready for work while he stood in his music room smiling. He really did have the most wonderful fiancee.
Another short and random chapter but I wanted to reunite my favourite characters and I also didn't want Florian to actually adore this orchestra and disappear around the country. Hopefully this decision works and you like it and review because I love hearing from you.
Thank you for your reviews, I can't say thank you enough.