As usual, the smut version is over on A03!

Una takes a deep breath, Alec's grandmother is sitting drinking her nightly tea. They get along rather well thankfully. Though the past few days were a whirlwind for Una, today Alec would be arriving, thinking his Grandmother needed him for something. It was harder to keep up the rouse of being in Canada but she had somehow managed it.

Una sees the headlights of what she can only assume is Alec's car. She peaks through the lace curtains of her room as she sees him hop out. Her heart skips a bit, as he grabs his bag. Another moment, before she hears the door and his grandmother opening it.

She can hear what they're saying but she hears footsteps. She puts her plan in motion as she sneaks down the stairs as he puts his things into one of the guest rooms.

She's not down the stairs when she hears the door shut again. She turns to see his stunned face.

He says nothing, at first going almost breakneck down the stairs catching her before pulling her down the stairs and swinging her around.

He doesn't ask before he kisses her soundly.

"Alec let the girl breathe," the grandmother tuts him.

"What are you doing here?" He finally asks

"Well, I guess Glen St Mary got a bit crowded?" Una tells him. "Your mother helped me, and your grandmother to surprise you."

"There are a few rules, Alexander," his grandmother tells him.

"Whatever they are….done," he says.

"Alec this is serious" Una gives him a look. "Come on," she says bringing him to the living room and checking the teapot.

"Listen to her Alexander," her grandmother reminds them. "I have rules as well for this house."

"Well, what are those?" He says sighing

"I don't care where you sleep or what you do after hours just keep it private and to yourself and use common sense for god's sake," his grandmother starts.

"Understandable," Alec blushes slightly.

"Una stays here, there is no dragging her across the country, more than once a month, we choose this place for her so you can have some distance. You may visit on weekends, of course, mini holidays are allowed but no dragging her up there if you are working and you must keep a regular schedule. Do not smother her Alec."

Alec almost pouts for a moment, but he slowly nods his head.

"Well then, I will head up to bed than for the evening. If you are hungry there is plenty of food in the kitchen." She tells him before getting up from her chair. "Have a good night, and let the girl sleep for god's sake."

Una blushes bright red, as Alec just nods his head and stands to kiss his grandmother's cheek.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Alec asks when they were alone.

"I didn't know how?" Una says sighing. "Also, why does she call you Alexander?"

"She just does?" Alec shrugs. "I'm terribly used to it, it really doesn't bother me. Mother tries to tell her it's more Scottish than Irish, but that doesn't help either. Though really if you told me I could I have found you somewhere better than out in the middle of nowhere."

"It's nice here," Una shakes her head. "Your grandmother is right, it will be good in the beginning to have some space. It will make this feel more normal, more natural of a transition. I got a tier five visa, and youth mobility which means I can stay for two years and work as well. Then at the end of it, I guess we can figure out what we want to do next?" Una says to him.

"I suppose that makes sense," Alec says caressing the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Come," Una says standing up and pulling his hand slightly. She brings him upstairs, before going through to her bedroom.

"Please know, in all honesty, I didn't do this for you, I did this for myself and I think being here and you up in the lakes is a good compromise. We can still see each other and be with each other, but it gives up time to be a bit more of a normal couple in many ways.

"I get it, Una, I truly do," Alec whispers. "Either way I'm glad you're here and away from him, I spent most of my days worrying that you wouldn't escape him or them."

His kisses are tender but firm against her lips, it's funny to think of Alec in her pink room.

"You are real right?" Alec says caressing the side of her face.

"Usually I am saying that to you," Una says with soft lips a centimetre away from his.

They lay over the coverlet, still in a haze of uncertainty in many ways. Clothes are peeled off slowly. Constant looks of allowance, so this is real, you are real? He kisses the light freckles that are scattered on her body. He kisses every pulse point, every indent that he can.

"Rubbers?" Alec asks and he feels Una almost freeze on the spot.

"Your mother and grandmother were in the drugstore with me…" Una says groaning realizing she never got a chance to go back. "And it's not you we're planning for me to be here."

Alec nods his head at her assumption.

"Do we?" Una says out loud. "Do we care? I mean it's not like last time, I'm on birth control and I know last time in the bath was different…when you said no because who knows what was happening?" Una says to him rambling as he rolls off the bed making her frown.

"Where you are going?" Una asks him

"Asda is still open," Alec says pulling on his pants over his underwear and fixing himself in the process. "Because if we're discussing it, it means neither of us is comfortable with the idea right now. I'll run out there open for another hour," he says looking at his watch.

"I'll come," Una says reaching for her bra and panties and pulling on a pair of leggings and a long sweater. "Should we tell someone? We're running out?"

"Grandmama will be sleeping no point in it," he says shaking his head. They creep through the dark house leaving out the side door that was easier to lock and unlock. He opens the door on her side and she buckled herself in.

The store is only a few minutes into town. It's quiet but Alex makes his way through the aisle. Grabbing random snacks and chocolate. When they finally reach the pharmacy area Una looks at him and motions for him to pick out what he wanted.

"You have no preference?" Alec asks

"Why would I have a preference, you're the one having to use them?" Una's brow furrows. "Last time I bought some for us I grabbed what they had available this is a heck of lot more variety,"

"Well there is ribbed for her pleasure," Alec jokes.

Una rolls her eyes. "Just grab whatever you want, the faster we get this done the faster we can go back to what we were doing," she reminds him as she watches him grab a box of some kind of anything and throw them in the basket. Chocolate, candy, chips, the cheeky side of him threw in a bottle of whipped cream in a can and chocolate sauce.

"Seriously, squirty cream?" Una asks looking at the can and Alec grins. "Like this has to be a joke? Is this a joke?" She asks as they reach the checkout lines where the cashier looks mainly uninterested but looks up at the unfamiliar accent.

"Real thing miss," They tell her.

"Look, grandmama part-time cook makes homemade ice cream and we can make sundaes, just because you Canadians don't have fun names for things…doesn't mean we can't" Alec grins as he pays with a bunch of change and notes in his pocket. "Though if you had other ideas please don't hesitate."

He grins a Cheshire grin and Una shakes her head grabbing the bag without waiting for him.

They creep back into the house, putting away their snacks and the required refrigeration before making their way back to the rose room.

"I'll bring you to the attic tomorrow," Alec tells her as they pass a hallway to the other side of the house.

Una places the box on her nightstand, the clock blinks at 12:15 she yawns. Alec pauses to take a shower as she curls up in bed. Keats in her hands as she reads a random page.

"We have woven a web, you and I, attached to this world but a separate world of our own invention."

She whispers as she closes her eyes

She doesn't register him climbing into the bed, she doesn't realize she had fallen asleep until the morning when she finds him curled around her, in his underwear. She turns herself carefully to face him, the sun was creeping through the lace curtains onto his face.

She kisses him gently, jumping slightly as she feels his arm pull her closer under the blankets. It's slow and lazy, neither worried about morning breath as their tongue twirl around each other like some slow dance.

She feels her body flush, the familiar wanting need that settles love in her stomach. Each kiss, each gentle caress and stroke, stoking the fire more and more. Warm hands grazed over her body, over her breasts that were pebbling under the cool air of the room as the blankets shifted downwards.

He teases her as he traces over her hips, thighs, and butt only sometimes reaching for the aching part of her until she almost whines. She feels the cool air tingle on her skin, and his warm tongue sends a shiver down her spine.

The bed creaks, it's old after all, but no one else is in this wing of the house. Warm sweat and cold air on her back. When she finally did shatter it, felt like she was blinded by it. She blushes as the cry echoes off the walls of her room. She rests for a moment, catching her breath as she lay against him. Before he manages to twist them around so he was on top of her. Cradling her in his arms. For a breath moment, Una thought he was going to tell her how much he loved her but mainly held her for a long moment. And she wasn't sure if she was disappointed he didn't or relieved.

"I missed that," Una says after a moment. "I didn't think one could miss sex as I did for the past three and half months, but apparently you can or that just says a lot about what a lousy time I had before you."

Alec laughs deeply. "You're welcome," he says kissing her nose

Before rolling off of her, he rolls off the bed and walks naked to the bathroom coming out after washing his hands.

Una shakes her head letting him pull her into his arms once he's in the bed again.

"Was it that lousy?" Alec asks her after a silent moment as if something just clicked in his brain of what she said.

Una frowns biting her lip. She doesn't like to think about that afternoon, but it's there hiding in the back of her mind. How kissing suddenly turned to clothes coming off, to her natural curiosity when it came to the male anatomy. Her blushing cheeks and when he finally had enough of her lacking skills and flipped her on her back. Condom, and then she remembers him trying to push into her before realizing she might need some help getting ready for such a thing.

"It wasn't exactly a dream experience," Una says after a moment. "I mean I was willing and all, so it was not like that." She tries to explain. "My turn for a question though?"

"Of course," Alec says humming as if he's still thinking about her answer.

"Why do your mother and grandmother tell you not to smother me?" Una asks. "I don't have to worry about you smothering me in my sleep do I?" Una jokes.

"Because sometimes I come off strong," Alec says after a moment. "I had someone in the past tell me that it was off-putting and that it wasn't as romantic as I thought it might be. I was slightly heartbroken I suppose?"

"So if they didn't tell you to no smoother me?" Una asks curiously.

"Oh, I would probably be here any chance I got, or beg you to come up to the lakes?" Alec tells her with a deep rumbling chuckle.

"Fair enough," Una says looking at her clock as her stomach rumbles.

Una quickly showers and dresses and they make their way downstairs. His grandmother is nowhere to be seen, the lone maid they run across says something about some lady's group, but she'll be back for afternoon tea.

They eat their breakfast before Alec takes her out on the grounds. Showing her the old spots he found when he first started visiting. They take photos and hold hands across the fields and garden.

"I can't believe your mother grew up here," Una tells him.

"It was a different time," Alec reminds her. "Grandmama married into the family, while her daughter married far below the station they believe she deserved." He says.

"But you said this was left to you?" Una says quietly looking around back at the old house. "I may be naively Canadian Alec but this freaks seriously of some sort of Downton Abbey sort of old money?"

"Highclere Castle is much much grander than this, plus it's an actual castle," Alec tells her. "But yes this is technically mine or will be. The house anyway, and the land have all been sold off minus the parcel we are on long before I was even born. Nor does our life have any sort of titles these days, those have been long gone away." Alec tells her.

"What do you plan to do with it?" Una asks looking back at the old house.

"Honestly, after Grandmama, I most likely will donate the house to the national trust if they wish to have it," Alec tells her. "Mum doesn't have any wish for it to be in our name, and the thing hemorrhages money. I don't even know how Grandmama does it, but she does."

"You don't have any cousins or other family?" She asks him.

"Mum's brother died a few years back, which is how and why this all became mine. No children, a confirmed bachelor, which is essentially old code for being gay." Alec explains.

"Well the fun about me is that I don't need huge houses to be happy," Una tells him as she feels the wind pick up. "We should head back?

Alec nods his head and the rain just started reaching the back garden, they raced towards the door. Laughing Una kicks off her boots and shakes her hair, he brings her down back hallways, showing her shortcuts and passageways before finding her room once more.

Their need for dry clothes came with something more playful as they landed in her bed once more.

There's a certain Slant of light,

Winter Afternoons –

That oppresses, like the Heft Of Cathedral Tunes—

He whispers to her and it all begins to unravel once again.

"You're grandmother invited the reverend for tea," Una tried to gently nudge Alec off of her as he kissed down her neck.

"Why on earth would she do that?" He murmurs.

"For me, so I would like to go," Una nudges him again, sitting up more on the bed. "Without hickies down my neck thank you very much."

Una makes it downstairs, walking towards the sitting room where they usually have tea in. She pulls at her skirt maybe she should have worn a longer one?

"There you are Una, come meet the reverend," Gisela says to her motioning for her to come forward. The reverend stands up and offers her his hand to shake. It's in normal clothing, though she didn't expect him to be in robes, did she? He looked youngish, older than her, but not old either. Most likely in his late 20's early 30's.

"Sorry I was distracted," Una says blushing. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she took his offered hand, as Alec comes tripping into the room still fixing his shirt.

"I hope I didn't disturb you, or make you stop on my account," the Reverend says looking at the dishevelled Alec. Una blushes brightly and quickly sits down on the sofa. Prim and proper and poker board straight.

"Oh nothing gets between Una and her churchly obligations," Alex says grinning.

"You didn't," Una says as she glares at Alec. Mentally telling him to behave if he ever wants to see her naked ever again.

"You are from Canada, Gisella has been telling me," he says sitting back down. "What brings you to England? Or is it the obvious?"

"Oh, this is entirely not about Alec," Una tells him. "Oh don't like so heartbroken, you know it's the truth," she adds as Alec pouts.

"She was dealing with unfavourable people and needed to get out of a judgemental small town," Alec says for her.

"Alec please," Una says under her breath.

"It's the truth Una? I mean I wasn't going to mention the other stuff." Alec says almost pouting.

"How did you two meet?" the reverend asks an eyebrow raised slightly.

"On a train in France, I was travelling around. I don't know but we clicked and bonded and spent the day together, when I left the next day we kept in touch," Una explains. Leaving out the not talking to him for a week. "Later he met me in Rome and we had a few days together, and then I went to Greece and later home."

"She dragged me to every church possible she could go to," Alec says. "You're the whole trip was churches wasn't it?"

"I like churches," Una says simply with a shrug, leaning slightly more into Alec as he plays with the ends of her hair. "My father has a parish back on the island," she explains further.

"Ahh, a preacher's daughter," he nods his head looking at her wrist where the bracelet sat. "Catholic?"

"Presbyterian, the bracelet is from Rome. Someone refuses to believe it's a rosary, but I love it anyway. Though really any church that will Have me is worthy of my time." Una explains. "I suppose I am a bit of a hopper or omnist I suppose? Faith is all around us and where you pray and talk to God doesn't make that much of a difference?"

"An interesting approach to your beliefs."

"Well praying in my father's church, the catholic ones I saw in Europe, the abbey's and ruins I walked around in, it all felt the same to me. I understand there are biblical differences, but it's a personal conviction to understand the bible as one does. All we can do is interpret and try and live a life that our god will be happy with, and if not forgive our sins one day."

"It is human nature to sin," The reverend agrees.

"Plus sinning can be so much fun," Alec jokes, squeezing Una's waist playfully.

"If you keep up the jokes you won't be able to get any form of sinning for the rest of your visit," Una warns him and the Reverend coughs lighting trying to hide his laughter.

A quote for Keats,

Poem is Emily Dickson-Poem 258