A/N: Thank you all for your love and support! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 19: It all works out
Edwina and Kate were hugging for only a few moments before Eloise and Penelope appeared on the second floor landing.
"Hey, is everything alright?" Eloise asked concernedly, glancing over her shoulder down the corridor where they had come from. "Pen and I were just walking down the hall when Tom stormed past us. He looked pretty pissed."
"Oh, it's nothing. He and Edwina just broke up," Anthony said, not bothering to hide the smirk on his face as he spoke. "Edwina realized he was a piece of shit who screwed over both her and Kate, and I kicked him out of the house."
"Oh, brilliant," Eloise grinned as she and Penelope made their way down the grand staircase. Edwina and Kate finally broke apart to look at the other two girls. "That's a relief to hear. No offense, Edwina, but Tom was a massive prick."
"El, be a little more tactful," Penelope chastised her friend. "She's going through a breakup right now."
"No, it's alright," Edwina said tremulously, wiping the tears off her face. "And you're right about Tom. I'm sorry for bringing him to Aubrey Hall with me this weekend."
"It's all good," Eloise waved off. "But you're still staying, right?"
"Yeah. We both are," Kate said, and Edwina nodded in agreement.
"Excellent," Eloise said brightly, and she turned to Anthony. "Pen and I were thinking of having some Bloody Marys out on the patio, but maybe all of us could gather out there for a little celebratory drink? I think Edwina deserves one after dropping the dead weight."
The others laughed. "Sure, that sounds good," Anthony smiled. "Do you know where Daphne, Simon, and Colin are? We could invite them to join us."
"I think they're playing pool in the rec room," Penelope said. "I'll tell them what happened and see if they want to join."
Penelope walked away to find them just as Brimsley entered the foyer from the servants' quarters. "Anthony, is everything okay? Rose and I heard some shouting," he said, looking worried.
"Everything's fine, Brimsley," Anthony said, walking over to the older man. "But I asked Tom to leave Aubrey Hall. He's packing his things now – could you and Rose ensure he leaves the house? I don't want him trying to talk to any of us before he leaves, least of all Kate and Edwina. And once he's off the property, could you bring us some Bloody Marys out to the patio? We'd like to celebrate."
Brimsley's face cleared as he smiled, obviously happy about this new development. He nodded once. "Consider it done."
"Good man, Brimsley. We appreciate it," Anthony grinned, clapping the man on the back before turning to look at the others. "C'mon then, guys. To the patio."
The four of them headed together toward the back door; Edwina was clutching onto Kate's arm, as if she was afraid to let go, but Kate didn't mind. In fact, she reached up with her other hand and placed it over Edwina's, giving it a comforting squeeze, and the two sisters smiled at each other. Kate knew the two of them still needed to talk, but she felt profoundly relieved and happy that she had her sister back.
They stepped out onto the patio, and Anthony and Eloise walked over to the table as Kate and Edwina moved toward the couch near the fire pit, far enough away so they could have a private conversation. They sat down next to each other before facing one another.
"Seriously, Edwina... are you alright?" Kate asked, gazing at her sister in concern. Edwina gave her a small smile, and luckily there were no more tears on her face.
"Yeah, I think I am," she nodded, but her smile faded after a moment. "I feel awful about all of this, though. You were right about him all along, Kate. I feel so embarrassed I didn't see it sooner."
"Don't be embarrassed," Kate said, frowning darkly. "I was fooled by Tom too, remember. That man is deplorable."
"Agreed. But what exactly happened between the two of you?" Edwina asked. "Tom didn't go into much detail, but I want to hear it from you. Did the two of you actually date?"
"No, not exactly," Kate sighed, and she laid out the whole history of what had happened between her and Tom all those months ago and the fallout from it. Edwina listened with rapt attention, gazing into Kate's face as she did; once she was finished, Edwina grimaced slightly.
"I see. Well, now I understand why you didn't tell me about it," she said glibly. "The two of you hadn't even been out on a date. When Tom told me about it, he implied a lot more happened between the two of you, but of course that was just another stupid lie of his."
"So you believe me?" Kate asked, gazing worriedly at her sister. "Tom and I were never together, but we did have a history. One we should have disclosed to you before you guys became official."
"Yes, I do believe you," Edwina assured her. "I trust you, Didi. I'm sorry I was so defensive about Tom these past few weeks. The truth was that I really liked him, and it sincerely bothered me that you were so against us being together. I couldn't understand it for the longest time, but when Tom told me about you and him…" Edwina shook her head. "It all made sense to me then, and I was too hurt and angry to look at it logically. I know the truth now, though, and Tom can go rot in hell for all I care."
Kate gave a smirk. "I second that."
At that moment, Daphen, Simon, Colin, and Penelope walked out onto the patio, heading over to Anthony and Eloise while greeting them happily. Daphne glanced over and met Kate's eyes, giving her a bright smile, and Kate smiled back. Daphne and the others had clearly been made aware of what happened with Tom.
"So…" Edwina began, giving Kate a sly look before a grin spread across her face. "You and Anthony, huh?"
Kate felt herself blush all over again, and she smiled before shaking her head. "Shut up."
"What's wrong? I think it's great," Edwina giggled, clearly enjoying teasing her sister. "I just didn't know you had that in you. 'I don't like Tom! I like Anthony!'" she mimicked what Kate had said, and Kate quickly tried to shush her, causing Edwina to laugh.
"Shut up," Kate laughed, shoving her, which caused Edwina to laugh again.
"Whoa, whoa – what?" Colin said loudly, clearly having heard what Edwina said. He gazed at the two sisters with wide eyes as the others stopped their conversation to look at them. "Edwina, did you say you like Anthony?"
"No, no. Kate likes Anthony," Edwina grinned brightly at Colin. Kate tried to quiet her again, but Edwina plowed on: "That's what she said earlier in the foyer. She was trying to convince me that she didn't have feelings for Tom, so she shouted that out for the whole house to hear. It was amazing!"
Kate hid her face in her hands as the others whooped and laughed at this news. Embarrassment still burned in her chest as she remembered that moment, and while she was happy she and her sister had made up, a part of her was starting to regret it.
"I hate you so much right now," she murmured, quiet enough for just her sister to hear. Edwina responded simply by giggling and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, hugging her tight.
"Oh my God, I knew it!" Daphne said, looking delighted as she beamed at her friend. "I knew you liked each other!"
"Got nothing to say, bro?" Colin teased Anthony, elbowing him. Anthony gave a casual shrug, though the grin on his face betrayed how happy he clearly was.
"What's there to say? I like Kate too," he said simply. Kate felt her heart begin to race as she looked up, and Anthony met her eyes. They smiled at each other, and Kate felt her embarrassment starting to melt away a little bit.
"Awwwww," everyone crowed, and they laughed again. Kate shook her head, unable to fight the small smile from breaking out across her face.
At that moment, Brimsley and Rose appeared at the patio door: Rose carried a tray containing multiple tall glasses with celery stalks in them, and Brimsley held a large pitcher of tomato juice and vodka for their Bloody Marys. "Here you are, everyone," he announced as they both set everything on the patio table. "And I am happy to report that Mr. Dorset has officially left Aubrey Hall."
"Thank you, Brimsley," Colin grinned at the older man. The others thanked him too before moving toward the patio table so they could fix themselves some Bloody Marys.
Edwina got up to fix herself a drink too, and Kate, not feeling particularly keen to keep socializing right now, got up and made her way back inside. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Anthony follow her.
"Kate?" Anthony asked, and Kate stopped to turn toward him. He was gazing at her concernedly. "Is everything alright? You know everyone was just teasing us, right?"
"Yeah, I know," Kate said honestly, looking away from him with a grimace. "I'm just a bit embarrassed about what I said, that's all."
"Don't be. It was brilliant," Anthony smiled brightly, walking toward her so he was right in front of her. "And everyone's just poking fun because they're happy for us, that's all."
Kate felt her heart pounding in her chest as she looked back up at Anthony, unable to help feeling hopeful as she met his eyes. "Even so… I shouldn't have said it like that. It wasn't appropriate," she muttered.
Anthony gave her a considering look before glancing down. "And what…" he began, reaching forward and taking her hand in his, holding it gently in his. "…would you say to me now that it's just the two of us? Would it be anything different?"
Kate raised her eyebrows at him. "What do you mean?"
"I'm just asking if what you said in front of Tom, and Edwina, and I was true," Anthony shrugged one shoulder, gazing into her eyes with a warm look.
"You want to get me to say it again," Kate surmised.
"Yes please," Anthony said, giving her a glowing smile. Kate rolled her eyes, though she couldn't help the small smile from breaking out across her face.
"Since you're being so insistent… yes, I do like you, Anthony," she admitted, blushing once again. "And you're a prat for making me say it aga –"
She didn't get to finish her sentence as Anthony suddenly moved forward and kissed her, capturing her lips with his own and causing her to immediately melt against him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, and Kate automatically reached her hands up to cup his face. Anthony smiled against her, and Kate couldn't help but giggle, feeling lighter and happier than ever before.
"…For the record," Anthony finally pulled away, his face still centimeters away as he brushed his nose against hers. "I like you too, Kate. Quite a lot, in fact."
Kate felt her heart skip several beats as she gazed up at him, sliding her hands down so they rested against his chest. "You do?"
"I do," Anthony said, and his smile faded into a more serious look. "In fact, the day you came by my office with lunch that day and you kissed me goodbye, I went straight back to my office and immediately deleted Sienna's number from my phone. I knew even then, regardless of what ended up happening between the two of us, I never wanted to go back to her. And I haven't regretted it for a moment."
Kate stared up at him, seeing the sincerity in his eyes. "You really did that? We weren't even together back then, unless you count our fake relationship."
"My feelings for you were never fake, Kate," he said honestly. "The very first moment I saw you at the bar and you thoroughly chastised me for being a thoughtless prick, I was a goner."
Kate couldn't help but laugh. "Well, if I'm completely honest, even when I was chastising you I thought you were one of the most handsome men I'd ever seen. And I was completely thrown off when I found out you were actually my best friend's brother."
Now it was Anthony's turn to laugh. "Yeah, that was a pretty special moment. But Daphne could tell even early on that I was completely smitten with you."
"Really?" Kate asked. "I suppose she is more perceptive than I give her credit for."
"Kate…" Anthony began, gazing into her eyes. His expression was more serious. "I know we still have a day left here at Aubrey Hall, but once we get back to London, I'd love to take you out on a date. What do you say?"
Kate stared up at Anthony, at the man she had already fallen head over heels for, and she smiled once again. "Well… that depends," she said, a bit slyly, as she slid her hands back up and wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands automatically went back to her waist. "Will you take me to a thrift shop?"
The smile Anthony gave her could have lit up the whole room, and he didn't hesitate leaning down and kissing her once again, his answer clear. Kate happily kissed him back, feeling like everything in her life was finally falling into place.
A/N: Next chapter is the epilogue! :) Thank you all for going on this journey with me.
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