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Jon was going to kill Georgie. Well… If her illness didn’t kill her first. And if boredom hadn’t killed him too.
To be fair, he wasn’t really mad, just particularly annoyed. He hated going to balls on his own, and he would have never agreed to attend this one if she hadn’t said she’d come too. But apparently, staying in bed to recover from a bad cold was more important to her than helping her best friend.
Alright, maybe he was exaggerating a little.
Standing in the corner of the ballroom, Jon observed the people around him. Many of them were dancing and laughing, and small groups had formed on the outskirts of the room, chatting and drinking from expensive crystal glasses. From the distance, he could see his grandmother talking with someone. She had apparently given up on the idea of making him socialise, because she had stopped waving at him to come introduce himself to strangers a while ago.
The air was becoming uncomfortably hot, and the music played by the string ensemble was slowly getting on his nerves. He grabbed a drink on his way to the large open windows that led directly to an even larger balcony, where a few people seemed to have had the same idea as him.
He sighed loudly, leaning on the balustrade, and tried to imagine what the garden looked like when it wasn’t hidden by the darkness of the night.
“You look delighted to be here tonight.” A voice came from behind him.
Jon turned around to see a man standing not too far from him, a half-empty glass in his hand. His grey eyes had a particular hint of amusement in them, and the slight grin at the corner of his mouth only emphasised it more.
“I’m ecstatic, isn’t that obvious?” Jon rolled his eyes, sarcastic.
The man laughed and came to lean next to Jon, facing the ballroom while Jon still had his back turned to it.
“I understand it can be tiring for some. Personally, I find these parties quite amusing.”
Jon didn’t understand why this man was even talking to him, but he was not sure he wanted this conversation to stop. After all, he was incredibly bored.
“My grandmother thinks it’s a good way to get me out of the house. She says I spend too much time hidden behind books.”
“Is that so?” The man asked with honest interest. “What kind of books?”
Jon straightened himself.
“Anything I don’t feel like I have read before. History, sciences… Philosophy, even.”
The man hummed.
“Most of the people I know have a library full of books they’ve never actually opened in their lives.”
Jon frowned.
“That’s insane!” He blurted. He felt as offended as if someone had insulted him personally. “Do these people not realise what kind of treasure books are?”
“I think they prefer showing off how rich they are, but by all means, tell me more.”
“I can’t believe it…” Jon threw his arms in the air, exasperated. He then proceeded to talk for several minutes uninterrupted about the importance of cultivating one’s mind and how books were an open door towards self-fulfilment.
The man in front of him didn’t cut him off once, observing him instead with a barely hidden smile, occasionally taking a sip from his glass.
“I fully agree with you on that point.” He said when Jon’s ranting came to an end. “Although I must admit I have rather neglected my own personal library lately. Do you have any recommendations for me?” He inquired.
Jon raised an eyebrow.
“It all depends on what you’re looking for.”
“I’m sure anything you would propose will be entirely ideal.”
Jon paused for a moment, thinking.
“Well, there is this fascinating reflection on the human mind I read last month. Written by one Graham Redford, if I’m not mistaken.”
The man hummed in acknowledgment. When he opened his mouth again, the words didn’t have time to leave it before a voice cut him off.
“Jonathan?”
They both turned their heads to look at an old woman standing on the threshold of the room. Jon recognised his grandmother instantly, and had to hide his internal annoyance at the interruption. He was finally beginning to have an interesting conversation, why did she have to come and ruin it?
“We’ll be going now.” She said firmly, and after all this time living together, Jon knew better than to disobey.
“I’m coming.” He said, and she turned around.
He lifted himself from the balustrade, straightening the creases from his clothes.
“Are you leaving so soon?” The man asked, genuine surprise in his voice. If Jon didn’t know better, he would have sworn there was a hint of disappointment in there.
“It’s getting quite late, and my grandmother is… Well, she’s an old lady. Don’t tell her I said that.”
The amused smile returned on the man’s face.
“Not a word.” He promised.
Jon hovered on the balcony for a moment. He found that he had no desire to leave. But he also knew his grandmother was waiting for him, and making her wait was a bad idea.
“I should go.” He mumbled, turning around to join his grandmother.
“It was a pleasure talking to you.”
Jon stopped in his track, turned once again to look at the man, and smiled for the first time that night.
“Likewise.”
He then fled, ignoring the flutter in his chest.
***
Receiving an invitation hadn’t been unusual. What was unusual, though, was that it was addressed to him personally. Not to the Sims household. Not to Lady Sims and her grandson. To Jonathan Sims. His grandmother was invited too, as a plus-one, but the invitation was addressed to him.
The weirdest part was that he had no idea why he was invited in the first place. It was a party for the promotion of one soon-to-be Captain Bouchard. He didn’t even know who that man was in the first place.
Still, here he was, entering the large garden of a house that was just as impressive, looking around for any clue of why he was here. His grandmother had stayed at home, feeling too tired to accompany him, and he she had insisted he go, claiming it was impolite to deny such an invitation.
There were a lot of people standing around, sitting on little benches or even dancing on a large wooden platform that had been placed in the centre of the garden for the occasion. There was a buffet on the side, and several servants were walking around, making sure everyone had what they needed.
Jon took a drink and stood to the side, skimming through the crowd for a familiar face he was doubting more and more he would find.
That is, of course, until his gaze met a set of grey eyes he recognised instantly.
The man from the ball seemed to notice him too, because he smiled at him from the distance, where he had previously been enthralled in an intense discussion with an old couple. After a very short time, the man excused himself and walked towards Jon, his smile never faltering. To be perfectly honest, Jon’s own smile was difficult to hide too.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” Jon said when the man was within earshot.
“Really?” The man asked, arching an eyebrow, amusement in his voice.
“How long was it since that ball? A few months? And I’m sure I haven’t seen you since.”
“I admit I have been quite busy.” The man nodded.
“Well…” Jon took a sip of his drink. “I am happy to see a friendly face. I’m not even sure what I’m doing here.”
“You must have received the invitation, otherwise you wouldn’t be standing before me right now.” The man laughed to himself.
“See, that’s what I don’t understand. Why would someone I don’t know even invite me, of all people? Surely this Elias Bouchard must be a fool…”
“Now, I am many things,” the man said with playful seriousness, “but a fool isn’t one of them.”
There was a moment of silence as Jon came to the horrible realisation of what had happened. And just in case he wasn’t feeling bad enough, the universe decided to mock him a little more in the form of a man approaching them and saying very happily:
“Elias! Congratulations on your promotion, my boy. It’s rare to see someone become captain at such a young age.”
Jon watched the two men talking in front of him, and time felt like it had slowed down, stretching to emphasise how much he messed up.
“Your father must be very proud of you.” The stranger continued.
The man from the ball – Bouchard, his name was Bouchard – smiled again, but there was a hidden strain to it.
“He and Mother are still in England, but I’m sure he will be when he receives the news. Now, if you could excuse me…”
He glanced at Jon, and the older man in front of him took the hint, stepping away after congratulating him once more. When they were finally alone, Bouchard turned to him, returning to his confident attitude from earlier.
“I’m sorry, what were we saying?”
Jon stammered, face heating up with shame.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know… That is, I didn’t mean to imply…”
“It’s perfectly alright.” Bouchard laughed. “We hardly had the chance to introduce ourselves properly the last time we saw each other.”
“Still.” Jon grumbled, looking at his feet. “That was highly inappropriate of me.”
“Then let’s start again, shall we?” Bouchard extended his hand. “You can call me Elias.”
Jon took the hand, hesitant.
“Jonathan.”
“Very happy to see you here, Jonathan.” Elias’ face softened.
There was no mistake what the flutter in Jon’s chest was, this time.
***
Jon couldn’t be happier that the guests in his house were all too busy talking about the latest gossips to notice he and Elias had disappeared. Well… Disappeared was probably an overstatement given that they would still be very visible if anyone had the idea to go have a look behind the staircase. Had anyone walked near enough, they would have found Jon and Elias tangled with each other, kissing passionately.
When Elias let go of Jon’s mouth, deciding instead to focus on his neck, Jon let out a sigh.
“We should probably go back…”
“Do we really need to?” Elias said, not moving an inch away from where he was still busy kissing Jon’s collarbone.
Jon was pretty much as willing to leave their hiding place as Elias was, but someone here had to be the voice of reason.
“We can’t have my grandmother coming and finding us like this.”
Elias hummed against his skin, making him shiver, then lifted his head and kiss him on the lips again.
“Why not? We’re not technically doing anything wrong now that I officially asked for your hand.”
Jon couldn’t suppress the flutter of emotion that ran through him at those words. They were engaged, that was a reality now, they would be married soon, and he couldn’t be happier.
“Still, it isn’t proper behaviour.” He insisted, not very convinced by his own words. Elias simply laughed.
“Now imagine if I wasn’t being a perfect gentleman, waiting patiently for our wedding night…”
Jon let his head fall back against the wall, whimpering slightly.
“Oh God… She’d kill you, and then me for good measure.”
“Mhh, you’re right, she is a bit old-fashioned like that.”
He stepped back, placing his hand gently against Jon’s cheek, smiling fondly as Jon nuzzled against it. He gave him one last kiss, and then:
“Right, let’s go back, shall we?”
***
“Stop moving, I’ll prick your head with the pin.”
Jon did his best to stay still while Georgie was finishing his hair, using pins to keep it in place. Next, she would just need to add the white pearls and flowers and he would be completely ready.
Oh God, there was less than an hour left… He couldn’t stay in place, he was buzzing with excitement and, deep inside, a tiny little bit of apprehension. What if he somehow messed up? This was supposed to be the best day of his life, what would happen if he tripped while walking down the aisle, or if he suddenly forgot his vows, what if Elias thought he was too good for Jon and called everything off at the last moment?
“Jon, I’ll slap you, I swear.”
“Sorry… I’m just getting a bit restless right now…”
“Yeah, I can see that.” Georgie rolled her eyes, starting to pluck the pearls and flowers in his hair. “I have to admit, of all my friends, you’re not the one I would have expected to get married so young.”
“What do you mean, young?” Jon frowned slightly. “I’m twenty-two.”
“I know, it’s just…” She waved her hand vaguely. “If you had to marry, I would have thought you’d have waited a little more. And twenty-two is still pretty young, especially when he’s nearly thirty.”
“He’s barely turned twenty-nine, Georgie… I know you two don’t like each other very much, but I would prefer it if you abstained from insulting my future husband on my wedding day.” He said coldly.
There was a moment of tense silence, and Jon could see Georgie’s mouth turn into a thin line.
“You’re right.” She admitted, lowering her head to focus on Jon’s hair. “I’m sorry, this was not my place to get involved.”
She finished with Jon’s hair without another word, and neither did Jon talk, both of them too worried about breaking the mood again. When she was done, she helped Jon look at it from behind with a small mirror, then left silently.
Jon looked at the clock. Twenty minutes left… The twenty longest minutes of his life, in his opinion, spent pacing around the room, trying to list all the things that could be missing from his outfit or anything else. Twenty minutes spent fretting about everything that could go wrong, and he only stopped when a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
“Jonathan, are you ready?”
His grandmother entered the room, her stern face softening ever so slightly at the sight of him.
“Oh, look at you…” She said, the barest hint of pride in her voice. “Perfectly in time, I might add. Now, hurry up, it wouldn’t do to be late at your own wedding.”
She waved her hand for him to approach, and he took a deep breath, steeling himself. She was the one who would lead him to the altar, where Elias would be waiting for him, and oh good God, he was going to be married!
They waited behind closed doors until the right time, and when the doors finally, finally opened, Jon was greeted with dozens of faces turning towards him as he and his grandmother walked down the aisle. Yet, of all the faces that surrounded him, only one managed to truly catch Jon’s attention.
Elias’ eyes were bright and full of admiration, and when they met Jon’s from across the room, Jon couldn’t be more certain of how right he felt in that moment.
***
There were few things Jon loved more than waking up before his husband and getting to look at him fast asleep in the dim light of the morning. The smoothed out features of his face, his hair falling in front of his closed eyes in a way he never allowed it to do when he was awake, his barely parted lips… He looked so serene in those moments.
Jon sometimes wished this could last forever, but no, soon enough, Elias would have to leave for work again, and then it would once again be another few long weeks of waiting for him to return.
Elias shifted next to him, slowly emerging from his slumber. His eyes opened, blinking a couple of times before focusing on Jon, and a gentle smile formed on his face.
“Spying on me in my sleep?” He mumbled, still drowsy.
“Just admiring you.” Jon lowered himself to press a soft kiss on his forehead. “I was thinking.”
Elias wrapped an arm around Jon’s waist, bringing him closer. Jon let himself be moved, happy from the simple intimacy of trusting Elias so completely he could let him do whatever he wanted to him, and after a bit of shuffling, he ended up lying on top of Elias, who was now peppering his face with kisses.
“And may I know what you were thinking about?”
Jon giggled, the kisses tickling him.
“I was thinking about you, and how lucky I was to have met you.”
Elias hummed in his neck.
“I could say the same about you.”
They lay down in silence for a moment, reluctant to break their shared comfort.
“I don’t want to get up…” Jon whined after a while, when the reality of responsibilities and life expectations came back to him.
“Do you have to go anywhere this morning?” Elias asked softly.
“Not really, no.”
“Then I see no reason why we should get out of bed now.”
Jon couldn’t agree more. He nuzzled closer to Elias, and let himself bask in the safety of his arms.