stop the world

“It’s not bad. She just wasn’t feeling so well before the wedding and I want to make sure she’s feeling better by the time she lands. It could have just been anxiety from the wedding,” Ella suggested, though she had a feeling that wasn’t what it was, not the way Celine had described it. “Has Berlioz been on one of those things before? I know she’s not exactly my little sister, but she sort of is! I suppose I’m just worried about them. It sounds so scary, something that flies through the air? I can’t imagine it. But anyway, what do you want to do first, now that we’re back?”

“That’s not good. Hopefully she’ll feel better when she lands in California.” It seemed plausible that she was just anxious, though he hoped she wasn’t getting sick. “I’m not really sure if he has or not. Hopefully he has so he can make sure that Celine is all right. I can’t imagine going through the air like that either... How about we walk around, go look at the garden?”

“I just told you I can’t say! It might be good,” Ella bit her lip nervously. “She will at least call to let us know when they’ve landed safely and gotten to their hotel. She promised, so I know we will hear from her at least then. Those airplane things…they are safe, right?”

“Hm... All right.” He still wanted to know, he hated surprises, but he trusted that at least it might be good. “Airplanes are safe, I suppose. I’ve never been on one, but I imagine they are. I would hope Berlioz wouldn’t take her on something that would be dangerous.”

Ella smiled and shook her head, giving up on arguing with him. He would never see her in a poor light, she knew better. “Oh, I see. I don’t remember that being in our vows,” she laughed softly. “We should add that into them. Oh! Speaking of which, I promised to never lie to you, and I think Celine will be trying to call us soon! I can’t say why, you’ll just have to trust me.” 

“Are you sure? I am certain that I slipped them in somewhere,” he teased gently. “You did promise that. Celine’s going to call us soon? About what?” He raised a brow. “You can’t say why? Is it good, at least?”

“You can’t possibly know that! One time, I was called down to dinner to meet some guests and I managed to trip my way into the dining room, it was a wonder I stayed upright. It’s safe to say my cheeks didn’t return to their normal color until after everyone went home.” Her cheeks turned pink just remembering how embarrassed she’d felt. “You’re just saying nice things because you’re my husband, you have to say things like that.” 

“Okay, but that is very tame. I’m sure no one thought poorly of you.” He knew how clumsy she was, but he had always found it charming and endearing. He had made much worse impressions in his past. “Of course, it’s one of the ways I’m useful to you. And you can just believe me because you can believe your husband.”

“I was, but had I known that you could read minds…” Ella teased, reaching for his hand. “That could come in handy someday. I would normally agree with you, but I even knocked before I entered, and she still asked if I was intoxicated. I can’t imagine why. But she was very annoyed with me, I’m afraid I upset her. It had to be the worst first impression I’ve made here.” 

“But then where would the mystery be?” He asked, taking her hand. “She must have just been in a bad mood or something. It’s not the end of the world to make a bad impression. Actually I don’t think that’s so bad at all. I don’t think you’ve ever made a bad impression in your life.”

“I don’t seem to remember you mentioning that when we first met. You should have, it’s a good selling point,” Ella smiled softly. “Oh, she was very harsh, actually. I can’t imagine why, I apologized profusely. She accused me of being intoxicated?”

“So you weren’t already completely sold when we first met?” He asked, pretending to be offended. “That’s strange. Is it because you just walked right into her room? And she thought you were intoxicated? I can’t even imagine.”

“How did you know? Perhaps I meant your parents! Did you know our old room has someone else entirely in it now? I accidentally went there out of habit and ran into the strangest woman.”

“I’m a mind reader. Really? I haven’t even been over there since we’ve been back. You met a strange woman? Tell me about her.”

@nicolascharming // x

“She’ll be alright. She looked so happy on her wedding day, I can’t imagine a more perfect couple. Except for maybe one…”

“They did look very happy. You mean you and I? Yes, we definitely beat them out for perfect couple.”

“No, no, I should probably focus on anything but that right now. That’s because you have missed a lot,” Celine hugged him tightly, closing her eyes. “I’m very happy you’re here. I missed you, I felt so selfish for it. How are things at home?” 

“She’s really great. I’m in love with her.” Darcy was nervous about the idea of Nic meeting Annalise in any sort of capacity. But he knew that he would like her. He had just liked it being him and Celine for a while. “She’s from Italy. She has a brother here and her twin sister also. They’re all close.”

“You don’t sound excited at all, what’s wrong? Is something wrong with Ella? Or back home?”

Darcy sighed, not loving that Nic was right. There were things he just didn’t want his older brother knowing about just yet. “Well, Annalise and I are going great. We’re together. She’s my girlfriend, I think I told you that in a letter once?”

“They’re all back now,” Darcy replied, smiling when his brother patted his shoulders. “I’m not holding back…I didn’t want to bombard you with random stuff about my life. I mean, I could ask you the same questions. Like what have you been up to?”

“Uh…not much.” Darcy put his hands in his pockets. “You just missed this weird thing where we were in tents and I lost my memory. That was…interesting. But you really didn’t miss much.”

“I didn’t want to ruin the surprise. So uh…did the trip go well?”