Ithappens three weeks after Prince Escalus announces their betrothal.  

Rosaline,having been spurned out of the prince’s favor most likely, had quite warmed upto Benvolio in the days spent both trying to find a way out of their marriageand also attempting to find out who was responsible for all of the fightinggoing on in Verona in order to turn the two families against each otherforever.  At least, Benvolio thought shehad.  She was most definitely not thefrigid and angry woman she had been during the betrothal ceremony.  In fact, Benvolio felt lucky enough to callher his friend, and perhaps even a dear one at that.  She was clever and witty and energetic andpassionate, all things he valued in a friend. They weren’t anywhere near prepared to being man and wife yet, but hethought it would not be as unbearable to marry a friend as it would be to marryan enemy.

Ofcourse, Lady Rosaline Capulet was gorgeous. There was no doubting that in Benvolio’s mind.  Her dark curly hair and beautifullyexpressive eyes made him want to stop whatever he was doing and stare into themall day.  Or, he would if he knew thatwouldn’t get him slapped for the sheer foolishness of it all.  Yet he could not stop contemplating how veryattractive his newest friend was.  Yetthat did not necessarily mean that the marriage would be good thing.  He had found plenty of women attractivewithout being in love with them, surely Rosaline was no different. She was justa friend. A very, very pretty friend.

Itwas with this mindset that Benvolio went to go meet Rosaline at her home inorder to take her to a favorite Montague aunt of his.  She was the sister of his uncle and hisfather and had never married, despite the Montagues’ efforts to secure her handto a powerful family.  Not only wasAlessandra Montague Benvolio’s favorite surviving family member, he also had afeeling she would get on quite well with Rosaline due to her independentstatus. After all, he would do anything to make his dear friend more comfortablein his home, and if that meant gaining her a Montague ally (other thanhimself), then so be it.

Ontheir way back to House Montague, Rosaline was uncharacteristically quiet.Benvolio, feeling more than a little worried about her well-being, asked whatwas wrong.

“’Tisnothing, Benvolio, I swear it.  The daysat House Capulet have been tiring, is all. Now, I am quite anticipating this aunt of yours.  She seems to be of solid mind and wit,something quite rare in a Montague.”

“Youjest yet again, my lady,” Benvolio said jovially.  “You seek to defame my house with a glimmerin your eye, yet you cannot help but find praise within you for us.  Come, my beloved, Aunt Alessandra is waitingfor us.”

Atfirst glance, Alessandra Montague seemed to be a rather intimidating woman. Yetas Rosaline and Benvolio got closer to her threshold, she spread her armswidely and smiled.

“Welcome,welcome! Oh dear Benvolio, my sweet nephew, it is so good to see you. You neverare around often enough anymore.  Andthis must be Rosaline Capulet. I’ve lost many a family member to yours, mygirl. But I suppose that will all be behind us once you become Lady RosalineMontague.  Ah to be young and in loveagain! Come, let me see you both!” Alessandra grabbed Benvolio by both cheeks and pinched them, kissing himbriefly, letting go only when Benvolio yelped. She was much gentler with Rosaline, embracing her kindly as a gesture ofwelcome and familial loyalty.  

Asmanhandled as Benvolio felt around Alessandra, he truly was grateful for thelittle time he had with her.  She wasoften away from the family eye, making it hard for him to see her.  Since Benvolio wanted little to do with therest of his family, this made seeing his aunt even more of a blessing.Rosaline, on the other hand, was blown away by the great lady’s kindness andbluntness.  She hoped to be exactly likeher when she was Alessandra’s age. Free, independent, and most importantly,unattached.  She was grateful forBenvolio’s friendship, she truly was. Yet no matter how lovely he was to her,nor how lovely his eyes were, she knew she could never truly love her newfriend.  They were just too stubborn.

AlessandraMontague had a rather different take on Benvolio and Rosaline’s relationship,and she was willing to do nearly anything to get them to be on their way torealizing what they had was something quite special and powerful. A publicspectacle would have to do for today, she thought. Impromptu and spontaneous.Just the display that Verona needed in these dark times.  With this thought, she took the children (forBenvolio and his peers would always be small to her) out to the main piazza inorder to meet her acquaintances, which comprised of several gossipy olderladies of the town.

Benvoliowas not sure what Aunt Alessandra meant by taking Rosaline and him away fromtheir private meeting to the public piazza, but he had learned long ago not toquestion his aunt’s methods.  He was soonabout to find out, however, just what his aunt had been scheming about sincethe moment she had met his Capulet bride.

“Alessandra!Come over here and introduce us to these two lovely young people.  It seems as though Verona’s youth has allgone and left us for good now,” one of the ladies called over to the trio.

“Itis so wonderful that you could meet us all! Ladies, this is my nephew BenvolioMontague, and his betrothed, Lady Rosaline Capulet,” Alessandra introducedthem.

“Ohmy, we’ve heard many things about you dear Benvolio! Look at you, you arecertainly all grown up! And my goodness, your bride is lovely! I am so happythat you decided to forgo this house feud nonsense and just sweep her off herfeet!”

Benvoliogulped. “Oh, actually, signora, we-…”

“Ah,ah, ah, there will be none of that.  Aman must show his future wife the pride in her that he has! None of this falsemodesty business. Why, I remember when my husband was courting me, he-…”

“That’squite enough, Lady Anna, thank you,” Alessandra smirked, as if being let into ajest that was solely amongst the older women of Verona.  “Why not give these young people advice fortheir marriage?  After all, they are tobe wed within the month.”

“Ohyes!” exclaimed Lady Anna.  “First andforemost, before any pleasure within the marriage can be had, a man must knowhow to kiss his wife.  It really is themost important thing.”

Bythis time, both Benvolio and Rosaline had gone beet red. “Lady Anna, thank youso much but this is very unnecessary-…” Rosaline said, before Lady Annainterrupted with an incredulous look.

“Nonsense,child. Do you not want to know how to gain pleasure within this marriage?  Tell me, Benvolio Montague, how does a mankiss his wife?”

“Mylady, I am sure I do not know, for I have never been married,” Benvoliostarted.

“Alsononsense!  You have been betrothed forthree weeks. Back in my day, that was as good as married.  Show us how to kiss your beloved, youngSignor Montague.”

Notwanting to be on the end of a glare from the formidable Lady Anna or a scowlfrom his Aunt Alessandra, Benvolio sighed.

“Iam sorry, my sweet friend.  Do youconsent to this rather public display of affection?” he asked Rosaline in hushedtones as to not alert the ladies of their farcical love story.

“Ifear for our lives if we did not, Benvolio. Go ahead and kiss me, my friend. Itwill be no great disservice. For all your faults, I do trust you,” Rosalinesmiled, thinking of all they had come through to get to this point in theirfriendship.

Benvoliotook a deep breath. Just relax, he thought. Rosaline is your dear friend. Your very, very, very pretty friend, hismind betrayed.  With a sweet smileand a nod from Rosaline, he leaned in quite slowly, and in front of Verona’sbusiest piazza, kissed his intended.

Itwas nothing like he had ever experienced before. His sweet friend was warm andsoft and pliant, linking her fingers around his neck in order to anchor herselfmore fully into the kiss.  He stroked hercheeks, wanting nothing more than to drown in this moment forever, askinghimself why, why, why he hadn’t done this before. By all that was good in thisworld, she kissed incredibly well and he was quite content to enjoy himselfforever.

Oh,right.  He had never done this because Rosalinewas just a friend.

Rosalinenibbled his lower lip, deepening the kiss. To hell with it, he thought,following her lead and slipping his tongue into her mouth.  At this she gasped, finally breaking awayfrom the kiss, her entire body heaving as she looked at him in utter shock.  He figured that he must look quite the same.

“Nowthat is how you kiss your wife,little Benvolio!” Lady Anna cackled.

BothRosaline and Benvolio jumped, completely forgetting that they had quite thecaptive audience.  Lady Anna, AuntAlessandra, and the rest of the ladies were smirking quite triumphantly,waiting for the chance to share just how in love Benvolio Montague was withRosaline Capulet, as well as she with him.

Therest of Verona would likely know by nightfall, considering the city’s busiestpiazza had fallen deathly quiet in the wake of their quite public display ofaffection.

Benvoliolooked at Rosaline, wanting to melt into the ground in order to stopreddening.  Rosaline could not look athim, as she was flushed in a quite similar manner.  

“Well,Benvolio? Shouldn’t you be seeing your sweetfriend home?”

Benvoliocould do nothing but stare as Aunt Alessandra laughed at the success of herplan as she left with the rest of her entourage, smirking alongside LadyAnna.  

“Wellthen. Let us get you home, my lady,” Benvolio said, still in a daze.

“Oh,um, yes. Yes that would be for the best, I suppose,” Rosaline countered, stillunwilling to look him in the eye.

AsBenvolio walked Rosaline back to Capulet House for the day’s end, he tried toshrug off his worry.  Rosaline and hewere still trying to find a way to break the betrothal together.  One kiss between friends surely shouldn’tdisrupt the peace between them.  Yes,Benvolio decided. Rosaline was and always would be his sweet friend, nothingmore.

I’m not sure if it’s what you had in mind, and it’s not quite like in the prompt, but my newest fic features Rosaline very determined to protect Benvolio, which is the starting point for a whole lot of feelings to ensue: 

I found me a hopeless case (I resolve to love)

You will be charming! Good Luck!