bow down bitches

“you’re too fucking polite,” bridget mused, it wasn’t as if she herself wasn’t raised with all of the etiquette coaches and ‘lady’ lessons that nora had but then again she wouldn’t one day be the sovereign of britain and the clusterfuck of countries that’d yet to break away. bridget always knew she’d had a certain amount of freedom that eleanor couldn’t and would never attain, but once upon a time she’d broken almost every rule to involve her cousin in her shenanigans and now she almost, selfishly, just wanted her to rot in her gilded cage. “this isn’t… people are going to hurt you rah, they might not mean to, it could be the most unintentional thing they’ll ever do and they’ll make you feel like they ripped your heart from your chest and stood on it with a louboutin pump. that’s just the way of the world, forgive and forget or something.” she supposed the advice stood for her too, because that feeling was exactly her when she found out about ollie and nora, but that was neither here nor there. “i didn’t know about you and reid. i need you to know that, i thought it was a shitty rumour and i wanted it to be just a rumour because i never wanted to intentionally hurt you like this. i’m sorry, you… i would never wish this feeling upon anyone, not even the ones who did the same to me.”

bridget shifted away, leaving her hand on nora’s back to rub gently but no longer cradling her. “you’re allowed to have feelings, just because your parents drummed it into you that you have to be impassive. i did a shitty thing, reid did a shitty thing, you’re allowed to be sad, angry, whatever you want.” she looked at her cousin dead in the eye, eyebrows raised, she should know there was no problem with needing her. “why are you apologising for that? you know i’ll come every time you need me, drop everything and come. you weren’t inconveniencing me eleanor, i would hope you’d do the same for me. but i’m also not stupid and i’m aware that you probably wouldn’t but let’s just ignore that.”

tavia held her hands up in surrender - for once she wasn’t there to argue with the girl. as much as she would’ve reveled in the moment a few weeks ago, right now she just didn’t have the energy. and it wasn’t like lyss was going to be a fan of tavia kicking one of her closest friends while she was already down. “ don’t make this harder for me than it already is, ” she replied, rolling her eyes at the girl. “ i’m not here to make whatever’s wrong worse. i was actually gonna suggest -, ” she swallowed, not really believing the words that were coming from her mouth, “ - i was going to suggest that we go get wasted and try and forget about our problems for the night? drinking a bottle of whisky on your own just makes things more depressing than they already are and well… you look like you need a drink as much as i do. ”

bridge stroked nora’s hair and placed a few kisses there, rocking slowly, the movements coming naturally to her. once upon a time this was not a regular occurrence but still one she had to do every now and then, princess eleanor was king charles and queen eleanor’s crown princess but nora was eddie and evee’s adopted child and bridget’s younger sister. bridget had her moments when her mum would just cradle her while the world fell away, if she could provide even an ounce of that comfort to her cousin, despite everything that’d happened she would without thinking. unsure about whether the brunette was apologising for crying or simply for everything that’d transpired between them she found it better off to just settle for a simple, “me too.”

tav had been doing anything she could to avoid her home during the waking hours since lyss woke up. anytime she went home, she found herself unable to stop herself from sneaking into the girl’s room, wishing she could get close to the girl again. it wasn’t healthy, she knew that much, which is why she did her best to be anywhere but there. after walking around for what felt like hours, she paused at an unfamiliar sound, slowly tracing her steps toward the noise. her eyes widened in surprise when she realized the sound was none other than nora, tears pouring down her face.

truthfully, she hadn’t been aware that nora had enough feelings to get hurt, let alone enough to cry. she bounced on the balls of her feet, unsure of whether to approach the girl or not. it was nora, after all - but it would also be a welcome distraction. plus, she had to admit she was a little curious as to find out what was causing such a public display of emotion from the girl. and a drink or two with a companion wasn’t such a bad idea either - she’d spent much too many nights drinking alone recently. she was a little afraid she was following in her father’s alcoholic footsteps, not that it would stop her from dulling the pain with yet another shot. “ hey, ” she said softly as she approached the girl, hands sliding in her back pockets.

nora didn’t know how long she’d been crying for. all she knew was that whenever she thought she had no tears left to cry, that she had it all under control; there always seemed to be just a little more waiting to force its way out. it wasn’t like her to cry; let alone in public, but it was dark, it was a weekday, and she was about 90 percent sure no one would see her.  who was out this late anyway?

reid wished there was something he could say but he knew that there was no reasoning that would make this somehow better. they might not’ve been a couple but up until that night, he’d been exclusive with her ( even if she didn’t know that fact ). maybe that was the reason he felt so guilty over his actions, why he felt so compelled to tell her the truth instead of some lie about it being someone else. even more confusing was the way he was already trying to figure out how to fix this - normally breaking things off was so easy. but with nora, he was overwhelmed with the fear that her walking away now meant forever. as she got off his bed, he stepped toward her. “ nora, ” he said softly, stopping in his tracks as she requested him to let herself out. “ i’m sorry. ”

as he spoke, she stopped, hand resting on the door handle. part of her wanted nothing more than for him to wrap his arms around her, and for them to sort this out, right here and now. for him to tell her it had been a mistake, an error in judgement; for life to go on as it had up until about a minute ago. for someone whose entire existence revolved around public speaking, she found it incredibly difficult trying to string together coherent sentences right now. perhaps it was the feeling of betrayal that seemed to well up in her, perhaps it was the fact that she was about fifty seconds away from crying, but she couldn’t seem to put her thoughts into words. “s-so am i,” she spoke, a slight tremor in her voice, before turning the handle and disappearing into the dark.

reid turned to face her, sticking on the other side of the room. there were few people he cared about knowing the facts and the person that mattered most was right in front of him. he let out a slow breath, sliding his hands in his pockets to stop the fidgeting. he watched as the realization dawned on her and he held his breath, wishing not for the first time to take those actions back. he lowered his gaze to the blanket that was draped over his bed, staring at the hem of the fabric. “ i told you it was worse than you think, ” he whispered, unable to give her an outright yes.

despite not wanting to look at her reaction, his eyes quickly snapped to her face one she spoke, trying to gauge how she really felt. she had much more practice hiding what she truly thought than he did - she was in the public eye, after all. all it took was the slightest slip up and it was all over the news for her. maybe she didn’t have reason to tell him not to, they’d never said they were exclusive, but that didn’t stop the guilt that weighed on him. his face paled at her next words and he stood up from the bed, pacing to the other side of the room. why’d she have to pull out that example of all things? “ …and - how much would it matter? if it was? ”

reid sighed as the girl inched out from under him and he moved to sit on the edge of his bed. his gaze hovered over her head, unable to actually look her in the eyes. he didn’t necessarily want to see the way her face looked when he told her - he knew it wasn’t going to be anything good. “ worse than you think, ” he admitted, looking down at her hands. he wished it was as simple as a stupid infection; an infection would go away and she wouldn’t hate him after he told her what had happened. “ it’s not an infection, ” he started and let out a long sigh. “ i just - it was - just some - stupid one night stand. ” was there any way to soften the blow of who that one night stand was with? if there was, he couldn’t think of one. “ i was drunk, ” he added, as if that was somehow an excuse.

reid had naively hoped that they’d be too caught up in each other for her not to notice the marks adorning his skin. it had worked for some time but when he felt her hands stop, he knew she’d seen them. his already increased heart rate became erratic. he glanced down to his skin, his hand tentatively wrapping around hers and he slowly guided her hand away, trying to redirect her attention to anywhere but the spots. “ ah, uh – i don’t – remember? ” he replied, a flimsy lie. although much of the night was a blur, he definitely knew where - or rather who - the marks came from and how they got there.

reid’s hands splayed out on nora’s thighs as she wrapped her legs around him, slowly making their way to the small of her back. “ i’d bet on it, ” he replied, mumbling against her lips. he reached behind him and grabbed the remote, turning up the volume slightly before setting it on his nightstand. he flipped them over, hovering over her and he looked at her, a half-smile on his lips. emotions he couldn’t quite place were rushing through him; all he knew was she felt infinitely more right than anyone else ever had. he pressed a light kiss against her collar bone, trailing up to her lips.

reid nodded at the girl. “ you can say you’re staying at my sister’s place. moral support, ” he shrugged. it was something that could be followed up on; he and dana were in the same place and it wasn’t like she wasn’t friends with lulu. the lie was easy and he knew dana would lie for them when push came to shove. “ i’ll do whatever makes you happy, ” he replied, pressing his lips to hers. could anything lift the guilt he was feeling? “ if that’s watching whatever movie this is, i’ll do that, ” he said before adjusting his positioning to better guide her into his lap. “ but i think you may have a better idea. ”

alyssa watched on with eager eyes that practically lit up as she saw the ultrasound photo. she clasped her hands together in pure joy - she could imagine how happy her brother would have been when he saw this - and revelled in the happiness that a couple she’d supported for so long were finally going to make her an auntie. ‘i’m just glad i know now. and believe me, i know just how shocking the whole thing can be,’ lyss replied with an understanding nod. ‘you know what would make it feel real though? a baby shower. nothing big of course, since i doubt you really want this being released to the public, but something small and private would be so adorable!’ her brain was practically racing with ideas as the excitement of eleanor’s announcement had her almost jumping around on the spot. ‘new york is new york, i suppose. feels like home now, after all these years. and the kids are good, mischievous as always, but cute as hell. i can only imagine how precocious this one is going to be’, she said gesturing to her swollen stomach, ‘considering the characteristics of the parent’. 

bridget, to be perfectly honest, had given up being affected by nora’s comments and actions, those raised as ice queens will only do as they’re taught after all. but even she felt a little bubble of guilt as she slipped from reid’s bed mere days ago, she didn’t think much of it at the time, rationalising her actions by passing reid off as one of her cousin’s flings when he was apparently much more. her mind constantly lingered on the one question, ‘did she feel like the guilt was tearing her to pieces after ollivander?’ but it was highly doubtful. still, when the maid came to tell her eleanor was asking for her, both worry and sheer curiosity had her entering her room without so much as a knock and locking the door behind her. she wordlessly crossed the room, pulling nora against her chest and wrapping her arms around her tightly, “sure rah.”

@windscr ! –

reid had honestly, truly tried to hide the events of the night before prior to meeting up with nora, but found there was only so much he could do without the assistance of makeup - which would most certainly draw her eye even quicker than the marks that adorned his skin. so he found himself hoping she wouldn’t notice as they sort-of watched a movie together, his arm around her. he’d realized not long in that they spent more time glancing at each other than actually watching the movie. “ you wanna stay over tonight? ” he asked, turning his head toward her and he brushed her hair away from her face. “ we can keep this whole movie ‘watching’ thing going. maybe get through the whole series, ” he joked.