Dear Maria, Count Me In (The Secret of Moonacre AU Fanfiction)

of Softbois and Flowers

The next morning, Maria sleepily walked out of her room. There was a plate of eggs and toast on the table waiting for her. Maria's eyes darted between Robin and the food. "Who are you and what have you done with Robin?"

He chuckled. "I'm already an unwelcomed guest, so let me help you out with this much."

"You're never an unwelcomed guest," Maria hugged him from the side. "On the contrary, you waited too long to visit." She bumped him with her hip on her way to sit down.

Robin sighed; he could never tell her it was because all his girlfriends had been jealous their friendship. He always claimed they were ridiculous, but now he was beginning to wonder if there was some truth to it. "How do you like your coffee?"

"Sweet please."

"Why do you have so many beets?"

Maria sheepishly laughed. "They were on sale and I thought I would do something with them."

"Do what? Survive covid on pure beets alone?"

"Let me live," Maria cried out from behind her laptop.

Robin shook his head as he took note of the items in her fridge. Aside from beets, there was wine, eggs, and orange juice. Clearly the basics of a university student.

Robin's phone rang. It was a video call from his father. "Morning."

"Robin my boy, I need you to be my leading man."

"Again?"

"Yes. It's for a play that we're broadcasting to the history society."

"Why don't you get someone else?"

"I need your talent. This role is perfect for you!"

"What's the genre?"

Mr. De Noir paused, "Adventure."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, yes, of course," he said a bit too dismissively. Maria then passed from behind to grab some juice.

"Ah Maria, perfect timing! Would you like to be my leading lady?"

"Good morning Mr. De Noir! Ooooh yes, it sounds like fun! I've always wanted to be in your plays."

"Perfect I'll email you both the scripts. Thank you, Maria, you've saved me! And please, call me Coeur, we've talked about this before! I'll be in contact with more details."

After breakfast, the threat of tomorrow's exam began to neg at Maria. With her headphones on, she went into full study mode and hardly paid Robin any attention. This left him bored out of his mind. He did everything he could to stop himself from bothering Maria, though, during her classes, his resolve broke. A few times he came up from behind and pestered her with questions about her lessons, prompting a laugh as she pushed his face away. Once he even tried to listen in, but he quickly got bored. Eventually, Robin decided to make better use of his time and went out for some groceries. He then spent the next few hours busy in the kitchen, much to Maria's curiosity.

Her mind fried and overwhelmed, she closed her laptop at the end of her last class and let her head drop to the table.

Robin finished prepping for dinner and set Maria's kettle to boil. When the kettle's shrill whistle sounded, he poured two cups of lady grey tea. He set one by Maria along with some biscuits, "Have a break."

He took his tea to the coffee table in front of the sofa. Then he grabbed his book and fell back onto the seat. Robin let his hair fall loose and massaged the tension away from his head with a content sigh. Finally, at ease, he lost himself in his book. Unfortunately, that peace didn't last long. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Maria watching him as she slowly drank her tea and ate her biscuits. When she finished, she grabbed her notes and sat on the other side of the sofa. She then proceeded to make him the subject of her study instead of the discarded notes on her lap.