Florence - (G.B.)/(B.A.)

Chapter 01

What If...? Florence Chose Billy Instead

Drops of rain fell from the tips of his hair, and his blue eyes were darker than they'd ever been, but he could care less about all that. This sight both startled and grieved her, and she was so distracted by it that she didn't notice until the last minute when he leaned in and their lips touched for a split second. Florence felt a fierce light rekindle within her once more. This sensation was all too familiar, and she despised the fact that, despite all she'd said to him earlier, Billy always seemed to manage to weaken her knees in some way. Push him away, her conscious self was warning her. Her emotions, on the other hand, longed to pull him closer. Florence's life had never been smooth when it came to matters of the heart, and they were never something she thought about every waking moment, so she listened to the former without prejudice. Her hands gradually trailed up his chest, drenched from the relentless pouring rain, till her arms wrapped around his neck, deepening the kiss. Billy's hands lowered from her face and rested on her waist, drawing her even closer. He knew he'd succeeded at this moment. He'd earned Florence's forgiveness, and if he was lucky, he'd also gained her affection.

Billy was the first to draw away after a long while, but their faces remained close enough for their noses to touch. She could feel his warm breath on her face, but she was embarrassed enough not to meet his gaze, preferring instead to stare away. Billy compelled her to look at him by raising her head with one of his hands. He could only see adoration and a trace of anguish behind Florence's eyes. Guilt overwhelming him, he immediately let go of her and created a distance between them. He started walking away without saying anything else. He didn't get very far when Florence grabbed his hand and stopped him square in his tracks. He hesitated despite the fact that they both knew he was physically stronger than she was and could simply let go and continue on his way.

"You're leaving me alone again," she murmured, her tone tinged with mild irritation and a hint of sadness. "How can you bear it knowing that despite everything we've been through, all you do is leave me?"

Billy chewed on the inside of his mouth, not yet turning around to meet her gaze. "Florence⸺"

"No, shut up, it's my turn to speak and your turn to listen." She moved around him so she was once again across from him. "Where was I? Oh, yes. Because you've been tormenting me since the first moment we met over two years ago. Squabble upon squabble, with no means to an end. I'll admit, you're polite sometimes, and then you behave as if we're strangers, and maybe those few moments of politeness were never really there, to begin with. Then there was the folly that was feelings appeared, and⸺"

"You . . . You have feelings for me?"

She looked offended. "Do you believe I kiss you only for the sake of kissing you?"

Billy didn't answer right away. Instead, he took her hand in his and gently pulled her closer to his chest, prompting Florence to yelp a little in surprise.

"You are the absolute bane of my existence, Florence." He stared deep into her chocolate brown eyes, feeling like if it were up to him, he could stare at them forever and never grow tired. ". . . And the object of my every whim."

Her cheeks churned as she couldn't take her eyes away from his own, which she hadn't noticed were utterly breathtaking until now. "You've quite a way with words, Mr Andrews."

He confidently grinned. "When it concerns the ladies, I like to think I'm a romantic."

She narrowed her eyes. "Ladies? So this has happened before?"

"I won't pretend, I've had other girls in my life before," he admitted softly, "But none of them have made me feel the way you do."

Her eyes widened slightly, and she saw the honesty that he tended to have solely around her, in the most intimate of moments when it was just them together, hidden behind his own deep brown ones. She could tell he was telling the whole truth not only by his voice but also by his expression and body language, and that's all he'd been doing when he first approached her that night. Florence's breath caught in her throat, and she secretly wished she could feel his lips on hers again. All those months earlier, Billy Andrews had been her first kiss. It surprised her then, and it still surprised her now. But she didn't care any longer: if she was correct, he was hers and she was his.

Billy leaned away slightly, a slightly cocky demeanour she recognized all too well returning. "So, I take it, you forgive me?"

She smiled softly. "Is it that obvious?"

"Do you believe I kiss you only for the sake of kissing you?" He mocked her own words, speaking in an excessively high pitched tone that caused her to roll her eyes.

"I'm getting out of here," Florence grumbled and snatched the dropped umbrella off the ground, halting their conversation. She gently pushed it into his grasp and continued her journey back to her home.

"Wait!" Billy called from behind her, causing the umbrella to drop again, and she stopped and turned to face him, even though she probably shouldn't have. He seemed sincere, taking her hands in his and caressing her knuckles with delicate kisses that made her stomach flutter.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled against her hands, one kiss after another.

"For what?"

"For not cherishing you the way I should've."

She seemed nervous. "And what should I take tonight as?"

Their kiss, his confession . . . When they returned to school the following week, she prayed he wouldn't end up keeping secrets again and once again make a fool out of her. God alone knew how much of an emotional toll that circumstance had on her.

"That depends," he said, letting go of her hands. "What do you want to take it as?"

"As . . . Well, whatever happens when two people like each other."

"Marriage?" With a smug grin, he suggested, and she rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that night.

She couldn't figure out why she was so worried about this. The only word she could think of to characterise this situation was "courtship," but it sounded a little too formal and out of context. Of course, if things worked out, she could see herself marrying Billy in the future, but⸺

Billy, almost as if he could read her thoughts that were racing at a million miles per minute, slowly dropped down onto one knee and spread out his arms. With the most enthusiastic voice he could muster, he asked, "Will you, Florence Robinson, be my one and only girlfriend?"

She scoffed and raised a brow. "One and only? Seriously, Billy?"

Billy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Pardon. What I meant to say is will you do the honour of being my girlfriend? To love and to hold⸺"

Florence cut him off before he could finish his sentence. She let out a chuckle and gripped Billy in an embrace, which he effortlessly returned. Both of them were now strewn about on the muddy ground, but they didn't seem to mind. It was almost like a reminiscence of when they encountered each other in the community park earlier that year. "Now that was just ridiculous."

He shrugged. "Hey, it worked, right?"

She nodded and giggled. It was only then that Billy decided to rise from his oh-so-comfortable dirt seat. His previously white garments were now brown from the waist up, but he couldn't care less. Without a thought in his mind, he held out his hand to Florence, who was still sitting. She looked at his outstretched hand and then back at him, and this wasn't like the others: Unlike before, when one of them would manage to knock the other down and then offer a hand of support, which they either didn't accept or fumbled with in some way . . .

She took it this time without a moment's hesitation.

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Author's Note:

This first bonus chapter could be considered an alternative ending to the main story. I know a lot of you were hoping for Florence + Billy to become the endgame, so I figured this chapter would be the least I could do to bring you some closure.

Not going to lie, I feel like I put more effort into this ending between Billy and Florence than I did with the original between Gilbert and Florence . . . Hehe.

That said, I have a few more ideas for potential bonus chapters that I'm working on, and they'll be released when the time is right. Meanwhile, I hope you've all enjoyed this one?