a/n this story will have a lot of time skips at first
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Florentine was no stranger to life full of privileges, maybe that's how she managed to move from France to England in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, but one could not deny the reasons behind her move being far from it.
The girl decided to move into her brother's old apartment eight months after his funeral. While her parents were unsure if it was the right choice to let her go all the way to England in her fragile state, it was a choice Florentine had to make all for herself.
It was a privilege to have the financial stability to do nothing for eight months and simply focus on recovery, Florentine was well aware. Her parents and her went through therapy to process the loss of their beloved family member and Florentine knew that they got help from the best of the best. In typical Beaufort fashion, her parents tried to hide their feelings behind a facade, taking interviews and acting like they were getting better, when in reality they were just as miserable as their daughter, who was tired of hiding her true emotions.
That's why she didn't want to continue like that any longer. She didn't want to be a shell of who she was anymore, but she wasn't sure if she could ever go back to who she was without Theo by her side. All she knew was that she had to get away from her parents or she'd implode.
After his funeral the girl continued messaging back and forth with Bradley, her brother's friend and they somewhat became friends themselves. They found comfort in each other an it was him that gave Florentine the idea of moving. It was never her intention to work nor live in the UK, but something told her that it would make her feel close to her brother again. And she was right.
Her parents had bought the apartment for Theo, another privilege that Florentine had noted would come in handy now. It was a modern loft, luxurious but minimalistic and the first time the Beaufort girl stepped foot in the apartment, she struggled to keep it together. It felt as if Theo was still living there. As if no time had passed and he'd rush down the stairs any minute, apologizing for taking too long in the shower like he did whenever she visited him during breaks.
The first week in his apartment was the hardest, she barely changed any interior, surprised by his smell that still lingered and all she did was add her own personal touches. She wanted it to become their apartment and Florentine found a first little peace of mind right there.
Her parents didn't help her with moving, their excuse being the pandemic, but the real reasoning behind it was clear, to Florentine at least. They didn't support her decision. The girl knew that with her condition, her parents were scared of loosing another child and having their daughter live so far away was probably like a hit in the face. Florentine tried to not let it get to her, promising her parents that they could visit whenever they needed to, their private jet making save travels possible.
Despite the pandemic making it hard for Florentine to settle in, she had the privilege of not having to work to live comfortably and it was one of the rare times she was actually glad to have that privilege. It was a big change for her, starting with the language, the currency and the paper work, wondering how Theo had managed to get used to it all. She felt almost helpless even.
