₂.₀ LOVE LINES; awae

002.

A plate full of cookies is placed on his dresser.

Edward's gaze snaps towards Marianne's in the mirror. With furrowed brows, he watches as his sister steps closer, motioning for him to turn around. Of course, he knows instantly what it is that she means to do - he didn't notice her slip into his room, but she must have noticed the way he's been struggling with taking his bowtie off. He even lets her swat his hands away from his collar, that's how desperate he is for his misery to be over.

"Father could never do it himself, either, remember?" she asks softly, and Edward doesn't miss the melancholy note that finds its way into her voice. It's been so long now, it seems, since their parents became nothing more than memory and heartache, and the two of them are yet to figure out how to talk about their loss without reliving it. "Mother had to do it for him. She used to laugh about how stubborn he had been about it at first, only to realise his own helplessness and accept his fate as a man who wouldn't be able to leave the house looking presentable without his wife's help."

"Thank you," he hums in return once the bowtie is placed in his palm. "I thought you were asleep already, Marianne. What are you doing out of bed this late?"

"Well, I'm nowhere near Anne's excitement about this evening, but I cannot imagine simply going to sleep yet. I do feel rather tired, of course, but we see each other so rarely now, it would feel like a waste of time," she admits before biting the inside of her cheek, which reminds Edward of the time they were children. "Especially when..."

He waits patiently for more words to come out, but none come. "Especially when..?"

"Well, you know... That thing you said earlier, when Teddy approached us... Must I really say it out loud?"

"Oh." Edward nods. "So that's what the cookies are for."

"You still keep them in the same place mother used to. I thought they might soften you up a little bit."

He raises his brows. "And loosen my tongue?"

At least his sister has got the decency to blush a little. She looks like a child caught in an act, which Edward can't help but consider rather funny, considering she's never done anything bad enough.

"I'm sorry. You know I don't mean to pry-"

"Alright." He interrupts, reaching for the plate before sitting at the foot of his bed. Nevermind the fact he's still dressed in most of his dress clothes, though their mother would give him a good talking to for doing so. "I did promise, didn't I? Come sit next to me."

Marianne doesn't need to be told twice. In a matter of a few seconds, she's nestling into his side and Edward desperately tries to keep the plate balancing on his knees from shattering as he reaches behind his back to pull the duvet over his sister's shoulders. He might be in his dress pants and shirt still, but she's only wearing her nightgown - and he knows the house isn't as warm as it used to when they've been living here as a family of four, now that it's only him, mostly occupying his own bedroom and the study, Edward doesn't simply see the need for that much heat.

She's nibbling on one of the cookies when he begins, "So... You want me to tell you about Prissy Andrews. Or, rather, about my feelings towards... I don't know, should I be calling them feelings? I haven't seen her in months, let alone spoken to her and... Is this stupid?"

"Edward..."

"I have a feeling it's rather stupid."

Marianne shakes her head gently. "Of course it isn't. Nothing concerning you could ever be stupid. And.. Oh, we shouldn't be eating those here, look at all those crumbs..."