The Stubborn Miss Butler

6

"Do you remember when we used to come out here as children?" Eleanor upturned her chin to the sky, her skirts tucked under her, resting on the small plank of wood. She held tightly to the rope holding the swing aloft. Behind her, Beau marveled at the cool spring day, spending his last few days in Georgia by her side.

Eleanor's smile was contagious. His own lips pulled up into a wry smile, the only expression that ever broke through his serious one. "You were a child. I was almost a man."

"And a tall child, you were," she muttered over her shoulder at him with the accompanying eye roll. "So sensitive and frail with-"

"I can't say I recall any of what you're talking about. Actually, if I remember correctly, you were the one that cried for everything, even after I threw your bonnet into the mud."

Eleanor snorted, "And after, I punched you in the nose to straighten you out, then you cried. Wailed like a little girl."

"You were a little girl-"

"But I never cried like that," she countered smartly. Beau's expression was indifferent, though he chuckled slightly. His arms moved reflexively, guiding the swing back and forth, careful not to trip on her skirts when she sailed back.

"You were very pretty, I remember," he said, contemplatively. His eyes traced the curve of her face against the sunlight.

"And now?"

"Now, I look and see your heart. Nothing else." His words gave her pause. No one had ever said that to her before. Not a single man, woman, or child looked at Eleanor and saw what lay beneath. Her own mother didn't see the pain in her eyes, because the world expected something of her, something Eleanor didn't want to be. She had been obedient. Her whole life she followed what was expected, but no one ever asked what she might want. For the girl who'd gotten everything, no one ask why her heart longed for something else, why she felt so lonely. No one thought to notice her soul, when her face was as pristine and white as it was. She didn't care for society, to hell with it all really. She knew what was out there, what her parents hid her from, but she wondered whether that was where she could find herself.

Beau had watched her all his life. He was there to pick her up off the steps of Saint Mary's University, when she failed. She cried, for hours on end, because she wasn't expelled for her marks, but she had tried to cheat to make her father proud. It was her pride and stubborn will that made a mess of her, a grand, twisted mess.

She wasn't Bonnie. Beau, having known them both, had tried to find something shared between the sisters to no avail. Bonnie, at seven, was already radiant and charming and daring. She was a light for others. Eleanor was close-lipped and severe, and only ever charming when she was conniving. She frowned more than any child Beau had ever seen. It was true that her heart spoke the loudest, too. Out of everything, Bonnie was so obviously the better of the two Butler offspring, but there was something Eleanor had that she would never have obtained: humanity. Bonnie was no failure, but she was greedy and vain. Deep inside, Beau knew Eleanor didn't give a damn about the color of her parasol if it was exchanged for her freedom. He knew her heart yearned for something else than this life, that she was essentially unhappy unless something excited her curiosity.

He fell in love with her brokenness.

Slowly, she touched the ground where he had let the swing slow, stopping short in front of him.

She looked into his eyes, knowing that behind them was a man that she cared for more than many things. For the first time in her life, when her eyes met another, there was a pure understanding. Like calls to like. She understood every impossibility about him, that a man could hate the society he had been raised in so much that he would prepare to fight against it. Beau hated the inequality in their world, that a woman was nothing more than property, that anyone could be regarded as worthless. Because for half his life, that had been him. Whenever he imagined the future, he couldn't bear having any daughter of his discriminated against. He wanted her to have options. This was her Beau, always thinking of others.

She didn't realize that he'd looked closely enough to see that her family had torn her apart. She was Bonnie's replacement, but she could never compare. Her father looked at her, and he was saddened. She remembered he used to drink on Bonnie's birthday.
When she dared interrupt those sacred moments of remembrance, he had yelled at her face to leave him be. He had slammed the door in her face, because it was unfair that an angel could be replaced by something so plain as a human being. She had never told Beau that, but somehow he knew. Eleanor was no Scarlett or Bonnie or even Ellen for that matter; she was only Eleanor.

Slow, ever so heart-achingly steady, she placed a palm over his chest, right over his heart. Eleanor didn't look up, not yet. She took her time, but the blood in her ears rushed, more and more until it filled her head.

Carefully, under thick lashes, she peered up, murmuring so that only he would hear, "If I told you what I was thinking just now..."

"I don't doubt that you will."

"Promise not to laugh." Her mischievous smirk was all it took to disarm his facade. Her cheeks were pink with a blush and her hair fell around her face in untamed curls. Still, there was something sad about her eyes that made his chuckle a bit smaller. He assured her he wouldn't, jokingly, of course. "I feel at home, when you're with me. I don't know what it is, why it's just a feeling I get. That nothing could possibly go wrong with you by my side, because I suppose I've always expected it to be that way. That this, this one heartbeat, is all I'll ever need-"

He caught her off-guard, holding her gently by the waist and bringing her chin up to brush a kiss against her lips. There was something in Eleanor that nearly screamed in fear and another that rested whole-heartedly into him. In the end, only one gave way and she filled to the brim with a longing for more.

His lips were feathery-soft, warm and gentle on her lips, then on her chin, and then her brow. There was nothing rough or careless about Beau, she'd always known that, but he kissed her with the sense that he was holding something precious. There was a time long ago when a part of her was angry that every girl in the county could boast having one of Beau's small smiles, except for her. It was then that she realized why. He had been saving this, something infinitely more special.

Her fear flushed away with every brush of his lips to hers. She wasn't afraid of Beau. She would never be ashamed to show him the pieces of her no one had ever seen. It all washed away, with every soft caress of his thumb against her cheek. As he murmured her name into her ear, as she melted in his arms.

When he pulled away, she couldn't help but smile up at him, the contented expression he would always wish to put on her face.

"I've waited what seems like a lifetime for that." His eyes glinted boyishly.

"Then indulge me."

______________________________

Hello all!

ahhh, 150 reads?! omg guys, that's seriously amazing, not even joking. I honestly wasn't expecting much of a response because this was just one of those stories I needed to write for myself because the ending of Gone With The Wind left me crying and wondering what happened hehe

So, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Beau + Eleanor? What do ya guys think, especially since he's leaving for London? All comments are welcome here, even if you just wanna say hi lol

On another note, I update slow, I knowww (ugh, I honestly hate that, too). There are a lot of times when I just don't have ideas or time to write (as a matter of fact, I should actually be doing AP biology rn...), but I'll really try my hardest to get another chapter in this week. But if I could get some more feedback, that might be enough incentive to write another chapter *wink wink* lol

As always, thanks so much! Don't be shy to leave comments, tell me what you think of Beau or Eleanor or whoever really, or what you might want to see in the future. Keep reading, vote, follow, and recommend TSMB (eh, it's actually kind of a lame acronym. whoops) for your friends!

Happy Thursday (its almost friday, woot woot)!

xoxo noelle