Ah, love is in the air. Anne and Phillip are new newly-weds, enjoying the nice winter air. Phillip had surprised Anne with a grand white manor.
With the star-crossed lovers finally together, everything seemed perfect. Or that's what they though...
"Look, I know I haven't been the best husband lately, but I know how I feel," Phillip spoke softly through his mic.
The crowd burst onto murmured and whispers as they all point at Phillip. He shakes his head.
"Does anyone here have a husband, a wife?" Dozens of hands rose up. "Don't you love them? Don't you want them to be loved?"
The crowd went silent, it was like time froze, and the only people in the world were Anne and Phillip. Anne's heart stopped, she looked fearfully at the crowd, searching for a look of disgust or some sort of retort.
Nothing.
Anne held her chest, anxiousness rolling inside her and doing a somersault. She bit her lip, staring at Phillip.
"I love my wife," Phillip began, a twinkle in his piercing blue eyes. "I love her with the bottom of my heart. I love her smile, her laugh, her love, her everything. Anne Wheeler Carlyle is my everything."
Cameras started clicking, people were murmuring now, some had greedy expressions on their faces.
"Our love is no longer an act that you come every day to see," Phillip choked, staring at each individual in the crowd. "Our love will never be an act. Our love is real."
And just like that, people starting booing, retorting and screaming at his face. Anne stared at her husband, being laughed and mocked at. This was her worst fear, her loved ones becoming a laughing stock, just like her. She couldn't handle it, she needed this to end, once and for all.
"I will never love anyone more than Phillip," Anne spoke harshly through the microphone. All eyes were on her now. "I will not allow you to speak to my husband as such. An African American woman has the right to marry an Englishman, whether you like it or not. It is not a crime to love, it is a crime to hate."
Phillip and Anne left the stage together, hand in hand as they walked backstage. Lettie looked happy, and so did Barnum, though a look of strain filled his expression a little.
"I don't know whether to kiss you or throw you off a bridge," Anne retorted, smacking him on the arm playfully.
"Can I choose?"
Anne wrapped her arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his lips. The audience slowly walked away with expressions of pure shock and a flash of anger. Barnum sighed, cracking his knuckles as he made his way to Phillip.
"Okay, break it up you two," Barnum said, pushing them away. "What you did there was touching, but not to them. You showed them a piece of what you two believe in, I think they'll remember that. But one wrong move, and it's over."
Anne nodded, looking at Phillip with admiration and love. Nothing would break them apart now. Not after that. Phillip had shown her that loving is powerful, and holds go restraints. She realized that she was holding back, and she wasn't going to do that now. They were going to fulfill their dreams together. They'll become a family, they'll be remembered as the star-crossed lovers that never gave up.
This was the life she wanted.
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Author's Note: Sorry for the short chapter! Thank you SO SO much for reading Nine! I appreciate each and every one of you Bookworms out there! Stay tuned for Ten...! Turns out, everything MIGHT actually turn out okay after all, right? Hehe, farewell!
