A Truelove of Turtle Doves

Chpt 21 - Étoiles

"Alright, listen up, lover boy," instructed Josie, pointing at Francis, "Same rules as always. Home by 6pm sharp - the earlier, the better - no seducing, bedding, ravishing or screwing, especially in public places, and absolutely no hitting, slapping, kicking or otherwise heart-breaking activity directed towards (Y/N). Understand?"

I was a suitable shade of pink, as was Francis, but the other male managed a smile and a polite "Oui, madam," as well as a small bow.

"Josie, is this necessary every single time we go out?" I groaned.

This had quickly become a routine for the five of us after that fateful day Francis and I shared at the beach almost a month ago.

Josephine, Lauren, Edward and I would head into town either by horseback or carriage, and the first thing Josie would do upon seeing Francis at our usual meeting spot on the docks would be, in her words, to 'lay down the rules.' It didn't matter that Francis and I could practically recite these rules off by heart, they were apparently what had to be said before the two of us went anywhere together. They had to be said every day, for the past month. Somehow, though, the two of us still managed to flush every time a certain rule was mentioned. It doesn't take a genius to figure out which one.

Josie simply smiled at Francis' response and replied with "Good."

"Josephine I'm serious!" I whined.

"Awww, is poor little (Y/N) getting annoyed?" teased Lauren.

"Yes," I growled.

Francis laughed. "Come on, mon amour, let them have their fun, and we will have ours," he said flirtatiously.

I smacked his arm, my blush growing slightly. "Shut it, French stick."

All four of them laughed at my response.

"In all seriousness though, (Y/N), yes, it does need to be said every time. We need to make sure that you're okay. We trust Francis, really, we do, but excuse us for needing to check up on our childish friend who definitely cannot look after himself."

"I can!"

"Cannot!"

"Can!"

She stuck her tongue out at me, which I copied. Lauren joined in by pulling a stupid face.

"Clearly you are all the epitome of maturity," comment Edward sarcastically.

"Shut it Ed," the three of us retorted in unison.

He rolled his eyes, but a playful smile adorned his features. "Come on. Time to be heading off. I think they know the rules well enough. We still have work to do."

It was true. The three of them did have work to do, important work at that. We still didn't know who was working with Michael. Josie had combed over the mansion looking for clues at least 7 times and had found nothing. Lauren had attempted to make Michael slip up, but to no avail. Edward had managed to cause a distraction several times when things had got a bit too close for comfort, but apart from that, he hadn't been able to do much else. Penny and Ava had been keeping an eye out for anything suspicious, but we currently had no leads what so ever. It had made all of us slightly uneasy.

"Okay, okay, let's go," sighed Lauren.

"Ah, by the way, one more thing," I began, "Um... we will be breaking one of those rules-"

"Oh will we, mon amour?"

I glanced at Francis' flirty expression. I glared.

"Yes, we will-"