bonbons • roux

•Chapter Fifteen•

Over the next few days, Madeleine, Vianne and Josephine work hard to make food and chocolate for the party, wanting to make it perfect for Armande.

~☆~

The table is surrounded by a few of the townspeople;Guillaume, Madame Auden and her two friends, Alphonse and Yvette and, of course, Armande.
Josephine is pouring everyone drinks as Anouk, Vianne, Madeleine and Roux carry out food. The table becomes silent as they watch Roux cautiously.

"Bon appetit, everyone!" Vianne says cheerfully. Everyone lays the food on the table but eyes still follow Roux. Madeleine sits down, giving Roux a reassuring smile. He smiles back and sits in the chair next to her. Alphonse leans over to whisper to his wife.

"If the Compte finds out..." Armande overhears and quickly cuts him off.

"The Compte isn't here, he wasn't invited."

"Is Luc coming?" Anouk asks eagerly.

"I'm sure they have other plans..." Armande says dejectedly. Everyone begins to help themselves to food. Armande is about halfway through her plate when she is interrupted.

"Happy Birthday, Grandma." Luc passes her a flat object wrapped in brown paper.

"The invitation said 5 o'clock."

"I should have read it more carefully."

"If you had, you'd know there was supposed to be no gifts."

"Don't worry so much about the 'supposed to'." Armande opens the gift and pulls out what's inside. The portrait.

"Like it?" Armande puts her fingers to her mouth, choking up slightly.

"You made me younger..." she replies weakly. "Very diplomatic."

Suddenly, Madeleine feels a hand on her thigh. She tenses slightly, face blushing brightly. She looks at Roux. He doesn't look her way but a smirk grows on his face. He then starts gently rubbing up and down until Madeleine relaxes under his warm touch.

The sky above them darkens as they continue to enjoy the luscious food.

"I have an announcement" Vianne states, standing up. "If you like what you tasted here, you're going to love our chocolate festival on Sunday-"

"Advertise on your own time" Armande interrupts, making everyone laugh. "What's for dessert?" Vianne looks at her younger sister. Madeleine stands up, looking down shyly. She then feels someone grab her hand; Roux.

"It's...it's my duty to announce that...there is no dessert here tonight..." The table starts murmuring.

"No dessert?"

"Because..." She looks at the man sat beside her. He smiles softly, giving her a small amount of confidence. "Because it's on Roux's boat." The table falls silent.

"Any complaints, see me" Armande says, smiling reassuringly as she grabs her glass of wine.

~☆~

Roux and his friends play some music (video) as everyone dances happily. On the hill, stand Serge and the Compte.

"You see Monsieur le Compte? You see? There's Josephine, that stupid cow. And that girl who tried to stop me!"

"Something must be done, Serge. Something must be done." The Compte storms away from the riverbank, leaving Serge to ponder.
Josephine sees him on the hill, pausing for a split second before continuing, purposefully dancing with another man. Serge grits his teeth angrily.

Not long later, the song has changed into a slow one. Madeleine collects the plates and glasses, not wanting to leave Roux's boat messy.

"You done yet?" Roux asks, making Madeleine jump. "Sorry sweet, I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay" she chuckles, blushing from embarrassment. "And yes, almost."

"Almost? Hmm. Come one, leave it. You're done. Come with me." Roux holds out his hand. Madeleine looks reluctantly at it. "Come on" he whispers. Madeleine gives in and gently takes it. He wraps his large hand around her petit one, causing a small smile to make it's way onto her face.

"I have...chocolate everywhere-" Madeleine says, trying to wipe it off.

"What? It'll be alright." He steps closer, gently grabbing her waist as she wraps her arms around his neck. She looks up into his velvety brown eyes, getting lost in them.

"Do you think everyone had a good time?" She mutters worriedly.

"Shhh..." They continue to slowly sway to the music. Madeleine rests her head on his chest, eyes fluttering shut. Peace and happiness is all she felt. She opens her eyes to see Anouk and Vianne looking up at them, a smile on both of their faces. The woman looks up at Roux again as he looks down at her, their faces very close together. His eyes drop to her lips and back up again as his tongue flicks out over his own. They both smile as they continue to dance.

"I'm tired" Armande says. "Madeleine, Roux." She pulls them from their trance. "Thanks. This was...thank you."

"I'll take you home-" Madeleine offers.

"Oh, for God's sake, don't fuss. You'll ruin a perfectly decadent evening. I'm not partial to big sloppy goodbyes." Madeleine ignores this and pulls the old woman into a hug.

"Stay safe Armande."

"I will. You go have fun with your man. I'll see you soon." They pull away and Luc gently aids his grandma back to her house.

I know it's been forever and I'm so sorry.
I've started GCSE work and I've had like...no time.
Next chapter might include smut but I'm not sure when I'll be able to write it.
Thanks for reading!
~DoD♡