Lady March - (L.L.)

Chapter 25

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Far, Yet So Close

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Later that evening, when she was sure that everyone had returned to their own homes, Annie too retired to her bedroom for the night. Since she'd be staying in the March house for a few months, she needed to unpack her clothes and other accessories - hopefully make it feel like a home, though she was unsure if it'd still be classified as one considering the circumstances of which she left in the first place.

A knock on the wooden door interrupted her activities, and through the door came none other than Laurie Laurence.

He was still dressed up in his party attire; thick corduroy pants, a dress shirt with dark suspenders overlapping it.

"Annie," he greeted with a curt nod her way. Without waiting for a response, he took a seat on her bed.

Although Annie wasn't sure if it was proper to still think of him this way, she still felt he looked as handsome as ever. Sure, a little grown up - but who wouldn't be after all these years.

"Laurie," she returned with the same unfamiliar tone. Having given up on the clothes for now, she too took a seat across from him, a comfortable distance apart. "What brings you here?"

Laurie glanced at her, smiling sheepishly. "We can catch up, don't you think?"

It was true. The whole time Annie was there (which wasn't long, in all honesty), she hadn't had the chance to speak with Laurie. About anything, really. And she was pretty sure that the small interaction they shared at the dinner table earlier didn't really count.

"Catching up. . ." she trailed off, her thoughts absentminded. She looked up at him and nodded, waiting for him to say something first.

Between the two of them, there was never any sort of awkwardness or uncomfortable air. However, when they looked at each other, both waiting for the other to say something, it seemed that the years really did have an impact on the way they acted towards one another.

Laurie broke that silence. "Look, Anne--"

"Amy's gotten beautiful," Annie said, interrupting him. "More than she was three-years-ago."

He nodded, looking almost dreamlike. "She has, hasn't she?"

"You two are quite fond of each other, I can see it in the way she looks at you," she said and his mouth dropped slightly downward.

"Yeah, we are. But you. . . and Maxwell LeBlanc seem, I mean . . . you two are engaged to be married soon."

"Yes, that's true." Annie said, yet there was a hint of something unfamiliar in the way she spoke. Something that Laurie didn't necessarily understand.

"How was your trip?" he asked, and her gaze kept still on the wall across from them.

"It was good."

"And Aunt March? I haven't heard from her since. . . forever."

"She's well."

Laurie narrowed his eyes slightly, desperate to escape the monotony of their very one-sided conversation. "Are you upset with me?"

She finally glanced up to meet his eyes. "No, I'm not."

"You're certain? You seem so distant all of a sudden."

"I'm not, Laurie."

Laurie perked up, mouth gaped open as if Annie had just committed some sort of federal crime. "What did you just say?"