right person, wrong time.

that's a shame

Chapter Twelve

Jo

I hadn't realise I had missed Friedrich as much as I did until I saw him tonight. He was wearing a simple suit with the trimmings warring slightly at the ends. It was appropriate as it suited his rustic characteristic and reminded me of days of waking up facing each other on the desks after marking work up to the early hours.

Ever since last night, I was shitting bricks.
I wasn't expecting both Teddy and Bhaer to be in the same place and definitely not at the same time. But seeing him now before me gave me a strange sense of contentment.

I had yet to see Teddy today.

Bhaer reminded me of how far I had come and how much I had left to achieve for both myself and the girls at the school. It was a soothing thought to realise.

The pleasantries exchanged between him and Marmee and Meg were a spectacle to say the least. Meg could hardly contain herself when he arrived but luckily Daisy was able to interrupt her long enough for me to steal him away. To catch up, of course.

Contrary to what I originally thought, Freidrich was nearby Concord rather than enlisting students in Europe. It was simply because he had decided to recruit some girls in the neighbouring cities before he moved onto exploring Europe.

"So any luck?" I asked, slouching against the wall in the corner of the room. If Meg could see me now she would have berated me for my lack of manners in front of company. Especially male company. But Bhaer had seen me quite literally at my worst hours of the day, so I knew a bit of weak posture wouldn't have fazed him in the slightest.

He pulled a piece of his straggly hair behind his ear before he said, "Yes two girls from Boston and a few more nearby." He beamed broadly above me, clearly proud of his achievements.

Despite it only being a few weeks since I had last seen him, I had forgotten how tall he was. It would have been seen as gangly for most people but his broad frame evened out his physique and wonderfully complimented him— speaking from an objective point of view of course.

"I'm glad." I smiled up at him. He returned the sentiment. He held my gaze for a moment before saying, "Forgive me for my brazenness, but I did notice your absence these last few days." He shifted awkwardly.

My lips curved up at the corners before I punched his shoulder with my fist, accidentally forcing him to take a step back. "Are you saying you missed me?" I mused.

"Dear God." He exhaled, shaking his head slightly while clutching onto the shoulder I just hit. "Well I guess you could put it like tha-"

"You missed me!" I exclaimed, cutting him off and smiling with immense glee.

"I just noticed you weren't there is all," Bhaer huffed, but if I wasn't mistaken I had noticed a slight smile beginning to form on his lips.

"Yeah yeah," I rocked back on my heels, beaming from ear to ear. "That's just another way of saying you missed me." I crooned.

"If I must admit, I do find your company to be rather agreeable," he said. To that I just burst into laughter. His eyes lit up at this and joined in, his chest shaking with our convulsions.

"I missed you too Friedrich." I gasped, trying to compose myself before we dragged anymore attention to ourselves.

He paused momentarily, looking down at me. His eyes were a warm honey-brown, almost tawny in color, and rimmed with the longest, thickest, darkest eyelashes I've ever seen on a man. They were mesmerising. It was just something about them didn't seem right. Or rather didn't fit right with me. Something that didn't feel... whole and complete. I shook my head, pushing the thought aside.