Heat bursting against her skin, feet gracefully carrying her with careful steps through spaced bodies. There was something to be valued by humans and the way they enjoyed showing their fortune in the face of others. The stock was not the best of the age, and it reminded the vampire so very much of France before the revolution that she often found herself glancing to the large windows despite herself in search of the less fortunate coming to seek vengeance.

Across the room, she could see Hugo doing much the same as he stood tense among a boisterous group of men that worked at the bank. Royce was nowhere among them, the man oddly absent at his own party, but Marion didn't care much for that fact - not with the way Rosalie sipped daintily at the spirits in her tall glass and the apples of her cheeks grew a lovely rose that was more fetching than they ought to have been.

The girl had tasted more than her fair share, but Marion did not guilt her for it. The prohibition had ended, alcoholic drinks becoming legal for distribution once more and never having had them before Rosalie did not know her own limit and inhibitions at its effects.

It was silly watching the girl as she flushed and giggled at the intoxicating feeling that took hold of her as Marion sipped conversationally from her own glance, the taste and effects lost on her as it graced her lips. She twirled the contents of her glass, smiling kindly and laughing along with Rosalie as the human leaned closer and closer with this conspirational air to her as Rose just seemed to breathe her in.

Marion almost couldn't help herself from following the girl's actions, from moving just as close and dropping her voice to the same sultry tone Rosalie adopted as the spirits took their hold - but she mustn't the room was so full, Rose was engaged, such actions were viewed as the devils work, as a psychological deficiency. So she stayed her hand, hid her smile behind the crystal of her glass as she simply basked in the other girl's presence.

It was well that all others stayed away, too afraid to approach them with the way Estelle would occasionally pass with a feral glare shooting at all those that stepped in their direction, the girl taking a turn of the room every so often to keep up the appearance of an antsy young woman that did not want to be here.

She had learned long ago that her daughter was a prickly sort beneath all that beauty, and beneath that, she was all soft edges and blushing cheeks. Estelle was an enigma to all aside from her mother and uncle.

As it were Estelle was on her way back from another turn of the room, brow crinkled and eyes squinted oddly as the ground as she approached with a determined step. Marion straightened. senses prickling as she searched for what it was that upset her daughter.

"Maman," Estelle whispered as she sidled up to her. "There is an issue by the restroom."

"What is it?" she asked, gently brushing her thumb over the hand her daughter clutched her arm with.

"Royce, he is, well, how you say, Rosalie se fait roullée dans la farine," Estella muttered dejectedly, Marion stiffening immediately at the implications that her daughter presented.

She wasn't sure what to do, what she was even meant to do at a moment like this. Such things would not have always been the end of a relationship when she was human. It would have caused talk, would have resulted horribly for the lady, but the man was never at fault for such deeds. Vaguely she wondered if the results would be the same of this era.

When she was young, cheating would not even always come to the end of a relationship. Marion knew, however, that now would not be the time to tell Rosalie, that seeing tears in the eyes of the other girl would cause the vampire to snap and do something that she would ultimately regret in the end.

"Royce?" Rosalie exclaimed happily. "Oh, I want to see my Royce!"

Estelle looked away. "Rose, my dear friend, I do not believe it to be the best moment."

Pouting, the woman looked to Marion with pleading eyes. "Will you help me find him, my Mari?"

Sputtering, she couldn't control the flutter in her chest at the other woman's words as she felt warm skin grip at her wrist, a gentle hold that only had Rosalie looking at her with such a strange fondness in her eyes.

"Oh, you are very cold," Rosalie hums, the sweet sound a beautiful song and Marion unconsciously followed the girl as she leads her away - blonde hair whipping about as she searched for her fiance.

It took her an embarrassing moment to get her wits about her, to find herself trying to persuade Rosalie to stop in lieu of using an exposing amount of force that would only add to the current issue.

The flash of recognition followed by a precise hurt was worse than Marion could imagine, beautiful Rosalie staggering back as she blinked wildly at Royce and the secretary that he had pressed against the wall. Dark red smeared his mouth, leaving a damming trail over the expanse of his jaw towards his ear, and Marion found this somehow offensive to her.

Rosalie made this choked sound , stumbling back into Marion with heels skidding agaisnt the floor jarringly. She caught her, holding her close to her chest protectively as though she could snuff out the emotional pain the human woman was feeling - wincing when she felt the tears that hit the exposed skin of her collar.

Spinning, she lead them away with a calculated step, guiding them through the crowd with a dangerous air that dispelled any and all that dared near them at the moment.

Estelle appeared, two coats drapped over her arm with her own already drapped ove rher shoulder. It took the women a moment to untangle Rosalie from her and pull her coat on, but it gave time for Hugo to arrive, hat a top his head and silence for once lacking his playful smile. And as a group, they took Rosalie from the large house with Estelle in the lead as they head toward the Hale residence.

The walk was silent apart from Rose's soft sniffles and Marion's reassuring whispers. Her family didn't dare speak, walking together up front the pair with the intention of giving them privacy.

"Is there something wrong with me?" Rosalie mumbles, leaning into Marion's touch. "Am I not pretty enough?"

"Oh, Rosalie," Marion breathed. "The birds sing for you, ma chère. They envy your beauty that is beyond compare."

The blonde sniffled, her heart jumping at the words in a way that Marion was certain were only her imagination because Rosalie would not react like this, should not react like this - not to her.

"You really believe so?" Rosalie breathed, head tiliting up so she could look at Marion from where she had nestled herself into the girl's shoulder.

She could smell the alcohol on the human's breath, could smeel the way the tears migled with it as they tried to cover the scent that was "I know this truth better than all else. You are the woman of everyone's dreams."

"Do you, I mean, am I, I suppose, the type of girl you would dream of, that is, if it were acceptable?" Rosalie rambled, hanss shaking where they gripped at her and pulse racing in such a way that it drove her crazy.

Marion stilled her breathing, mimicked the movement with her chest, and slowly, as though Rose was truly nothing more than a delicate flower, she brushed her fingers over the apples of her cheeks as though she would whither and disappear under her touch. It was easy to imagine that her heart would have stuttered to a stop with the way she peered at her so shyly.

"You are the only type of girl I would dream of, mon coeur," Marion whispered, fingers itching to trace the outline of the girl's pouty lips, to draw the bridge of her nose. "No other could ever compare to you, Rose, promis."

Flushing prettily, Rose ducked her chin like she could hide the grin that stretched at her lips, clumsily tripping over her own feet as she reached her arms around Marion to hold her close.

Ths vampire wondered if this bravery and impulsivity was the alcohol that gripped her or whether it was simply a combination of her feelings and Marion's heartfelt words. Though still she did not pull away as Rose stopped them on the sidewalk, the girl inching closer and, as though she was scared Marion would reject her, pressed silken lips to the frozen pair that parted as a shuddered gasp escaped her.

Seconds froze time as she was greeted with the most exquisite feeling she had ever had the pleasure of gracing her. Soft, frail Rosalie kissing her as though she waa scared of destroying the momentb as though she was the one with inhuman strength and impenetrable skin. Warmth and breakable bones holding her gently as though they were capable of shattering the earth and ending life with the barest touch.

It took all of her self-control to keep from grasping her too tight, from kissing too hard because all she wanted was to have Rosalie closer, to taste Rosalie better, to listen to her wild heartbeat nearer, to smell the divine sweetness of her scent on her. It took all her self-control to kiss her gentle and tender instead of crushing her in an accidental moment of love and desire.

Marion allowed rosalie to pick the pressure, allowed her to guide the movement, and she followed like the helpless romantic she was because she loved Rosalie despite knowing the impossibility of reciprocation.

When Rosalie finally pulled away, Marion felt like she couldn't breath for the first time in centuries. She felt dizzied, lightheaded with this undeniable feeling of euphoria.

"I wish I was allowed to love you," Rosalie pants, hot breaths bursting like electricity over Marion's lips. "I've had so many fantasies since the moment I first saw you."

Humming softly, Marion acknowledged her rambling with a soft kiss to her temple. There was nothing she could say to reassure her, not when she knew that the only way to be together would cost the other girl her life. There was a truth, an actuality in which they could not be together unless Rosalie was willing to give up the life she had now for one of secrets and hiding.

"You're so much nicer than Royce. He never, he's never concerned with how I am," Rose muttered. "He only talks about how pretty I am. You think I'm more than just pretty, right?"

The vampire withheld a giggle at the blonde, drawing her to walk towards her home once more. "I believe you have the most beautiful soul, Rosalie."

With a happy sigh she leans closer to her, holding her tighter than before as they walked to to the Hale house. Her brother was grinning at her from upfront, a lecherous thing that involved wiggling eyebrows, while Estelle looked as though she was trying to hide a happy little dance. She ignored them both, too happy to have the moment ruined for her.

It was not long until they arrived, the porch light lit with two little grinning faces hiding behind the curtain of the upstairs window. There were shadows moving from within the sitting room, her parents more than likely as they waited up for their daughter to return.

She alone brought Rosalie to the front porch, slowly detaching herself from the woman so by the time they fot to the door Marion had placed a few inches between them.

"May I visit you tomorrow?" Rosalie asked, violet eyes wide as her lashes fluttered in her direction.

Marion suddenly felt very bashful as she nodded. "You are always welcome to call on my family, Rose. We will always have the door open for you."

Rosalie beamed brilliant at her, teeth and all before she struck forward and gave her a chaste kiss on the mouth, sneaking into her home with a swish of blonde hair.

It was like she was being struck once more, her spine tingling with the sensation.

Marion was surprised she managed to make it home that night.

°°°

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Excuse spelling mistake please. I wrote this from my phone while in the car so couldn't use spell check or whateva.

Also, my french might be crap? I still have trouble getting it right sometimes because its been literal years since I have had to write it so don't be a douche and condescending about if it sucks.

Translation:

Se fait roulée dans la farine : rolled in flour, its basically an idiom for cheated/cheating/being cheated on or whateva

Ma chère: my dear

Mon coeur: my heart

Promis: promise

Unedited

2018-07-18