C H A P T E R   S I X
Unladylike

It had been a month since the incident. Though she didn't tell anyone about it, Delia had to lie her way through that morning. She could recall her Aunt asking her where she had been that morning, she replied with, "I was out for a morning walk." She exclaimed which was overly dramatic but she hoped that aspect would distract her Aunt from her blatant lie.

     Delia's Aunt wasn't convinced but Delia thinks she let it go as she knew her niece wouldn't spill any of her secrets. But that wasn't the only trouble Delia got herself in that month. She knew that somehow, like a feeling in her gut.

     Later that day after she lied about her whereabouts, Delia decided to go see Laurie once again, she walked as calmly as she could to his house but before she could knock on his large wooden front door when she saw him walking to the March household. She ran as fast as she could after him and was able to wrap her arm around Laurie's neck, taking him down onto the grassy ground.

     "Delia..." Laurie immediately fumbled to the floor, groaning and prying at her arm as it was still wrapped around his neck, loosely.

     "This is very unladylike of you!" He grumbled jokingly.

     "Good thing I'm no lady!" She replied almost instantly, countering his remarks like she was a natural. Out of the corner of both of their sets of eyes, they could see someone that resembled Jo March. Laurie could recognize her from a crowd almost immediately, they were close after all.

     "Jo!" He screamed for her help, the figure immediately turned to the wrestling two, Jo grinned, sighing before running towards them and slowly prying Delia's arm off Laurie's neck.

     "You won this time, Theo." Delia brushes herself down while breathing harshly.

     "This isn't fair play." Delia pushed him playfully.

     "Nobody said anything about fair play, Lia." He let out a cackle before turning to Jo.

     "Getting yourself in trouble again?" Jo questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.

     "Possibly..." Laurie grinned.

     "How're your sisters?" He asked Jo and she replied with a "Good," while Delia just stood there awkwardly, feeling out of place in this situation.

     "Come along if you will, Delia." Jo looked at Lia and smiled. Delia nodded and followed the two that were in front of her as they walked to the March household.

     "Meg! Have you seen my toothbrush?" A girl that Delia assumed was much younger than the rest yelled to her sister.

     "Amy, the only place a toothbrush belongs is in the washroom. Where did you put it last?" The eldest sister, Meg questioned.

     Meg was pretty, tall and slender with brown hair that was in an up-do that day. She was beautiful with big eyes and Delia couldn't help but notice how ladylike she was.

     Amy was younger than the rest, slender as well as pale with blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

     "Don't worry, it's usually not this chaotic," Laurie mumbled closely into Delia's ear, he had to lean back a bit to be able to say those words but they came out and she couldn't help but feel a brush of warm air on her lower jaw and neck.

     "Laurie, you're back!" Amy suddenly squealed in happiness, hugging Laurie softly before running upstairs to check the washroom.

     "And who's this?" Mrs. March walks to the front door to greet her guests.

     "Marmee, this is Delia, we met at the ball." Jo introduced Delia immediately, gently grabbing her arm and pulling her forward. Delia couldn't lie, she was quite nervous and shy but she couldn't help but smile and give Mrs. March a gentle and friendly hug.

     "I hope you didn't have trouble getting here, Delia. The wind has been strong and cold these past few days." Mrs. March said in a concerned manner but Delia brushed it aside while saying, "Oh, it was nothing, I live just a 20 minutes walk from here." She smiled happily.

     "She's with the Ackers, Mrs. March. I'm sure you've met them before." Laurie cut Delia off before she could continue what she was about to say.

     "The Ackers sounds familiar, I'm sure we've exchanged some sort of greetings but they are a mysterious couple, those two. Marie and Daryl are very secretive." Mrs. March informed them, Delia listened to her choice of words closely, mysterious they were true, she thought. There was a breath of silence and she knew it was the tune to continue what she was going to say.

     "Thank you for having me here too, by the way, your home is very cozy and humble." Delia thanked Mrs. March with rosiness in her cheeks.

     "Why thank you, Delia. Make yourself at home, if you need anything, just ask one of the girls or Laurie." With that, the three of them, Jo, Delia and Laurie walked around before landing on a couch.

     "Well, I think you've seen all my sisters except for Beth. She's usually upstairs nowadays, she had contracted scarlet fever, it's... been a long journey." Jo sighed before continuing her sentence, the three of them fell into silence once more. Delia could feel someone squeezing her left shoulder and she assumed it was Laurie who was sitting to her left.

     "We get through those days, one by one. Things ought to get better eventually." Jo broke the silence, trying to lift the mood, she motioned for Delia to follow her upstairs. Lia turned to Laurie and gave him a look that asked him if she should go, he nodded softly and followed the two of them up.

     "Meg! Have you sorted the toothbrush situation yet?" Jo yelled, Meg peeked out a doorframe and looked at Jo with a conflicted mood then her eyes flickered to Delia with a smile.

     "And who's this?" Meg questioned in surprise, "Delia Acker," Laurie said Delia's name and she did a courtesy in return, they both let out a little chuckle and Meg smiled at their energy.

     "Nice to meet you, Delia. And to answer your question, Jo..." Meg mumbled Jo's name harshly, there was a pause before she continued in saying, "Amy is brushing her teeth right now. It's what she gets for waking up late." Meg grinned and turned back and disappeared into the room she was in. The three could hear the sound of water and the brushing of teeth, Laurie looked in the bathroom and laughed.

     "Hey! Privacy, Laurie!" Amy fussed, they all laughed and Amy tried to finish up as fast as she could.

     "What is the meaning of this?" Amy walked out of the washroom in all her glory.

     "Meeting guests is the meaning of this," Jo replied instantly and Amy finally laid her eyes on Delia.

     "Delia Acker," Lia extended her hand to Amy, she shook her hand with carefulness and her eyes lit up.

     "Aw... You're making friends, Jo." Amy exclaimed, Laurie and Delia held each other as they were starting to die from laughter, their cheeks were aching from smiling so much that day in such a short amount of time.

* * * * *

That was a month ago, as said before. Delia had become quite close to the March family in such a short time. She could recall herself walking to the March Household while Laurie was busy and he couldn't make it. She didn't mind spending time with the March sisters, it was entertaining, she felt a lot less lonely, she felt... happy? Like she could finally breathe clean air again. She hasn't done that in so long, it's like her nostrils aren't stuffy anymore and her throat wasn't closed up.

Delia could remember when Jo would spoil some of her story with her, giving her only small chunks, she wanted more but Delia knew better than to be greedy. Jo's writing was smooth and easy, reading it was like melting butter on a warm pan, it was perfect and slid off your tongue, it had a good flow to it, it was amazing.

Delia tried to compliment Jo whenever she could but Jo was not one for manners but Delia liked her for that. She was fun, boyish, different from the rest, she stood out from the crowd.

With Amy, Delia was like Amy's emotion box, Amy could come to talk to her whenever she pleases, and sometimes she would slip in details of her struggles too, like how nervous she was all the time and how all her senses are just amplified by a hundred. It was nice to have a friend, talking to people.

Meg was a good sport, she and Delia could fuss around all day. Meg was mannered, she was perfect and although she wishes she could see her flaws, Delia couldn't penetrate her perfect wall.

Delia wasn't and still isn't a lady, she isn't mannered, she was poor, growing up in a small town far far away from Massachusetts. But only when she goes there does she feel happy. Meg tries to give Delia advice on courtesies and table manners but in the end, the both of them end up goofing around with smiles as bright as stars, their laughs would travel through the whole house and it would get them in trouble.

But sometimes... Lia didn't want to be there. She just didn't want to go, she wanted to, but a voice in her made her anxiousness amplify once more and she would spiral out of control. She couldn't sit still on those days but go to the river bend helped. The crashing of water soothed her and the memories there, well... they haunted her but, good memories were made there too.

The days Delia spent with Laurie were scattered, they didn't have a schedule but somehow Laurie could always meet her at least twice a week. She imagined that it was a hassle to get to her but he did it and that touched her heart dearly. Once while she was on another trip, she was at the river, Delia assumed that Laurie had asked one of the March sisters where she was but she didn't know that he came there by default.

Laurie came running into nature covered land and laid on a rock next to hers. Delia was laying on a moss-covered rock, her hair was slipping into the edges and cracks of dirt but she didn't care, it didn't matter to her. Her hands were placed on her stomach and she would make her index finger tap her other hand over and over and over.

Tap, tap, tap and the rushing of the water was all she heard when she was there.

When Laurie saw her there, he laid next to her and stared up at the sky like she was.

"Having a rough day?" Laurie questioned, still staring upwards.

"I guess you could call it that," Lia uttered, her words got caught in her throat. Her voice quivered every once in a while, sounding as cold as ice. "It's one of those days?"

"Seems like it."

"Well, if you need me..." Laurie tilted his head to his left to look at her, then taking his hand and placing it overtop her tapping finger which made Delia stop moving for just a moment before she started blinking at a quicker pace, feeling anxious about Laurie's hand that laid atop of hers.

"I'm here." Laurie finished his sentence, sighing as he looked at her in awe and concern. She was a beauty to him and yet, he felt like it was a loss already.

"I know..." it was all she could get herself to say, she felt weak and useless like this, what was this? She wanted to say more but her mouth restrained her.

I know, and I love you for that, Laurie, her mind said for itself that day. It was a sibling love, she thought, but something inside her disagreed with that statement that she made. Although she couldn't pinpoint where the doubt was coming from.

Aunt Marie and Uncle Daryl... well, that's different. She thinks they have been more aware of where she has gone, it feels like eyes are always on her, someones watching her, but that's just paranoia, right? It was just her, she always thought, and it was probably true.

It has been a hell of a month, she silently thought to herself. That day, she fell asleep feeling like everything was somewhat okay.

A U T H O R ' S N O T E

Well, this chapter is different lol. It's like a catchup chapter that talks about everything that happened
in a month since the last chapter. Let me know
what you think of this chapter! Love y'all!