ALAIN had kept his promise and came every day to give Edith her homework. She was able to make up all her classes and it was almost as if she hadn't missed a single one. In addition to giving her lessons, he always spent around twenty minutes with her. He was telling her about the class, about Dupin's latest inventions or about the new reasons that Giraud had found to shout at them.

      It changed Edith's mind and she loved spending time with Alain. He also talked to her about his work on the farm or his childhood and she loved being able to get to know him. She also told him things about herself and in what could have been the worst weeks of her life, she had finally had a really good time, and for that she was very grateful.

      "So my mom's back, which means I'll be back to school tomorrow." she told him as they were sitting side by side in the backyard.

       "That's great. How's she feeling?"

       "Way better. A doctor will come see her every week to check that everything is okay but she feels fine." Edith nodded.

       Alain smiled. "Awesome."

       "You know, I think I'm gonna miss you coming to see me everyday. I really like those moments." she whispered.

       He softly put his hand on hers. "Well... maybe we don't have to make it stop."

       She looked up and met his gaze. Her heart sped up as they stared at each other intensely and finally, Alain leaned down and placed his lips on hers. Edith's shoulders instinctively relaxed as she leaned into the kiss and slipped a hand into his neck. When they pulled away, a huge smile appeared on both their faces. She rested her head on his shoulder and he intertwined their fingers, kissing her forehead, and at that very moment they knew that as long as they were together, nothing could hurt them.

★

      "Are you sure you don't need anything, Mom?" Edith asked before she and Thierry left for class.

       "Yes, everything is fine." Victoire assured. "Go on, I'll see you tonight."

       The twins exchanged a look but obeyed. As they walked, Edith glanced at her brother.

       "Um, by the way, don't wait for me to come home this evening. I'm going to stay in school to finish my math homework." she lied.

        "Again?"

        A week had passed since Victoire returned from the hospital and Edith and Alain were seeing each other every day after school. They walked the streets or hung out in the park, taking care that no one saw them. Edith knew that if her parents found out she was seeing him, they would want to remove her from school.

      "Yeah, teachers give us a lot of work."

       It was easy to lie to her parents or her friends, but not telling her brother was very hard for Edith. He knew her better than anyone and she was afraid he could say she was lying. He didn't say anything though and just nodded.

★

       "You seem distracted." Edith told Alain.

       They were sitting on a bench and she was talking about the math exam which was taking place the next day but Alain seemed a little off.

        "Sorry." he said.

        "No, it's okay. What's wrong?" she replied but seeing he was hesitant, she put a hand on his chest. "Come on, you can tell me."

         "It's just that my grades have dropped so that worries Bellanger. But I told him that I'll get a good grade on the math exam, so I'll have to study hard." Alain explained.

        "Okay, well, I can help you! We can study together if you want." the redhead told him.

        He chuckled. "Sorry, no. You would be too distracting and I couldn't focused."

        "Oh, really?" she smiled and he nodded before kissing her.

        "Do you think about me sometimes?" Alain asked, putting a lock of hair behind her ear.

        "Maybe." she said.

        He laughed and kissed her cheek. She put her arms around his neck and kissed his lips again. Alain finally pulled away. "I should go and study."

       "Okay." she replied and they stood up.

       "I'm gonna walk you home." he took her hand.

       "No, it's not far. Go study, I'll see you tomorrow." she smiled at him.

       He leaned over and kissed her one last time. She smiled as he walked away, and she started walking back to her house. As she arrived at the street where she lived, her brother's voice was heard. "Did you have fun?"

       She turned around and saw Thierry walked to her. "Uh, well, I was just studying.."

       "No need to lie, I saw you with that Laubrac kid. You've been lying to me for almost two weeks so I needed to know what was going on."

        Edith's face went pale. "Please, don't tell mom and dad. They'd make me stop seeing him."

        "I'm not a snitch. But you know he's a foster kid, right?"

        "I know, I don't care. It's serious between us. I really love him." she said.

        "Does he love you?" Thierry asked.

        Edith thought about it for a second. They never said they loved each other, but she knew how he was acting around her. "I think he does."

       "Um. Well, either way, I'm not gonna tell mom and dad but you should still consider about stopping seeing him."

       She shook her head. "I won't do this."

      Her brother shrugged. "Well, you just won't like what mom and dad are going to announce you."

★

       "You said what?" Edith exclaimed.

        "Your brother's friend Nathan, who spent Christmas with us, asked for our blessing to marry you and we said yes. He has just finished his military service and comes from a good family. You will be fine with him."

       "But I saw him for two weeks at Christmas, I barely know him! And then, school? I, I can't—"

       "Once you are married you will no longer need to go to school." her father replied.

       "But I wanna make my own money." she insisted. "I need to gratuate, I need to stay in school. I can't marry him, I can't."

       She couldn't talk about Laubrac because it was obvious that it would only reinforce her parents' idea that she should marry Nathan, but what other argument could she give? She couldn't think about anyone else but Alain. Marrying Nathan was absolutely out of the question. But faced with her parents' insistence, she absolutely didn't see how she was going to be able to get out of the problem.

— there's only one chapter left 🙇🏻‍♀️

this feels kinda rushed but i didn't know how to end this sorry 😭