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New and a bit alarming, Who'd have ever thought that this could be.
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You jolted up at the sound of knocks on your door, not frantic, just simple knocking. You grumbled, sliding out of bed and walking over, rubbing your eyes as you opened the door; only to see Walter, a suppressed smile on his lips at seeing your sleepy form "Good morning" he whispered, unable to keep the smile off his face as you just muttered his words back "there's breakfast on the patio, French toast with strawberries?"
You were wide awake at that, staring at Walter with almost sparkling eyes "French toast?" you croaked, voice still very much asleep. Walter chuckled and nodded "Yes, and strawberries" and with that; the door was closed in his face. Walter laughed as he heard you rush to get dressed, tumbling over yourself to shove your shoes on.
Less than two minutes later, you opened the door again, freshly dressed and ready to eat. "French toast" you muttered and Walter laughed again, leading the way to the patio as the maids and butlers of the Deville manor went about with their duties.
Walter opened the door to the back garden patio and stepped aside to let you out first. You took a deep breath, humming at the smell of French toast wafting through the open air "yum~" you sang, skipping over to the white round table and sitting down before Walter could get it for you. He pouted for a moment then sat across from you.
You glanced at the seat between yours and Walter's and frowned "Who's that for?" you asked, wondering who would be joining you for breakfast as you grabbed some butter and syrup. Walter hummed, leaning on his palm as he looked back at the manor "Evie, but I think she's suffering from intense jetlag" you snorted a bit, nodding. Yeah, Evie had been hit hard the day before after your arrival, she had been practically falling asleep on your shoulder before Grace called.
Soon enough, Evie's Lady's maid; Mrs. Swift, came out onto the patio, looking a bit...sheepish? Maybe...scared? You wondered why before you were distracted by the strawberries Walter was handing you. "my apologies for interrupting Lord Deville, but Ms. Evie is a bit...stubborn, to wake up, I'm afraid she won't be joining you"
Walter waved the older woman off with a shrug "That's just fine, let her have her rest" he smiled at you, watching as you took a bite of your breakfast and danced in your seat, all too happy with what you had been provided "I have the perfect company already"
Mrs. Swift glanced between you and Walter, a bit confused, before she bowed out, leaving you and Walter alone once more. "Aren't you gonna eat?" you asked, ripping Walter out of his thoughts. He looked at you, seeing your fork pointed at his plate of food. "oh-uh, yeah" Walter laughed, a bit nervously before decorating his breakfast as he liked, tentatively taking a bite before getting to speed with eating; almost as if he hadn't eaten actual food in a long time.
"So," Walter said, setting down his fork as he held his hand in front of his mouth "What have you been doing the last ten years? I know you said you were homeless for most of it but-" he made a vague gesture and you shrugged, giggling a bit as he puffed his cheeks out nervously "-along that?"
You hummed, leaning back in your chair and looking out into the garden, your eyes catching onto hundreds of (fav flowers) and many others. "Well uh, for the first year I just-kinda wandered" you muttered, playing with your necklace as you recalled what you had done after you had woken up. "I didn't know where I was, or really-who I was. I only had my necklace and my name."
Walter hummed, completely entranced by your voice, listening intently to every word "This family took me in when they found me-wandering about-and let me stay for a bit, and for about a year I went from hotel to hotel, street to street just looking for anything that could help me remember, but-"
You paused, licking your lips as you sighed "Nothing came to me, so I saved up some money, got a ticket, and flew to New York." you waved your hands about at Walter's questioning look "Why New York? I have no idea, it was the first place I saw and I decided it would be the best place for me" you sighed, remembering those first two years in New York, living on the streets with practically nothing but your name, you had refused to sell your necklace-which you had been told could've set you up for years beyond your imagination.
"I lived on the streets for two years, I practically starved to death several times" you didn't see it, but Walter's grip on his chair had bent the metal, his breath sharp and uneven as he listened to your recent past "but I was able to save up enough to rent a room for a few months, and then get a job; it didn't pay much, I had to choose between a roof over my head and food many times but...yeah" you sighed, rubbing your forehead as your other hand twirled the ruby between your fingers.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that" Walter whispered, giving you what he hoped was a comforting smile. You looked up at him, breath catching a bit as another memory came back to life, and suddenly Harrison was in front of you, that same smile on his lips, his eyes filled with adoration, for you, a silver ring on his finger. You blinked and Walter was back, looking a bit concerned now "Are you okay?" he asked, tilting his head "You spaced out for a moment there."
You hummed, nodding your head "Yes, yes I'm fine just-another" you waved your hand, glancing away from Walter "memory, I guess" Walter's eyes lit up and he leaned forward, wondering what you had remembered "it was just of....Harrison? i think? Just sitting there like you were...though dressed much differently" you rambled on, tapping your chin as you tried to recall what the memory looked like.
Walter hummed, looking quite pleased before his attention was called by the head gardener "The grounds are ready for inspection sir" Walter hummed with a nod, getting to his feet and nodding towards the gardens "Would you like a tour while I do lord stuff?" you laughed and nodded. Walter smiled and held out his hand, helping you out of your chair and leading you along behind the gardener.
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Evie cursed under her breath as she rushed to get dressed, pausing as she passed by the window, a smile growing on her face as she watched you and Walter walk about the gardens. His hand was lightly holding yours as you admired the tiniest details the garden had to give, Evie bit her lip as Walter plucked off a flower from its bush, one of your favorites, and handed it to you, his eyes soft as you shook your head.
She could just imagine what you were saying at this very moment. "I shouldn't" you would deny it, and she could see Walter holding the flower towards you, insisting you should take it "You should"
"I shouldn't"
"You should"
"I shouldn't!"
"You should" She could see the laugh on Walter's face as he once again insisted you should take the flower, and she could imagine the cheeky grin on yours as you finally took it and held it close to your chest. "I will"
Evie looked away as the Gardener bowed out, giving you two another moment of privacy as Evie finished getting ready for her family reunion.
"So" you started the conversation this time, twirling the flower between your fingers as Walter walked next to you with his hands in his pockets "Tell me about yourself? What do you do for fun?"
Walter huffed through his nose, giving you a small smirk "And here I thought you would ask about Harrison?" you just hummed with a shrug, looking down at the flower "Well," you muttered, tilting your head back and forth as you spoke, "he was your brother, I just-I dunno-thought it would be a bit...insensitive just to ask about him?"
Walter hummed, looking off into the gardens as he thought about your question "I like playing the piano, haven't done it in a while though" Walter said, rubbing his chin as he tried to think of the other things he did for fun, or casually "uh-I write sometimes?....damn I don't do a lot of stuff other than work" Walter muttered to himself, the things he used to do for fun had felt-dead-to him since...that day.
He heard your laughter and he felt his chest fill with butterflies, a feeling that hadn't appeared in what felt like thousands of years. You shook your head, smiling at him with those dazzling eyes of yours, that kindness still swimming within your (color) eyes. "Busy bee ain't ya?" you teased, laughing as Walter rolled his eyes with a fond smile.
"Yeah, don't really have time for myself anymore" he muttered, kicking a small rock out of the way as he tried to remember the last time he did something for fun that wasn't...that. You hummed, stopping to look around at the gardens, now in the front yard, your eyes drifting over to the abandoned path.
"Where does that go?" you nodded at the path and Walter whirled around to look at it, licking his lips as he shrugged "uh-just-just an old forest path; it's not really used anymore, poison ivy got out of hand" Walter explained, resting his hand on your shoulder to lead you back into the manor.
"Have you had a tour of the manor yet?" Walter asked as you stepped into the main hall. you shook your head, spinning the flower between your fingers as Walter gently guided you to the room on the left, pushing it open and leading you inside "Well then, let us start in the library, or rather my office"
It was clearly a personal library, with a desk at one end and a fireplace at the other, one wall lined with books as the other was decorated with animal heads and artwork. "Comfy" you said, and it was, it was clearly a place Walter came to be alone, with room for some guests thanks to the love seats and couch resting in front of the fireplace. "What are your favorites to read?" you asked, turning to look at the wall of books, smiling as Walter tapped his chin, walking back and forth in front of the shelves before picking one out.
It was well read, the leather binding worn and the pages flipped through multiple times. You looked at the faded title and grinned "The princess bride, I love that one" you whispered, gently taking the old book he offered to you and gently tracing the cover "Holy shit" you muttered, opening the book to see a special mark at the front "is this a first edition?"
Walter nodded with a smile "yes, I do have a fondness for original works but-that was one of the first I collected with the intent to use instead of shelving it." You hummed, carefully reading the first few pages before going to hand back the book, tilting your head as he lifted his hand up to stop you "Keep it, at least until you...leave" he sounded a bit strained at the last word, as if just realizing you would be going back to New York after the wedding "I can tell you want to read it"
You couldn't hold back the giddy giggle as you nodded, holding the book gently to your chest along with the flower "Thank you" he nodded back with a smile, nodding back towards the door "Shall we continue?" he asked, offering his arm. You took it with a smile and continued on with your tour.
"This way would be the kitchen, but I believe you already know that one" you did, it was the kitchen Walter took you into to bandage your finger "This way is the grand dining room, which connects to the balcony and the back gardens; where the cocktail party this Friday, tomorrow, will be held." You looked into the garden, which you had just been walking through only a couple of minutes ago.
You could see some of the butlers and maids setting up for the aforementioned party and you took a sharp breath, suddenly remembering something "What?" Walter asked, stepping to get into your field of vision. You cursed under your breath, tapping your head. "I didn't bring any dresses with me that would say-cocktail party" you muttered, crossing your arms carefully so as not to crush the flower or book.
Walter just smiled "No worries, I'll handle it" you tilted your head back, narrowing your eyes at his words "What do you mean by, handling it?" you asked, gasping at Walter as he just grinned and turned on his heel, making his way out of the dining room with you at his heels "Walter, what do you mean by that?! Hey!"
-
"He seems to be quite charmed by you," Oliver said, attempting to see how Evie felt about the lord. But Evie shook her head, knowing who had truly charmed the lord in her place "I think he's a bit charmed by (y/n)" Evie chuckled, taking a sip of her champagne, not seeing the panicked look that quickly graced Oliver's face before disappearing.
For if the lord hadn't taken a shine to Evie, what would become of the deal?
"What-what do you mean?" Oliver asked, narrowing his eyes a bit as Evie attempted to explain both what you had told her and what she had overheard Walter telling you. "Well, (y/n)'s necklace is a connection to the Deville family" the room seemed to go quiet at that, all hanging on to every word Evie was saying "And-that necklace was given to her by Harrison Deville, Walter's brother"
Oliver did his best to not look utterly confused, but a small mutter passed his lips "Brother?" he asked himself, Evie ignoring him in favor of continuing to tell what she knew "Yeah-brother, twin brother actually-um-anyway Harrison and (y/n) were like-a thing-and-this is a big gossipy" Evie laughed, popping the rest of the chocolate treat in her mouth "But I think he, Walter, had feelings for (y/n). Cause he looks at her the way I look at wine"
Evie chuckled at her stupid joke-but she was also dead serious, Walter clearly had feelings for you, the looks of longing, as if you were a dream come to life after many years of being forgotten, the way he smiled at you, how soft his voice was when speaking to you.
Evie could read those looks and tones like a book; Walter had been in love with you however many years ago, and seeing you again had only pulled them back up-as if they had never disappeared in the first place.
Evie didn't see how her family looked at each other in near panic, because-their lord wasn't favoring Evie as a possible asset.
What the fuck were they going to do now?
-
"You said you play piano, right?" Walter looked at you as you grazed your fingers on the railings, book and flower still in your grasp as he finished up the tour of the manor. He nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets as you gave him a curious smile "Do you think you could show me?"
Walter couldn't help but smile and nod, leading you into the music room and gesturing for you to stand at the piano. You did so, looking down at the grand piano, drawing your hands along the dark wood. "it's beautiful" you whispered, whipping your head around as Walter sat down and began to play.
It was just some simple warm-ups at first, nothing too fancy. "I haven't played in a while so forgive me if I hit the wrong key," Walter said, voice just a tad nervous; as if scared you wouldn't like how he played. You just shook your head "you aren't performing for a judge, just play what you like" you whispered, resting your elbows on the edge of the exposed top, the flower hanging delicately from your fingers.
Soon, he began to play a song that-was all of a sudden so familiar "I know this" you whispered to yourself, your free hand going to mess with your necklace. Walter hummed, not hearing your words as he continued to play, the soft melody echoing through the room.
You knew this song, you knew it...it-it was your song to him-one you had-had learned from your mother, and sung to Harrison when you were young. Your nose burned with years as the melody came back to you, and the lyrics in turn "lavenders blue, dilly dilly, lavenders green" you whisper sang, Walter's eyes snapping to you as he heard your singing voice for the first time in what felt like millennia.
"When I am king, dilly dilly, you shall be queen. Lavenders green, dilly dilly, lavenders blue, you must love me, dilly dilly," Walter joined you on the last verse, so quietly that you couldn't hear him, but his voice was there all the same; choked and filled with longing and memories.
"for I love you"
A tear slipped down your cheek as another memory came to mind, you were in Harrison's study, sitting by the fire with him working at his desk, singing the song to him as you read; smiling as you heard his voice hum along with your words. "you remember that?" Walter asked, voice shaking as he stood from the piano chair.
You nodded, staring off at nothing as you twisted the ruby between your fingers "it-it was my mother's song, and-I sang it to him when we were kids-and when he would be stuck in his study...I'm sorry, fuck I'm such a mess" you sobbed, realizing you had started crying as the memory overwhelmed you.
Walter just shook his head, walking over to you and opening his arms for a hug, which you gladly tipped into his arms and let your tears flow "it's okay, I-I don't really understand but it must be intense to remember things you never even thought you had. I'm-I'm just glad they seem to be good memories" Walter muttered and you sniffed, rubbing your cheek into his shoulder as his thumb rubbed the back of your neck.
"Can-can you play another?" you asked and Walter nodded, pulling away slowly and then holding your face to make sure you were all right before going to sit back down, beginning another song.
This time you didn't recognize it, so you sighed, closing your eyes and leaning against the piano; simply enjoying the music.
Your eyes opened as Walter stopped playing, leaning over the edge to see him pressing on a singular key, his brows furrowed. It was soundless, and when you looked at the wires you saw one was missing "The one you're trying to play is missing" you whispered, pointing at the missing chord and Walter cursed, gently smacking the keys and standing. "Damn, I thought that would've been replaced by now" he muttered, his eyes flashing darkly before they met yours and that darkness faded away.
"Apologies, it seems I won't be able to play my full performance," Walter said, a slightly dramatic tone to his voice. You laughed gently, shaking your head. "That's fine," you said, stepping away from the piano and making your way towards the door "Thank you for playing."
Walter smiled and bowed his head "Of course, it was my pleasure." You smiled at him over your shoulder, Walter following you out of the room and closing the door behind him "Well, that would conclude our tour, minus the family suites and my bedroom, but I think that would be a bit inappropriate" Walter chuckled, smiling as you laughed with a nod.
"Yeah, pushing on privacy, I've already seen Evie's room through." the clock by the wall rang and Walter tilted his head to get a better look, nodding to himself when he saw the time. "Wow it's already noon?" you muttered to yourself, turning back towards Walter as he gently pushed at the small of your waist.
"I believe it's time for lunch, come, let us join the Alexader's" Walter led you to the north hall, where the family was having their family reunion. Evie smiled as you stepped inside the room, Walter at your heels. "(y/n)!" she cheered, holding her arms up for a hug. You eagerly gave in to her request, wrapping your arms around her waist tightly and squeezing her "how was your tour?" she whispered into your ear, very much teasing your clear connection with the lord of the manor.
You just rolled your eyes and smacked her gently, stealing her champagne and taking a sip before she stole it back. "so this must be the infamous
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