Midnight in Austenland

And then there was Eddie. He already felt like home.

He picked her up and carried her across the lawn. His arms were becoming a common means of her transportation.
“As you wish, my darling. After all, I have become an expert at your buttons and lacings.”

She kissed him. It was all she wanted to do. Kiss Eddie. She dropped her bonnet and let the wind blow it away to part the mists and put her arms around him and kissed him. Her eyes were closed and she felt as if the world were still spinning.

Charlotte used to wonder why people did the spinning thing in books and movies. Now she knew. She felt it. Eddie’s arms were around her and they were together, they were one, solid in the center of everything. Outside, the world was fast and blurry and dizzying and strange. Inside, everything made sense. Inside, the only clear things were Eddie and Charlotte.

She’d been right to try to slip away. Just the sight of his face made her legs feel soft, and it’s hard to run away with soft legs.

But you’re going to miss Eddie, said her Inner Thoughts.
I know, she said. But as you’ll learn someday, this is the kind of necessary choice you have to make as a grown-up, even when it hurts.

He’s worth the risk, she told herself. Don’t go back to being numb.

They danced to the ghostly music until it stopped. Then they kissed well past midnight and talked till dawn.

And still he kissed her.

And he kissed her.