Jamie
As the moonflower grows, its buds plump, not yet white, growing stronger, the au pair weakens, considerably, her weight dropping, eyes sinking, the dark circles becoming more apparent every day.
“Hannah, what’s up with Dani? She’s had this bloody cold for too long, has she seen a doctor?” She pesters the older woman, when she shows up with a giddy Flora, instead of Jamie’s favorite blonde.
“It’s, it’s a rare illness, Jamie, it’s a difficult one to contend with.” She rubs the back of her neck, and Jamie recognizes it as a lying tick.
“Well, okay, will she get better? Is she gonna be okay? Does she need to go to the hospital?” She tries desperately to meet Hannah’s eyes, but the short-haired woman just averts them to the ground.
“We hope, Jamie. We hope she’ll get better. We’re doing the best we can, the best anyone can.” She meets Jamie’s eyes, and there’s a deep sadness that Jamie feels guilty for, in a way.
“I’d like to see her-” The bell jingles on the door, and they both turn their heads to, god, “Liv, what’s up?” She crosses her arms. “Here to buy anything this time?” The dark haired woman barely spares a glance towards Hannah.
“Not this time, no. I just want to talk about how we left things-”
“And how was that? We left them, that’s all there is.” Jamie cuts her off, and Liv runs a frustrated hand through her hair.
“I don’t like how we left things.” Jamie sighs, and softens.
“Listen Liv, we both knew,” She lowers her voice, and pulls Liv into the corner of the shop, sending an apologetic look towards Hannah. “We both knew going into this there were no feelings involved. There still aren’t, on my end. And if there are, on your end, then it’s best we break it off, because I can’t see myself in a relationship, like that, with you. And I’m sorry, if I led you on in any way.” The dark haired woman scoffs, but it’s interrupted with a sniff.
“Jesus, alright. Well, I guess I’ll see you around, James. Call me if, you know- anything changes.” Jamie smiles sadly up at her, and Liv hesitates, before pressing a short kiss against the brunette’s cheek.
“See ya.” With a chime of a bell above the door, Liv is gone, and Jamie is blowing a long breath from in between her pinched lips.
“Well that couldn’t have been more awkwar-”
“Who was that?” Flora’s voice chirps, and both of their heads snap towards the seven year old, in the doorway of the front room. “Who did Miss Jamie just kiss?”
Hannah is crouching in front of Flora before the girl can say any more.
“Miss Jamie did not kiss anyone. That was friend, who came in, to say hi.” Flora looks confused, but nods, and Jamie watches the exchange in equal confusion.
“We should get going, I know Owen’s gonna need help with Miles and dinner.” Hannah brushes her palms on her skirt, straightening up, and taking Flora’s hand.
“Wait- Hannah, I wanted to-” Hannah waves, pulling a protesting Flora along with her, and in a flurry of skirts and bells, Jamie stands alone in her shop.
Jamie knocks hesitantly, and she wonders if she’s made a mistake, coming here. The heavy door of Bly Manor stands tall over her, and she picks the soil out from under her thumb nail absentmindedly.
“Oh, hi Jamie! Come in!” Owen answers, his face warm and welcoming, but there’s a crease in between his eyes, and his shirt is rumpled, and-
“Owen, is that blood?” She tugs the front of his untucked button-up, and he winces, batting her hands away from the thick material. “Owen, are you bleeding?” He shakes his head, and she looks around to the kitchen, closing the door behind her, when she’s hit with the overcoming smell of petals, like a car air freshener that’s fresh out of the pack.
“No, no, it’s,” He hesitates, a bit, “It’s not mine.” His statement is punctuated by a series of coughs, sounding from upstairs, and she recognizes the whimper that follows.
“Dani?” She calls, aloud, taking the steps two by two in the familiar route to the guest bedroom.
She thrusts open the door, and hears Owen trailing helplessly behind her, but she can’t look away from the scene in front of her. The floor, covered in petals, a wastebasket held in front of the sickly girl, the once bright and laughing au pair, now swimming in her clothes, and in petals, in hyacinths and foxgloves alike, the flowers spilling out of her throat, red and angry. Hannah clutches her hair back, fretting over the blonde in confused chaos.
“Oh, Dani,” She rushes towards the au pair, falling to her knees beside the girl, to brush her bangs from her face, and, “Call 999! Now, Owen!” She shouts over her shoulder, and barely pays attention to see the man scramble out of the room.
“Come on, Dani,” She runs a hand down the blonde’s back, and blinks her eyes at the sickening sight of red.
“Ja-” Dani recognizes the touch, the petals quelling enough for her to utter the syllable. They return with a force, though, comparable to the rest, and Jamie’s eyes fill with helpless tears. She can hear the sirens, and see the blue flashing lights in the window.
“Shh, love, don’t talk. It’ll be okay, you’ll be fine, listen to me, you’ll be fine.” She presses her lips to the shell of Dani’s ear, whispering reassurances, as the paramedics flood the room, ushering Dani onto a stretcher, and the blonde’s eyes dart frantically around, searching for the brunette, who immediately grasps her hand, once they’re in the ambulance.
Dani wakes up, surrounded by a dim light, blinking blearily when she feels a weight on her arm. She turns her head to the left, slightly, and the weight settles closer, a mess of fuzzy caramel curls in Dani’s blurry eyesight.
Her chest tightens, and she sits up further, to grasp the styrofoam cup on her nightstand, next to a green acrylic telephone. She takes a shaky sip, her arms loose with disuse.
“Dani?” The mess of curls sits up, suddenly, and Jamie looks so… frazzled? Worried? Her curls flattened against her cheek on one side, eye makeup gathered underneath her lashes, and her clothes look a little worse for wear. She sits up, blinking herself back into awareness, and cups Dani’s cheeks in her hands, “Dani! Oh my god, Dani, you had us all so worried! What- what is this, I mean, you said you had a cold!” Helpless. She looks helpless, and Dani aches to comfort her, to crawl out of her own skin and into Jamie’s, soft and pale and warm. Her throat tightens, and Jamie’s eyes fill again.
“Is it- I mean, it’s me? It’s me, and it’s my fault?” The brunette’s voice twists something deep inside her, something dark and growling and yearning, and the vines and thorns curl further into her lungs, drowning her from the inside out.
“Jamie,” She chokes, and Jamie must see it, her dirtied heart, covered in soil and rotten petals, she must see the way it still beats ferociously when the brunette is around, as if it’s drawn to Jamie’s very own. Jamie has to see it, because before Dani can register the movement, Jamie presses her plush, berry-colored lips to Dani’s own, chapped and pale, and it’s like rain, rain falling in the desert, quenching the angry, cracked ground, soothing the heat and the pain. She pushes closer, tugging the front of Jamie’s flannel desperately when the shorter woman moves to pull away, and Jamie breathes something akin to a laugh against her lips.
“Dani,” Jamie gasps reverently, curling a soft ringlet of Dani’s flat blonde hair around her ear gently, with cold, shaking fingers.
“I know,” Dani murmurs back, sliding the bridge of her nose against the flat side of Jamie’s own. “What about, I’m not-” Jamie quiets her, skimming the pad of her thumb over Dani’s bottom lip, eliciting a jagged inhale.
“You’re it, Dani. You’re it. I know- I know it’s been hard, I’m sorry I didn’t- I should’ve said something, I could’ve stopped this-” She cuts herself off, her voice thick with emotion, and Dani hushes her.
“No, baby, no, come here.” She opens her arms, allowing Jamie to collapse into them, ignoring the subtle ache in her chest at the action. “You’re perfect. You-you’re more than I ever could have hoped for, you’ve been perfect. I should’ve said something.” Jamie breathes into her collarbone, and it feels too heavy and too light and way too familiar, the feeling of the smaller girl settling on top of her.
“You’ll be okay.” Jamie murmurs, then, lips brushing the hollow of her throat, evoking a shiver from the taller girl.
“I’ll be okay.”