sooo... I haven't posted a tsom story in over a year... sorry... my inspiration was nowhere to be found... but now i'm back! It's 2:42 a.m. so I'm quickly going to catch those 3 hours of sleeping that I have left XD

Happy reading!

Em

Georg sat at his desk head in his hands. How could this have happened? What could he possibly have done to have driven her away? He couldn't think clearly but he didn't know if it was because of what had happened or because of the glass of brandy resting within seconds reach of his hand. The room was dark only lit by a small desk lamp, and seemed to perfectly portrait his current mood. A feeling he hadn't felt in a long time. Not since Agathe had died. But he couldn't understand it. Why was he having such feelings of great loss, when she was… just the governess? But then it became clear.

She wasn't just the governess! She was so much more! The way she handled the children as though they were her own… The way only she could speak up to him when he was having one of his angry rages about how she should raise his children… The way she smiled… The way her hair stopped just below her ear perfectly showing the nape of her neck... The way her nose pointed slightly upwards which she would call a ski slope but what he (in his mind) would think to be just adorable.

He thought back to a conversation they had earlier that week.

"Children! Are you ready?" Maria had decided that the children deserved a little outing after working so hard on their studies so she decided to take them picnicking, but of course the toys and books to bring had to be carefully selected and be reviewed by the excellent members of the jury, Marta and Gretl… So Maria decided to wait in the foyer. She looked at herself in the big mirror hanging above one of the side tables. Normally she would almost never look at her self in a mirror. Was it because the captain was coming too? The children insisted that he should come and did everything in their power to do so. She looked closer in the mirror before moving her fingers across her nose. "I always did have a ski slope for a nose…" She sighed obviously thinking she was alone "Hmm, I would say it looked more like a tiny little iceberg rather than a big ski slope" that was the captain. Maria's face turned bright red in embarrassment "Here, let me have a look" He turned her around to face him "No ski slope to be found" He stated. Maria, still embarrassed, decided to take a little stroll to the other side of the foyer after mumbling a little thank you. Well it probably just sounded like nothing rather than like actual words. From the corner of her eye she could see the captain fidgeting with his hair moving his hands over light grey edges of his temples. She let out a little laugh. "You know captain, getting grey hair isn't actually that bad" She softly stated to which the Georg in return quickly removed his hands from his temples to his coat trying to make it look as though he was just buttoning it up clearing his throat with a soft hum coming out his mouth….

He got called back to reality by the sounds of music and laughter from the party guests still swaying across his ballroom. The ballroom that was closed before she came into his life, their life. Maria… Oh Maria… Maria! He shot up from his seat. It was pouring outside! Was she going to walk all by herself? At night? He quickly grabbed his coat off of his coat rack and ran to the hallway.

"Georg what in god's na-" Max asked when he saw his friend running through the foyer. "Max, you have been my friend for a long time, and there is just something I need to do, and I need you to trust me and above all not judge me for what I am about to do." With that he was out the door leaving Max's eyes with a following Georg's moves with a raised eyebrow and imaginary question marks hanging above his head.

Georg made his way to one of the garage doors. "Of course it's locked." He mumbled to himself. He couldn't possibly go back in there. Not when the party was still going and with Elsa being there to sweep him back onto the dance floor within seconds. He had to find her. Since there wasn't very much of an option he stepped with one foot into the muddy sand before his other foot followed and he started running. "Come on! Think! Where could she be going?" He asked the question out loud before he made a turn to the right. Of course the abbey!

The clouds and the heavy pouring made it hard to see anything but he just kept running. If anyone were to see him at this moment, that person would probably think him to be insane. But he didn't care. All he wanted was to find Maria, and make sure she was safe. He ran, and ran, and ran until he saw something oddly familiar lying on the road. It was Maria's hat, that, in his first opinion hideous hat, but which he later found lovely when it rested on top on Maria's short bobbed hair. He picked it up and started to look around for any sign of her. He looked up, and then he saw her, a couple of meters in front of him he could see a silhouette of a slim woman carrying a guitar case in one hand and a bag in the other. Instead of her usually straight up happy posture he could now vaguely see her head slouched down looking at the ground as she slowly walked along the muddy road.

He took a few seconds to catch his breath before he started walking, going just a bit quicker to catch up with her without losing his breath again. When he was within earshot he cleared his throat "Fräulein, did you lose this, or did you just decide to leave it here on the road?" He playfully said to her. Maria stopped walking. That voice… "Captain!" She dropped her bags to the floor and quickly wiped her hands under her eyes to get rid of the tears. Not that it helped much since her face was also covered in raindrops and the pouring still hadn't stopped. "Captain… I…" She slowly turned around trying to find an explanation for why she was here. But then decided not to give one for she found that she didn't need one. "Oh, yes I believe I did," She started still staying on the same spot "May I have it back please?" She continued now making a step towards him. She held out her hand for him to give it to her not daring to look at him "Certainly," He replied "If, you tell my why you are here." He looked at her but she still didn't look at him

"I don't have to explain you anything" She said crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, I believe I am still your employer, which means you are still under my protection and I am still allowed to know about your whereabouts." He mimicked her actions also crossing his arms over his chest. She let out a small huff "Well, I believe I, do correct me if I'm wrong, resigned, didn't you read the letter I left you ?" She answered coolly. She took a deep breath trying to stay calm. "Maria," His voice suddenly changed to a much softer and compassionate sound rather than the tones his voice had before. "Maria, I just," He couldn't seem to find the right words "What have I done, to… to make you feel the need to run away?" Maria's calm mood drifted away as she felt the tears coming again. She bit her lip to fight her tears. "Oh… It was not something you did sir…" She started "I just needed to… to eh… Go back to the Abbey for a while!" Her head popped up as though a light bulb appeared above her head. Truth was she wasn't even sure if she could go back to the abbey not after the feelings she had experienced over the summer. That just wouldn't be right.

"Oh, and you could not wait until tomorrow to do so, fräulein?" His voice grew colder and he used the term fräulein again, but this time not in a playful tone but in the same cold one. She had a feeling he knew she wouldn't be going back to the abbey, but she couldn't tell him the real reason she left. She could never tell him what had happened before. He was probably going to marry the baroness before the summer was over. So there was no use in telling him what she said to her or telling him how she felt. To be honest she didn't really know how she felt. She never experienced this feeling before. It felt as though butterflies flew through her stomach by just looking at him.

"Are you going to give me an answer, fráulein, or are you going to let us catch more of a cold than we already have." His voice was blank and she couldn't hear his feelings in his voice anymore. "I don't know…" She softly started, looking at the ground "I'm sorry what was that?" his voice brought her head back up again "I said, I don't know." Tears started welling up in her eyes again "Well, you must know, because you are crying right this very moment. That must mean something." Georg inwardly cursed himself. That sounded harsher than when he thought of it in his head. "If you could just give me back my hat you can go back to your grand and glorious party, so you can help your cold with a nice flute of bubbly champagne and forget all your worries," She swallowed hard "That is what you want, isn't it, Captain?" She looked him straight in the eyes "If it wasn't pouring out you probably wouldn't even have come look for me. Not that I would have minded you not coming to look for me." Liar. She inwardly told herself.

"Maria of course I'd come looking for you!" something in him switched and his voice sounded warmer and more compassionate. "I'd do anything for you!" He was already talking loud but now he was practically screaming. Desperate to get his words out.

It grew silent only for the sound of the still ongoing rain. Maria looked at him before opening her mouth to speak again "You… You would?"

"Yes! I- I love you!" "you're in my thoughts, day and… Night… When I look at you I just sometimes feel the urge to run my fingers along the nape of your neck just fascinated by how short hair can look so good on a woman… And I happen to think your nose looks adorable!" George took a deep breath trying to get his breathing steady after his mouthful of words. All the things he said. She felt that way too! Now it all made sense to her!

"I feel… I feel that way too…" Maria softly said giving him a small smile. "When I look at you, I- I feel like butterflies are flying through my stomach… And I always wondered if it would feel soft or prickly if I ran my hand along your chin… And- And I really like that bit of gray hair at your temples, it makes you look very dignified!" In turn Maria also took a deep breath after her long line of words. Georg dropped Maria's hat to the floor as both walked towards each other stopping at just one step in between them. They both smiled as Georg's hand moved to the nape of Maria's neck and Maria's hand moved to Georg's chin

"and, does my chin feel soft enough?" He asked smiling down at Maria "Hmm" She hummed a satisfied yes before adding "does my neck feel like you thought it would?" Maria let out a little giggle "even better" He replied moving his fingers up and down the nape of her neck playing with the few strands of hair right below her ear. Before anyone could say anything more their heads moved together and Georg's lips softly touched Maria's. Maria could hardly stay standing and it was as though fire works went up around them. If this was a movie, now was definitely a good time to play that good ending romantic grand finale number. But both Georg and Maria knew there was a lot more to think of before that song could be played…

hope you liked that! got tons of ideas for the next chapter so stay tuned for that!

oh, and reviews are always nice to recieve ;)

Happy reading!

Em