francesca bridgerton x fem!OC (esmee beaumont)
warnings: none for now
āāāāāāāāāā
she had not prepared herself for francesca bridgerton.
for the way her voice sounded like coming home. for the way her eyes saw straight through every defense esmee had carefully constructed. for the way her presence made the cage feel less suffocating, made the performance feel less impossible.
for the way she made esmee want to stay, when all she'd wanted before was to escape.
"miss beaumont?" a gentleman appeared at her elbow, another one, always another one. "might I have the honor of the next dance?"
esmee looked at him. looked at his eager face, his hopeful expression, his complete and utter irrelevance.
"no," she said simply, and walked away.
she moved through the ballroom with purpose now, her eyes scanning the crowd. she found francesca near the refreshment table, trapped in conversation with the aforementioned lord pemberton, who was indeed ancient and appeared to be lecturing her about something that made her eyes glaze over with polite boredom.
esmee didn't think. she simply acted.
"francesca!" she called, sweeping up to them with her most dazzling smile. "there you are. you promised me you'd show me the portrait gallery. you know how I adore art." she turned to lord pemberton, her smile never wavering. "you'll forgive us, my lord. we won't be long."
she didn't wait for permission. she took francesca's hand and pulled her away, weaving through the crowd with the kind of confidence that made people assume they had every right to do exactly what they were doing.
"esmee," francesca breathed, half-laughing, half-shocked. "what are you.."
"rescuing you," esmee said. "wnless you were enjoying lord pemberton's discourse on the proper management of sheep?"
"i was not," francesca admitted, and her hand tightened around esmee's. "but where are we going?"
"anywhere but here."
they slipped through a side door, into a corridor that was blessedly empty and quiet. the sounds of the ballroom faded to a distant murmur, and esmee finally released francesca's hand, though she immediately missed the warmth of it.
"we shouldn't be alone," francesca said, but she didn't move to leave. "if anyone saw..."
"no one saw. and if they did, we're simply two young ladies seeking a moment's respite from the crush. there's nothing scandalous about that." esmee leaned against the wall, studying Francesca in the dimmer light of the corridor. "unless you want to return to lord pemberton?"
"god, no," francesca said with such disgust that esmee laughed.
"then stay. just for a moment. just until we can breathe again."
francesca hesitated, then nodded. she moved to stand beside esmee, close enough that their shoulders nearly touched, and tilted her head back against the wall.
"thank you," she said softly. "for rescuing me."
"we have to look out for each other," esmee said. "if we don't, who will?"
tags: the last two have mentions of "scars" and very mild suggestiveness, anxiety, fluuufffff
word count: 1529
a/n: everyone say thank you to @x-endureandsurvive-x for their input on some of these! i'm very grateful for you!
ā§ĖĀ° Once that girl actually comes to terms with the fact that sheās queer (helped very lovingly out of the closet by both Lara and Megan) it doesnāt take very long for her to come out publicly.
ā§ĖĀ° Ace goes on exactly one (1)Ā very casual date with some random girl she meets somewhere and it goes fine on her end. Very bad on the Kats end. None of them really realized just how protective theyād gotten over her until their BABY is out with someone theyāve never met and Dani (or Sophia) would never, ever say this to Aceās face but sheās secretly glad that it doesnāt pan out because the stress of just two hours with someone she hasnāt properly vetted is enough to give her gray hairs.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° After Ace comes out publicly, its obviously a total coincidence she gets a āhey just checking up on youā text from Lexie. Ace is absolutely oblivious to Lexieās flirting, thinking the older girl is just being nice because she misses her friend (which, to be fair, she does). PRELUDE is working on their debut in Los Angeles too, and Lexie and Ace go get coffee and catch up and Ace comes home with this absolutely beaming smile on her face and the realization hits her.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° She gets all mopey and sulky because āthereās no way Lexie could like me back, Lara!ā and Lara looks through their text threads and then RACES downstairs to show Megan and Manon who laugh in Aceās face for a couple of minutes before Lara very gently says that sheās been flirting for LITERAL MONTHS.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Ace gets a little panicky and is like āwhat do i do? What about my anxiety? What if she finds out and then hates me?ā and it takes a lot of careful convincing that Lexie will still care about Ace even though she has anxiety. Lara helps Ace with her texting and eventually Ace asks Lexie out to dinner. To which Lexie responds āromantically?ā and Ace says something like āuh yeah, yes please, if you wantā and Ezrela gets an earful about how āshe finally got it!!! Weāre going on a date!!!!ā
ā§ĖĀ° Daniela isnāt exactly thrilled at the idea, but her and Sophia help their baby get ready anyway because Dani wouldnāt miss that for the world and the whole time Daniās just reassuring her and reminding her that if she doesnāt want to be there, one of them will come get her and by the end Ace is beaming and Dani loves watching Ace be happy and confident and good-nervous, not soul crushing nervous.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° It helps that they know Lexie, but she stills gets the āyou hurt her and they will never find the bodyā talk from not only Dani, Soph, and Lara but also from YOONCHAE. Megan and Manon glare silently. Lexie is not deterred, which gets her a point in Danielaās book.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Ace comes downstairs, immediately gets embarrassed and insists that they leave. Sheās very nervous and very much herself and Lexie falls in love with her all over again and it goes very well.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Sheās comes home all beaming and blushing and āweāre gonna go to the movies next week!ā and maybe they need to give Lexie a little more credit.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Ace decides that she needs to be upfront with the anxiety thing and works herself up so much that Lara thinks she might have an anxiety attack on the drive there (yes, she makes Lara drive her to Lexieās apartment) and Ace cries a LOT of happy tears that day. So does Daniela (and the rest of the Kats) because thatās their BABY and they are all just so so so proud of her.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Ace makes her a little paper sun and some paper stars and a card that says something like āi think youāre out of this world, will you be my girlfriend?ā and Lexie MELTS right then and there.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° When Lexie can tell Ace is getting anxious in public, or in private, but especially in public, she draws little stars on the back of Aceās hand with her thumb.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Lexie falls first, but Ace falls harder. That girl is so down bad, it would be annoying if it wasnāt so precious.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° They go to the mall, to the park, really anywhere, and Ace is carrying Lexieās purse/handbag/shopping haul. Ace drives most of the time, holds the door open for her, pulls her chair out at dinner.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Ace is more masc, Lexie is more femme, and Lexie DIES the first time she sees Ace in a suit. Emily and Ezrela make fun of her for weeks afterward.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Both Ace and Lexie keep little notes on their phones of each otherās coffee orders, favorite perfumes, all the little stuff that really means a lot to both of them.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Ace takes Lexie āhomeā to Atlanta, to meet Daniās mom and dad.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° āAnd Lexie wouldnt even bat an eye or question it because if Ace says thats home then thats Aceās home and thats all that she cares about. If her baby says that's the safe place then that's the safe place. (Dani's mom whispering āI like herā to Dani as she watches Ace and Lexie)ā-AJ
ā§ĖĀ° Daniela helps Ace with her Spanish, because even if sheās still fiercely protective, Lexie makes Ace really, really happy and that's truly all Daniela wants.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Daniela has moments where she gets really sad and scared that because Ace has Lexie sheās not going to want/need Daniās love anymore. This kinda spirals into Dani thinking that Lexieās going to take Ace away or get jealous but this goes away when Ace spends the night at Lexieās and has a really bad panic attack and Lexie calls Daniela. Daniela gets to see just how much care and love Lexie has for this girl and once Ace falls asleep wrapped up Daniās arms, Lexie and Dani have a little heart to heart and her fears are eased.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Ace makes Lexie somewhat of an āadvent calendarā when they have to spend more than three days out of California and it's just a little countdown of handmade crafts and notes and stuff and no one really knows where she finds the time to do all that.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° VERY physically affectionate, not in the gross PDA way, in the holding hands and interlocking pinkies kind of way. Sitting on the couch? Lexieās head is on Aceās shoulder or Aceās head is in her lap. In the car? Ace has one hand resting on her thigh or on her knee. Itās also not a jealousy thing, its a āhey iām here and i love youā thing.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Aceās love languages are physical touch, words of affirmations, and quality time, while Lexieās are acts of service, physical touch, and gift giving.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Sweet little nicknames are reserved for the comfort of the Katseye house and Lexieās apartment. Lexie calls Ace āmi estrellaā (my star), āamorā (love), āpretty girlā, and āmy honeyā most often. Ace calls Lexie ābabyā, ālovebugā, and āamorā most often.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Lexie is also a master of the soft launch, so when Ace decides that sheās done hiding from the media, (and they have a nice, long, totally not mortifying chat with Missy about HYBE-acceptable PDA) she starts to slowly integrate Ace into her posts.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Eyekons catch on really quickly, and people are very quick to point out that Lexie carries one of Aceās photocards in the back of her clear phone case. Its right beside a playing card which Eyekons couldnāt figure out for the longest time before realizing its a literal Ace of Hearts.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° They also wear little matching rings. Aceās ring is a gold star, Lexieās is a moon and they both have ā you are my starlightā engraved on the inside because they think the fandom name is really, really cute. Along with Daniās locket, Ace only takes it off when absolutely necessary, and even then it gets pinned to the inside of her top because Ace is a yearning yearner who yearns.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Also very private. There are a couple of photos of them together on the public accounts, but their relationship is not on social media, like at all. Pretty much all the D.A girls have private Instagrams/Tiktoks/Snapchats that they all follow each other on (plus their families/close personal friends) and Lexie posts Ace there and someone comments āyou two seem awfully closeā and Lara comments ātheyāre fuckingā and you can hear Ace shout āLARA!ā from Lexieās apartment. Someone else responds āexcuse me????ā Lexie comments āyou heard herā and thatās how their friends find out.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° They take the physical part of their relationship really slowly, because Lexie wants to make sure that Ace knows that sheās in this relationship for who she is and not her body.Ā
ā§ĖĀ° Ace tells Lexie about her scars before she sees them, nervous and shaky, and Lexie just holds her baby so close and kisses her so softly trying to make all the pain go away.Ā
hi friends ! i'm gonna try to release more chapters from the 'loathe at first sight' series, but after i think im gonna take a break from posting for mental health reasons š§ø
