─ summary ⋆˙⟡ the love you and heathcliff share runs deep—but wuthering heights doesn’t allow the two of you to express it freely. heathcliff’s suggestion sparks a choice that could change everything.
─ warnings ⋆˙⟡ established relationship, use of “old” english, intended for afab reader (however, no specific pronouns used), and slight mention of an addict father.
─ word count ⋆˙⟡ 680
─ author’s note: ⋆˙⟡ this is quite short so i apologize! as of late, i haven’t known what or who to write about, but after seeing the new wuthering heights movie, i got inspired to write this fic. please don’t hate me, but i loved the movie 😔 so here’s a little heathcliff content even though i’m not sure how many people are actually interested in this haha
You instinctively smile as Heathcliff’s hand runs up and down your back. Your favorite moments with him were ones like this where the two of you lay in his bed and you rest against his chest, blabbing about complete nonsense. If you were offered to spend the rest of your life in this very moment, you would easily accept. Lost in comfort, you realize you missed whatever it was Heathcliff had said to you. “Hm?”
“How much longer must it be this way?” You shift upwards from the position you were in, showing attentiveness as his tone becomes serious. You look into his brown eyes that—naturally—stare back at yours.
“What ever do you mean?” He gives you a look of slight annoyance. You know exactly what he is referring to. And you honestly dread when he brings it up, but also understand why he does so.
“I cannot hide like this forever. And I am sure you cannot either,” he licks his lips and awaits your response. You stay quiet for a moment, carefully considering how to phrase what you will say next. You don’t want to hide your love for Heathcliff. In fact, you want to shout it out in front of everyone—but no one would approve. Especially not your father.
“No, I cannot hide like this forever. But, in this place, who would ever agree with this?” You gesture between the two of you and the way you unintentionally straddle his lap. Heathcliff reaches up to play with a piece of your hair. He does so silently before opening his mouth to say words that cause you to freeze in place.
“Then let us run away,” he searches your face for any sort of emotion, quickly picking up on your lack of body movement. There is no turning back now, so he doubles down. “Let us go and never turn back.”
“I– Heathcliff…” you manage to say, rocking your foot out of anxiousness. “We have lives here.”
He shakes his head in response, hands cupping your face. “Perhaps we do, but we live quite miserable ones. Loving you secretly is miserable.”
If melting into a puddle due to someone’s words was physically possible, it certainly would have happened to you now. You so badly want to say yes, but leaving Wuthering Heights would be like leaving behind pieces of yourself. “My father,” you remind him. “I could not just leave him. I would not ever forgive myself.”
Heathcliff hums in understanding, appreciating your sweet nature. “You must understand that you have to live for yourself. We have to live for ourselves. Do you expect to live and die in these very moors? Continue to watch your father drink and gamble until his final day arrives?” You begin to visualize living the life Heathcliff speaks of and start to shudder. As unfortunate as it was to admit, you knew that he was right.
“You are right,” you reply, rubbing at your forehead as if to push the images out of your mind. Paying attention to your every move like he always did, Heathcliff’s hand replaces your own as he gently but firmly massages the damned thoughts away.
“So you agree then?” You nibble at your lip and hesitantly nod in agreement.
“Yes. We should go. We deserve to be happy,” you speak to him affirmatively but mostly say the words to convince yourself. He smiles contently and reaches up to tenderly kiss your lips.
“Indeed we do,” he says, looking out the window as the moon perfectly casts through the window, settling directly on your face. You were always beautiful, but in this light, you looked unreal.
Though the two of you did not have any sort of plan arranged, it did not bother you. Being anywhere was heavenly so as long as Heathcliff was beside you. The thought of building a new life together in a new place admittedly made you worrisome, but if you needed additional comforting, you knew he would give it to you with no hesitation. And that alone eased the majority of your nerves.
After our stay in Whitby, we headed home today via The Yorkshire Moors, temporary residence of Maddie, Jeremy and the Harkers (plus Dracula's head.)
The Yorkshire Moors are relatively small in scale — you can drive across them in about an hour — but are an odd mixture of both very flat and very hilly, making it much harder to walk. Gorse and grass as far as the eye can see, with some scatterings of trees and only a few direct roads cutting across the landscape.
Oh, and sheep. Slightly less intimidating than a pack of Thralls, but in this wide open space there are very few places to hide from anything.
We visited another ruined abbey (Rievaulx), passed through a certain familiar little town from episode two, and then on past York to home!
It's straight into busy deadlines on our end this week, but it’s been a lovely few days revisiting some of the IRL inspirations for both Dracula and The Holmwood Foundation, and we hope you’ve enjoyed coming along with us!
