Strangers All At Once: Strangers
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Strangers All At Once Masterpost
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Pairing: Sophie Beckett x Benedict Bridgerton
I can't even lie, I'm not doin' well
Wakin' up without you, sleepin' by myself
Alone in our room, all your stuff is gone
Yeah, I'm standin' still here while you're movin' on
When my world would tear in two
You were who I ran to
Now I can't even call, or call you my friend
Oh, darlin', it's strange 'cause you and I are strangers all over again
Violet had put her plan into motion straight away. She decided not to tell Benedict about her plan but she’d called Francesca and Eloise to get them to help with her plan.
Eloise was to come and stop with Benedict and try and find the music he’d written to go with the song she’d heard Benedict singing to himself when he thought no one was around and she was to give it to Francesca.
She knew how much Sophie had loved Benedict’s singing voice, she’d told her as much when they first met, how they’d sung karaoke together before the end of the night. Violet had often seen them together in the kitchen singing and dancing and she knew that it was a good place to start.
If Sophie wouldn’t listen to Benedict talking, she knew she’d be unable to resist listening to him singing.
All she had to do was then get Sophie to Aubrey Hall before the wedding and she recruited Mike for that.
Violet had called him and asked him to break or at least pretend to break the oven at The Cottage where she knew Sophie was planning to make the Wedding Cake but only when she was there at the Cafe so she could invite Sophie to use their kitchen as it had a massive oven that Benedict’s grandmother used to love baking in, and she knew how much Sophie loved it as well…
She knew Sophie had a couple of ovens but her main cake making one was bigger and with the size of the cake, she knew she needed the larger oven.
Michael had laughed down the phone “you’re going to give the poor girl a heart attack… I love it. It’s evil.”
“You don’t have to actually break it! But it’s just to get her here”
“I know that but what if she declines, if she thinks Benedict is there…” Michael asked
“Oh i’ve got a plan for that… but it should get her here for a few days and hopefully postpone her being able to actually leave…” Violet explained.
Michael agreed and it was the following morning Violet had come into the cafe, Sophie was serving a customer and Michael was out back sorting out a batch of bread for an order so she sent him a message to say the plan was a go.
Violet waited patiently with the intention of getting some Scones and some of Anthony’s favourite lemon drizzle loaf as she watched Sophie clearly a little uncomfortable but Violet just gave her a warm motherly smile.
She felt horrible about how she’d acted the first time she saw her again and since that day she’d vowed she was going to make things right and this was the first step.
“Soph!! Sophieeeeee!” came a tell from the back “YO BOSS!!!”
“Michael, will you keep your pants on! We’ve got customers” Sophie hissed at him as he came flying out of the back, flour on his face, he’d even managed to splatter some bread dough all over him “what the bloody heck happened…?”
“The big oven… Shannon went to put the bread in, something exploded and the bread just… did this!” he said, gesturing to himself and giving Violet a wink, and the older woman had to suppress a laugh as she wondered what the hell Michael had done.
“Please tell me… please tell me it wasn’t… the cake oven” she said looking at him
“Erm…”
“Michael! You know you’re not supposed to put bread in that! Why did you let her?? I told you to keep an eye on her!!! That oven…It’s too hot! You’re meant to use the convection one!” Sophie panicked “I'm supposed to start the wedding cake tonight!”
“I’ll ring the bloke to come fix it?” Michael offered
“He’s on holiday this week!” Sophie said her heart racing as she panicked “I… god Kate is going to kill me!”
“You could come use our Oven Sophie…” Violet offered sweetly “I know it’s not the same as your big one but it should be big enough”
“I… i don’t know” Sophie said, worried, her terror evident in her eyes and she absolutely didn’t want to be around Benedict anymore than she needed to be and she still needed to pack…
“Benedict won’t be there til the night before, he said something about an exhibition if that’s what you’re worried about…” Violet replied, moving forward and speaking quietly.
“I… I… i don’t know” Sophie said
“Look if Mr Ashworth is away and can’t get here to fix it… how else are you going to make a cake… for your best friend for her wedding…” Michael said a little too cheerfully and Sophie narrowed her eyes at him, something was up.
“I… let me just go have a look at the oven” Sophie said and disappeared to the back.
“What did you do to the oven?” Violet asked “because if she sees it’s fine…”
“Oh it’s not… i’ve took the conductor out, dropped it on the floor and cracked it and put it back in. it’s an easy fix and i’ve called a pal to come sort it tomorrow” he grinned
“What did you do to the bread to cause it to explode?”
“Oh this isn’t actually bread dough, it’s something I found online, and paid Shannon £50 and two bottles of Kilmartin whiskey to play along and just blame me anyway” he grinned
“So what happens when she turns the oven on?”
“It’ll spark and cut out the rest of the ovens” he grinned
“She is going to kill you if she finds out it was planned”
“Well considering Shannon won’t say out, and I don’t think you will… I think i’m fine. Besides, i’m hoping if she does find out, the news i’m dating Fran will be enough of a shock for her to forget out about it” Michael grinned wickedly at Violet who just shook her head
“You really are going to be the death of her aren’t you”
“It’s what siblings do” he grinned “even if we aren’t true siblings” yet he thought to himself. He loved the idea that one day they could be in laws and he knew how he felt about Francesca was how Sophie felt about Benedict so as long as this plan worked, he knew it would be a matter of when not if.
It was just then the light flicked off and they heard the panicked screech from Sophie and then a few moments later the rest of the lights came back on “Mike… I can’t… I can’t believe you let Shannon do that! She said you just told her to use it and you do it all the time!”
“It’s never happened before!”
“Mike, that oven’s like several thousand pounds!” Sophie said, flailing her arms around “and i’ve got a bloody wedding cake to make! For a wedding In two days time!”
“Look i know someone who can come look at it tomorrow but it won't be fixed in time, if you wanna make the cake, you’ll have to go to Aubrey Hall, I am sure it will be okay” Michael said softly, he did feel at least a little bad about the fact Sophie was panicking.
“Sophie, I promise the only people that will be at Aubrey tonight and tomorrow are myself, Francesca, Kate and her family.” Violet said “and I promise to ensure that everyone is out of your way so that you can bake in peace”
Sophie bit her lip, she knew it was probably the next best location for baking, it would mean delaying her leaving for France a day or two as she’d have to stop at Aubrey to make the cakes and then for the rehearsal and then the actual wedding so really, she had to admit to herself, it was probably sensible.
It also saved having to transport the cake…
She sighed and nodded “thank you Violet, that would be… that would be helpful. I’ll pack up everything I need and travel over later this afternoon, Michael, you better make sure someone fixes this because Alice will kill you, oh and tidy up the bloody mess back there” she said before turning on her heels and disappearing into the office to make a call to her friend in France to say she was going to be a few days late in arriving.
Violet grinned at Michael “thank you for your help”
“It’s not a problem, what’s the plan now?” he asked with a cheeky smirk
“It’s better you do not know” she replied coyly as she departed The Cottage, a smile on her face. She just had to hope that Francesca was going to hold up her end of the plan.
~*~
Benedict hated that his mother wasn’t going to tell him what her plan was and that all of this had happened because he had listened to his bloody brothers telling him it was too soon to tell Sophie that he loved her.
He had known from that very first night when they’d discussed how much they hated Wonderwall, how it was so overreacted and how Champagne Supernova and Supersonic were the better Oasis tracks but in truth they both just preferred Blur.
He’d known from that very next morning that she was someone he could not live without and he’d wanted to tell her but Anthony and Colin, both at the time still perpetually single, had told him it was too soon. Even when he’d been looking at the engagement rings, Anthony had still told him it was too soon.
He’d been told to make himself scarce at Aubrey Hall, to get a lift and not leave a car. His mother had called him and told him that she’d managed to convince Sophie to come and make the wedding cake in their kitchen but she’d been promised that he wasn’t going to be there…
Even though he already was “just lay low… you’ll know when the moment is right” his mother had said to him and he had no idea what that meant but he trusted his mother.
He’d spent the last two days in the art room his mother set up for him as a child, drawing and sketching and creating things that he hoped to show Sophie. Pictures of the cottage that they’d talked about, pictures that he’d drawn from memory of their time together.
He knew to most people it would seem quite stalkerish but he hoped, prayed, that when he’d had a chance to talk to Sophie… that she would understand.
That she would believe him that he loved her, that he’d always loved her and that he wanted her future, her everything.
He was climbing the walls, itching to speak to her, to barge into the kitchen to tell her everything but after 24 hours, when he was about to cave and just do what he wanted, Francesca had appeared “Come sing with me, i want to practise and you’re the only one around who can sing…” she grinned.
Benedict groaned but he knew Francesca had her audition for the Royal Academy of Music soon, so he decided to humour her and went with her into the music room, and as he led Francesca out, she deliberately left the door open to his art.
~*~
Sophie felt sick as she worked in the kitchens, when she’d pulled into the garage she’d seen no trace of Benedict’s car and his motorbikes were both still there and she knew he’d left in the car so she assumed that he wasn’t there.
She’d spent the first day preparing the cakes, they were cooked and today she had planned to make the fondant and decorations for the cake and to start assembling it ready for tomorrow and the wedding.
She knew tomorrow she’d have to face Benedict and she felt sick at the thought but she knew that after tomorrow she’d never have to see him again, it would be over, her heart couldn’t break anymore.
The morning before the wedding she’d gone to make her way back down to the kitchen only to find the normal route blocked off. She frowned, it hadn’t been blocked not even 20 minutes ago, when she put the cakes in the oven, she’d ran upstairs to change her top having gotten some raspberries on it as she prepared the fruit for the jam.
But now there were three cleaning trolleys and a trolley with speakers on it were blocking the way through and Sophie sighed she was going to have to take the long way around and past the music room and the sitting room, the place she’d been avoiding since it was the place where she’d heard everything that made her heart break.
As she made her way down the hallway she tried to move as quickly as she could but as she got halfway down she heard a light tinkling of music which caused her to pause, she figured Francesca must be here practising and as she stopped to listen, something in her peripheral vision caught her attention.
She turned her head and saw… herself… staring back at her.
She tilted her head, her mouth falling open as she stared at the picture and she found herself walking through the open door and couldn’t believe what she was looking at.
Pictures of her, sketches of her and Benedict, a stunning portrait design of the home they’d talked about and Sophie felt her heart squeeze painfully, it was memories, all their memories sketched in front of her, presented to her in vivid detail and it made her want to cry.
How had it meant nothing to him when it had been everything to her… how could it have been nothing to him when he’d drawn all this…
As she glanced at the easel she saw the piece he’d been working on, it was her… that night in the bar when they’d met and it was just as she was remembering, the music that filled her ears changed and she heard a voice…
A voice she knew all too well, a voice that soothed her soul and made her heart beat faster… singing words of that night…
Of how they met… and she knew…
He was here…
~*~
Benedict watched as Francesca warmed her fingers up on the piano, letting her fingers dance across the piano in the way he’d shown her when she was younger. They were the musical ones in the family, yes Colin and Anthony could both sing a bit but he was a piano player, he’d taught Francesca and she’d quickly surpassed him and it was always down to them at family gatherings to entertain.
He didn’t sing as often now, it hurt too much and the last song he’d written, had been about Sophie, he’d written it in the last few weeks just the lyrics but he knew he’d get around to writing the music eventually but as he found himself drifting to that piece, those lyrics…
He heard the music coming to life and he blinked at Francesca, his mouth falling open in surprise “how… where” he stammered
“Me and Eloise found it last week, it had beautiful lyrics so i thought… maybe i’d try writing music to it… I hope you don’t mind…” Francesca asked coyly.
Benedict swallowed, he thought he’d done a better job of hiding it, but he knew out of all his siblings, Francesca was least likely to tease him about it, so he just nodded
“Will you sing it with me?” she asked “to make sure it works?”
Benedict didn’t want to but he could never say no to his sister and if it meant reliving that night, his feelings now… he would… what could it hurt…
So he took a deep breath, nodded his head and closed his eyes as he listened to his sister starting the music as he began to sing…
We were strangers at the bar
They were playin' Wonderwall
I overheard you say you hate this song
Next thing I knew, I'm walkin' over
Came and tapped you on your shoulder
Said, "My dear, you're not the only one"
Spent the night there at my place
That night became a hundred days
And I shared all my deepest secrets with you
Soon enough, well, I found out
You're somethin' I can't live without
And, every time I close my eyes, I miss you
His eyes closed as he sung the words he’d written, remembering that night, it playing out beautifully in his mind as he remember everything, every last detail.
How he’d shared how he felt about his family, about how he wished people would see him for who he was personally rather than for who is family was. How he’d felt when his father had died, how he shared all his wishes for the future and how, she really was something he couldn’t live without.
And I know
I waited all my life just to fall for someone like you
In the blink of an eye, yeah, it all fell through
I can't even lie, I'm not doin' well
Wakin' up without you, sleepin' by myself
Alone in our room, all your stuff is gone
Yeah, I'm standin' still here while you're movin' on
When my world would tear in two
You were who I ran to
Now I can't even call, or call you my friend
Oh, darlin', it's strange 'cause you and I are strangers all over again
He sighed as Francesca played on a little, with no idea that he had just gained an audience… his mind on Sophie, wishing she could hear his words.
~*~
Sophie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The words… it was their story.
She remembered how he’d walked over to her as she complained about how much she’d hated the song to Posy and how he’d actually walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder and said “my dear, you’re not the only one”
And for the first time in a few weeks, she felt… hope.
She had no idea what caused her to move but she made her way to the door and to the music room and just leaned against the open door, staring at Benedict as he seemingly poured his heart out through his words.
Heart's a mess and head's ablaze
The nights become the starts of days
And I've been drinkin' just to get me through 'em
It's funny how you love someone
And when it's over, said and done
It's almost like you never even knew 'em
And I know
I waited all my life just to fall for someone like you
In the blink of an eye, yeah, it all fell through
I can't even lie, I'm not doin' well
Wakin' up without you, sleepin' by myself
Alone in our room, all your stuff is gone
Yeah, I'm standin' still here while you're movin' on
When my world would tear in two
You were who I ran to
Now I can't even call, or call you my friend
Oh, darlin', it's strange 'cause you and I are strangers all over again
All over again
Now I know
I'll be waitin' all my life for someone like you
I can't even lie, I'm not doin' well
Wakin' up without you, sleepin' by myself
Alone in our room, all your stuff is gone
Yeah, I'm standin' still here while you're movin' on
When my world would tear in two
You were who I ran to
Now I can't even call, or call you my friend
Oh, darlin', it's strange 'cause you and I are strangers all over again
She was transfixed, the music was beautiful and so perfectly played but she saw pain on Benedict’s face that she’d never seen before and she had to wonder how much of what he was saying was true.
Did he miss her? Had he loved her?
But everything he’d said… what she’d heard…
Her heart was screaming, her head was throbbing in confusion and as the song finished, Sophie just stared at Benedict, her eyes not even on Francesca as she smirked to herself, seeing Sophie standing there and slinking out of the room without either of them seeing her go.
Benedict’s eyes opened as he finished and he saw Sophie as she opened her mouth “Benedict…” she said softly. “Did… what…?”
“I love you Sophie. Always have… always will”
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