Je T'adore - atticus < 3

[taylor]

taylor smiled as she headed down the driveway alongside atticus, just having exited his parent's house, and she gently made to take his hand and tendering interlink their fingers, feeling a swell of warmth at the fact that they could walk hand in hand like this, that they could be as couply as they liked. it was hard at school, you had to remain so very professional at school, they couldn't really walk around holding hands....which was she had to admit, rather frustrating but understandable. still, it made the most simple things - just like holding hands with the man she loved - so much better. she smiled happily and glanced up at atticus, "well.. that seemed to go okay," she said gently, lips turning into a grin now.

she couldn't help but feel incredibly relieved that everything had gone well. taylor was a pureblood and came from a reasonably well respected family, but she knew what some families could be like over their offspring - particularly great guys like atticus. she was sure that his mother wanted only the best for her son; the most intelligent, beautiful woman out there, and yet she'd been met with taylor...a failed professional quidditch player with a slightly dodgy left shoulder who taught charms. but they'd appeared to like her well enough, and everything had gone pretty well..in fact she'd found atticus' family incredibly delightful, very polite and easy-going. she'd been as polite as ever, and respectful - mostly helped but her nerves at meeting them... but she'd relaxed after they'd appeared to accept her.

that wasn't the only thing that had gone well - seeing france itself had been an amazing experience, made all the more great with atticus as her guide. he'd shown her almost everything about france that made it what it was, and she'd learnt an incredible amount of the couple of days. she had loved learning about atticus' past and his culture, never having been outside the U.K before and having found it fascinating. she was rather hoping to ask if he wished to teach her french... though she wasn't sure if he'd find it tedious or irritating, but nonetheless she'd been having an incredible christmas break, and she hoped it was the same for atticus.

[atti]

Atticus hadn’t been nervous at all at the prospect of Taylor meeting his family. In all honesty, whether or not they liked her didn’t matter to him at all. He respected his parents and their opinions, but when it boiled down to it, he loved Taylor and that was that. Nothing so trivial as what his parents thought would change that. Yes, he did wish that they would like her and accept her into the family, and eventually come to love her as the daughter they never had, but he could wait for that. It could take a long time before they saw her as a part of the family, before they realized that their son was now part of a package deal; when you got one, you got the other one too. A long time ago, when Taylor hadn’t been in his life, his parents’ approval had meant everything, and not the only thing that mattered was her.

Still, he was overjoyed that they had liked her. His father had seemed rather uncaring; she was pureblood, beautiful and smart, and would be a great contribution to the Beaumont name, as he saw it. While his mother hadn’t been so accepting. As the matriarch of the family, Charlotte Beaumont took it upon herself to analyse Taylor just as strictly as she had been in her time by Atticus’ grandmother, though his parents had been in an arranged marriage that had conveniently worked out well. Eventually, her strong gaze had let up once Atticus had given her a look of his own. “Yes, they adored you,” he replied, smiling at her and leaning down slightly to kiss her gently before continuing on.

The quicker they went, the better, as it was already early evening and his plan couldn’t wait forever. At least, he didn’t want to. He’d taken her all over the country, and there was only one more place he wanted to take her. This was the only part of the trip he was actually nervous about, even though he’d been planning it for a while. Leaning down to press another kiss, this time to her forehead, he wished they didn’t have to wear so many layers to be protected from the cold, so he could feel more of her. “Ready to go?” he said, in a little more broken English than usual, being around the French again was bringing back his accent.

[taylor]

“Yes, they adored you,” taylor smiled slightly and stretched up slightly to kiss him back gently before walking on beside him. "i'm glad," she said happily. tay was surprised that they liked her that much - sure, his father had seemed rather accepting from the off, and taylor had seen some of atticus within him. his mother.. had been, well a little intimidating to say the last at first. taylor did not fright easily, she was usually one to stand her ground and she didn't let people tread all over her, but this was atticus' mother - and though tay knew how much atti loved her, she still felt that she had to earn his mothers approval. it would make visits very difficult in the future, would it not? so taylor had been as damn polite as possible, respectful and complimentative - none of it she had to force in honest. the house was beautiful, the food exquisite. the only thing had been the language. she really ought to reach out and learn atticus' language...and she made a promise right then that she would.

still, to hear that they did indeed like her was a heavy weight off her shoulders. it made taylor feel much better to know that she was deemed good enough for atticus, even if sometimes she felt he was way above her, far too out of her reach, and that someday he might realise it and fall out of love with her. but she had to hope that would never happen, and surely if his mother approved it was a good sign that it would never happen. she already felt that atticus was her soul mate, even if she'd always been dubious about those sorts of ideas in the world..she couldn't help but admit he was everything she wanted, everything she needed.

she smiled lightly and continued beside him, wondering exactly where they were going now. atticus had said he'd had something to show her, and she wondered just what he had in mind. she'd seen so much of france she didn't think there was much left to see. but nonetheless she was interested in where he was taking her. she grinned softly as his lips touched her forehead and she made to rest her head slightly upon his shoulder as they moved. “Ready to go?” she smiled as she caught the lilt to his words, that romantic french accent that encased his words, more pronounced than usual. she turned her head to gaze up at him and smiled lightly. "oui oui," she grinned, using the little french she actually knew as her intrest piqued.

.

[atti]

Atticus had been quite impressed by how Taylor had handled it all. He knew his family could be intimidating and appeared somewhat threatening, but she had taken the meeting in stride. If he had been worried at all, it would have been about how she would take the day and if her opinion of him would be changed once they left. But no, she succeeded in surprising him yet again; being perfectly polite, respectful, and had served to stroke both of his parents’ egos as she complimented them and praised their home and how well they had raised their son. Where many others would have lost their temper with his father who seemed to just not care, or find his mother quite prying and annoying, Taylor had taken it in stride, showing him once again that she was nothing short of perfect. She really never ceased to amaze him. It was important, when dealing with his parents, to never show weakness, as he had learnt quickly when he was younger. At the first sign of faltering, they’d pounce and use that little crack to either undo a person, or get what they wanted.

Taylor had shown no such weaknesses. Actually, he wasn’t even sure she had any; as far as he was concerned, she was perfect and there was absolutely nothing he didn’t love about her. If asked, he could not honestly say that there was one thing in particular that he could pick out that he wanted to change; he loved her, all of her, just as she was. Of course, there were some faults in her, he hoped, or he was way out of his league with her, and that gave him a sort of pride, knowing that Taylor loved him. Even if it was only a fraction of what he felt for her, as she had confirmed the night of the masquerade when he’d asked her to come to France with him, though not only to meet his family he had his own dubious reasons, and had finally confessed his love to her. That night had been one of the most spectacularly of his life, though he felt like every moment with Taylor rivalled the next. Of course, he did plan this evening to outdo any other time they spent together.

“Wonderful,” he said and chuckled, kissing her forehead one last time before pulling away and loosening his dark tie. “May I?” he asked, motioning to the tie and to her face, where he intended to tie it over her eyes as to not ruin his surprise.

[taylor]

she didn't know what atticus thought of how the meeting had gone, after all, maybe he'd been hoping for a better reception or something, but tay was just relieved both parents seemed to have accepted her eventually. of course it was all about time, in essence - when his parents got to see atticus and taylor on .. birthdays and christmas' and random drop-in's and whatever else happened in the future, hopefully both his mother and father would grow to warm fully to her. she could hope - she knew some parents would always think their children better than who they end up with, and she couldn't agree more; atticus was everything good about a man, and they should only wish for the best and they'd simply been met with taylor. but nonetheless, she had at least stepped forward into atticus' life rather than back with this meeting.

of course she would never have lost patience with their attitudes toward her - children where precious, even when they weren't children anymore they were still a part of you, of course parents only wanted the best for them, they didn't want to see their sons and daughters get hurt. she was sure she'd feel the same come the day her and atticus hopefully have children. oh yes she rather hoped it was in her future somewhen, not now, but one day when they were settled and all, she rather thought that her and atticus would become parents themselves, and someday they would share the same values as his parents had over this meeting today. but that wasn't for thinking about now. she was very happy to live in the here and now rather than plan so far ahead, yes she had thoughts and hopes about what was to come, and she was happy to plan a future with atticus..but it was now that mattered most of all and she didn't want to miss a thing.

“Wonderful,” she smiled softly and once more felt his soft lips on her forehead, unable to help herself from tilting her head upward and raising one hand to gently bring his lips toward her own for a soft kiss, before lightly going to drop her hand and smile once more. she watched with slight confusion as he began to take off his tie, wondering whatever for until he asked, “May I?” and then proceeded to motion toward her eyes. taylor nodded without hesitation. "sure," and she stood still whilst she waited for him to tie the fabric over her eyes, closing her lids in preparation. some people would have been apprehensive about having their sight restricted like this, particularly during apparation too. but taylor trusted atticus with her life, and she was only happy to oblige to his wishes.

[atti]

Delicately, as if he was afraid he’d hurt her, Atticus placed his tie over her eyes, glad he’d opted for a wider one today, and one of a thick fabric. He’d contemplated bringing a sash along, but figured she’d notice and would think something was up. He’d been planning this far too long to have her getting suspicious too early and ruining the surprise, since he was sure if she asked, he’d answer truthfully and tell her exactly where he was taking her. Actually, he really hoped she didn’t question him on this, and just went with him on this without protesting. It would make the entire evening much more enjoyable for the both of them if she showed he trusted.

Once the make-shift blindfold was securely tied around her head, he waved his hand in front of her face to assure himself that she couldn’t peek. He smiled softly to himself, wondering if she was comfortable, and hoping that she trusted him enough to let him do this. “Are you alright with the blindfold?” Atticus asked softly, whispering into her ear after wrapping his arms around her protectively. She was indeed, impaired at the moment, and it was crucial that she felt comfortable and protected with it. To him, this was the last test before the actual end.

“Comfortable?” he asked again. The last thing Atticus wanted to do was scare her; he sincerely hoped that everything would go as planned. If not, his long weeks of preparation would be useless, and he’d have spent countless hours on nothing. Once he had his response, he warned her that they would be apparating, and tightened his grip around her.

[taylor]

she stood still and smiled lightly at the delicateness of which atticus applied the make-shift blind fold around her eyes. she kept them shut, feeling the soft fabric brush against her closed eyelids and the feel of his hands as he tied the tie at the back of her head - securely so it wouldn't fall, but not too tight that it was painful. she was getting more and more curious by the second as to what atticus was planning, her heart pounding a little harder than usual at the excitement of it all. luckily enough she liked surprises, she wasn't the 'jump to the last page in a book' kind of person so she could know the end.. she enjoyed being taken by surprise - well so long as it wasn't an awful surprise that is and she doubted this would be awful at all.

she didn't even think about asking him, mostly because she didn't think she'd be able to get a clue out of him and also because she didn't wish to ruin the surprise at all by asking - for some reason she rather thought this wasn't a whim of his, that it'd been planned...maybe for an hour, maybe for several days, who knew. she opened her eyes against the blind fold but could see nothing besides a close up view of the fabric, only able to tell he was doing something in front of her by the passing of the wind in front of her face - she gathered he might be waving a hand but he could've been moving his head to check she couldn't see, she didn't know. “Are you alright with the blindfold?” she smiled softly as his voice travelled to her, lips by her ear as she felt his strong arms wrap around her, and she relaxed into her hold, not caring that she couldn't see, only caring that he was right here with her.

taylor nodded, before hearing his - “Comfortable?” and smiling once more, he seemed concerned, but she was fine with it. "perfectly so, " she whispered back gently. she trusted him so explicably that she didn't care that she had no sight. for all she knew they could be surrounded by foe's.. but she trusted atticus that he would take care of her, protect her. oh sure she was a strong woman, but that did not mean she disliked atticus' strength and security - she revelled in it, and whilst it meant that she wasn't one of those silly little girls completely reliant upon their man, it also meant she could trust him, she felt safe with him and she didn't mind him protecting her.. she liked it. she felt his hold tighten and she tensed slightly in preparation for apparation, going to move with him on the spot and feeling that slightly awful feeling of being compressed within a tube.. before finally she could breathe properly again and they had appeared.. where ever they had appeared; for all she knew, the wrong place...

[atti]

Conjuring up a quick image in his mind of where he wanted to take them both. It was a place he was familiar with, despite not being from the city itself. Most people knew the tour quite well, though few had been there. It was a typical staple of tourism in the country, and while very few locals found it as spectacular as out of towners, the place was usually swarming with people until closing. Atticus however, had pulled a few strings to get permission to use the empty space tonight. It wasn’t all that difficult, it was only the matter of knowing the right people and having the proper connections, which, with his father’s status and influence in not only the Wizarding world but also the Muggle one, wasn’t very hard. Usually, he wouldn’t take the influence of his family’s name in vain, but when something was important, he wasn’t opposed to dropping a few hints to as to his origins.

Purposely, so she wouldn’t immediately see what he had planned, he apparated them to the top of the tower, on the observation deck, but on the other side of the tower. Once he was sure they had both come in one piece, or two rather considering they weren’t the same person, he released his hold on her slowly, letting his hands trails up her arms, across her shoulders to rest around her neck. His thumbs ran across the skin covering her cheekbones, as he took a moment to appreciate her beauty in this new light. How anyone could be so beautiful, he’d never know. She would never cease to amazing him.

For a moment, he let his lips linger against hers before turning her around, wrapping his arms around her from behind and guiding her to the end of the platform toward the railing that ran around the side. With his body pressed up against her, he kept one arm securely around her while the other moved up to remove his tie from around her head, letting her open her eyes and see the vast expanse of Paris in the evening extend before her. “And your last stop, Mademoiselle,” he whispered in her ear, leaning his chin on her shoulder and watching her reaction rather than the beautiful, twinkling city laid out before them.

[taylor]

she had no idea where his destination was, and so she couldn't help with the apparation, instead she clung to atticus and turned on the spot with him into the dark, trusting him explicably to take her with him to where ever they were going. she staggered a little as they landed where ever atticus had intended they arrive, usually pretty graceful on her feet but a little disorientated at current with her lack of sight. she lent back into atticus' strong supporting torso for the moment until she'd regained her balance and could stand without feeling she was going to fall over foolishly.

she could hear nothing other than her and atticus' soft breathing, and the whistling of cool wind in her ear that also brushed against her cheek. they must have been high up somewhere, the wind would not have been so bad on a street somewhere...though as she'd been given no clues she had no real idea where they could possibly be. on a rooftop? she doubted, there'd be no point in apparating to a rooftop would there? she stood still, waiting for atticus patiently, a bubbling of nervous excitement building in her stomach, a soft smile on her face as she felt atticus' arms release her gently and trail up her arms and neck, leaving a blazing trail of heat behind them. a blush followed the line of his thumbs on her cheeks and she welcomed the brush of his soft supple lips against hers.

she felt him go to move her and she turned as he wished, smile widening affectionately as she felt his body press against her from behind, her hands moving to cover his as he wrapped his around her, and she lent back against him slightly, comfortable with him close to her. she moved forward as he wanted until they reached some sort of railing, and she felt one of his hands remove the tie from her face. blinking as her vision returned and she saw the glorious sight before her. “And your last stop, Mademoiselle,” her eyes widened and she gasped, a delighted grin spreading across her face as she gazed out over the city from the eiffel tower instead. "it's beautiful.. breathtaking." she murmered, unable to take her eyes off it, and finding the only thing more heart-stopping here was atticus. she felt his chin on her shoulder and she grinned; turning her head slightly carefully to press her lips against his cheek. "thank you... i've never been up here before...it's amazing."

[atti]

Although there had been no doubt in Atticus’ mind that Taylor would like this part of her surprise, he still felt anxious when he pulled the tie off her eyes and retied it around his neck. While she had played quidditch all throughout her schooling and professionally, he wasn’t entirely sure how she did with heights since then, because while it wasn’t a long time ago, there was certainly a reason she’d stopped playing, and though he hadn’t yet inquired as to why, he could deduce that it was possible that it was an accident that had left her with a little lingering fear of heights, however slight, that was hard to get over. Nonetheless, he felt relieved when she approved and kissed his cheek, his lips immediately seeking out her own in a soft gesture of appreciation. He was sure he’d never get used to that rush of passion and the tingling feeling he got when her bare skin met his; certainly he’d die from shock one of these days from it. Though, he considered, it would be a death well worth it.

“Yes,” he said slyly, looking at her rather than the actual view. How could he look at something so trivial as Paris when Miss Paxton was in his arms? It certainly wasn’t possible on any account. Even the most blind man had to agree that Taylor was beautiful, even if he could not see her physically. Though he had known her for a very short time, he had no doubt in that fact. “It’s absolutely amazing,” he added, chuckling, and laid his cheek on her head, holding her close as if he was attempting to shield her from the winter chill. “No, Taylor,” he began, slightly slurring his words and trying to keep them from turning into French. Though he was sure that Taylor would pick it up easily once taught the basics, she was an intelligent woman after all, he wasn’t about to confuse the poor girl now, not when he had something important to say. “I should be thanking you,” he began, turning her slightly in his arms to be able to look at her beautiful face. “You came into my life when I had no where I belonged to. I believe now, I know where my home is supposed to be. Not here in France, or in England, or Scotland. It doesn’t matter where I am; home is with you. Life, even the most exciting of places, would mean nothing if you weren’t there with me.”

[taylor]

she smiled as they looked over the view, so close that she could feel the contours of his chest, the warmth radiating off of him and she relaxed easily in his arms, feeling the safest she ever felt when his strong arms were around her like this. she didn't mind heights, she knew that often when people fell from height off of their brooms they lost their courage with heights, but taylor had always wished she could simply get back to flying. it was something she'd yearned for a long time, and only now as atticus had entered her life had the yearn subsided. he'd soothed her, he'd made it so the only thing in her life that she wanted was him, and a future with him. she had so much to thank him for, he'd fixed her. she didn't need flying, she just needed him. she was yet to tell atticus about her flying accident, it hurt to talk about, but she would soon enough. sometimes her shoulder played up a little, could be a little stiff and she'd have to explain why. sometimes magic couldn't fix everything.

she smiled as his lips touched hers and she kissed him back gently, wanting him to know just how much she appreciated this, and how much she loved this and him. she didn't think she'd ever felt such a heat before meeting atticus; the way he kissed her always made her heart pound, made a flutter of heat burst from the point of contact and warm her entire body. it was something she started to crave, she didn't think atticus was ever someone she could let go of. “Yes,” she smiled as his word and rested her head against his for a moment, still gazing out over the incredible skyline of paris; she'd never seen it before, she couldn't help but stare at it's magnificence. if her and atticus moved somewhere together, she might like to move here, to his home city.

despite the cold she felt incredibly warm snuggled into atticus as she was right then. “No, Taylor,” she blinked and turned her head to look at him, catching the difficultly he had remaining in english. she didn't mind him slipping into his native tongue, she loved his language and she couldn't wait to learn. oh yes she was going to learn, mostly because she owed it to atticus - he knew her language, she felt the need to learn him..and besides it was a beautiful language. she wanted to learn it. “I should be thanking you,” she felt him go to turn her and she moved as he wished, forgetting the view as she took him and only him in, looking up at his handsome face with a soft smile, feeling he was gong to say more.

“You came into my life when I had no where I belonged to. I believe now, I know where my home is supposed to be. Not here in France, or in England, or Scotland. It doesn’t matter where I am; home is with you. Life, even the most exciting of places, would mean nothing if you weren’t there with me.” she couldn't help but blush, a gently flood of rose to her cheeks. she had known they were both falling in love with each other, but she hadn't known how much he was falling in love with her. "i feel the same way atticus.." she said softly, smiling gently and looking up at him, the adoration and love for him so very clear in her gaze. she wasn't sure what else to say, he'd just stolen the words from her mouth but she felt she had to say something. "you'll always have a place...right here..." she couldn't help but put a hand to her heart, still gazing at him. "and you'll always have a piece of mine...you've stolen my heart, and i want you to keep it..." she added gently, a small smile gracing her lips as she looked at him and hoped she didn't sound like an idiot.