It's Better If You Do

Bellamy made her way down the staircase slowly, grinning a bit to herself when she saw Fred and Rose sitting at the table, chatting quietly and wearing wide smiles. It was the happiest Bellamy had seen Rose in a while, and she couldn’t help but to think it was time her younger sister found it. They didn’t look up when she walked into the room; they were too wrapped up in their conversation. Bellamy, clearing her throat delicately, walked over to her small kitchen area.

“Coffee or tea, you two?” She asked, pulling a face when she noticed that all her floral teacups had gone missing. She spun around and noticed they were both on the table, full of a steaming, light brown liquid. Lest she interrupt the two of them, she merely grabbed a bit of stale bread and leaned over the box of puffskeins. They began humming in anticipation as she picked off pieces of the bread and began to sprinkle it into the box. The humming grew to an alarming decibel and Bellamy took vague notice of George standing beside her, feeding them as well.

“They seem to like you,” she said softly as she continued to feed them breadcrumbs, glancing over to him for a moment.

“I’m under the belief that they only see really bright colors,” he said with a shrug. “So…with my fashion sense,” Bellamy gave him a tight-lipped smile, looking to be suppressing laughter, “and my flaming red hair, they notice me more than they notice you.” Bellamy shook her head and straightened up, having fed all of the bread to the puffskeins.

“Well…your suit could do with a bit of tailoring,” she said, placing her hands on her hips and glancing over his flamboyant combination of a sort of canary yellow shirt, olive green pinstriped vest and trousers, and dusty rose colored tie.

“I know, right? I was just telling Fred that I think I’ve grown a centimeter or two since we got them…” George said enthusiastically as if he were glad someone else noticed this fact, plucking at the side of his trousers. Bellamy merely shook her head a bit, giving him a knowing smile.

“I was talking about it being let out a bit. The trousers and vest are a bit snug,” she said coolly before stepping around him and walking over to the table. Fred, who seemed to have been listening it, let out a few chuckles at George’s sour-looking expression. Rose gave Bellamy a proud sort of look as she sat down beside her, folding her gloved hands on the table as George took a seat next to his brother, scowling dramatically.

“So…how was the rest of your date?” Bellamy asked with a small smirk, causing both Fred and Rose to blush a bright red color. Neither of them protested the word, but exchanged small smiles with each other.

“Well, we were at the zoo for the majority of it, which was great fun since Fred had never been,” Rose said softly, glancing over to her sister with a thankful smile. Had she not suggested the zoo, the rest of their date may have been incredibly boring, but she doubted that Fred could be boring in any sort of situation. “Then we ate at Chez Gérard for dinner and we both told off our waitress.” Bellamy giggled lightly and shook her head.

“She was acting like I was the only one at the table, so…Rose ended up called her something like a prostitute,” Bellamy gave a small gasp and glanced over Rose with a surprised expression.

“I said it in French, of course,” Rose quickly explained above the sound of both Fred and George’s laughter, “and I mumbled it, but Fred caught just the last word. Then Fred finally set her straight.” Bellamy merely shook her head with a sigh.

“How was the food?” She asked softly. “I do miss French cuisine.” Rose let out a loud laugh and shook her head.

“We’ve only been in England for a few days!” She exclaimed merrily through her laughter. Bellamy merely shook her head, laughing lightly as well. “And while it wasn’t as good as mother’s cooking…or your’s, by any standards, but it was rather good.”

“If you wanted to, Bellamy, I rather liked the tar…tart…” His brow furrowed as he tried to think of the word of the food Rose had ordered for him. “The tartyflute?” Both of the French girls in the room giggled softly and Rose shook her head at him.

“Tartiflette,” Rose corrected softly with a warm grin. Bellamy looked between the brothers and let out a small sigh.

“I could fix that one night this week. Thankfully, I know that recipe by heart, so even if it isn’t in any of my cook books,” she said softly. “And maybe if you’re good, I’ll fix a French dessert as well.” Fred looked excited at the prospects of having one of Bellamy’s confections but George looked a bit downhearted and shook his head a bit.

“Sorry, Fred, I’ve probable already blown up our chance that one,” he said grimly. Bellamy looked at him suddenly, her expression growing very serious.

“No you haven’t, George,” she said in a soft voice, shaking her head. “You didn’t know, so it’s quite alright. It was a simple question…one that I shouldn‘t have let get to me.” She gave him a small, yet forced reassuring smile. She then turned to Rose and said, “So I suppose, after you were finished with dinner, the rest of your date consisted of a bit of conversation, with copious amounts of snogging.” Both Fred and Rose blushed again as Bellamy and George laughed quietly. After Rose recuperated from her seemingly chronic blushing, she turned to her sister.

“So…how did you and George get along after we left?” She asked, glancing between the two of them with a knowing smile. George suddenly looked very excited.

“She made me bouillabaisse and a very chocolate cupcake,” he said with a nod to both Fred and Rose, who were grinning widely. He glanced between them before his happy expression fell a bit. “You both knew about it, didn’t you?”

“Well…not about the cupcake,” Rose said with a slight shrug.

“And she had me go out and get the ingredients,” Fred added, glancing between Bellamy and George.

“I knew something fishy was going on between the two of you,” he said, wagging a finger at the two of them. Bellamy stifled a laugh and shrugged a bit.

“I wanted to keep it a surprise,” she said softly, shaking her head a bit. “And he ate all of it, the bouillabaisse and the cupcake…which is why I made the comment about his clothes being let out.” George grumbled something under his breath as he sent a playful glower in Bellamy’s direction.

“I think we’re both going to have to get our clothes let out, mate, with how delicious Bellamy’s cooking is,” Fred said with a truthful nod. Bellamy suddenly grinned widely and shrugged a bit.

“Au moins donner un baiser ma sœur ne fait-il grossir,” she said to Fred with an all-too happy expression. Rose gasped and blushed suddenly as she gently smacking her sister’s arm with the back of her hand. “What?” Bellamy asked, shaking her head. “You know it’s true.” Rose merely gave her a playfully scornful look, which lost its potency with the vivid blush that painted her cheeks. Underneath the table, however, Fred pulled the French-English dictionary from his pocket.

Bellamy gave Fred another grin before standing and starting to collect all the dishes. George merely watched her, noticing that Rose, who had recovered from an embarrassment that he didn’t understand, was giving him a particular sort of smile. Bellamy left the room with her arms full of dishes without another word. Rose began to collect the rest of the dishes, looking excited.

“It seems, George, that my sister is making a great effort to not get angry with you,” she said softly, so that her sister wouldn’t hear. “You’re making a bit of progress, but I’ll advise you not to test her patience. She has little to none for men, nowadays.” She began to walk toward the stairs before turning to Fred. “And before you give yourself a paper cut from flipping through the pages of that book so quickly, she said that at least giving me a kiss will not make you fat.” With a slight smirk to the twin, she turned around and began to climb up the stairs.