If the unknown is all you have to offer

by Andnever_ever_eatpears

Summary:

Neville and Florence on a boat together...

An extension of the final scene in S13E8.

Notes:

Set post S13E8.

Look, I was sad they didn't kiss, okay? I love that they're offical and endgame and sailing into the unknown together, but I wanted a kiss.
Yes, it's short. I'm posting this less than hour after the ep ended, even I'm not that quick at writing!
So here it is, dip's second endgame ship, enjoy.
Lu :)

Neville feels a hand on his and looks down, if only to check he isn’t imagining it.

He’s sure he’s had this exact dream before but this time Florence is really here, at his side, fingers entwined with his as they sail off into the horizon together.

Together.

There’s a smile on his face and he knows it because this is a fairytale ending to his time in Saint Marie. Filled with unknown (isn’t all of life?) but happy, happier than he ever thought he’d be leaving the place he’s come to consider home.

Maybe it’s not a happily ever after – he can’t know that – but it’s exciting and it’s adventure and it’s with a person he’s cared about deeply for years, finally looking at him how he’s always wished she would.

He allows himself to truly admire Florence for a moment. Even in their time apart he hasn’t forgotten anything about her, not the way she smiles or the way she flicks her hair over her shoulder or the way her eyebrows crinkle when he says something slightly ridiculous (which is often, he knows).

The way she’s looking at him now is new though, like she’s seeing him in a different light.

And he’s finally free to let everything he feels about her sit on his face, he doesn’t have to hide it away anymore, not as her thumb brushes over his and they stand together (together), staring out into open ocean.

“Florence?”

She turns warm but questioning eyes to him. It’s an expression he knows well, although he hadn’t realised quite how much he’d missed it until this moment.

“I might not know quite where I’m headed,” he tells her quietly, subconsciously leaning closer, “but I’m glad it’s with you.”

Her expression shifts from questioning to content and a smile lights up her eyes in a candid show that Neville doesn’t think he could forget even if he wanted to.

(And he very much doesn’t.)

Caught up in the moment as he is, he almost doesn’t notice how near she’s getting, not until the distance between them is so small that her hair reaches out on the wind to brush against his cheek, then he jolts into the realisation of how she’s pausing such a short distance away, waiting for him.

She’s waiting for him.

It feels like he’s spent the last few years trying and yet failing to not wait for her. This week has been a role reversal – and possibly not one that he’s proud of – but he can’t quite find the complete thoughts to describe what it means to him that she’s taking a chance on them.

He closes the final distance between them, pressing their lips together softly.

It doesn’t last long but it’s enough that he has to take a deep breath as he pulls back to look down into her face.

Her smile is wide and beautiful and he’s in awe of it. He’s in awe of everything about her.

“Me too,” she tells him, face tilted up to meet his as her arms move to loop their way around his neck.

One of his hands finds its way to her hip, gently guiding her closer, while the other rises to her face, thumb skimming automatically over the smooth skin of her jaw as their lips meet again, uncaring of their audience.

All they care about is each other, the sparkling sea surrounding them, and the unknown to come.

Notes:

FLOREVILLE IS ENDGAME PEOPLE.

And thank you so much to everyone who’s kept me enthusiastic throughout this season, it really wouldn’t have been the same without you all! I’m so glad I’ve found an amazing group of people who love this series as much, if not more, than me <3<3<3

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 20 of Team as Family