Yes! Hurt/comfort is brilliant. As was keeping his secret - shared trust is a pretty big step in the right direction as well. Susie also pretty much tells him that she DOES have the hots for him later. They're going to be married, so the fact that they both desire each other is a GOOD thing. She's not something too pure to be touched, she's a real person. Percy needs to have this spelled out to him before the wedding night. Or it would have been a complete disaster. Well. More of a disaster. ;)
(Side note: I hope failed sex is allowed in romance novels, because it was the most realistic way of writing it and I sort of love it. If it's not allowed, I have a backup scene done where they don't even try to have sex. Because there's no way two virgins - one of whom is VERY nervous - are having even decent full sex on their wedding night. TMI maybe, but two virgins? It's AWKWARD, I know this. And neither of us were Percy-level awkward.)
Yes, all of that. James is old enough to have worked through all of that already. Actually, he's having trouble getting used to being able to be attracted to Effie, strangely enough. He's used to women of her position being demure and chaste, but Effie at this point is out of fucks to give. If she wants to sleep with someone she's going to. Also I think her parents were part of the Bloomsbury set, so she's absorbed some of that mentality too, though she was fairly well behaved until the war.
I do mention that teenage Henry WAS confused and it made him all grouchy and teenager-y. And he and Effie got on okay most of the time except for the maybe 30% of the time when they'd REALLY piss each other off and end up screaming at each other. They'd be friends again within an hour, though. They just know how to piss each other off. So when he was being extra grouchy after coming home from school one summer she shouted at him until he snapped and admitted WHY, and she just said 'So was my Mama's best friend, and Uncle Leopold was lots of fun and didn't SHOUT AT EVERYONE.' It's a very sweet image. They're closer and much calmer now they're both in their twenties. Even more so after the war.
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(Side note: I hope failed sex is allowed in romance novels, because it was the most realistic way of writing it and I sort of love it. If it's not allowed, I have a backup scene done where they don't even try to have sex. Because there's no way two virgins - one of whom is VERY nervous - are having even decent full sex on their wedding night. TMI maybe, but two virgins? It's AWKWARD, I know this. And neither of us were Percy-level awkward.)
Yes, all of that. James is old enough to have worked through all of that already. Actually, he's having trouble getting used to being able to be attracted to Effie, strangely enough. He's used to women of her position being demure and chaste, but Effie at this point is out of fucks to give. If she wants to sleep with someone she's going to. Also I think her parents were part of the Bloomsbury set, so she's absorbed some of that mentality too, though she was fairly well behaved until the war.
I do mention that teenage Henry WAS confused and it made him all grouchy and teenager-y. And he and Effie got on okay most of the time except for the maybe 30% of the time when they'd REALLY piss each other off and end up screaming at each other. They'd be friends again within an hour, though. They just know how to piss each other off. So when he was being extra grouchy after coming home from school one summer she shouted at him until he snapped and admitted WHY, and she just said 'So was my Mama's best friend, and Uncle Leopold was lots of fun and didn't SHOUT AT EVERYONE.' It's a very sweet image. They're closer and much calmer now they're both in their twenties. Even more so after the war.