Candy [THOMAS SHELBY]

Chapter Five

Tommy hung around in the Garrison, in the snug until he knew it was safe to go back to Watery Lane without running into Josephine, he planned on keeping himself locked up in his office until the early hours of the morning before going home, hoping that Josephine was asleep when he did but his plans changed as soon as he walked in and saw his Aunt Pol sitting in the kitchen with an unimpressed look on her face and not wanting to piss her off, he sat down opposite her.

"I did not raise you to be a fool, Thomas and yet here you are. Do you truly believe that if Josey ever got pregnant she wouldn't tell you?" Polly wasn't wasting any time and went straight to the point.

"Of course not. I didn't mean what I said, I was just angry with Ada and Freddie." Tommy replied, lighting a cigarette.

"That's not an excuse Tommy." Polly sighed, "That girl is too good for you. You need to apologise, so don't even think about hiding out in here until you think it's safe."

Tommy didn't even try to act surprised about Polly knowing his plans, he was sure that his aunt knew himself better than he did, so he left the house on Watery Lane and his way to the house he shared with Josephine.

Stepping into the house he could hear the noise of the radio along with the sound of Josephine quietly humming along with it from the kitchen, walking into the kitchen he knew that Josephine knew he was there and was simply ignoring his presence.

"I'm sorry."

Josephine turned her head over her shoulder to look at him before turning back to continue washing up, "What are you sorry for, Thomas?"

"I'm sorry for accusing you of ever getting pregnant and getting rid of it, I was angry about Ada and Freddie but that was no reason to treat you the way I did." Josephine could hear the sincerity of his words, so she dried her hands and turned to face him.

"That really hurt me Thomas. I know since you've changed since coming back and I understand that and I'm not holding that against you but you really can't speak to me like that. Do you understand me?"

"I know, I'm sorry." The small smile she gave him was all he needed before he walked towards her and gathered her in his arms and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I love you, Tommy." Josephine murmured to him, hugging him tight.

　「♤♧♤♧」

The Garrison was quiet and nearly empty when Josephine walked in, unable to find Tommy at the betting den, she decided to check the Garrison to see if he was in there, knowing he liked to hide away in the snug for peace and quiet when she came across the blonde barmaid behind the bar cleaning glasses. Figuring that now was as good a time as any to introduce herself, Josephine walked up to the bar.

"Hi, I'm Josephine, you must be the new barmaid everyone is talking about." She introduced herself with a kind smile and her hand outstretched.

"Yes...I'm Grace" the blonde replied, shaking her hand.

"I must admit, it's quite...brave you do this job," Josephine paused thinking of the right word to say before continuing, "the men here can be quite rambunctious, especially since coming back from the war but you handle them very well! It's great to see, honestly."

Grace slightly relaxed at the girls words and the sight of her grin once she finished speaking, she didn't know why she felt so on-edge about the young woman, Joesphine was nice and kind but a little voice in her head was telling her that she was jealous, that it was unfair that Josephine got to him first. Grace had only come across Tommy a few times and was already attracted to him, yet stood in front of her was his fiance and Grace couldn't help but want to be mean to her, to hurt her, so that's what she did.