Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

*III*

"I think you're having enough fun for the both of us" He remarked as she rolled her eyes and leaned an elbow up on his shoulder.

Liam was never a particularly tactile person, never really feeling the need to reach out and give his sister a hug or to put an arm around his brothers. It wasn't their thing and Liam had always preferred it. However, Ada was always at ease around him especially after alcohol and therefore he took no notice when she would rest her elbow on his shoulder or smack him good naturedly. There was nothing to it and she was his best friend. He never thought much more about it. But it was nice.

Ada seemed looser and more at ease, her smile easy and her laugh coming out more frequently with every glass of champagne. Liam was glad. It was nice to see her like that, like she used to be when they were younger.

Liam was still a teenager when they arrived in Small Heath and quickly fell in with the Shelby Brothers. Ada was the first girl he'd ever seen wearing trousers and she was the first girl who had ever spoke to him so sharply. She had said if he was as stupid as he was tall, then her brothers were in for even more trouble. He remembered laughing, properly laughing from his stomach, and feeling the smile crack on his face. It was the first time he'd laughed like that in a long time.

Ada was as bold as brass, with something utterly fierce about her even as a girl. She was constantly sneaking out, testing her brothers' patience, and pushing her luck. It was something he now saw consistently in his own sister, knowing exactly that she had learnt it all from Ada.

She had learnt to keep your shoes off until you stepped onto Watery Lane so as not to make noise when sneaking out. She had learnt to always produce a sound alibi who wouldn't rat you out and to never stay around Small Heath if you were doing something you shouldn't. With Freddie's death and becoming a mother, Ada had grown tamer and yet there were still often glimpses of the old Ada.

"You look different" He remarked before he really knew how or why he was saying it. That was often how he found himself. Speaking his mind before he knew he had something to say.

Ada looked back at him; furrowing her dark brows and making him go blank for a moment. Her eyes were always a pool of deep blue expression and emotion but tonight, Liam felt his mind go blank for a second as he looked from the blush on her cheeks to the paint on her lips.

"You're wearing red lipstick" He commented, noticing the tint to her lips and how it made her look more striking and intense.

Ada quirked a dark and arching eyebrow. Liam was never really a giver of compliments. He almost never noticed women, blatantly ignoring flirty encounters, or barely even noticing when beautiful women practically threw themselves at him. He seemed to either be uninterested or unimpressed, however Ada knew that there was no shortage of women who would die to live the life he could give them, a life of wealth and status. She had overheard enough women plotting to bag themselves a Kennedy brother who would make them richer than their wildest dreams.

But none seemed to ever capture Liam's attention and after a while, they had all stopped asking when Liam would take a wife and settle down. The mere idea of settling anywhere seemed abhorrent and dreadfully boring to him. His mother had always told him he had inherited her gypsy blood, her restlessness.

"Yes I am, Liam... is that alright with you?" Ada joked, picking up her glass and keeping her eyes on his while she raised it to her lips that he still seemed fixated on.

It was an odd sensation, to look at her and really see something rather than just seeing Ada. But the feeling faded as fast as it came both to Liam's regret and relief.

"Yeah" He nodded, lifting the glass to his lips and tipping the caramel-coloured liquid down his throat as he looked away, his gaze flitting along the crowd.