𝐌𝐈𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐒 , ᶠⁱⁿⁿ ˢʰᵉˡᵇʸ

20

CHAPTER 20

Tilly sat on the floor of her mothers old bedroom, a box of letters sat in front of her. She swallowed hard, her fingers grazing over the messy writing on the paper.

Dear Tilda,
I'm unsure if this letter will get to you but i wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas from me an the Shelby boys. I'm disappointed that we're unable to spend it together as i'm still fighting in France but I hope you still have a good time without me. Remember, I love you and miss you dearly. We have hopes that we'll be returning home very soon.
Love you. - Dad.

He never returned home. He never got to spend another Christmas with his daughter. She never got to spend another Christmas with her father.

Tilly pursed her lips into a straight line. The last letter she'd received off her father before he died. The letter he'd wrote only a few months before the end of the war. If only he'd held on a little longer. If only he hadn't had a bullet fired to his chest.

She jumped slightly at the noises downstairs and quickly shoved the box of letters under the bed.

"Tilly, it's me!" Finn called out, waiting patiently at the bottom of the stairs. She stood, using her hands to flatten the top of her hair as she ran down the stairs, flinging herself into his arms. Finn gasped, catching her before they fell. "Ello to you too." He laughed, holding her tightly.

"Hi," she sighed as he placed her on her feet. Tilly fixed the collar of his coat and smiled.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing," Tilly shrugged, taking her own coat off the hook and shoving her arms into it.

It had been a few weeks since Finn and Tilly had began speaking again. And although she was allowing Finn to help her, she was struggling more than ever. And it had gotten so bad that she was afraid of the damage she was capable of doing.

Obviously, Finn was unaware of how bad it had gotten because she didn't tell him. She didn't want to burden him with another one of her problems.

Although they'd been trying to make things better with each other, it wasn't working as well as they'd hoped it would. They were arguing, a lot. This time it was usually Finn's fault. He'd either become jealous or annoyed at small things and spark an argument.

Arguments which would cause them to avoid each other. Sometimes for days, sometimes for a few hours.

Matilda was finding it hard to keep herself in a healthy frame of mind considering the anniversary of her fathers death was approaching. Something she never knew how to deal with.

Tilly knew that if Finn was to find out how she was feeling, he'd be there and he'd help. But she wasn't sure if she wanted him to help her this time because if he did help her, it'd make her feel silly. She'd feel like he was using her vulnerability to mend their issues.

-

Everyone had gathered around the snug of the Garrison. And by everyone, that means the Shelby family.

"To Jason Willows!" Arthur raised a glass, smiling. "To Jason," murmurs came from the other members of the family.

Finn sat with a reassuring arm around his girlfriends shoulder as they drank to her Father. He knew she hated this day more than any other. He knew that she hated being reminded of the day she lost her best friend.