Your Crucible | Peaky Blinders

Chapter Nineteen ~ The Reopening

          "-Slightly!-"

          "I'm staying in London," Ada concluded. "And nothing is going to change my mind."

          Lottie knew that she was not going to give in. Ada had definitely picked up the stubbornness of being a Thorne through marrying Freddie. They continued talking for a while, but Lottie knew that Ada had work to go back to and she didn't know what else to say. Putting the phone down, she sighed heavily, putting her head in her hands. She heard someone sit down next to her. "What's all that huffing about?" He asked.

          She didn't need to look up to know who that voice belonged to. "Nothing," She replied, smiling forcefully at John.

          "Nothing?" He questioned. "Really?"

          "Really, really," she lied. Unable to help herself, she sighed again. "It's nothing that I can't fix... one way or another." Lottie peered around the betting shop. "Is Tommy out the hospital yet?"

          John shrugged. "Dunno," he said. "If he is, he hasn't told us."

          "Great," she muttered, feeling deflated.

          "Why?" He asked.

          "There was just something I wanted to talk to him about, perhaps he already knows... I don't know..."

          A smile began to emerge on John's lips as he stared at Lottie. She raised her eyebrows at him, noticing his change of expression.

          "What?" She asked, confused, smiling slightly herself as his grin was infectious.

          "I'm just thinking that you look like someone who needs a drink," he chuckled.

          Lottie smiled wistfully at him. "Not everything can be solved with alcohol."

          "Then you've clearly never been drunk enough, Lottie," he teased. He stood up and offered her his hand. "Come on," he said.

          Lottie paused before taking it, worrying thoughts entering her mind, but she soon dismissed them. What was there to worry about when it came to a couple of drinks?

          They made their way out of the betting shop and to Lottie's apartment. Arthur had given her a couple of the whiskey bottles he had managed to rescue from the explosion. Something which she was very grateful for. Taking two glasses out, she poured the whiskey and handed one to John. "What should we toast to?" He asked.

          "To life," she cheered.

          "I'll drink to that," he grinned.

          Lottie wasn't sure how many drinks in they were, but they were soon laughing at jokes that weren't funny, telling stories that they had probably told before, but nevertheless, they reacted as if it was the first time hearing them. All the barriers she had put up between them had collapsed and she felt comfortable next to him, in a way she hadn't in a long time.

          Lottie giggled happily as they laughed at something John had said, her head lolling to the side, resting on John's shoulder as he chuckled. Their laughter slowly faded into a magnetic silence. Swallowing nervously, Lottie tilted her head to look up at John and saw that he was looking down at her. His eyes dropped down to her lips and before she could think of what was happening, they were leaning in closer to one another. Finally, when their lips were only a breath away, Lottie's eyes snapped wide open and she suddenly stood up, putting as much distance between them as possible in the small room. "No!" She exclaimed. "We can't! We shouldn't!"