Guardian Angel | Thomas Shelby

Eight

Tommy and Ruby had dinner with her parents and the race horse trainer, Alex. They talked a lot about horses and Alex's training methods, to which Tommy seemed impressed, agreeing to watch his training soon. After they had finished eating, Tommy helped Ruby's parents clean up the dishes which made Ruby beam with pride because that was the Tommy she remembered. Nice, kind, humble. And as charming as ever.
Once they were done, Ruby offered to walk him to his car which he gladly accepted, helping her into her coat and heading outside into the night.
"I'm really impressed by Alex, I may let him train one of my horses." Tommy said when they walked around the dimly lit stables, taking the long way to where his car was parked.
"He's really good with the horses, he trains in a new way since he's so young and we really think he'll be successful. You really should give him a chance."
Tommy grinned when they rounded the corner and he saw the old piano standing outside, where it had been since they were kids.
"That's still here?" He sat down on the little stool in front of it and ran his fingers over the keys. When they were younger, their two families used to visit her grandparents in the summer vacation and that piano had always been there. Ruby had learned to play it, going from randomly hammering on the keys to playing perfectly, music became her biggest passion and Tommy remembered the time before he went to war, when they would sit at the piano late in the evenings, tipsy from the wine they had stolen from the kitchen and Ruby playing random songs, her voice easing Tommy's mind of the fear of going to war.
"Happy or sad?" Ruby asked when she sat down next to him, making Tommy's heart ache with memories of the pretty barmaid he once knew. "Sad." Tommy said and Ruby looked at him, a small smile on her lips. "I warn you. It'll make you fall in love with me." With that, she started pressing down on the keys, forcing a gentle sound out of the instrument.

"I don't know how we got to where we are
So far removed, I don't know where to start
'Cause I've been away for far too long
But I implore you, please hold on
I beg you, please hold on

Love don't come easy to us
And it's killing me to hang on
And hope it's enough

So, I was just wondering
Could you tell me, is it all a waste of time?
Are you leaving my love behind?
Baby, say the word and let me know
You gotta give me something
I swear that I won't try to change your mind
If you're leaving my love behind
Baby, say the word and let me go."

Her voice was just like Tommy remembered. Soothing, angelic, like a siren at sea. He had heard it many times when he was stuck in the trenches and remembering her voice, the exact moment of sitting in the courtyard of the stables with her singing to him, never failed to calm him down. In a way, she had never left his side for all the time they were stuck in France. She was the only thing that kept him from giving up, that kept him fighting even on the baddest days, the only thing that got him home. That's why he was fairly upset when he came back and nothing was the same, she wasn't there anymore and even though Tommy knew where he had to look for her, he had been too much of a coward to face her again. Because the war had changed him into someone he didn't want to be, but he couldn't fight it. There was no fight left in him for that.
And Ruby was right, her singing made him fall even more in love with her than he already was. Because he remembered. He remembered that there was good in the world and the best thing that's ever happened to him was sitting right next to him, opening her heart for him and he was too much of a coward to accept it. To accept that there was someone loving him, despite his broken self and despite everything he's been through.
It was like back then, the two of them being friends that spoke like lovers, two teenagers who were scared to love one another. But they were grown now, adults, though one of them was still scared to love.
When the song came to an end, and Ruby looked at Tommy with her deep brown eyes, he knew that he couldn't live like this anymore, that, to be happy, he had to open his heart for her. It's what he always wanted and essentially was the thing that got him through France. He took her face in both of his hands and gently laid his lips on hers, finally feeling something again. For the longest time, Tommy had thought that he could never feel again and he wondered what it was about Ruby that made his heart swell in his chest again, that made his heart skip a beat whenever she looked at him. Her hands found his face as she gently laid them on his cheeks and Tommy could've cried at the happiness he felt. He never wanted for this to stop but when it did, he couldn't help but smile at her looking up at him.

"You didn't have to sing to make me fall in love with you. I've always loved you, Ruby. And I always will."

(A/N: If anyone is wondering what song she's singing it's Lewis Capaldi's Leaving My Love Behind.)