"C'mon, dove, we were supposed to be there half an hour ago."
"Sorry, Bon, I can't find my bracelet."
You're running around like a headless chicken looking for the bracelet that you've had ever since you can remember. You want to say that your mother gave it to you, but you can't be sure, because the woman who raised you is not your mother.
You don't remember how exactly you ended up with your adopted parents but you know you weren't always with them. It's as if there's a block in your mind, with only loud voices filling the void. Your earliest visual memory is your adopted parents introducing themselves to you at the age of four. Over the years they tried their hardest to make you forget about this event and see them as your real parents, but after years of failing at this they eventually kicked you out for asking too many questions about your past. Well, that and sneaking out to meet with a lad they don't approve of.
That lad just so happens to be the dark haired beauty that's helping you look for that bracelet from your past. You met Bonnie six months ago when you snuck out with a friend to watch her cousin compete in a boxing match in London, where the two of you were raised. All throughout the fight, you had your eye on the competitor, and when the fight ended and he was victorious, you walked right up to him to congratulate him. Your parents would have been horrified if they saw you walk right up to a man and start a conversation with him when there was no need to. They would say it wasn't ladylike to go after a man in such an obvious manner, but you never had a problem with speaking your mind.
The boxer also had no problem with your behaviour, because he was introducing himself and asking you if you were free the next day, after some encouragement from his father, that is. From there on, whenever Bonnie Gold was in London, you found a way to spend the day with him without your parents knowing.
But then they caught you, fingers linked with the man who was quickly stealing your heart with only a look and a sweet smile. After years of your wild behaviour, seeing you with a boy they found out was from Birmingham sent them over the edge. You were told to pack your things and get out of their house. Thankfully, while you were packing, Bonnie was phoning his employer and arranging for you to have somewhere to stay. Bonnie came back to you with two options: stay with a woman and her son in London or have a flat to yourself in Small Heath, Birmingham. With nothing to keep you in London and a possible future with your lover awaiting you in Birmingham, the choice was obvious.
That's why you are currently in your new flat in Small Heath, getting ready to meet Bonnie's employers and friends in the pub they own. You usually know exactly where you put your bracelet whenever you take it off, but ever since you entered Small Heath you've felt a bit out of it. Something about the place has you feeling nervous yet excited at the same time. Maybe it's just the fact that this is your new life now and you're just having trouble getting used to it.
"Found it!" Bonnie calls out from the bathroom. He comes out with the dainty silver band in his hand, a relieved grin on his face.
"Oh, thank God!" You exclaim, holding your hand out to take it from him. He shakes his head instead, undoing the latch and wrapping it around your wrist for you, then fastening it.
"I don't understand how you can put this on by yourself. It seems like a hassle." He tells you.
You shrug your shoulders in reply.
"It takes a while sometimes, but I like to wear it."
On your way out, Bonnie grabs his peaked cap and your coat, helping you get into it. He then opens the door for you and locks it behind you. You kiss his cheek as a thank you, but that quickly leads to his lips claiming yours softly. He presses you against the door and wraps his arms around you, keeping you pinned between him and the door.
Before it can go on any longer, you pull away for breath, fingers running through the hair that isn't covered by his hat. He's breathing heavily, irises blown wide and observing you with a hungry look in his eyes.
"Y'know, we don't have to go if you don't want to." He tells you. You giggle softly.
"I have to meet the people who are helping me rebuild my life," you remind him softly, but firm enough for him to know that you're serious. These people have helped you when they had no obligation to do so, the least you can do is show up to the gathering they invited you to and meet them.
Bonnie sighs, but nods in agreement and takes your hand in his, leading you in the direction of the pub.
You don't speak on the way there. You're too busy looking at your surroundings, feeling a strange familiarity from the place. You can't ever remember being anywhere near Birmingham, or anywhere outside of London, but the streets you walk feel right beneath the soles of your shoes and the accents you hear sound like home. Like the voices from the past.
It turns out that you don't live far from the Shelby family's favourite pub, because the walk lasts no time at all. God, even the pub itself looks familiar, you think to yourself as Bonnie leads you inside. The noise from the many patrons drowns out any chance of hearing anyone speak, so you're fully expecting to be hoarse tomorrow from having to yell over the noise. But then, Bonnie takes you to a room beside the bar. The door to the room is closed, but opens as the two of you get closer, revealing Bonnie's dad, Aberama, and a woman with dark brown hair around the same age as him.
You freeze at the sight of her, a feeling of deja vu hitting you as the scent of her perfume brings you to a day buried in your memories, a day of raindrops and strangers and heartbroken cries as you are placed in a car roughly by a policeman. As the woman before you laughs, you hear haunted screams from the past in the same voice, and as she turns to you, brown eyes filled with tears of mirth turn to shock, to disbelief, to joy. She recognises you, too.
"Y/N?" She whispers, eyes studying you even with the tears streaming from them. You nod uncertainly. She let's out a gasp, then a sob, and then she pulls you into a bone crushing hug. Despite still not knowing who this woman is, you feel more at home than you ever did in London, and that's why you wrap your arms around her in return. She sobs into your shoulder, staining your dress with her tears, yet you're not bothered by it one bit.
You're acutely aware of the Gold men watching the two of you, both a bit more confused than you are. The woman pulls away, wiping her tears but still keeping her hands on your shoulders. She gives you a watery smile.
"You're home!" She exclaims squeezing your shoulders lightly.
"...How do we know each other?" You breathe, still trying to piece together your memories. She stands on a damp street in your mind, crying out for you as another policeman holds her back, but no name or title comes to you as you examine her.
The woman sniffles, her smile dropping.
"I'm your aunt, love," she tells you, "aunt Polly."
Your aunt. You have an aunt, a family. The world around you spins and wobbles as you process this. This is where you're from. Years of questions that have never been answered, of wondering where you came from and now you know. You're from Small Heath, Birmingham, not London after all. It makes sense now why your other family didn't want you with a boy from Birmingham.
A pair of arms wrapping around your waist is what makes you realise that it isn't the world that's wobbling, it's actually you. Bonnie makes sure you don't hit the ground, along with your newly discovered aunt. Her face melts to a look of concern, before she looks up at your beloved.
"I think you should take her home, Bonnie," she advises him, "she can't meet everyone in this state."
He doesn't say anything but he seems to agree with her, because he's removing one arm to slide it behind your knees and lifting you up bridal style. Still in a daze, your head lolls against his shoulder, unable to even think of anything to say.
Bonnie bids Aberama and Polly a good night, promising to keep an eye on you and bring you back when you're alright, then carries you out of the pub, whispering reassurances all the way home.
Polly watches the young man carry her newly found niece outside, watching them until they are out of sight, still in a bit of shock herself, but overall she's overjoyed to have you back, even if you don't remember her or anyone else. She's not upset that you forgot about your family; she had dealt with Michael when he came back and didn't remember much. This is nothing new to her.
She turns around then, back to the room her nephews and son are in. She knows it's better to just tell them now while they're all here, that way no one can complain about being the last to know. Ada may not be here, but she can be called in the morning.
With Aberama behind her, still confused, Polly marches back into the private room, readying herself for the barrage of questions that will be thrown her way. She doesn't even have any answers yet, but she's prepared for her nephews to lose their minds.
The men in the room look up at their aunt's return, confused as to why she's only returned with Aberama.
Arthur is the first to speak up.
"Where's Bonnie boy and his missus, then?" He asks her. She had gone out with Aberama to greet them first, so they know she would only return when they came in.
"They left," Polly informs them, choosing to take things slow instead of throw it on them all at once.
John let's out a laugh, his mind travelling somewhere else entirely.
"Couldn't keep their hands off each other long enough to meet us," he chimes in, sending the table into hysterics. All except Tommy, that is.
Tommy had watched his aunt enter with a haunted look in her eyes, as if she has just seen a ghost. His brothers and cousin are all too drunk to notice it, but he has seen that look before on Polly's face. It's the look she gave him when he told her that Michael was still alive and in England. A mix of sorrow, shock and joy is the exact look she has right now, and since no one else has noticed, he knows it's fallen to him to ask her about it.
"What's going on, Poll?"
She looks at him, then sighs, sitting down where she had sat before she left. Aberama sits beside her, not saying anything but holding her hand under the table to show his support. Despite his son's involvement in all of this, he knows it's not his place to say anything.
By this point, everyone in the room has stopped laughing and is watching Polly, all unsure of what is about to happen.
"Your sister's back," she finally tells them.
"What, Ada?" Arthur questions, clear confusion written across his face. Polly tuts at his stupid question.
"No, not fucking Ada!" She rolls her eyes.
"You mean Y/N?!" John splutters out, eyes wide. Polly nods, but then John shakes his head at her. "She's been gone for fifteen years, Pol. No way you've seen her."
"I fucking did!" Polly snaps back, irate at being accused of lying.
Michael reaches across the table to grab at the hand that Aberama isn't holding.
"Maybe you confused her with someone else, Mum," he suggests, gently. Michael doesn't remember his youngest cousin, but he's been told for years that she was taken at a young age and no one has ever been able to find her. There's no way she's just ended up in Small Heath after all this time, but he won't outright tell his mum that.
Polly snatches her hand away from her son, standing up abruptly, pulling Aberama with her. She gives everyone in the room a fiery glare before she storms out, leaving everyone dumbfounded.
"They'll fucking see," she growls at Aberama as they exit the Garrison, "they'll fucking see that I'm right."
You wake the next morning to the smell of something cooking.
After Bonnie had carried you back to your flat, he had placed you on the sofa and not left your side, holding you as you cried over finally finding your family, over the years you have lost with them. He listened as you told him what little you can remember of them and filled in the blanks when you couldn't. He told you about your older brothers, Arthur, Tommy and John, and your sister, Ada, and your brother, Finn, who he assumes is your twin, given that you're exactly the same age. He told you that Polly has a son named Michael, and that all of your older siblings have children, most of which he hasn't met himself.
When you were too tired to keep talking, Bonnie then carried you to your room, helping you change out of your clothes and take the pins out of your hair and wipe your makeup off. He crawled under the covers with you, holding you close to him and humming softly until you fell asleep.
Now it seems he has even made you breakfast.
You get out of bed, stretch your arms above you, and plod along into the kitchenette. Bonnie stands at the cooker in his slacks and a vest, his back to you. You walk up behind him and wrap your arms around his middle, resting your head against his back.
"Morning," he bids you. You smile softly and press a kiss to the nape of his neck.
"Good morning," you reply. He turns in your arms and pulls you against his chest, resting his chin on your head. You stand there for a moment, before he pulls away and puts the eggs he has cooked onto two plates.
The two of you eat in silence, both too caught up in your own thoughts to speak. Today you're going to meet your family, you decide. You want to meet the family you longed for everyday when you lived in London. You want to know why you were taken in the first place.
When you both finish eating, you wash the plates while Bonnie gets dressed into the clothes from last night. You use the time to think to yourself.
If you meet them today, you know you want Bonnie to be there with you. He's been your rock ever since you got together, and he brought you here in the first place. It's thanks to him that you're getting this opportunity at all.
"You alright, dove?" Bonnie's voice breaks you out of your thoughts. You take a moment to admire him in his suit, before nodding.
"Yeah, I'm ok," you tell him, "and I'm ready to meet them today."
Bonnie nods back at you, giving you a reassuring smile.
"Alright, I'll call your aunt and arrange a meeting for you. Go get dressed and we'll get going."
You twist your bracelet nervously as Bonnie leads you back to the Garrison. Apparently, this is the place your family is most likely to gather in. Now that you're actually going through with it, you're much more nervous than you were this morning. You don't remember anyone, what if it's awkward?
"There's nothing to worry about, dove," Bonnie whispers in your ear when he notices you fidgeting.
When you reach the doors, you stop for a moment, then take a deep breath and walk inside.
Polly is the first person you see, standing beside a table of men, all with a drink in front of them. She looks up at you as you enter, smiling at you. When you get closer she pulls you in for a hug, which you reciprocate. The feeling of acceptance you get from her calms your nerves a bit, until you pull away and notice all the men staring at you.
No one speaks for a moment, unsure of where to start. Then, a man with dark hair and piercing blue eyes speaks up.
"This her then?" He asks Polly. He studies you intently, his eyes never leaving you. Polly scoffs at his question.
"Of course it is. Who fucking else would it be?"
There's a tension in the room. No one moves, waiting for the man to speak. You hold your breath, desperately wanting to reach back to Bonnie, but decide against it.
The staring and silence continues, and it feels like it will never end, but then, you twist your bracelet around again. This catches the attention of another man at the table.
"Hang on," he shouts, standing up and looking from the bracelet to your eyes, "I gave her that bracelet!"
Every set of eyes in the room drops down to your right wrist, where the silver band is wrapped around your limb. A younger man let's out a laugh, before he too is standing and pulling you into a tight hug.
"It is her!" He exclaims. Everyone is on their feet and you're passed around from person to person, getting a variety of hugs, from the long and painful ones, to the short and gentle kind.
When you're face to face with the first man who spoke, he simply pulls you in for a quick hug, then lets you go. You see a brief smile on his face, but it disappears like the hug. He clearly isn't one for affection. Tommy, you guess from Bonnie's brief description. The serious leader of the family.
"Welcome back," he tells you, before you are yet again pulled into a hug by the oldest man.
"Our girl," he says, holding you close to him, "finally back."
You giggle against him, pleased to be accepted so fast.
Everything is working out so well. That is, until John speaks up.
"Yeah, and back with a bloke she's been seeing."
All eyes land on Bonnie, who suddenly looks very nervous. He turns to you and you simply shrug and say:
"If I were you I'd run."