Charlotte nearly choked on air at Polly's question, "Love? I don't love anyone Polly. Except all you of course, my family. That's it."
Polly actually laughed out loud, "Charley you are the most loving person I have ever met, that's your weakness. You are the last person who wouldn't love anyone. Now you know full well I am not talking about family love."
"Weakness? Cheers Pol." Scoffed Charlotte, half jokingly of course. She knew that to be true, she knew she was someone who loved too hard, forgave too easily and naively loved. She had a lot of love to give in a world that is far too cruel to be deserving of it.
"Let me finish!" Scolded Polly, gently whacking Charlotte's arm, there was a teasing tone to her voice too. "You love too easily and far too kindly. However, it's also your strength. Don't be in denial of it or ignore it. It gives you the power to fight and the strength to stand up. I reckon it gives other people some strength too, some encouragement and motivation. I know it keeps a certain nephew of mine not so reckless. But of course, you 'don't love anyone'."
Charlotte blushed, she knew exactly what Polly was insinuating. "You're not the first person today to be throwing those accusations around."
"We're not blind Charley. We never have been." Polly tilted her head to the side as she spoke and gave the girl a knowing look.
"We're friends again. That's all." Charlotte's eyes drifted across the room to where Tommy was stood.
"Ah, so we're back to being just friends." Polly put a sarcastic emphasis on the 'just friends' part, "Well it is very nostalgic, like old times. Better than arguing I suppose. I tell you, I can't wait for the day where you two grow up and face the facts that have been clear as day since you were teenagers."
Charlotte laughed lightly and shook her head, "Because you always know everything Pol."
"One of my many talents." Shrugged Polly, "It's nearly six, wont Betty be here soon."
"Oh my god you're right." Said Charlotte standing up quickly, "I better start settling this lot down."
Charlotte wandered over where Alex was, "Alex Betty will be here soon. Can you quiet everyone down."
"Oi, you lot!" Shouted Alex, everyone went silent immediately and turned their attention to Alex.
"Well that was easier than I thought." Whispered Charlotte before clearing her throat and speaking louder, "Right, Betty will be here any minute now so we all need to stay quiet until she comes through the doors. Then we shout surprise."
"Charley we know how a surprise party works." Shouted Arthur in a teasing tone.
"Wouldn't surprise me if you didn't." Smiled Charlotte sarcastically.
Everyone settled down around the room, some stood at the bar while others were seated at the various tables. The room was silent and Charlotte chewed her nail anxiously as she stared at the doors waiting for Betty to arrive. She had told her sister to meet her for some birthday drinks, she had no idea she had made a whole celebration. A hand pulled her arm down which broke her out of her trance, she smiled when she realised it was Tommy. "Why do you look so nervous? Everything is fine Lottie, you've planned this to perfection. Calm down."
"Thank you. I just hope she likes it and realises how much we all appreciate her." Said Charlotte.
"She will." Nodded Tommy.
After a few moments Betty strolled through the garrison doors, there was a loud chorus of 'surprise' and cheers. Betty's face looked completely shocked and confused, her brow furrowed as she glanced across the room. Charlotte could've squealed with delight when a small smile took over Betty's face, she rushed forward to her older sister.
Betty shook her head at Charlotte but the smile remained, "You didn't."
Charlotte hugged her sister tightly, "Happy birthday Betty. You deserve this, tonight it's all about you and how much we love you. We're celebrating you."
"I love you Charley." Mumbled Betty stroking the back of her sisters head.
The room began to bustle about again, conversations sparking on their own and people getting more drinks in. Flora came running up to Betty, she grabbed the side of her dress tightly pulling it slightly to get her attention. "Betty did you hear me shout surprise?" She asked excitedly.
"Yes Flora, out of all those voices I heard yours." Laughed Betty, Flora beamed proudly.
"Happy birthday Betty." Spoke Eliza in a quiet voice from behind Charlotte.
"Thank you Eliza." Replied Betty with a smile, "Come here." She held her arm out and gestured to Eliza with a nod after a few minutes. Charlotte smiled as Eliza accepted the hug with a big smile, her eyes closed in content as she gripped onto her eldest sister.
Charlotte simply couldn't contain herself, she squealed as she joined in with the hug. "I love when we're all friends."
Flora caught the excitement too and ran into the group hug, "Yay!". She didn't seem exactly too sure of what she cheering for but she was overjoyed to join in anyway.
Charlotte laughed as she pulled away and picked Flora up, spinning her around once as she giggled. "You're so sweet Flora."
"As are you 'Liza and of course you Bet."
"Charley you are the sweetest of us all." Said Betty with a smile, "You did all this!"
"I wont argue that." Agreed Eliza.
Arthur came up beside Charlotte and threw an arm around her shoulder, "Betty!" He cheered raising his drink in the air.
"Arthur!" Mimicked Betty, not as loud and she was giving the man a strange look.
"He's been here not even an hour and he's already drunk." Said Eliza tilting her head to the side and sending Arthur a pointed look as she pulled out of the hug.
"I'm not drunk." Retaliated Arthur.
"Yes you are." Replied Eliza, crossing her arms.
"No I'm not." Said Arthur again, Charlotte rolled her eyes.
"You do look drunk Arthur." Said Flora absentmindedly playing with her hair.
"How would you even know what drunk is Flora?"
Flora gasped, "I do know! I know loads of things, more than you." She smiled smugly.
Charlotte laughed as Betty shook her head, "Arguing with children Arthur. The fact you're loosing makes it even worse as well."
Arthur rolled his eyes at the teasing and then took Betty's hand making her a twirl on the spot, "Let's go get the birthday girl a drink."
Betty shrugged with a teasing smile, "If you insist. Tonight is my night off! No parenting duties for me."
"Yay!" Mumbled Charlotte widening her eyes at Eliza, "You're in charge of your brother and sister." She pointed at Flora teasingly.
Flora giggled excitedly while Eliza did a mocking gasp of shock, "Come on Flora, let's go tell Danny the good news." Laughed Eliza, holding her younger sisters hand as they walked off.
Charlotte was stood alone for a mere few seconds before she felt someone grab her hand and begin to pull her to the doors of the garrison, "Erm Tom, party is the other way."
"I know." Replied Tommy.
"Well then why are we still going in the wrong direction." Charlotte forrrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
"No we're not. I want to take you somewhere." Said Tommy as the two carried on down the road.
"Mysterious, why?"
Tommy shrugged, "No reason in particular."
"Where are we going?" Asked Charlotte as the pair continued along the road, taking a side diversion throguh to the fields.
"God, you're full of questions aren't you. Always been a curious one. Have a bit of patience Lottie, we're nearly there." Chuckled Tommy.
Charlotte huffed, "Fine."
Eventually the pair arrived in a place that was very familiar to Charlotte, to Tommy too. Charlotte was immediately filled with a feeling of nostalgia, a smile took over her face as she gasped at the thoughtfulness of Tommy. Tommy led her to a huge willow tree that was looking over the river. "I know where we are." Whispered Charlotte.
Tommy smiled as he took a seat underneath the tree, "Oh, do you?"
Charlotte sat beside him, shoulder to shoulder. "I can't believe you thought of this place, I haven't been here in years."
"How could I forget this place? We practically spent everyday here when we was younger. All of us"
"We did." Laughed Charlotte, there was a few minutes silence and then Charlotte sighed thoughtfully. "Sometimes I wish I could go back to those times. It was so much simpler back then, for all of us."
"You can say that again." Mumbled Tommy, "Our biggest problem was getting in trouble for staying out too late, doing something we wasn't supposed to or being somewhere we weren't supposed to be." Chuckled Tommy.
Charlotte laughed, "Polly and my mom would get so mad. I was genuinely scared when they used to shout."
"They could really shout." Laughed Tommy, "Then again, I would've rather it be them than your Dad. Do you remember that one time he caught me sneaking out the window."
Charlotte bought her hand to her mouth, "I forgot about that! That was horrific, I wasn't aloud out the house for months."
"I was too scared to come out my house!" Replied Tommy.
Charlotte chuckled lightly before falling silent, she tried to ignore the ache in her chest. She cleared her throat, pulling at the blades of grass. "I miss my mom."
"She was one of the good ones." Smiled Tommy sadly, "Treated us all like our own, treated everyone like her own really. Always happy, positive and she never judged. No matter who you was or where you come from or what mess you was in, she would still help you. You're a lot like her you know. You're kind, helpful and have an unwavering Essenes of reassurance. Just telling you something gives me some sense of relief. I like that about you."
"Thank you Tom." Whispered Charlotte, "You don't give yourself enough credit you know, the way you speak of me is exactly the way I feel about you."
"We're not the same Lottie, I don't come close to how good you are. I don't even know why you're sat here with me right now, why we're friends. I will never come close to deserving of you."
Charlotte sat up and glared at Tom sternly, "Stop saying that! You are good Tom, no matter what anyone else says or thinks. I mean you're not perfect, I know the things you've done, but deep down you are a good person. The Tom I know has a good heart, you're sweet to me and you help me and you protect me. That is why we are friends, that is why we are close. Nothing you say or do will ever make me forget that Tom because I know that is the real you."
"I don't care what anyone else says and thinks of me except for you Lottie. As much as I don't believe it to be true it gives me a lot of happiness to know that is what you think of me."Mumbled Tommy, reaching his hand out slightly so the back brushed against the back of Charlotte's. A subtle, almost unnoticeable movement.
"Always." Nodded Charlotte, "Just don't hurt me again Tom, please don't leave me again."
Tom turned to look at Charlotte, his face serious. "Lottie I promise you, I wont ever do what I did again."
"Good." Smiled Charlotte, "Because I like being friends. And I like getting to see the secret Thomas Shelby no one else knows about."
Tommy laughed and rolled his eyes, "I feel so special!" Charlotte continued to tease.
"Good, you are special."
"Ah! There he is again." Cooed Charlotte teasingly going to pinch Tommy's cheeks but he whacked her arms away as they both laughed.
After the laughter died down Charlotte spoke up again. "Do you ever miss your mom?"
Tommy was silent for a few moments, Charlotte continued staring out ahead scared to glance in Tommy's direction and see his expression. Even when Charlotte and Tommy were close originally he never exactly opened up or spoke about things that were hard for him, they'd only recently rekindled and she felt she might've over stepped. "I do." Stated Tommy simply.
Once again Charlotte's curiosity got the best of her, "What about your Dad?"
Charlotte spoke again when Tommy didn't reply, "I miss my Dad sometimes. I hate him but I miss him. Then I feel guilty for missing him, I should feel nothing but pure hatred for him but then he is my dad so then I feel guilty for hating him. Then it's one big complicated circle of hate, guilt and self criticising my feelings."
Tommy's fingertips stroked Charlotte's outstretched leg gently, in a comforting manner. "You're allowed to feel more than one thing at once. Feelings aren't straightforward, they're conflicting. You can hate him more than anything but still have a part of you that misses him and loves him."
Charlotte smiled, she felt comforted by Tommy's words. She never usually spoke about this with anyone. She didn't want to cause upset and drag people down, she was the one who was happy and positive and meant to uplift her family. Speaking about it would cause everyone around her upset and she didn't want that at all. It was nice to actually speak about it though, instead of bottling it up. She felt a weight off her shoulders. Charlotte sighed, "Enough of that." Charlotte stood up and stepped closer to the lake.
"Careful you can't swim, I'm not getting my suit wet jumping in to rescue you." Joked tommy, Charlotte rolled her eyes in response.
She picked up a small pebble and turned back to Tommy holding it up in her hand. "We always used to skip rocks, we'd have competitions for who could get it the furthest."
"And Betty would win every time." Laughed Tommy, "Arthur used to get so angry."
"Yeah." Laughed Charlotte, "She was annoying though, she would never let us forget that she was the winner."
"If I remember rightly, there was a certain person who would always loose." Teased tommy.
"Shut up." Grumbled Charlotte.
Tommy stood up holding his hands in the air in mock defence, "Hey! Don't take it out on me, I always offered my help and you would never take it." Tommy stood behind Charlotte, he re positioned her and then placed his hand over her hand. He bought their hands back and then as he moved it back forward he quickly added, "Throw it." The rock skipped across the water, going quite far. "See, should've took my help back then. Maybe you would have won."
"Whatever." Charlotte rolled her eyes with a laugh.
Tommy cleared his throat, the tone turning more serious. "I need to talk to you, sit."
Charlotte nodded with an unsure smile, she grabbed Tommy's hand and pulled him back to the willow tree they were previously sat under. They sat back down and Tommy continued, "As you know, I handed over the name of a random communist to get the inspector and the police off Freddie's back. Then he would let Freddie and Ada leave the city."
Charlotte nodded, "That was good though, Ada is in love with Freddie she was always going to stick with him. Freddie could never have stayed in Birmingham, he'd be killed or put away. Ada would be heartbroken, she would never forgive anyone she thought had something to do with it. At least they've got the opportunity to be together now, even if it is elsewhere."
Tommy nodded, "Right. I didn't mention it before, but there was something else. This inspector, he's hellbent on getting these missing guns. His job depends on it, if he looses job then he will blame me. The only reason he's holding off so much now is because of how we gave him that communists name and we got rid of Freddie-"
"He threatened you?" Asked Charlotte, cutting Tommy off.
"Not just me, everyone." Replied Tommy with a sigh he dragged his hands down his face.
"Perfect. We can add him to the list of people who hate us and want us all dead. Kimber, Lee's and an inspector. We're truly covering all bases here Tommy, legal and business and community. Congrats."
Tommy rolled his eyes, "Alright Lottie. I know it sounds bad but I've got it all planned out, it all just needs to go my way and at my pace. I'll sort the guns when my business with Kimber is done. As for the Lee's, I've got an idea for how I'm going to solve that. Anyway, that's not actually the issue. Once again Freddie and Ada haven't done what they said they was going to do. There still in Birmingham."
"Why?" Charlotte shook her head.
"Freddie of course." Huffed Tommy.
"This is ridiculous, twice now he's been given the open opportunity to leave. Him and Ada could go, have a better life somewhere else and raise their baby safely and happily. Yet he chooses to stay? I don't understand. He'll arrest him if he gets to him and he definitely won't let him leave Birmingham. That's it now."
"Precisely." Nodded Tommy, "Now he's going on more about these guns too."
"He said he would let you finish your business and wait for you to return the guns." Said Charlotte quietly.
"Coppers say a lot of things. He wants those guns or Freddie Thorne now."
"For god sake." Groaned Charlotte leaning back against the tree.
"Sorry." Muttered Tommy, Charlotte turned to look at him. Tommy grabbed Charlotte's hand and began rubbing his thumb around in circles. "I don't want to stress you out talking to you about all this. If it's too much tell me."
Charlotte shook her head, "Don't be silly, I can handle it Tom. I like knowing more than not knowing, I'd stress about the unknown anyway. I know there's always soemthing with you so I'd much rather know the ins and outs. This whole thing though, it's gotten so out of hand. How did you get this in over your head?"
"Lottie I know. I know it sounds like a lot, but I've got it handled. I promise. It's all for the best, think about the benefits we've gotten from everything so far. I've got a plan to sort the Lee's out and Ada anyway."
Charlotte sighed, "Do I even want to know?" There was a joking tone to her voice, she turned to Tommy when he didn't reply a smile on her face.
."I like talking to you about all these things." Tommy leaned back, still gripping Charlotte's hand. "You're a good listener, it's like a weight lifted off my shoulder every time. Then you give me that smile, it gives me more reassurance than anything else in this world. More motivation. Just knowing that you trust in me, that's enough for me Lottie."
Charlotte smiled and placed her free hand over Tommy's one that was gripping her other, "I do trust you Tom, I always have and I always will. I put all my faith in you."
"Your faith is strong Lottie." Whispered Tommy, "Never loose it, ever."