The Runaway
Chapter
19
season 1
↳ episode 5
Part 2
♕♡︎♔
"Oh! Charlie, what happened to your head? Are you alright?"
Without realizing Grace moves her hand to the cut on the side of Charlotte's forehead, brows creasing in worry.
Charlotte turned her head towards Grace who had just arrived for her shift. It was sometime in the early afternoon, just a few hours after the events of last night. The swelling from the cut on her head had gone down thanks to a salve from Celeste, but it was still a nasty cut. Celeste assured her that the salve would heal it, scar and all, it would just take some time.
"Oh," Charlotte flinches slightly as one of her hands follows Grace's to the cut on her head, as if she had forgotten it was there. That salve did wonders to numb the pain. "Yes I'm alright Grace, just a little accident while closing last night is all."
It was what she had told Celeste this morning too, when she saw her. She had come down the stairs with tired eyes, glancing at Charlotte with a tired but loving 'good morning Charlie Rose,' before she stopped dead in her tracks and looked towards her again. As soon as she took in the sight of her forehead, her eyes widened and she was quick to dote on her, asking what had happened. Charlotte had cleaned it the night before after Tommy walked her home but it did nothing to help the pain and swelling, till Celeste gave her the salve that is.
Charlotte made some excuse about loose shelves and a box falling on her head. It was a foolish story but believable with how clumsy she had been lately. Celeste simply nodded, accepting her excuse. Whereas Scarlett, who came down minutes after her mother, saw the state of her forehead and Charlotte thought that perhaps she saw a flash of concern in her eyes before they shifted into a scowl as she heard Charlotte's story of how she got the cut. Charlotte could tell from her look alone that she didn't believe for a second that it was caused while she was working.
Grace suddenly drops her hand, as if she just realized it was there. She takes a step back from Charlotte in confusion.
"Last night?" Grace says to herself as she looks around the bar, taking notice of a few thrown about chairs and Charlotte sweeping up broken glass.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Grace then looks towards her with worried and questioning eyes.
Charlotte gave her a small reassuring smile and a nod as she picked up the last of the broken glass in a dust pan to throw away. She had gotten most of the mess from last night cleaned and had a bill set aside for the expenses to cover anything that was broken.
"Oh yes, it was my fault really. I've been quite clumsy lately, if you haven't noticed." Charlotte laughs it off like it was nothing. Grace wasn't so sure.
She had in fact, noticed how jumpy Charlotte was lately, and not a normal startled jumpy either, but a scared one. Looking over her shoulder constantly like she was being watched. Breaking glasses because she had grown so startled from a loud noise in the pub, which had never bothered her before. The way she had covered more and more shifts at The Garrison, even though Grace could see the dark circles around her eyes from obvious lack of sleep.
Grace didn't want to pry and ask her if something was wrong but it had her worried. Her business here was almost done and as she thought about everything she had done to get to this point, guilt soon filled her as she observed Charlotte. A friend who looked worse for wear lately but was still as kind as ever. And as she looked at the cut on her forehead she couldn't help but wonder if telling Campbell to get information on her was the right choice.
She never wanted Charlotte to get hurt, that was never her intention. Despite what Campbell had said before, Grace didn't see Charlotte as a means to their endgame. As an obstacle in the way of her mission. She was more than that. Grace had grown to care for her, in more ways than one. The last thing she wanted was to be the cause of her suffering. Indirectly or not.
"As long as you're okay." Grace gives her a smile but her eyes were concerned and full of guilt and something else that neither Grace herself or Charlotte could understand.
Charlotte looks at her a moment, takes in her expression, the look in her eyes. Since her suspicions of Grace, she had started to notice more and more that she didn't before. The false sense of friendship and trust no longer masking her to what was really going on, who Grace really was. And while she didn't have it all figured out yet, who Grace was, what she was doing and why, she knew it was only a matter of time. The truth can't stay buried for long, soon enough everything comes to light. Especially when you least expect it.
Grace stands near a long bench in the park, checking her watch as she waits for Campbell to arrive. Moments later he walks over to join her.
"Grace." He says in greeting, she gives him a nod in response. "Your note said you wanted to meet with me?"
"Yes, I had some questions, regarding The Garrison last night." She gives him a knowing look.
"The Garrison?" Campbell says in slight confusion before he recalls the event. "Well, there was some kind of scuffle and the police were involved, but what matter is it to you?"
"Charlotte was there. She got hurt." Grace tells him.
"I see." But he didn't. He didn't understand why that woman's involvement would matter. "That wasn't my intention. I never knew he would involve her."
"He trusts her. I told you that, you didn't believe me." She reminds him.
"My concern is for you. It was ugly business that I'm glad he didn't involve you in."
"But it's my job." She tells him firmly. "Charlotte shouldn't have been involved."
"She's been living with beasts. Whatever she involves herself in isn't your concern." Campbell reminds her.
"It is when we are part of the reason for it happening in the first place." She says as she takes a seat on the bench. Grace was no fool, she knew now that Campbell had some side deal with Thomas Shelby that he hadn't mentioned to her. And whatever happened at The Garrison last night was apart of it.
Campbell doesn't know what to say. Grace speaks again. "I think something inside me has changed. I no longer feel the need to avenge my father. The hatred that I brought here with me is gone. And therefore my reasons for joining the service."
"You want to resign?" Campbell asks her. Grace hesitates.
"I think our mission has come to a natural end. I think I know where the guns are hidden." Grace tells him.
"You do?" Campbell ask eagerly. "So tell me where."
"If I'm right and the guns are found, you'll have no more business with Thomas Shelby. Is that not so? Our military mission will be over and we can leave this city as we found it." Grace inquires.
Campbell observes her a moment before he takes a seat on the bench next to her. "Are you trying to do a deal with me? Because if you are, you must be explicit."
"I want your word that Thomas Shelby and Charlotte Moore will not be harmed if the guns are recovered. Your word as a gentlemen. Will you give it?"
"Now, why would you want to save them?" Campbell looks at her.
Grace looks away as she responds. "A residue of sympathy."
"Sympathy? You mean sentiment?" Campbell questions her.
Grace slightly nods. "Yes. In his way he has been kind to me. And Charlotte.." She trails off a moment, hesitating. "Like I said before, she's been a friend to me, and shouldn't be involved in anymore of this business."
"Sentiment." Campbell says as though he doesn't understand the word. Or perhaps why she would be feeling that way.
"Yes. And I ask that you stop your investigation into Charlotte. I believe she knows nothing about the guns or Thomas' involvement. There is no need to dig up information to use against her." The words make her feel sick as she says them. A reminder of her betrayal.
Campbell didn't have the heart to tell her that there was no stopping the investigation on Charlotte. The informant was already here.
He reaches out and grabs one of Grace's hands into his own, giving it a squeeze. "You're too good-hearted for this work."
"Perhaps." Grace says but doesn't believe it herself. "So for my sake, will you spare them?"
"You have my word." He falsely promises her.
Moments later it starts to rain. Grace and Campbell rise from the bench and he opens his umbrella, holding it over them as they walk.
"A week after the robbery there was a burial at St. Andrew's churchyard. I have found out the man supposed to be buried is alive." Grace explains the information she overheard from Arthur and Charlotte that she then later investigated herself. "Arthur is quite transparent. I learned that the funeral was attended only by the brothers. And the grave that they dug was far deeper than your average and lined with lead. To keep out the damp."
Campbell stops walking, turning slightly to make sure he's fully understanding what Grace was telling him. "The guns are buried in that grave." She confirms.
"Then tonight we will dig up that grave." Campbell says with a smug smile as they turn and start walking again.
Grace, however, doesn't feel any satisfaction from the success of her mission. Just the betrayal and guilt that weighs on her shoulders along with the unknown feelings in her heart. As she walks home she wonders if she did the right thing in telling Campbell and trusting his promise.
"When my family thinks,"
"That I'm safely in my bed,"
Few patrons sit around the pub as Charlotte's voice flows across the room. Harry was working the bar and Grace had the night off.
"Oh, from morn until night,"
Charlotte stands near the back of The Garrison, behind a patrons chair as she sings.
"I am stretched out at your head,"
As her voice fills the pub, Tommy comes through the doors, taking off his cap as he watches her.
"Calling out unto the earth,"
Meanwhile, at St. Andrews churchyard, Campbell and his men dig up the grave belonging to Danny Owen.
"With tears hot and wild,"
"For the loss of a boy,"
Arthur sits, alone, at the boxing ring with a pint of beer in his hand waiting for his father to arrive. Another glass sitting on the table for him.
"That I loved as a child,"
"So I am stretched on your grave,"
Ada sits alone in her small apartment with her fussing baby, pleading for him to sleep.
"And I'll lie here forever,"
Charlotte and Tommy's eyes lock onto each other, a look shared between them that only they could understand.
"If your hands were in mine,"
Hours later, Campbell stands accomplished as he takes in what was dug up in the grave. Almost all of the guns and ammunition that was taken all those months ago.
"I'd be sure they would not sever,"
"Oh, my apple tree my brightness,"
Campbell picks up one of the guns and laughs. "Well done boys." He says with praise.
"It's time we were together,"
"For I smell of the Earth,"
"And I'm worn by the weather..."
Tommy gazes at Charlotte from across the pub as he leans against the snug doorway. His eyes are softer than they have ever been as he looks at her with a certain fondness. Her eyes hold the same gentleness as she gazes towards him. Her voice washing over him like waves on a beach, sending a feeling of calmness over him. Something he hadn't felt since before the war.
There was no tiptoeing around it now. That long forgotten feeling from all those months ago that slowly took ahold of his heart. There was no use in trying to repress it any longer. The feeling overwhelmed him, washed over him just like her voice did, entrapping him and there was no way to escape. Not that he would want to.
When Tommy was around her, he felt a little less war torn. A little more like the man he used to be. He wasn't sure what peace was supposed to feel like but he thinks it may feel a lot like her. Like the warmth of the sun that breaks through the never ending clouds in the bleak midwinter. Brightening the vast darkness that surrounds you, till your filled with this overwhelming warmth that thaws the cold you're so accustomed to.
He had found the light and decided to step towards it. His work was almost done, perhaps there was time for him to have this. For him to hold onto her for as long as he could till he had to inevitably let her go.
Because a woman like her, an angel like her, was never meant to be with a man like him. A man who was more devil than anything. She had come into his life unexpectedly. A life full of lying, cheating, blood, and death. A life completely opposite to her own. A life she didn't belong to.
But despite that, Tommy couldn't stop the pull he felt towards her, the feelings he had been avoiding since she first arrived. Over the months they had grown to know each other, his thoughts had shifted from the initial intrigue he felt when she first arrived in his city. It had grown into something more. Something he never expected, but that was Charlotte Moore. Someone unexpected and life changing.
Something had shifted since that night at The Garrison, too. The night they truly saw one another, saw who was really underneath the mask they both wore, all the lies and secrets. Saw something real in one another. Tommy could feel it and so could she. She was light, but she had darkness inside her too, just like him. He knew that now.
And as he gazed at her, with the low lights of The Garrison casting a halo of light around her, eyes locked onto one another with a look only they could understand, Tommy knew this was just the beginning of another life-altering change in his life.
He didn't plan for it, wasn't prepared for whatever outcome would inevitably follow. Despite that, he chose to live in the moment. Live in the rush of emotions that flooded his body as her gaze stayed fixed on him. Holding and ensnaring him in a trap that he couldn't, wouldn't get out of even if he wanted to.
So perhaps he would leave it up to fate, or maybe he would flip a coin? Either way, it didn't matter. All that mattered was the way her eyes shined when she looked at him and the warmth that filled him after years of never ending vast coldness, when he saw her smile.
Everything else was extra anyway.
*
Grace meets Campbell at the graveyard where his men pack up the boxes of guns and ammunition and rebury the now empty grave.
"All but one gun accounted for." Campbell tells Grace as they reach one another. He then grabs onto her shoulders and brings her into a hug that she can't bring herself to reciprocate. When he moves back his hands linger on her arms.
"Then, sir, I resign my commission." Grace tells him.
Campbell looks at her a moment. "Good. Good." He says as he rubs his hands up and down her arms before stepping away, moving to the side of her. Grace turns her body to face his.
"So I am no longer your superior officer and you are no longer my subordinate." He takes off his hat, "and therefore, regulations permit me to offer you this." Campbell then opens a small box with a diamond ring sitting inside. Grace glances at it, then at him.
Campbell takes a few steps closer to her. "I am a simple man but a good man. And my admiration for you has turned to love." He glances down as Grace's eyes dart back and forth, taking in his words. "I don't ask for love in return. I just," Campbell pauses. "Recognition that we are like minds with shared values. Grace, will you marry me?"
Grace's eyes move from the ring to Campbell's own. She contemplates a moment on how to respond. Campbell smiles slightly, anticipating her answer.
"Mr. Campbell..." Grace trails off as she places her hands over his own that hold the ring. She glances between him and the ring again. "You deserve better."
The smile falls from Campbells face as he looks away in disbelief and confusion. Till everything suddenly makes sense and anger overcomes him. "Is it him between us? Is it the beast that dug that grave? Or is it her?!" He spits in disgust, questioning her.
Grace glances away from him apprehensively. "My resignation will be with you in the morning." She tells him calmly before turning to leave.
Campbell watches her go in anger and disbelief. As he watches her leave, scorned with a now broken heart, he swore that he would destroy Thomas Shelby. Destroy him and that woman, Charlotte Moore.
He already had the means to do it, with the information Grace had given him and his informant who had arrived in the city, was coming to meet him. It was only a matter of time.
Before the weeks end his promise to Grace would be shattered, just like his heart. Thomas Shelby would be no more and Charlotte Moore would be nothing but a memory.
As Charlotte gets ready to leave for her shift, she overhears Scarlett and Arthur's raised voices from behind Scarletts bedroom door down the hall.
She can't help but listen curiously as she hears Scarlett mention something about his 'piece of shit father' to which Arthur responds 'you don't know shit about my dad!' She hears Scarlett say a bit more about 'what're you going to tell Tommy, huh?" before she headed down stairs to have some tea before work.
The argument continues as their voices raise to the point that Charlotte can hear them from all the way downstairs. Suddenly, Scarletts door slams open and Arthur comes racing down the stairs in angry huffs, taking no notice of Charlotte who stood in the corner with a cup of tea and wide eyes.
Scarlett rushes down after him yelling his name. "Arthur! Don't be an idiot! He's just using you!"
Arthur stops at the door, gripping the doorknob as he turns to face Scarlett. "Well that's what I am right? A bloody idiot!"
"You are if you believe a word he says! He's a liar and a cheat." Scarlett snaps at him.
Arthur takes a step closer to her, his eyes narrowed. Scarlett holds her head high as she fiercely glares right back at him.
"You don't know anything." He says through gritted teeth before he turns, slamming the door open and walking out.
Scarlett grabs the door as she yells out after him. "Arthur! Arthur! Come back here!"
Arthur doesn't return, going to look for his father. Scarlett lets out an angry huff before she slams the door shut as she curses. "Fuck!"
Scarlett turns and see's Charlotte, who sits at the kitchen table, staring at a days old paper, trying to appear as though she hadn't seen or heard their fight down the stairs. Once Scarlett takes notice of her she just shakes her head, letting out an unamused scoff before heading back up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door.
Charlotte let's out a sigh as she rises from her seat to place her cup in the sink before making her way to The Garrison.
Despite their argument, Charlotte hoped they could eventually move past it and get back to how they were before. She had missed her cousin terribly. The conversations they would have over tea, being each others confidant in a city that always knew everything before you did yourself.
It was hard, not speaking to each other this past week. For the both of them. But stubbornness runs in the family and until things were resolved, whether by themselves or outside forces, they would each stand by what they had said before.
Later in the day around sunset, Tommy Finn and JP all head to Danny Owens grave at St. Andrew's churchyard. When they arrive, Tommy quickly realizes that his bargaining chip has been taken from right under him, the once untouched grave, now with uneven piles of fresh dirt on top of it. He contemplates his next course of action as he observes the area before leaning down to Finn and JP, placing a hand on each their shoulders.
"There's gonna be some trouble now, JP, Finn. You both look after yourselves, do you hear me?" The boys nod. "I'm going to be going away for a while." The boys nod again. "Right. Go on." Tommy tells them with a pat on their shoulders.
The boys run off and Tommy's sighs, thinking about what to do next. Only one thing struck out in his mind. He needed to see Charlotte.
Charlotte just finishes serving a few pints when Harry comes up to her from the other side of the bar. "My brother in Digbeth just said the police are coming down from Deritend in numbers. Asking for Tommy Shelby by name."
Just then Tommy enters through the pubs back doors, eyes scanning the bar. Charlotte and Harry both look towards him before Harry faces her once again. "Shit." He whispers going to wipe the bar down.
Charlotte watches as Tommy makes his way behind the bar and opens the storage closet door. She moves towards him, entering the closet as Tommy glances around the bar again before following her inside, shutting the door behind him.
"I'm going to have to lie low for a while." Tommy tells her.
"Why?" Charlotte's brows furrow slightly.
"I lost my bargaining power. This copper, it's just me and him now." Tommy tells her as he looks at her. "When I get back, I'm gonna tell you some things."
"Harry said the police are already in Digbeth." Charlotte tells him worriedly.
"Yeah." Tommy responds with a sigh.
"You took a chance coming here. Why?" Charlotte can't help but ask.
Tommy looks at her a moment before he goes to answer. Before he gets a chance, the closet door opens and Finn and JP stand in the doorway.
"The police are in the lane, Tommy!" Finn tells him. Tommy and Charlotte look towards each other again.
"Come with me." Charlotte says as she takes his hand, pulling him out the door with her. They head towards the back entrance of the pub when Charlotte stops them slightly, Tommy's front pressed lightly against her back as she turns towards JP. "JP, you and Finn head home now, alright?" JP gives her a nod in understanding before she moves quickly out the door with Tommy in tow.
As Charlotte takes Tommy somewhere safe, the police break down the door to number six Watery Lane as they search for Thomas Shelby. They turn over the betting shop in their search as more police arrive in multiple cars around The Garrison. People out in the street hurriedly move out of their way.
Patrons inside watch as the police exit their vehicles and create a barrier around the entrance. Campbell and Moss then make their way to the pub doors, entering the somewhat silent bar as they scan the faces around them.
Campbell walks down the bar, stopping in the middle of it. He then takes out his gun and places it on the bar-top, sliding it along as he continues to walk before stopping and facing where he entered.
"I'm looking for Thomas Shelby." He states.
The men in the bar all look at one another, not saying a word. They knew better than to turn in a Shelby, let alone Tommy.
Harry who stands alongside the bar with a rag in his hand looks at Campbell openly confused. "Never heard of him." He says as he shakes his head.
Campbell stares at him knowingly as everyone else stays silent. Lovelock stands near the pub doors, observing the situation.
"You'll never find him." Finn says suddenly from the side near the back doors. He had decided to stay behind despite JP trying to drag him home with him.
Campbell turns his head towards him as Harry blinks at him in disbelief. He then takes a step in front of Finn, looking down at him.
"Go home." He tells him. Finn looks at him once again before running off.
Campbell then picks up his gun from the bar-top. "Perhaps I should ask the question again-." The Garrison doors open once more as someone new steps in.
"Actually, Inspector, allow me."
Heads turn to the newcomer, obviously American from his accent. He was young and of average height, wearing a well tailored suit and a fedora hat. He had dark hair and dark eyes, with a cleanly groomed mustache. Their was a smirk on his face and a look in his eye like he knew everything he needed to before being told.
He walks in with confident steps, stopping in front of Harry who observes him nervously.
"On your knees." The man says. Moss grabs Harry from behind and forces him to his knees painfully as he cries out.
The man then pulls out a gun from behind his back, aiming it at Harry's head. Harry flinches as the guns barrel makes contact with the side of his head as he turns away from it.
"Now, understand this, barman. I don't care if you live or die. I just want what's mine."
"I don't know." Harry says anxiously with his arms held up in surrender. The man pushes his gun into his head a little more as the patrons watch on, not making a sound. Fearing this new, unknown man who was threatening their barkeep.
The man cocks his gun. Harry contemplates his life decisions leading up to this point.
"He left." Harry says suddenly, eyes widening as he looks up to the man. "With the barmaid. He left with Charlotte. I don't know where they went." Harry all but wheezes out, fearing for his life.
From the side, Campbell narrows his eyes in suspicion. Grace told him that Charlotte had no involvement in Thomas Shelby's business but it seems that was a lie.
The other man, however, clenches his jaw and narrows his eyes as soon as Charlotte's name is said. He removes his gun forcefully from Harry's head before turning towards Campbell. Moss releases Harry.
They all exit the bar the same way they came. "Sir, should we find this barmaid and-" Moss starts before he's interrupted.
"Call it off."
Campbell and Moss both turn to the American man who faces away from them, looking towards what's meant to be the night sky but is blanketed by smoke and clouds.
"Sir, I don't understand. Shouldn't we-"
"Call it off!" He says again, this time with more force.
Moss looks from the man to Campbell incredulously, not believing what he was saying. Campbell observes the man a moment before agreeing.
"Call it off. All of it." He says finally.
Moss is reluctant but follows his orders. "Get in!" He says to the rest of the men with him.
As the police pile into their cars, Campbell makes his way next to the American man. "Mr. Ross, I do hope you know what you're doing."
Detective Theodore Ross let's out an amused chuckle at Campbell's words. "Don't worry, Inspector. I told you I was here to help and that's what I intend to do." He turns his head to face him and Campbell is taken aback by the wicked look in his eyes.
"They won't get far. Oh, no." Ross says, shaking his head. "Not again." Mr. Ross says to himself, giving Campbell a pat on the back before he makes his way to his own car.
Campbell watches him go, slightly put out but also awed by his behavior. This was the kind of man he needed on his force. A strong and able man who is willing to get their hands a little dirty for the greater good.
He didn't care about his reasonings for being here, the woman he sought after. All that mattered was that if he wanted her, that meant taking down Thomas Shelby. And he had no problem in helping him achieve his own goal as he helped him achieve his. Killing two birds with one stone as they say.
Consequences be damned.
Charlotte takes Tommy to a place a little away from Watery Lane. It was a small one bedroom upstairs apartment on Muntz Lane. It was quite close to the football pitch where a lot of The Garrisons patrons play.
She had started renting it the past month, hoping to move in and settle soon. She even thought about moving in after her and Scarlett's fight but that seemed a bit abrupt and dramatic so she decided against it.
Charlotte already had a few items in there to make it her own. An old gramophone that didn't work, she chose to put dried flowers in the speaker instead. A few tea cups and a kettle, in case she had company, despite no one knowing about it yet. A few paintings on the walls that she had bought from a wonderfully talented man in the marketplace, and a few of the books she had gotten throughout her months here. Mrs. Andrews always made sure to save anything new for her to get a hand on first. There were a few more items strewn about, all coming together slowly.
It was a way to get herself grounded in Small Heath. A place of her own if you will. It was great living with Scarlett and Celeste, despite the now bad blood between her and Scarlett. She would be forever grateful to them for taking her in, but she had to admit as someone who came from a house that at one point in time had more rooms than she could count, it was a bit cramped with the four of them in one place. This was a way to make it easier for all of them and to still stay close.
Charlotte unlocks the door, letting them both inside. No one knew about this place and unless they were followed, no one would know they were here.
She goes to light a lamp first, bringing more light into the room. Tommy watches her from the doorway, pausing to take her and the rest of the room in.
"It's not much of a place." She tells him, because truthfully it wasn't. There wasn't much to it and the roof leaked in certain places, but it was hers that she bought with her own money that she worked for. And that was enough for it to be absolutely spectacular to her.
Tommy shrugs as he comes in, closing the door behind him. "It's all right."
"You want tea?" She asks him politely, not knowing any other way to be, especially in a situation like this.
"Tea? No." He shakes his head as he moves near her to lean against the wood cabinet by her stove. "I have rum." She tells him instead.
"Actually, tea it is." He nods his head in confirmation with a slight smile growing on his lips.
"You want to impress me?" She asks with a smile of her own growing on her lips as she moves to grab the tea.
"Yes." Tommy nods amused. "And do you have a biscuit?"
Charlotte looks away with a small amused smile. "No. they attract mice."
"People look different at home." Tommy says as he watches her.
"In what way?" She asks as she turns to him, brushing her hands off.
"Off guard." Tommy says taking another glance around the room. The things that made it her own.
Charlotte looks at him a moment. "Should I be on my guard?"
"No." Tommy says like it should be obvious, "I'm a man who drinks tea." Charlotte gives him a sweet smile. She then turns to face one of the windows that showed the road outside through drops of rain.
"When did you get this place?" Tommy asks as he observes her.
"About a month ago." Charlotte glances back towards him from over her shoulder, catching how his eyes were already trained on her. She turns back to face the window, pulling the curtain back to look out.
"Well, you're just full of surprises aren't you?" Tommy says, slightly amused. Charlotte can't help but chuckle in agreement. "I guess so." She gives him another amused smile before looking out again, thinking she caught glance of someone across the street.
"When the trouble dies down, I'll go." Tommy tells her. Charlotte continues looking out the window, squinting to make sure she didn't see anyone. She then drops the curtain and turns to face Tommy again, her hands coming together anxiously in front of her. In anticipation.
"When will it die down, do you think?" She asks him. Tommy raises a brow, guessing. "Late, I'd say."
Charlotte glances down at her hands before looking towards him again. "So not till the morning then?"
Tommy's eyes lock onto her own. "Yes. I'd say I'll be here till morning." They share a look and a smile before she moves to her nightstand on the side of the bed near the window.
Tommy's eyes catch on something he noticed earlier. "You have a gramophone."
"It's broken." Charlotte tells him as she turns to face him again.
"We could still dance." Tommy suggests, a soft smile on his lips.
Charlotte takes him in a moment. "Yes, why not." She says agreeing.
Tommy moves away from the cabinet and makes his way towards Charlotte, stopping in front of her. "I know you like to be asked properly." Charlotte gives him a small smile. "Lottie, can I have this dance?"
Charlotte gives him a small nod with a shy smile before they step closer, hands clasping one another's as her other hand falls onto his shoulder and his to her waist. Their foreheads grazing each others lightly.
They dance slowly and softly, bodies being pulled together by a force neither of them could control. Their fingers move lightly against each others in their clasped hands as they drum to a beat of a song that only they know. She slides her hand from his shoulder to the back of his neck. He pulls her closer by the hand placed on her waist, gently and she gravitated toward him like he was her center of gravity, the very thing keeping her on earth.
Meanwhile, outside in the dark stands a man watching the shadows through the window that dance in the night. A knowing look on his face along with a malicious and wicked glint in his eyes as he watches them before disappearing into the night.
Charlotte and Tommy find themselves lost in the moment, in one another. They searched each other's eyes, both knowing this had turned into more than a simple dance. They both knew that once they took the next step their was no coming back.
The kisses they share are light at first. He kisses her softly with his eyes closed, savoring every touch, every look, like he has since they first met. Charlotte kisses him back and ignites something in both of them that has been dormant for a long time. Their kisses change from yearning to urgency, both wanting, needing more of each other.
He removes her cardigan first and she follows shorty after with his coat and vest. Their hands still soft and delicate as they reach for one another. The light and soft movements displaying all the words they don't say.
They assist each other with the removal of the rest of their clothes. They unbutton each others shirts, each movement of their fingers brings a warmth that shoots up and down their spines. Like an electricity charge that sparks only between them. Soon she's left in nothing but her bandeau, skirt and stockings and he's left in his undershirt and pants.
Charlotte's hands come to hold his face as she pulls him to her, savoring the feeling of his lips on her own. She reaches for the bottom of his shirt, pulling it up as he grips her head towards his, only pulling away for a second to discard his shirt before his lips are on hers again in a searing kiss.
Their bodies buzz with anticipation as an electric current flows through each of them with the touch of each other. They make their way towards the bed where Charlotte takes a seat, slightly breathless as Tommy kneels down to remove her stockings. Once he does, she pulls him back up for a burning kiss with her arms wrapped around his neck as his go to her waist and up her back. He holds her firmly against him but the touch of his fingers was light, as if a feather was being brushed against her skin. His hands go to untie her bandeau, moving slowly up her shoulders to remove the straps. Charlotte kisses him desperately as her body yearns for more.
Charlotte let's out a light gasp as they stand now bare chest to chest, the feeling sending jolts throughout her body and straight to her core. Tommy's hands slide against her back, moving lower towards her undergarments. Charlottes hands do the same with him. Before they know it, nothing is between then anymore as they move back to the bed, Tommy sitting as Charlotte rest on top of him.
They move together as one, pleasure overriding their senses as they get lost in the touch and feeling of one another. His hands brush across her skin in loving caresses, whispering to her, leaving goosebumps all along her skin. A language of her body that only he could understand. Whispers and curses of her name left his lips as he kissed her along her jaw and neck, speaking her name as a prayer that would carry him to heaven only in her arms. Speaking her name as a declaration of love she had never heard before.
He touched her as if she were made of the most delicate material that would break at his mere touch, but she knew she wouldn't. She knew he would never harm her. Despite the horrendous acts his hands had done to many others, Charlotte knew his hands would never harm her. In his arms she was safe, safer than she had ever been or felt before.
They move and suddenly he's over her, invading her senses and overwhelming her in the best way. One of her hands grip onto the metal bed post as the other grips onto him in ecstasy. Her hands move along his shoulders, caressing his scars. One hand holds his face as the other runs up his neck and into his hair, pulling it slightly. Tommy only groans in pleasure at the feeling.
Tommy takes a moment to stop and just gaze at her beneath him. The beauty of all of her for him to see, with her long golden hair flowing around her, her flushed cheeks and rosy lips. He then pulls her up towards him again, locking their lips. They move as one, each movement of their bodies bringing a whole new meaning to the word pleasure.
As their bodies move in sync, they look into each others eyes, nothing besides this moment overriding their senses. They gaze into one another, both knowing that nothing would compare to this. No one would ever compare to this. To them, together. Their hearts were open to each other, fully and completely. Filling them with a feeling neither of them ever knew possible.
As they intertwine their bodies, they hold each other close, breathless pants and moans leaving them as they mold with one another. The electric current overriding their senses, from their head to their toes. The feeling of ecstasy washes over them like waves on the beach, crashing suddenly before fading out in the most blissful way. And after they are finished, they hold each other closer still, breathing in each other and the feelings overcoming them.
Tommy grazes his hand through her hair and down her back, as he holds onto this moment, categorizing it above everything else. Because this? This was peace. His eyes close, savoring everything he can while it lasts.
Charlotte holds onto him tightly after, afraid that if she let go it would shatter the moment, the beautiful time they just shared together. Afraid that it would have all been but a dream. But then Tommy pulls her closer if possible, holding her tightly as though he were afraid, too. Afraid that she would leave and never come back. Charlotte pulls her head back slightly to look into his steel blue eyes, that were so soft and full of an overwhelming affection for her and her alone.
Charlotte just hoped he saw that her eyes shined the same way as she brought him in for another kiss.
"Are you okay?" Charlotte can't help but ask, slightly worried. Once they had gotten into bed, Tommy had gone silent, and she wasn't sure if it was a good or bad silence.
"I don't hear the shovels against the wall." Tommy says in relief with a soft smile on his lips.
"Shovels?" Charlotte says, not really knowing what he was referring to. Tommy turns his head towards hers as she laid comfortable in his arms, head resting against the area where his chest and shoulder met.
"Will you help me?" He asks. Charlotte moved her head slightly to look at him. Her hand absentmindedly draws random patterns on his chest.
"Help you with what?" She asks him.
"With everything. The whole fucking thing. Fucking life, business." He explains. "I found you and you found me. We'll help each other." Tommy tells her softly.
Charlotte looks at him fondly, giving him a slight nod. Tommy was right, they found each other and they would help each other.
Tommy leans down slightly to give her a kiss and Charlotte's hand reaches to touch his face, caressing his cheekbone softly as they share a few soft kisses between them. They pull away and their eyes don't leave one another's as her hand moves down his face to hold his hand on his chest, giving it a squeeze.
They fall asleep that way, Tommy kissing her and the cut on her forehead before he drifts off. Charlotte falls asleep minutes after as her mind can't help but linger on the things she hasn't told Tommy yet. Would he still want to help her after he found out? Sleep overcomes her before she can think of an answer.
*
The sunlight peaks through Charlottes window, the rain from yesterday faded away with the light of a new day. Charlotte awakes before Tommy, surprised at how well she slept. She hadn't slept like that in months, a dreamless and peaceful sleep.
Tommy is still asleep beside her but will no doubt be up soon, she knew he rose before the sun on most mornings. Charlotte takes that time to look at him, remembering all the events from the night before, bringing a blush to her cheeks and a throbbing between her legs. Despite that, she savors this little moment, watching Tommy sleep so peacefully. It made her content to see him this way. The sun shining on his, for once, soft face that looked so free of worry, free of everything weighing down on him outside of this room.
It brought a small smile to her face before it was wiped away as she thought of her own weighs on her shoulders outside of this room.
How could she explain everything to Tommy? Would he still accept her afterward? Would he still want her help?
Charlotte couldn't say for sure but as Tommy woke up she had no more time to think about it. Smiling slightly with blushing cheeks as he greeted her with a small smile of his own, along with a raspy 'good morning' and a sweet kiss to her forehead.
And as Tommy left that morning, with a few more kisses and the promise to speak to her more about everything later, Charlotte decides that when the time was right she would tell Tommy the truth.
But as she leaves her little apartment that only she and now Tommy knew about, she's surprised to see a small package waiting for her outside her door. She picks it up, looking around suspiciously before walking back inside and opening it.
Once Charlotte see's what's inside she lets out a startled gasp dropping the package to the ground. Tears fill her eyes as she looks down in horror and disbelief at the item that fell out of the package once it hit the floor.
It was her mothers locket.
The fall to the ground caused it to open, displaying the photos inside. But what really shocked her and sent a sick chill up her spine was the little specks of blood she could see splattered along the outside.
She picks it up shakily as bile rises to her throat. She closes the locket quickly, gripping it in her hand tightly as she clenched her eyes shut in agony. The night she lost it flashes through her memory sending tremors throughout her body. She quickly rushes to the basin filled with water and empty's the contents of her stomach.
Her eyes water, throat burning, knuckles white from how tightly she grips onto the locket. As Charlotte contemplates what this could mean, she almost misses the note that was included inside the small package with the locket. A simple taunting note that had Charlotte heaving into the basin again.
Come out, come out wherever you are.
There's no where else to run, Charlotte. I'm here and I'll be taking back what's mine.
No matter what.
All my love,
Theodore Ross
♕♡︎♔
Might go through and edit a bit more but here it is!
Buckle up your seat belts guys, gals, and nonbinary pals. Shits about to go down.
This is one of my fav chapters I've written so far (even though I put it off for like 3 months lollll)
With that I'm sorry for the wait :3 and I hope you enjoyed this two parter!!
Also!
PLEASE DON'T BE A SILENT READER!!
Your comments and votes truly help keep me motivated to write and I appreciate your feedback so much!!! <3
Hope you enjoyed and please don't forget to vote and comment!
Maybe tell me something your interested to see in the next chapter(s)? Or perhaps your favorite dynamics in the story? I'd love to hear your thoughts!!! :)
I'd also like to say a big THANK YOU!!!! to everyone who's been reading, voting, commenting and adding this story to your reading list!!
12k reads and 390+ votes and I am at a loss for words. For my first published story I am so grateful and amazed. Thank you so much for giving this story a chance! <3
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