Sat in the snug, John and Charlotte were toppled over thoroughly consumed with laughter. Charlotte had been on the up, things were as best as they could be, don't get her wrong she wasn't over the situation and it was highly unlikely she ever would be however nethertheless she was learning to live with it, the immense amounts of guilt.
The Shelby's were all down the garrison dispersed around the pub, the best friends were the only pair in the snug seeing as they had most likely cleared the room with their childlike behaviour. You would probably assume Tommy was slightly envious of Charlottes relationship with his brother, it's not that he wasn't entirely but he was always glad to see Charlotte smiling and he was specifically pleased to see that smile of hers after all that's happened. Keeping an eye on her, a distant smile came about his face as he glanced over to the pair,lost in laughter.
"and me mum went mad at tommy when he said that to you" john threw his head back as he spoke in-between his own laughter "and she sent him to come and apologise to us" she struggled, leaning onto john in the midst of their antics.
As their laughter subsided, Charlotte glanced back over to john who held a slight saddened smile on his face.
"my mum was always fond of you" john recalled letting his mind trace to his mother. "i was always fond of her, reminds me a lot of me mum" charlotte smiled, the conversation taking a bittersweet turn. "she'd be over the moon to know your still with our tommy" john chuckled watching as charlotte glanced over to him.
"ah well i love him" she shrugged as her eyes danced over him.
"you should get out of here y'know" earning a frown of confusion from charlotte as she noticed his face suddenly harden. "eh?"
"well your destined to be a star ain't you?" he muttered "don't want us to be the reason you never get out of small heath" his voice became small, genuinity riddling his tone.
"Don't be silly john boy, i'm happy here"
I'm happy here.
Was she? Truth is she wasn't entirely sure herself. There was no denying that she was happy with Tommy and with the Shelby's, but that fell down to others and not her.
Genuine Fulfilment, the idea that our lives gain true meaning and depth from others and not just from personal accomplishments and self gratification.
Is that where she wanted to be? Someone else having immense amounts of authority over her life, a puppet on strings because love blurred her vision.
The realisation slowly came about her that just maybe what she truly strived for was something else that could give her life meaning, that she had full control of. To let herself be selfish and not allow her existence to be purely in the hands of others. Or other, Or Thomas Shelby.
"Are you?"
Thomas Shelby was Charlottes life and soul, without him she would have little to nothing, he was the source of her existence, the light of her darkness. But she additionally desired for something else to give her life meaning. Maybe go off to london and sing till her hearts content or fly off to hollywood and become a film star. However love was a powerful thing, a force to be reckoned with. As she often let her mind trace to her aspirations it would come through with all its might, acting as a stark reminder that the centre of her world wasn't where ever she dreamed it could be, where maybe the visionary's of her desired life could be pursued but instead it was wherever Tommy Shelby lived and breath, and it'd take a lot of love for that surge to stop serving as a reminder but perhaps a lesson of realisation instead.
Tommy was infact successful, his "idea" to become closer to grace in hopes of revealing whatever hidden secrets he suspected she may have. Although there was one slight problem, he had mastered the objective of getting closer to her effortlessly, without the intentions of receiving information however.
She was still anything but comparable to his Charlotte, but he did enjoy spending time with her, just because she was a women doesn't mean he was disloyal, she was only an acquaintance after all. Or was that just a cure to his guilty conscience?
"I heard your having a gathering here tonight" Grace stated, stood infront of tommy who sat at the bar.
"yes, it's Charlottes birthday" he nodded, lighting a smoke.
"and your not with her?" she further questioned, searching his face to meet his gaze.
"she's out with me sister and pol, shopping" he muttered.
When with grace, tommy found she would often strive to get onto the topic of his women. The reason why however he could never quite workout, but he certainly knew he disliked it, it often made him feel suddenly uncomfortable reminding him of the current circumstances, and in charlottes favour it often reminded him of his priorities. Reminding himself that she was top and always would be, it let him trace his mind to her and only made him a lot less eager to speak with grace additionally meaning he had to force himself to pursue his "plan" for the cause and best interests of his business.
Looking up to meet her gaze, he didn't miss the smirk that had taken place on her face. "for a second i thought you'd prefer to be spending time with me" she smiled, attempting to flirt with the Shelby man.
"Sorry to disappoint" he spoke through an almost smile so it wouldn't sound as harsh even though there was no dishonesty in his words,he did want to keep her proximity close after all.
"Is it going to be awkward tonight Thomas?" she turned slightly serious, earning a perplexed look from the man in-front of her.
"eh?" sending a frown her way.
"well you know, she's unaware of us tommy" she sheepishly spoke through her thick accent.
Tommy mentally scowled himself, mindlessly forgetting that she was under the impression that they had their own thing going on that Charlotte was unaware of, and it wasn't like he could shut her down like he had done countless times before because he had entertained it for the "cause".
Clearing his throat to disguise his slight distain, he swallowed his better nature preparing to feed her exactly what she wanted to hear. "Ah yes, well it's not like you two are the best of mates is it, they'll be no need to talk to her" he replied, referencing to charlotte.
"don't be trying to throw it in her face grace, it won't work well in your favour" he stated, growing slightly apprehensive when thinking of the night ahead of him as he was fully aware that Charlotte's patience was wearing very thin in regards to the blonde's petty behaviour.
"What?" she questioned, almost as if she was slightly offended he was "siding" with the brunette.
Sighing heavily he rose from his seat downing his whiskey,
"i still have love for her grace and i still care for her just as much, don't take this piss."
"Still have love for her", little did grace know that he was absolutely still head over heels for the girl, still infatuated by her also. And he certainly didn't miss the way them five words felt incredibly wrong as they left his mouth.
Descending away from the bar he made a sharp turn to face the barmaid once again "Oh and grace, we're celebrating tonight, wear a nice dress, red." he nodded before leaving the pub and grace with a smile on her face.
Little did she know red was his least favourite colour.
Preparing to leave her house, Charlotte spritzed herself in her most expensive perfume before grabbing her clutch and placing her essentials inside. Tommy stood downstairs, patiently waiting for her whilst the rest of the Shelby family and friends occupied the Pub.
Tommy bit his lip as she descended down the stairs, her hair held a light curl, her satin dress glimmered under the light as-well as the golden tan her skin held all year round and her makeup was done beautifully, he really was a lucky man.
As she broke the distance between the pair, she stopped just in-front of him smiling lightly.
"well what do you think?"she chuckled as she glanced down to the dress she had bought that same day.
"i've run my luck dry on you" he spoke, raking his eyes up and down her.
"likewise Shelby" she smiled placing a light kiss on his lips, before giggling at the lipstick that had taken place on his lips, swiping it off with her thumb.
Smiling at her one last time, he gestured for her to take his arm, placing a kiss to her hair as he opened the door, heading towards the garrison.
Upon opening the pub doors, Charlotte flashed her gorgeous signature smile as everyone in the pub had took to their feet. "Happy Birthday Lottie!" they all congratulated in unison, as she entered. "Thank you!"she giggled as everyone made their way towards her, glancing over to tommy who held a proud smile on his face.
Charlotte had made her way round, thanking and engaging in small talk with relatives she hadn't seen in a while. What Charlotte didn't know of, was that tommy had invited quite a few members of her family from her mothers side, who all held gypsy blood. He had also invited Charlottes cousins who she had missed dearly, they had spent their childhood together after all. The gesture meant a lot to Charlotte seeing as she had mentioned to tommy only briefly that it saddened her slightly that after her mothers death the family dispersed, rarely contacting each other.
It was lovely to see two of her cousins in particular, Rosie and Beth. They were her mother's sister's children who also grew up on watery-lane until they moved out of the city,rarely keeping in touch. The three cousins and Millie were practically inseparable for years and just seeing them consumed Charlotte with nostalgia, almost making her emotional.
Departing from her cousins, she scanned the crowd for Tommy, only to find him already looking at her.
Making her way towards him she kept a sweet smile on her face,
"Thank you Tommy" she gratefully smiled, gazing up at him.
"no need to thank me, sweetheart" Charlotte felt a surge through her body at how the nickname had fallen off his tongue, working well with his brum accent. Intently watching her, he pulled her towards him placing a kiss on her lips as her hand found the nape of his neck, the cold sensation of her jewellery meeting his skin sending a blissful shiver down his spine.
Pulling away from each-other, they held eye contact for a few seconds, love consumed both of their beautiful eyes as they glistened meeting each-other, unbeknownst to the pair, grace had been watching the entire interaction.
"Look at them look, look at how he looks at her" polly flaunted to one of Charlotte's relatives, who was an old friends of polly's.
"Right that's enough you two, Lottie come 'ere" john made his presence known as he boisterously requested his best-friends presence.
An amused expression came about Tommy's face as he watched his very merry brother. "Can i ask what your gonna do with me girl John boy?" tommy amusingly asked, as he listened to charlottes laugh, his own personal ecstasy. However he didn't miss the scoff that came from a certain blonde beside him, from behind the bar.
Quickly diverting his attention he observed as John requested the attention of the pub, slinging his arm over Charlotte.
"Right i wanna propose a toast, a toast for our Lottie here, take this as our way of saying thank you eh?, i want you to know we appreciate you for keeping us shelby boys sane and especially that one" he gestured towards tommy, earning a round of laughter.
"Your my bestmate and i wouldn't be 'ere without ya, and we all know she lit up this pub soon as she walked in it, didn't she eh?" he tussled her hair lightly as another round of cheers filled the pub. "but really we love ya, all of us, ain't that right arthur" "that's right john!" arthur bellowed sending a wink charlottes way. "To Lottie" he toasted
"To Lottie!" they all cheered, earning a genuine laugh from Charlotte.
Pulling Charlotte into a hug, Ada glanced behind her a cheeky smile arising on her face. Before Charlotte could question she felt a light tap on her shoulder, turning round she met a gorgeous blonde holding a smirk on her face. "Happy Birthday Lottie" she smiled as Charlotte pulled her into her arms. "Millie!" she widely smiled, squeezing her tightly before pushing her away but still holding her in her hands, almost examining her as if she was really there. "What? Who?" she rapidly questioned, as millie gestured her head towards a certain someone.
Glancing behind her Charlotte met Tommys eyes, watching as he sent a wink her way. She felt warmth consume her at another sweet gesture Tommy had done for her that night."Thank you" she mouthed, warmly smiling. "That man loves you Lottie" Millie chuckled, over the moon to see her best-friend doing well.
Into the early hours of the morning, the pub had barely cleared although it was evident people were planning on bidding their goodbyes very soon.
Stood at the bar with his aunt polly Tommy scanned the crowd for Charlotte. "She's over there" polly laughed under her breath, in amusement. "Hm?" he perplexed
"you've got that bloody lovesick look in your eye, she's over there" she repeated, gesturing her head towards Charlotte who sat in one of the booths between John and Arthur who were very pissed to say the least, and in-front of Millie, Rosie and Beth,laughing away.
Although tommy could tell she was ready to go home, she wasn't pissed but she had that hazy look in her eye that potrayed a girl very close to it, however she could handle her drink, awfully good actually. "You ready to go lottie?" he questioned, as Charlotte nodded lightly a smile on her face. Not missing the way her two cousins slightly gawked over him, although it didn't piss her off i mean she couldn't blame them, but he was hers much to a certain blondes dismay who watched from behind the bar.
Offering his hand out, he squeezed her little hand gently as they bid their goodbyes, earning a whistle from Arthur. "You enjoy your night" Arthur winked releasing a hearty laugh from john who was just as pissed.
"Did you enjoy yourself lotts?" Tommy asked, as they made their way towards her home. "I did, thank you tom" she lazily smiled glancing up at him, he fought the urge to squeeze her cheeks at how cute she was, although no one could imagine The Thomas Shelby doing that and he was still in public after all.
"I'm glad" he half smiled, tightening his grip on her hand slightly.
As they got themselves ready for bed, Charlotte jumped into her freshly washed sheets exhausted from the night, amused tommy watched her with a sparkle in his eye, god he loved her.
Smiling up at his gaze, she chuckled
"come here" opening her arms out for him, without a second thought tommy climbed into her bed, placing his arms around her small frame resting his head on her chest as he inhaled her familiar scent, basking in this moment of weakness. "i love you" she muttered, playing with his hair. Snuggling in to her a little bit more, he sighed in contentment. "And i love you" he rasped.
Releasing a smile to herself she chuckled lighly at his clingy behaviour.
Now this could be one of two things, an affection that displayed his unwavering love, or Guilt. And guilt it bloody well could be.
-
the calm before the stormmm