Arabella was walking down the grass hill to get to the lake. It had been a month and Arabella had not spoken to John since she left him. She was avoiding everyone bar her mum, even Richard, because she wanted to get to know herself with her gypsy family.
It took a while for the Lee family to finally except her but now Arabella is apart of the family. Patrick had tried to reach her with letters but Arabella simply could not reply. He cheated on her, committed infidelity.
"Morning honey." Gladys smiled as Arabella sat down next to her mum as she fetched the water into a bucket.
"How are you?" Arabella asked as she started pleated her hair ever so slightly.
"Never mind about me, why are you not speaking to John?" Gladys asked pointedly and Arabella just rolled her eyes.
"I have wanted to get my bearings and-" Arabella began to answer before her mother rudely interrupted.
"You need to speak to him." Gladys stated looking at Arabella with beady eyes.
"Not at the moment. I am young and I just got out of a marriage, mum." Arabella explained as Gladys gave her the bucket of water to carry back to their caravans.
"What if he has moved on?" Gladys asked and Arabella shook her head, she knew that John would wait for her if he truly loved her like he said he did.
"He would wait for me." Arabella answered as if it was true- which it was. He would wait for her because he loved her more then he had ever loved anyone before.
"You are right." Gladys sighed in defeat. Arabella just giggled as her and her mum continued to walk up the hill.
"Arabella!" Johnnydogs cried out. Arabella looked over at him as she handed her mum the bucket of water.
"Yes, Johnnydogs." Arabella replied sweetly, her clothes were a lot different because it was a long black top with a patchwork skirt, it all looked like a dress. She was no longer wearing her bright colours because she did not feel the need to.
"There is a man in your caravan, says he wants to speak to you." Johnnydogs explained and Arabella looked happy because she was hoping that it was John.
"Okay thank you." Arabella replied smiling as she started to walk out. She saw a fancy car outside of her caravan and could only believe that it was John. She was getting butterflies in her stomach as she opened the door.
"Hello" Arabella said happy and then the person turned around. "-oh." Arabella finished disappointed as Patrick stood in front of her.
"Belle we need to speak." Patrick said as he looked at his ex-fiancee. He was shocked with her new attire, it was not like the clothes he would buy her.
"It's back to Arabella." Arabella corrected as she avoided all eye contact with him.
"But you know how much I love Belle." Patrick smirked as he placed his hands in his trousers front pockets.
"You need to go." Arabella instructed as she pointed to the door.
"Can we talk?" Patrick asked and Arabella just shrugged her shoulders.
"About what? There is nothing to talk about." Arabella answered honesty, she wanted nothing more to do with him.
"Us. I want you as my wife." Patrick replied and Arabella was not listening because she was focussed on his hand that was bloody and bruised. She knew that it could not have been the Peaky Blinders because she instructed them not to.
"What happened to your hand?" Arabella asked him intrigued, Patrick was just happy to see that she was speaking to him.
"I have been getting into bar fights." Patrick explained as he looked down at his bruised knuckle.
"Patrick, why?" Arabella asked sighing disappointedly as she walked over to him and picked up his hand to examine it.
"Because I want you back and drink helps the pain." Patrick answered and Arabella kept her eyes on his hand because if she looked into his beautiful eyes then her mind might shift towards him again.
"No. You can't just go around hitting people to make yourself feel better." Arabella replied sternly and Patrick was just happy to see her this close to him again. It had been a while.
"Why not?" Patrick asked as he looked down at Arabella. Arabella loved John and he did the same thing so what makes Patrick so different. Arabella knew that Patrick was meaning that cryptically. Arabella decided to change the subject.
"I really think you should go home and forget about me." Arabella instructed as she walked back to her place next to the door.
"I can not just forget about you or us." Patrick explained and Arabella nodded her head at him. Arabella was trying her best to forget about him and their relationship as well.
"The feelings that I once had for you are slowly going away, every minute." Arabella spat back at him but after she said it she knew that it was a bit too harsh.
"You do not mean that." Patrick stated and Arabella nodded her head at him.
"I do not want to hurt you, if I did then you would not be alive." Arabella explained and it was all true.
"I wondered why the boys hadn't touched me yet." Patrick laughed a little but Arabella was certainly not laughing.
"If they hurt you then I would be just as malicious as you." Arabella spat back at him.
"Come home with me. We can sort this out." Patrick replied in a calming voice and tone.
"No." Arabella said proudly as she looked at him.
"Arabella please." Patrick sighed as walked towards Arabella, he was trying to pull her in to the darkness and despair. Arabella couldn't.
"You need to go." Arabella stated as Patrick looked down at her. He quickly began to kiss Arabella. Arabella was having doubts but she knew that she could not. She pulled away and slapped his across the face angrily. "Patrick get out." Arabella screamed and Patrick just sighed as he walked out.
"He will never love you the way I did, you know that." Patrick stated coldly and Arabella nodded her head at him. He was speaking about John.
"He will love me a hundred- no a thousand times better then you ever did." Arabella agreed and Patrick just groaned before he got into the car and drove away back to the house they once shared.
Arabella grabbed her purse filled with money before she left her caravan and began to walk into town. She wanted to get extremely drunk so all of her worries would be gone for a short while.
___
"Look who had risen from the dead." Arthur exclaimed with joy but then he gave a confused face when he saw Arabella practically collapse into the Garrison. After everything that Patrick had said to her Arabella decided that she needed to drink- a lot.
So far she had been kicked out of every single pub in Birmingham for being so drunk, her last option was the Garrison. She had not seen the Peaky Blinders, including her brother, for about a month or so. She had not even responded to any of John's letters so this was going to be interesting to say the least.
"I am here to drink." Arabella cried out stumbling to the bar where Grace was working. She was giggling as she looked up at John. "Hello John." She laughed as she leaned up to kiss him. John took a step back, he was not going to take advantage of Arabella like this.
"No, you have had enough." John stated and Arabella shook her head at him.
"Buy me a drink and we can sort things out." Arabella whispered in John's ear as she smirked at little. John did not want that, he wanted Arabella to be in her right mind once they sort everything out and be one again.
"Arabella." John whispered at her, she was coming onto him in ways that she had never done before.
"I have been trying my best not to come to this pub. I have been to every single one in Birmingham." Arabella explained as she looked at the three Shelby brothers. That did not faze anyone of them.
"Do not give her a drink." John instructed to Grace and she nodded her head. Arabella looked annoyed as she sat down on the stool and placed down a lot of money.
"Hey, I am a Peaky Blinder too." Arabella shouted out drunk as she slammed the counter. Her violent side was coming out and Grace looked at her a lightly frightened. Tommy knew the kind of things that Arabella could do under the drink so he pointed to the door.
"John take her home." Tommy instructed as he watched Arabella sit on the stool. Once Arabella heard those four words she jumped off of the stool she was sitting on and gave John pleading eyes.
"No no. My mum will kill me." Arabella practically cried out, Gladys would have killed her for succumbing herself to drink when she felt bad. Gladys came from a family of wild alcoholics.
"Take her to your house." Tommy instructed and Arabella just bit her lip as John looked down into her dark brown eyes. He quickly finished his whiskey before he nodded his head.
"Come on lets go." John sighed as he started to walk out of the Garrison. Arabella followed after him grinning and giggling like a menacing five year old. Arabella walked alongside him in silence, Arabella did not like silence when she was drunk. She liked noise.
"John." Arabella whispered and John looked down to face her. "Patrick came round today wanting me back." Arabella explained as she held onto his hand for balance.
"And you said no, right?" John asked her. Arabella nodded her head immediately but then she shrugged her shoulders with doubt. That made John sigh with disappointment.
"He can give me everything that I need." Arabella explained as she pushed back her extremely curly brownish hair.
"So can I." John stated and Arabella began to get very very sleepy. John was beginning to regret not kissing her, maybe she would have changed her mind.
"I think I am just going to sleep here." Arabella whispered before she just fell down onto someone's steps. She was flat out cold. John looked down at her and sighed.
"Arabella." He groaned in a hush tone as he lifted up Arabella bridle style and started to walk home.
___
"Fuck." Arabella moaned as she looked around to find her lying in John's bed. She did not know what to do, luckily she was still wearing her clothes. Arabella noticed that the house was relatively quiet so she grabbed her shoes and coat before she looked at John one last time.
Arabella decided that she had embarrassed herself enough for a while. Arabella slipped her feet into her heels before she snuck out of the house without the kids knowing and left.
As Arabella walked down the streets she smiled at people and said good morning like nothing was wrong but everything was wrong. She might have just lost John for good after the things she vaguely remembered saying last night.
Arabella was going to continue her life like normal as nothing had happened, it was going to be difficult but she was going to at least try and do it.
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sorry i have kind of been AWOL, school just ended for summer and I have been going to parties and things so i have not had anytime to write. I also have more bad news, i just got a job so that will eat into my writing time and i am going on holiday in a couple of days so will not be updating then. but do not fret because i will update as much as i possibly can because i am loving this story and i hope you guys love it the same.
tell me what you think in the comments below.
mrs n o'brien xx