Ｕｎｓｐｏｋｅｎ Ｌｏｖｅ

// That's How We All Met //

black smoke, mud, and houses on end were seen in Estella's eyes, her feet carried her fast across the street towards- wait towards what exactly she had no idea just far far far....away. away from her life, away from her parent that was actually her adoptive parent since her mother died at childbirth and her father died in a working accident now, she was only 10 years old
running through a city she never heard or saw of, Birmingham

when she ran away she snuck into the first train she saw not interested in the fact where to it was going when she got out running from the people noticing she did in fact not pay or any sort of ticket she ran
her feet were cold without shoes her dress was now brown from the mud and her face was slightly black from the black smoke in her face,

she stopped running when she did not hear any screams anymore, one hand on the wall of the building the other one resting on her heart feeling her heartbeat speed up as she ran away,
after catching her breath she leaned back throwing her back against the wall sliding down grabbing her head in her hands

breath

breath

breath

breath

were things she told herself, as she tried to make up a plan what to do now, she had no money, no home she would die in this city in a few days if she did not quickly look for something to work with

an empty house no one lived in, but they would find her to easily
well, I guess the alleyway it is huh?

Estella steadied herself on the wall pulling her heavy and powerless body up, she started walking out of the alley trying to find a good place to stay when she walked straight into a wall

she fell to the floor, her dress now fully covered with mud when she rubbed her head
one when she saw feet before her she noticed she did not in fact walk into a wall but into a woman who looked down at her

'sorry' Estella mumbled slightly before getting up and starting to walk away with pain in her feet from the whole running
an arm caught her upper arm and turned her around

"What happened to you, little one huh?" asked a woman with thick curls, smiling down at the dark-haired girl, Estella did not utter a word confused why the woman was so interested in here
"you ran away huh?" she suddenly asked, Estella's eyes widen.... how did she know. and that gesture was enough to answer the woman question

"you can stay with me for a while, get you cleaned up fresh food," she said smiling slightly, Estella gave her a weird look but shrugged inside what could she lose, this woman was not a 40-year-old man who looked like a pedophile so why not

Estella nodded slightly making the woman smile grow wider "alright my name is Polly...and what is yours young girl" she asked and soon the little girl opened her mouth muttering her name "Estella" she said and the woman stopped bending down standing straight and holding a hand out
"well Estella ready to go," she asked and soon Estella's hand found the woman's hand and they walked together hand in hand towards her home

if only Estella knew that this woman would change her life

------------

and like that Estella was a new member of the Shelby's
she grew up with them went to school with them if they ever went and played around with them

Estella was only two years older than Ada making her about the same age as John, the two, John and Estella were always close and so were Ada and Estella, Arthur was the one always playing with her since he was a lot years older than the little girl

Thomas was the one with a big smile welcoming her to the family as quickly as possible, he treated her like a sibling and helped her with any trouble

a little crush soon bloomed out of Estella's head, the older and taller Thomas Shelby looked like  a Hero in Estella's eyes and his ocean blue eyes only mesmerized her more, there was something between them even growing up when they were older they still helped each other
and Estella little  love grew for the blue-eyed man

but when they found out all of the boys had to go to war, a world shattered...
four months...that's what they said only four months until they'll be back
well four months turned into a year, a year turned into three years

and after a little more than four hard years in working in the Shelby business without the boys the three women got a letter saying the war was done

they waited and waited for the boys to get back and stood on the cold pavement looking at the boats coming towards them
the three women held hands hoping all of their boys would come back
when slowly more and more men got off the boats suddenly Estella's eyes saw a familiar face

"Arthur!" she screamed and started running towards the man, he turned around and soon felt hands around his neck, he immediately knew who it was and smiled slightly
"ahh Stella good to see you," he said back laughing

soon Estella hugged her best friend John Shelby and a little tear left her face from happiness

the last one did not appear, they stood there anxiety building up but when Estella saw his blue eyes she smiled as a tear ran down her face
her arm flew around his neck pulling him close, she cried in his shoulder
his face was stone cold but still, he threw his arm around her torso pulling her so close like he never wanted to let go

the amount of feeling he had for this woman was enormous and he hated himself for being a different man after the war not being able to give her the nice and joyful Tommy Shelby back like she wanted

But he knew Love had no Line, that should not be crossed, Estella told him and showed him the moment he stepped of that boat as a different men

'That's how we all met'