Blair woke up when the sun first began to irritate her eyes, streaming in broken lines through the net curtains hung over the large bay window that faced out towards the back garden.
Grabbed the wristwatch that lay on her beside table, she squinted at the frail hands on the face, sighing when she realised she had to leave the comfort of her bed.
As much as she loved spending every day teaching Charles, Blair had never been fond of leaving her bed in the morning, the sense of warmth and safety was one that she hated letting go of in favour for a cold, wooden floor beneath her feet.
Once bathed and dressed, Blair let down her hair from the French plait she slept in, running a comb through her blonde waves to loosen them across her shoulders and chest. She added a powdering of pink blush to her cheeks and an equally pale shade to her lips, complementing her fair complexion particularly beautifully that morning.
Blair pulled on a pair of small, white court heels, picking out a sage green satin slip dress with thin shoulder straps from her wardrobe, running her fingers over the soft fabric before letting it slide over her body, hanging from her hips perfectly.
She smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror, her pale blue eyes reminding her of the ripples of water Charlie had found so much joy playing in the previous afternoon.
Despite the rage that had forced her to depart so quickly from Thomas and Charlie, Blair had managed to calm herself down within an hour once she'd bathed in the silence of her bedroom with the door closed. She was used to having to deal with strong, unwanted emotions by that point, making it easy for her to steady her body and mind after a pulsating of anger or anything similar.
She slept soundly, dreaming of her birthdays as a little girl and remembering how happy she was to spend the day with her siblings, laughing and playing with one another. Waking with a freshly cleared mind, Blair felt ready to endure another day at the Shelby manor.
"She's coming!"
Blair furrowed her brows as she walked down the main staircase, her head turned in the direction of the dining room which unusually had the double doors open instead of closed.
Timidly peering through the doors, Blair gasped when she saw the normally grey room filled with vases of flowers, pale pastel coloured petals were sat on sideboards and down the centre of the table, hung from light fixtures and placed in pretty rows along the windowsill, a rose on the four plates placed on the table beside magnificent looking plates of breakfast choices.
"Happy Birthday, Blair!"
Charlie beamed as he hugged her knees, squeezing her with his arms as she laughed, patting his back lightly, unable to stop admiring the colours of the room.
He took her hand and pulled her towards the table, grabbing the chair with both hands and sliding it out from underneath, gazing up at her as he waited for her to take a seat.
"Thank you, Charlie," she said with a knowing nod, "That was very gentlemanly of you."
He smiled and climbed onto the chair beside her, sitting on his knees as he reached out and grabbed a croissant from the platter in front of him.
"Good morning, everyone." Thomas walked into the room a few seconds after Frances, a navy blue waist coat covering a clean white shirt with gold cuff links, "Happy Birthday, Blair. I hope you don't suffer from hay fever."
Blair blushed, holding back a small smile as Tommy took a seat opposite her, Frances sitting down next to him.
The four of them enjoyed a rich breakfast, taking advantage of being sat together for the first time since Blair had moved into the home. They engaged in small conversation, mostly fuelled by Charlie who was shocked to discover that Blair had not asked for a toy car for her birthday.
"Well, what did you ask for?" He looked up at her, his head tilted inquisitively, chocolate smeared on his cheeks.
Blair smiled and wiped away the chocolate with the corner of her napkin.
"I didn't ask for anything, grownups don't really get presents for their birthday."
"Oh." He frowned and returned to munching on slices of peach, juice dripping down his chin.
Once they had all finished, Frances cleared the table and Charles disappeared upstairs to change out of his pyjamas and into his clothes for the day, leaving Thomas and Blair sat alone in the dining room.
He sipped his tea calmly, staring at her as if the awkwardness of looking at someone for too long simply didn't exist in his world. Though for Blair, she felt incessantly unnerved by the way he watched her drink, becoming conscious of her appearance more by the second.
"Is there something on my face?" She finally said, swallowing as she met his gaze.
He chuckled softly, shaking his head, "No. I like the colour of the, the er..." he stuttered, gritting his teeth as he pointed a finger at his cheeks.
"Blush," Blair reminded him, "It's called blush. And thank you, for all of this."
She gazed around the room once more, the scent of fresh flowers being one of her favourite things after embracing a childhood in the outdoors. It reminded her of a happier time in her life, innocent memories, ones that weren't tainted with darkness like many of her other happy periods.
"Not a problem. I would've loved to give you a birthday like this a long time ago, but I didn't have money then like I do now."
"It's quite alright," she shook her head meekly, "I didn't expect this, or anything at all."
Tommy cleared his throat, "I suppose I've set myself up in that way, haven't I? For you to expect nothing from me."
Blair felt a bitterness on the end of her tongue that was begging to be spat, only she held it back, deciding that a birthday was no day to be hateful, or any day after that.
"It's not personal. I expect very little from the world these days, Thomas."
He kissed his teeth, his emotions affected by her words. Thomas thought Blair looked beautiful that morning, surrounded by the glow of the morning sun that reflected the pastel coloured flower petals in radiant blossoms across the room, painting a rainbow that fit her aesthetic perfectly.
She was petite still, but her face showed her trauma, a womanly look held on her hips and her chest, making Thomas regret how he treated her evermore back when her eyes held a youthful innocence instead of an aged ache.
Abandoning Blair was a regret Thomas felt from the day he said goodbye to her, though pride and a distraction in the form of a mysterious woman that held her cards close to her chest instead of Blair, who wore her heart on her sleeve, kept his mind occupied. Though the hole in his heart and the rip in one half of his soul never truly went away, even in marriage.
"Frances can watch Charlie today, you and I are going out."
"What? I'm sorry, Charles cannot miss-"
"I won't hear it," Thomas rose to his feet and pushed his chair under the table, walking to the door, "It's your birthday. I have something planned for us, if you'll accompany me?"
He paused in the doorway, a brow raised as a strand of hair fell across his forehead.
Blair was unsure of how she felt. She had never dreamed that she would be spending a day alone with Thomas Shelby after their horrendous parting, but as she sat surrounded by flowers that felt as though they had been plucked from the happiest places in her mind, the idea of being alone with a man that resided in many of those happy places suddenly didn't seem too bad.
"I'd love to, Tommy."
an;
Just a small update, I hope you're still enjoying this, I know it's a lil bit of a slow burn!
YOU ARE READING
Another Paradise | T Shelby
Fanfiction"There wasn't a single second that passed that I wasn't thinking about you." [mature themes throughout]
