Thomas had expected to see red when he walked back through the door to his home on the 27th of December, and he did. Though it wasn't the red flurry of anger he'd expected from his fiancée's lips, it was the deep colour of her satin dress as she sat on the floor with Charles in the living room, playing together with his Christmas presents.
The house was eerily silent and his footsteps echoed obnoxiously loudly as he walked through the doorway into the room, opening his arms as Charlie sprinted to him without a second of hesitation.
He took his son into his arms and hugged him tightly, though it was nothing but guilt and regret that he felt as he looked over his son's shoulders and saw Blair staring at him with empty eyes.
"Daddy, come and look at all the toys Father Christmas brought me! There's trains and cars, books, too. Look, you can help me with his jigsaw puzzle!"
Charlie pulled his father by the hand over to the pile of gifts beneath the tree, an excited smile on his face as he pointed out everything he'd opened on Christmas Day.
"Alright, Charles. Just let me talk to Mummy first, I need to-"
"It's fine."
Blair rose to her feet, grabbing the glass of red wine from the table before walking swiftly out of the room, not turning to look at Thomas once.
She wasn't sure she'd ever cried as much as she had done on the evening of Christmas Day. After endless family members asking 'where's Tommy?' and 'how come Thomas isn't here?', a lonely silence beneath the sheets of her empty king sized bed was a bittersweet welcome.
It was the lack of answers that hurt the most, she thought. Nothing had ever been straight forward with Thomas Shelby. Although Blair had grown to accept that sometimes not knowing anything was better than knowing everything, being left alone on Christmas with nothing but a hurtful lie from Tommy had seemingly drained the soul from her body.
Of course, Blair laughed and smiled for the next two days until her family said goodbye on the morning of the 27th. She'd enjoyed their company and was glad to have her family all together again, but ultimately, it had meant nothing. The wholesome goodness of a family reunion had been overshadowed by a coldblooded lie from the one person Blair needed to trust.
To say Polly was furious would've been an understatement. She couldn't get in touch with any of the boys despite her hardest efforts and although she'd tried to console Blair, there was nothing that could fix the way she felt inside when she looked at the empty chairs around the dining table on Christmas Day.
Neither Polly or Blair had any idea where Thomas and his brothers were, what they were doing or if they were dead or alive. The thought of not having Tommy walk back through the door in one piece was sickening to Blair, enough to force her to drink her way through the day to numb the pain of such an awful thought. Though, having him return home safe and sound was almost just as bad.
Thomas left Charlie in the living room and walked after Blair a few moments later, finding her perched on the windowsill of the dining room, staring out at the snow falling across the driveway.
He approached her cautiously, sighing loudly before reaching out and placing a hand on her shoulder when his presence alone wasn't enough to catch her attention.
"Don't touch me." Blair said, shrugging his hand from her skin, her jaw clenched as she continued to watch the snow, the glass of wine still in her hand.
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]
