Another Paradise | T Shelby

FORTY - ANOTHER PARADISE

One week had passed since Blair told Thomas she would give their relationship another shot, promising that she'd return to the place she once called home, and resumed the role as a mother to Charles that really, in her heart, she never stepped down from.

Blair visited her sister that week, taking advantage of the half-term holidays at school which meant she had a week away from work. She told Kiera everything, trying her best to articulate exactly how she'd been feeling over the past five years.

Of course, Kiera was nothing but supportive. The younger O'Hara sister had always known deep down that Blair and Thomas were meant to be together, having faith in the back of her mind that no matter what pulled them apart, their space would ultimately never last.

Kiera had watched her sister fall in love before her very eyes. Blair had never been interested in boys, at least that's the way she acted when they were younger, but Kiera saw the way her sister fell speechless at the sight of a boyish Tommy Shelby, knowing that he had been the one to change her view on men, and he would always simply be the one.

Kiera travelled back to Blair's home with her and helped her pack up half of her belongings, deciding that half was enough for the time being. She would still own the house, just incase, but as Blair packed her clothes into suitcases and photo frames into boxes, she couldn't help but feel like that time, the next place she lived in would be the place she'd die in, too.

Blair and Thomas hadn't seen each other all week, but after five years of waiting, Tommy didn't mind seven days more. The days seemed to drag like weights around his ankles and the nights were sleeplessly long and drawn out, but eventually, the day he'd been waiting for arrived.

It was a mild Saturday morning when Tommy finally saw the hands on the clock reach seven. He'd barely slept, again, but had waited for a glimmer of the sun beginning to rise over the horizon before he allowed himself to start the day.

He hadn't told Charlie that Blair was coming home, knowing it was something she needed to talk to him about herself.

Tommy couldn't remember the last time he felt such eager anticipation in his stomach and chest, perhaps only in the face of death, though even then he managed to find an oddly calm amount of peace from deep in his bones.

That morning was different. There was nothing peaceful about him, nothing calm, nothing placid. Thomas knew that this was the first day of what he hoped would be the rest of his life, knowing that he couldn't put a foot wrong from that day forward, sure now that there would be no more chances after this one.

He showered and dressed in black trousers and a white shirt, fixing a patterned tie around his neck before adding a waistcoat and pocket watch, sliding a ring onto his little finger. His hair was slicked back that day, though a nervous sweat made a dainty handful of strands fall across his forehead no matter how many times he fixed them.

After drinking a cup of tea and reading a few pages of that morning's newspaper that was thrown on the doorstep, Tommy spent an hour tending to the horses in the stables before he finally heard Charlie's voice through the open kitchen window.

He headed back inside to find his son making himself breakfast, smiling as he recalled a time he wasn't even tall enough to reach the countertop.

"Morning, Charlie. Sleep well?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "Want some toast?"

Tommy just shook his head, "Already eaten, thanks son."

He hadn't eaten, but his stomach was twisting and turning so much that he was sure he'd throw up if he had even so much as a bite of food.