Home Again

Tea

*Literally, pouring tea is like the best thing ever 

~

Clover stared down into her steaming mug. It was her third cup of tea today. She needed the extra caffeine to cope with her dizzying circumstances. Breathing in the sweet steam, Clover pondered over her next steps. Junior interrupted her thoughts.

"You've been staring at the bloody cup for a while, mate," he said.

"I've got a lot to think about," she said.

His nostrils flared in agitation. "Look, I fessed up. Now are you going to help me or not?"

She sounded and felt very far away. "If it will cost me my life," she said, still focused intently on that mug of hers, "then, I think not." Her voice echoed in her head. She really needed to get some sleep. She was emotionally and physically drained.

He sighed then laughed, his breath laced with sarcasm. It seemed that he, Thomas Shelby Jr., had nothing to say. This girl couldn't help him. He wasn't delusional. His mess was much bigger than a few bruises and stolen money. He was missing his family, his freedom, his home, his peace. He leaned back in his chair, too numb to smoke.

"I'm sorry," he said. His charm was all gone. Nothing could get him out of this cyclical hole he had dug for himself. He would be left to burrow and burrow in circle after circle.

She looked up at him, feeling his depression. Her face pressed lethargically against her sleeping fist. She stared at him. She almost laughed. It was almost like all of the bullshit had been wrung out of him and now he sat, like a wet mop, droopy and ragged.

"So what now?" she asked. Her tired eyelids letting fall her drooping lashes.

He watched her just as she had watched him. "You know all about me," he said, "now what about you?"

"What about me? What about you?" She countered, slowly sitting up straight. 

"I just told you my situation, my family, my name. What more is there?" He furrowed his eyebrows and took another drag of his cigarette.

"You didn't tell me why you're running. Or why you picked a fight with the biggest guy you could? Why you came back to my kitchen everyday, tormenting me-" She went on, enraged.

"That's none of your business," he said

"None of my business, is it?" She laughed sarcastically. "Whether it is or isn't I don't think you could answer me. I don't think you know yourself well enough for an answer."

"Excuse me?" He said carefully, putting his cigarette down.

"You heard me, Thomas." She stressed the word so that it stung like a branding.

"You don't know me. And you sure as hell don't know me better than I know myself," he said.

"You said I did. Just now. Which one is it? Do I know you or not?" She questioned.

"You don't know me," he said, standing. He turned his back, headed for the door.

Something urged Clover. Something beyond normal curiosity for this stranger. She had an itch to know what was plaguing him, it was something deep down. Something she recognized from within herself. She grabbed his arm and yanked him back.

"Tell me truth then." She said. "Tell me the truth or you'll just keep putting yourself in danger and eventually kill yourself. I see it in your eyes. You're a ticking bomb and you're bound to explode."

"What do you care?" He challenged her.

"There's a foot of blood on my couch left by a boy who was lonely enough to follow me home. You spooked me to death but yours isn't the first gun I've seen. I know men worse than you. And I know a scared runaway when I see one." She finished; her chest heaving. Her body trembled ever so slightly; enflamed by Junior's every move. His body fluttered with emotion as well. Maybe it was their proximity or her bravery or the vulnerable look in his eyes but in that moment, all they could feel for each other was attraction.

"You care about me." He said. "I can see it in your eyes." He took a step closer.

She looked away but right back again. "Well shoot me for caring," she said.

He took another step and was upon her, "No," he whispered. They kissed. He gently gripped her face in his hands and she brought her hands along his sides. He lightly dug his fingers through her hair and deepened the kiss. Their breathing rose and fell as they went deeper into each other. Seconds passed before they pulled away, breathless, gazing at each other. He leaned in, biting her lip gently and drawing it out softly and slowly. He let go. His eyelashes tickled her cheek as he whispered into her ear, "You want me." 

~

Did the tea spill or what??

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