By order of... PEAKY BLINDERS IS BACK AND SO AM I (Finished Fanfiction)

chapter 8

Music: Anti-love song - Betty Davis

Louise did not come back at work when Tommy took her to her flat after she had killed her uncle. Two weeks had flown away and no ona had any news from her.

xxx

Two weeks prior

"Take me out of here, Tommy. Please", she told him after killing her uncle.

Arthur nodded at Tommy to tell him that he would get a rid of the body. Tommy took Louise to her flat and stayed next to her when she eventually fell asleep. In order to help her to be calm, he had told her how brave she had been and even confessed his love for her.

For many weeks, he knew he was in love with her but was mad at himself that he could only tell her at this time, after such a desolate event. Perhaps it was linked to the fact that he could have lost her, he thought.

xxx

But since this night, no one had seen her. Polly was asked by her nephew to knock at Louise's door. Curtains were drawn but there was no candle lit or whatsoever. Polly reached closer when she noticed a white dot on the door.

On it, was a short piece of paper, folded two times, with only one word. Tommy.

Polly came back to the offices with the paper in her pocket.

Tommy was waiting for her and asked:

"Have you anything to..."

"... Here!", interrupted Polly by giving him the paper. She left.

Tommy locked himself in his office, spilt some whisky in a glass and read the note. When he finished reading it, he took his head in his hands and drank another shot.

He was angry but he ignored who he was angry at - was it at Louise? Or himself?

All the day long, he did not talk to anyone and only left his office to leave Shelby Limited, late at night, when the moon was high and erotic.

He had taken the note in his coat's inner pocket and read it again after his son had fallen asleep, alone in his cool bed.

"I don't want to love you, Tommy. Not now at least. My life is a mess that I must fix. I need some time to think. I'll write. Give me some time."

xxx

Louise had decided to leave Birmingham, far from Shelby Limited. She needed time to think back to the last few months and above all, the last days.

She found a job as a waitress near Liverpool. It wasn't well paid but it gave her time to think.

She had left for almost a month when she wrote a letter to Tommy. She sent it as following, after many attempts.

"February, the 5th of 1927,

Thomas,

These last weeks have been exhausting for both of us. If you still care, I am safe and sound but please, do not try to find me, I might be back very soon. I only need some rest - I hope you are not mad at this decision I made for my own sake. It is, to me, the best decision I made for a long time.

I do not wish to love you, Tommy. And still. In every street I cross here, in every man I meet, I do. I love you and I am stuck with the idea, how terrifying, that I always will.

I fondly hope you are doing well,
Louise, in your heart, if you want of her.

Post Scriptum: Please thank Polly for what she has done for me. I will always be grateful to her and I hope you are grateful to her too."

When she sent it, Louise had in mind that Tommy would never read it and from the moment, he would know it was a letter from her, he would throw it away or burn it. He probably did not care about her breaking departure. It was probably better this way, after all.

And still, she hoped he would read it. She had put all her heart in these few lines but found them quite silly when she compared them to her love.

And indeed, Tommy read it as many times as he needed to learn it by heart. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest when he recognized Louise's soft handwriting on the envelope. He had fallen into booze since she left but now, he was hopeful enough to live properly again.

Next: fluff, implicit sexual intercourse.