FLAMES ━━ 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐛𝐲

𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙚.

𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙚 | 𝘈 𝘛𝘈𝘓𝘌 𝘖𝘍 𝘌𝘕𝘋𝘐𝘕𝘎𝘚

｡･:*:･ﾟ✧ ｡･:*:･ﾟ

IT WAS THE END, Annabel realized fairly quickly. Soon enough, her beloved would rise from the bed they had shared after a traumatizing night that had brought declarations of love and belonging and the second he would do so would bring their moments shared to an end.

Indeed, Tommy rose from Annabel's day in order to play God for one more day, and the girl analyzed how the muscles of his back clenched as he dressed and got ready to head out. The rays of sunlight filtering through the lace curtains on Annabel's bedroom window reminded her of the Romani sun forever painted on Tommy's chest. Annabel reached out from under the covers and let her hand reach Tommy, touching his strong back and tracing soft lines with the tip of her fingers.

"Can't ruling the world wait ten more minutes?" Annabel muttered, scratching with her nails at her skin lightly, making euphoria rush through Tommy's veins at the reminder of the long night before. He turned to her and leaned down to her face, pressing a soft, rapid kiss to her lips, letting that be his answer.

After Tommy's departure, Annabel took a quick bath and dressed in a white shirt and a baby blue skirt, braiding her hair and letting the plait fall down her back, and regarded herself in the glass. Her glass skin seemed brighter as she sported a euphoric glow. The caresses of their shared night had left her feeling complete, and she felt reborn. When she was ready, she headed to Polly's for coffee, where the Gray woman was waiting for her with a knowing smirk on her face.

"Tommy didn't come home last night."

Annabel blushed as she sat down on the kitchen table and Polly placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of her. "It's not what you think, Pol."

Annabel took a sip and looked up at Polly from behind her cup. "We slept. In the same bed. In each other's arms, sure, but we only slept."

"I'm surprised you managed to keep him off you, considering how the man looks at you."

"He told me he loved me, Polly."

Polly almost dropped her mug to the ground, and looked to Annabel, shocked to her core. "Excuse me, he what?"

"He used a poem, but he let everything be known."

Polly looked truly frightened, and the look chilled Annabel's bones. "What's that look for?"

"Annabel, there is only one thing that can weaken a man as smart as Tommy." Polly took a deep breath. "Love."

✧

Black Star Day was the day Thomas Shelby would take out Kimber and was approaching in grand steps, and Tommy Shelby was preparing, thinking everything through. There was only one thing he couldn't planned in advance: he was desperately in love with Annabel Lee Keats and now there was something that he could lose, and there was something he had to stay alive for. Only she, Grace Burgess and himself knew at this point what was to come in that moment, and the anticipation was enough to keep the women up at night.

He was standing at the door of the Garrison's snug, watching Annabel swaying playfully at Grace's song. He watched her as a dying man watches the starry sky for the last time, eyes full of wonder at the magnificence of the sight but full of regret at the loss he sure will feel. He wondered how she had managed to snare him so deeply into her net of love and realized everything from the swaying of her hair as she walked and the rosiness of her cheeks when she discussed something she was passionate about had captivated him from the second he had known her.