Candy [THOMAS SHELBY]

Chapter Three

Josephine and Tommy laid in bed with only a thin bed sheet to cover their half naked bodies. Josephine was asleep, she had been for hours whereas Tommy laid awake, the fear of having his nightmares keeping him awake.Tommy shifts himself to sit up against the headboard and lights himself a cigarette before he turns his gaze towards Josephine. He loves her, he really does. To him, Josephine is the single most important thing in his life and everything he does with the business is so he can make life better for her. For him. For his family. Before the war he had always envisioned a future with her, somewhere in the country with a handful of kids and him working with horses. A simple life was all that he wanted and needed before the war came but then the war did come and with that so did his dreams and plans.

Josephine twitches beside him before letting out a groan and slowly opening her eyes and she rubs them before squinting up at Tommy, "What time is it?" She asks.

Tommy looks towards the wall where the clock hangs, "4 a.m."Josephine whines at his response as she tucks herself into his side. "Too early" She grumbles annoyed at herself for waking up this early.

Tommy's eyes flickered towards his bedside drawer, his mind on a small box in particular and in that box held an engagement ring. Tommy sat up straight, he had made his mind up and he was going to propose to her and he was going to do it today, he was going to do it right now.

The couple lay in silence for a bit longer as Tommy built up the courage to propose.

"Let's get married", Tommy blurts overwhelmed and when he feels Josephine's body tense against his, his heart breaks a bit fearing the worst. Tommy closes his eyes not wanting to watch her as she rejects him.

"Married?! Are you serious?" Josephine asks, sitting up and pulling out of his embrace and when he doesn't respond she pinches his arm to get him to open his eyes and when he does he's met with the biggest smile he's ever seen on her face.

Tommy returned her smile and reached over to his bedside table and retrieved the small box out of one of the draws. Josephine gasped when she saw the ring, it was utterly beautiful and she couldn't believe Tommy had gotten it for her. It was silver with a diamond in the centre with leaves on each side surrounding it. Josephine reached for it before she stopped and looked at Tommy with an expectant look on her face.

'What?' Tommy asked.

"Aren't you gonna ask me?"

"I did" Tommy responds dryly.

"No, do it properly! This may be my only chance of being proposed to!" She shoots back.

Tommy huffs but with the smile still on his face he shuffles into a kneeling position in front of her, still on the bed.

"Josephine Linnea Lindholm," Josephine rolls her eyes at his use of her middle name knowing he's only doing it to be petty, " will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

Josephine quickly nodded before squealing and wrapping her arms around him in a hug before pulling back and allowing him to slip the ring on her finger.

Looking up at Tommy, Josephine quickly pressed her lips to his for a quick kiss before pulling back and admiring the ring.

"I was wondering when you were going to do that," she confessed to Tommy as getting back into bed. "I'm pretty your Aunt Pol is running a bet with your brothers about it as well," she continued as they laid down facing each other. Tommy's eyebrows twitched in amusement at her statement as he leaned over her, kissing her again but this time the kiss became more passionate.

Hours later Tommy walks through the house at Watery Lane with the aim to get to his office in the betting den but stopped short when he noticed his Aunt Polly along with Josephine's father sat in the kitchen.