Rising | Thomas Shelby

the girls

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Polly puts her hand up on the wall to steady herself. Nothing was said for minutes. Just staring at each other. The guilt of my choices looming over me. In all honesty I had prepared myself to be slapped. I wanted her to shout at me or something, it would've been better than this. The silence was deafening. I felt like neither of us were even breathing.

"Jesus Christ" She breathed out. I had half expected for her to slam the door in my face. When I looked up to meet her face she just slightly shook her head as she raised her arms to give me a hug. I stepped in the house and into her arms.
"I've missed you so much Pol, I'm so sorry" I said my head resting on her shoulder.
"Scarlett, where the fuck have you been?" she slightly scolds me as she stepped back so I can walk further into the house.

I walk in and go towards the kitchen, placing my hat and bag on the dining table, "I've been all over Pol, mostly in London. My false death was an opportunity to go up in the world and I did it" I started to explain whilst she got the glasses and I picked the whiskey and poured us both a glass.

"But I went to your funeral, I spent weeks grieving your death and you didn't bother to say anything?" I reached over and put my hand on top of hers, urging her to look at me. For years the guilt has been eating me up and she needed to know that I was sincerely sorry for all the pain I had caused.
"I couldn't tell anybody, I needed people to believe that I was dead. I saw you at my funeral Pol and I wanted nothing more then to come up to you and let you know I was fine but I had a plan and I couldn't do anything to jeopardise it"
She stayed quiet for a few moments.
"Thanks for coming by the way"
Pol met my eyes in confusion.
"To my funeral, if I remember correctly it wasn't exactly a huge turnout." I joked, small smile on my face.
Polly and Ada were the only ones to attend my funeral. No father, no brother.

She chuckled slightly before sighing "Scar, you know if the boys could've been there, they would've. That was the hardest thing, telling them when they got back, they couldn't believe their little Scarlett had been out their fighting along with them"
I scoffed "hardly along side them Pol, being a nurse wasn't nearly as awful as being a soldier..." I paused for a second before asking the dreaded question that I've none stop thought about since the war had ended.
"So, they all came back? They're alright?"
"I mean physically they all came back, mentally none of them are the same. Tommy being the worst, he's barely recognisable these days."
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, relieved to know all the boys had made it back. "The war fucked us all, I don't know anyone who came back the same"

"How long has it been?" Polly asks, "Well, I went to work as a nurse in early 1915 so just over 4 years, but I haven't seen the boys in 5."
Polly wanted an explanation for the girls choices and what she had meant by her 'plan' and why it was so important for no one to know she was alive.

However, she didn't want to push it and keep asking questions. To be quite honest Polly hadn't been so stunned in her life, she still was trying to wrap her head around the girls reappearance.

"How is Ada doing?" I ask, Ada was one of my closest friends when growing up. She was so mature for her age, I used to forget that she was a few years younger than me. I remember the nights we used to spend talking all night, a topic wasn't discussed. Always used to get yelled at for giggling too loudly which only ignited more laughter from us.

War forced Scarlett to grow up and she craved a night like that again. A night with no worries and being naive about life and the world.
"She's good, she took your death very hard. You were the first friend she ever lost, she's not going to believe it. She's only upstairs but I think if you go wake her up, she might get sent into cardiac arrest" she joked.

I laughed, I had missed times like this. Catching up with Polly about whatever gossip every morning whilst I waited for the boys to get ready for school. She was like a second mother to me.
My mother was a great woman, she passed away when I was young. Only a few months before the Shelby boys mum passed. They had been best-friends, meaning the boys and I grew up around each other, not that I minded. I made bonds with those boys like no other. I felt safe and loved even though they weren't extremely vocal about it, I had always felt it.

John was the closest to my age, however I was the closest to Thomas.
Thomas and I shared the same ambition and determination for power and money. We both understood that things we might not like was sometimes necessary in order to do greater good, to accomplish bigger things or to have a brighter future. I've lost count on how many days and nights, Thomas and I spent coming up with plans on how we would take over the world. How we would become God ourselves.

I was broken out of my trance when I heard movement coming from the stairs. Pol jumped up and headed towards the stairs, I heard slight murmurs between the pair but couldn't decipher what they were saying. I stood up from the table and waited for Ada to walk in. I looked down to my hands and picked at them, a habit I needed to stop as it caused my hands to constantly bleed.

"Oh my God" whispered Ada who was stood frozen at the door. I snapped my head up and took a slight step towards her but not wanting to overly frighten her.
"Hello Ade" I smiled at her, searching her face to show me what she was feeling. I saw tears building up in her eyes but not falling just yet. She blinked multiple times as if she was trying to wake herself up. "Its really me Ada. I'm here and I'm back"
After that everything went so fast, I was being tackled to the floor with a sobbing girl in my arms. I let out a soft oft as I fell to the floor.
"I can't believe it's you! What happened? H-how?" she stuttered trying to say everything at once. "Ada I'll explain everything later, lemme just hug ya"

Ada laughed out of disbelief and hugged me tighter than ever, never wanting to let go. "I've missed you so much Scar, I couldn't believe it when they told me you had died."
"You know why that is petal, it's because I didn't" I said quietly in her ear. Making the pair of us giggle even more. I looked up at Polly, who had tears in her eyes as she watched the reunion of the two girls. I pushed Ada up and got us both back on our feet and held my arms out for both the women to come into a group hug. All of us crying at this point. I hadn't felt this content in years, I missed my family. It was good to finally be home.