Oceans [A.Shelby]

TWELVE

LILLIAN GLANCED at her husband from where she sat in bed, arms crossed above the covers, her hair down and only a dainty slip covered her body.

Lillians teeth grazed her lip as Arthur pulled down his suspenders, pulling his gun from it's hold.

"I heard you're going to Cheltenham races, 3 days from today," Lillian broke the silence, Arthur paused in his movements before running his hand through his hair.

"Do you think that's wise? Getting involved with Billy Kimber?" Lillian asked him.

"It's just business," Arthur replied as he slipped into bed beside her.

"It's never just business when Billy Kimbers involved." Lillian told him in amusement, "he came to the Warwickshire estate once, to do business with my father. He wanted to make a whore out of one of my maids. That was his condition. Poor girl was only 18."

Arthur didn't like this, talking about business, Lillian could see this every time he looked at her with disinterest when she brought it up.

Lillian took silence as her answer, all she could think about was how they used to talk. Before the war, they talked about anything and everything that was on their mind's. Their conversations now weren't half what they use to be. They still loved eachother just the same, but the war had changed him, changed them both.

"We're okay, aren't we?" Lillian asked him quietly, Arthur held somewhat of a guilt for the way he acted sometimes.

He was a little more closed off than he used to be, and often, that came between his marriage.

"course we are," He replied, Lillian need the confirmation every now and again. Lillian is a strong woman, as daring as she had always and will always be. However, she still seeked comfort and confirmation once in a while, especially now.

Arthur shuffled further down the bed, pulling Lillian into his hold, her arm over his chest as she kissed he jaw

"my mother asked me to put on my wedding dress today," she murmed to him, "she cried"

"it's been a bloody strange day," Arthur laughed, Lillian hitting his chest playfully.

"She apologised too, for not accepting you. I told her that you have to look past all the bad you hear about the family. Because my Arthur is the most soft-hearted of them all," She teased him, a scoff escaping Arthur's lips.

"Really ey?" Arthur asked her, Lillian nodded in response, a laugh escaping her lips as his lips attacked her skin.

Arthur Shelby had always had his way with his lips, trailing from cheek down to her breasts teasingly.

"either you keep your lips to yourself," Lillian told him, hand in his hair, "or we'll fuck until we're weary"

The second choice was the only choice for the pair, who both woke up lacking clothing and tangled up with eachother.

Lillians body teased Arthur as she got up and out of bed, finding the slip on the floor with a laugh as Arthur groaned out a "come on, let's finish off what we started,"

"I finished what I started last night, Arthur," Her laugh was a melody to his ears, "you're very handy, in every aspect of the word,"

Lillian was glad that her mother was staying at the Warwickshire estate, if she had heard the pair of rabbits last night she would be on her way back straight to London.

Dora May was waiting for her son to return, just as Lillian was waiting for her brother every day.

Her mother had drew attention to the few photos around the home, Lillian couldn't help but keep looking back at the photos from her wedding, the photo of her and Arthur, a photo with her and Theo. Both laughing at something that had gone on behind the camera; the newborn of the family sicking up all over his father, John.

Arthur decended the stairs, pulling his jacket on before he twirled his cap on his fingers.

Arrhur pulled his wife to his chest, placing his hands purposely over her breasts, squeezing them before kissing her cheek, Lillian slapping him as he laughed.

"You cheeky bastard!" She called after him as he left for work.

Lillian glanced to the clock, muttering under her breath as she realised she would be late for the betting shop, so she rushed upstairs to dress herself.

Dressing herself was anything but a rush, it had been drilled into her head that a woman had to look perfectly presentable.

With her lips painted red and her blonde, curly hair styled; she pulled a coat on and left her home on Watery Lane, fiddling with her keys.

A loud whistled broke the cold air, Lillian pocketed the keys and turned around, freezing as she did so.

Walking down Watery Lane strolled a familiar man, a man with a dirtier face and shaggy dark hair.

"Oh my," Lillian whispered as tears pricked her eyes.

Her older brother stopped metres away from her as she covered her mouth before a cry escaped her lips.

"It's not like you to cry," she hadn't heard his voice in years, she didn't think she would again.

Theo opened his arms for his sister, who all but ran into them.

Lillian hugged her brother in the exact way she hugged him before her wedding, it matched her feeling of happiness and relief after months of sadness.

Lillian was standing alone outside, she had nobody to walk her down the aisle.Thomas Shelby had offered, as had John and Charlie Strong, but she denied them and insisted she could do it alone. Nothing could fill he void beside her, her family wasn't there. Her family didn't even support her, she didn't know why she expected them too.

They were right, in some sense, but wrong in others. Arthur had a heart of gold, everybody who knew him, knew that he was soft on the inside. He reminded her of the biscuits she baked with her mother one day, all the maids had gone down with a bug. The biscuits were soft on the inside but hard on the outside; that was Arthur.

There's something strange about standing alone on your wedding day, Lillian didn't think she would ever have to be alone, but here she was, the bell about to chime; signalling her entrance.

Lillian took one last look around the little grassy area, situated on a hill, she ignored the industrial sites in the background.

Her eyes fell at the entrance, a tall figure standing beside the gate with a cigar in his fingers, walking up the pathway broadly.

"Did you really think I would let you get married, alone?" Theo asked her as he stopped in front of her.

"Yes, I did actually. But thank God you're here." Lillian replied, a grin breaking out on her face, throwing her arms around him. She hugged him, her feet lifting off the floor with the height difference.

The bell chimed a few second later and Theo pulled away, "let's get you married sissy,"

Unlike the conventional way, Theo walked his sister down the aisle with an arm slung over her shoulder, both of them laughing together.

"We thought you were dead, for years," Lillian pulled away as she wiped her eyes, still holding onto his arm's as if he would disappear.

"It must be your lucky day then," He told her.

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authors note; introducing Theodore May! Theo if you remember grew up incredibley close to Lillian and was the only family member who somewhat was okay with her marriage at the very beginning. Theo is played by an actor from Poldark, Tom York!