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Thomas Shelby~You Can’t Always Get What You Want
You honestly hadn’t been expecting an invitation. In fact, some part of you found it quite cruel that they had sent you one. Grace and Tommy… Tommy and Grace. They were getting married.
Hooray for the happy couple!
Or at least, that’s what you were meant to think.
You sighed and ran a hand through your hair. Slowly and carefully, you read the invite. Each word was neatly penned- this was definitely her handwriting, not his. Tommy’s handwriting was messy and rushed, much like his life: much like the life he had lived with you.
Yes, once, you were his and he was yours. But that was a long time ago, and you were both different people. A lot had changed over the course of your relationship and by the time it ended, both of you were miserable. The fights, the long nights, the constant fear and pain: you had broken it off. Thomas was too stubborn to; it would be less painful if you ended it sooner.
Well, that’s what you told yourself.
You put the piece of paper down and hurriedly stuffed it back into the envelope. Neatly, it was tucked between two books on your desk and you left it there. Maybe, if you didn’t see it, it didn’t exist. And, Tommy wasn’t getting married.
For weeks, you forgot it existed. You went about your business as normal, and lately your business (an underground munitions factory) has been doing quite well so you had been completely enthralled in that. It had been steadily growing over the past few years and the sudden ‘threat’ of Communism from Europe had given everyone enough motivation to invest in your business. Over the last few months, you had made many new allies and some enemies but to you it was a beautiful distraction. You had little time to think of Thomas Shelby and his pretty blonde wife to be.
Before you knew it, the deadline had come round and it was only a week until the wedding. You withdrew the envelope from its hiding place. It stared at you. Gently, you got out your pen and circled ‘attending.’ You sighed. Fuck. Why did you want to go anyway? Why did you want to hurt yourself like this? Despite the questions in your head, you still told your assistant to post it and then it was too late to take it back.
This was going to be one tough afternoon.
~~~
“Tommy!” Grace yelled from the other room, “We’ve got another response back for the wedding!”
She walked into his study and found him hard at work. As usual. Grace walked around the desk, and placed the invite down in front of him. He looked down it for a second before recognising the return address.
You.
“A business partner is it?” Grace asks.
She obviously sees that it’s a factory address, not a street address and Tommy nods.
“Yeah, yeah, something like that,” he murmurs, mostly under his breath.
“They’re cutting it a little close, aren’t they?” she laughs to herself.
“Hm, they never were good time keepers,” he says, giving as little a way as possible, “Thanks love. I’ll look at it later.”
He presses a kiss to her cheek and then Grace disappears out of the room. She mentions something about wedding preparations but truth be told, Tommy wasn’t really listening anymore. He was too busy focused on the letter in front of him.
Tentatively, he lifts it up. With a letter opener, he rips the top of the envelope and slides out the invite. Neatly, you’d circled ‘attending.’ His breath hitched. Fuck. Tommy honestly hadn’t expected this response; after the way things ended, how you’d split, he didn’t think you’d want anything to do with him. And he wouldn’t blame you. The relationship, towards the end at least, had been toxic beyond repair.
He flipped over the invite, looking for something else. A note from you maybe? Something else to calm his storming brain, but sans the nest, black circle, the invite was blank.
Tommy sighed. He would see you again for the first time in many months. Would you be happy to see him? Would he be happy to see you? What would everyone else think? These questions didn’t help Tommy; he’d have to wait a whole week to know the answer to them.
Could he wait that long?
~~~
It was nice, you had to admit, to get all dressed up for something. The last time you had been dressed up like this… Well, you’d honestly forgotten. Usually, you were clad in dark and dramatic colours, but this sparkly, floaty dress had been a nice change.
Soon, you were speeding off down the road in your new car. It had been polished especially for this occasion. What? You couldn’t have your ride looking scruffy and unpresentable on such an occasion. You arrived all too soon at the location. It was beautiful and grand; it didn’t look like somewhere where Tommy would reside, or at least your Tommy. Though, you supposed that version of Tommy was dead. Whoever he was now, liked extravagant things and pretty blondes. How very predictable…
This would be more difficult that you thought.
You sat at the back of the church and didn’t say a word through the whole service. He looked very handsome and Grace was a sight- so stunning, you couldn’t blame Tommy for falling for her. Luckily, you escaped the view of any of the Shelbys and managed to make it to the reception unnoticed.
It felt weird being here. You used to be part of the family and now you were simply an outsider.
You watched her make a toast with a glass of wine in her hand and a happy smile on her face. She looked like an angel. It was in that moment that you had eye contact with Thomas Shelby.
You needed out. Now.
You fled from the room as quietly as you could. Outside was cloudy and bleak: exactly what you needed. You took a very large sip from your drink and felt it burn the back of your throat. Unconsciously, you began to wander the gardens and eventually found a bench to sit down on. You swirled the rest of the drink round the glass and watched it slash and fall.
You should’ve never come here: it was a mistake.
“You look well.”
Tommy. It was Tommy.
“What?” you ask, looking up at him.
“I said you look well, you look good,” he repeats.
“Why are you out here Thomas?” you murmur, electing to ignore his comment, “Shouldn’t you be inside having fun?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“It was a mistake coming here,” you tell him, standing up, “My place clearly isn’t here anymore.”
“We’re still your family.”
“No. No you’re not. You stopped being my family a long time ago, Shelby,” you whisper, “But, that’s okay.”
“Is it? We meant so much to each other-“
“-And we don’t. I… You should’ve never invited me and I should’ve never have come.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Does Grace know I’m here? That you invited me?”
His silence is enough.
“Go back to her, Tommy.”
You say it sincerely.
“It’s where you belong.”
“I never stopped loving you,” Tommy steps forward and grabs your hands, “I wish we could’ve worked.”
“In another life, Thomas Shelby,” you smile sadly.
You gently touch his cheek.
“Thank you.”
“What?”
“I got what I came for.”
“And what’s that?”
“Closure.”
Sometimes you don’t get what you want, but… If you try, you might get what you need.
“They all miss you, you know, the family. You’re always welcome back to our corner of Birmingham.”
You shake your head, still with a small smile on your face, knowing this is probably the last time you would ever see him.
“Good bye, Tommy.”