Chapter Fifty

All night Maddie had stared at the ceiling of her temporary bedroom, her mind far too buzzed from the impromptu visit from Luca to be able to sleep. What the fuck were they going to do? John had been shot dead on his door step and there were bullets waiting for all of them. As smart as Tommy was she didn't see an ending where the lot of them didn't end up with the exact same fate as John. What if she went home, would her odds improve? More to the point would Alfie beat Luca to the punch when he found out that she had a bullet because of Tommy? Alfie could be extrememly unpredictable -even for Maddie- one certainty though was his temper, and boy was it going to blow.

During her sleepless night Maddie had spent several hours mentally going over all the ways she could break the news to Alfie and she had come to only one conclusion; Alfie was either going to kill Tommy or Luca, and the first would be significantly easier.

"Madeline." Tommy's voice spoke from behind the door and was swiftly followed by a knock. "Can I come in?"

"You don't need to knock." She answered, sitting herself upright under the sheets and blankets just as the door was pushed open.

Tommy stepped into the room already impeccably dressed and clean shaven with a slight look of confusion on his face. "You're still in bed."

Granted Maddie never stayed in bed past eight usually but stuck in Birmingham she had no where to go, so there seemed no point in dressing at her usual time. "Very observant of you, Thomas." She smiled. "I intend to stay here all day."

"Is tha' right?" The meeting with Luca had shaken Maddie that was for sure. She had paced the length of his office for over an hour muttering to herself once the Italian had left, Tommy hadn't anticipated that it would cause her to wallow in a fortress of blankets though. "We 'ave a meetin'."

Maddie shook her head no. "You have a meetin', not me." She didn't want to be so blunt but really she had no choice. There was a fine line between what was appropriate and what wasn't, and if she and Tommy over stepped that line everything would become difficult. Many, many times they had travelled that path and it never, ever ended well so Maddie was determined to keep them on the straight and narrow. The Shelby Company was nothing to do with her and she would not be attending the meeting.

"I'm capable of entertainin' myself while you're gone."

"You 'ave a bullet, Madeline."

"I have a bullet whether I'm by your side or not." Maddie countered as she reached out to her packet of cigarettes on the bedside table, pulling one from the box. "You an' I both know it will only end in tears."

Tommy did know, and he hated that she was right. Very clear, unpassable bounderies needed to be set for their ammicable relationship to continue, that didn't make it any less frustrating. Each time Maddie came back into his life she just slotted back in perfectly, like a missing puzzle piece, and it only highlighted how badly he had messed everything up between them. "Pol will want you there. So will Arthur."

Sighing out a cloud of smoke, Maddie shook her head in disbelief that Tommy was being so difficult. He damn well knew she was right and he wrongly thought that bringing Arthur into the equation would sway her decision. Evidently since leaving Birmingham Tommy hadn't been told 'no' enough. "I'm not comin', Tommy. I am not on the Shelby Company board, nor do I want t' be. Luca Changretta isn't goin' to stroll down Watery Lane on the off chance I stayed in bed. So go."

Admitting his defeat Tommy let out a sigh of his own, his gaze lingering on Maddie for a moment longer. "You're not t' go anywhere alone. Tha's final, Maddie."

Giving a salute of her understanding Maddie lay back into the nest of pillows she had created for herself and watched the silver ribbons of smoke dance up to the ceiling. "Goodbye, Thomas." She said when he didn't leave the room immediately. After only a few seconds the door clicked open and then closed signalling that Tommy had finally taken her seriously.

It wasn't that she didn't understand Tommy's apprehension at leaving any of them alone, in all honesty she had never been more fearful for her own life and she had survived the hangman's noose. On Luca's hit list she imagined herself to be quite low though which was one of the only reason she wasn't afraid of being alone. Blood was thicker than water and Luca had only just added her to his extensive hit list, so odds were likely that she simply added to the bottom of the pile. Insignificance allowed her time though, and God did they all need time.

"Madeline?"

So distracted by the shining water of the canal Maddie had neglected to even notice that Tommy had snuck up on her hiding spot. For what must have been over an hour she had been hiding like a coward from the world, unable to take any more that the day had to throw at her.

"You're bleedin'." Dropping to the ground beside her, Tommy wiped the bright crimson puddle from her eyebrow with the rough pad of his thumb.

Automatically Maddie's own hand moved to the check the cut that she had failed to notice. When the wet liquid made contact with her fingers the wild images of her mother throwing any and all available items at her flashed to the front of her mind. She was getting worse, she had been for a while, and Maddie was at a loss of what to do to help. Her dad worked himself to death and came home to tirelessly look after her mother so that she could have a break. The routine wasn't working for either of them though.

"You need 'elp."

"She'll get sent straight to the nut house, Tommy." Said Maddie with an exhausted sigh. It was a discussion -or more accurately an argument- she and her dad had endlessly. "Then she'll die in there."

"I meant from me." Corrected Tommy.

For so long he had watched quietly while Maddie struggled through her mothers illness and he could no longer remain silent. John had been entirely useless at picking up on her troubles when they had been together, and now that they were no longer an item he was even more useless. Yet no matter how dire her situation was she still skipped down the dirty streets, captivating anyone lucky enough to cross paths with her.

"What can you do?" She didn't mean to sound so blunt but Maddie really couldn't see what Tommy could possibly do. "You got a cure for madness you ain't told me about?"

Reaching inside his coat pocket Tommy pulled out a stack of money before he held it out for Maddie to take. "I can do this." The confused, almost offended expression that flashed across her face didn't surprise him, and led him to further explain his motivation. "Your dad works far too 'ard for far too little money. With my 'elp he can be 'ome with your mother lookin' after 'er."

Maddie had never felt more conflicted in her life. On the one hand they desperately needed the money and with it her father could cut his hours significantly, on the other her pride was anything but comfortable feeling like a charity case. In the end her pride won. "I can't take that, Tommy."

Not taking no for an answer Tommy took Maddie's hand in his own, opened it before placing the cash in her palm and sealed it in her grasp and his. Longer than he should have he kept his hand around hers, his thumb brushing against the soft skin.

A noticable shift in atmosphere consumed the air much like it had the first time Tommy had taken her down to his secret spot by The Cut, and Maddie found that she was at a loss for words. All the oxygen had been sucked straight from her lungs the moment their eyes locked, she was effectively drowning on her want for Thomas Shelby and it was embarrassingly obvious.

"Tommy." She managed to squeeze out in a quiet voice.

"Madeline."

In a frenzied moment, the cash and her mother forgotten about, Maddie found Tommy's lips pressed firmly against her own, his hands gripping her waist as though she could disappear at any moment. Unlike their first kiss there was nothing chaste or questioning about this one; both of them were impatient and desperate, practically clawing to get a feel of the others skin. Never had Maddie felt such want - not even with John - she hadn't known it was possible to physically ache for another person but as wanton noises slipped past her kiss swollen lips she realised it most definately was. If Tommy stopped making her feel what ever it was she was feeling she was sure she'd die.

Emboldened by the heat course through her veins Maddie swung her leg over Tommy, straddling his lap in one swift movement that had his grip on her waist tightening. At any moment someone could walk down to the river bank and catch them in the compromising position that would completely ruin anything that was left of her reputation, but none of that registered past a fleeting thought.

"Not 'ere, Maddie."

Much to her dismay Tommy broke their kiss, pulling back an inch when she went leant forward to re-close the space he had created.

"Not 'ere." He repeated in a firmer voice. "You deserve better."

Despite the frustration Maddie couldn't stop the smile that curled her lips. "I do?"

Nodding his head yes, Tommy pressed his forehead against Maddie's and closed his eyes to savour the moment as he answered. "You deserve the world."

The day was bitingly cold, so much so that the thick fur of Maddie's coat did little to fight of the chill, but she had needed to think and she couldn't come up with a better place to do just that than the spot by The Cut that she had went to as a girl.

It had been easier than she had first thought to slip out of the house unnoticed by the guards that forever stood vigilantly outside, ever the loyal soldiers. She hadn't run in to any problems whilst making her way to the river, not that she had for a second thought she would.

Changretta and his vendetta were now perminent residents in her head, they had been since the black hands were delivered, and since then she had been trying to come up with her own plan to try and clean up the mess Tommy had created. Now she had met Luca she was almost certain she was capable of doing just that. She might not be able to make the whole shit show disappear but she could minimize it at the very least. Tommy wouldn't like it - hell he likely wouldn't allow it - and it was for that reason that Maddie had already decided to keep her plan to herself.

"I've been lookin' everywhere for you, Madeline."

The low grumble of Tommy's voice had Maddie jumping and dropping her cigarette onto the damp ground. "Jesus, Tommy! You tryin' to give me a heart attack?"

Leant against the stone wall with her legs tucked beneath her Maddie looked so much like she had when they had been younger and it stabbed painfully in Tommy's chest. He had never beenmore certain of anything than he had been of his love for Maddie, it still didn't seem real that he had fucked it up as badly as he had. His younger self would have beaten him black and blue for losing her.

"I told you t' stay 'ome. It's not safe." He said, ignoring her question and taking a seat on the damp ground. "Changretta-"

"I know." Maddie interupted not needing to hear the Changretta lecture again. "I just needed t' think, that's all."

Tommy seemed to accept what she had to say because he didn't push any further and instead lit a cigarette to silently smoke as he stared at the murky waters in front of them. To Maddie's relief the silence that befell them was a comfortable one that didn't fill her with dread, it was in fact how they had been so, so many years before. Chancing a glance at Tommy she noted the fine lines that had begun to form around his eyes. When had they gotten so old?

"You an' Lizzie seem close."

Instantly Tommy's body went rigid, his eyes meeting Maddie's to check for the malice he had grown accustom to. It wasn't there. "She works for me."

As much as that was the truth Maddie wasn't blind and had she been it still would have been obvious that the pairs feelings went beyond that of employer and employee. "You deserve some happiness, Tommy."

"Is tha' right?" Scoffed Tommy.

Touching her cold hand to his face, Maddie gently turned him to face her again. God, she wished things had gone differently between them - or that she could turn back time - that was impossible though. "She's in love with you. It would be a real shame if your stubborness ruined that."

Maddie had obviously meant to show that she gave some formof blessing to he and Lizzie's relationship but all it served to do was consume him with a dark bleakness. That was it. With that one statement she had put an official end to any chance of their own reconciliation, and lord knew it was something he had been clinging to for years.

"Maybe I deserve that." Tommy eventually countered.

Just as she had done so many times before Maddie rest her head on his shoulder as she accepted the cigarette he wordlessly held out for her. "You deserve the world."

A/N/ Another update! And without a near year long gap lol!
I am so shocked and humbled by how many people stuck around during my long break and I want to thank every one of you.
I hope you all enjoy the update.

Idcam: Just when you thought she was out she's pulled back in haha. Her life sure isn't boring! Oh and you know Alfie is not going to be happy. Hope you liked the chapter :)

Purplestan: I think we were all abit shocked haha. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :)

kmhappybunny240: Nothing good ever happens to Maddie when it comes to Tommy. Hope you liked the update :)

South of everything: I hope I'm keeping things interesting after the last chapter, hope you enjoyed :)

shariebery: I love Alfie and Maddie too, and again I also love Tommy and Maddie. I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)

Aranel Celebrenlam: You're comment was so lovely to read, and I can't thank you enough for it. I promise I won't be disappearing for so long again and I hope you're around till the end. I know this chapter wasn't as explosive as the last but I hope you liked it :)

Guest: Alfie and Tommy are very different, I mean Alfie is waaayy more blunt IMO but I think Tommy is having some growth when it comes to his relastionship to Maddie. Hope you like the update :)