TROUBLE - peaky blinders

14. for your thoughts?

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TWO WEEKS. Two weeks of nonstop supervision when leaving the house, two weeks of constant chores and Clara's introduction back into society. Two weeks of ignoring her older brother, two weeks of uncharted moods and an unsettled dynamic between the entire family. Almost four weeks after the attack.

With Ada away, and Clara and Tommy furiously avoiding one another along with Clara's newfound anger, the entire family was on eggshells. The only time her family saw the girl was at meals, or when John had to drop and collect her from school like a small, little baby. Other than that, she spent her days under strict instruction not to leave her room.

Clara was fed up. Fed up with her family, with her brother, fed up with the same boring four walls, fed up with all these new rules instated. She hadn't been to the stables since the day before the attack— almost a month and counting. She missed her horse, she missed riding him. She missed the smell of hay and the familiarity of the stables.

Clara was a wreck. She only ate when forced to by Pol, she only spoke if she had a spiteful remark to spit, she would curse out her family, pushing away each and every single one of them, including Finn who'd tried his best to cheer her up. She hadn't meant to but rage clouded her mind like an ominous fog. She would go to school and not speak to Will or Penny, opting to remain silent. During break time, she'd sneak around the side of the building and smoke cigarettes she'd steal from Arthur when he wasn't looking. Sometimes Will and Penny joined her, and sometimes they didn't, leaving her to remain in her little bubble of anger.

It was obvious that the Shelby family was getting sick and tired of the girl's behaviour. There would be a passing remark about her from John and Arthur while Pol outwardly displayed her accusations that Tommy had been too harsh to the girl. The two siblings didn't speak of what happened that night, leaving the family to contemplate and try to piece together what had happened to cause such a rift. They knew she had snuck out but usually, her punishment was a normal week-long house arrest.

This time was different.

Pol had tried to talk to both, trying to figure out what had happened, yet Clara and Tommy reacted similarly, with a shake of a head and a harsh 'nothing'. The woman was at her wit's end. They were acting like kids.

"CLARA!"

The girl's head snapped up from her book. She was sprawled across her bed, balancing her book in one hand as she read. Her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, her cheeks sunken and pale. She looked sick. She wasn't, but she looked at it. Clara slipped out of her room and down the stairs, her usual bounding footsteps replaced by a ghostly patter as she crept downstairs.

"What?" She asked harshly, folding her arms over her jumper. Pol raised her brows at the girl's tone, earning a half-apologetic mumble from the girl.