01// 'not her'

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ARTHUR, TOMMY AND JOHN SHELBY were now 2 years fighting for their country

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ARTHUR, TOMMY AND JOHN SHELBY were now 2 years fighting for their country. It was said it wouldn't be that long, but everyone was proven wrong.
Right now, they were sitting at a small table with water and a piece of bread in front of them.
It was their time to rest for the day and to read their mail.

Tommy, the second oldest, played with his food as his thoughts were swirling through his head, running wild.
He missed his blonde girl dearly and couldn't wait to see her again.
The Shelby wrote to her every time he could and as he wanted to, he received many letters from her.
Until three months from now on, the letters stopped.
Yet, he put all his effort in these letters, telling her how he is and everything else.
Not once did he mention the lack of her responses.
Maybe she just forgot him?

"Oi, aunt Polly wrote me.", John exclaimed, his mouth stuffed with bread as he opened the letter.

Arthur and Tommy both leaned forward since neither of the two received a letter.
One of them excited and the other one more than sad, because of this one blonde girl.

The youngest Shelby boy read the letter carefully, smiling at aunt antics, until he got to this one paragraph.
He chocked on his own spit, looking at the letter with wide eyes as he held it with shaky hands.

"What is it?", Tommy asked, looking at his brother concerned.

John met his eyes and Tommy instantly recognized his gaze as fear and worry, which made him frown.
Arthur glanced between them two, slightly confused.

"What is it?", Tommy repeated now louder and his voice stern.
What could have happened?

John passed him his letter as he looked down on the table, trying to not let his worries overcome him.
God, he couldn't believe what was written in it.

Tommy ripped the letter out of his hands and began reading it.
His eyebrows were furrowed while reading, until he read the same paragraph John did.
It felt like his world perished.

" 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 3 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘴.
𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘈𝘥𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱.
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘐 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.
𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘐, 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶-" and it continued, yet Tommy wasn't in the position to understand the other words.

The brunette Shelby felt like he couldn't breath as he took in deep breaths, trying to calm down.
His heart was aching as he leant forward, his arms on his knees.
This all couldn't be happening, no, no, that wasn't real.
It was all just one of his nightmares.

"She is lying.", he muttered to himself as he clenched his jaw at the thought of someone harming his girl.

Arthur, who now read the letter, couldn't believe it and wanted to go crazy right now, but his younger brother needed more help.
So he and John stood up, trying to talk to Tommy.

Yet everything they said or mentioned went unheard as there was this unfamiliar ringing inside his head.
She couldn't be hurt or unprotected.
𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳.
How could he let that happen?
He punched against the table as he went through his hair, trying to calm down.

"Oi that's enough Tommy, calm down.", Arthur said sternly, hiding his worry he felt for the girl, who is like his sister and for his younger brother, who is acting out.

"How could I let this happen?", Tommy muttered, his hands gripping on his hair as he tried to confirm everything.

John pulled him up from the seat and shook his shoulders rather harshly as he demanded,"I need you to calm down Tommy and think.Was there someone in business who always despised her?"

After not getting an answer, John shoved him away hard,"Fucking think, brother.My fucking little sister is at sake."

Tommy's head snapped to John's as he stared at him furiously,"You think I don't care?"

"I know you do, but this ain't helping us. At all."

"You know I wouldn't let this happen, John.", Tommy said in rage, stepping closer to his brother with glaring eyes.

His younger brother was now glaring too as he stepped closer, their chests touching,"But it did happen. And now fucking think."

The middle oldest Shelby brother sighed, stepping back and tried to remember, until he shook his head,"Everyone adored her John, even in fucking business."

A heartache is a whole-body response, from the stress systems to the heart and brain function. We are born to make loving bonds and to suffer when they break. This is nature's way of teaching us to stay loyal, to stay in love, and it is brutal by biological and evolutionary necessity. Some try to avoid it through casual love, yet then they miss out on the kind of bonds that keep society functioning and well. To love is a risk and so, if another takes that step with you, they are serious and placing their heart in your onwards care.

Yet it was another type of heartache, not knowing where the girl he loves was.

It will ruin him.





It will ruin him

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