Another Paradise | T Shelby

SIXTEEN - WHAT IS LOVE?

Four days had passed since Blair had left Thomas stood heartbroken in the rain. Each drop that coated his skin felt like the slicing of a blade, the water running down his arm cold compared to the blood that would run hot.

The master of the Shelby manor had been unable to sleep or eat, turning to alcohol earlier than usual, whiskey being the only thing to numb the pain for a temporary while, though it came back ten times stronger once the essence wore off.

Although it hadn't even been a week, the house felt different. There was no laughter, no talking, the home had no soul without Blair. Charlie was miserable, not even so much as smiling at his father when they sat together, turning down his offers to play games or dip their feet in the stream.

He had even thought about gifting him the horse he'd bought, hoping that would cheer him up, though Thomas didn't want to do that without Blair by his side.

In fact, Tommy didn't want to do anything without Blair. Since her return, a unexpected, life changing fall back into his life, Thomas had experienced thoughts and feelings he never thought would grace his mind again.

The loss of his first and only wife had plummeted him into a dark spiral of depression, and Blair had unknowingly been the light that pulled him out of it. Of course, Charlie was a helping hand, putting an occasional smile on his father's face every now and again, but Tommy never felt happiness, not true happiness, until he laid eyes upon the source of eternal love and life that was Blair O'Hara again.

The rain had scarcely stopped since Blair departed. The afternoon that Tommy tried to take Charles outside to play was the only glimmer of sunlight they'd seen in four days. The rest of the time, a thick, grey band of clouds coated the sky, rain lashing down so hard it was impossible to see properly out of the windows.

Thomas felt cold as he lay in his bed at night. Granted, there had been but a single night where he had slept beside Blair, but it was by far the best nights sleep had had since his wife had passed. He felt safe, comforted by the sound of her light breathing and the warmth of her body beside his, even if they were not touching. He felt vulnerable now she was gone, the space beside him seeming too vast and empty for him to close his eyes long enough to drift off to sleep.

The space in which she usually resided at the breakfast table remained vacant and the flowers had now died, leaving the room unimaginably bare and bland. It was as if the darkness from the outside had consumed the interior walls, taking over the whole house room by room.

Thomas wasn't sure how much longer he could stand it.

On the fifth day, Thomas sprinted from the front porch to his car, trying his best to avoid getting soaked through to the bone.

The drive down to Coventry wasn't too long, but with the rain making it difficult to see the road ahead of him, it took Tommy twice the time it would've if the sky was blue and cloudless.

Nevertheless, he arrived at Blair's sister's home in one piece, the weather in Coventry wasn't much better than it was when he left. Tommy thought that perhaps the dark clouds followed him.

"Thomas? Is that you?"

Just before Tommy knocked on the door for the second time, it was pulled open.

Kiera O'Hara, or probably Kiera something else stood before him, looking the same as she had remembered from when he and Blair were together, albeit with a few more wrinkles and dark circles than her young skin had before.

"Yes," he cleared his throat, stepping up onto the porch beneath a shelter to avoid the rain, "I'm sorry to impose on you like this, I'm looking for Blair?"