A Family bond

new faces

it'd been around a week since Tommy a thea's conversation and though they hadn't talked much since then Tommy was feeling good at where they were at with each other. Tommy kept his promise to thea as not to push her to speak until she was ready, but he had spoken to Aaron. Aaron told him thea had only spoken on what happened with the family a handful of times. it was when they were 11 a family came in and fostered thea but not Aaron, he said it was the first time they had been separated and both were equally as nervous as the other. he told Tommy she was gone for around 10 months and when she came back she was so different, before this fostering she was a happy kid, she wasn't so cold and calculated all the time, she was still a genius but she would talk to anyone about anything whenever she got the chance. when she came back she was quiet, she didn't talk, she didn't laugh or play, she just watch people, studied them. Aaron said it took thea almost a full year before she told him what happened. and that she had only told him because they were trying to split the twins up again and she was terrified. Thomas listened to Aarons ever word and could see his son was upset and so he rested a hand on the boys shoulder. "you couldn't have stopped it" he said,  Aaron looked into his eyes, his own watery "neither could you" he said back, he could see in Tommys face that he was blaming himself, that he felt it was him as her father who should never let it happen. but they both knew it wasn't. Tommy sighed and ran a hand down his face "what about the drugs" he asked fiddling with his cigarette tin, "what do we do about that" and now it was Aaron who sighed "she'll get worse before she gets better, but she'll stop. she's done it before, if she gets really bad then send her to Alfie. he always knows what to do with her" Aaron said standing to his feet. Tommy didn't like that, 'send her to Alfie' he didn't like that Alfie Solomons knew how to help his daughter and he didn't. Aaron made his way to the door but paused and looked back at his dad, which is something both of the twins were yet to call him and said "just be there for her" and Tommy looked up at the boy and nodded before watching him make his way out the house. 

the family were all in the garrison, most in the privet room, but Tommy was stood at the bar watching the new barmaid when thea came in. she walked straight to the bar with an already lit cigarette and caught the attention of the blond women. "whiskey" she said very simply watching her. Tommy was looking between the two as grace scoffed looking at the teen and then to thea's stoic facial expression and she looked grace up and down. "your to young to be served" grace said snarkily while thea just continued to stare at the Irish women, Tommy wonder what she was thinking "and to be smoking that cigarette" she added, grace expected an answer from the young girl or at least some sign of acknowledgement but when stood there in silence grace scoffed again, at this thea raised one eyebrow, anyone else would've missed it, even grace herself, but Tommy didn't. "are you a whore?" she asked the Irish women as she blew out smoke. graces jaw dropped in shocked whilst Tommy smirked looking down to his own whiskey glass knowing that was his exact question earlier. "what did you just say to me?" grace was trying to intimidate the teen but to no success "if your not you should probably go somewhere else" grace was too shocked to even speak and her eyes flicked to Tommy as he came and stood next to his daughter. and thea repeated "I'll take a whiskey, scotch, if you can manage" grace looked to Tommy for help but instead he just pointed to the bottle of Scottish whiskey that sat directly next to the bottle of Irish he usually drank. "she's new" Tommy said as he handed thea another cigarette and lit it for her. the just nodded still looking straight ahead as grace poured her glass "she's suspicious" she muttered mostly to herself but she knew Tommy heard. thea wouldn't say she trusted the man yet, but she wanted to. she wanted to trust him and she wanted her brother to have a family, and though shed never admit it, she was jealous. Aaron found it so easy to fall into the family dynamic with the Shelby's and make the bonds he'd craved to have their whole life. thea just didn't find it that easy. she struggled to see the good in people and to believe that they were doing something for any other reason other than their own benefit. but they were, the Shelby's cared for the two kids, more than either of them knew. but thea also was worried the Shelby's would replace her. she knew it was stupid and if anyone ever found out she thought that she'd be embarrassed and deny it until her last breath but their whole lives it had always just been thea and Aaron, their mother was around until the twins were about 6 and then she just up and left leaving the two to fend for themselves, a neighbour had found them a few months later, starving and dirty and called social services. they found out around a year later their mother died or a drug over dose on the streets. after that they are each others only constant. others came and went but the only people they truly had were each other. thea was scared Aaron would realise he preferred the company of others over her and stop caring about is sister all together. she knew he got frustrated with her at times because of how cold she was to his emotions and to her own. she didn't like hugs, didn't want play games or talk about things, but Aaron did. she knew that and she knew other people would do that with him, she was just worried he'd realise he'd been missing out on so much being stuck with his sister his whole life, she didn't like the thought of that. grace handed thea her drink and scowled "that'll be a pound and ten" in perfect synchronisation the father daughter duo raised a singular eyebrow, before either Shelby's could say a word harry came bounding other "no mr Shelby sorry, its on the house" before muttering angrily to grace to go and clean through the back. Tommy sent a single nod the barman's way. "come on, lets go sit down eh" he said looking down at his daughter motioning towards the snug. once inside the private room polly beckoned thea over, she really had fallen in love withe the young girl, at fist Tommy was worried thea would find polly over baring and lose her patience with the women but what Tommy or any of the other Shelby's didn't yet know was that thea knew of what happened with pollys children, and so she let the women dote over her as if she were her own at times, she helped polly with dinner, or tidying round the house, she'd even helped fin with his school work though that usually ended her just doing it for him. a few hours passed and everyone else had left except Tommy, polly and thea. they were all sat in a comfortable silence, polly and Tommy both reading individual papers and thea sat twirling whiskey around her glass leaning back starring at the ceiling. Tommy watched her and every so often would catch polly glancing at her to. she seemed deep in thought "don't you think its strange..." she stared before downing the contents of her glass, catching the attention of the two adults as she sat forward to place the empty glass on the table on the table "..she and that copper both showed up right when them guns went missing?" she eyed them both closely to wait and she if she was right. she was so sure the Shelby's knew more about the guns than they let on, though she had no proof. and their reaction gave them away immediately. both Tommy and polly were shocked though they shouldn't have been, she was smart and they knew that, neither of the adults had anything to say as she just stared at the girl. thea nodded slowly and looked back up to the ceiling muttering a small "yeah, that's what I thought."