𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 ▻ 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘣𝘺 [1]

𝙁𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣

𝙁𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣. 𝘖𝘭𝘥 𝘏𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘋𝘪𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘥

...

     A HABIT IS HARD TO BREAK. One usually doesn't catch themselves creating one until it's too late – when the hole has already been dug too deep.

     Thomas Shelby always made sure to be aware of bad habits he could fall into, but this one he could not have predicted. It was not his smoking, nor his drinking. Not even the whores he sleeps around with. His usual remedy to fall asleep at night was opium, as it was for many men after returning from war. But recently the strongest remedy he has found was the living room of the Alder home, in front of the burning fire.

For the past few nights in a row, ever since the first, the man had continued to show up late in the night at his golden haired girl's doorstep. The process was the same: She opens the door and he walks in without as much as a word. He would then sit down on the couch in front of the fire that was crackling away, and she on the opposite side. Exchange of words was rare, the sound of the fire usually being the only thing filling the air with the occasional sound of a match being struck to light a cigarette. But neither seemed to dislike this silent habit. To each, after a long days work, sitting in front of a warm fire with just the presence of the other was better than to not.

     Although in the back of her mind Elizabeth was still frustrated at the Shelby man about the races, she continued to push it aside as she saw he was coming to her home for some sort of comfort. And dare she admit so too felt the same.

     Eventually within the night the golden haired girl would look over at the man and see he had finally fallen asleep, usually still sitting up, and she would quietly get up from her spot and go to her own bed. And when she would wake up the next morning, he would be gone from his spot on the couch.

Days were long, leaving little time to go anywhere. Not that there was anywhere to go in Small Heath except The Garrison. Almost everyone in town seemed to need a doctor or nurse, but it came to no surprise given the filth they live among.

As the bright afternoon daylight shine in through the windows of her home, Elizabeth sit down on her couch as her patient walks out of the door. There was no guess to what the next person will come through the door with: an infection, a broken arm, a bullet in their leg, the list is never ending. With a deep exhale she slump down to make herself comfortable but the sound of the door opening back up causes her to immediately sit up.

"Liz! Liz!", Ada's voice echoes through the house and the golden haired girl springs from her seat and to the side of the very worried Shelby girl.

"Ada, what's wrong? Are you...", Elizabeth asks as she looks down at the girls stomach.

"Not me", Ada says as she begins pacing back and forth, "It's Freddie."