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Matilda stepped out of her door, the crisp evening breeze making goosebumps raise on her skin as she walked away from the home she'd moved into a few months prior.
It was a Wednesday evening, Matilda didn't plan on going out, but Ada had insisted that she go to the Garrison and 'let her hair down'.
Matilda lost her dad to the war, and her mother died when she was only 2. Once she had found out her dad had passed, she decided she no longer wanted to live in their family home by herself. It would simply be too upsetting, so she saved her money and moved.
That's when she met Ada. She helped her move in, as she only lives a couple doors down. The pair instantly became close, and could easily call eachother best friends.
"Ah there she is!" Ada made her way from the bar and over to Matilda as she walked in, capturing the girl in her arms.
"Alright, love," Matilda giggled, hugging her tightly, placing a hand on her pregnant belly. "How've you been? Feels like forever since I saw you!"
"I'm good! Come on, let's go and get you a drink."
The two girls walked over to the bar, ordering Matilda a whiskey and Ada a lemonade.
The private room door opened, and Matilda instantly smiled as she saw a little boy running straight for her.
"Hello Finn!" She instantly opened up her arms as the Finn crashed into them, hugging her tightly.
"I missed you!" Finn smiled up at her, making Matilda grin as she pulled away from the boy.
"I've heard it's someone's birthday tomorrow?" Matilda asked the boy who began nodding excitedly. "Yes! I'm gonna be 11!"
"11!? Christ, your catching up with me, slow down!" Ada smiled at their interaction and the two girls sat and listened to the boy as he went on about his birthday and how 'he was gonna be as big as John'.
"Here they are!" They looked up and smiled at Arthur and John who had emerged from the private room.
"Alright, Johnny boy? How've you been?" Matilda smiled as John hugged her.
"Yeah, good. These lot have been driving me mad though." John rolled his eyes making Matilda laugh.
"Move, let me hug the woman!" Arthur pushed John back, wrapping Matilda in a tight hug.
Matilda knew that since she'd been introduced to the family, Arthur had always had a soft spot for her, just like he had Ada. John also saw her as an older sister, the same with Finn. As for Tommy...
"Hello Ada, Matilda," Tommy walked over, nodding at the girls and shooting Matilda a subtle smirk. Since the pair had been introduced to eachother, the tension was clear as day to the both of them, but neither of them would make a move to eachother.
They would share flirty glances and have conversation, but that's about as far as it went. She smiled at him as an acknowledgment and turned back to Arthur when he called her name. "Matilda!"
"Yeah?"
"Come dance with me!" Matilda laughed as he began dancing himself to an upbeat song, so she stood up and joined in.
Neither of them could contain their laughs and soon quite a few other people were joined in too, including Ada and John.
••••
Hours had passed, and Matilda had passed the point of drunk. She had no doubt out done herself and needed to go to bed.
"Come on girls, I'll walk you both home." Tommy stood up making both of them groan.
"Shut up Tommy, come dance instead!" Matilda walked over to the man and tried to pull him with her, but nearly knocked herself over instead.
Tommy grabbed her waist and helped her balance, grabbing her chin gently to make her brown eyes meet his icy blue ones.
"I'm taking you home, love. You've had enough." Tommy took the whisky glass out of her hand and placed it behind him making her frown.
He simply smiled at the girl before looking away. "Ada, come on, we're leaving."
Eventually he was able to get the girls out of the pub, and it didn't take long for them to be infront of Ada's door.
The two girls kissed eachothers cheek before saying goodnight, Tommy saying goodnight too.
"Just come in, Tommy," Matilda whined, wanting the man to take her to bed, but he continued to stand and shake his head. "You know you want to."
Matilda walked closer to Tommy, wrapping her arms around his neck, looking him deep in the eyes. "Please?"
He said nothing, simply pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You know I would, Tilly. But not with you in this state. Now, go on and go to bed, I'll stop by tomorrow to see you."
The girl huffed, but did as told, unlocking her door and walking in, blushing at the sound of him using her nickname. "Goodnight, Tom."
"Goodnight." And with that, he turned his back and walked away.
