✧ 02 ✧

3K 139 2
                                    

      𝐍𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐅𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.






𝐍𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐅𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍. It was a casual afternoon and Nellie was heading down to the pub for a much-needed drink. She had spent far too much time hiding away in her home.

As she neared the pub, she slowed down upon seeing Thomas wresting with the reins of a beautiful white stallion, his head bowed as he talked calmly to the spooked beast.

Nellie came to a stop, her head tilting as she watched the interaction. Thomas spoke gently, his hand rubbing the muzzle of the beast as his lips gently moved. Nellie watched with a half-smile, feeling something warm blossom in her.

That is until she recalled their previous encounter. Her heart sunk as she grabbed the folds of her skirt and nervously clenched the soft cloth between her hands. Years had passed, but the way Nellie felt for the man who stood before her never changed.

She only hoped that the way he felt about her truly wasn't what reflected through his actions.

She straightened her shoulders and cocked her head, watching as he calmed the horse enough to coax him further down the lane. The stallion's gait was powerful yet controlled as if he was prepared for anything to leap out at him at a moment's notice. It reminded her of the way Thomas walked.

Thomas's beautiful eyes landed on her and his stride slowed upon seeing Nellie standing a few feet ahead of him.

Nellie fought the nervousness that made her fingers tremble. She smiled lightly, her fingers wiggling with a soft wave. "Good morning," she said as she slowly approached the gangster.

She knew she hurt him. Leaving tore Nellie's heart in pieces, leaving her with an aching, hollow hole in her chest that could never be filled again. Leaving Birmingham and leaving Thomas behind left her in a state she never thought she'd be able to overcome.

Nellie Allyn was a fighter, but the very light that stoked the fire within her went out the moment she allowed her mother to whisk her away. She became another woman that night, a woman that would never cease to feel the pain her decisions would bring her.

And something tells her the way she felt would never compare to the way Thomas felt.

He said nothing as Nellie raised her hand to the horse's muzzle. The horse, still spooked, pressed his soft nose into Nellie's hand and snorted. He shook his head a few times as if trying to jerk away from the humans, but Thomas's firm grip on the reins kept him in control.

His soft muzzle returned to Nellie's hand as he finally calmed, his eyes rolling around as he chewed on air. He was releasing some of the stress that was building up as a result of the raging fires around them.

She smiled at the horse, her hand sliding up and down his forehead once he got acquainted with her scent. "He's beautiful," she mumbled, her eyes briefly meeting Thomas's. She couldn't see anything in his stoically blue eyes and that made her feel powerless.

𝖜𝖍𝖎𝖘𝖐𝖊𝖞 𝖒𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘, 𝐭. 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐛𝐲 ¹Where stories live. Discover now