Thomas was waken by a knocking at the front door early in the morning, he had not moved from the place where he lay sobbing the previous night and his body was achy and tired. He expected to be faced with his mystery uncle at the door but instead it was a pleasant surprise when he opened the door and discovered it was actually Alfie at the doorstep, he was holding flowers in one hand and a box of Turkish Delight in the other which was Thomas' favourite,

"Can I come in?" asked Alfie politely, a hopeful half smile on his otherwise serious face,

"Yeah course" replied Thomas, his expression equally solemn,

Alfie stepped through into the warmth of Thomas' humble house and closed the door behind him, he backed himself against a wall of the hallway and rested against it,

"Thomas, I heard about your dad, I'm so sorry" said Alfie sympathetically,

Thomas burst into tears, his eyes already red from sobbing and his face blotchy, Alfie could see the vulnerability etched all over the young man,

"Oh Thomas, come here" commanded Alfie softly, holding out his arms to the broken lad, Thomas approached him and fell into his arms, revelling in the warmth Alfie gave him, it felt good to hold someone, it felt comforting,

"I've got nobody left Alfie, they've both gone now" cried Thomas, tears streaming down his faces relentlessly, leaving red, salty tracks. He then buried his face into Alfie's strong shoulders to hide his tears, he snuffled against Alfie's neck as Alfie patted and stroked his back in soothing motions,

"You've got me Thomas, I will…" he kissed Thomas ebony hair, "…never leave you" he finished, Alfie had began to sob himself at seeing the lad he loved in such terrible distress and grief,

"Promise me Alfie, you're all I've got" pleaded Thomas,

"I promise, I'll look after you Thomas, you will never have to feel alone again"

Thomas continued sobbing against Alfie, whose cotton shirt had become sodden on the shoulder area. Alfie still with his face buried in Thomas' luscious hair,

"I'll take you up the farm Thomas; we'll get you a good meal aye"

"I can't, what about Emelia?"

"What about her?"

"Well I don't love her do I and she still thinks I do"

"You don't need to worry about that now, come on lets go aye"

They walked to 3 mile stretch side by side, Alfie's arm wrapped round Thomas shoulder in a bid to comfort him,

"Thank you Alfie"

"What for ?"

"The flowers and the Turkish Delight, everything really. You cared enough to come and see how I was, Emelia didn't"

"It's nothing. I hate to tell you his Thomas but I've a funny feeling Emelia wanted you for one thing and one thing only"
"Doesn't everyone?" asked Thomas, a mixture of ignorance and naivety to his voice,

"Not me" declared Alfie, pulling Thomas in closer and looking down to his face and smiling,

"I'm glad" replied Thomas, lightly smiling back despite his sombre mood.

They reached the house and went in through the front door, Alfie leading the way,

Thomas following looking incredibly nervous,

"Oh Thomas sweetheart, I'm so so sorry for your loss" said Mrs Taylor sympathetically, "Come here love" she said kindly, holding out her arm to him and smothering him in a warm motherly hug which felt unfamiliar but pleasant,, that was one thing he always missed about his mother, her cuddles. He wrapped his arms round Mrs Taylor's waist and nestled into her hug. He eventually let go and smiled at the kind farmer's wife.

"I'm sorry Thomas, how dreadful for you" came Emelia's voice from the table, before standing up and attempting to plant a kiss on his lips, Thomas pushed her back,

"Don't Emelia, I'm not in the mood" he warned, "I'm really sorry but I think it's best in general if we end this here anyway, I'm not in a great place at the moment"

"I understand" she said, throwing her arms around him and whispering into his ear, "You were a good fuck, handsome" Thomas was gobsmacked so moved away from Emelia and took a seat next to Alfie at the table, who placed a comforting hand on Thomas' knee, and said softly "you're doing great"

Ted also chimed up with his condolences and patted Thomas comfortingly on the back. John Taylor was nowhere to be seen which suited Thomas perfectly, Thomas supposed he was probably lazing about in bed some where, Mrs Taylor came to the table and served them a warm, hearty beef stew and Thomas couldn't help but stare as he noticed a dark bruising under her right eye as her hair that didn't usually fall on her face anyway moved slightly, he hadn't noticed it earlier but then again he hadn't looked and obviously she had tried to disguise it with her hair, it looked sore and he wondered how she could have done it but then his mind wandered back to the time when Alfie flinched when Ted mentioned John beating him then it suddenly dawned on him that it could have been John that had hit his wife.

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