HELLO! It has been a while, hasn't it?

So, this is a rewrite of my original fic. Most of the content is the same for the first chapter or so, just rewritten to suit my plans and improved (?) style, seeing as it has been almost five years since originally uploading! I am sure most of you have moved on by now, and I don't blame you! I almost had too, but with the new and final season approaching I thought it was worth giving this another shot! I have a plot worked out for the entire show up to season six and am very excited for what is to come! So I hope you can all forgive me for abandoning this fic and will watch this space!

Thank you to those of you who have read this story within those five years and sent messages of encouragement, it helped persuade me to give this another go! Comments and feedback is highly encouraged and welcome if you would be so kind, it really does help keep me motivated to write, and I really do enjoy doing so!

"What's that?" Thomas Shelby asked as he approached her. The fourteen-year-old had been playing a match of football with his brothers and a few friends when he noticed her sitting beneath a tree. He recognised her as the sister of his friend and current team-mate, Charles Anderson.

The girl raised her head to look at him. She seemed startled by his arrival, almost dropping the object in her hands, but quickly covered her surprise by exaggeratedly lifting it toward him, "It's called a book."

Tommy was taken aback by her patronising tone. It was not often people would question his intelligence, certainly not to his face, mostly out of fear of his father. He was on the verge of confronting her about it when he caught on to the playful glint in her eye and rosiness blushing her grinning cheeks. She was teasing him.

He held back a grin as he rolled his eyes, "I know it's a book. I mean, what are you reading?"

She smiled up at him and turned the cover to face the boy, "'A Tale of Two Cities'."

"Charlotte Brontë, right?" he prompted, trying to impress.

The girl shook her head, giggling at his undoubting and undeserved cockiness, "Dickens."

"Oh," the boy's face fell in defeat, shrinking at her escalated sniggers. He moved to sit beside her on the grass and attempted to change the subject, "What's your name?"

"Maggie. Or Margaret if you want to get cut."

He raised a brow at her bluntness, though he could tell she was still just taunting, "Yours?"

"Tommy. Or Thomas if you want to get cut."

The pair exchanged an approving smile as she extended her palm, "Nice to meet you, Thomas."

"And you, Margaret," he replied as they briefly shook hands. An appreciative moment passed between the two, both impressed by their match of wit.

"You're a friend of Charles?" Maggie asked the boy beside her, to which he nodded, "And you're a Shelby?"

Tommy turned to her, surprised, "I am. How did you know?"

"Lucky guess," she shrugged, "You have a way about you."

"What 'way'?"

"A pompous walk. Your brothers have it too."

Tommy's brow confusedly creased, "What the bloody hell does 'pompous' mean?"

Maggie cleared her throat and with a deep breath, began to explain, "Arrogant, egotistic, boastful-"

"Excuse me?!" Tommy shot her an incredulous look.

She ignored him, unbothered at his offence, "Conceited, flaunting, pretentious-"

"I get it, I get it."

She continued, "Flatulent, selfish, ostentatious-"

"That's starting to get annoying."

"Imperious, overbearing, supercilious-"

"- alright, you made that one up. That's not a word."

Maggie began to giggle again as she turned to him, laughing at the astounded expression on the boy's face. Tommy guffawed at her nerve. Even at fourteen, he wasn't used to people being so direct with him – especially a girl. Billy was sure his father would scold him if he could see how he struggled to retaliate, overwhelmed by her nerve. He could do nothing but stare at her as she laughed. Her cheeks had reddened, and her eyes were creased shut. She had placed a hand over her stomach as she bent forward, as if it hurt how much his bewilderment amused her. Her curls fell into her face, but the girl seemed far too distracted by mocking him to brush them away. Eventually, despite his attempts to resist, Tommy found himself laughing too. He should be furious, making some sort of threat against her. As his father would torment: no one insults a Shelby. But the way her eyes gleefully glistened as they reopened ignited something within him. Unmitigated joy seemed to invade his senses, making him forget, even just for a moment, all the misfortune his father was causing with his reckless antics. It had been a long while since he had laughed like this. Purely, loudly, unapologetically.

Through his blurry eyes, Tommy noticed the book had fallen from her lap. He picked it up and studied it. Noticing his movements, Maggie turned to face the boy, still beaming.

Her breath caught slightly as his eyes lifted from the book to reach her own. Just as her books would describe, they were a cloudless blue. His brown hair was slightly tousled and flopped onto his defined brow. She even observed how his knees were slightly scuffed and the skin raw, most likely the result of the vicious football he had been playing before he sat with her. Why had this boy sat with her?

"Read to me."

His voice broke through her reverie. She blinked as she noted his arm outstretched, motioning for her to take the book back.

Maggie felt blood rush to her already heated cheeks as she looked at him, perplexed, "What?"

"Read to me," Tommy replied, nudging her upper arm with the corner of the book. He took pride in the way the smile had fallen from her face. He had caught her off-guard, just as she had him.

She let out a short chuckle and hesitantly took the novel from him, offering a timid smile and extending her hand for the book.

As they passed it, their fingers barely brushed– but they certainly felt it. Their eyes snapped to lock onto each other's. Tommy's heart clenched. Maggie's skipped several beats. Both unknowingly held their breath. This was definitely something she had read in a novel. Frozen, the book remained held between their two bodies-

THUMP!

A football flew toward them at a powerful force and hit the tree above them, instantly destroying the moment. Their gazes broke to watch as the eldest Shelby brother ran toward them.

"Sorry, Tommy!" Arthur yelled as he retrieved the ball. He turned to throw Maggie a quick, apologetic smile before turning around and resuming the match.

Maggie released a long breath, almost grateful to have been distracted. The boy beside her cleared his throat and looked back to her, "So…read to me?"

She dropped her gaze to the book before offering him a soft smile, "Sure."

Tommy struggled to keep himself from grinning at his victory. He shuffled slightly to lie back in a more comfortable position on the grass.

"Just don't think I'm going to re-read the first sixty-seven pages just so you can follow what's going on," she sneered, cheekily, "If you get confused, read it yourself."

"Maybe I will," he challenged, "It's no problem. Just pick up from where you left off."

Tommy watched eagerly as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and opened the book to the correct page. Pushing disobedient strands of her behind her ear and quietly clearing her throat, she began, "'For you, and for any dear to you, I would do anything. I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you. And when you see your own bright beauty springing up anew at your feet, think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you…'"