Chapter 4
"Are you mad?" Rosie asks quietly, hovering in the doorway to Tommy's room, arms loosely crossed over her chest.
"What?" Tommy snaps, turning from where he had been hanging his jacket on the end of the bed.
"Are you angry?" She repeats, not moving from her spot by the door. "At me."
"What?" He snaps again in reply, shaking his head in confusion, losing patience.
"Because I knew," comes Rosie's reply. "I knew about Ada and Freddie, about the baby, and the proposal."
"Rosie.." Tommy sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"It's just...you've been ignoring me...avoiding me even..."
"Rose."
"Tommy.."
"Yes I'm mad." he suddenly all but shouts. "Of course I'm fucking mad! She's my sister Rose, I had a right to fucking know!"
"And now you do!" Rosie shouts in reply, matching the volume of his shouts. "Now you fucking do and look what's happened! What would you have expected me to do? Share it with the family over dinner? 'Oh by the way everyone, Ada's pregnant and Freddie fucking Thorne is the father! Oh, and he proposed to her the other day!' If you really think I'd do that you're more fucking stupid than you look Tommy Shelby. I'm not a bloody snitch!" She pauses for breath, watching Tommy for a response, not giving him time to react before continuing, tears falling from her eyes. "She's gone! Fucking gone Tommy! She's all I have! She may be your sister but she's close enough to being mine too! I don't have anyone else!" At this, Tommy, who had been inching forwards quickly takes Rosie's face in his hands, bringing his mouth down on to hers. With a gasp in shock, Rosie slowly allows her hands to move up and around Tommy's neck, coming to rest at the base of his neck as she gently responds to his kiss. All too quickly, Tommy pulls away, both breathing heavily as he takes a step back.
"Shit." He mumbles, running a hand over his face.
"Tommy," Rosie tries, reaching her hand out to touch his arm. He shakes his head, taking another step back before grabbing his coat and storming past her out of the room.
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"What are you doing Rose?" Tommy asks as he walks through the front door, finding Rosie sat on the stairs, chin resting in her hands.
"Waiting." She replies, eyes following him as he hangs up his coat and heads into the kitchen.
"For what?" He mutters, back to her as he grabs a glass from the cabinet.
"Dunno. Ada's gone, Finn's at his mates, Polly's out, you're never around.."
"Rose, just leave it, go to bed." He groans, rubbing at his eyes as he takes a seat at the table.
"I'm not a child anymore Tommy, you can't tell me what to do." She replies, still watching him from the stairs.
"Act like one." Tommy mutters around his glass of whiskey.
"Excuse me?" Rosie questions, rising from her seat.
"Here we go." Tommy responds with a roll of his eyes.
"Oh right, yeah, you can talk Tommy. A week! It's been a week since you, yes Tommy, you, kissed me and then stormed off. You've been avoiding me! And you call me childish?" She laughs, standing in front of him.
"Leave it." Tommy growls through his teeth, not making eye contact with Rosie.
"Whatever Tommy. You know what, I don't care anymore. Why don't you go and fuck that pretty new barmaid at the Garrison, hey? Go and have your fun Tommy, run away from everything. Go on. Go."
"I'm not a child either Rose, don't think you can fucking tell me what to do."
"Then stop acting like one!" She shouts. "Be a man Tommy! Tell me you made a mistake kissing me! That it was all a misunderstanding! That somehow it was all my fault!"
"Don't be stupid Rosie."
"Then explain it to me! Because I'm confused Tommy! You kiss me, you storm off, and then you just ignore me! For a fucking week! And I don't get why!" Rosie cries, flinging her hands up. "I don't get you Thomas Shelby, I've tried, but you're not the same boy I knew growing up. I thought we were friends Tom. That we had a connection. But if you want to just throw that all away then fine. Just know I won't be here to pick up the pieces when it all falls apart. I can't keep doing that Tommy. I can't."
"Rosie," Tommy sighs, standing up and moving towards her. "Rose.."
"No." She states, suddenly calm again, holding a hand out to stop him. "No Tommy. I'm not doing this now. I'm tired, I'm angry and I need a fucking drink. So just, just leave me alone. You've made it very clear how you feel, and now I've laid my cards on the table too. How about you take another few days, huh?"
"Rosie, don't be silly. Come and sit down, we can talk. Properly talk." Tommy tries to reason as she laces up her boots.
"Not now Tommy." She sighs as she opens the front door and heads out.
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"Come on you," Polly says, pulling Rosie up gently by her arm.
"Pol...leave me be..." she moans in reply, grabbing the blanket and wrapping it tightly around her.
"Nope. Come on girlie, you've slept long enough."
"You've let Ada sleep til later!" Rosie whined, flopping back down onto the sofa.
"Ada's pregnant Rosie, that's why she's slept all day." Polly replies with a laugh, pulling Rosie back up. "And you're not pregnant, are you?" She asks with a quirk of her eyebrows, smirking as Rosie shakes her head. "Nope, just hungover. Drink this." She places a glass of water in Rosie's hand, rising to head back into the kitchen. "Breakfast is on the table, drink up."
"How did I get back here?" Rosie asks groggily as she shuffled into the kitchen.
"Me." Comes a gruff reply from behind her. She turns and smiles sheepishly at the figure watching her from the fireplace.
"Thanks Arthur." She mumbles, blowing him a kiss as she slides onto a chair.
"You're lucky he was sober enough to bring you back," Polly chastises, placing a loaf of bread on the table. "Otherwise you would have been spending the night on a bench in the Garrison."
"Sorry Pol," Rosie lays her head down on the table, smiling up at Arthur as he walks past, squeezing her shoulders gently. "Arthur."
"It's not us you need to apologise to," Polly replies causing Rosie's head to snap up.
"Huh?"
"Tommy was out of his mind when you didn't come home," Arthur continues where Polly had left off. "We must have missed each other on the way to the pub. Realised I'd left something in the den earlier so popped by to get it, before heading to the Garrison, found Tom waiting by the door for you." At this Rosie groans, letting her head fall back on to the table earning a smirk between Polly and Arthur. "Told him I was sure you'd be home soon, carried on to the pub and there you were, barely awake in the snug. Luckily he was in bed by the time we'd had a few drinks and I got you home, bloody dead weight you were, had to leave you on the sofa for Polly to deal with this morning."
"Sorry Arthur." Rosie mutters again as he ruffles his hand through her hair.
"Don't worry about it kid. But talk to that brother of mine eh? He really does care about you."
"He's got a funny way of showing it." Rosie grumbles.
