Disclaimer: I do not own anything Peaky Blinder related, that belongs to the series creator Steven Knight.

Face Claim for Rosemary Parker: Celina Sinden.

Chapter Twenty: Marriage Troubles.

"That's another one lost to this flu going around," Polly muttered putting down her newspaper, she was surprised how fast this sickness had spread since the men had returned home. With each new day there seemed to be a report of someone falling ill and there had been several reports of those dying from the sickness that seemed to be spreading like a fire around the community.

Rosemary did not reply, she stared out of the window into her back yard almost not hearing what Polly was saying; her mind thinking about how strange Thomas had been acting since his return. He all but avoided her now and it broke her heart that there was little that she could do to ease his mind and take away the pain that he had been left with.

Rosemary?" Polly said when she did not get a reply, she stared at the young woman almost surprised to find her staring almost unseeing out of the window. A frown formed on her lips and she pushed herself out of her chair before she made her way over to her; she reached out to touch Rosemary's shoulder only for her to jump in surprise.

"Sorry Polly, what were you saying?" Rosemary asked shaking her head, she swallowed knowing that it was not the first time that she had drifted off like that. She moved away from the window not wanting to forget herself again, she was certain that her actions concerned Polly and she did not want that when there was nothing wrong. The last thing that she wanted was anyone else sticking their nose into her marriage and making the situation worse; a defensive Thomas was not one that would ever open up.

"Is everything alright?" Polly questioned, it was no secret that Thomas had thrown himself into working at the shop; she had been surprised with how many times she had walked in on him just sat in that office. Things had not been right since the boys returned and Polly could not imagine what they had seen or done while they were fighting for their king.

"It's nothing Pol," Rosemary said trying to reassure her, she doubted her words were convincing but she did not want any fuss when they were meant to be heading to church. The weather looked rather pleasant today and Rosemary was eager to get out of the house for a few hours lest she drive herself insane with all that worrying about Thomas and when he would be home.

Polly pursed her lips, she did not believe her for a second and she hated that Rosemary had found herself in such a position; Thomas had no idea just what he was putting his poor wife through by acting as he did. However, she supposed that it was a tad better than what Arthur was doing these days; he was constantly getting into fights and his temper was worse than ever, she had even seen him snap at Finn that morning.

"We should get going… we shouldn't be late to church," Rosemary insisted heading out into the hallway and grabbing her coat, she closed her eyes for a moment before shaking her head and getting ready. Helping Kathleen into her coat, Rosemary tried to ignore the look that Polly gave her; she did not want to talk about the fact her marriage seemed to be falling apart. Catching Rosemary's arm before she could open the door, Polly stared at her knowing that there was something going on here and she worried for Rosemary.

"If you need to talk… you know where I am," Polly insisted, if anything was happening then she wanted to know about it; she always looked after her family and that was not going to change now. No matter what was going on then she would help Rosemary in any way that she could; she would certainly be speaking to Thomas about his actions as of late and would try and push him in the direction of his wife. The last thing that they needed was for Thomas to go and do something stupid, like shag the first woman that threw herself at him in an attempt to forget whatever was troubling him.

"I'm fine Polly really, nothing to worry about at all," Rosemary reassured forcing a smile to her face that even Polly didn't believe before taking Kathleen's hand and stepping out of the house. Polly watched her go, she had thought she had taught Thomas better but it seemed that his cruelty did not truly know any bounds and right now he was hurting the one person that he shouldn't.

Sitting beside Rosemary in church, Thomas could not help but feel his mind drift away from the sermon that was being preached and think about happier times for them; the first being their wedding day. They had been married in this very church and Thomas could not quite believe that it had been nearly five years since they had wed; it felt like a life-time ago and so much had changed.

He reached to take her hand only for Rosemary to pull her hand away, he frowned and glanced at her but she did not take her eyes of the priest as he started to close the sermon. An odd look on her face and her brow crinkled as she focused on whatever she was staring at ahead of her.

Things had been strained since he had rejected her and the news that Martha was having another baby certainly did not help things; it seemed to be a looming reminder that something was not right between them. Finally, it was over and Thomas got to his feet, he glanced around him seeing many faces that he knew from the war and they all seemed to look as tired as he felt right now.

Offering his arm to Rosemary, he was a little annoyed when she ignored it in favour of darting over to her mother and sisters to greet them as they exited the church taking Kathleen with her. He had no idea what was going on with her and his actions as of late certainly did not help the situation that they were in but he couldn't risk hurting her because of his nightmares and flashbacks. Polly approached him, her eyes lingering on Rosemary for a moment before she turned to him; a frown on her lips as she took his arm and started to lead him from the church with a nod at those that she recognised.

"What have you done?" Polly asked stiffly, her voice low so that none around would pick up their conversation and she nodded to those that she knew as they passed. Rolling his eyes, he knew that he should have expected her to jump on him when they were alone; he certainly was not in the mood for her questions.

"What makes you think I've done something?" Thomas asked lighting up as soon as they were outside, he ignored the looks of people around him as they moved out and away from the church. Polly rolled her eyes, she wondered just how stupid he thought she was and she hoped that he was not going to continue this way; she looked over at Rosemary knowing that something must be done.

"She's pale… far paler than normal, she's all but ignoring you, she zoned out while we were talking this morning and it looks like she's lost weight," Polly listed just the things that she had noticed today. She would not dare bring up the fact that she knew that Thomas had spurned his wife and they were no longer really sharing a bed like they should be as husband and wife; though she would not admit who had told her so.

"Leave it Pol," Thomas warned not in the mood for this, he could feel a headache coming on and he was not in the mood to argue with her when he had work to do. Polly frowned at him, she did not understand what was going on but she was not going to let this go; the last thing that she wanted to do was prove Robert's original concerns for the marriage right.

Victoria had backed the marriage hoping to see her eldest daughter happily married, none of them could have predicted the war taking such a toll on Thomas and how it would damage Rosemary's marriage. Polly opened her mouth to say more, they did not just have to think about themselves anymore; they had Kathleen and she deserved better than whatever was happening with her parents right now. That little girl thought Thomas hung the moon since he had come back, she was eager to spend more time with her father and Thomas was ignoring the gift that he had right in front of him.

"I said leave it Polly," Thomas snapped before pulling away from her, he ignored the looks from those around him as he fixed his cap back to his head before taking a final look at his wife. Perhaps a trip to the bar was in order, it would take his mind off things and he most certainly could do with a break from all the questions that Polly was surely brewing in that mind of hers.

There was little to be done especially in front of the church, Thomas would not speak of such issues in public nor did he wish to see his dirty laundry aired in such a fashion. The gossip mill in Small Heath was bad enough, the last thing that he wanted was to find himself on the wrong end of it.

Arriving home late from the bar, Thomas frowned seeing all the lights off in his home and he guessed that everyone else had gone to bed; he quietly opened the door and shut it behind him so that he did not wake them up. Carefully removing his cap and hanging it up, Thomas could not help but think how productive his meeting had been; it was certainly going to shake things up for the business.

Hanging up his coat, he let out a sigh before slowly making his way up the stairs; he tried to move as quietly as possible and grumbled to himself when he hit a stair that creaked rather loudly. Thomas hesitated when he reached the top of the stairs, his eyes focusing in on the bedroom that he shared with Rosemary; he was not looking forward to climbing into bed with her after the talk he had had with Polly.

Instead, he turned and headed for the bedroom that Kathleen occupied, he pushed open the door and stared into the darkness for a moment; his eyes catching on the sight of his daughter sound asleep. He shook his head when he saw that she had pushed her covers off her and was cuddling the bear that he knew had been a gift from his sister, Ada, for her last birthday. Stepping into the bedroom, Thomas carefully covered Kathleen up so that she would not get cold; he did not want her to get sick because of the cold and he knew she would be thrilled to see that the snow had stuck during the night.

"You're the best thing I've ever done," Thomas whispered to the sleeping girl before he ducked down and kissed her head, he closed his eyes knowing that he would do anything for her and he hoped to give her the life he had never had. Making sure that she was all covered up, Thomas slowly retreated from the bedroom and shut the door behind him; he leant against the wall next to the room for a moment to stare at his own.

There was no putting it off any longer and he knew that Rosemary would be upset with him anyway for turning up late like he had; he had spent the night at the bar with Arthur drinking his troubles away rather than facing them. It was far easier to drink them away than admit that there was something wrong, that he knew he wasn't the person that had left for war anymore; no, that Thomas Shelby had died in France.

Slowly he made his way over to the room, he opened the door and pushed it open as he stared into the room that he shared with his wife; a look of confusion on his face when he saw that the room was empty. There was no sign that their bed had been disturbed and he very much doubted that Rosemary would go anywhere without taking Kathleen with her if she had left him or would dare leave the girl alone to disappear out no matter how upset she was with him.

Not that he would blame her especially with how he had been treating her in the past months since he had returned from war; things just were not the same for them anymore. Slowly edging his way into the room, Thomas removed his gun and moved to stick it in the draw with the lock; he did not want Kathleen accidentally finding it and shooting herself or anyone else for that matter.

His eyes continued to sweep the room, nothing out of place and nothing that could tell him where his wife might be the house as it was completely silent other than the ticking of the grandfather clock that was in the hall. Moving around their bed, Thomas headed towards the window only to stop when he reached the far corner of the bed; his eyes turning to the right as he saw what was laying on the floor.

There crumpled on the floor on her side of the bed lay Rosemary. He did not even remember throwing himself to the floor, his heart pounding in his ears as he reached for her and pulled her into his arms.

"Please Rose… come on please…" Thomas pleaded as he desperately tried to wake her up, her head lolling back as he tried to wake her but nothing seemed to work. Her skin was feverish to touch and her breathing was shallow, he did not know what to do, his hands shaking as his mind went back to a place that he had hoped that it would never go to.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, he got to his feet with Rosemary in his arms; this would not be the night that he lost his wife. He had not fought with everything he had for it to end like this, if God wanted to take one of them then it should have been him in France; their daughter needed her mother and he would not let it end this way.

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