Chapter 9

Entering the living room, Edith found her siblings sat around the fire, Tommy, pacing once again, in front of them all. They all look up at the sound of the door opening, Finn slipping in first and taking a seat beside Ada; she raises her eyebrows at him in a silent question, asking how Edith was. He nods in reply, motioning with his head over his shoulder to Edith who had taken a seat on the one spare sofa, clutching Bonnie's hand in hers.

"Breathe." Finn mouths to her, Edith giving a small nod in reply, visibly gulping as she tightens her hold on Bonnie's hand.

"Now. We've talked with Ada and Michael and we've come to our senses..." Tommy says, stopping his pacing to face Edith, a pained expression on his face; it was obvious to them all that this was not a conversation he wanted to be having with his 'baby' sister, no matter the lengths Michael and Ada had gone to to persuade him otherwise. The two had gone to great lengths to try and bring out the softer side of the oldest Shelby boys, imploring them to give Edith her chance and try to keep the situation calm.

"Well," Arthur interrupts, sitting upright and clearing his throat.

Tommy cuts his older brother off with a pointed look, silently reminding him of the approach to the situation they had decided to take. "No. Arthur. We realise how we acted upstairs was..."

"Wrong?" Edith cuts in this time, raising her eyebrows.

"Edith, come on." Michael chides, narrowing his eye at his cousin who huffs and crosses her arms over her chest, motioning with one hand for Tommy to continue.

"We all agree that you've seemed happier since meeting Bonnie."

"Fucking hell." John mumbles under his breath, eyes locked on the floor, glass of whiskey in hand.

"What John?" Edith questions her brother, eyes focused on him until he meets her eye, no anger in her voice, purely wanting to hear from the one brother that had kept quiet throughout all of this.

"You're growing up Edith." He says with a frown, Edith letting out a small chuckle.

"Nooo...really?!" She teases, earning a small smile from John.

"I don't like it..." he starts, trailing off as he looks around the room for help, looking back to Edith with none of their siblings offer him any support.

"But you can't say no. Right? 'Cause that would be hypocritical." Edith states, Arthur scoffing at this.

"Big words for a little lady." He comments, Edith sticks her tongue out at him before continuing talking to John.

"'Cause you were younger than me when you met Martha. My age when you had Henry, right?"

"I think we've all established that in our eyes, you'll never be old enough, or find someone good enough, to be in a relationship. Nor you Ada." Tommy says, choosing to sit beside Arthur, lighting a cigarette as he does, Ada and Edith both rolling their eyes at this.

"But you'll allow it?" Edith asks, leaning forwards

"We'll allow it." John says, the youngest Shelby's watching as Tommy and Arthur clench their jaws.

"Michael?" Edith says, turning to their cousin who, like John had been keeping quiet.

"You know how I feel." He responds, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Just don't fucking kiss in front of me, eh? Or I'll bloody cut ya." Arthur threatens

"Arthur!" Ada and Edith yell at the same time, looking incredulously at their brother.

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"Can I sit with you?" Edith asks John quietly, him and Esme looking up at her as she hovers beside them.

"I'll go see what the kids are up to." Esme says, kissing John and squeezing Edith's hand as she passes.

"You've been pretty quiet," Edith comments, dropping down beside her brother, manoeuvring his arm so that she was curled up, her head on his chest, his arm around her shoulders. He laughs at this, tucking her in to him with a kiss on the forehead. "Ada said you helped bring Arthur and Tommy around to the idea of me and Bonnie." John hums in response, taking a sip from his glass of whiskey. "Thank you."

"You made a good point earlier," he replies. "Tommy and Arthur were furious when Martha got pregnant the first time. I'd like to think that you'd have stuck up for me if you'd been old enough back then."

"Of course I would have."

"Which is why I did the same for you. We've all had first loves that the others don't approve of...truth be told, you could have done a lot worse than Bonnie Gold."

"Who knew you were a big softy for love?" Edith teases, ruffling her head into John's chest, him pushing her away in mock annoyance. "Thanks Johnny. I really do appreciate it."

"I know you do." He replies, pulling her back into his arms, Edith snuggling into his embrace as he grabs the blanket hanging on the arm of the sofa and throwing it over her.

"Hey!" She protests as it covers her head, pushing at his chest as he laughs at her.

"I second Arthur though," he says, turning serious again. "Don't fucking kiss in front of me. Or he's done. Got it."

"Jeez. I've got it!"

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"Do you want to go for a walk?" Edith asks, holding her hand out to Bonnie who was sat with a book in his lap, one he'd taken from one of the many bookcases in the living room. He nods and takes her hand in his, both of them staying silent until they make it out of the house and are heading into the garden.

"Dad's going to head off soon." Bonnie says, swinging their hands between them as Edith leads him through the garden.

"And you?" She asks quietly, somewhat afraid of his answer.

"I'm going to stay for a while. Dad's been talking to your brothers about getting me into the boxing ring in Small Heath." Edith smiles at this, butterflies fluttering in her stomach at the thought of being able to spend more time with Bonnie.

"Really?"

"Yeah." He replies, giving her hand a squeeze as he notices her smile.

"You box?" She asks, looking up at him.

"Have done since I was young."

"Huh..." Edith trails off, eyes on the ground as she thinks about what he had told her.

"Edith, if you're upset I didn't tell you..." He starts, only to be cut off

"No! No, I'm not! I'm just curious." She assures him

"Yeah?" Edith nods at this

"Are you any good?" She asks

"Well..." He says, trailing off with a slight blush.

"Think you could take on Finn?" She jokes, nudging her shoulder into his side gently.

"Do I even answer that? I kind of want to live..." he retorts, making them both laugh.

"I'd like to see you box." She says softly, Bonnie smiling to himself at this.

"I'd like to have you beside the ring." He replies, pulling her to a stop, both of them turning to look at each other.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep. It'd be nice to have my girl there." He says, brushing the backs of his fingers over her cheek, gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Your girl, huh?"

"Well...I hope she's my girl..."

"I think she might be..." Edith says softly, leaning up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to Bonnie's lips. "I'd not distract you?"

"Well...that depends..." He draws out with a smirk

"Depends on what?" She questions him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"What I get if I win..." He replies quietly, watching her reaction as her face breaks into a smile.

"Ah!" She responds, still looking up at him. "And what is it you'd like as a reward?"

"Hmmm...maybe this?" He leans down, capturing her lips with his again.

"Is that all?"

"What are you suggesting Miss Shelby?"

"Nothing..." she teases, throwing him a wink as she turns, continuing through the garden, Bonnie jogging to catch up with her.

"Where are you off to?"

"There's a summer house down here." Edith explains with a smile. "I bring the kids down here to get them out of the house, we store all the outdoor games down there."

"And what are we going to do there?" Edith wiggles her eyebrows with a wink, skipping off again as Bonnie throws his head back, cursing at the sky. "That girl is going to be the death of me." He mutters, following Edith who's still skipping away, smiling back at him as she beckons him to follow.

Edith grabs Bonnie by the shirt, dragging him into the summer house, locking the door behind her. She wraps her arms around his neck, rising onto her tiptoes to kiss him, Bonnie groans into the kiss, lifting her into his arms, Edith easily wrapping her legs around his hips. He carries her over to a chair, holding her to him as he sits, Edith pulling herself closer and running her hands through his hair.

"Bonnie..." she whimpers as he trails kisses down her neck, gently brushing her hair out of the way.

"Hmm?"

"I think I'm falling for you, Bonnie Gold." Edith whispers breathlessly, smiling, tilting her head back to allow him better access to her neck, sighing as she feels Bonnie smile against her neck, still pecking light kisses against her skin.

"I fell for you the minute I first kissed you." Bonnie replies, lifting his head to look her in the eyes. "Hard."

"You did?" She asks with a blush, still running her fingers through his hair.

"Uh huh." He responds, brushing his lips gently against hers in an impossibly light kiss as one of her hands comes down to gently caress his cheek. "Come here." Edith giggles, pressing her lips to his again, quickly deepening the kiss.

"God Bon," she moans as his hands begin to roam down her body, their caresses intensifying as both of them getting lost in the chance to finally be completely alone.

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"I want to take you away." Bonnie says softly, running his fingers through Edith's hair as she rests her head on his shoulder, still straddling his hips, arms wrapped around his body.

"What?" She asks, raising her head to meet his eyes. He smiles at her, running his fingers through the curls on the back of her head. "But my brothers...I can't leave them."

"Not forever," he protests, gently pushing her head back down on to his shoulder, Edith sighing contentedly, immediately relaxing back into his embrace, pressing a kiss to the skin exposed by the open top buttons of his shirt. "Just for the weekend. Somewhere we can really just be alone together, get to know each other away from everyone and everything."

"Hmm, that does sounds nice." She agrees, running her fingers up and down the back of his neck. "Like, in a caravan, or...?"

"Would you like that?"

"To travel with you, in a caravan?" Edith clarifies, Bonnie nodding in response. "Yes!"

"Yeah?"

"Yes! I've always wanted to go travelling in a caravan!" Bonnie laughs at this as she wraps her arms around him in a tight hug.

"You have?"

"Yes!"

"Why?" He laughs incredulously

"I'm a gypsy! But I've never traveled around in a caravan! How tragic is that?"

"Very tragic!" Bonnie teases lightly

"You'd be fulfilling a long-standing dream of mine Bon!" She says dramatically, letting her head drop back as she closed her eyes.

"I would?" He asks, still laughing at her antics

"Uh huh!" She nods enthusiastically, making Bonnie's smile grow.

"Well we'd better do it then!" He says, pressing a kiss to her lips

"Now?" She asks excitedly, pulling back to look him in the eye, hands still resting on his cheeks from the kiss.

"No, not now Edith!" He laughs "your brothers would kill me if I just randomly whisked you away in a caravan."

"They might kill you anyway." She jokes with a wink.

"Hey!" He gasps jokingly, pinching her hip lightly.

"It's true..." she sings, resting her forehead on his.

"Maybe we'll just have to stay in Small Heath then." He teases back

"No! I'm joking! Please Bon!" Edith exclaims, righting herself to look him in the eye again.

"Ssh, relax!" He says softly, cupping her cheek in one hand, running the other soothingly down her back. "We can go, of course we can. How about this weekend?"

"Just for the weekend?" she pouts, Bonnie pressing a kiss to her lips again as she does, Edith immediately sighs into the kiss and deepens it, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself closer to him in his arms. "God, I can't wait to do that, all, weekend, long." She whispers, pecking kisses on his lip to punctate her words.

"I thought you were just complaining about it being for a weekend." He teases with a wink, stealing his own light kisses from her.

"Hmmm," she replies, tilting her head as she locks eyes with him, running her hands through his hair. "It's just short. That's all."

"Love, I think we need to build up to taking you away from your brothers for longer than that. We'll do some short trips for now, huh?" Edith nods, her grin reaching from ear to ear.

"I'm so excited!" She giggles, wiggling in his arms.

"I am too." Bonnie replies with a grin of his own, running his fingers up and down her back. "But for now...I think we'd better get you back to the house."

"Nooo!" Edith pouts, burrowing her head back in Bonnie's neck.

"Yes, Edith. Come on, love." He says, patting her back lightly, shifting her body forwards to get her to stand. She pouts again with a huff, Bonnie smirking at this as she steals one more loving kiss, before standing and taking his hand as they leave the summer house.

AN: hope you guys enjoyed - just to clarify, Edith is still 17 here so nothing non-age appropriate between Bonnie and Edith has happened! :)