Chapter 21
AN: This is just a fluffy filler chapter! Enjoy!
Edith sighs as she lays back on the grass, raising her arm to shield her eyes from the sun. "It feels good to have the sun on my face," she says, turning her head to look at Bonnie who was sat on the steps of the caravan, mug of tea in his hand as he watches her, a smile plastered on his face. "And to get some fresh air. I've been stuck in the city for too long."
"Hmm, it does feel good." Bonnie hums in agreement, tilting his own head up to the sky.
"I still want to find a place to live in the countryside, like John and Esme." Edith continues. "And then travel from there when the weather is good. Stay home for the winter."
"That sounds nice." Bonnie says, resting his elbows on his knees as he listens to Edith. "With all your horses and babies." The pair laugh, remembering the conversation they had had last time they had travelled together.
"Come and lay with me?" Edith calls, extending her arm, wiggling her fingers in Bonnie's direction. He smiles at her, rising from his seat to take her hand in his, pressing a kiss to her wrist as he lowers himself onto the ground beside her. "I like having you close."
"I'm not going anywhere my love." He promises her, keeping her hand tucked in his as they lay in the sun.
"What?" Edith asks gently, watching as Bonnie's eyes search her face, a wide smile stretched across his own.
"Nothing," he replies, with a shake of his head.
"Bon..."
"You look happy." Bonnie comments. "Relaxed."
"I feel good." Edith agrees, leaning up to press a light kiss to his lips. "Different. A good different." She pauses as her smiles grows to match his. "I think it's you."
"What's me?" He asks, brows furrowed for a second.
"I think it's you that's made me happier, feel different." She admits, cupping his cheek with her hand. "Without you, I'd still be cooped up in my tiny bedroom in smoky, dirty Small Heath, following my brothers orders and being generally miserable. But you've given me the chance to get away from that. To be free, at last."
"I'm glad you feel that way. I like seeing this side of you, Edith. This is how you should feel all the time."
"I do. When you're by my side." Edith replies, wrapping her arm around his body to pull in him for a hug. "I love you Bonnie Gold."
"I love you Edith Shelby." He replies, pressing light kisses to her neck, moving slowly up to her jaw as they lay in each other's arms.
"Tell me three things I don't know about you." She says softly, sighing as Bonnie continues to press light kisses to her cheek. "Or, just any three things you want me to know." He pulls back, looking at her with furrowed brows in confusion.
"Three things you don't know about me?" He repeats, Edith nodding, letting out a hum of agreement. "Umm, ok. Can I have a minute to think about it?" Edith nods again, taking this time to press her own kisses to his jaw, her hand tracing gentle patterns on his bare arm.
"Wait here!" She says suddenly, jumping up from Bonnie's arms, leaving him laying on the ground watching her in confusion as she runs towards the caravan.
"Love? What are you doing?" He calls after her, turning his head over his shoulder to look for her.
"Just wait there!" She calls in response from deep within the caravan, Bonnie letting out a laugh at her statement.
"Where else am I going to go?" He teases, shaking his head as he lays his head back on the grass, hands intertwined over his chest as he goes back to thinking of three things to tell Edith.
"Aha!" He hears Edith shout, letting out another chuckle as he listens to her jump down the steps, opening his eyes when she walks past him, blocking the sun. "Got it." She says breathlessly as she drops back on to the ground beside him, Bonnie peeking one eye open to see what she had found.
"A book?" He asks, dropping his head to the side as Edith hums in agreement. "And what's this?" He taps the long tin case that Edith had placed on the ground beside her.
"Pencils." She says lightly, opening the case to pull out her favourite pencil for drawing. "I'm going to draw you, while you think of your three things."
"Draw me?" Bonnie repeats with a smile, Edith nodding enthusiastically in response as she opens her sketch pad to a clean page. "Ok..."
"No peeking 'til I'm done, 'kay?" Bonnie nods his head, turning onto his side to watch Edith work, head propped up on his hand as he does so, the pair falling back into a comfortable silence.
"Ok, I've got three. You ready?" Bonnie asks, sitting up in front of Edith, crossing his legs, his knees resting lightly against hers.
"Yep! Go!" She replies, glancing up briefly to meet his eyes, blowing him a kiss before ducking her head back down.
"Here we go," he starts, clearing his throat. "First, I thought I'd tell you about my mum."
"I'd like that." Edith says with a smile.
"Her name was Julianna, her and dad were childhood sweethearts. They met when they were 16, fell in love straight away."
"Aw, Bon. That's lovely." Edith comments, Bonnie nodding with a smile.
"She died when I was 13, really suddenly. It shocked us all. Anyway. She was so much fun. We used to try and play jokes on dad all the time, he used to pretend to hate it, but really he found it hilarious." Bonnie pauses at the memory, a small smile on his face as he runs a hand through his hair. "Second, I was 8 when I had my first fight-"
"Eight!" Edith exclaims, head snapping up to look at Bonnie, eyes wide with shock as he nods, eyes laughing. "You were still a baby! Did you win?"
"Of course I did!" Bonnie scoffs, winking at Edith who rolls her eyes at his cockiness. "It was at a fair. Won a pony, from the other family. Buttercup."
"You never did!" Edith exclaims with a laugh.
"I did indeed!" Bonnie replies, laughing. "She stayed with us all throughout my childhood. I loved that horse."
"I bet you did. You have a gentle soul." She says softly, reaching forward to cup Bonnie's cheek in her hand.
"A gentle soul in a fighter's body." He jokes, Edith rolling her eyes in response.
"Alright, what's number three?" She asks, leaning back again, picking up her pencil she had discarded on the grass.
"Number three," he repeats, gently placing his fingers under her chin to tilt her head up towards him again. "I love you."
"Bon...that doesn't count! I know that already."
"Ey, you didn't let me finish!" He chastises, flicking the end of her nose teasingly. "Can I carry on?" Edith rolls her eyes and nods, motioning with her hand for him to continue. "I've been in love with you, since the day I first laid eyes on you-"
"Bon..."
"Edie," he growls teasingly, narrowing his eyes at her. "Let me finish!" She lets out a giggle, holding her hands up in surrender. "I didn't know it at the time. I've never loved anyone other than family before, but God you captivated me. I couldn't look away. I couldn't get enough of you, I'm surprised you didn't get sick of me following you around all day, everyday." Edith shakes her head, giving him a gentle smile.
"Never."
"So. That's my last thing, I love you. More than anything. Forever. You're it for me." Bonnie finishes, eyes locked on hers.
"That better not be a proposal, Bonnie Gold." She whispers, tears pooling in her eyes, Bonnie teaching out to wipe the tears away.
"No. Not yet. I'll do it properly. One day. I just needed you to know." He replies softly.
"I love you." She responds, her voice thick with emotion. "Forever. You're it for me." Edith repeats Bonnie's words back to him, placing her sketch pad and pencils onto the grass to lean forwards, resting her forehead against his, pressing light kisses to his lips.
"Your turn." He says lightly, pinching her sides to make her squeal.
"Oh, way to ruin the moment Bon!" Edith teases with a laugh, pulling away to pick up her sketch pad again. "Ok, my turn. Number one. I once tried to keep a frog as a pet."
"Of course you did." Bonnie says with a laugh, laying back on the grass to focus completely on listening to Edith.
"His name was Mr Frog," Bonnie snorts, Edith giggling along before continuing. "I found him in Uncle Charlie's yard. Curly helped me catch him. I put him in a little box I found, covered it with my coat and carried it home. I tried to hide it in my room, but then Ada found it. And boy did she scream." Edith laughs loudly at the memory, remembering watching from the bed as Ada pulled open the top draw, letting out the loudest scream Edith had ever heard as Mr Frog had leapt out at her, sending all three of their older brothers racing up the stairs to see what was going on. "John found it hilarious. Arthur swore and then disappeared, he was definitely trying to hide his laughter. Tommy found it funny too, I could tell, but had to be the one to tell me off. He did help me catch Mr Frog though, and then marched me back to the yard to put him back where I'd found him. Finn and I pretended to be frogs for the rest of that week. We'd jump out at Ada to make her shriek. Gosh, those were the days." Bonnie smiles as he observes Edith in her most relaxed stance, head ducked down as she continued her drawing, smile stretched wide across her face.
"Number two," she sings, flopping back on to the grass, her head by Bonnie's feet, deciding she was done with her drawing of him. "You told me about your ma, so I'll tell you about mine." Bonnie reaches his hand out to squeeze her leg reassuringly as she takes a deep breath before continuing. "Her name was Mary, hence why my middle name is Mary. I don't remember her. At all. She died when I was 3 years old, she got ill very quickly after I was born, and she never really recovered. I do know that she used to take me to Uncle Charlie's yard all the time, he tells me stories sometimes, of how they would take me, Ada and the boys out into the fields on the horses. Apparently we would visit with her family, the Strong's, when they camped outside Small Heath. Polly says I look like her, like, exactly like her. She thinks..." Edith trails off, wrinkling her nose and shaking her head. "Nah, never mind. She was just ma, and she sounded great, and I wish, God I wish so badly that I could have known her better, not just from Uncle Charlie and Curly's stories and had more time to love her in person, and tell her I love her, and be able to give you more than that, but that's all I know."
"Do you have pictures?" Bonnie asks gently, reaching out to intertwine their fingers.
"I have one. It's at home. I'll have to show you when we go back."
"I'd like that." He admits, giving her hand a squeeze.
"Ok. Number three. When the boys were at war, Aunt Pol looked after me and Ada and Finn. She was pretty much the only mother I knew, that's why we're still so close now, I think. Anyway. She used to tuck me and Ada into bed together at night, we shared a bed back then, there wasn't much room in our house, Finn would lay at the end of the bed, Pol in the sheets between Ada and me, and she'd tell us all about the places she'd take us travelling when the war was over. God I used to dream about those days, counting down the days 'til we could all get away from Small Heath, even without knowing when the war would be over."
"And did you? Travel with Pol?" Edith scoffs and shakes her head.
"No. Course not. The boys came back. They got wrapped back up in the company. We never had the chance."
"How old were you when the boys came back?"
"Umm, I was just turning 7 I think." Edith replies. "I used to beg Polly, absolutely beg her to take me away, to get me away from Small Heath, away from my brothers who were drowning themselves in whiskey, and random ladies at the pub, and the fucking business."
"But she couldn't?"
"No. She never could. Because if we'd left, I'd have no brothers now. And Arthur heard me begging one day, clinging to Pol's skirts as she ignored another tantrum, dragging me around the kitchen kicking and screaming." The pair let out laughs as they picture a young Edith being dragged around the small kitchen by Pol's skirt, kicking and screaming as she went.
"What did Arthur do?" Bonnie chokes out between laughs.
"He was in one of his moods; yanked me up from the floor, carried me into my bedroom, sat me on the bed and left me there all evening. He took my book and my favourite teddy. Told me it was the consequence for behaving badly. That he'd had enough and that Tommy would deal with me when he got home."
"And did he?" Edith shakes her head with another laugh.
"I snuck out of my room once Arthur had left, Tommy found me sleeping on the bottom of the stairs, waiting for him. He held me, and listened to me cry about how unfair it was. He promised he'd take me travelling one day, if I stopped bothering Pol, and causing a fuss when it didn't happen when I wanted it to."
"But he didn't."
"Nope. The company took off. He forgot about his promise. But I'm here now. With you. And it's better than I could have imagined."
"I'm honoured that I could be the person to take you on this journey then, Edith."
"I'm glad it was you that's introduced me to this life too. So pleased. And I don't want to change this. I'm happy, here with you."
"I'm happy here with you too." Bonnie states, giving her hand another squeeze.
"Can I give you a number four?" Edith asks, rising on to her elbows to peer over at Bonnie who shakes his head, laughing.
"Um, that's not part of the rules of the game!"
"It's my game!" She exclaims with a laugh, jabbing Bonnie in the side. "I'm gonna tell you anyway!" She jumps up from the grass, swinging her leg over Bonnie's waist, straddling his hips as he remains laid on the ground. "I love you." Bonnie lets out a loud laugh as Edith giggles along, collapsing into his chest, his arms immediately encircling her body, holding her close. "And here. Your portrait!" She leans over, pressing her sketch pad into Bonnie's hands, his eyebrows rising as he looks at the picture.
"Edith. This is amazing." He breathes out, placing the pad on the grass to look up at Edith who blushes, hiding her head in his neck. "Where'd you learn to draw like that?"
"I dunno. I've always loved drawing." She replies, shrugging.
"You should draw more often, this is incredible. Have you got more in there?" Edith nods, passing the book back to Bonnie as he flips through the pages, some portraits of her family members, others, places she had seen. "Have you ever shown anyone these?"
"I mean, the boys and Ada have seen them I'm sure. I don't hide them or anything." Edith says, taking the book to flip through the images herself.
"You could sell these, Edie!" Edith lets out a laugh as she places the book back in the grass, rolling off of Bonnie to lay beside him again.
"Maybe one day." She says, closing her eyes, dropping her head to his shoulder as he turns his head, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.