CHANGES

The next few days were spent in pure bliss. They were seemingly permanently intertwined, never straying further than an arms length from the other. They ate together, bathed together and slept together; only taking a short break from each when they needed the toilet. The end of their time together was coming closer, Sophie would have to go back to Birmingham and her family eventually. Although they refused to talk about it, they could both sense that time was near. So as they sat reclined comfortably in Alfie's grand porcelain bathtub, Sophie attempted to bring it up.

"I'm gonna have to go back at some point, Alf." Sophie broke the comfortable silence between them. She laid with her back against his chest, resting her head against his shoulder where his arm was placed on top of the edge of the bath. Alfie's other hand traced delicate shapes over the skin of her legs where they poked out from the bubbly water. He left out a groan, burying his face into her curls and brushing his nose on her cheek.

"I don't think my family would like you very much if they never saw me again, you know." She chuckled, her hands reaching up behind her to thread her fingers through Alfie's damp hair.

"Mmmm… with all due respect, yeah love, fuck your family." Alfie mumbled into her ear, enjoying the sensation of her massaging his scalp.

"Alfie." She warned playfully.

"Let's not talk about this, alright?" He muttered. Moving his hand on her legs, he cupped her breast, giving it a firm squeeze. Her lips parted in pleasure as he began to kiss her neck slowly. Placing a deep wet kiss just below her earlobe, he knew just how to distract her after discovering this as her sweet spot several nights ago during a particularly passionate night of love making. His fingers pinched at her perky nipple, eliciting a soft gasp from Sophie.

"Alfie…" She drew out, her eyes fluttering closed. Her back arched in reaction as he twisted and played with her nipple, heat rushing to in between her legs. She tugged on his hair, her skin tingling where he kissed.

"Mmmm… you're so fucking beautiful, Soph." He paused his kissing to whisper in her ear. He gently tugged on her ear lobe with his teeth.

Abruptly, Sophie leant forward and pulled away from Alfie. Gripping the sides of the tub, she pulled herself up and turned so she was standing looking down at the man. Extending her arm out to him, she smirked.

"Come on old man, Ollie said you have a meeting this afternoon." She said, biting back her laughter.

"Old man, huh? I'll remember that later love." He scoffed, shaking his head at her as he stood up.

As his face passed hers, she noticed a small patch of irritated skin under his beard and a concerned look pulled at her eyebrows. Reaching out gently she held his face and examined the skin further.

"Woah, this looks really sore, Alf- have you gone to see the doctor about this?" She questioned.

"Noticed it when I got back from France, just a reaction to the mustard gas love, nothing to worry about." He brushed her off, stepping out the water and turning back to help her out as well.

"Doesn't look like nothing Alfie, you should get it checked out. I'm sure there's a lotion or ointment or something that can help." She pressed.

"Maybe I will, eh." He said, pulling a towel around his waist after rubbing his hair with it.

Deciding to drop it for now, Sophie takes a towel and wraps it around her body tightly so that it will stay in place while she works on her hair. Patting her hair gently, she sat down on the edge of the tub, deep in thought. She knew Alfie was considerably older than her, but she hadn't considered what that would mean in practicality. When she was Alfie's age, what state would Alfie's health be in? If they were to go on and have kids, would Alfie be around to see them grow older and create their own families? Sophie often wondered what it would be like to have met Alfie when he was a young man, the same age she was now, and if they still would've had the same connection. Raisa had said he was a much more light-hearted man back then. Sophie liked his rougher outer shell, she decided. It made him much more mysterious and intriguing, and knowing she was one of very few people who got to see his caring, sensitive side made what they had feel even more special. Coming out of her trance, she noticed Alfie had gotten fully dressed.

"Sorry, I'll just throw my hair up and some clothes on and I'll be ready to go in a few minutes." Sophie jumped up, she'd lost track of time and it was obvious Alfie was itching to get this meeting over with.

"No, love it's alright I'll be back in a little bit." Alfie said distractedly. His words made Sophie stall. She'd came with him to work anytime he needed to go since she'd gotten here a few days ago.

"You don't want me to come?" She asked, confused.

"I won't be gone long, alright? You just wait here for me." He said, refusing to meet her eye contact as he left the bathroom. Sophie followed him, if he doesn't want her in his office - who was he meeting that he didn't want her around? He moved around the room busily, picking up his pocket watch and putting it into his pocket.

"Alfie, what's the meeting about?" Sophie demanded, hands on her hips.

"Just fucking business, innit." Alfie spat out, surprising Sophie with how heated he suddenly became.

"Alfie, I'm not a fucking idiot. What's going on?" Sophie stepped closer to him, raising her voice.

"It's my fucking business, Sophie. Not yours." He snapped.

"Alfie, fucking tell me who you're fucking meeting!" She shouted, her hands dropping to fists at her side. How dare he speak to her like she was just some stupid little girl who didn't know any better.

"Fucking Sabini, that's who." Alfie shouted back, the veins bulging in his neck as his face reddened.

Sophie felt like she'd been slapped. Her face had paled and her jaw dropped. She couldn't quite believe what she was hearing, the man she loved (and who supposedly loved her) was going into business with the man responsible for her attack. All signs pointed to him planning to betray her and her brothers. Both of them stood frozen at different ends of the room, they looked as if they could have been in a photograph they were both so still. She'd been so stupid to believe that Alfie would ever care for her or her family, and now there she stood; feeling utterly humiliated and small. As her eyes began to water, she bit her lip harshly and tried to calm her racing heartbeat. Ignoring his watchful eyes, Sophie hastily darted to the wardrobe in the room where she'd hung her clothes. Quickly throwing on some underwear and a dress, she dashed to find her shoes from where they'd been kicked under the bed.

"Sophie." Alfie cleared his throat. Ignoring him, she bent down on the floor to reach her shoes. Grabbing one, she quickly identified the other much deeper underneath the bed.

"Sophie, stop." Alfie repeated, stepping closer to her. When she refused to acknowledge him, he stepped next to her. As she finally reached the second shoe and stood from where she was crouched, she tried to push past him only for him to grab both her upper arms.

"Fuck you, Alfie Solomons." She hissed, trying to pull away from him and put as much distance as possible between them.

"Sophie for fucks sake, will you just stop?" Exclaimed Alfie. "I'm not making a fucking deal with him, Sophie."

"Yeah fucking right, Alfie. Why the fuck are you meeting with him then?" She spat, shoving him off of her.

"It's fucking business. He asked for the meeting, got to know what he wants so I know what to fucking anticipate, yeah?" He threw his arms up in exasperation.

"You mean in case he offers you a better deal? Is that all I was yeah? Just a fucking favourable option yeah?" Her eyes were narrowed in anger, her intensely fierce eyes locked on his. Her lips had pulled into a ferocious snarl.

"Fuck off, Soph, you're being fucking ridiculous." He said, his voice raised in disbelief.

"Fucking ridiculous? Did you forget it was your new business partner that had me attacked? If it was up to him, I'd have been fucking raped, Alfie! And you're just gonna have a nice old chummy fucking meeting with that sick fuck?" He'd never seen her look so scary before. Her eyes were blazing savagely.

"You don't think I fucking know that? You don't think it takes everything in me not to wring his fucking neck for what he did to you, eh?" He thundered, gesturing angrily. "But what fucking use would that be, Soph? Some other fucking wop will just take his fucking place. I didn't get this far, to the fucking top if I did what I actually fucking wanted, Sophie."

"You-" She began.

"No, you fucking listen to me right now, Sophie. I love you, yeah? Fucking love of my life you are. Sabini is a fuckin wop alright? He's a fucking nobody, but he runs half of London, yeah? So as the person that runs the other fucking half, it's a good fucking idea to find out what he wants. No doubt he's gonna try to call a truce or some horse shit - but it means fuck all to me, Sophie because I choose you. Your brother may be a fucking idiot whose in over his head, but I choose you and your fucking insane family alright, so you've got fuck all to worry about." He rants, pacing back and forth in the room.

"I-"

"No Sophie, no respectfully, yeah, just shut up for a goddamn second, yeah? Fucking favourable option? What the fuck are you talking about? You know the last person I fucking told that I loved them was my fucking mum, yeah? Brought you into my home because I fucking love you yeah? You think that I'd fuck you over? I want to fucking marry you, and you think I'd fuck you over?"

For the second time that day, Sophie was stunned into silence. Her eyes wide and jaw slack, just like before except this time there was no anger or humiliation.

"You-you what?" She stuttered in shock. Alfie stilled this time, staring at her in slight confusion. Squinting his eyes, he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck after realising what he'd said. He'd been so heated and worked up it had just slipped out of his mouth.

"I fucking want to marry you, Soph. Wasn't meant to come out like this exactly was it, but you're a fucking nightmare sometimes aren't you."

"Y-y-you want to…?" Sophie stumbled, still not believing her ears. Taking in her shocked expression, he took slow careful steps towards her. Once he'd reached her, he placed his hands either side of her face and pulled her focus onto him with a rare shy smile on his face.

"Sophie, will you marry me?" He whispered.

Not trusting her voice, she swallowed to relieve the dryness in her mouth as she nodded her head. The most beautiful, purest smile Alfie had ever seen appeared on Sophie's face, her eyes tearing up.

"Yes, I- oh ." She stammered, her voice shaky with happiness. Alfie leant down to the small girl and connected their lips. What started as a tender loving kiss quickly turned desperate and needy, both wanting to be as close to each other as possible. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he lifted her into the air making her pull apart from his lips to squeal in surprise. "Alfie!" she laughed heartily. Gripping tightly to his shoulders, her head thrown back in laughter, their argument was quickly left behind them. Placing her back down on the floor, he pressed a quick kiss to her forehead.

"You know what this means now, Alf?" She smiled, smoothing out his shirt.

"What's that, my angel?" Alfie beamed down at her, his heart felt so full it could burst. She was all his, forever.

"You've got to meet my family." She chuckled.

"Fuck."