'I still don't like this Tom,' grumbled Arthur as he paced back and forward behind the sofa where Linda and Lizzie sat. Linda had been nodding her agreement with her husband whenever he had spoken. Tommy had no doubt that she had instructed Arthur on what to say and Tommy felt his blood boiling at the knowledge.
'Maddie is of no threat to us. She has agreed to negotiate with us in exchange for helping her get to London,' Tommy repeated for the umpteenth time, blowing air out his nostrils in frustration. He could feel his temper bubbling dangerously under his skin. Since he had set foot in the drawing room, his family had done nothing but resist his decision to bring Maddie back to his home and make her part of the company. He admitted to himself he couldn't exactly blame them. But surely they could see that she would be an indispensable asset?
'How do we know that she isn't here to spy on us Tommy? We aren't exactly short of enemies in this family,' said Ada, ever the voice of reason. She was the only person who had shared any concerns of merit, ones that Tommy had already considered himself. 'Besides that, although she evidently has talents that would be useful to anyone, would they be any good if she turns out to be completely crack-pot?'
Ada was right of course. During the drive with Maddie back to Arrow House, Tommy had considered several times on changing his course and dropping her off at the local asylum. But their conversation about her calling, as she put it, as the slayer had changed his mind. The complete conviction in the way she had told him about her world made him believe her. The way she spoke made him realise that she was a woman who was carrying a lot on her shoulders and carried the loneliness that went along with that. He had a lot more in common with Maddie than he ever thought possible.
Although he would never admit this to his family, another motivator for having Maddie around was pure fascination and curiosity. He had never met a woman who acted or spoke like her, the way she held herself exuded confidence; confidence possessed by someone with a knowledge that they possessed power that no one else had. She was comfortable in her own skin, and she evidently liked to show a lot of it. Tommy was reminded of Maddie's bare and exposed legs sat next to him in the car; he knew that she had been flaunting them on purpose. Nevertheless, he had wanted to reach over and feel her smooth fair skin in his palm but had managed to maintain his self-restraint. He wanted to know everything about her, and he could only do that if she stuck around.
Tommy had recounted a brief summary of what Maddie had told him in the car, deciding that complete transparency with his family on this matter would be the best way to get them on side. As predicted, they had reacted in a mixture of ways but none of them were one hundred percent convinced. Lizzie had been prepared to take up arms and slaughter Maddie in her room there and then, convinced that she was there to kill them all. His brothers had their evident reservations but had mostly come around to the idea, even as Arthur continued to grumble Tommy could tell his resolve was waning. His aunt had even started to see things his way; he believed that Polly was also curious about Maddie and wanted to learn more about her as he did.
'She's from Birmingham, her accent obviously tells us that,' Tommy finally replied to Ada. 'But as Finn has also found out, no one knows who she is or even seen her before. And seeing as this is our city and we know everything about everyone, that makes me think that what she is saying about being from the future is true,' finished Tommy. Indeed, Finn had been successful in gathering a significant amount of information between getting out of the car outside the Garrison and getting to Arrow House. Everyone he spoke to had never heard of her and the number of people who had seen her didn't recognise her at all. The repetition of this information seemed to be enough to get the room to concede and agree to Tommy's decision. At least for now.
'So that settles it,' finished Tommy. 'I'll have Frances bring her down and you can get any questions you need to reassure yourselves out of the way'.
Tommy instructed Frances to fetch and escort Maddie to the drawing room and everyone fidgeted nervously while they waited in anticipation. Tommy did what he usually did to distract himself during these scenarios, he cleared his throat and lit a cigarette, drawing the burning smoke into his lungs hungrily.
When Frances returned with Maddie, Tommy almost didn't recognise her. She was now wearing the familiar clothes that women usually wore, a long shin length mauve dress that was buttoned up to her collar bone with a matching cardigan. The outfit hid her figure, the opposite of her own clothes that she had previously worn. Tommy unexpectantly found he felt slightly disappointed, he realised he liked seeing her body more than he expected. From the looks he noticed on the other men's faces, they also must have felt the same way. She had pinned her hair back to one side and it tumbled over one of her shoulders in glossy brown waves.
'Thank you, Frances. Let us know when dinner is ready,' said Tommy. Frances nodded and left the room, leaving Maddie stood awkwardly where she left her in front of the door. He noticed that her eyes scanned the room quickly and instinctively, landing on all the windows and doors in turn. She was identifying the exits he realised, a habit that was common amongst people with military training. He wondered whether she even realised she was doing it.
'Maddie, please have a seat,' he said as he gestured to the empty chair next to where he stood.
She looked over to him and the chair. 'Okay,' she said slowly. She approached the chair and sat down and smoothed the skirt of the dress out over her knees as she said sarcastically, 'This isn't at all intimidating.'
'You're one to talk,' Linda snapped quickly. 'What were you expecting when you held a gun to my husbands head?'
Maddie turned to Linda and sized her up, meeting her eyes confidently. 'With all due respect, there were five guns pointed at my head if I remember right,' replied Maddie. 'Granted I may have given you all a fright, but I didn't make any move to hurt any of you prior to that, I had a right to defend myself.'
Linda looked speechless at Maddie's bold retort and Tommy silently cheered in his mind. There were snickers from other people in the room as well, glad that this stranger had managed to put Linda in her place. Polly and Ada looked particularly pleased.
'It's alright Linda luv,' said Arthur, putting a hand on Linda's shoulder. 'We can look past that, it's hardly the first time something like that has happened to me.'
Maddie turned back to the rest of the group in front of her, who all remained silent. No one really sure of what to ask.
'Okay, so either you're all stumped as to what to say or you're all waiting for me to sprout three heads or something,' questioned Maddie, her eyebrow quirked inquisitively.
At this Tommy's family exchanged shocked glances, Maddie was proving to be entertaining. Something that he was depending on to sway them into not just liking her, but more importantly trusting her.
'How about a drink Maddie?' Tommy interjected. 'Let's give everyone a chance to think about what they want to say.'
Maddie turned to look up at him, turning up her plump lips in a sultry smile. 'Alright,' she agreed, meeting his eyes as she had done a few times now. Was she trying to flirt with him? Tommy pondered this as he remembered their conversation in the train station, he had thought she was flirting with him then as well.
He poured her a glass of whiskey from the decanter and handed it to her. Her fingertips brushed his as she grasped the glass, making his skin tingle with the contact. Why was this girl making him react this way? These feelings that were stirring inside him were making Tommy nervous. He hadn't felt this way since Grace was alive. He was careful however to not give away his emotions and maintained his stern, stone-like expression.
Maddie eyed the glass of liquid dubiously, sniffing it and wrinkling her nose.
'Have you not drunk whiskey before?' asked Michael, watching her with some amusement. 'Don't you have it in the future?'
Glad to have someone finally ask her a question that wasn't hostile Maddie replied with a chuckle, 'Oh we do, but its usually reserved for alcoholics and old people.'
'I suppose that makes us old then!' laughed John. Tommy could feel the atmosphere in the room beginning to relax gradually. He could feel his own muscles becoming less tense as they all started to enjoy Maddie's odd behaviour and way of speaking.
She finally took a hesitant sip of the whiskey and her face screwed up in disgust as she stuck her tongue out with a cough. Everyone, including Tommy laughed at her reaction to the fiery liquid.
'You know what, I think I'm starting to like this girl Tom,' chuckled Arthur as he walked round the sofa and over to Maddie. 'Here let's get you something more to your liking eh?' Maddie handed the whiskey back to Arthur, looking thankful she wouldn't have to drink anymore of it.
'What do people like to drink in a hundred years' time then?' asked Ada, eagerly awaiting Maddie's answer.
'Pretty much the same as what people drink now, I think. Although spirits are rarely drunk straight. Personally, I prefer beer,' replied Maddie. Tommy's brother's faces lit up in unison. You didn't find women who drunk beer very often, well none who held any kind of status anyway.
Arthur sent Finn to go and get Maddie a supply of beer from the cellar. Whilst he was gone everyone had their turn asking her various questions about the future. Even Lizzie wanted to ask whatever burning question she had. Tommy took the opportunity to breath a sigh of relief. His family were fast warming up to Maddie; she had a charismatic charm that made them laugh and smile with her, putting them at ease. He also couldn't believe that they seemed to have accepted that she was from the future. He was sure that they would remain sceptical in that regard.
Tommy remained silent and observant as he watched them all chatter together and his eyes were drawn to Maddie once again. In the low light of the fireplace and the few lamps that were lit in the room he noticed that Maddie's brown hair had a hint of auburn in it. Her cheeks dimpled when she smiled, and she had a smattering of golden freckles on her nose and cheeks. Her laugh was musical but also raw and dirty at the same time. Maddie was becoming increasingly more attractive in Tommy's eyes and he could feel his heart begin beating somewhat faster than normal. He was so focused on Maddie that he didn't realise that Ada had gotten up and crossed the room to stand beside him as everyone else continued to fire questions at Maddie.
'Put your eyes back in your head brother,' she jested, nudging him sharply in the arm. He gave Ada a disgruntled look. He hated how she was always so sharp when it came to his behaviour and what he was thinking. She just raised her eyebrows at him in response, it was a warning he knew, a warning to not get too consumed by Maddie. But he feared that it was already too late for that.
When Finn returned with the beer and handed her a full pint, Maddie took a hearty and more confident swig of the amber liquid. Her eyes closed and a satisfied expression settled on her features. 'Now that's some good shit,' she said grinning from ear to ear.
'You speak so strangely,' said Finn admiring Maddie as she took another swig of the beer.
'Well, a lot changes between now and my time,' said Maddie. 'You've all seen how much fashion is going to change. Well the way we speak does too. Young people are constantly coming up with new words, even I don't know what they're saying half the time!' Maddie laughed again followed by the rest of the room.
'All this talk of the future is all well and good,' Polly spoke up now, making eye contact with Maddie, piercing her with her glare. 'But I personally want to know more about you Maddie, what's your story? More importantly I want to know about this slayer that you claim to be.'
The room fell silent instantly. Maddie faltered slightly at the forwardness of Polly's question; she looked down at her glass and Tommy could see she was trying to keep a neutral expression. Trust Pol to kill the mood, he thought. Just as she seemed to be loosening up and getting used to his intimidating and dysfunctional family.
Maddie looked back up to meet Polly's gaze and took a deep breath before replying. 'That's a good question. And if I'm being honest, I'm not entirely sure I can sum it up in a way that you'd understand or believe.'
'Oh sweetheart, please don't underestimate me. I have knowledge of things that you would scarcely believe. So please share, I'm sure that I'll be able to keep up,' Polly replied with a dangerous undertone to her voice. Tommy knew his aunt would pull a power play like this to assert her dominance over Maddie. Yet, surprising Tommy and the room yet again, Maddie let out a small laugh and nodded, recognising Polly's influence that she had amongst the family.
Maddie proceeded to tell her story as everyone in the room listened intently. She told them about where she grew up and went to school. How she had hopes of becoming a nurse before getting the calling to be the slayer. She retold the same things that she had told Tommy earlier that day. She also went on to tell them about the demon world and how they'd come to be on earth. How there were many different dimensions and demons that inhabited them as well. She told the harrowing story of how the first slayer had been created. Maddie gripped her knee tightly as she told this story, Tommy realised, her knuckles turning white. He knew that this was a particularly sensitive story for her to tell. Tommy noticed that all the women in the room became more attentive to this story of how a group of men had forced demonic power into a girl who didn't want it. He could see the recognition and understanding in the women's eyes, Lizzie was now regarding Maddie with more respect as she listened. Tommy knew he regrettably wouldn't be able to fully understand how Maddie felt as they did.
When she finished this story Maddie quickly moved onto her specific experiences as the slayer, evidently relieved to have that story out of the way. Finally coming to what had happened to her earlier that day.
'So I was patrolling as I usually do and I got into a fight with the vampire you all saw and the next thing I knew me and him were being whooshed through a portally thingy.' Maddie made grand sweeping gestures with her arms to punctuate her story. 'And then boom, here I am. You all know what happened next. I have no idea how the portal opened or who opened it. Even after all the fucking magic and demonology books I've spent hours studying, fat lot of good that did!' Maddie huffed and rolled her eyes, finally finishing her tale.
Everyone was speechless as they stared at Maddie agog. Tommy however put on his usual expression of indifference. But in his head his thoughts were racing. He had just been told about a whole other world that he had previously been oblivious to. In fact he would have considered anyone who believed anything like that a lunatic before today. But now he found it was widening his mind and opening new opportunities. He did have some belief in fortune telling and witchcraft from his gypsy heritage, but he would have never imagined that the reality was something to this scale.
Maddie began to fidget awkwardly in her chair as the silence lingered. 'Can someone please say something before I die from the silence?' she pleaded. Tommy let the corner of his mouth quirk up in a smile. He admired how she handled any awkward situation with sarcasm and humour. It was in stark contrast to how he or anyone he knew dealt when faced with similar situations.
'Sorry. That was just a lot for us to take in,' replied Michael speaking on behalf of the room.
'But I think I'm right in saying that we all admire your confidence to tell all that to a group of strangers,' smiled Ada. Maddie smiled back at her and thanked her, looking relieved that her story had been well received.
'So, you've got super strength, how strong are you then?' Finn spoke up, smiling shyly at Maddie. Tommy suspected that Finn was attracted to her as he had that boyish blush on his cheeks that teenagers got around attractive women. John also noticed this because he grabbed Finn in a headlock with a brotherly display of playfighting, rubbing his fist on the top of Finn's head.
'Finn wants to see some impressive feats of strength from Mads does he eh?' teased John, laughing loudly. Maddie laughed as well, watching Tommy's brothers scuffle playfully. Finn eventually managed to push John away.
'Fucking gerroff' John!'
He straightened up and smoothed down his hair as he attempted to hide his blush from Maddie which confirmed Tommy's suspicion and he felt himself react to it in the pit of his stomach. What was that feeling? Jealousy? No, he was imagining things, he thought, jealous of his baby brother? He quashed the thought as quickly as it occurred to him.
'That's alright Finn. It's understandable that you'd be curious. I would,' Maddie smiled at Finn and winked. Tommy felt that pang of jealousy again. It was definitely jealousy he felt, he admitted to himself silently. He felt angry at himself for feeling something as childish as jealousy. He also had to admit that this also meant that he was undeniably growing more than just fond of her, and this also scared him.
Maddie looked around the room searching before getting up and going over to the fireplace to retrieve the iron fire poker from its rack. She turned to face the group and holding the poker at either end proceeded to bend the poker in half and then back on itself making a loop in the middle, the muscles of her wrists flexing as she warped the metal like it were toffee in her hands. Again, the room was left speechless. The Shelby's were rarely left speechless and she had managed to do it several times in the last hour. She walked over to Finn and handed him the poker. He took it and tried to bend it back unsuccessfully, John and Arthur guffawing at his feeble attempt. Even Tommy felt himself smile in genuine amusement. Then there was knock at the door and Frances entered signalling that dinner was ready for them in the dining room.
'Right,' sighed Tommy putting out his most recent cigarette in the ashtray. 'I think we should take that as a sign for us to let Maddie alone a while.' Tommy gave a look to signal everyone to leave the room.
As everyone filed out toward the dining room Tommy fell into stride beside Maddie. 'You alright?' he asked, quietly enough so only she could hear. 'I know my family can be…intense at times.'
She nodded and smiled, turning to look up at him. 'It's fine Tommy, I would be the same I were in their position'.
He admired her astuteness, if there was one thing he respected in a woman, it was intelligence.
As they walked down the corridor and past a set of windows, they noticed that it had started snowing outside and Tommy could feel the frosty chill radiating from the glass.
'Well, at least now I know you weren't lying about the snow to get me to come back here with you,' chuckled Maddie. Tommy found himself smiling again, he looked down at her to see her looking up at him, biting her lip to stifle more laughter. Tommy's gaze flashed to her lips, reminded of how she had done the same thing before she had kissed him earlier. Maddie didn't fail to notice this and she responded by giving him a suggestive smile. She was definitely flirting with him.
During dinner Tommy and the Shelby's continued to question Maddie incessantly as she ate. She proved to have an exceptional appetite, finishing her plate in a matter of minutes. She explained that slaying often made her insatiably hungry. John who was sat next to her, was particularly impressed by this.
'I do like to see a woman with a good appetite!' he bellowed as he took Maddie's shoulders in his hands and shook her playfully.
'For fucks sake John! Leave the poor girl alone!' called Esme from across the table. John just continued to giggle like a schoolboy, Maddie giggling with him, the pair of them like naughty children who were caught misbehaving. Tommy was glad to see she was building a rapport with his family. That would prove important if he wanted them to trust her.
Over the course of dinner, he noticed that Maddie was also drinking an impressive amount of alcohol. He'd been counting the number of pints she'd had, and when she reached her sixth, she proceeded to down it in one go to impress her onlookers who cheered and clapped rapturously. He shared a concerned look with Ada and Polly, the last thing he wanted was for his brothers to get too excited and cause Maddie to get blind drunk on her first night in their company. However, she didn't show any signs of intoxication as far as Tommy could tell, apart from giggling more.
Maddie also started to pull at her dress uncomfortably, reaching under the collar and complaining to Ada who was sat on her other side. 'How do you wear this shit all day, it's so uncomfortable!' she giggled as she drew her skirt up slightly to twist and adjust her stockings, not caring how unladylike she looked which only entertained the his family more.
As the night drew on, Tommy's family settled into a joyous atmosphere of chatter, laughter and no short number of requests of Maddie to impress them with her physical abilities. Tommy was happy to sit back with his whiskey and watch through a cloud of cigarette smoke as everyone had their turn with the most bizarre and incredible woman they had ever met.
Arthur was first and asked Maddie to show off something that demonstrated her strength and agility. She asked for a pin which Polly graciously provided; and then went on to pin the front and back of her dress together between her legs. She went over to the end of the table and lifted herself up gracefully into a handstand on the table edge, everyone clapping their applause, but Maddie continued her performance. She pivoted on the spot once and started walking up the table on her hands, stopping in the middle to part her legs in an elegant split as everyone applauded and cheered. Despite the pin she had put in place, the hem of Maddie's skirt still rose high enough up her legs to show the top of her stockings. Tommy felt his cock twitch in his trousers, forcing him to adjust his position in his chair in and effort to distract himself. She completed one lap of the table and dismounted by twirling off the end earning another rowdy round of applause.
Finn spoke up next and challenged Maddie to an arm wrestle. This earned a lot of laughs from everyone, but she just smiled and nodded her assent to the challenge. She discarded her cardigan and positioned herself on one side of the table. Finn did the same and adopted a rather poor attempt at a tough masculine posture, bringing his shoulders forward and flexing the muscles of his arm. All the while she just smiled smugly. John announced the start of the wrestle and Finn immediately put all his effort into trying to get Maddie's hand to move but she just held it upright without any effort it seemed, her expression nonplussed and the muscles in her forearm not even twitching. She even started taunting him as he gave up on rules and moved himself to the end of the table, leaning back and using all his weight to try and move her arm.
'Sorry about this Finn,' she apologised, putting on a faux act of humility. Finn gave her a look of confusion before Maddie slammed her hand down on the table. The force sent poor Finn flying onto the table face first triggering another round of raucous laughter from the room. Even Lizzie and Linda laughed, both of whom had being trying hard to look unimpressed by Maddie's displays of prowess.
John wanted to know how good Maddie's shooting skills were and proceeded to lead her outside by her arm, followed by Tommy and the others, into the snow which was now settling in a thick blanket on the ground. He and Arthur lined up six bottles on the stone wall of the driveway and handed Maddie a pistol. Without a moment's hesitation she raised the gun and shot all six bottles one after the other from left to right, which all shattered in a shower of glass that disappeared into the snow. This made Tommy raise his eyebrows, betraying his amazement at the growing list of Maddie's talents, especially since he had just counted her tenth pint and she had still showed no sign of being drunk.
When they returned inside and settled in the drawing room once again, Tommy and the other men stood talking together on one side of the room whilst Maddie and the women sat near the fire.
'This woman is something else Tom,' exclaimed John is disbelief. Tommy knew John would be the easiest to sway, he had always had a weakness for pretty girls, even more so when they had confidence like Maddie.
'How exactly are you planning on bringing her into the company?' questioned Michael. Tommy had noticed that Michael had become considerably more bold and brash recently and he wasn't sure that he appreciated it.
'I'm not sure yet. I wanted to discuss business tonight but it seems we have gotten carried away with our new guest,' replied Tommy as he looked over Michael's shoulder to catch Ada pulling Maddie away from the other women, interlocking her arm with Maddie's. Tommy felt a small semblance of panic stir inside him. He expected Ada to have a quiet word with Maddie and he worried that she would be warning her about him along with the rest of them. That it would be best for her to leave tomorrow and never come back to this family.
Tommy pretended to listen to his brothers and cousin as they speculated how Maddie could be utilised as he watched the interaction between Ada and Maddie, unable to gauge what they were saying from their expressions. Polly got up and joined them and Tommy felt himself panic more. He debated going over and interjecting before his aunt could do too much damage but decided against it as Maddie turned towards him enough that he could see that she was smiling with Polly and Ada. He let himself relax, he hadn't realised that his whole body had tensed up at the thought that Maddie could have disappeared the next day without a word because of what they'd said to her.
Polly and Ada went to sit back down, leaving Maddie by the window alone. She looked up and caught Tommy staring at her and they locked gazes for a moment. She smiled the same suggestive smile she had given him earlier before returning to her seat as well.
Esme then got up and went to the megaphone, winding it up so it filled the room with the up tempo beat of jazz music causing everyone to turn their attention towards her.
'Come on I want to dance!' Esme called, a drunken slur evident in her voice. 'Come on Mads, you telling me you're not an expert dancer as well?' Esme began to dance a jig in the middle of the room, as her audience began to clap her on laughing.
Maddie gave a look of disdain and shook her head. 'This isn't really the sort of music I'm used to dancing to,' she complained, resisting as Esme pulled her arm in an attempt to get her to stand up.
'I'll show ya then!' persisted Esme. Maddie sighed and with a nervous smile nodded her head in defeat.
'Okay okay!' she giggled. She brought her glass to her lips again and downed the remainder of her drink. Pint number twelve, Tommy counted. Evidently having the constitution of five fully grown men was another advantage of being a slayer.
Maddie got up and started to copy Esme as she danced around, quickly picking up the steps of Esme's improvised choreography. They continued like this as some of the others joined in the frivolity. They took turns to hook arms with Maddie and danced around in circles. She soon discarded her shoes and wrestled her stockings off, not seeming to care about everyone watching her, and tossed them aside before she continued to jump and spin around jubilantly.
Tommy watched amused as Maddie's hair fanned outwards, mirroring her skirt as she span round. He found he liked the way her hair bounced with life with her movements. Tommy even felt himself being tempted to join in with the dancing, but he knew that this would cause his family to collapse in shock. He did dance but not to music this jovial.
Eventually everyone began to tire and sit down exhausted, including Maddie, finally showing signs of fatigue, all be it small. However, she continued to drink her beer without slowing and he realised she had started her sixteenth pint and began to worry that she would make herself sick.
For the first time that evening, Tommy went over to Maddie and sat next to her on the sofa prompting her to look up at him inquisitively.
'Oh, hello Tommy!' she laughed as she realised who had sat next to her. 'Fed up of standing over there on your own and not having any fun?' She had a teasing glint in her eye and he allowed himself to let out a huffed laugh and simply hummed his agreement.
'You however have been having an excellent evening entertaining my family and drinking a rather large volume of my beer,' he stated as he looked at the already half empty pint glass in her hand. She followed his gaze to inspect her drink.
'Oh, shit really? Sorry about that. How many have I had?' she enquired smiling.
'Sixteen,' Tommy replied. 'Including that one.'
Maddie's eyebrows flew up in shock. 'Shit. I guess your beer must not be as strong as the stuff I have back home! I'm usually ready to pass out by now but I feel alright,' she mused. However, this was enough to get her to abandon the rest of her pint on the table. 'Nice to know that you have been keeping a close eye on me though,' she teased, smiling smugly at him.
Tommy did his best to ignore her smugness. 'Even so, your constitution is impressive,' he said.
'Yep. Yet another perk of being a slayer, along with my accelerated healing. Not so much the terrifying nightmares though, those I could do without,' complained Maddie. Nightmares? Tommy wondered what sort of nightmares she had. Were they were like his own?
'What do you have nightmares about?' Tommy asked with his brow furrowed. Maddie cast her gaze around the room to make sure no-one was listening to their conversation before replying.
'Slayers. Mostly.' she mumbled. 'Their fights and their deaths. Sometimes though I have dreams about stuff that's going to happen. Like prophecies. Bloody pain in the arse!' she huffed.
Tommy nodded as he considered this information. Yet another thing he had in common with Maddie. He too had paralysing nightmares most nights meaning he often slept poorly which contributed to his ongoing bad mood and irritability. He toyed with the idea of sharing this with her, but decided against it. His own family didn't even know about the extent of his affliction and he didn't think it appropriate to tell Maddie, even though she was already starting to feel like a new member of his family.
They chatted for a while, sat next to each other on the sofa. Maddie asked questions about Tommy and the Shelby Company which he answered whilst being careful not to mention the more illegal business the company was involved with. He noticed though that none of the information he told her seemed new to Maddie which lead to him to question her about it. Maddie looked momentarily nervous and Tommy raised an eyebrow to question her further. She finally admitted that the Shelby Company still existed in the future and that most people in Birmingham, even the whole of the country knew about the Shelbys and their success. This took Tommy aback considerably and his face betrayed a look of shock. It was hard to comprehend but he found that he was glad to hear that his legacy would survive through to the 21st century. But it also meant that she had known a lot about him this whole time while he had known nothing about her, reminding him of how dangerous she was and how she could be a formidable threat to him if she decided she wasn't his ally.
Maddie evidently sensed what Tommy was thinking and quickly put him at ease. 'Don't worry Tommy. I'm not planning to double cross you. I may be a slayer, but I still know better than to betray the trust of Tommy Shelby and the Peaky Blinders.' Maddie winked at him again and Tommy decided that he believed her. She had no reason to lie at this point and he certainly agreed that she wasn't stupid enough to use her knowledge from the future against him.
Maddie held eye contact with him comfortably for a moment. Tommy still couldn't quite believe she could look him in the eye so easily when so many hardened and dangerous men cowered in the shadow of his icy glare. Then again from what he had learned about her that night he also wasn't surprised at all.
Tommy looked over at the clock and saw that it was nearly midnight, signalling that the evening needed to end.
'I think it's time we all retire for the night,' Tommy addressed the room now standing up to punctuate his statement. There were nods of assent around the room as everyone else followed suit, standing up and making their way towards the door.
As Maddie went to stand, she teetered suddenly and would have fallen over if Tommy hadn't caught her shoulders to hold her up. She bought her hand to her head and scrunched her face up in pain.
'Ah…' Maddie hissed. 'I think those sixteen pints may be catching up to me,' she muttered through clenched teeth.
John and Arthur chuckled, chuffed to see that Maddie was finally showing some sign of weakness. Ada sharply slapped the back of John's head and he shot her an angry look which she ignored.
'Come on, I'll walk you back to your room,' said Tommy softly and he started to lead Maddie forward to the door. He pointedly ignored the disapproving looks that Polly and Ada were shooting at him, knowing what those looks insinuated. He was disappointed that they thought so little of him. He admitted he had many faults but taking advantage of drunk women wasn't one of them.
As everyone filed out into the foyer, they wished each other, including Maddie goodnight.
'Goodnight,' Maddie called out to the group as Tommy continued to lead her toward the stairs, keeping her upright as her feet tripped and stumbled awkwardly beneath her. There was a definite slur in her voice now and she continued to hold her head in her hand.
John took the opportunity to pipe up again. 'Don't worry Mads, our Tommy will take good care of you,' he laughed loudly. Tommy turned to shoot John a furious glare. It had the desired affect as John immediately stopped laughing and looked away quickly. Esme then proceeded to descend on her husband to berate him angrily.
Luckily Maddie hadn't seemed to notice John's heckle and Tommy breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want there to be any reason for her not to trust him. As they ascended the stairs he had to support most of Maddie's weight to prevent her from falling backwards; he wrapped his arm around her waist so he could support her more easily. Maddie leaned into him automatically and Tommy felt his heart race in earnest now as he enjoyed the feeling of her warm body against him. He could also smell her hair, it didn't smell like any scent that he had encountered before. He continued to hold her like this until they reached her bedroom door. Everyone else had peeled off along the upstairs corridor to their own rooms and eventually the corridor fell silent, just the two of them stood by her door. He opened her door for her as she leaned against the doorframe to keep her balance. Tommy feared she was going to vomit as she was starting to look a little green.
'Hey, you going to be alright?' he asked in a concerned whisper.
Maddie peered up at him and smiled ruefully. 'Yeah, don't worry about me,' she whispered back. 'I'll be right as rain after a few hours' sleep.'
Tommy nodded and debated as to whether he should walk her over to her bed and make sure she got into it safely. Maddie made the decision for him, however.
'Well, goodnight Tommy. Thanks for helping me back,' she smiled again and took his hand in hers. Tommy's heart skipped at the intimate contact. She squeezed his hand firmly before letting go and tentatively stepped through the doorway.
'Night,' said Tommy as she quietly shut the door on him.
He lingered in front of her door as he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to clear the fog from his mind as he heard her footsteps retreat into the room. He took several deep breaths to bring himself back to his senses. He felt that he missed the feeling of Maddie's body next to his, the empty space next to him felt like a hollow cold chasm without her there.
When Tommy finally made it to his own bed, he found that sleep eluded him as it usually did but for a whole different reason than usual, his mind was completely consumed by the extraordinary woman asleep in the room down the hall.