The Sun Will Rise | T Shelby

twenty seven

"Where is it? Where is it?"

Thomas woke up to Angelina thrashing around in the bed, pulling the covers from him as she frantically looked around the room for something, looking under clothes and behind cabinets in desperation.

"Woah, Angelina," Thomas held out his hand as he sat up in the bed, "What's wrong? What are you looking for?"

"My necklace! My necklace is gone I can't have lost it I-"

"Lina, calm down, it's here."

Angelina rushed back over to Thomas and watched as he reached to his bedside table and gently pulled the pendant from inside a drawer, handing it back to her with a sad smile.

"You took it off last night when we..."

Tommy shrugged his shoulders, watching as she clasped the chain back around her neck and clutched it tightly.

It was incredibly hard for Thomas to have to deal with the grief as well as love. He adored Angelina and desperately wanted to be happy forever with her, and it seemed like they were on track, but he couldn't deny the feeling of his stomach dropping every time she unlocked the pendant to look at the photograph of Alfie Solomons that was constantly around her neck.

Angelina glanced over at Tommy, noticing his deflated expression as he gazed mindlessly out of the window.

"Hey," she shuffled across the bed towards him and wrapped her arms around his torso, resting her head on his shoulder, "I'm sorry."

Tommy just shook his head and looked down at her.

"You've no need to apologise, I knew all the terms and conditions didn't I?"

Angelina knew Tommy hated it when she apologised for the way she acted when it came to grieving Alfie, but it didn't make her feel any less guilty. She knew how hard it was for him to sit there and watch her gaze at a photograph of Alfie or clutch her necklace when they were out together, but she couldn't help it. She missed Alfie deeply and the pain hadn't resided, but her love for Thomas had grown.

Tommy and Angelina got themselves ready for the day and had breakfast together downstairs. It wasn't the first time Angelina had ended up staying over at Tommy's house, she had a feeling that she'd end up making a habit out of it, struggling to sleep by herself since they'd spent the first night together after Alfie's death.

"I want you to meet Polly today, and Michael. You've not met them yet and I think it's important that you do." Tommy said whilst flicking through a newspaper.

"Polly? As in the one who doesn't like me?"

Tommy rolled his eyes and threw the paper onto the table.

"She doesn't know you, Angelina. And if it makes it any better, she hasn't liked any woman any of us have brought back to her."

"No," Angelina said while sipping her tea, "That didn't make it any better at all."

Once they'd finished eating, Thomas and Angelina left his home and made the short journey round the corner to Polly's house. She had been reunited with her estranged son Michael in the midst of the death of Alfie, so Angelina had yet to meet him, though she'd put off meeting Polly for what seemed like an eternity.

Thomas knocked on the door and Angelina stood shyly by his side, trying to not let her heart explode out of her chest at the rate it was beating. She was incredibly nervous, which was unusual as Angelina was a more confident woman than most, but this was Tommy's family, and it was important.

The door swung open and a gentleman in a waistcoat not much younger than Angelina stood in the doorway, a smile on his face when he saw Thomas.

"Tommy, come in."