Thomas Shelby had never believed in the idea of love, and certainly not the idea of love at first sight.

He couldn't comprehend how it was possible for a simple glance lasting perhaps only a second could change the course of a man's life forever, it seemed impossible.

Tommy liked being in control. He liked knowing he could decide his own fate and take from the world whatever he pleased, knowing that he held the power to walk down whichever path he chose.

Uncertainty kept him awake at night. He despised the unknown and the future, spending hours and days mapping out his life down to the second to ensure that the unknown simply did not exist in his world. Thomas thought of every possibility and considered every eventuality, ruling out even the notion of a what if, and he liked it that way.

He built a world with his own two hands, one that it seemed like everybody wanted to live in. He ruled kingdoms with cold glances and an even colder heart, iron fists and sharp blades, seeing things for exactly what they were in shades of pure black and white.

Denial, however, was ultimately what had Thomas Shelby gripped tightly around the throat.

See, the reality was that he had experienced love at first sight, and the small inkling of warmth in a cold suit of armour was what kept his thoughts at bay, and the strength of denial healthy.

Seeing Blair O'Hara at seventeen years old had changed his life in more ways than he had ever imagined. He remembered the way he felt his chest tighten and his stomach drop when he looked over and saw that she had already been looking at him. He recalled the blush on her cheeks when she ripped her gaze away, immediately feeling as though the sun had disappeared behind a black cloud when she was no longer looking in his direction.

Thomas had written off the idea of love at a young age, but his imagination changed the day he met Blair. Seeing her for the first time made him realise that perhaps loving and being loved were two things he wanted for himself, though only if it was her, nobody else.

Blair, however, had dreamed of falling in love for as long as she could remember. Her mother told her stories of handsome princes and shining knights, men that would care and protect to no end, love like it was oxygen and anything less was suffocation.

She craved a life like she women in the books she read had. Blair was a dreamer and a hopeless romantic, she loved wholeheartedly and soulfully, pouring all the love she had into the hands of her lover, reserving nothing for another soul.

She thought she was safe to give her heart to Thomas. In fact, it had never really been a choice at all. When her eyes fell onto him across the field that day with her sister, Blair knew in her gut that she would forever be bound to him, whether she wanted to be or not.

He was quiet, reserved yet confident. His eyes were cold and intimidating yet made Blair feel warmer than she'd ever felt before, he made her feel the way she felt wrapped in her mother's arms as a child or how it felt to sip hot cocoa by a fireplace. He was home to her, safe, a feeling that was inescapable once experienced.

"I love you."

Blair's eyes were soaked in tears and her skin was stained with cries, though she had never seen anything more clearly than when she looked up at Thomas.

She found herself gripping onto his hand like she was clinging onto something that didn't really exist, if only strength could turn a fantasy into a reality.

"I know you do, that's the worst part."

Blair had crumbled and Thomas had watched. His hand ached from the piercing of her nails against his skin but the overwhelming sensation of her finally touching him again made him numb to any pain.

"What can I do, Blair? Tell me, please, just tell me what I can do to make this right."

She sniffed quietly, swallowing as she stared at him. His hand cradled her smaller one comfortingly, warming her soul with just an extension of five fingers gracing her skin.

"Nothing, Tommy. You can't love me the way I want to be loved. I know because you've tried."

He clenched his jaw, her words hurting her more than any blade or bullet ever could.

"One more chance, that's all I need. I know now, Blair, I know. A-and it shouldn't have taken me this long to learn how to love you but it has, and I need you to let me give you everything. I know you wouldn't still be sat here having this conversation with me if a part of you didn't want to give this another chance."

Blair drew in a shaky breath, her head and heart working overtime to pull her in two different directions.

She pulled her hand away from Thomas' in a swift movement, rising to her feet and pushing the chair beneath the table.

"I'm sorry," she said, drying her eyes while avoiding having to look at Tommy, "I came here for help with my car, that was all. N-not this, I didn't come here for this, I-"

"It doesn't matter what you came here for, it just matters that you are here."

Thomas stood up too, walking in front of her before she took a step towards the door. She looked small and frail before him, like life had passed her by and the flowers beneath her skin had stopped blooming.

"I wasn't at the field with my brothers that day to meet the love of my life, but I did. I didn't set out to hire a tutor for my son to be reunited with the woman I love, but I was. I didn't send Charlie to school because his new teacher was the girl I've loved since I set my eyes on her, but I did. And you're not here because you came to give our relationship another chance, but you can, Blair. Things don't always go to plan, and it can end up being the best thing that ever happens to you. Falling in love with you taught me that."

"Tommy," Blair whispered as she met his desperately blue gaze, his eyes holding more heartbreakingly intense emotion than she'd ever remembered seeing before, "I just c-"

"Don't say you can't, because you can," he stepped closer to her, swallowing his pride before placing his hands gently on her face, his thumbs brushing away warm tears from her skin, "Let me kiss you, just once. If you still think you can't let me love you one more time, I won't stand in your way of leaving."

Blair rolled her eyes with a quiet, frustrated sigh, "Tommy, you can't say things like that. You know that I-"

"Just let me, Blair. I promise I'll let you go afterwards, if that's really what you want."

She paused, looking up at him with a quivering bottom lip. The scent of his aftershave made a million memories flood her mind and her heart began to race as the gap between them slowly became smaller and smaller.

"I never wanted you to let me go, Tom, never."

Inside, Thomas felt his heart shatter all over again, though his face remained a placid picture. He felt his entire being fall away from his bones and fade into her's through the touch of his hands on her face. They were one, they had been since the day they'd met, and being apart had felt like the greatest sin a man could ever commit.

He shook his head softly, trying his hardest to keep his eyes dry, "I never should have, it haunts me day and fucking night, you know that? But I believe now, because of us, that whatever's meant to be will always come back to you. And somehow, if there really is a God up there, he keeps bringing us together, because we are meant to be."

Blair had loved and lost too many times to count in her life, but risking loss for the love of the only man she knew she could fully give her entire heart to felt right. It always had felt right, from the first time when he left to the second time when she left, something in the back of Blair's mind told her that no matter what she believed, she would never live a life without Thomas in it.

He watched as her face softened and silence engulfed her. Though her hands remained firmly by her sides, Tommy knew by the clench of her fists that she desperately wanted to reach out and touch him, scared that doing so would drop the weight of a lifelong change onto her shoulders.

And so, Tommy decided to take the weight instead. Without wanting to lose a second more, he kissed her. It was soft at first, hesitant as he felt her cold lips against his own, but he soon felt the universe shift as she kissed him back, feeling the pull of her hands on his shirt and her soft gasp tickle his skin.

"Come home, darling," Tommy breathed, their foreheads resting against one another's as he held her waist, "Come back home, back to me, to Charlie. Let us love you, because we want you to love us, God knows it's all we want."

Blair bit down on the inside of her lip, her eyes sleek as she looked up at Tommy, ravenous thoughts eating away at her as he squeezed her hips, his words making her head spin but the world stand still.

"Okay," she whispered, running her hands through his hair just to feel him for the first time in so long, "I'll come home."