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𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑅𝑇𝑌 𝑂𝑁𝐸

"Never thought my high fucking heels from Paris would be stepping through the horse shit of Small Heath ever again," Polly said, her voice cutting through the thick air as loud and as grating as the clangs of metal in the near distance. Polly glanced to her right, to her daughter who walked beside Ada, smiling through her glare slightly. She was still rather standoffish after they visited with Michael. "Much less with my Anna."

"Temporary Polly," Ada chimed, setting her eyes in front.

"Yeah, until hell freezes over," Lizzy said with a laugh. Anna had barely spoken to the woman.

As they neared the centre of Charlie's yard, the place that Finn and Isaiah were going to take her the other day, she realised, Polly diverged from the group, splitting off to the side, reaching for the cigarette box that hid in her deep pockets. Anna went to follow her mother, her own hands tucked within her coat, hidden from the cold. But as she did do, Ada swooped in smoothly, slipping her arm through the loop of her elbow.

"No, you're coming to sit with us. Can't have Polly making you sit out," she said as she led them to the table.

The seats surrounding the table were already close to being full. Lizzy went straight to the end, shuffling into the seat beside Tommy. Ada pulled Anna toward spaces only two seats down. 

"Have a drink."

Anna eyed the numerous bottles that covered the surface, their necks sticky and contents half empty. "What is it?"

"You've never had a drink before?" Ada exclaimed. "You're seventeen."

"Eighteen in three weeks."

"Even worse."

Anna frowned defensively. "I've had a drink before. Just not often," she said with a shrug, taking the glass from Ada and peering down inside. "Before Australia, if we wanted anything other than basics it had to be stolen. My friends like to swipe a bottle for special occasions. The last one I remember was my birthday actually."

That was a lie. The last one she could actually remember was Will celebrating being free of his father. It was fun- it was the drunkest Anna had ever been. But it was the following day that made the sweet memory so sour.

Ada's face twisted curiously. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I never imagined you having a life before here."

"Well, life didn't just start when I returned home," Anna said.

They smiled as Lizzy shuffled to sit by them, noticing the conversation.

"No that's not what I mean. It was the same for Michael. You had friends, family in Michael's case. It's just..."

"Bizarre," Anna finished for her.

"Do you ever miss anyone?" Lizzy asked.

"We always miss people, whether they were wanted in our lives or not," Anna said, letting out a breath. "But yes. I miss my friends."

"What were their names?"

"Josephine and Will," she said. "And Elliot and Maya in Australia."

Unsurprisingly, Anna wasn't the only one with stories of the past. They shared them, speaking of birthdays and weddings and horrible misfortunes that couldn't help but be laughed at.

"Yes! It was on John and Esmé's wedding night that my waters broke. I got so angry and I was dancing all over the place," Ada said, letting out a cackle-like laugh as she bent over the table, eyes clenched closed. "I didn't want to stop. It felt like I'd been drinking."

"She started screaming at Tommy- loudest I've ever heard her," Lizzy joined in.

"Next thing I know, I'm sitting in Watery Lane with a baby boy in my arms."

They let out a chorus of laughter, earning another shot of glares from the other end of the table, which seemed to be bunching up closer and closer by the hour.

"Charlie said I could go see the horses," Anna said as their tales of laughter finally died down.

Ada nodded, pointing down the yard. "Through there."

"Want us to come?" Lizzy asked.

Anna shook her head. "No that's alright."

She followed her directions, turning into the stables. It was dimly lit like most of the buildings in Small Heath, with light pooling in weakly from the cracks between the ageing panels and open doors. Whineying filled the air, an unfamiliar sound.

The horse she went to first was beautiful- that was the only way she knew how to describe it's sleek, chestnut coat. Anna smoothed her hand down its neck carefully, letting out a breath that was quickly held again as a shuffling alerted her of another presence. She left the horse's side, edging toward the wooden divider behind the stall.

"Hello."

The brown eyes of Aberama Gold's son stared back at her from behind the barn wall. He was so much taller than her, at least by a foot, and so from where she stood, separated by the wood and the stacks of hay, she could barely see the details of his face. Except for his eyes. They creased with laughter lines, complimenting the dark glint of his mischievous eyes.

She looked away quickly, taking her time as she continued the walk along the wooden frames, catching him in glimpses through the spacing.

"You frightened me," she said, tilting her chin up.

The boy grinned as he walked along the other side, matching her pace. "I'm sorry."

Anna raised a brow. "You don't look very sorry."

"I can't say I feel very apologetic either." The grin on his lips was enough of an answer.

Anna smiled, glancing shyly his way. He was teasing her.

"You're Mr Gold's son?"

She reached the end of the wooden frames, the bundles of hay no longer there to separate them. Gold's son skipped forward slightly, slinging his hat from his head smoothly at the tips of his fingers as he slid straight in front of her. He blocked the space in which she was heading to, leaning hauntingly against the end of the post, his full self now proudly in view.

"Bonnie Gold," he said, tilting his head forward in a greeting. "At your service."

The way he gestured, taking her hand from her side, brushing his lips against her knuckles, though the act was far more direct and suggestive, she was reminded of Mr Elsner. Those memories had been suppressed months ago, and yet there she was, thinking precisely about what Robert would have thought about her trusting so easily. Especially when talking about a boy who'd been labelled so harshly by her own family. Savages. But Bonnie didn't look savage.

"I can't say I know who you are," he said, the glint never leaving his eyes.

"Anna. Anna Gray," she said, pulling her hand back, tilting her head in her own act of teasing.

She stepped backwards, leading him away from the wooden frames and out into the middle of the stable. As she walked backwards, Anna let out a screech as her back connected with something firm. She spun around, wide eyes calming as they moved to rest on Tommy, his disapproving stare eyeing her for a moment before drifting behind to Bonnie, and then to Aberama, who she hadn't even realised was sitting by the end with a bottle of whiskey.

She went to speak, but Tommy shook his head. "Anna. Your mother wants to see you."

Anna nodded, making her way toward the stable door. She glanced back only once. Bonnie's eyebrows were raised as he watched her leave, eventually following Tommy back to his father. Then, as she made her way back to her mother and her neurotic mumbling, Anna was left to think how much of a savage Bonnie Gold truly was.

And whether her memory Robert was right about not trusting this boy too.

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Hope you don't mind another short one x