𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟑

Madeline stared at herself in the mirror, her eyes fixated on the growing baby bump she had. It was the night of Micheal's eighteenth birthday and they were having a party in the Garrison. She didn't want to go. But she wasn't going to back out now.

She could hear Katie arguing with John over the fact he wouldn't let her come with. Katie was young and opinionated. Just like Maddie when she was younger.

"No, you ain't coming." John huffed, walking into the bedroom.

"Why won't you let her come?" Maddie asked whilst putting in her earrings. John grabbed his tie from the bed and shrugged. "She just runs round mad and gets on Finn's nerves."

"Finn loves her." She sighed, turning to help him do up his tie. John tilted his head up slightly and let out a breath, looking down at Madeline. "Why're you looking at me like that?" She asked without meeting his eyes, concentrating on the tie.

John smirked. "Like what?"

She finally met his eyes. "Like that."

John's smirk grew wider and he leaned down, placing a quick kiss on her cheek. "I just like looking at you." He teased. Madeline jokingly smacked his chest and pushed him backward. "Shut up."

John began laughing and as she went to walk away, he kneeled slightly and wrapped his arms around her waist, picking her up and spinning. "Put me down!" She laughed. John began placing small kisses on her shoulder.

"John we need to go!" She argued, holding onto him in fear of falling.

John hummed and finally put her down. "Whatever," he huffed. Madeline scoffed and linked him. They were both met with an angry looking Katie who stood at the bottom of the stairs with her arms crossed. Madeline looked at John.

"Katie." He warned. "I've already told you."

"Dad." She mocked his tone. "I want to see uncle Arthur." She explained. John laughed. "Why would you want to see him?" He asked. John walked past his daughter and picked up his cap, shoving it onto his head.

"Do you always have to wear that?" Maddie whisper-shouted to him. He shrugged.

"Dad please!" Katie begged.

John kneeled in front of her. "Right, Katie, you've got school tomorrow. I can't have you out late." He told her, a hand on her shoulder.

Katie huffed and shrugged his hand off. "Fine." She rolled her eyes and stormed off to her room.

-

Walking into the Garrison made Maddie feel extremely weird. John must've been able to tell because the moment they stepped inside, he placed a hand around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

"Hello trouble," Arthur greeted his younger brother when they entered the snug. "Can I get ya a drink?" He asked the pair of them. Maddie was quick to refuse. "No thank you, Arthur. They say it's bad for the baby."

Arthur's eyes widened. "The baby— are you bloody pregnant?" He asked with sheer happiness on his face.

She nodded and Arthur stood to wrap his arms around her. "Well congratulations! I'm happy for youse both!" He said honestly. "What is it? Is it—"

"A baby, Arthur." John said sarcastically.

Arthur pulled a face at him and turned to Madeline for an answer. "It's a baby boy." She said. Arthur hummed. "Isn't that good then? What you gonna call it— Arthur?" He joked.

"Yeah maybe," Maddie joked back.

Soon enough, Polly entered with her son and they began clapping. "Here he is look!" Arthur said. They all cheered happily. "Happy Birthday Micheal," Tommy said, shaking the boys hand.

"Eighteen years old. You're a man today." Arthur clapped. "Give him a drink John boy—" He ordered. John nodded and got a glass, "Here you go lad." John passed him a pint of beer.

"And after that, we will go find you a lady of the night.." Arthur joked. "Arthur—" Polly scolded.

"Micheal—" Tommy cleared his throat, handing him a box. "What's that?" Micheal frowned.

He opened the box, looking at the pocket watch. "So you are never late to work." Micheal looked back at him, smiling. "Welcome to the business, Micheal." John said.

Micheal hugged Polly, thanking her.

"Come on, let's get him drunk, whiskey!" Arthur shouted. "No whiskey, he's got work tomorrow." Tommy stopped, "give him only dark mild." He pointed.

"A toast, to Micheal," Everyone raised their glass. "To Micheal."

-

Madeline sat playing cards with a now teenage Finn whilst John had his arm slung around Arthur's shoulders. The sound of John's excited shout caught her attention and she looked over her shoulder.

"George— come here." John said, moving over to let the boy sit in between himself and Madeline. "You've met Maddie ain't ya?" He asked. George glanced at her and smiled slightly. "Yeah.. yeah I have." He nodded.

Maddie examined his face for a brief moment but quickly returned to her game of cards before it seemed like she was staring.

"I win." Finn said. Maddie stared down at the cards in defeat. "I told you I was no good at this game, Finn." She huffed. Finn smirked and began shuffling the cards again.

The night went by slowly and Madeline grew tired by the hour. John was drinking beer after beer and singing loudly with George. She watched from afar and couldn't help but think about how much she recognised George.

And that's when she began thinking of the boy from the camp that disappeared.

"Maddie—" The dark haired shouted, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her from the floor. She squealed with laughter as he spun her around. "You cut your hair," he noticed as he placed her on her feet and flicked the ends of her hair with his fingers. She smiled and looked down at it. "I did." Madeline nodded once. George grinned at her and shook his head. "And what's Esmerelda got to say about that?" He asked asked as they fell into step beside each other.

Madeline shrugged. "Well she wasn't too happy." She held back her laughter. George flung an arm across her shoulder and sighed. "One day—" he paused, looking at the sky that was turning an orange colour, "me and you can run off together. Go somewhere new." He suggested. "Like where?" She asked. "Italy." George said seriously. "I've always wanted to go." He added. Madeline hummed. "Italy sounds nice." She agreed. George pulled her closer. "I don't want to be stuck in this camp forever, you know?" He asked. She frowned. "I suppose." She tried to agree with him. "I promise one day we will get out of here." He whispered in her ear.

Maddie snapped back to reality and her eyes landed on George. It had to be him. Surely it was him. Nobody else had eyes like his. They were dark and full of love. She recognised those eyes like nothing else. He was definitely the boy from all those years ago.

"You alright, love?" Polly asked quietly. She nodded slowly. "I think i'm going to go home.." She muttered, gathering her jacket and shrugging it over her shoulders. She brushed John's shoulder in passing and he looked at her. "I'm going back home.." She said. Madeline offered him a smile and kissed his cheek.

John nodded and hugged her for a moments. "I'll be home before midnight, yeah?" He stumbled over his words. He looked around briefly for another blinder who could walk her home as he wasn't ready to leave yet. "George— George, do us a favour and walk Mads home will you?" He shouted.

George put down his drink and nodded, wiping his lips. "Course." He agreed, patting John's shoulder and following the dark haired girl out of the Garrison.

There was a silence that lingered for a few moments. She was the first one to break it.

"When we saw each other at the markets I couldn't help but think i'd seen your face before," she paused, hugging her arms around her body. George shoved his hands into his pockets whilst listening. "Then I saw you tonight and it confirmed it for me." She looked at him. "It was you who left the camp.. wasn't it?"

He looked down. "Yeah."

She felt her heart pang slightly. "You told me we would run away together. Do you remember?" Madeline asked him. George nodded. "Of course I remember, Lina." He said softly.

Lina. The nickname he came up with. The nickname only he ever called her.

"I wish you'd stayed." Madeline said honestly. "I needed you." She admitted. George felt a slight guilt grown within him. "But I don't blame you for leaving." She said as they walked through the dark. "I just wish you would've taken me with you."

"I would have taken you, Lina. I wanted to, really. But I knew you had a lot more waiting for you than running off to someplace with someone like me." He replied.

"You could've at least told me.. instead of just disappearing." Maddie trailed off. "I remember searching the woods till early hours in the morning. The only thing I could think about it was that you'd gotten yourself in some sort of trouble." She recited the memory.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want to see the look in your eye when you realised you weren't coming with me." He said truthfully.

They stopped outside of hers and John's home and faced each other. "At least we found each other again though?" He looked down at her with pleading eyes.

She nodded, knowing it would be impossible to be annoyed at him.

"Goodnight, George." She said. George examined her face. "Goodnight, Maddie." He responded. George waited until she was inside and he heard the lock on the door before he walked away.

George began dwelling on the fact he had left his closest friend behind all those years ago to practically fend for herself. She, realistically, only had Johnny Dogs and Esme Lee who cared about her. But Johnny was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. And Esme.. well, Esme was too busy defying her mother and trying to be a troubled teen.

He never thought he'd see Maddie again. He wished, obviously. How could he not? Whilst living at the camp, George had been in love with Madeline. She was the one girl who made him smile — even in the shitty times of living at the camp.

He loved her smile and the way her hair would fall perfectly on her back. She didn't think it was so perfect — in fact she believed it was sometimes the messiest thing ever. But he didn't care. She was still beautiful. George loved the way her eyes would glisten with happiness whenever they got the chance to ride their horses together. The way she didn't care about offending anybody. It was refreshing. She was like your first breath after being under water.

He'd always love her. Even if he couldn't have her. George could respect the fact she was married to John but still be in love with her.

George knew that he could never get over Madeline. He never wanted to get over her. Madeline was like the girl you'd see in a painting or like the girl you'd cross once and never see ever again but always think about every once in a while. The type of girl you'd write a love poem about.

She was like walking in a meadow full of flowers during spring. Like finding peace among chaos.

George admired her in such a loving way that he truly believed he'd never look at somebody with the same admiration he'd ever looked at her with. He had spent years apart from her and yet everything he thought and felt stayed the same.

But he could not betray John. He could not betray a friend. So, like the many years before, his admiration and love would stay locked away within him.

Upon entering the Garrison once more, George was greeted by John who grabbed his shoulder and shook him lightly. "Did ya get her home alright?" He shouted over the noise. George nodded and blinked hard. John nodded and patted his back. "Did something happen?" John was quick to notice his friends strange shift in mood from before he had left the pub.

George bit down on his tongue and nodded. "No, she's fine."

-

Madeline lay on her back, a hand resting on her stomach. John was asleep beside her, his head buried in the crook of her neck as he breathed steadily. The sun was slowly beginning to rise and she could see the yellow and orange light seeping through the curtains.

Occasionally she would steal a glance of the Shelby man and let her gaze linger for a few mere moments before looking back toward the window.

Maddie began thinking about the conversation she and George had shared less than twenty-four hours previously. He seemed genuine. And to have the confirmation that he was who she had thought he was made her feel strange. It was like George had never been gone. She was able to look at him like seeing each other was a regular occurrence rather than it being their first proper interaction since he disappeared.

Madeline didn't know how to feel about a lot of things. She was pregnant and hormonal. John was at work often and the days were getting longer and more difficult as they passed. Some nights John would only get back from working during early hours of the morning which meant Madeline had been left in bed alone.

But what else was she to expect? She was married to a blinder. And ever since Tommy's plan on expansion into London, John was working at unreasonable hours.

So what else was Madeline to do other than march down to the Shelby offices at seven in the morning on a Monday. "Tommy in yet?" She asked Lizzie who was reading through papers at her desk. Lizzie looked up and examined to girl for a moment. "Yeah, go through." She nodded toward the doors.

She walked forward and her shoes made a tapping sound on the wood as she did so. "Morning." She said with a loud, exaggerated sigh when entering.

Tommy was stood beside the window with a cigarette whilst holding a paper file. "Madeline," he addressed with slightly raised brows. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" He went toward his desk.

Madeline took a seat and looked around briefly. "I'm here to make a simple request." She let out a sigh. Tommy too sat down and leaned back, waiting for her to continue. "I want you to stop working John so much.." she requested confidently. Tommy let out a breath. "And why's that?"

She looked down to her stomach with obvious eyes. Madeline was now very clearly pregnant. "Well, Thomas, incase you'd forgotten, i'm pregnant with your brother's son. Your nephew. The nights are lonely when he's not there and I can only blame you for that. Katie hardly see's him and when she does it's only ever for an hour — if that." She explained. "I do not want John hardly having time for his son when I give birth."

Tommy tapped his cigarette on an ashtray. "Okay then.." he paused "When your child arrives, John will not work as long as he has been. But unfortunately, Madeline, work comes before anything."

She scoffed. "Even before his children? You've got to be joking, Thomas." She said seriously.

"Work is work. This is important business. We're growing as a company and we wouldn't want the lack of John's opinion to ruin that."

"Like you let him give an opinion on anything." She challenged. This caught him off guard. "Nobody else's opinion matters to you— ever. Nobody's but your own. You know it, I know it. God, everyone fucking knows it, Tommy." She took a breath. "And let's talk realistically here— it's more often than not that John does not give helpful opinions about this shit." She glared at him.

Tommy stifled a laugh and looked away for a moment. "Does he know you're here?" He asked. She raised a brow. "Why does that matter?"

"Because I'm not sure how John would feel if he wakes up to an empty bed and finds out you were with me." He had a sly look in his eye — like he wanted to cause trouble. She tilted her head to the side. "After all, I managed to prevent him and Lizzie by marrying all because she was still fucking me." He lowered his tone. "That broke his fucking heart." Tommy paused. "So how would he feel if this time it was his wife?"

Her eyes widened and she stiffened up. "Fuck you." She hissed. "I'd never even think about getting into bed with a man like yourself. It's funny you'd ever think that I would." Madeline stood. "Your ego is too big, Thomas. That'll be your downfall." She pointed an angry finger at him. "And if you ever try and come after my marriage again i'll kill you."

Tommy hummed. "Will you?"

She reached into her purse and pulled out a small gun, pointing it directly at him and cocking it. "Yes." She answered sternly. His eyes shifted. "Now I ask that you never doubt me ever again." She said seriously.

Tommy nodded once. "Very well."

"I also hope that you realise my pain when you come to have children of your own." She added.

Madeline slowly lowered the gun and carefully placed it back in her bag. She didn't utter a single word as she walked out of the offices. She was beyond angry. Although she found it hilarious that he would ever assume she'd have sex with him. Madeline would never stoop that low.