𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟐

"You're sure you want to go?" Ada asked, walking through and putting her earrings in. Madeline looked at her through the mirror. "Yeah— John needs to see James. It's only fair." Madeline nodded, fixing her hair.

Ada placed her jacket over her shoulders and nodded. "Well, me and Theo will be there. No doubt that George will attend— if you need to leave just let me know." Ada nodded at her before leaving the room.

Over the past days, there had been little to no news about the Italians. So Madeline hoped that she could soon return home — that things would turn back to normal if that was ever going to be possible. "James, love. Come on." She said to the boy who was playing on the carpet, leaning down and picking him up. "We're going to see your dad." She whispered.

Prior to that day, they had stayed in a Hotel closer to Small Heath to make the journey shorter when the day arrived.

Madeline went to join Ada, George and Theodore out in the car and got James strapped in.

"Where exactly are we going?" She asked. Ada chuckled lightly. "A piss up at the Garrison by the sounds of it. I've no clue why." Ada spoke. Once they had been driving for a little while, Madeline got to thinking. "Have any of you.. heard from John? He hasn't been returning my calls these past few days."

Theodore raised an eyebrow but continued driving. Ada shook her head.
George held the steering wheel tightly and clenched his jaw, staring forward. As the days passed, he found himself growing more and more angry toward the Shelby man.

-

Madeline walked into the Garrison alongside George. They had arrived just as it had began getting dark. "Madeline!" Polly gasped, getting up from her chair to greet the girl. "Oh look how big you've gotten—" she fussed over James. "It's lovely to see you both." Polly said genuinely.

"Thank you Polly. Is John about?" She looked around

Polly looked back at the bar and nodded. "On his third whiskey by the looks of it." She laughed. "Here." She took James and nodded toward John.

Madeline fixed her dress and walked over, leaning her elbows on the bar. "You couldn't get me a gin and tonic, could you?" She asked, a smile creeping onto her lips. John hesitantly looked at her, not realising who it was that had been speaking to him. But when he realised, his eyebrows raised and his mouth fell open. "Jesus fuck—" he mumbled, looking her up and down and standing straight.

Madeline laughed lightly. "I didn't expect you to show—" John embraced her. She shrugged. "I thought it was only right. James needs to see his dad." She looked toward her son.

John pursed his lips into a smile. "Thank you, Madeline." He said genuinely.

Madeline noticed Esme who sat amongst the Shelby table, glaring at her. She frowned and looked back at John. "So, the gin and tonic?" She joked. John chuckled and nodded, pointing a finger at Arthur. "Oi, Artha! Get Maddie a gin will ya?" He shouted over the noise.

He threw an arm over her shoulder and she could smell the whiskey on him. She didn't pull away though. Madeline had missed him.

"Is there a reason we're all here tonight?" She asked him. John shrugged. "It's Isiah's birthday is all." He said. "Just an excuse for a piss up though, isn't it?" He grinned, sliding the drink toward her after Arthur placed it down. "How has James been? Has he been good?"

Madeline nodded. "He's almost walking." She told him.

John felt a strange sadness fall over him, knowing he'd likely miss his son's first steps if Madeline stayed away.

"Will you come home soon?" John leaned down, talking into her ear as the noise in the pub grew louder. She hesitated. "I'm hoping so." She nodded. "I just need a little bit more time."

John nodded and squeezed her shoulder. "Katie was asking after you last night."

Madeline's smile faltered. "You should let her call me." She offered.

"I will next time." He assured. Maddie looked at the table again and Esme was still watching, sipping from her glass. Without thinking, Maddie cupped John's face and leaned up, kissing him softly.

His brows raised again as she caught him by surprise and he put a hand on her lower back, pulling her closer and kissing her. "What was that for?" He asked when pulled away. Madeline used her thumb to wipe away the lipstick that had transferred onto his skin. "Just because." She smiled.

-

Time had passed and Maddie sat with John happily. He had his arm draped around her and they laughed with the family. Tommy, of course, was not present due to work. But everybody else was.

To Madeline's confusion, though, Esme was there too. And she didn't understand why. Esme was never at small events like that.

"Shut up, Finn." John joked and earned a small smack on the arm from Madeline. "Leave him." She defended. Esme reached for her drink and when doing so, accidently knocked John's over, causing it to spill all over him.

He quickly pushed away from the table and stood. "Shit—" he hissed, lifting his arms and looking at his soaked shirt.

"Oh, i'm sorry." Esme apologised quickly.

"No— no it's fine." He shook his head, unsure what to do. He looked around. "Right, i'll be right back." He said to Madeline. "Need to go change me fucking shirt." John kissed her forehead and swiftly left the pub to get to the house quickly.

Madeline examined Esme and the way her eyes followed the Shelby man across the room. Madeline crossed her arms and hummed.

She stood and walked over to George who stood alone by the bar. "George." She greeted, draping her arms around the back of his neck and smiling. He looked down at her and his arms, instinctively and loosely fell around her waist. "What're you doing over here? Come sit."

"No i'm alright here, Lina." He said, laughing at the way her words slurred together slightly and the way her smile was wider than usual. Still as contagious though.

"Oh, George!" She sighed. "You've got beautiful eyes." She noticed, gently touching his cheek. He pursed his lips together. "Have I?" He grinned.

Madeline nodded. "I've never noticed them before. Well— of course i've noticed your eyes but i've never noticed how pretty they are." She said.

George almost laughed at her but chose not to.

"You have beautiful eyes too, Lina." He smiled down at her. She tutted. "Don't make me blush." She joked.

George swallowed hard, finding it difficult to take his eyes from her. Knowing what was going on with John and her — and their marriage infuriated him because he knew he'd never do that to her. He would love her with everything he had. God, he already did.

"Where's James?"

"Polly took him back to hers." She said. "I wish John had brought Katie along tonight. I've missed that girl." She said with sadness. George nodded. "Do you think you'll go back to London?"

She shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. I'd like to come home and be a family again but.."

"You know i'd go with you, don't you?" He interrupted. Madeline looked up at him with a frown. "If you went away. If you went to the camp — or anywhere." He said. "I'd go with you."

She let go of him and looked down. "You would?"

"Of course I would." He mumbled. "Madeline—" he stopped, knowing his next words would be about how he had loved her his whole life. She tilted her head, waiting for him to continue. "I want to help you. I've known you since we were kids. Where you go, I'll follow."

Madeline swallowed. "You're too good for this world, George." She whispered, gently touching his arm.

-

After noticing Esme's absence and John's prolonged time being gone, Madeline chose to go back to the house, afraid something had happened to him.

She twisted the door handle and what she did not expect was to see Esme stood before her. She frowned. "Esme? What are you doing here?" She asked. Esme's eyes were wide and she said nothing. "Madeline.."

Madeline slowly closed the door and inched inside. "What—" she glanced up the stairs and her heart fell. "You didn't?" She whispered. Esme lowered her head. Madeline practically ran up the stairs and burst into hers and John's bedroom where he lay with the white sheet tangled on him, completely naked.

Madeline gasped and stumbled backward. John shot up and jumped out of the bed, pulling his pants on. "Maddie.."

"You bastard." She shouted, a finger pointed. "Esme? Out of all people—" she asked. "Is this why you haven't been returning my calls— because you've been fucking that whore in our bed?" She shouted at him.

John was speechless.

Madeline reached for the lamp and launched it at him, missing and hitting the wall instead. "How dare you!" She screamed, hitting him in the chest and forcing him to walk backward. "Madeline." He tried. "You fucking dick! I hate you!" She cried, tears falling from her eyes. "You're supposed to love me— not her! How— what.." she struggled. "Why would you do that?" Madeline picked a book from the shelf and tried to hit him with it but he held her wrist out of the way.

"Madeline, calm down."

"Calm down—" she scoffed. "My husband has been sleeping with another woman! And you're telling me to calm down?" She asked, hurt in her eyes. "I waited for you, John. I waited for you to fix things. I was going to come home. I was going to bring James home to his dad. But you've gone and fucked everything up, again." She shook her head.

"Mads, i'm sorry. I swear it—"

"Wasn't supposed to happen? Or was I just not supposed to find out?" She asked.

John stayed quiet.

"Fuck you." She hissed. "You've ruined everything." She said through gritted teeth. "I never wanted to marry you. I never wanted to love anyone. But i learnt to. I learnt to love you. And I did love you, John. I loved you so much—"

"No— you do love me, Madeline."

"No." She stopped him. "I did. I did until you did this to me. You're ruining me, John. You're picking me apart bit by bit. You're destroying me." She shook her head.

John's heart dropped.

"And I stayed for you. For us. For the baby. And yet you can't even keep your cock in your pants. Was I not enough? Did you get bored?"

"Madeline, you know that's not—"

"So why did you have to fuck Esme?!" She cried out, pushing away from him and sitting on the bed. She dropped her head into her hands. "Fuck you, John." She shook her head. "I have never once looked at another man in that way since marrying you. Not once."

He breathed heavily. "Madeline, please. Just— tell me what I can do to fix this."

"Nothing." She stood again. "You can do nothing." She hissed. "Maybe if you did nothing, none of this shit would have happened in the first place." She ran a hand through her hair. "I'm leaving." Madeline announced. "Me and James are going to go on the road. And George is coming with us because George cares about us, about me. And he always has. He has never betrayed me, John. And he's not even my husband."

"Madeline— you can't do this."

"I am doing this." She said. "Don't take my little boy from me, Maddie. Please." He begged. Madeline looked down, knowing it was cruel to take James away but knowing she could not leave James in his care when he was hardly home anyway. "I'd take Katie too, John. But i'm not her real mother." She said. "But I love her like I am. So you tell Katie that her mum loves her." Madeline wiped under her eyes and walked to the door.

John placed a fist to his mouth when she left. He kicked the wall in anger and shook his head. Tears threatened to spill and he shouted in anger, pressing his palms to his eyes.

He had fucked up. For real this time. And he was so afraid that this was it for them. He had lost his wife and his son all because of Esme Lee. A woman who could not even compare to Madeline. And now George would be the man to care for her and James. George would see James' first steps, hear his first words. Not John.

And John began to realise the severity of everything he had done.

READ PLEASE:

In this situation, both John and Esme are in the wrong I know but mainly Esme as John is intoxicated and dealing with the guilt of his decisions and what they did to his and Maddie's relationship + her surprise return. Yes he was still wrong but it's difficult to explain. Have some sympathy for him please even if it's just a little bit because this
is NOT a "once a cheater, always a cheater" type of situation. This is a MISTAKE. And a MISTAKE only. Hopefully this will make sense in the next chapters.

And although it seems/ is implied John and Esme happened more than once, it did not. It only happened the time Madeline found out it just seemed bad and Madeline believed it had occurred other times before that as John had stopped returning her calls due to the guilt that was eating him up inside.