CHAPTER 22
(volume 3)

Tilly stepped into the empty house, a strange feeling washing over her. A major feeling of guilt had consumed her over the week she'd been in London.

Her eyes were glued to the telephone that sat in the corner.

She bit her lip, placing the bag of food she'd just bought onto the kitchen counter.

Matilda didn't want to call Finn. She didn't want to talk to him, she was afraid of what he'd say, what he'd do.

Just like magic, the phone began ringing, causing Tilly to jump.

"Hello?" She asked, holding it to her ear. "Hello, only me," Ada's voice sounded from the other end. Tilly let out a breath of relief.

"There's a space here at the library, one of the staff got sacked for stealing books," Ada laughed slightly, "so if you're interested, I can put a good word in for you." She suggested.

Tilly nodded as if Ada could see her. "Yes, thank you Ada."

"It's no problem, really. It'll be nice to finally have someone to talk to whilst i'm working." Ada hummed. "Anyway, i'll leave you. Good night," Ada said.

"Yeah, good night." Tilly said quietly. Once she placed the phone down, she didn't remove her hand. Her fingers lingered on the object, contemplating dialling the phone number that was engraved in her mind.

She couldn't help it. Tilly dialled the number and held the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" Finn's voice answered within seconds. Tilly didn't know what to say. She struggled to speak. "Hello?" He asked again.

"Who is it?" Polly's asked. "I'm not sure, they're not speaking."

Polly knew exactly who it was. But she said nothing. Finn had an idea, but he didn't want to know if he was correct. He was still angry.

Tilly panicked and slammed the phone back down.

Finn looked over his shoulder at Polly, slowly placing the phone back in its place.

"You know who it was, don't you." He said quietly. Polly nodded slowly. "It was Tilly." He added

"Don't you dare think about calling that number." Polly pointed a finger at him.

"But she called me!" He argued. "That does not necessarily mean she wants to talk to you, does it?" Polly shrugged her shoulders, walking off.

Finn waited till he knew that Polly was gone. He picked up the phone and let it connect to one of the telephone exchange girls. "Hello, Diana, give me the number that just called,"

She began reading out the number and he wrote it down quickly. "Thank you,"

Once that call had ended, he dialled the number she had given him and waited patiently. It took seconds before the person on the other end picked up.

"Tilly, i know it's you. Please just talk to me," he said quietly, holding the phone tightly. She breathed heavily. "Finn..why did you call me back."

"Because," he paused, "because I need to know that you're okay"

"I'm fine," she said bluntly.

"Please don't be like that, please. I'm sorry for whatever it is I have done. Please come back, Tilly." He pleaded.

"Finn, i can't come back, you and I both know that-"

"No," he interrupted her, "you and i both know that we love each other, and we both know that you're the only thing i want."

She bit her lip. "I'm begging you, Til, come back, let me fix this."

"The easiest thing for you, Finn, is to forget about me-"

"I can't!" He said loudly.

"You have to. Because if you don't heal what hurt you, you'll bleed on people who didn't cut you." Finn shook his head. "Don't. I don't want to forget you, i couldn't do that if i tried. You haven't hurt me, Tilly, i swear!"

"You have to. It's for the best. You can't hold onto me anymore."

He took a deep breath, knowing that arguing about it wouldn't help. "Tell me how to forget you and i will happily let you go," that was a lie, he was unsure if he was capable of letting her go.

"Put the phone down, forget this number, forget me."

He squeezed his eyes closed. "I love you," he said, "if i'm being forced to forget you, at least know that I love you."

-

1 year later

Matilda stood when she heard a knock on the door. "Coming!" She shouted, quickly walking to the door. As she opened it, she was met with a happy Ada.

"Ada, hello!" Tilly smiled, stepping aside to let her in.

"Hello," Ada nodded, wiping her shoes on the mat and running a hand over her clothes. "How've you been, how's Karl?" Tilly asked, taking her to the drawing room.

"He's good," Ada sighed, taking a seat on the couch.

"Good. What brings you here today?" Matilda questioned, pouring two small glasses of gin.

"Well," Ada began, crossing her legs. "I've got an invitation for you," She said plainly. Tilly raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"An invitation to Tommy and Grace's wedding." She finished.

Matilda swallowed, cringing at the thought of going to his wedding. "I'm busy," she said quickly. Ada raised her eyebrows. "I haven't even told you the date.."

"Yep. Still busy." Tilly shrugged, quickly swigging the rest of her gin.

Ada shook her head. "Matilda, come on."

"What?!"

"You've got to come! Please. You'll enjoy yourself, I swear." Ada pleaded. Tilly said nothing. "Tilly, you're eighteen years old, have some fun."

"Ada, i really don't want to."

"Is this about Finn?"

"What! No, i didn't even say anything about him," Tilly quickly defended, furrowing her eyebrows.

Ada tilted her head forward, pursing her lips into a straight line. "It's been a year, Matilda. Surely you're over it?"

"Well I am sorry, Ada. But Finn didn't die, he's alive-" Tilly's eyes widened when she realised how cruel her comment was about how Ada's husband had died. "Right..sorry, that was really horrible of me. I apologise."

"It's fine," Ada shook her head, placing the glass down. "But please, think about it. I've spoken to Polly, she misses you, so does John."

Tilly smiled slightly at the mention of John and Polly.

"I'll think about it,"

"Oh, before I go," Ada paused. "I heard a few people speaking about your art last week, people seem to love you." Ada grinned.

Over the year that Matilda had spent in London, she'd grown fond of drawing and painting. So she began making pieces of artwork, of course with no intention of doing anything with them.

But then Ada begged her to create a piece for her home. And after that, she practically forced Matilda to begin selling them.

And if it wasn't for Ada forcing her to do that, she wouldn't be making as much money as she was from selling the paintings.

She'd created a name for herself in London. A good name. For doing good things, not slicing peoples eyes like the Shelby's did. Matilda sat on a throne of success. They sat on a throne of blood.

Tilly looked over her shoulder at the vanity beside her bed, taking a deep breath. She reached inside the drawer, pulling out a small box.

The box that held all the jewellery Finn had bought her. The jewellery she hadn't touched since she was living in Birmingham.

She began thinking. What if Finn had moved on? Yes, he was allowed to, considering Tilly had left without a single word. But what if he had? Although she had, she knew it'd kill her to see him with someone else.

-

Finn sat by the phone, his fingers tapping the wooden table.

"Oi, you, get working!" Arthur scolded as he walked through the den. Finn groaned and picked up his pencil, working out the profit for the week.

Once Arthur was in his office, he turned back to the phone, quickly dialling a number and holding the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" A familiar voice asked.

"Til? It's me." Finn said nervously, his hands in fists. "Finn?" Her voice went quiet, "Finn why are you calling?" She whisper-shouted.

"I..just wanted to see how you were doing," he began stuttering.

Over the months, Finn had managed to control his nervous stutter. But this time, he couldn't stop it from happening.

"Finn, how did you get this number."

"Tilly, i thought that you'd be..happy to hear from me?"

"It's been a year. All i feel is disappointed that you have called." She lied. "I have business to attend to. Goodbye, Finn." She aggressively slammed the phone down.

He sat, defeated and hurt by her words. Surely she was lying. Matilda would never say such a thing.

"Fuck," he hissed, shoving the phone to the floor. Isiah looked over at Finn, an eyebrow raised. "What're you doing that for?"

"Go away, Siah."

"Av not done anything, don't bite my head off." the boy joked, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms. "Who were ya speaking to on the phone?"

"Nobody."

"Who's the lucky girl."

"Isiah, i told you to stop." Finn snapped. Isiah whistled, grinning. "Have you got someone pregnant?" He teased.

"Isiah, you and I both know that i've not went near another girl since Matilda so don't even-"

"Yeah, i know you haven't. And i think that's really pathetic. You're living a sad life, Finn." Isiah hummed, throwing his feet on top of the table and taking the newspaper into his hands.

"You're a prick, do you know that?"

"I did know that. But did you know that Matilda Willow's name is in the newspaper?" Isiah's eyes were wide.

"What?" Finn asked, walking over and leaning over his shoulder. He snatched the paper from his hand and read the front page.

"One of Londons most favoured young artists, she's went famous."

"She's not famous." Finn hissed, placing it back on the table.

"Mate, she's gotten into the papers for something good, for success. It's still good. Stop being so bitter."

"I'm not getting into this with you."

"Don't then, i'll go down to London an congratulate her alone, maybe she'll give me a kiss." Isiah shrugged, trying to annoy him.

"She's not a whore, Isiah."

"Well, she might be a whore for me, ya never know. No doubt she has the attention of half the boys in London so she must be bored. Maybe it'll be nice for her to see a familiar face, my face."

Finn bit his tongue, shaking his head. "In your dreams Isiah. She'd never."

"We'll see about that, won't we."

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Sorry for such a rubbish chapter, i had no clue how to start volume 3.