𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏
𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠

Love songs were never something that ever interested Aurora Thorne. It wasn't often she got to listen to music. But there she stood in the living room of Mikey's home whilst he was upstairs doing god knows what.

She stared at the gramophone that had been playing since she got into the house. It was playing something wonderful. There were no words but it was pleasant to listen to.

Rory didn't completely understand the music but she assumed it had to be a love song — despite the lack of words or lyrics.

Footsteps sounded as someone travelled down the stairs and Aurora looked toward the doorway. She was surprised when a blonde haired girl appeared.

"Oh— sorry." Aurora cleared her throat and held her hands behind her back. The girl looked at her for a moment. "I'm Aurora." She introduced quickly. "Thorne."

The girl nodded. "You're in my maths." The girl stated. "I'm Charlotte, Mikey's sister." She said.

Aurora nodded in understanding and chewed on her bottom lip.

Charlotte had a small frame and fair hair that went down to her middle back. She had light freckles that dusted her nose and cheeks — cheeks that were tinted ever so rosy.

"Are you not coming to school today?" The blonde girl questioned whilst still standing at the doorway. Aurora shook her head. "I don't like school."

"It's not all bad." Charlotte tried. Aurora raised her eyebrows and tilted her head, hoping the girl could list off a few reasons to support her argument. "You get to see your friends." Aurora almost laughed loudly at what she had said. "Friends?" Rory asked with her chin tilted downward. "My only friends are the Shelby's and the boys that work for them."

"Are you not friends with any girls?"

Aurora then realised how badly her statement made her seem. How arrogant it made her look. "Well, you see, it wasn't by choice I became friends with the lads.. and the girls in school don't seem to like me very much so I steer clear of them. I feel it's better to keep myself to myself."

Charlotte listened to her stumble over her words. "Did you like the song?" She nodded toward the gramophone.

Rory looked at the object then back at Charlotte. "Er— yeah. Yeah it was nice."

"Me and Mikey put our money together at Christmas to buy the record — which was ridiculously expensive by the way." Charlotte let out a soft chuckle.

Aurora found herself smiling slightly and nodded. "Is it a love song?"

"I believe so." Charlotte confirmed, her school bag still gripped tightly in her hand. The wood behind her had creaked and Mikey appeared behind her slowly with a raised brow. "So you two have met then?" He asked, brushing past his sister to get to the kitchen.

"Indeed we have, dear brother." Charlotte smiled. "Aurora is actually in my maths in school."

Aurora kept her mouth shut.

"Oh really?" Mikey took a piece of toast from the plate on the table and leaned against the counter. "That's crazy.." He said sarcastically, "but, er, I think you'll find that if you don't leave now you'll be late for school, Dove."

Dove. That was an unusual name to call someone.

Charlotte's eyes glanced over at the small clock that hung on the wall and they widened. "Shit—" She swore, swiping her coat from the hook and pulling the door open. "It was lovely talking to you, Aurora— bye Mikey!"

And then the door slammed.

"I hadn't really known that you had a sister, Mike." Aurora joined him in the kitchen. He shrugged. "She ain't very fun to talk about." He smirked, biting into the now cold toast.

"She seems nice." Aurora lowered her voice, unsure how to feel about the girl.

"Yeah she's alright." He shrugged, wiping his hands. Aurora crossed her arms over her chest and watched him clean up the little amount of mess in the kitchen.

"You called her Dove." Aurora blinked hard to try and dismiss the tiredness that was overcoming her. Mikey nodded. "If Charlotte was a bird, she'd be a dove." He said. "She was the reason our family found peace."

Aurora didn't want to dig deeper incase it was a sensitive subject to she pursed her lips together and kept quiet.

"It's Finn's birthday today," She said after a moment of silence. Mikey nodded in response. "I was wondering if you could help me get the lads together and we can throw him a party." She suggested. Mikey shrugged. "Do his brothers not do anything for him?"

"He's the forgotten Shelby— in some ways." Aurora twisted her lips together, feeling saddened for Finn.

Mikey shook his head in disbelief. "Yeah i'll send Harvey round to get them and youse can all come back here later on." Mikey offered.

Aurora smiled widely and nodded. "That's great, thank you."

-

"Finny!" Aurora called out cheerily as she wandered up the stairs. She heard his light grunt and pushed his door open. He looked at her briefly. "Happy birthday," she said to him.

Finn frowned and stared at the box she held out for him. He was confused. They hadn't spoken much since the little incident before the Garrison re-opening when he had helped her put her necklace on. "Thank you, Rory." He said gratefully.

Finn carefully slid the outer wrapping from the box before sliding off the lid. His eyes widened at the sight of a gold ring. A plain one similar to the one that John and Arthur had. "I can't take this off you." He shook his head. Rory furrowed her brows together. "No, please. It's from me." She argued, hands behind her back.

Finn looked down at it again and sucked in a breath. He carefully slid the ring onto his finger and balled his hand into a fist.

"Thank you.." He said again.

She shrugged. "Yeah yeah." She excused. "Now come on. We have some place to be." Aurora dragged him up and down the stairs. Finn had just managed to get his cap from his bed as she dragged him away. "And where are we going?" He asked as he shoved it onto his head.

Aurora placed a finger to his lips. "I can't tell you yet. It's a surprise."

Finn's eyes widened and he looked down at her finger. She grinned and took it away. She loosely held his hand as they walked down Garrison Lane and toward Mikey's house.

"Okay.." she stopped a few doors down. "Close your eyes." She instructed.

Finn rolled his eyes and Aurora shook her head. She stood behind him and stood on the tips of her toes to cover his eyes with her hands. He placed his hands over hers and they began walking forward. Rory struggled as she twisted the door handle with her elbow but successfully opened the door.

"Step up—" She carefully helped him inside the house where she heard the chatter die down. "Rory, where the
fuck—" He began but she hushed him.

"Okay.." Rory grinned and removed her hands from over his eyes. The moment he opened them, cheers erupted from the group of Junior Peaky Boys who stood before them. Finn looked around with wide eyes before looking at Rory.

"Did you do this?"

Aurora hummed and he shook his head with a laugh. It was only moments before he was taken away by his friends. She stood happily and watched as they showered him with birthday wishes and punches in the arm.

"Thank you, Rory.." Finn said gratefully and pulled her into a hug, lifting her off her feet. She gasped. "Put me down!" She laughed, her arm draped around the back of his shoulders.

The night went by smoothly and Finn was evidently enjoying himself. Aurora on the other hand was in a corner talking to one of the Peaky boys. A Peaky boy who had Tokyo.

Finn was too busy drinking with Isiah to notice what she was getting up to otherwise he'd have intervened.

"No— not here." She shook her head. "I'm not going to ruin Finn's night." She whispered. Charlie nodded and opened up her palm to place the small bottle onto it before closing her fingers over it.

"Just don't tell him, yeah?" Charlie muttered.

Rory nodded and chewed on her bottom lip. "Aurora!" Finn shouted her over. She forced a smile onto her lips and tucked the bottle into her shoe before going to join him.

Finn pulled a chair for her and smiled. "Thank you for this— I've had a really good time!"

"Anything for you, Finn." She shouted over the noise. Finn's eyes lingered on her for a little longer than he'd like to admit. "Listen— the other night.." he began and leaned his elbow on the back of her chair to speak clearly to her, his fingers brushing against her arm.

The noise was far too loud. They got closer so they could hear each other properly.

"What do you mean?" Rory asked him. Finn's mouth went dry. "Before the Garrison— when I helped you with your necklace." His heart pounded aggressively.

Aurora knew what he was talking about.

The Peaky lads had gathered outside in the back garden to do god knows what which left the pair alone. Rory swallowed hard and placed her hand over his. "Listen—"

"I want to kiss you, Rory." He spat out without thinking, the alcohol talking for him. Her eyes widened slightly but she didn't move her hand away from his. "Finn.." she whispered. He shook his head. "I'm sorry— i shouldn't have.. shit i'm sorry." He said quickly. Finn pulled his hand from underneath hers and dragged them across his face in embarrassment.

Rory forced out a light laugh and leaned forward to peck him on the cheek.

Aurora wasn't sure what had just happened. Between the alcohol they had both consumed, she knew that if they were to kiss — one of them would try and say they regretted it or that it meant nothing. Whether that would be the truth was unclear.

-

The clock was ticking angrily on the wall and Aurora's fingers tapped against the table many times. She bit down on her tongue and squeezed her eyes closed. The cocaine was in front of her. She had taken it. The cocaine that Charlie had given her — she left the party by herself to take it.

Now she was alone in Polly's house on Watery Lane whilst the family was out drinking.

Aurora was alone and paranoid, left with her thoughts. Her palms were sweating and her forehead was clammy. She pulled her hair over one shoulder and shook her head. "No." She said angrily.

Aurora didn't like this feeling. She needed someone with her. But what was she supposed to do? Call Tommy and say, 'oh yeah, Tom, i've just took a shit ton of Tokyo— do you mind coming to look after me?'

No. She wasn't going to do that. Freddie would be so disappointed in her. Well, that's what Aurora forced herself to believe.

Slowly, Aurora stood up and hazily walked to the betting den. Tears threatened to escape her eyes and she couldn't stop them. And in just a few seconds she was uncontrollably sobbing. Aurora placed her back against the wall and slid down it, feeling like her legs were going to give in.

A few minutes passed and the door opened and closed. "Rory you here?" It was Isiah. She could hear his footsteps as well as her panicked breathing.

He entered the room and looked at her with concern. "What the fucks happened? Finn said you left—"

"I'm sorry.." She whispered, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry." She repeated. Isiah kneeled in front of her and held her face. "It's alright, Rory. Speak to me." He said softly. Aurora clenched her jaw and leaned into his touch. "I've done it again."

That's all he needed. Isiah knew what she had done. "Oh, Rory." He mumbled. Aurora looked at him with sad eyes and he used his thumbs to wipe her tears away. "That's why you left the party?"

Aurora nodded quickly. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologising. You're fine. No one's angry with you." Isiah assured her. "Tom is going to be so disappointed in me." She sobbed. Isiah hushed her and pulled her in. Aurora held onto him tightly as if he were going to disappear. "Tommy won't be disappointed. He loves you like he's your dad."

He paused. "And I love you like you're my sister— no.. I love you because you are my fucking sister." Isiah pulled back and held her face again. "And we're always going to be there for you to turn to."

Aurora nodded slowly and sniffed. "When does it get easier?"

"When you let it get easier." Isiah whispered, moving her hair from her face. "It takes time."

"I'm tired, Siah." She whispered whilst holding her hands over his. "I know." Isiah pursed his lips together and ran his thumb across her cheek. "I know you are. But one day you'll wake up and it'll all change. I promise."

He took a deep breath. "And I think.." he paused, "Tommy will be the person who helps you with it all."

"He's so disappointed in me.." she croaked.

"Enough of that. Tommy loves you, Rory." Isiah assured her again. She just stared down and closed her eyes. "We all love you."