She had tried her best to avoid Thomas Shelby since she murdered the two IRA men. However, life had already made her understand she couldn't ignore him forever, and this time wasn't different.

She was working, just like always, even if she wasn't just with Grace now, but also with Harry, whom of which had returned to work the same day. She couldn't forget what had happened the last night, but she tried her best to stay entertained.

"Harry I think you remember it the wrong way," she said to answer one of Harry's jokes. "I never, ever broke a plate because I fell. That's not true."

"I believe him more than you," Grace said with a slight laugh as Sullivan glared at her. "What? I remember you breaking three glasses because you slid on the ground."

"Fair enough," the girl confirmed as Harry went to answer the phone ringing in the back. She gave a drink to a customer when Harry rushed back behind the counter, grabbing Sullivan's arm.

"My brother in Digbeth just says the police are coming down from Deritend in numbers," the blonde frowned, trying to understand what would bring the police here, but Harry answered by himself. "Asking for Tommy Shelby by name."

"Fuck!" she exclaimed as Thomas walked inside of the pub, his eyes settling on her as soon as he spotted her. He motioned for her to come in the backroom and she did so, rushing as fast as she could. As soon as she stepped into the room, Tommy closed the door behind her.

"I'll have to go away for a while," he said, stepping close to her.

"Why?" she asked, frowning deeply.

"I lost power, Sully" he whispered, biting on his lower lip.

"Yeah, is that about the stolen guns or something?" she asked, making Tommy slightly lean forward.

"Arthur's big mouth eh?" The blonde cocked her head to the side, confirming his words. "Doesn't matter, because now it's me and that fucking copper."

"Why are you here instead of running away?" she asked, her hand resting on his chest. "You're putting your life even more in danger."

"I wanted to talk to you," he whispered. She opened her mouth to answer but was cut off but the door flying opened, Finn appearing in the doorway.

"The police are in the lane, Tommy," Finn said, his breath heavy because of his run.

"Think, think, think," she muttered for herself. Finally, she lifted and waved at Finn, whispering a slight 'thank you' before grabbing Thomas' hand, her eyes staring at his. "You trust me alright?" He nodded, and there she was dragging him to the back door, walking quickly. She let go of his hand as they exited the pub from behind, looking all around them.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked as she walked through the streets with him behind her.

"They obviously will rush to your house as soon as they'll see that you disappeared," she explained. "And risking your life in my home is not what I want, so I'm taking you somewhere else."

They finally arrived in front of a big house, with dark walls. Tommy frowned as she reached for keys hidden in the gutter, smiling to herself. She unlocked the front door and pushed Tommy inside. Sully put her finger on his lips as he opened them to surely ask a question, listening to the noises. She grabbed his hand and they climbed upstairs, until a door opened in the living room.

"Shit," she whispered. "It's the first door on the right, stay silent." He nodded as she walked down, taking sight of Johanna Fray standing in front of her.

"Hello, Johanna," she greeted, putting a fake smile on her lips as the old woman in front of her crossed her arms on her big chest.

"Three months unpaid," the woman announced.

"Yeah, just wait here I'll be right back," Sully answered as she walked up the stairs, opening the little room door. Tommy was standing in front of the window, turning around as she closed the door behind her. "Fuck's sake, she should be already dead," she groaned, making Thomas snort. She opened a closet, exiting a box from it, which she opened on the bed, emptying it in order to find her money.

When she finally found it, she gave it to the old woman, who was now standing in the stairs. She mumbled something about the women of these days, but Sully didn't pay attention as she walked back to the bedroom, closing the door slightly to not make her scream. She shared a look with Tommy and she laughed, hiding her face in her hands.

"Who is she?" he asked.

"My old owner," she explained. "I rented this apartment since I arrived in Birmingham."

"Why?" he demanded, confusion showing on his face.

"Because I was afraid," she muttered. Tommy stepped in front of her, staring at her face as she stared at his.

"Are you afraid now?" he asked. Sullivan didn't answer, her hand caressing his cheek, her eyes following the movement with adoration. He leaned in the touch, closing his eyes a second before he opened them again, staring at her face. He ran his hand through her blond hair and then to her cheek as well, her cheeks growing redder as he traced around her lips with his thumb.

"Tommy," she whispered, closing her eyes at the soft contact. She bit her lower lip when his fingers ran down her throat, making her shiver. He leaned forward slowly until their lips collapsed against one another.

There was something between them that had seemed to disappear, and they put everything in their kiss that had missed them. Love, passion, lust. Desire.

Tommy lifted her up in his arms as she wrapped her legs around his waist, her hands on the two sides of his face, as one of his rested on her cheek and the other in her back to keep her against him. As he made her fall on the mattress, a giggle left her throat, making him smile when he stood in front of her in the mattress.

"You sure?" he asked, his fingers playing with a curl of hair. She nodded and this time she started the kiss, pulling off his shirt while he unzipped her dress. She traced the war scars on his skin with her fingers, looking at them with pain. He cleared his throat when she looked at him while drawing one of his tattoos.

"This isn't the best part of me," he whispered, but she shook her head, spreading long curls around her now bare shoulders and chest.

"I disagree," she said softly. "You survived, and that's what they show. They show how strong you are." She kissed one scar and then went back to his lips again.

Their bodies' reunion had been slow, passionate, and everything they had expected. They had found back each other in a way they hadn't for a while, and as they communicated as much love as they could to one another, she decided that he deserved the truth.

Her head was now resting on his chest, listening to his biting heart, his hands caressing her bare arm thoughtfully.

"I don't hear the shovels against the wall," he whispered happily. She giggled, despite having no idea of what he was talking about. Then, he kissed the top of her head and she adjusted herself on his chest, her fingers running on his skin. "What's on your mind?" he suddenly asked.

"Tom," she began, her body sliding on top of his as she looked into his eyes, her right hand caressing his cheek as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "I have something to tell you."

"Go ahead," he encouraged. She knew how many times he had tried to make her open to him, how many times she almost did but finally retreated back.

"You know where I come from," she said softly, keeping her tone quiet. She bit her lower lip nervously, slamming her arms around his neck as he straightened up, holding her against his chest. "I was born a strong family in Cheyenne. My mom is Irene and my father's Richard. Everyone feared Richard, while Irene was simply sweet. No one hated her, but nobody either understood what she was doing with Richard, considering how rough he was with her sometimes. I have two brothers. Twins, and older than me, named Carlisle and Samuel. And I came after them, daddy's little girl, protected, loved." She scoffed as Tommy kissed her chin.

"Daddy's little girl eh?" he mocked, making her smile and smack his arm.

"However, daddy's princess didn't have freedom, and so no friends. I only knew my brothers, but I wasn't allowed to hang out with them. When I turned sixteen, my father introduced me to a man, sweet and rich. It was an arranged marriage, and his name was Eliott Parkinson. Of course, I didn't have anything to say about that, and two weeks after, we were married. I was young, innocent, still a girl, and he was a grown-up, devilish, and violent behind his manners. Nobody could've known, however it happened the first night of our marriage." At this point, she closed her eyes and bit the inside of her cheeks to stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks.

"Take your time," Thomas whispered, making her giggle, kissing his forehead gratefully.

"He was brilliant, everything that I know he taught me, he was very well educated. But it didn't stop him from being a fucking rapist, and a fucked-up brain. He was drinking all day when he wasn't working, and sometimes he was so violent I could barely exit my bedroom because I was too afraid." She sniffled and rolled her eyes. "And now I'm hanging out with you Blinders, I was so weak."

"I have to fucking stop you here," Tommy interfered. "You weren't weak, you were young and alone. That's not a weakness to be lonely." Sullivan nodded in agreement.

"I lasted two years. At the beginning, I thought my parents didn't know, but in two years I realized they were completely aware of what was happening to me. They were visiting occasionally, but it was so rare I could count the visit on my hand." She sighed as she stared at him. "That's the worst part. The day I ran away, Eliott was so drunk he could barely walk. When he got home, I was reading a book, and he threw me a glass. It broke right next to me, fortunately it didn't cut myself too seriously. I remember feeling like a mouse in a trap, knowing that I couldn't escape. It was the worst night I ever had because I spent it running through our house, trying to run out. Finally, he attacked me so violently he broke one of my fingers. I was bruised everywhere, arms, legs, stomach, everywhere. I was nothing but pain."

Thomas ran a hand through her hair, communicating his affection through his gesture. He could feel her body shaking against his, like she was afraid or living those moments again. Knowing she had been through so much was killing him, however he knew he needed it, just like her.

"It was that night that I remembered he had a gun in the house. I shot him, three times. I killed him, and I ran away. I didn't say my goodbyes to my family, I didn't leave a note, I didn't say where I was going. I just ran away, started over."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Tommy asked as she bit her lower lip.

"I was scared," she answered. "I was afraid of what you could think about me. I know that I'm a murderer, I didn't want you to judge me."

"I don't," he reassured. "That's why you didn't hesitate to shot those men the other night."

"Because I knew how to do, yes."

They stayed silent, Sullivan thinking about what she had just confessed, and Thomas about all the consequences of what happened to her.

"Do you remember our first night?" she asked suddenly. Thomas rolled his eyes, as a giggle left her throat. "It was the first time I had sex with someone I loved, and who respected me." He seemed to think about it during a second before he turned them so that she was now under him, his body on top of hers. He looked right into her eyes, reading all the emotions that were readable in her ocean gaze.

"I promise that since today, you'll never have to be forced to do anything again because I'll always respect you."

"You're planning to stay with me forever or what?" she asked with a giggle, her fingers running through his dark hair.

"Why not?" he spoke as he leaned forward to kiss her lip softly again.

"I won't complain," she laughed, kissing him back.

"Do you think they would like your crowd now?" Thomas suddenly asked.

She played with a stray of hair on his forehead, her left leg wrapping around his waist. "Are you speaking about you or the rest of the Blinders?"

"Touché," he laughed, kissing her nose.

"Gotcha," she playfully answered, her hands resting in his back. "Honestly? They would hate all of you," she stated with a bright laugh, hiding her face in his shoulders as he laughed with her, clearly expecting this answer.

Later that night, as she was falling asleep next to him, Thomas watched her angelic face, his heart aching at the thought of everything that happened to her. No matter what she had did, here killing someone, he could never blame it on her since she had suffered that much. He couldn't believe that she had ran away for such a reason: he had always thought about a rebellion, or something as stupid, because she was young. How wrong he was when he thought about that now.

She was beautiful in every way possible, even if she had done wrong things. Most of all, now he was sure that her love for him was genuine, and would last for a long time because he was the only one that had made her feel loved in all the way she should have to be.

As his eyes laid on her once again, he discovered something he loved even more about her: she was speaking when she was sleeping, and she was speaking her name.