long live the king ....      02x01

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THE CAR CAME TO A STOP.

rosalie was thankful when john and arthur got out from the car, being stuck between the two for what felt like hours on end was not enjoyable.

"johnny dogs!" rosalie squealed as she stumbled out of the car.

"little shelby!" he laughed, opening his arms to embrace the blonde.

"sar shan!" the girl asked, using her very little knowledge on the shelta language to ask how he was.

"shom kushti" the man nodded with a grin. "i'm travelling with the lee's now" he explained.

"so i can see, johnny" she smiled, the man patting her head before walking over to thomas.

"so your fist fair since france?" johnny asked.

"what do you know about france you war-shy gypsy bastard" thomas joked, "so that's the horse" he said.

"so that's the car" johnny shrugged. thomas made his way over to the horse. checking it's hooves and patting it's stomach.

"she's gorgeous" rosalie spoke up, walking towards the beast and running her hands against its main.

"hang on a minute, we're not swapping a horse for the family car are we?" arthur questioned.

"of course we're not swapping it" johnny dogs spoke, looking at arthur like he was stupid. "that'd me mad"

"we're gonna play two-up" thomas pointed, the two men taking the coins and flipping them into the air.

as they came back down they leant over, thomas had won. they shook hands and thomas handed him the keys.

"thomas, i knew it. you bloody idiot! i knew it" arthur is raged.

"calm down arthur i won, i promised johnny a spin in the car if i lost" thomas shrugged.

"oh" the man mumbled.

the lee boys soon began laughing, pointing at arthur and whispering between themselves.

"are you lee boys laughing at my brother?" thomas asked as he neared them.

the men stepped towards thomas as johnny dogs ran towards them.

"i asked you a question" tommy continues.

rosalie sighed, shaking her head. she turned towards the car where young finn sat frightened. the lee boys screamed, finn turned into rosalie as her hands protectively covered his eyes and ears. she turned to look out the window, "stop it! stop it you bloody idiots!" she yelled, bringing finn closer towards her.

they paid no attention to the girl, continuing to slash the men's faces. although rosalie knew of the violence that surrounded her family she was seventeen, not fearless. she took a deep breath begging the tears to stay away.

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james' head was roughly thrown to the side as a copper held his fist tightly. "peaky bastard" the man spat, james looked up with a bloodied smile.

"gonna' take a lot more than that" he laughed.

"fuckin' phyco" the copper growled, throwing him one lost shot to the jaw watching as his head dropped and his body became limp.

"get him out of here now"

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"what the fuck!?" rosalie screeched and john held a bloody james who was barely conscious.

"fucking coppers" james slurred, slouching down.

"grab a cloth, bowl of water and some whiskey" rosalie told john. the man nodded and went into the kitchen. 

rosalie went down to her knees and looked at him. "how did you manage this?" she asked kindly, using her thumb to wipe away a trickle of blood.

"was trying to stop the raids, the inspector took me into some room got his men to bash me" james explained, looking down at the girl softly.

"hm" she nodded, john coming into the room and placing her requests on the floor. rosalie picked up the whiskey and handed james the bottle, encouraging him to take a drink before she snatched it away and drowned the cloth in it.

"this is going to sting" she smiled systematically, watching as james sat up slightly.

"i can take it" he nodded.

rosalie pressed the cloth to the side of his head over his wound, the boy yelled and rosalie used her spare hand to push his shoulder back. she shushed him soothingly and removed the cloth.

"told ya' " she laughed, ringing the cloth in water before coming back to his face.

"yeah, yeah" he sighed, relishing in the cool water that drenched the side of his face.

john sighed, "i'll go find tommy" he said as he left the pair alone in the house.

with rosalie still holding the cloth to his face, james placed his hand on top of hers. "gonna nurse me back to health?" he asked with a grin.

"you wish" she giggled. she looked up and his gaze softened, her hair was messed up and a small cut laid on her hair line. her freckles littered her face and for once we're not covered in makeup. her blue eyes stood out, glistening like an ocean in a foreign land.

"your pretty, ya' know" he whispered.

rosalie cleared her throat, backing away slightly and standing up. "coppers must've really got ya' " she laughed awkwardly, throwing the cloth in the bowl — it's contents spilling over onto the carpet.

"i'll eh, i'll see ya' around james" she smiled.

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"so your pregnant?" rosalie began. ada nodded looking at her younger sister break out into a smile, one the family hadn't seen in days.

"it's freddie thornes, isn't it" rosalie asked with a raised eyebrow, although she already knew the answer.

ada's mouth opened and closed like a fish. "how did you know?" the woman questioned, her hands playing with the hem of her coat.

"your not that sneaky ada, i've seen you myself a few times — not to mention i come home from work at the time you leave" rosalie shrugged, not bothered by her sister's scandalous love affair.

"i love him, rosie.. and he loves me too! he proposed too!" ada sighed, finally coming clean. rosalie grabbed ada's hand comfortingly. her finger running over the silver band that laid on ada's ring finger.

"i'm sure you do, and he'd be crazy not to love you back. your my sister ada, the one and only.
i'll support you until i'm in the ground, even after that" rosalie smiled softly.

"you always know what to say" ada grinned, a hand coming to lay on her stomach even if she wasn't yet showing.

"can i feel?" rosalie asked sheepishly.

"there's no bump yet, but of course you can" ada smiled softly, opening her jacket up slightly.

rosalie reached over, softly placing a hand on her bloated stomach. a smile etched her features, the thought of a woman being able to grow life inside of her stomach was truly amazing.

rosalie looked up at her sister with a bright smile, unable to contain her excitement. "i'm buying them all the best clothes, branded of course — who would you be if you let your child out in the world in anything other than the most expensive fabrics money could buy, hm" rosalie explained happily.

"your going to be a great aunt to my little baby, rosalie shelby" ada smiled tearfully. she was happy that there was atleast one person in the world that would stick by her side through thick and thin.

happy that if anyone, it was her little sister.

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her fist rattled the door of the florist, an unhappy connie opened it about to tell whoever it was to 'fuck right off' but when she seen rosalie she paused.

"two bob for your picture of the king, con" rosalie smiled, holding the coin.

"what are you doing, rosie" connie asked, leaning against the door frame.

"if the coppers want to stir trouble in our town, they'll get it" rosalie smirked deviously, shoving her hand forward for commie to take the coin.

"alright, i assume i'm to bring it to your ends" connie stated with a raised eyebrow.

"see ya' later, connie" rosalie saluted, turning away from the florist and down a lane before coming to billy's door.

"billy boy, open up!" rosalie called, knocking on the door. the boys head popped out from a window above.

"rosie? what do ya' want, love!" billy asked, with a grin.

"come down will you?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowed. his head disappeared and the front door flung open.

a cigarette hung from his mouth as he stood in the doorway with only an undershirt on. "what do i owe this pleasure, ms shelby" billy teased.

"two bob for your picture of the king" she smirked, "meet us down at watery lane, tonight" rosalie said, tossing the coin at his feet before leaving.

rosalies hair was pinned up and she wished she could let it down but the looming thoughts of a scolding off polly lingered in her mind. she smiled at locals as she passed them, only some returning it whilst others cowered away from her.

sometimes she wished she was normal, although she loved her family the odd time she'd dream of being normal, running through the streets with the friends she'd have — ones that weren't terrified of her or her family. going out with boys who wouldn't be scared off by her brothers, having to work for a place in the world..

if others could hear her thoughts they'd think she was selfish to be willing to hand away the money and power but deep down she wanted to be ordinary, plain even.

when she arrived at watery lane the fire already began blazing. "petal! was wondering where ya' were! off galavanting i suppose hm!" arthur bellowed, bringing the girl into a tight hug.

rosalie could smell the alcohol off of him. he reeked of it. some would turn him away because of it but rosalie welcomed the comforting smell, her body found a home in the warm embrace.

"rallying up a few more pictures, arty" rosalie hummed, pulling away from the man and quickly taking his flask from his hand and downing its contents.

she relished in the burn and felt her body relax, it was whiskey — that much she knew. "the shelby in you burns like a forest fire!" arthur cheered, ringing his arm around her neck.

"i grew up around you lot, think i'd turn out pristine or something?" rosalie challenged, feeling the slight buzz of the liquor taking place.

"nah not you, petal! you've a bit of all of us in that pretty head of yours" arthur laughed, flicking her temple which caused the girl to slap away his hands.

"alright go, go on now" arthur laughed, pushing her into a group of girls who looked at her like dear in headlights.

"what" the shelby girl snapped.

"do you have snow?" one of them spoke up.

"does it fucking look like it?" rosalie asked bewildered.

"yeah, you look off your head half the time anyways" she hissed.

the blonde laughed maniacally. which earned a scoff from the girl.

"do you know who i am?"

"no, but i'm sure you know me.. family goes by shelby" rosalie growled, clenching her fists tightly as she looked at the brunette.

"come on, leave it violet.. she's a shelby" one of her friends spoke, attempting to defuse the situation.

"shelby or not i don't care! she's being a bitch that thinks she's all high and mighty but she's just shelby scum like the rest of them" violet screeched, her arms flailing round as if she was a fish out of water.

rosalie was never good at controlling her emotions. even from when she was small, she grew up around angry men and women who never backed down. she was self destructive, always had been. her eyebrows narrowed and she titled her head.

before violet could speak again, rosalies fist came in contact with her nose; blood immediately rushing from it and spilling down violets clothes, some even splattering on rosalie.

the girl cried out and attempted to back away from rosalie but it only riled her up more. rosalie reached forward and grabbed the girls hair by the roots, using the upper hand she brought her knee up and violets head down, crashing it against her knee.

violet clawed at her face she rosalie brought her face from her knee, and suddenly violet slapped her across the face leaving a red hand print against her pale face.

her fist crashed against violets face, again and again and again. she could feel her knuckles splitting as her blood mixed with violets and anger rushed through her veins. her hand slipped into her hair removing the pin that laid tucked under her blonde strands.

ripping it out, her hand whipped against her face. the blade slashing her eyes, the girls screams echoed through the road as locals scrambled away from the frenzied girl.

arms wrapped around her waist pulling her off of the girl. her hands grasped the arms attempting to free herself, still lunging at violet.

"calm down, for fucks sake! rosalie fucking breathe" james yelled, pulling the girl away from violet and the watchful stares.

turning rosalies body to face his, james gripped her shoulders. "calm fucking down!" he yelled, trying to snap her out of it.

her breathing was ragged and rage burnt in her eyes. "no one gets away with talking to me like that, stupid bitch is lucky i didn't cut her tongue out!" rosalie seethed.

"ay, it's alright, it's alright" james voice softened, pulling the girl against his chest. "it's alright" he almost whispered, his hand coming to rest on the back of her head.

"she's a bitch" rosalie whispered.

"yeah she is" james agreed, "but her face will never look the same" he joked.

"good"

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"she's wild, our rosalie" polly sighed, taking a hand over her face.

"that she is" thomas agreed.

"she hasn't left her bed since that peaky boy james brought her home last night covered in blood" the woman informed. "jame's said none of it was hers, said it belonged to a girl named violet" polly continued.

thomas nodded, encouraging his aunt to continue.

"apparently she was mouthing on about our girl, called us — our family scum. she's never been good at controlling her emotions, you know that well thomas, better than anyone. she's every bit of you, all of us really. she holds it all, the darkness. she can't handle it, she's just a girl" polly spoke softly, she loved rosalie like her very own. she cared for the girl more than anything in the world and to see her battling her own mind was something that made polly gray useless, and she hates feeling useless.

"she's a shelby, polly. we've all gotten in our fair of street fights" thomas spoke, clearing his throat. "and she isn't us, she's better. she's good" thomas stated.

"thomas... she's more than us, she may be the glue that holds us all together and that stops us from murdering eachother but that girl is infested with pain! whispers are goin' round that she took the girls eyes thomas! the spirits have been talking-" polly began before thomas cut her off.

"stop with the fucking spirits polly. rosie wouldn't take a girls eyes just for that, she's up in bed because she probably has a cold, she's been prone to colds since she was young" thomas dismissed, growing more frustrated with their conversation.

"she hasn't had a cold since she was was eleven thomas. after greta she refused to get sick, fearing she'd be taken too. you wouldn't know that because all she is to you is a bloody business partner" polly yelled. she was at her wits end with thomas, their girl was obviously hurting and it was something neither of them could fix.

rosalie turned her back to the door at the yelling, she could hear every word. she placed her hands over her ears and stared blankly at the wall. she felt numb, like a rotting corpse. a pit laid in her stomach that felt like an endless void of suffering and pain. it felt as if her heart had been removed from her chest and she was simply a shell. she wasn't thinking of tomorrow, simply if she was going to survive the next hour.

the feeling of self hatred was so calculated and thought out, one would think she had been typing out every single detail that was wrong in her brain, with her body and her mind, for years. the air felt dry and her sheets felt uncomfortably soft against her skin. rosalie had woken that morning with the feeling of dread and anxiety, her body felt as if thousands of stones laid atop of her — weighing her down.

the yelling had died down and she could feel eyes piercing her back but she made no attempt to move.  tears brimmed in her eyes as the thoughts began yelling in her mind. she hated it, she hated herself.

her bed dipped as a cold calloused hand laid on her bare shoulder. "it's just the trumpets and the marching band, love. it's just a bit of noise" he whispered, thomas wasn't good with showing emotions — not after the war.

rosalie sat up, her face was stoic and cold. it felt as if thomas was looking in a mirror. "i cut her" rosalie croaked.

thomas eyes softened, he almost looked sad. guilty even.

"my mind" she pointed to her head, "it doesn't feel like mine, i don't feel like me! it's going haywire, i can't do anything. i can't breathe it's suffocating me" rosalie laughed, she felt crazy.

thomas didn't speak, only slowly bringing the girl into him and holding her like she was made of porcelain. "it's just noise, love. just the bands goin' at it in that pretty head of yours" he whispered softly, rocking them back and forth.

rosalie crumpled in his embrace, not knowing what to do but just enjoy the comfort. 

"my heads fucked, tommy" she whimpered.

"yeah. mine too, my girl.. mine too"

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AUTHORS NOTE

this chapter is 1k less than the last one and as much as it annoys me i felt it had to be left as that.

rosalie is such a complex character and she feels the need to be the person that worries and cares for everyone before herself but battles with such strong emotions in her own mind.

it's so important that i portray how she feels and although it's only the second chapter, mental illness isn't refrained to a time schedule.

i'm looking forward to developing her relationship with herself and others as the chapters continue and i hope you all enjoy.

please do not refrain from giving constructive criticism.