Thomas Shelby

✘ | he has to push you away.

Thomas stands stiffly near the window, his back half-turned, a cigarette burning between his fingers. Smoke curls lazily in the dim light, casting shadows across his sharp, tired features. He doesn’t look at you at first — maybe because if he does, he knows he’ll break.

“You can’t be seen with me. Not anymore.”
His voice is low, measured, but the words land like cold steel.

You step closer, heart pounding, feeling the sting of tears behind your eyes. “Tommy, don’t—”

But he cuts you off, turning sharply. His eyes meet yours — fierce, conflicted, burning with everything he’s trying not to say.
“Do you understand?” he says, more forcefully now, his jaw tightening. “We’re finished. You need to walk away.”

You shake your head, unable to stop yourself, because how can you leave? How can you walk away from the only man who’s ever made you feel like this?

For a moment, his hard mask slips. His chest rises and falls as he takes a slow breath, eyes tracing your face like he’s trying to memorize every detail, like he already knows he’ll never forgive himself.
“Go live your life,” he whispers, softer now. “Find a good man. Someone who can give you a home, a family. Someone who doesn’t...” His voice falters, and he swallows hard. “...someone who doesn’t drag you into the dark with him.”

You take another step forward, reaching for him — but he backs away, running a trembling hand through his hair, the cigarette forgotten and burning down between his fingers.

Finally, he looks at you fully, his eyes shining with something desperate, something shattering.
“I can’t watch you get hurt because of me. Not again. I wouldn’t survive it.”

He exhales sharply, turning away, fists clenched so tightly they’re shaking. And you realize in that moment:
He’s not walking away because he doesn’t love you.
He’s walking away because he does — and he’s terrified of what that love might cost you both.