•︎ •︎ •︎

━︎━︎ IN WHICH HER TIME IS OVER

Tewkesbury started at her motionlessly, tears spilling out of his eyes without knowing it as he watched a small smile plaster it self onto her face.

His greatest fears were about to become true and he would never forgive himself if he did nothing and let her die for no reason.

So he did the only thing he could think of as he watched his grandmothers finger curl at the trigger of the rifle.

"NO!"

His voice ran through the room as his feet did so too, Tewkesbury thought he was miles away from the brunette and the room seemed to only stretch out as he ran towards her. His footsteps echoed with every step he took and the bullet was only getting closer to the target.

Tewksbury jumped in front of the girl, both their hearts racing as Edith jumped back with a yelp, fully regaining her senses.

She thought it was over until she saw the body of her loved one hit the tiled floor, a salty tear running down her face as she pressed her back against the wall, gasping for air while her eyes widened and she quickly slid down to the floor.

"NO!" Edith yelled as she watched his body lay still on the ground, the girl started to crawl weakly toward him, her cheeks wet from all the tears that had submerged from her eyes.

"NO!" Edith yelled as she watched her younger brother lay still on the ground.

"TEWKSBURY!" She yelled as she stared at his motionless body.

"BILLY!" she yelled as she ran towards her brother, dropping on her knees and applying pressure to the bleeding wound on his chest, staining her hands with blood.

"No, no, no, no, no." she denied, more salty tears trickled down her cheeks, as she pressed her head to his chest, sobbing into it and leaving tear stains.

"No, no, no, no, no." she denied even though she knew he'd already lost too much blood to still be alive. She felt tears trickle down her cheeks, landing on his face.

Edith raised her head off of his chest, placing her hand on his cheek, slapping it gently to try and wake him up as one hand made its way to intertwine her hand with his, expecting him to close his fingers around hers but the action didn't happen. "Come on, flower boy. Wake up."

"Come on, Billy. Wake up." Edith begged as she placed her hand on his and burried her head in his chest, leaving blood all over her face.

"Please." she breathed out as she placed her head back onto his chest.

"Please."

Edith sobbed into his chest, staining his blazer with tears as she started to loose all hope of him being alive. "I-I love you" she said quietly, hoping that the words would be like some sort of spell that resurrected him. "I really do."

Edith carried on crying into his chest, her breath hitching as she lay over his dead body for long moments, her heart felt heavy and as if this was all her fault.

"I love you too. . ." Edith heard as she felt his fingers lock themselves with hers. His voice was soft, almost inaudible but it was enough.

Her eyes opened up from shock and looked at their intertwined hands to make sure she wasn't imagining his voice and touch. She moved her head up and stared into his chocolatey eyes that were already looking back at her.

She was speechless. She didn't believe it. For a moment she thought it was just her imagination or that she was also dead but when he cupped her face and wiped the tears from her eyes she knew it was real.

"I'd never leave you, Edith Ainsley. Not now, not ever" Tewksbury told her as he watched tears stream down her face. "Why are you crying?"

"You idiot." She said quietly as she looked away from his chocolate brown eyes to his pink lips, feeling his warm breath against the skin of her face.

His hand rested on her cheek as he caressed her pale skin with his thumb, his hand slowly sliding down her face as he swiped his thumb against her lips, moving his eyes down from her ocean eyes to her lips.

She lingered her lips in front of his, feeling hesitant at first before confidence washed over her, pressing her lips against his. Tewkesbury pulled away in shock, his own eyes widening as he watched Edith's face fall into a look of disappointment and regret.

"Sor —"

But before she could finish her sentence, Tewksbury smashed his lips against hers, engulfing her into his arms that wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him if possible, both of their eyes fluttering shut at the action he had initiated.

His lips moved softly against Edith's, her lips moulded perfectly with his as if they were made to be there. His hands made their way to cup her flustered cheeks as their stomach erupted with that — now know to them — feeling of what they liked to call 'butterflies'.

Edith pulled away after a moment and watched a smile grow on his face as she did the same, a small laugh escaping her mouth as she pressed her forehead against his.

Tewksbury sat up, one of the widest smiles Edith had ever seen displayed on his face as he unbuttoned his eyes overcoat, revealing a metal slate with a dent in the same spot he was shot.

With one glance at the slate, Edith closed her eyes and looked down at the floor beneath her, letting a sigh of relief out as she wrapped her arms around his neck, her forehead going back to resting on his.

"I'm not entirely an idiot, you know." Tewkesbury said, his eyes looking into her eyes as she smiled at him. Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear he whispered after a silent moment "you were made to fight."

Letting a tear spill out of her eye, Edith wrapped her arms around Tewkesbury who did the same, burying his head in the crook of her neck as her finger twisted around a piece of hair at the back of his head.

A smile took over her face, but when from behind his shoulder she saw Enola lay unconscious on the tiles of the floor, her anger came back, remembering who was standing behind them.

Tewkesbury stood up as he threw the metal slate from underneath his undercoat to the corner of the room as he stared at the woman — who weirdly enough started to smile and take steps towards them.

"Your time is over." He said confidently, his voice deeper than ever as Edith grabbed a hold of his hand, pulling herself up.

A frown of realisation dawned over the woman as she looked down slightly, loosing all confidence she had in herself at once.

Tewkesbury continued to stare the elderly woman straight into her eyes as he wrapped his hand around Edith's, intertwining their fingers together as they stood their ground against the woman, who had dropped the gun at some point.

I hope y'all forgive me for scaring the shit out off y'all with the last chapter 😅

Wait omg- only the epilogue left now 😭 oooo and a little or big surprise jabsjdbdibdjf

*whispers* look in the books description 👀