A:N/ hey so this is the end of the story. sorry it took forever for me to finish. I didn't actually know how this was going to end, like I had a vague sort of idea but I had no idea how to actually get there, so I hope you're okay with the end? and of course there had to be a reference to Valentino!

Thomas sat on his bed, hunched over, staring at the letter lying on the floor. Could it really be true? It all seemed a bit far fetched, like the plot out of one of those silly books the maids read, where a young women becomes besotted with a handsome man, only to find out that they've known each other all along and just weren't aware of the fact. But this was really life, not a novel or a flick. Surely things like this don't happen in real life? Before now, Thomas would have said such a thing would be near on impossible, no matter how small a world one claims it to be. Yet he had proof; who else could it be other than Jimmy? Thomas wondered whether perhaps it had been Jimmy all along.

No it can't be!

Thomas picked up the letter and slipped it into his pocket, before striding out the room. It seemed the evidence that Jimmy was his pen-pal 'Golden Boy' was quite literally in black and white, yet still he felt the desire to doubt. What if it's Alfred? He's also new-ish. Thomas shuddered at the thought. No, it can't have been; even if he was drunk, he thought he would have noticed if his companion was over 6ft tall and ginger.

Well, that's it then, isn't it? I'm the fair maiden and Jimmy's my long forgotten prince.

As hard as it was, Thomas avoided contact with the young footman for most of the day, only acknowledging him enough to say good morning; yet at the same time, trying his very hardest not to give the impression of snubbing him. Now that he had found out that he actually did know Jimmy he was unsure of how to act. It seemed a hard thing to ask of himself to go on pretending like nothing had changed when for him everything had changed. He was still undecided on how to proceed. Should he continue to pursue a friendship-cum-relationship and just forget about the letters and let Jimmy believe that his penpal had abandoned him? Or was the right thing to do to let Jimmy know it was him-that struck Thomas as something which could go very wrong and end up being an awkward affair for the both of them. After all, he couldn't just assume that Jimmy would start treating him like a long lost friend the moment he told him.

A dampener was certainly put on his day by the arrival of Mr Bates; the minute that bastard walked through the door all proud and smug, Thomas couldn't help but feel that he had made a mistake somewhere. He had given up his job as footman (which he was far to old to still be doing) and become Lord Grantham's valet, letting himself be lulled into some kind of illusion that Bates would just never come back and the job would always be his. Deep down, very deep down, he knew this wasn't so. Yet still he let himself go into a job which surely he should have known he would be yet again thrown over for by Long John Silver, except this time he couldn't just fall back into the role of footman. There was no role for him to fall into. If he lost his job, all he could do was fall and hope he landed somewhere safe.

As he looked up at the older man, knowing that he could potentially lose everything in a matter of days, he was firmly decided on what to do about the Jimmy situation. He was just going to have to carry on as normal then hopefully tell him the truth at the best possible moment.

Thomas stood in the courtyard the next day, watching as the young footman walked back up to the house, coming back from his half day.

"What's got you so tired lookin'?" Thomas called out as Jimmy got closer to the door, noticing his lagging pace and yawns. "I didn't know being on your own could make someone look so exhausted." Thomas goaded with a playful smirk.

"I've been looking for someone." Jimmy mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

"Haven't we all." Thomas said, more to himself than Jimmy, before taking another drag and asking, "Who for?"

Jimmy paused before answering; obviously realising that he had broken his own rule of never talking about his illusive free time. "Jus' a friend." The blond said simply before pushing open the backdoor and stumbling inside.

Really?

It suddenly struck Thomas that he didn't believe that he had ever actually told Golden Boy-or was he certain enough that he could finally refer to him as Jimmy?-who he worked for in Downton village, and all Jimmy knew was the post office address. They never liked to talk about work too much, and if they ever did, it would only be for amusing anecdotes; their co-workers taking on name's of a similar style to their own. The image of Jimmy wandering around the village and knocking on every door to find someone who might have a servant made him laugh. No wonder he looked so tired. Thomas smiled lightly and threw his cigarette onto the ground, squashing it with his foot, before making his way in.

Much to his surprise, Thomas had been finding it far easier than expected to be around Jimmy, and carry on like normal. In fact, everything felt better than normal. He no longer felt that there may be a risk of gaining the footman's friendship, because he knew it was possible, because he already had it, even if Jimmy didn't know that yet. This knowledge made him feel a strange sense of comfort and he hoped he wasn't slipping into a state of false security.

Originally, he had expected that somehow the secret penpal situation would ruin everything for him, that somehow it would kill his sense of love and he would no longer be able to see Jimmy as anything more than an attractive friend; but if anything, it made him love Jimmy even more. The sense of knowing him took his emotions out of the girlish fancy zone and into the area of genuine love for another person-caring and loving someone in their entirety, not just for their body-it was a foreign concept to Thomas for the most part, and he had never known anyone long enough to let it develop this deeply; but he found he liked it, even if it did clash with his cold and indifferent façade. He had finally found someone who he had a chance of sticking around, someone who he could let himself go with, and just be himself, without feeling threatened or judged.

He heard bashing about and arguing in the kitchen as he leant against the door frame smoking and contemplating everything, and saw Jimmy storm past, tray in hard, muttering angrily to himself.

"It's a flippin' insult-jus' cause he's ten foot tall!"

"You're right" Thomas responded without preamble, even though the words weren't directed at him; now seemed like a good time to put his new mindset to work.

"I've got a good mind to-" Jimmy began furiously, face tense with a quiet rage building up within him.

"Don't do anything you'll regret." Thomas instructed calmly-now that he knew Jimmy was his friend, he'd be damned if he'd let any harm come to him. "These things can be managed-but not by losing your temper"

Thomas stared as Jimmy nodded and turned away to rush up the stairs, sucking in on his cigarette.

"You make a cosy couple I must say" O'Brien said from behind, as Thomas looked around to see her sitting at the table with her back to him working on some mending.

"I don't think so" Thomas said laconically, the conversation making him uncomfortable, not that he'd let her know it.

O'Brien continued on, challenging his statement. "Not from what I've heard. Alfred says he's always going on about yer…silly, sloppy stuff. Alfred's sick and tired of and no wonder."

He knew it was foolish, but he couldn't help but contemplate whether there was some element of truth in her words as he replied "Well, he's makin' it up." Whilst secretly hope that he wasn't. Maybe Jimmy really could feel what Thomas felt, that they had chemistry, that they already knew each other and would realise if they'd only talk and discover the truth.

"Have it yer own way"

It was late at night when Jimmy finally came back into the servant's hall, nursing a cup of tea and looking around.

"Where is everyone?" Jimmy asked, standing in front of the table, looking at him with a questioning gaze. He had vowed to just carry on as normal and not be toofriendly, but when the younger man looked at him with those deep blue eyes it was hard to contain himself and not just blurt it all out. It was a bit like planning a big surprise present for someone and having to restrain yourself from not saying, no matter how much you may want to. Not that Thomas knew much about giving people gifts, and he couldn't tell yet whether Jimmy would even take it as a gift. After all they'd only known each other-in this situation-for a very small amount of time; he hadn't even set a friendship in solid, so maybe it was too soon to expect a romance?

"Gone to bed, apart from the picture goers, their not back" Thomas replied, looking up form his newspaper calmly, despite the fact his insides were whirling around like they were leaves caught in the wind.

Secretly, he had hoped Jimmy would come down to the hall before bed, even if he was still unsure of how to behave.

"If I threw a bucket of slop in the old ladies lap, I wouldn't be allowed to go to the flicks." The footman said, with an edge of annoyance.

"What're you sayin'?" Thomas asked; he knew all to well what he was saying, he had thought similar things many a time, but he just wanted to hear it in Jimmy's own words and make sure. It seemed everything these days was about 'making sure', but maybe they had always been and he was just more aware of it now because never had he had to think so long before pursuing somebody.

"That Mr Carson doesn't like me." Thomas laughed even though it was the bitter truth. It was strange how much Jimmy was like him, like his existence was mirrored to his own, almost as if he were a rain drop running along a pane of glass and Jimmy was on the other side, a little behind and overlapping the places where he had run.

"No matter what Alfred does he still prefers him. It's not bloody fair." Oh Jimmy, I understand your pains. It had always annoyed him in his footman days that no matter how good he was at his job, he was never treated like the better worker. Then again, he did nothing to make them like him so that was largely the reason why they disliked him so; it appeared Jimmy was following a similar road.

"Well I love you" Thomas said and then cursed himself. That was not what he had intended to say but now it was out all he could do was keep a pleasant face and hope for it to be received the right way, whatever that was.

Jimmy laughed and he felt his guts unknot a little. "Well if you do, you're on your own"

As he lit his cigarette, it took a few moments to realise that he had in fact just made an-although unconventional-declaration of love. And Jimmy was fine with it…no more than fine. He was happy!

"Sure I'm not" Thomas mumbled through the fag hanging out his mouth. After taking a long drag, he rested his hand on the tray, tapping away the ash, and suddenly felt a surge of confidence pass through him, encouraging him to find out whether the facts he thought he knew about Jimmy matched up with what the other man said.

"What about your family? Where're you from?"

"Don't have any family?" Jimmy replied simply, before deciding to expand on what he had said, as if figuring that he deserved to know more. "Not really…cousin's y'know, but no one else."

"And yer mum and dad?" he asked, a light frown creasing his brow.

"Dead." Jimmy said laconically, as if he had told this tale many a time before. "My dad was killed in the war, and my mother died of the flu. I haven't any brothers of sisters. Here we are, all on me lonesome."

"Must get lonely" Thomas added, the words slipping out of his mouth, like water down a stream. Not normally would he be this enquiring but-he supposed love made you act differently.

"Meaning?"

"I know what it's like, that's all." Thomas said to clear the air of any alternative meaning. "Funny how alike we are. We both like to look very sure of ourselves, but we're not so sure underneath, are we?" he wasn't sure yet whether it was a mistake to tell Jimmy something as personal as that, something he hasn't actually told anybody, ever, but the feeling of Jimmy deserving to know and wanting to comfort him overpowered his mind and took hostage of his mouth. "Still, no need to worry, Mr Carson may prefer Alfred but nobody else does."

Jimmy quirked his lips but it was clear he wasn't convinced. "Don't they? Sometimes I think its just Jimmy contra mundi"

Hm, Latin? Well, y'know what they say, those Italian's are mighty fine lovers, and even finer fucks. I wonder if he's continental in bed to?

At that moment O'Brien came in, book in hand and pointed out the obvious. "Is that Latin? Should try it on Mr Carson, might get you some good points."

"Never mind good points, I'd need a magic spell." Jimmy replied as he walked over to the table to set his cup down and make his way out the room.

There's no way it's not him. It's got to be.

"Goodnight" O'Brien called to Jimmy's retreating figure before edging closer.

"He's a funny one isn't he?" she asked, before giving him the look which quite literally said 'I'm looking into your soul and I may or may not devour it.' "You can't pull the wool over my eyes." She continued giving him the soul eating stare.

"You're quite wrong Miss O'Brien. He's a proper little ladies man." Thomas replied, even though he knew he didn't believe it, especially not after what they had just shared. Nevertheless, when their relationship happened-and he was now adamant it would-he didn't exactly want her being to wise on the whole affair.

"Oh well if that's how you want to play it."

"What are you goin' on about?" He didn't know why, but he felt something snap within him, as it usually did when the going got tough and he needed to take it out on someone, as if she had just treaded on his last nerve. In all honesty, he had quite enough to think about without O'Brien breathing down his neck and her making comments. He hadn't heard in a long time outright comments about his sexuality, and least not since Phillip, although those brief conversations with O'Brien had been different, friendlier perhaps, but this reminded him once again that it always had to be a secret, and at the end of the day he was powerless against her taunts.

"There's no need to bark, I only know what Alfred tells me."

"Well if he tells you Jimmy's interested in me, he's lying." He couldn't help but feel that it might have been easier to deny if he knew he was actually lying, and that they had an actual relationship to conceal. At the moment all they had were a bundle of letters under different identities, perhaps a small handful of experiences, and some accepted touches and love declarations thrown in.

"Oh dear. Is it supposed to be a secret?" O'Brien continued as she got up to leave.

Right that's it, I'm going to sort this out and make our relationship real.

What's the worst that can happen? Thomas thought as he undid the buttons to his shirt hastily, still peeved by O'Brien sticking her nose into his business. Removing his shirt and sliding of his braces, Thomas tried his best to work up the nerve to go to Jimmy's room. I'll start it off slow, I'll try and bring up the letter, and then explain it from there; he'll hopefully know what I'm talking about, then perhaps I can try bring feelings into the matter.

As much as he tried to tell himself that everything was going to go okay and he was perfectly fine, he felt his trepidation grow ever stronger as he stood outside Jimmy's door, contemplating what to do. He couldn't chicken out, if he didn't say anything now about the whole thing, then chances were he never would; and if Jimmy were to find out about their previous friendship later down the line-well it would look weird and make him question why he'd never said anything before. He couldn't have Jimmy thinking he was strange in someway. Taking a deep breath in, Thomas opened the door and stepped inside without knocking. No way I can back out now…

He let out a shaky breath as he spied Jimmy's sleeping figure. Shit! There was no way he could turn around and leave, he'd never work up the nerve to do something like this again. Without thinking, Thomas walked over, and sat himself down on the end of the bed, looking around the room cautiously, knowing at any moment the sleeping footman could wake up. With nervous hands, Thomas pulled the neatly folded piece of paper out of his trouser pocket and looked it over in his hands. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he read the words over and over in his head, as if to make sure it hadn't all been a dream which he had gotten mislead into thinking was reality.

He startled as the younger man shifted on the bed, his heart beating furiously as he watched Jimmy's eye lids flutter open, and fix themselves on his body, which was now twisted around to face him.

"Mr Barrow?" Jimmy asked groggily, his voice coming out as little more than a soft whine, as he scooted to sit up, with his back resting against the metal bars of the bed.

It took every once of self control for Thomas not to be sick, or faint, or piss himself; instead, his nervous mind settled on feinting casualness.

"Oh, hello Jimmy…so er…how are you?" he replied, wearing a smile which didn't quite feel believable. Jimmy's brow crinkled in confusion.

"What're you doin' in here?" the footman queried in a tone of bewilderment rather than anger.

Thomas' heart raced in his chest. "Oh, I just thought…that perhaps…I'd show you…something. See what you make of it." The valet said, dropping the paper onto Jimmy's sheet covered lap before he could change his mind. Jimmy raised his brow sceptically, but picked up the letter nonetheless. As he read the one line of the letter, his eyes widened and his jaw slacked. Thomas dearly wished he'd just hurry up, as several minutes passed of Jimmy holding the letter up to his face, leaving the valet alone to panic in his own thoughts, until Jimmy spoke again, dropping the paper.

"So it's you." he stated simply. Thomas said nothing, hoping him to elaborate somewhat. When it became apparent the footman wasn't going to add anything to his statement, Thomas nodded cautiously.

"I was wondering who it could be" Jimmy went on, before giving a small laugh, "You should of said sooner, I've been banging on doors, trying to find you for the entirety of my half day!"

"I only jus' found out!" Thomas protested.

"I suppose you're right Mr Barrow," Jimmy said with a nod, "oh well, that solves that mystery. Goodnight." The younger man continued with a smile, before sliding back down to lie with his head to the pillow.

Surely this isn't the end of the conversation? Thomas thought as he felt his own arms reaching to grab Jimmy's shoulders, earning a gasp of surprise from the younger man.

"Oh no you don't." Thomas scolded, releasing his shoulders, and placing his hands on either side of Jimmy's hips so he sat slightly bent over the younger man. "You're not telling me that you can find out that we've potentially known each other for years and all you want to do is go back to sleep!"

Jimmy thought for a moment. "Yes?"

"No." Thomas said, sitting back, and placing his hands on his lap. "You're going to tell me if these other times were you as well."

The footman sat back up. "I highly doubt they-" Jimmy began before being cut off.

"Firstly," Thomas said, raising his hand and marking the first point on his finger. "Are you the boy, whose dad owned the pub in York, where you played the piano?"

"Well…yes, but-" Thomas brought the finger to his lips so shush him before drawing it away.

"and do you have any recollection of an older boy coming in and watching you and then fainting and being taken up to bed?"

The footman paused in thought, before slowly nodded his head again. "Yes."

"What about the war? Do you recall telling someone that you were scared and had only joined up because you thought it would be a laugh?"

"You can't expect me to remember something like that. I spoke to more than one person during the war!"

"-But?"

"But, I suppose I did tell one of the lads I met that I was frightened. I never told anyone I was scared after that. You seemed so calm, and I felt foolish for feeling worried." Jimmy looked down at his hands I shame, although Thomas wasn't sure why, surely he's not ashamed of feeling scared?

"I can assure you I wasn't calm. Anything but." Thomas replied softly as Jimmy looked distant for a moment, before snapping his gaze back to Thomas.

"You been thinking about this a lot then?" Jimmy questioned.

"More that you can imagine." He said honestly, a meek smile creeping onto his lips.

"I must admit, I've been thinking about you quite a lot recently too." Jimmy said in a barely audible tone, "Now that you mention it, you do look kinda familiar, I just thought that perhaps you looked a bit like that chap from the flicks, y'know Rudolph Valentino." Thomas snorted at the thought. "He is lovely, isn't he?"

Chocking back laughter, Thomas asked, "Is he your type then? Because if he is, then I suppose I'm in luck!"

A deep blush coloured Jimmy's skin, as he fidgeted with his hands nervously. "Men aren't supposed to be my type." He said, looking down at his fingers. "Me dad didn't like me taking any interest in boys, he said if I so much as complimented another man, people'd think me funny and they'd put me away in some mad house." Jimmy avoided his gaze, instead focusing on the wall behind him. "Come to think of it, all this started shortly after the first time me and you met. He didn't like me goin' on about yer and said that you'd tried to corrupt me into thinking evil thoughts." Jimmy looked him in the eye, "The thing is, I think I've always been corrupted, and seeing you-this time around I mean-reminded me of that. I've been trying to forget all along, but maybe you can't forget?"

"You're not corrupted Jimmy," Thomas replied, sliding forwards to sit almost next to the footman. "You're just as you should be." He said, wrapping an arm around the younger man, smiling as he leant his head on his shoulder.

"You make it all sound so simple." Jimmy mumbled, "I wish I could have always been so sure."

"Because it is simple Jimmy. I love you, and if you love me, then for us, it's the most natural thing in the world."

"How can you even know that you love me so soon?"

"Jimmy, I loved you even when I didn't know who you were, and now I know you, I love you more than ever."

"You don't know me, at least not properly." Jimmy insisted, sitting up to face Thomas, with a hint of a smile playing at his lips, as he bent his head towards the valet's face.

Mirroring the gesture, Thomas asked, "Well, who are you then?"

With a chaste kiss to his cheek, and a whisper in his ear, the footman replied, "You'll just have to wait and see."