The Boy in the Window 16 ~ Tommy Shelby X Reader (Series)
Chapter Summary: (Y/N) grappels with the aftermath of her decision and tries to get on with her daily life, which isn't made any easier by the rumours that have begun to circulate
Notes: Have we all recovered from last time? I'm not sure I have...but onward we go. I do not consent to my work being translated, copied or posted elsewhere on this platform or any other.
Here, you can find my [Masterlist] and the [Series Masterlist]
Warning: Canon conforming mention of violence. (18/21+). Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Expect spoilers for Peaky Blinders Season 1-4.
Wordcount: 4371
Part 16
[Previously]
(Y/N) had never expected it to be easy. She wasn’t naive, but not even in her worst nightmares had she thought it would be this awful.
She had thought that with enough discipline she’d get through it. After all, loss was no stranger to her. And she had always found the strength to somehow go on.
No matter what life had thrown at her, no matter what threatened to drag her down and rip her apart, she had somehow always found a way to bite down and get on with it. Mostly, she had just drowned herself in banality, focussing on nothing but the day to day.
But the trouble was, he had become her day to day, so even if she tried to block out any thought, to focus not nothing but the menial tasks of her daily life, she could not escape it.
In fact, it only ever made it worse.
He had become such a large part of her reality that her subconscious refused to accept the fact that he was no longer here.
She’d drag her tired body, exhausted from the night she’d spend staring at the ceiling, downstairs after only a few hours of restless sleep and in her fatigue, she'd make breakfast only to realise later that she had taken more than just two plates out of the cupboard, more than two cups, more than two spoons.
All these little items weighed more than a ton whenever she had to put them back unused.
When she had been folding clothes, she had stumbled about a stray sock and found herself staring at the stupid monogram - C.S.
It wouldn’t be missed, not by the man who had paid for them and not by the boy who had worn them.
He probably had a whole drawer of socks, besides, he had always groaned when she had reminded him to wear warm socks, preferring to run barefoot even on the coldest of days.
Unless they wanted to go ice skating.
There was no use in sending the sock back, and so she kept it folden in her bedside drawer.
A stupid, single sock with no use and no purpose, marked with the initials of the previous owner and stained with her own tears.
She’d tidy up the toys and feel the ones grow heavy in her hand which he had considered his favourite. They were old toys, not comparable to the shiny fashionable ones he would have in his playroom, but he had liked them, had played with them, had given them life.
And now they were just lying there looking as lost as she felt.
(Y/N) still hadn’t managed to adapt her cooking. Why, she could not tell.
She hadn’t been as foolish when it had been the other way around, when she had begun to cook for three or four, but now there were always left overs that would remain and mock her for her folly.
(Y/N) had never realised how few two really was until she sat with Emma alone at her kitchen table.
It had never been big, but it had never felt so empty before.
But the worst part was the moments in which she truly forgot.
When she was out with Emma, an icy fear would grab hold of her and she’d search the street for blond hair and soft hands, for the dark peaked cap, and the perfectly fitted coat.
She’d feel the kind of terror that threatened to rip her heart out of her chest only to realise that he was not there because he was not here anymore.
No Italians, no vendetta or dangers just…life had taken him from her.
And her weak, foolish heart couldn’t handle it.
Emma knew it too.
She hadn’t understood why Charlie had left, no matter how many times (Y/N) told her that he had gone home.
She still asked for him, every day, every night.
Once, Emma had flicked through her story book, only to stop at the page that showed the illustration of the Princess' loyal horse.
Charlie had hated that story, had wailed so loudly her ears almost fell off when she had read that the horse had been killed.
He had made her change the ending after that, but there was no changing the ending now and so Emma’s little fingers traced the fur of the white horse before pushing at the pages angrily as if she wanted to put as much distance between herself and the image.
(Y/N) couldn’t blame her, though.
After all, she would lie awake at night wondering if he was alright, if he was healthy, if he was eating well.
One time there had been sudden rainfall and her only thought had been the desperate hope that the boy hadn’t been riding when the skies broke, else he could’ve gotten a terrible cold.
Of course, there was no way she’d ever know. She had no right to know.
So she would just spend her nights in her bed, staring at the ceiling, trying and failing to fight the memories and thoughts that made her throat close and her eyes burn while she shuddered.
(Y/N) never remembered to heat a brick for her bed now that it was cold once more.
And once she realised, she often no longer had the strength to get up and go down.
Besides, she deserved the cold, and the empty bed and the pain.
It was punishment for her sins.
If only it didn’t hurt Emma so.
The fact that her daughter was unhappy, wasn’t lost on her.
She had grown quiet in his absence, and she was never quiet unless she had been ill.
In the months and weeks past she had gotten used to a playmate and had somehow forgotten how to play all on her own.
(Y/N) had deserved her own heartbreak, but Emma hadn’t.
And that was a kind of pain that she couldn't endure.
~
Her fingers stroked over Emma’s hair.
Instead of looking at her, her fingers kept pushing the small ball so that it only rolled a few inches, before rolling it back with the others.
“After church,”, she told her, trying to sound as light hearted as possible, “we can go to the church green, how does that sound?”
Emma only shrugged.
(Y/N) pressed a kiss to the top of her head and sighed as she got up.
They weren’t late to church, but the eyes followed them anyways.
It wasn’t a new sensation.
Whenever she went to Mrs Cook for new work or to Mr and Mrs Davies for her groceries, people would have watched but since it was over, she somehow felt more vulnerable under the eyes that followed her and the whispers she would leave in her wake.
By now she did not doubt that they knew.
A child that came with the Shelbys and happened to leave with them as well?
Even if she had somehow managed to deny that, she had forgotten that Ethel Laddler’s sister lived across from the Shelbys in Watery Lane.
(Y/N) wasn’t as naive as to think that she would have kept the sight of her and the children arriving with Tommy Shelby to herself.
No, she felt these gazes and she knew what they meant.
Luckily Emma was too small to notice.
During the prayer time, when all eyes were closed and all hands clasped she not only prayed for Emma, and for her own dead, but for Charlie and his father too.
How could she not?
But perhaps she shouldn’t have done, because (Y/N) felt a decade older when she opened her eyes again, and a lifetime more wery.
“Go,”, she told Emma after the service was done.
“Don’t you want to play with your friends?”
They were glad to see Emma, but her daughter who was usually fidgety during church in expectation of the time after only went with slow and dragged steps.
With a sigh, (Y/N) sat down on the bench and tried desperately not to think.
But of course, that never worked.
Her thoughts, if given even a little leeway went to them at once.
It had only been a few days, but to her it was a lifetime of misery.
Every minute of every day, awake or asleep, she felt the strain of their absence, the cold emptiness they left behind.
It would get better, one day, she knew that from experience, but right now that reality felt as far and as unreachable to her as the silvery light of the moon.
But it always did, at first.
She had been here before. She had endured it before.
Only this time she had no right to her grief, which somehow made it impossible to bear.
Her eyes began to burn once more and perhaps that was why she let her attention drift away from the children for only a moment.
It snapped back immediately when she heard shouting.
“No!”, Emma shrieked, stamping her foot angrily.
“No, no, no!”
Robert was in front of her, arguing with as much intensity and reaching out to grab something Emma was holding, turning his back to her.
She shoved him with all her might.
Surprised by her ambush, Robert fell, just barely catching himself with his hands.
Still on the ground, he turned and kicked at her.
“Alright, that’s enough!”, (Y/N) called.
She had abandoned her spot on the bench and had pushed past the crowd of children.
“Emma, Robert, stop, both of you!”, she ordered, pulling them apart.
Robert was startled by her sharp tone but Emma reached down and wretched something from his hands, rage burning in her eyes.
She had her hand on Emma’s back as she pulled her away.
“What was that about?”, she demanded to know as soon as they were out of earshot.
“Hm?”
“He’s stupid.”, Emma snarled, her hands clutching the little toy to her chest.
“He’s stupid and I don’t want to play with him!”
“You can’t call other people stupid, Emma.”, she said. "It's not nice."
“But he is, Mummy, he is!”, Emma insisted. “He doesn’t know any of the games and doesn’t follow the rules!”
“What games, darling?”
Emma fell silent, her lips forming a pout as she glanced at the toy in her hand.
“The games we used to play.”, she muttered. “Charlie and me.”
(Y/N) forced her eyes shut for a moment to gather the strength for a response.
“Emma,”, she began slowly, crouching down to be of an eye-level with her.“There are more games than the ones you played with Charlie, other games that are just as fun.”
Emma stamped her feet again, close to tears.
“But I don’t want other games, Mummy, I want our games!”, she argued.
“Then teach them to Robert and the others.”, she tried once more, only to see her daughter shaking her head before she leapt forward and into her arms.
With a sigh, she wrapped her in an embrace.
“Why can’t I have Charlie?”, she whispered, her voice breaking.
“Because he’s gone home, Emma.”, she told her for the millionth time. “He’s gone home and he’s not coming back.”
There were no tears, just Emma burying her face in the crook of her neck and her leaning her head against hers.
I know, she wanted to tell her, I know, my darling. I miss him too.
But she couldn’t bring herself to say the words.
It took a whole while before Emma decided to leave her arms again and only then with reluctance, and only to play a skipping game with the other girls.
“We all know where she picked up that sort of behaviour.”
The sneer made her skin crawl even before she could see the glee in the eyes of the woman that had spoken.
Ethel Laddler was standing right next to her, with Mabel Sloan and Gertrude Jackson, each trying desperately to suppress their delight - and failing.
“Do you now?”, (Y/N) asked.
She was too tired to be annoyed by them and that caused them more irritation than her anger would have done.
“Oh yes.”, Mrs. Jackson said. “Everyone knows.”
(Y/N) chose not to speak. Instead, she just looked at them, waiting.
Mrs Laddler clicked her tongue.
“Must’ve been a harsh disappointment to you,”, she said, “after all you tried.”
“What I tried?”, she asked, raising her eyebrow. “What exactly did I try?”
Mrs Sloan snorted and Mrs. Jackson clicked her tongue.
“Everyone knows,”, she said, “even the Quakers sing songs of the harlot that took Tommy Shelby to bed. But it seems he doesn’t seem to pay as much as he used to.”
With that, she looked her up and down with nothing but gleeful disgust in her eyes.
“Perhaps not worth the money this time.”, Mrs. Laddler added, unable to hide her smirk.
“Is there a problem here?”
She turned the other way to see Father Callitch standing there.
He was a kind man, far younger than the priests they had before and filled with ambition to make the best of his grim posting.
Hardly any of the good ones stayed long in this part, but he tried, working hard to build something with the community and she had always liked him.
“We were only saying goodbye to Mrs Hale, Father.”, Mrs Laddler chirped.
“Goodbye?”, Father Callitch asked, turning to her. “Are you leaving?”
“We expect so.”, Mrs. Sloan added gleefully. “The church circle, at least.”
He raised his eyebrow, looking from one to the other slowly.
His eyes only softened when they returned to her.
“I heard of no such thing, Mrs. Hale.”
“She must.”, Mrs. Jackson insisted, spitting the words. “With unchristian behaviour as hers.”
(Y/N) swallowed hard, but it was the priest that answered.
“Unchristian behaviour?”, he asked, faining ignorance as he sat down on the bench beside her. “Forgive me, Mrs. Jackson, but I fail to see where in the scripture it is frowned upon to take in a child in need of aid. Or can you think of a passage?”
His words were polite, but there was a sharpness in his gaze neither (Y/N) nor the other women failed to notice.
“That is not what we mean.”, Mrs. Laddler argued, shifting on her feet.
She no longer sounded as confident as she had a moment before.
“No?”, Father Callitch asked. “What then do you know, Mrs. Laddler?”
His emphasis carried enough weight to make her purse her already thin lips.
“Hm…thought so. But thank you for reminding me, Ladies, to make the next sermon about the unchristian practise of spreading rumours and casting stones.”
(Y/N) didn’t fail to notice the faint hint of a smile on his lips as the three of them took their leave, calling their children away with them.
“How are you, Mrs. Hale?”, he asked after a while.
She glanced at her lap and sighed.
“Why did you do that?”, she asked sharply. “Why did you defend me?”
“Because it is what I believe to be right.”
She always hated how calm some people’s voices sounded, especially when her own mind was spinning out of control.
“Do you?”, she asked, turning to look at him.
He had the face of a scholar, with thinking lines and sharp eyes.
If he hadn’t been a priest, he could have been handsome.
“What if you were wrong?”, she asked. “What if all they said was true?”
She turned her eyes away because in spite of everything she could not look into the eyes of a man of the church and say what she had to.
“What I really was Tommy Shelby’s whore?”
The words had sharp edges that cut her up inside as she forced them out.
A murderer’s whore…a gangster’s harlot…a peaky blinder’s bitch.
She had heard them in whispers.
Callitch, however, didn’t seem to be shocked in the slightest at her choice of words.
“Well,”, he sighed, “It is not my place, or anyone’s place to judge.”
But everyone seems to be so very good at it anyways.
His hand found hers and gave it a squeeze. It’s warmth was surprisingly comforting.
“Besides,”, he said softly, lowering his voice so only she would hear.
“You were put in an unjust, impossible position, Mrs. Hale, one which is only to be pitied."
He gave her hand a little squeeze.
"Your strength to endure it, is to be commemorated. We all know that Mr. Shelby will not be denied.”
It took a while for (Y/N) to understand the meaning of his words, but when she did, she pulled her hand out from under him.
“You all think he’s nothing but a monster.”
It wasn’t a question, but he answered with one.
“Don’t you?”
~
She had just dumped the dried laundry on the kitchen table to fold when she heard the knock on the door.
Not today, she thought, glancing at the clock.
It had been just as horrid as the day before, and the one before that and (Y/N) saw no reason to deal with anyone anymore.
Besides, it was almost half past eight and Emma was already in bed.
Since she didn’t expect anyone, she saw no use in even looking who it was.
But when the key turned in the lock, all fatigue melted from her bones and she jumped back, all the terrors of the weeks past rushing back in full force.
A mad fear gripped her as she ran out into the corridor, without a plan, without a weapon, only to huff in realisation at who was there.
“How the hell did you get in here?”, she demanded to know.
“Took Tommy’s key.”, Lizzie said with a shrug, entirely unimpressed with her reaction.
Staring in wide-eyed disbelief, (Y/N) watched Lizzie take off her coat and place it on the hanger.
“Do I get tea or do I have to do that myself too?”
In the end it was (Y/N) who had made the tea, after hastily throwing all the laundry back into the basket half unmade to make room.
“So,”, Lizzie said, taking the ashtray from the windowsill and placing it in front of her as she lit her cigarette.
“You've looked better.”
(Y/N) didn’t even dignify her remark with a reply.
Lizzie of course, looked glorious, in a purple silk blouse and a black skirt, with amethyst stone earrings. (Y/N) must’ve looked like a crone next to her, like an ugly duckling next to a swan.
“How’s Emma?”, Lizzie wanted to know.
“What do you want, Lizzie?”, she asked, starring at the untouched cup of tea in front of her.
The other woman sighed as she tapped the top of her cigarette.
“Well, I’m here on business.”, she said, clearing her throat.
From her purse, she pulled out a folder stamped with the Shelby logo.
“What do you want to get to first, the house or the foundation?”, she asked as if (Y/N) ought to know what that meant.
Her eyes were filled with expectation, while all she could offer her was confusion.
“What house?”, she asked.
“Your house.”, Lizzie said unimpressed. “Warburton House.”
(Y/N) only blinked.
“This…is my house, Lizzie, you know that.”
She rolled her eyes impatiently and pulled forth a copy of some files.
It was a parish filing in the village of Arrow in Stratford-Upon-Avon district, confirming ownership of a property called Warburton House on her.
The name, the date of birth, everything was entirely in order.
“But this isn’t right.”, she argued. “I don’t…how would I…”
Lizzie scoffed.
“Do you never pay attention to the things you sign?”, she asked sharply.
Shame crept up (Y/N)’s cheeks.
“I don’t understand…”, she admitted.
“The papers Tommy asked you to sign, remember?”
How could she not?
She had been sick to her stomach with fear once she had known, and he had told her only at the last moment. Otherwise she never would have gone through with it.
He had wanted it and so she had signed them.
“Did you read them?”, Lizzie demanded to know.
“I…I thought they were about Charlie.”, she stammered, knotting her hands in her lap.
She muttered something under her breath in disbelief as she brought the cigarette back to her lips.
“Course they were about Charlie.”, she insisted, “making sure he’d be alright. That you’d be alright.”
A manicured and red painted finger tapped the paper right where the name of the property stood.
Warburton House.
There was no street name or number. Just Warburton House.
That wasn’t calming in the slightest.
“Well,”, (Y/N) said after a while. “That was before. He will have changed his mind.”
She hadn’t expected him to contact her again, but at the same time she had thought he might have tried at least. She had said all that had to be said, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any things left that she wanted to say and a part of her had hoped that perhaps he’d feel the same way, even if it was impossible.
“He hasn’t.”
“Has he told you?”, she asked, trying to stop her racing heart.
“Fuck no.”, Lizzie said, inhaling once more. “There’s just the list.”
“List?”, (Y/N) asked.
“Whenever he disappears he leaves a list.”, Lizzie said, leaning back in her chair. “A list of orders to be followed to the letter. This is why I’m here. The list.”
“What do you mean, disappears?”, she asked. “Where is he?”
Lizzie shrugged.
“No one fucking knows. He had the party, announced he was going on holiday and off he went.”
“Is Charlie with him?”, she demanded to know.
Lizzie shook her head, which somehow calmed her, but not much.
Tommy missing…
That couldn’t be good, especially at a time like this when he had a restless mind and a drained body. But at the same time, Lizzie didn’t seem all too surprised. Perhaps that was something.
“Anyway, this is on the list.”, she said, tapping the file once more.
“You’re to move out in a week. Mover’s been called, even though the house got full furniture so just tell them what you really want to take with you and get packing."
“What?”, (Y/N) gasped. “I’m not moving!”
“It’s on the list. Good luck telling them no.”
She shook her head in bottomless disbelief.
“Lizzie, this is ridiculous. I can’t just move to some place I’ve never been to. This is my home.”
Lizzie leaned forward and took her hand.
“I know the house.”, she told her softly. “It’s got gardens with flowerbeds and a vegetable patch and a few trees. It’s a good place to live and a good place to grow up in.”
(Y/N) bit the inside of her lip and shook her head once more, but before she could argue more, Lizzie pulled out another stack of papers.
“Now, about the foundation. Here are the files.”
She placed them in front of her, so that she could not escape the large letters that spelled out SHELBY FAMILY FOUNDATION.
“This has nothing to do with me.”, she insisted sharply.
“Yeah well,”, Lizzie said unimpressed, “25% increase of non-taxable donations to charities. Two new institutes for destitute children in the city. Expanded work with the local community and an annual budget for projects with the local churches for those in need in Small Heath. Ring a bell?”
That (Y/N) could not deny.
“Those are Tommy’s plans.”, she argued.
Lizzie’s eyes dug into her as she nodded.
“Yep. Well, here are the plans. Go on. Look at them.”
(Y/N) opened the file as if the paper could burn her.
The plans were rough, yes, but they made her heart beat faster.
Those that were already formed were good. An expansion on schooling, on healthcare, on support for war widows and war orphans. And generous money yet to be allocated somewhere in the community.
“Welcome on the board.”, Lizzie said as soon as she lifted her eyes again.
“Lizzie, no.”, she said, shaking her head.
In this, however, Lizzie didn’t seem to fight her.
“Well then, too bad for the community.”
With that she closed the file.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”, she asked.
Lizzie leaned back and smirked slightly.
“Tommy’s thought you’d try to be difficult so he made it simple. All this either happens with you on the board or not at all.”
(Y/N) slumped back in the chair, rubbing her temples.
All this was too much information in too little time on her already tired brain and she had to take a moment to just gather herself in this whirlwind Lizzie had brought into her kitchen.
“Are you serious?”, she asked suspiciously.
Lizzie’s look told her all she needed to know.
“But I have no experience. I don’t know anything.”
“Either with you or not at all.”, Lizzie repeated. “It’s your choice.”
What kind of choice is that?, she thought bitterly.
(Y/N) shook her head.
“That's blackmail!”, she insisted.
“Look,”, Lizzie snapped, leaning forward and pointing at her, “Life’s not about what you deserve, it’s about what you take and you’ve just been given a chance.”
Her voice was uncommonly stern, like that of a school teacher, or her mother a lifetime ago.
(Y/N) swallowed hard.
It seemed too good to be true, but that was because it was.
She couldn’t accept this.
Tommy might talk big now but he truly wanted to help the people to and he would do it, with or without her presence.
She was sure of it.
“Seriously, (Y/N)!”, Lizzie hissed after over a minute of silence.
“Lizzie, I already told you-”
The other woman cut her off impatiently.
“At least give me your perfume or another scarf of yours, if you’re too stubborn for the rest.”
“My scarf?”, she asked with a frown.
Lizzie nodded, forcefully putting out her cigarette.
“You left one in the bag with Charlie’s things.”, she explained. “He’s been sleeping with it every night since he got back until one of the maids washed it. And now he's been screaming the bloody house down for two days straight because it no longer smells like you.”
End
~
Part 17 will coming soon
Thank you for reading! I’d be very grateful for feedback of any kind!
Summary: Summer in Small Heath was Tommy's favorite season, mostly because it was when the woman he was in love with came around.
Warnings: language, drinking, mentions of war, slight age gap
Word Count: 3668
A/N: this request was so intriguing to write...I hope I did it justice for you. I took some inspiration from the song ‘Til Summer Comes Around’ by Keith Urban...I immediately started thinking of it from the second I read your request. Enjoy! :)
Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future stories similar to this one!
———
-1902-
(Y/N) ran as fast as she could down the cobblestone street, occasionally looking over her shoulder to see if somebody was still chasing her. Then she felt the slight push of a hand against her shoulder from the opposite side of where she was looking. "Gotcha, Summer!" John Shelby's voice accompanied the touch, making the young girl gasp as she turned to face her tagger.
"That's not fair, John! You're not allowed to hide in the alleys!" she exclaimed, a pout on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest, "and my name's not Summer, it's (Y/N)!"
"We never said the rules, so you're it!" John countered, then sticking his tongue out at her like the childish boy he was.
"Tommy?" she looked to the boy who was a few years older than her, her eyebrows raised as she waited for him to weigh in.
Tommy shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "we didn't specify the rules," he took the side of his brother, making (Y/N)'s jaw drop even more.
"I can't believe you!" (Y/N) huffed, a glare present on her face as Ada came over to her side. The Shelby girl was two years younger than (Y/N), who was seven, but the two girls stuck together because they were all each other had.
"Who ya gonna tag now, Summer?" John questioned with a grin, his eyebrows raised in a taunting manner.
(Y/N) glanced between the two boys, who were standing just out of her initial arm's reach. Slowly a smirk started to form on her face before she lunged forward and tagged Tommy on the arm. "Run, Ada!" she screamed, the two girls taking off as quickly as they could as the boys ran after them.
(Y/N) was a few steps ahead of her friend, and her nana's house was in sight. If they could just make it a few more feet until... "Tommy!" Ada's shriek made (Y/N) stop in her tracks and turn to see that her teammate had been tagged.
"Got you," Tommy grinned at his sister, who looked to be on the verge of tears.
"That's not fair, Tommy...you went after the person who's slower," (Y/N) stated, sticking up for her friend.
"It is too fair...all we said was girls vs. boys," Tommy countered, stepping over to where (Y/N) was standing. He was a few inches taller than her, but that didn't bother (Y/N) none.
"Yeah, well you still should've tagged me," (Y/N) didn't back down, "oh that's right...you couldn't because I was too fast," she then took the opportunity to tease him.
"(Y/N)!" another voice cut into their conversation. The girl instantly recognized it as her nana, "(Y/N), it's time to come back! Your father'll be here any minute to pick you up!" A frown formed on (Y/N)'s face as she heard this, and she turned away from Tommy to begin walking to the house.
"You're it," Tommy then said, tapping her on the shoulder to make her spin to face him again with a look of shock on her face.
"That was such a cheap move!" she exclaimed, now feeling torn between running to get him or continuing walking to her nana's.
"(Y/N)! Let's go!" her nana made the choice for her, making the frown return to the young girl's features as she looked at her friends.
"I have to go, guys. I'll see you next summer," she told them, sadness seeping into her words as she spoke.
"Goodbye, Summer," Tommy spoke before she turned around again, a frown on his face as he watched (Y/N) wave one last time before she began walking to her nana's house.
Summers always came to a close like this. (Y/N) would come to Small Heath in the middle of June, bringing with her 92 days of fun and happiness for the Shelby family. Tommy, John, and Ada enjoyed her company, as she was happy to play almost any game with them...from soldiers to dolls. She was the closest to Ada, as they were the only two girls of the group and proclaimed that they had to stick together. John was a fun kid to be around, and they almost always fought over the fact that she was older than him by just two days. Her and Tommy's friendship held a slightly different tone to it. Being that he was older, he always looked out for her, and in turn, she always tried to show him that she was more than just some little kid that needed to be watched over...even though she was.
But when the days started getting shorter and August rolled into September, the moments that this group spent together became more bittersweet. (Y/N)'s father, who was a well-established captain in the Italian mafia, always came to get her before the seasons changed...which meant that summer ended earlier in Small Heath than everywhere else. But (Y/N) always promised that she'd be back. Her nana was always happy to have her and she was always eager to come back.
And so when her father drove into town and collected his daughter and her belongings, the Shelby siblings watched and waited for her to drive away; and the wait for summer to come around started itself again.
——
-1914-
Of course it would be summer when the three oldest Shelby brothers decided that they would volunteer themselves to fight in the Great War. And so as (Y/N) stood on the train's platform with Polly's arm around her, she wondered if this was where her summers in Small Heath would come to an end.
Sure, she could come to visit Ada, and her nana, but it just wouldn't be the same. Not ever since she started seeing Tommy in the light that she was now. She cursed her teenage hormones and the fact that she and Tommy had already had a close relationship with each other...of course she'd fall for the man who gave her the slightest amount of attention. The only thing that was stopping her from confessing her feelings towards him (well besides her fear of being rejected) was the fact that he'd just turned 24 and she was only on the cusp of 19.
And sure love knows no age, and they were both legal...hell, her mother and father were married the moment they both turned 18, but she felt that Tommy would be disgusted by her little crush on him, and that, worst of all, he'd really only see her as a little sister. Because of that, she stayed mum.
But it was for that reason that her heart beat quickened when Tommy approached her instead of his aunt or sister. "(Y/N)..." he trailed off as he looked at her with a solemn expression. She knew that this was going to be a serious talk because he only ever addressed her by her real name in times like that. Otherwise he would have called her 'Summer'.
"Tommy..." she mimicked his greeting, stepping away from Polly's side so that he could have her full attention.
"I want us to make a promise to each other..." he started, clearing his throat as his fingers ghosted across the back of her hand. It was almost like he was going to take it into his grasp, but he pulled back at the last second. "I want us to make a promise that we'll find our way back together...after all of this has been finished," he continued, motioning to everything around him as he said the words 'all of this'.
(Y/N) took a deep breath and nodded her head without giving his words much thought. "Yes. Yes, Tommy, I promise that we'll do that," she agreed with him, the slightest of smiles forming on her lips, "we'll find our way back to each other once this is all finished."
For a second she swore that she saw a smile break through his solemn expression, but it didn't take permanent hold. "I'll write to you, Summer," he told her, then leaning in to press a kiss to her cheek, one that left her skin burning even after he pulled away.
"I'll write back, Tommy," she answered him, nodding her head multiple times in hopes to pull her brain out of the haze that had been caused by the feeling of his lips touching her skin.
"I have to go," he told her, clenching his jaw as he tried to hold it together. It wouldn't be good for the woman he had feelings for to see him cry.
"I know," she nodded again, "stay safe, soldier." And with that, Tommy Shelby joined his brothers and the large number of other men dressed in their uniforms that were waiting in line to board the train.
(Y/N) moved back to Polly and Ada again, and the three women stood as they watched the train roar to life and slowly move away from the platform. For the first time in all of these summers in Small Heath, (Y/N) knew what it felt like to be the person left behind.
——
-1920-
The smoke of Small Heath smelt oddly familiar to (Y/N), who hadn't been in the city for a summer in six long years. Sure, she traveled in to visit Ada and Polly, but she couldn't will herself to stay like she had before. It just wasn't the same without the boys around...it wasn't the same without Tommy.
But this summer she wanted it to be different. She wanted to go stay with her nana again and relive summers past for old times sake. She greeted her nana with a hug before telling her that she'd be going out with a friend as soon as she had unpacked. That friend was, of course, Ada Shelby. The two women never lost touch although they spent some years apart, and (Y/N) was thrilled to hear that the other woman was willing to come in from London to see her.
She waited at her nana's home for the other woman to come and happily pulled said woman into a hug the second she showed up. "Are we still on for our day together?" (Y/N) asked a question that had an obvious answer once they'd pulled away.
"Of course. I've booked up a table at a tea room that I think you'll love," Ada responded with a wide smile. (Y/N) nodded her head and grabbed her purse before the two women took off down the street.
—
"Uh, Ada..." (Y/N) trailed off in an unsure tone as they approached what seemed to be their destination, "this doesn't look like a tea room, Ada."
"It's not," Ada blatantly responded, not breaking her stride as she spoke, "it's the Garrison...my brothers run it."
(Y/N)'s mouth went dry at the mention of her brothers. Her heart started racing at the thought of seeing them again after all of these years. But yet her feet still carried her towards the building.
Ada walked in like she owned the place and brought (Y/N) right over to the bar. "Two whiskeys, Harry," she called to the barman, who quickly went to work on it. "Whiskey?" she then asked (Y/N), who just barely nodded before she stuck the one glass into her hands. "Follow me," Ada then instructed, waving her free hand before she moved away from the bar and to a closed door.
(Y/N) took a sip from her glass and tried to ignore the burn of the liquid as it traveled down her throat. She just hoped that it would help to calm her nerves. But it did no such thing, and maybe it even served to increase them as Ada opened the door and allowed for (Y/N)'s eyes to fall right on the person she'd been missing every day since she left him on the train's platform.
"Holy shit, Summer, is that you?!" the surprised voice that came from the other side of the small room made her realize that there were other people in the room than just her and Tommy.
"It is," she answered meekly, a smile forming on her face as she tore her eyes from the blue ones she'd been captivated by so that she could see every other member of the Shelby family that was tucked into the booth. Even Finn was present, and he looked nothing like the small child that (Y/N) left those years ago.
"Come over here and sit with us! You've got a lot of catching up to do!" it was John who again spoke, waving his arm as an invitation for her to squeeze in beside him. (Y/N) laughed at his exuberance and nodded, taking one more quick glance at Tommy before she went to sit next to his brother.
The night went off without a hitch from there. Arthur and John quickly, and happily, filled her in on what had happened since they'd last seen each other, and (Y/N) graciously filled in some gaps that they had on her. All throughout the night, she kept stealing glances over at Tommy, who hadn't added more than a handful of words to the conversation. She wondered why he hadn't been more vocal, and why he always seemed to be looking at her when she looked at him.
"I think I might call it a night, guys," (Y/N) stated as she stood from the booth to look at all of them, "and don't even think about offering your arm to walk me home because you know I can handle it," she told them before anyone could say otherwise.
"Oh don't we know it, Summer. You're probably more ruthless than the lot of us combined," Arthur grinned at the younger woman, who pointed in his direction as her way of agreeing with him.
"I'll see you guys around," she smiled at each of them, her eyes lingering on Tommy one last time as she tried to take a good mental picture of him to remember for the night.
She then exited the tavern and began walking down the street. She was only able to get a short distance away before she heard her name being called out: "wait up, (Y/N)!" It was Tommy, and just hearing his voice made her giddy.
"I told you I don't need anyone walkin' me home, Tom," she didn't let her excitement show as she continued on walking.
"This ain't because of that," he told her, "just stop for a moment." But (Y/N) didn't listen. She kept on walking until she felt his hand pulling on her shoulder so that he could make her spin to face him. "Still don't quite know how to listen, eh?" was the witty question he asked the second her eyes met his.
Even if she had an equally witty remark ready to send back to him, it would have vanished from her mind the moment their eyes locked. "I...I guess not," she stumbled over her words and immediately wanted to facepalm at how stupid she must've sounded. But Tommy didn't seem to care. "I'm sorry if I came home a little late, and I completely understand if you want nothing to do with me anymore. I broke our promise, Tommy, and you have every right to..."
She wasn't able to finish her rambling because Tommy had leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. Her wide eyes immediately closed and she relished in the feeling of fireworks that were going off as their lips stayed connected. They pulled away moments later with their mouths parted; slight gasps being exhaled as both tried to steady their breathing.
“Tommy...what…?” (Y/N) trailed off, completely baffled by what had just happened.
“I don’t want to talk about the past anymore,” he told her with a slight shake of his head.
“Ok,” (Y/N) nodded her head, “from now on, we talk about the future,” she agreed with him as a smile formed on her lips.
Tommy and (Y/N)’s relationship was permanently shifted from that day forward. No longer were they only friends. Now they were passionate lovers who couldn’t seem to get enough of each other. If you asked John or Arthur, they’d say that their brother desperately needed the Summer sun to come back into his life.
So that’s why, when he was walking her to her nana’s house one day in the middle of September, he dropped down onto his knee before she was able to step through the open door.
“Tommy,” she gasped when she realized what he was doing.
“I can’t wait ‘til summer comes around again, (Y/N). Will you marry me?” he asked her, a hopeful look in his eyes as he brought a beautiful diamond ring up into view.
(Y/N) didn’t know what to say at first. Her mind had gone completely blank at the sight of him on his knee, and it felt as though the breath had been taken from her lungs. Luckily her nana was watching the entire thing as it happened from her place on the chair in front of the window.
“Say yes to the boy, (Y/N),” she said as she made her way to the doorframe so that she was able to peek her head out onto the street, where Tommy was still waiting expectantly for her answer, “he’s asked your father and everything.”
(Y/N)’s eyes widened at her nana’s words. She was surprised to hear that Tommy had even taken the time to ask her father for his blessing. So with a slight nod, she finally gave her answer: “yes.” It came out as a whisper, but Tommy heard it loud and clear, and it was all he needed to rise to his feet and take her cheeks into his hands. He kissed her passionately, his actions showing her how happy he was that she’d agreed to his proposal.
He slid the ring on her finger once they pulled away, and she couldn’t help but gasp as she looked down at it. “Thank you, nana,” she then turned and smiled at the older woman, who was still standing in the doorway with a proud smile on her face. She laughed slightly before looking at Tommy once more. “I love you,” she told him before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him to her for a tight embrace.
——
It was fitting for Tommy and (Y/N) to hold their wedding on one of the hottest days of the year. Right in the height of the very next summer, everyone they held dear to their hearts was crammed into one of Small Heath’s more elegant churches as they witnessed the two tie the knot. The ceremony was short, and then the reception was held in an open air garden that held a very reminiscent tone of all the summers they had spent together in the past.
The party was going seamlessly. Everyone was enjoying the atmosphere, and the love was able to be felt in the air. Somewhere in the middle of it, Tommy managed to have the band quiet down so that he’d be able to get the attention of all the party-goers. (Y/N) stood off to the side next to her father and nana, a smile on her face as she kept her eyes locked onto Tommy.
“Before I start, I’d like to have me wife come over here with me,” Tommy said into the microphone he’d been given by the bandmaster. Everyone cheered as (Y/N) felt her cheeks heating up. She stayed frozen in her spot until her nana ultimately had to give her a push to get her walking towards her husband. Tommy grinned as she stopped at his side and leaned in to lightly kiss her lips before he looked to the people who had crowded around them again. “I’d like to say a few words about (Y/N) and I’s relationship...” he started off, clearing his throat as he smiled at (Y/N).
“Speech!” Arthur shouted from where he was in the crowd, effectively making everybody laugh.
“I’m getting to it, brother,” Tommy addressed him, his words making (Y/N) laugh through the tears that were already starting to fall from her eyes. He glanced over at her one more time before he began speaking, “about two years ago now, Pol and I shared a conversation that really stuck with me. She said ‘there’ll be others’ and I agreed with her, not really knowing at the time that the person I was waiting for was the same person that I’d known me entire life. I know we’ve already made our vows, but I’d like to add another one here. (Y/N)...I promise to make sure that each and every one of your days holds the same amount of warmth and happiness that you’ve given to me throughout all of these years,” he ended his monologue by turning to look at her with a sincere smile on his face.
The reactions of the crowd faded away as (Y/N) kept her eyes locked onto him. She wiped away her tears and took hold of his right cheek with her hand before she leaned in and kissed his left one. “I love you,” she whispered into his ear, her smile widening as she felt his hands hook onto her waist.
“I love you, my beautiful Summer,” his voice held the same tone as hers as he responded, moving back just enough so that he’d be able to kiss her.
(Y/N) smiled into the kiss as he yet again reminded her of all of the summers they’d spent together...and all of the summers they’d share in the future.
Summary: When Grace leaves Small Heath, Tommy turns back to the person who's been around since the beginning.
Warnings: language, drinking
Word Count: 3721
A/N: this story was fun to write. I tried to base (Y/N) off of Amy from the movie Little Women...I hope that it shined through well. Also I hope that this was the happy ending that you were looking for. Enjoy! :)
Let me know if you want to be tagged in future stories similar to this one!
———
The bar was crowded with men that the Shelby brothers had brought along with them to help celebrate their send off to the derby. The room seemed to be buzzing, but (Y/N) couldn't be bothered. She huffed out a sigh as she brought the glass to her lips, taking another sip of the burning liquid and enjoying the feeling as it slid down her throat.
"Something bothering you, (Y/N)?" Polly Gray asked with furrowed eyebrows as she approached the booth (Y/N) was sitting in from where she was in the back of the Garrison.
"No," (Y/N) shook her head and hoped that the woman would believe her lie, "just not in the mood for celebration."
Polly pursed her lips, giving the younger woman her trademarked 'I know something's wrong with you but I'm not gonna force it out of you' look before she took a sip from the drink she'd brought with her. "Are you joining the boys at the derby or hanging back?"
(Y/N) didn't hear the other woman's question though. Instead, she had her eyes and mind focused on none other than her friend Tommy Shelby as he grinned and served drinks alongside the barmaid, Grace Burgess. She couldn't stop the pang of jealousy from building inside of her as she wished that could have been her standing by his side and doing everything with him. Instead she was only his friend. She was his friend and he didn't know anything otherwise, or else he wouldn't have kissed Grace while she was around like he did at the Garrison several days ago.
"Hello?" the sound of snapping and the single word question brought (Y/N) back into the conversation.
"Hi," she smiled at Polly, who laughed at the blatant confusion that was spread across (Y/N)'s face now.
"I asked you if you were going to be going to the derby or staying back," Polly repeated herself, her grin now present again as she then glanced over to see Tommy and Grace. She now knew the young woman's dilemma without even having to ask her.
"I'll probably stay back," (Y/N) answered with a bit of a frown, "there's nothing there that I'd be needed for anyway," she added to help her case.
She glanced towards the bar again in time to see Grace quickly retreat to the stockroom. Tommy's grin faltered before he too made his way into the room and shut the door. I don't even wanna think about what they're doing in there, she thought...except she was still thinking about it.
"I...I've gotta go, Pol," she said suddenly as she stood from the booth, "I'm sorry, but I'm not really feeling being in a crowd today." Polly only gave her a look of sympathy before she left the booth and began walking to the doors. On her way there, she looked over at the door to the room Tommy and Grace had disappeared into. They hadn't come out yet, and she didn't want to stick around to see the satisfied grins on their faces when they did. So she dropped her eyes to the floor and continued walking to the exit.
—
(Y/N) didn't do much for the rest of the day. She sat around her apartment and wondered just how she got herself to this point.
She cursed the fact that she'd welcomed all of the remarks that were flirty in nature from Tommy, and she wanted to kick herself for sending them right back to him. She hated that she shared a kiss with him; one that happened late into a drink-filled night at the Garrison, where they stayed back after everyone else left and held each other's glances for just a little too long. He wouldn't see her as anything other than his friend, and she knew that. It'd be impossible to think of anything else with a woman like Grace by his side.
So as the day grew later, she sat at her dining table with a bottle of scotch…one that Tommy would surely turn his nose up to, but she didn't care. It was all that she had, and she intended on drinking it.
A knock sounded off the door to her apartment when she was about a glass and a half in. With furrowed eyebrows, she stood from the chair and made her way over to it. "Who is it?" she called, confusion in her voice. Surely it must've been night by now...who'd be bothering her at this time?
"It's me," came the voice from the other side.
With a sigh, she undid the lock and twisted the knob, opening the door to reveal a drenched Tommy Shelby. "Is it raining?" she questioned upon taking in his attire.
"It is," he nodded, sounding slightly out of breath, "can I come in?" he asked her then, peering around her into the apartment.
"Why?" she asked him, not moving aside yet. She was still a little wary of him from the last time she saw him.
"Because I need to talk to you," he answered her, his voice showing the dire need he possessed at the moment. (Y/N) held his gaze for a moment longer before she silently nodded and stepped aside. Tommy took that as his go-ahead and walked into the apartment. Once he was through the threshold, (Y/N) shut the door and then turned to face him.
"What do you need to talk about?" she immediately got into it, her eyebrows on the cusp of raising as he turned back to face her once more. Before he could speak, however, her eyes widened at the sight of blood splattered on what looked to be a cloth wrapped around his chest. "What's happened to you?" she asked him, concern seeping into her expression.
"Kimber and his men came into Small Heath. He demanded we have a war, he shot me and then I killed him," he explained, his voice rather monotoned as he recounted what'd happened that day for the umpteenth time.
"Shot?" she questioned with wide eyes, taking a step forward and wanting to reach out and examine his wound before she caught herself and took a step back. "Are you ok?" she settled on asking him.
"Yes, I'm fine," he nodded his head, taking a deep breath then, "I wanted to come and talk to you," he then circled back around to his previous statement.
"Ok?" her response came out as a question, like she was asking for him to continue as she waited with an intent expression on her face. He took another deep breath and looked away from her, his eyes becoming fixated on the shelves filled with dishes to the right of them. "Tommy?" she questioned, becoming more confused as each second passed.
"Grace left," he told her, his eyes finding hers again after he spoke. (Y/N)'s jaw went slack at his statement, surprise surging through her body. "She...she was fuckin' spying on me, (Y/N). She was spying on me for Campbell."
"You're...you're kidding, Tommy," she finally spoke after her initial shock wore off, "please tell me that you're kidding."
"I'm not," he shook his head, hurt clear in his eyes, "Pol was the one who put the pieces together. I told her about our move on Kimber and she told Campbell every-fucking-thing that I told her," he explained more of his situation, his hands hooking onto his waist as he shook his head. He was still in shock from it all. "She's going to London. She told me to come with her. I flipped a coin, and it landed wrong."
"I can't believe this," (Y/N) said, her eyes still wide as her brain was going at a hundred miles a minute trying to process what he'd just told her. "Out of all the people, I just...wow. I can't believe you allowed her to get close to you and use you like that."
"The coin landed wrong for a reason, (Y/N)..." he trailed off, not responding to her shock at all. He then took a step closer to her, making her even more confused. "I'm supposed to stay here, in Small Heath. I'm supposed to be with you," he spoke with sincerity in his voice, his words shocking (Y/N) yet again.
Her eyes widened slightly as she tried to now process his statement, which had come from out of left field. Moments later, she began shaking her head. "No," she said while still shaking her head.
"No, what?" Tommy questioned, his eyebrows furrowing as confusion set in.
"You're not doing this, Tommy," she said, dropping her gaze to the floor.
"What am I doing?" there was a mixture of utter confusion and a notion of pleading in his voice. He had no idea what she was getting at, and she sighed as she realized that she was going to have to spell it out for him.
"I'm not just some backup plan, Tommy. I will not be the person you settle for just because you cannot have her. I won't, I won't do that..." she paused, breaking their gaze as she felt tears starting to well up in her eyes. She shook her head and blinked a few times, trying to keep the tears at bay before she took a deep breath. "I won't...not when I've spent my entire life loving you," she admitted then.
She stammered through her words at first, but her confession rang in Tommy's ears loud and clear. Her eyes widened as she realized what she'd just said, and it was enough for her to drop her gaze and leave him, walking over to rest herself against the back of the couch. Tommy stood, speechless in his spot, his mouth gaped slightly as he tried to make sense of what she'd just confessed to him.
"Can you please leave, Tommy?" she asked him after a few quiet moments had passed. Her gaze was trained on the floor. She couldn't bear to look at him after what she'd just said. "I need to be alone right now."
"(Y/N), I..."
"Please?" she cut him off, stressing the word as she looked up at him again with tear-filled eyes. It was taking all that she had to hold the tears in. She didn't want him to see her cry; didn't want him to then have a reason to swoop in and offer her a shoulder to cry on.
He stayed frozen in his spot for a few more moments before finally he nodded his head. "I'll go," he told her, then taking the few steps back over to the door. He opened it and then moved into the doorway before stopping and turning back to look at her one more time. "I will make this up to you, (Y/N)," he promised her before he exited the apartment and closed the door for good. The sound of the handle clicking was enough to allow (Y/N) to let all of her tears fall.
——
"Ada why do I need to wear this specific dress?" (Y/N) asked the woman who was sitting on the couch.
"Because I am deciding that it's finally time for you to get out of this place again and go experience a good time," Ada answered, picking at her nails before she glanced over at the woman holding the dress.
"I get out of this place a lot, thank you very much," (Y/N) countered, a bit of a dumbfounded expression on her face.
"But do you have a good time?" Ada questioned, her one eyebrow raised. (Y/N) pursed her lips and stayed mum at the ask. It'd been weeks since she allowed herself to go out and have a good time. Ada laughed slightly as she stood up and smoothed out her dress. "It's settled then...you and I are going into the city later. I'll be here at six with a driver to pick you up," she laid out the details of (Y/N)'s newly acquired plans.
"Oh...ok," (Y/N) was left with no other choice but to agree with them as she watched the other woman walk over to the apartment's door.
"I'll see you at six," Ada announced, sending one last smile before opening the door and leaving the apartment.
Once the door was shut again, (Y/N) let out a sigh. Why had she just agreed to going out? She still felt like she didn't have it in her, everything that happened with Tommy still fresh in her mind even though it happened a few weeks ago. God, why did she have to foolishly admit her feelings to him? She sighed at that thought as well.
—
The day passed too quickly for (Y/N)'s liking, and soon enough, she was fixing her hair in the mirror, hoping that the simple pin-back she did would go well with the royal blue dress she was wearing.
When the clock chimed at six, she took a deep breath and grabbed her purse. She deemed herself ready to go after looking in the mirror across the room one last time.
Her jaw went slack when she saw what was waiting for her outside of her apartment. "Where's Ada, Tommy? Are you driving us?" she began asking the man that was leaning up against the black car questions. An indescribable feeling began filling her as she was unable to tear her eyes away from the man she hadn't seen in weeks (which was because she'd been actively avoiding him).
Tommy grinned at her confusion. The plan that Ada set into place had obviously worked. "I'm taking you into the city," he told her once she had stopped where he was standing. He pushed himself off of the car before he opened the passenger's side door. With furrowed eyebrows, (Y/N) accepted his invitation into the car. Immediately, she twisted around to see if Ada was sitting in the back, but she was met with an empty seat.
"Where's Ada?" she questioned him again once he'd entered the car through the driver's side door.
"It'll be just us going into the city," Tommy responded, starting the car before he promptly pulled off.
"Tommy," she sighed, staring down at her lap as the pieces were coming together to show her just how she had gotten sucked into this predicament.
"Let me make this up to you," he said to her, removing his eyes from the road to briefly glance in her direction.
(Y/N) immediately knew what 'this' meant without even asking him to elaborate. She pursed her lips and looked out at the road again, a swarm of questions swirling through her head now. Carefully, she chose the one she felt was the most important to ask: "You're not just doing this to forget about her, are you?" she said her words softly, almost like she didn't want him to hear them.
But he heard them loud and clear. "Forget about who?" was his response, and he ended it by looking over at her with a serious expression on his face.
(Y/N) sucked in a breath as she tried to ground herself and not go too much into her head. This is just a day in the city, she thought to herself. "So this is a date then?" her mouth wanted to believe the complete opposite.
A hint of a grin formed on Tommy's face at her question. "If you want it to be," he left the ball in her court, nodding his head to the side slightly as he kept focused on the road. (Y/N) only pursed her lips at his answer, unable to give her thoughts on the events that had transpired because it was clear to her that she was in two different mindsets within herself.
The rest of the ride into the city was a quiet one, and it was only when Tommy parked the car and walked around to open her door that he spoke again: "lemme help you out," he mumbled, offering his hand to her. She took it, then sliding her body out from the passenger's side seat and sending him a gracious smile. Tommy shut the door and tossed the keys to the valet man before he offered his arm to (Y/N). She glanced down at his gesture before hooking hers with it so that he could lead her to the doors of the fancy establishment. "Figured we'd get ourselves a nice dinner," he commented on the upper class establishment as they entered it and were immediately taken back to a table.
“This is a nice place, Tommy,” (Y/N) commented as she looked around the dining room, seeing the many other couples that were busy conversing and eating fine cuisine.
“Only the best for you, love,” he sent her a grin, one that made her cheeks heat up. Quickly, she attempted to hide it with the glass of wine that had been poured for her, but she knew Tommy had seen her reaction.
They talked about nothing in particular as they waited for their food to be served. Once it was, Tommy couldn’t help but keep his eyes focused on (Y/N) rather than bother with his food.
“What?” (Y/N) questioned him once she noticed that he’d been looking at her.
“Nothing,” Tommy shook his head, taking a sip of his whiskey.
She took his word and looked back down at her plate. As she was beginning to cut off another piece of her food, she felt his eyes on her once more. “Why’re you staring at me, Tommy?” she questioned him again, her voice holding no accusatory tone. It was merely just her curiosity getting the better of her.
“I was uh, remembering...” he paused, clearing his throat as he waved his one hand in the air like it would help him find the words he wanted to say, “I was remembering the times we spent together.”
“Oh yeah?” (Y/N) leaned forward slightly with intrigue dancing in her eyes, “the good, or the bad?”
“The good, of course,” Tommy responded, a grin on his face as he leaned in closer as well, “I was thinking about that time when you sucker punched that man for looking at you funny...after he went on for minutes about drinkin’ at the bar alone, it was the stupid look on his face that did him in,” he recalled, laughing to himself after telling the story.
(Y/N) also laughed at the memory. “I may have had a little too much in me that night,” she said as a blush covered her cheeks and she looked down at her plate in a bashful manner.
“No,” Tommy shook his head as he paused for a moment, “or maybe you did because you kissed me in the snug later on,” he then added, his words making (Y/N)’s eyes quickly snap up to meet his.
“You remembered that?” she asked him, her eyes now wide with shock.
“‘Course I did...” Tommy paused and leaned back in his seat, “won’t ever forget something like that.”
“Well you should,” (Y/N) started, a slight frown on her face, “because it was probably terrible.”
Tommy shook his head at that, “no...not terrible in the slightest.” His eyes met hers then, his gaze so intense she was able to feel it in her bones.
A momentary silence fell over the both of them then, the only sounds being the clinking of silverware off of plates. Then (Y/N) decided to speak again: “what else do you have planned for tonight?”
“I figured we’d go to the pictures. Then maybe have a walk by the canal...it’s much nicer than the one back in Small Heath,” he laid out his plans for them, his final comment making (Y/N) laugh slightly. As she dared to look up at him again, a feeling that she’d never felt before found its way inside of her. She nodded in response to his words, deciding that maybe it’d be good to go along with what he had planned.
——
After a calming walk and a thought-provoking movie, (Y/N) and Tommy arrived back at her apartment. He played the role of gentleman and made sure to walk her up to her apartment’s door on the second floor.
“Thank you for tonight, Tommy,” she said before she went to unlock her door, “I had a really lovely time.”
“I’m happy you enjoyed yourself,” Tommy nodded slightly, a smile playing on his lips as his eyes locked with hers. They stood in silence for a few moments before he asked what had been on his mind since they’d arrived at her building, “does this get me a second date?”
(Y/N)’s eyes widened at his sudden question. She was a bit taken back by it, but she couldn’t stop the smile from forming on her face. “I think it does,” she then gave him the answer he was waiting for.
The grin broke full onto his features as he heard what her answer was. Within seconds of hearing it, he was leaning in closer to her. (Y/N), realizing what he was doing, was able to place her hands against either side of his neck, effectively stopping him before he could match his lips to hers. He exhaled a disappointed grunt before asking, “what was that for?” while his breath fanned against her lips.
“I only kiss on fourth dates, Tommy,” she told him, a smile present in her words before she leaned in and pressed a teasing kiss to his cheek; closer in location to the corner of his lips than to his earlobe.
Her smile was still present as she stepped back from him and dropped her hold completely. Nothing else was said as she unlocked her door, opened it, and stepped inside.
Her smile widened as she thought about the events of the night. If Tommy Shelby truly wanted her, he’d have to work for it and show her that she wasn’t part of some backup plan. She had a pretty good feeling that he would.
Summary: In which Tommy needs glasses and (Y/N) has an opinion about every type of frame that's offered.
Warnings: language, smoking
Word Count: 2281
A/N: this was just a fun request to write...I think it’s one of my favorite stories of mine. Oh to be doing domestic things with Tommy Shelby *sigh*. Enjoy! :)
Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future stories that are similar to this one!
———
(Y/N) was able to hear the sounds of frustrated mumbling coming from inside Tommy's office as she walked past its slightly ajar door. "Tom?" she questioned as she peered her head in. Squinting her eyes to try to get them to adjust to the dim lighting of the room, she was able to make out that he was sitting at his desk.
"Yes?" he asked as he looked up from his papers, surprise clear on his face. He wasn't expecting her to be at his door.
"Everything ok?" she asked, taking his response as her ok to enter the room. If he hadn't wanted her in there, he would have told her to leave.
"Yes. I, uh..." he paused, his eyes glancing around his desk as he tried to find what he was looking for, "I'm just having a hard time balancing the logs is all," he admitted to her.
(Y/N) furrowed her eyebrows as she walked even further into the room. Once at his desk, she extended her hand and waved her fingers at him, her nonverbal way of asking him for what he was working on. He understood and neatly compiled the papers before handing them over to her. "Doctor said that you shouldn't be overworking yourself like this," she commented as she looked over the work he'd done so far.
"Yeah? Well fuck what the doctor says," Tommy grumbled, focusing himself on lighting a cigarette before he looked at her once more. (Y/N) sighed at his response, knowing that she should've expected something along those lines. But she tried anyway, wanting the best for her husband and his health.
"I think I know what your problem is," she announced after a few minutes had passed.
"What's that?" he inquired, his eyebrows raised.
"Your numbers are wrong," she told him, glancing up in time to see his face fill with confusion.
"That's impossible," Tommy shook his head, not wanting to believe that something like that would be the cause of the error.
"It's what's wrong," (Y/N) insisted as she moved around the desk so that she could be standing right next to his chair. "See, lookit...you've got 119 pounds listed here on the intake and then, for the same day's totals, you've written 109 pounds. You're never going to get the correct numbers if you don't have them consistent everywhere," she explained, glancing over at him before she trained her eyes on the books once more. "Do you have the initial papers you've copied this off of?" she asked then. Tommy nodded his head. "Can I see them?" was her next request. Silently, he grabbed them from his pile and handed them to her. It only took her a few moments to find yet another problem: "these aren't even the correct numbers, Tommy."
"What do you mean?" he questioned, his brows deeply furrowed as he took the paper back from her and then looked between it and the log on his desk.
"What day are you doing the totals for?" she asked him.
"Thursday."
"And what day does that say on the paper?" was her next question.
"Thursday," he responded with confidence, but (Y/N) shook her head.
"That says Tuesday, love," she corrected him before pointing to the paper in his hands, "see? T-U-E-S..."
"I know how to fuckin' spell, alright?" he cut her off with aggrivation in his tone.
"Then why don't you have the days right?" she asked him, not realizing how accusatory her question sounded until she said it.
Tommy inhaled deeply and then exhaled his breath in a long sigh. "It's because the words are blurry," he answered, his voice coming out in a low mumble.
"What's that?" she asked for him to repeat what he'd said.
"I can't tell what's what because the words on the fucking paper are blurry, ok?" he repeated himself, his words stressed and his agitation evident.
"Ok," she nodded, agreeing with him in a soft voice. She wanted to say that she was shocked by his admission, but honestly, she was expecting something like this to happen. He did just come back from his extended hospital stay, where he suffered a cracked skull and internal bleeding around his brain, among other injuries. The fact that he didn’t have many lingering effects or problems from it surprised her greatly.
Tommy sighed again and dropped the paper onto the desk before he ran his hands through his hair. He then dropped his face into his hands as his elbows rested on the desktop. "What am I supposed to do now, eh?" he finally questioned after a few moments of silence had passed. He then looked up at (Y/N) with an expression on his face that gripped at her heart. She'd only seen Tommy Shelby's desperation a handful of times, and a similar reaction was elicited from each.
"Well..." she trailed off as she sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, "I suppose we should take a trip to an optometrist," she suggested.
Tommy nodded silently as he took in what she had to say. It was pretty obvious to him that he needed to seek help with his vision problem. It was impeding on his ability, which in turn made him extremely frustrated. "Ok," he agreed with her, nodding once more, "I know someone who probably has a person he goes to. I can ask him who he'd recommend for me," he then laid out his plan for getting this problem fixed.
"Good. I suggest that you get it done as soon as possible," (Y/N) was happy to hear that he was willing to get some help with this issue.
"I will," he assured her, "but for now, can you help me with these logs so that I can get them finished for tonight?"
She agreed to his request within seconds. "Of course, Tom. I'd be happy to help," she answered with a smile before she managed to drag one of the empty chairs over to his desk so that she could sit and help him finish his work.
——
"I've got that appointment today," Tommy mentioned as he entered the sitting room (Y/N) was occupying.
"For your eyes?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"Yes," he nodded, chuckling slightly at her obvious intrigue.
"Oh, that's great," (Y/N) said with a smile before an idea came to mind. "Say, can I come with you, Tommy?"
"For what?" he was confused. In his mind, a trip to a doctor's office seemed like a bore.
“Because I want to be there when you pick out your glasses,” a smile formed on her face as she spoke.
“And you’re so sure that I’ll need glasses?” Tommy shot back.
She sent him an ‘are you serious?’ look as an initial response to his question. “I think that was made pretty obvious the other day,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone. Tommy shook his head as he tried to stop the smile from forming on his face. “Can I, Tommy...please?” she asked him again, putting on her best ‘puppy dog pout’.
“Fine,” he agreed to her ask after taking less than a minute to contemplate it. What bad could come out of his wife attending his appointment with him?
(Y/N) jumped off of the couch with a newfound excitement, and she quickly ran into the foyer to ask Mary to grab her coat and purse. Soon enough, she was ready to go, and Tommy had met her outside in the car that he brought around.
—
Tommy quickly realized that something bad could come from his wife attending his appointment.
“What about these frames, Mrs. Shelby?” the doctor asked as he came in with yet another option to look at. After about the fourth time, he stopped asking Tommy and decided to begin appeasing the woman in the room.
(Y/N) pursed her lips as she examined the thicker-framed glasses that held an oval-shaped lens in the middle. She then held them up to Tommy, who wordlessly tried them on without having to be asked to. She then tapped her chin as she stared at him for a few moments. “I don’t like these either. They’re too bulky,” she finally gave her opinion, her words simultaneously making Tommy sigh and the doctor nod profusely.
“That’s just what I was thinking...I couldn’t see such a stately man wearing lenses like these. I’ll go see what else I have in stock,” the doctor was quick to agree with the woman, and Tommy silently cursed him for egging her on. He then quickly hurried out of the room to get another pair. Soon enough, he was back with more options. This time he held two in his hands. “I brought both sizes of these. Let’s see what you think,” he said as he sat them down on the desk.
(Y/N) grabbed the first pair and looked them over. The frame was thin and gold and it once again held ovalic lenses. “Try these on,” she told Tommy before handing them over to him. Tommy nodded and went through the motions of placing the glasses on his face. Once again, (Y/N) pursed her lips as she took in his appearance. “No...I think they make you look like Scrooge from that one Christmas book,” she gave her opinion on it, her words making Tommy sigh.
“I don’t care about what they look like on me, love, I just need to see,” he finally voiced his exasperation, effectively showing her that his patience was running thin.
“I’m the one who’s gotta look at you though, so I’d at least like to find something that suits you well,” she challenged his statement, her words making him exhale a sigh. He knew that this would be a losing battle for him, so he just kept his mouth shut. “Try these on,” she told him then, raising a pair that looked almost identical to the last up for him to look at. The only thing that had been changed was that the lenses were smaller and circular.
“How are they, Mrs. Shelby?” the doctor then asked after it’d been quiet for a few moments. He was eagerly awaiting her opinion on the frames.
“I like these,” she said, nodding her head slightly before she doubled down on her statement: “yes. These are the ones you should get, Tommy.”
“Finally,” Tommy let out a breath of relief at the fact that the trying-on portion of the appointment was over before he turned to the doctor, “I’ll take these.”
“Very good choice, Mr. Shelby. I’ll have those made in the proper specifications as soon as possible for you,” the doctor nodded his head, a pleased smile on his face. “You’re free to go now,” he then told the couple before he stood from his chair and shook both of their hands.
——
The rest of the day passed by without further talk of the glasses that Tommy would now be using. It wasn’t until he entered their bedroom for the night that (Y/N) decided to bring them up once more.
“Are you excited about your new glasses?” she asked him from behind her book as he got himself changed into what he’d be wearing to bed.
“What kind of question is that?” he responded with a question of his own, his words holding no malice or condescending tone, “of course I’m excited to be able to read properly again,” he blatantly stated, his vocal tone making (Y/N) giggle.
“No, I mean are you excited about how they look?” she specified her question once her giggles had subsided.
“I honestly don’t care what they look like, love,” he gave her his honest response as he got into his side of the bed, “I just needed to be able to see.”
(Y/N) frowned slightly at the absence of desire he had to talk about the topic. She leaned over and set her book down on the nightstand before looking back at him again. “I think you looked really good with the glasses on,” she stated in a matter-of-fact tone as a grin formed on her lips. “I didn’t think that anyone would be able to make frames like that look attractive, but you certainly did.”
“Yeah?” he asked, certainly amused by her sudden statements.
“Oh yes,” she answered, then rolling onto her side so that she’d be closer to him. “You made all of those frames look attractive, but this pair....this pair is special.”
“Well I’m glad that you think that,” he grinned at her as his arm wrapped around her from underneath, making her move even closer to his chest.
“And just when I thought that you couldn’t get any more perfect...” she trailed off, placing her hand flat against his chest so that she could sit up slightly. Her grin widened as she leaned down so that her face was closer to his, “I can’t wait until you get them delivered so that I get to see them on your handsome face again,” she whispered against his lips before she closed the gap and kissed them.
Tommy only exuded a chuckle in between the kisses she was giving him. He had a quick-witted, cheeky comeback prepared to give her, but it got lost in the feeling of her lips dancing across the skin of his jawline. So he decided to let her keep going, already knowing that her affection towards him would be increasing tenfold the moment that he was wearing those glasses again.
Unlike the other Anon, I don't believe the fandom has "died", maybe people have moved on and just posting less content because the show has ended. I still reckon there's still those out there creating content, reblogging, making gifs etc for the fandom. It's not necessarily died.
It's just because people's interests may have changed. I say check the peaky tags, I reckon there's still content creators and rebloggers and people who talk about the show etc still out there. It's not dead. It's just quieter.
Yeah well at first I was sad when the other anon told me, but then I just started thinking and there’s a few people on here still who are very much active. Like in the last few days I’ve seen @zablife, @cillmequick @theshelbyslimited @notyour-valentine @the-makingsofgreatness @runnning-outof-time @vintunnavaa @solomons-finest-rum @peakyswritings @look-at-the-soul be active on here, just to name a few ❤️
Bit it was bound to happen, people move on, especially after a series ends. But I comfort myself with the idea that some people and blogs never die and that, without a doubt, new people are gonna be joining the fandom. It might not get as big, but it can still be good 😊
Okay so there’s even more I’ve seen in the last few days, @evita-shelby @deepdonutkid @peakyblinded @thesoldiersminute @queenshelby and many, many more no doubt.
Add to the list! Help the sad anon find all the amazing blogs still active on here 😊😊
a few more amazing creators in the fandom who have been active lately: @murderousginger, @madame-wilsonn, @peakyswritings, @peakyblinders1919, @shelbywhiterose, @tommymcartney, @fortunetellingnonesense, @andtherewerefireworks, @aranoburns
plus the following amazing people and creators❤️: @celticmelody, @peakyduchesss, @mrs-gray, @moral-turpitudes, @smallheathgangsters, @whiskeypowder, @lizyshores, @wouldpollyapprove, @tommyhardyx , @toms-cherry-trees @tommydoesntpayforsuits, @amysteryspot, @justalonelyslytherin, @thomashelbyswhore
@twvstedsouls Merel thank you so much for tagging me!! It always makes my day when you tag me in something. Unfortunately, I don’t have much time to be active on here 🥲❤️
The Boy in the Window 4 ~ Tommy Shelby x Reader (Series)
Chapter Summary: (Y/N) tries to balance the situation with the challenges of day to day life in Small Heath, while Tommy comes to her in search for company.
Notes: Thank you so much for the feedback on the previous part. In this one we get to see a little bit more of Small Heath beyond the Peaky Blinders and a lot of Charlie and (Y/N)- I hope you enjoy! I do not consent to my work being translated, copied or posted elsewhere on this platform or any other.
Here, you can find my [Masterlist] and the [Series Masterlist]
Warning: Canon conforming mention of violence. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Expect spoilers for Peaky Blinders Season 1-4.
Wordcount: 4450
Part 4
[Previously]
With work, the household and Emma, she would never have considered the possibility of taking in another child unless absolutely necessary.
Well, Thomas Shelby hadn't exactly given her a choice in the matter, but he had given her means and money she couldn't dream of ever earning in that space of time. A part of her felt guilty for taking it, but he had insisted and it wasn't like she couldn't use it.
His money, which he had so carelessly dumped into her dressing gown pocket, would bring that magical, mythical "one day" a lot closer.
One day I will move out of Small Heath for good.
One day Emma will go to a decent school.
One day I might even take her on holiday.
And Charlie was an easy child- mostly.
(Y/N) could spend a day or two just watching and entertaining them, but she also had sewing and a household to run. And whatever activities she’d normally give Emma, Charlie didn’t always take to. And they certainly didn’t distract him enough, when she had to leave the room or go up or down the stairs when he and Emma were in a different place.
Once, she had dared to go outside to place some groceries there for the cold.
Upon her return, after less than ten minutes, she was met by her frustrated daughter and a boy who was absolutely beside himself. Tears and snot smeared on his face as he basically flung himself at her. He had buried his face in her skirt, the fabric muffling his loud sobs.
Little feet had stamped the floor as his hands reached for her again and again until she relented.
With a sigh, she had picked him up, legs and arms wrapping themselves around her as tightly as they possibly could, squeezing the air from her lungs.
"I thought you left. Don't leave! I don't want you to leave!", He had wailed into her shoulder with such volume, she feared the neighbours would soon start beating the walls.
"I don't know what his problem is.", Emma had huffed in disapproval as she resumed the game, that Charlie had become entirely uninterested. Even after his tears had been dried, he still refused to release her for the better part of two hours.
While she could understand - to a certain extent- since the boy had been left alone merely a few days ago in a place he had never been to before, it wasn’t the sort of behaviour that was easy to maintain for an extended period of time.
To avoid any further tearful and most importantly lengthy episodes like that, (Y/N) found herself announcing whenever she went upstairs or downstairs. These were regularly followed by hasty footsteps and irritated sighs from Emma, because they interrupted their games.
And Charlie was homesick.
Sometimes he’d wake up crying and lost for a moment and would refuse to go back to sleep without her either holding his hand or preferably all of him.
It was impossible to miss how he used any and every chance to be held, to hug her or lean into her.
At first, it had only been in moments when his emotions got the better of him, but as the days strung together, he got bolder, snuggling up to her during story time. First he'd lean into her arm, and when he realised that she didn't protest, he tried slipping under it, resting his head against her chest. Sometimes she’d wake in the middle of the night to find one (or on occasion two) bodies curled into hers.
From time to time, he'd ask for Frances and complain - well, not complain. But it became obvious very quickly that he was used to an entirely different lifestyle than the one she could provide
He asked for a different kind of jam and when she explained they only had one, he wanted to know why. When she had no time to play with them because she had to do the washing, he wanted to know why it was her doing it and not the maids and was confused when she explained that they had no maids.
Yet he enjoyed chasing Emma through the lines of hanging clothes all the same.
But the main problem was that he felt trapped. He kept talking about the trees and the river behind his home, about the horses and the swing in the garden.
And yet his father had been clear - they were to stay inside as much as possible and the small courtyard couldn’t compete with the vastness of the estate he called home.
His father.
Since Thomas Shelby had handed her his son, he had spent an hour at most in their company. He’d enter, exchange barely a handful of words with Charlie, drop some money on the table and go.
Nothing else. Sometimes he’d take some of the food which she always prepared more of than necessary. But beyond that, all she saw of him were the shadows behind the windows of the Watery Lane house.
This evening, however, he came late, knocking on the kitchen door.
Unlike last time, he was properly dressed, in a dark blue tailored three piece suit and a starched shirt, with silver cufflinks and a golden chain on his pocket watch.
The suit alone looked to be as expensive as all the clothing she owned put together. He had taken his cap off, leaving his hair slightly dishevelled, a stark contrast to his perfectly polished shoes which were entirely unfit for Small Heath.
“Charlie’s already asleep.”, she explained. “Do you want me to wake him?”
He shook his head as he sat down on the small sofa, his legs outstretched.
(Y/N) smoothed down the wrinkles of her apron. She had decided to do some cleaning she hadn’t gotten around to earlier. But in light of company, she decided to take it off, draping it over the chair.
“Would you like something to eat?”, she offered, if only to escape the piercing blue eyes. “I can heat you up the leftovers from dinner.”
He shook his head once more.
“I could make you some tea?”
Again - nothing but the shaking of his head.
“You got whisky?”, he finally asked.
“No.”, (Y/N) said.
“Thought so.", he nodded, "I brought me own. Got a glass?”
She hurried to fetch one from the cupboard, glad to have something else to do than crumble under his gaze.
“Only one?”, he asked as she put it down in front of him.
Swallowing hard, she stepped back, hiding her hands behind her back so that he wouldn’t see them shake.
“If you didn’t come for Charlie, and you didn’t come for food, why are you here, Mr. Shelby?”, she asked the tips of her shoes.
Thomas Shelby huffed softly as he poured himself a drink. The sofa creaked slightly as he let himself fall back into it.
“Not used to being all alone in a house.”, he said with a shrug. “So for company, I guess.”
With that he drank.
The only sound was her racing heart and the crackling of the fire that filled the room with warmth, but it was nothing compared to the burn of his gaze.
It was as if he was looking her up and down, body and soul and seeing things beyond those the eye could pierce.
“He’s a very good boy.”, she finally said.
“Your son, I mean.”
He only drank.
“But…”
That caught his attention and his eyes shot up.
“I fear he’s getting rather restless. He’s not used to a …house like this.”
“No, he’s fucking not.”, he scoffed, bitterness dripping off of every word.
Once more he brought the glass to his lips.
(Y/N) fell silent. She had tried, and she didn’t dare push further.
Shifting from foot to foot, she wondered what she might do now.
Somehow, she felt as if she had to ask him for permission to sit or make herself some tea, even if it was her house.
It is his city though.
“How did your husband die?”, he asked, making her eyes snap up.
(Y/N)’s mouth went dry.
“H-how-?”, she stammered.
He shrugged, as if he wasn’t really interested, but then he chose to elaborate.
“Last thing I heard of you, (Y/N) (L/N), you took a job away from the city. Then your brother said you got married. Now you’re back in the same city in the same house with a new child and a new ring. So you didn’t leave him and because you’ve still got his picture on the wall, he didn't leave you. You’re a widow.”
It hurt to try and swallow the lump in her throat.
“I-I am.”, she admitted with a nod, as her eyes began to burn. All of her began to burn, her eyes, her chest, her heart.
Now she had to sit, with or without his permission.
“How?”, he asked.
Her fingers coiled around the back of the chair, wrapping themselves around the old wood. It had endured so much, it would endure this too and see her through it.
“He worked as a forrester.”
Her voice was faint and sounded foreign to her, as she forced herself to speak.
Even at the best of times, it was hard for her to meet his eyes and now it was impossible.
“Three years after we got married, there was an accident.”, she continued, as her chest began to rise and fall rapidly.
“I…they say it was quick, but they never let me see his face.”
She would never forget his body lying there, with a dark cloth covering his face and his chest. She had tried, of course, to pull it away, but they had stopped her.
Their calloused hands had been hard and unyielding as they restrained her, coarse from all the work in the woods- and so like her husband's.
“You don’t want to remember him like that, love.”
Now all she remembered was the dark cloth and the unseen horrors it had contained.
“He was a good man. Better than I could have hoped for.”, she said, wiping under her eyes before the tears could hit her cheeks. “And a wonderful father.”
That was what finally broke her voice, so she just shook her head and turned away, trying not to lose it completely.
“So your husband’s dead. And your parents are dead. I know your brother’s dead. What about Edith?”
Her silence was answer enough.
“So just you and the girl?”
(Y/N) nodded.
“Fucking hell.”, he muttered under his breath and finished his drink - only to pour himself another.
“How do you do it?”, he asked, almost gently. “All on your own?”
That startled her, and even after thinking for a while, she couldn’t think of anything more than: “I try. What else can I do?”
He did not respond. Instead, he only drank and stared at her.
“(Y/N) (L/N).”
“Hale.”, she corrected him. “My name is Hale.”
Slowly, he shook his head.
“Never knew you as (Y/N) Hale.”
“Well I am that now.”
“Not to me you’re not.”
He hadn’t said it unkindly, but it still stung. And maybe that was what made her braver.
“You said we were to stay inside the house, but I can’t see why we can’t go for a walk or to the church green. It’s not your country palace, but better for children than the courtyard. I also need to buy groceries soon."
His only response - familiar by now - was to drink.
But then to her surprise, he sighed.
“I was married too. She died.”
He said it as if it was news and not a well known fact to anyone and everyone.
They knew. All of Birmingham knew.
There was simply too much funny business about the whole situation for people not to talk.
“She got shot.”
If it meant anything to him, he hid it well. In his voice at least, but there was something in his eyes as he searched for her reaction.
(Y/N) waited.
“Took a bullet for me.”
As cruel as it sounded, this elaboration did not come unexpected, even if there had been theories that she had been shot for being a pro King paddy and traitor. She wouldn’t have been the first.
“So we found and killed the man who ordered it. And his son. Took his businesses and cleaned them out. Every last one.”
The hairs on the back of her neck stood, but not only at his words, but at how casually and unaffected he said them.
“And now another son came from America,”, he continued, “Fifteen fucking Sicilian mafiosos to kill us all.”
Her eyes shot up to the ceiling at once, to where the children were sleeping as she remembered the whispers.
“But-but the Mafia, they kill children too.”
An unknown fury bubbled up inside of her. The mere thought of causing harm to a child, let alone at will and out of malice was beyond her and unlocked parts of her rage so dark that she should be ashamed. But she wasn't- not in this.
Then a second, darker realisation took hold of her.
If they killed children, would they come for Charlie? And thereby for me and for Emma? We have nothing to do with this! Emma-
“And now they’ve killed John.”
“What about his children?”, she demanded to know. The eldest couldn’t be more than twelve at most. A boy, nothing more.
But Tommy Shelby didn’t even seem to hear her.
“Shot him down right in front of his house.”
“And his family?”, (Y/N) asked, louder this time. "They would have been there- what about them?"
His head snapped around, icy eyes met hers and digging into her soul.
“What about his children, Mr. Shelby?”, she repeated, as her eyes began to water. Her knuckles had long turned white.
“Nothing.”, he said. “They shot him and shot Michael and left.”
The relief nearly knocked her off of her feet and she had to pace up and down in an attempt to walk it off, although she wasn’t doing a very good job.
The Mafia.
“I made a deal today.”, Tommy Shelby said from behind her, making her turn.
(Y/N) was no longer able to follow.
“No civilians. No children.”
“Oh.”, she whispered, glancing up once more. He had said it with a tone that implied she ought to know what it meant, but she had long lost the ability to follow.
“That’s why I need you.”, he said. “Ada’s on the list. Polly’s on the list. You’re not. As long as he’s here, he won’t be caught in any crossfire.”
“But what about you?”, she asked.
He stretched his hands out and shrugged.
“I guess we’ll have to see, eh?”, he asked. “If I live, I’ll live.”
By his tone, he didn’t seem to care much.
“And if you don’t?”, she asked.
With a scoff, he twirled the whisky in the borrowed glass.
“Then Charlie will be a very rich boy.”
~
They were announced by the chime of the little bell as Emma pushed the door open with both her hands.
"Hello Mrs. Davies!", She called.
The woman's round face lit up as she recognised the little girl in the brown coat.
"My, my, if it isn't little Miss Hale!", She greeted.
Emma giggled as she ran up to the counter, list in hand.
"This is what we need.", She explained as she handed over the piece of paper, standing on her tiptoes to reach over the counter.
Charlie stayed back, his hand clutching hers tightly.
He hadn't let go since they had stepped out of the door, pressing himself so close to her that (Y/N) had trouble walking. With his other hand, he held onto the flap of her coat for good measure.
"Good morning Mrs. Davies.", she greeted, as she followed Emma's steps.
The woman readjusted her glasses as if she wasn't sure what she was seeing.
"Who've you got there, Mrs. Hale?", She wanted to know, as her brows furrowed.
"That's Charlie.", Emma explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He lives with us now."
The old woman's eyes narrowed in confusion. "He does?", She asked curiously.
"For the time being."
Feeling her piercing gaze, Charlie hid behind her, still holding into her hand and burying his face into the thick fabric of her coat, which was at least twice as old as he was.
Perhaps it wasn't the worst idea- while he only had his father's eyes, he looked just like uncles had at that age. And Mrs. Davies was old enough to remember that.
"How come?", She asked almost casually, as she began to collect the items on the list. They were more and more of them than usual.
"If I told you,", (Y/N) said, stroking her gloved thumb over Charlie's hand, "you wouldn't believe me."
That deepened the other woman's frown, but she also realised that she wouldn't get more from her than that.
She called her assistant, a girl of sixteen over and handed her the list. That gave her the time to lean over the counter.
"Did you hear, the Shelbys are back!", She whispered, probably the way she had done to every customer.
"Back in Watery Lane, the whole lot of them!"
(Y/N) nodded.
Charlie's head peaked forward from behind her at the mention of his family's name.
"I noticed."
"All of them-", Mrs. Davies said. "Arthur, Polly Gray- even the Shelby girl. The one that married Red Freddie and moved away, remember? But he died years ago."
(Y/N) nodded.
"I remember."
"They say even Tommy Shelby himself's back. Can you believe it?"
More than most, probably.
"Some say it's because of the strikes, that the Blinders are back to crush it before it gets out of hand, but others say it's more. Perhaps it's true- after all John's dead! Dorothea Clark saw Polly Gray light a candle for him. Now I know you shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but you'd think it's hot enough anyway where he is now."
(Y/N) felt her muscles tense at that, and not just because it was unseemly to talk like that, let alone in the presence of children. But the thought of John in hell made her angrier than she had any right to be. She didn't think of the man he had become, but the boy he had been, both the good and the bad.
And she hoped, prayed even, that despite everything, he wasn't in hell.
"Don't you live close to Watery Lane?"
As if she didn't know where everyone and anyone lived.
(Y/N) nodded.
"Then God bless you- so close the lion's den, and with children to take care of."
Oh I'm in the lion's den alright, she thought as she took the wrapped up groceries.
But the lions had been given their marching orders.
The Peaky Blinders had men at every street corner, watching. And across from her front door as well, watching day and night and guarding more than the street. Occasionally, they stopped people to search them. While they got quesitoning looks, no one dared protest.
(Y/N) hadn't been stopped. Instead, one of the Peaky Blinders at the corner, Jeremiah's son, had leaned over and whispered something into the ear of the other boy, who had nodded.
As they stepped out of the shop, and made their way back, more than one pair of eyes followed her, well not her, but the precious cargo she guarded.
(Y/N) just hoped that the other people wouldn't notice.
Charlie tugged at her hand and she looked down.
"Where are all the trees?", He wanted to know.
"There aren't any trees here.", Emma said, skipping ahead on one leg.
"Why not?", Charlie asked.
"Because there isn't any room- not with all the houses.", She told him.
"I don't like it.", He said, wrinkling his nose. "They should have less houses and more trees."
If only it were that easy.
"There's trees down by the canal.", Emma said. "Mummy, can we go?"
(Y/N) shook her head.
"I've got the groceries to carry.", She said.
But that wasn't the reason.
Everyone knew that the canals were Shelby territory, and by now probably heavily controlled, as they were another way in and out of the city.
Guns and men to make things safer.
No gun in history could ever make (Y/N) feel safer, unless in its absence.
She didn't know what would await them there and she wasn't keen on finding out with two children by her side.
Instead, she decided to take them to the church green the next day. Emma immediately saw her friends and started running, joining in their games with an ease (Y/N) had never possessed at that age.
"Don't you want to play with the other children?", She asked Charlie. "I'm sure Emma will introduce you."
His hand tightened around hers.
"Can't I stay with you?", He asked.
With Emma it had always been the opposite. Like a magnet, she attracted other children and stuck to them with equal determination. Getting her to leave was the hard part.
Charlie seemed more than content to stay at her side when she sat down on the bench. He snuggled into and reached over to hold onto the fabric of her coat on the other side, obliterating any chances she might have had of reading today's paper.
The children had begun to play a skipping game, chanting and giggling all the while, but it didn't seem all too tempting to Charlie.
Instead, he had begun to stroke her knee gently, before he finally gathered the courage to tug at her coat to get her attention.
"Can I…", he tried cautiously. "Can I sit on your lap again?"
She had sat him down there only when he had cried and her arms had gotten too tired to carry him, but she hadn't missed the way his eyes followed Emma whenever she climbed into her lap unprompted or jumped into her arms without even the slightest hint of hesitation.
"You can.", She agreed.
He climbed onto her legs at once, but instead of watching the other children, he sat so that he could face her.
"Can you sing me a song?", He asked, as he ran his thumbs down the folded collar of her coat.
"Not here, Charlie.", She said gently.
"A story?", He asked. "The one with the talking horse but…can you make it so the horse doesn't die?"
Charlie had sobbed bitter tears, when in the fairy tale the hore was executed by the false princess, and it had taken three songs to sooth him.
"Please!", he asked.
And so she did, but instead of killing the horse like in the original story, the false Princess had him locked up in the guard tower. That way the horse would still talk to the real Princess and reveal her identity, and was even alive to carry her and the Prince into a golden future.
Charlie sighed in relief, as if her one retelling corrected all the previous ones. Maybe in his mind it did.
"And?", She asked Charlie, as the story came to a close.
"They lived happily ever after.", He said, beaming from ear to ear, just like (Y/N) was. His smile was beyond infectious, any child's was.
Grinning, she tapped the tip of his nose.
"So it is true?"
She heard a voice from the side and turned. There she saw three other women awaiting her.
"When Mrs. Davies told me, I couldn't believe it.", Mrs. Sloan said. She was a tall thin woman with a tall thin face, and long, thin fingers who always clutched her purse so tightly, it turned her knuckles white.
"After all, where would you get another child from?"
Feeling their eyes, Charlie buried his face in her chest. Her hand found the back of his head, shielding him further from their view.
"He doesn't look like you at all.", Mrs. Laddler remarked. She lived close to the Sloans and one rarely saw one without the other.
At her words, Charlie turned his head the other way so that they'd be left with nothing but a view of his blond hair and the back of his cap.
"But that's to be expected, Ethel,", the third and final member of their trium, remarked.
"We all knew he couldn't be family.", Mrs. Jackson argued, pouting with her extraordinarily thin lips.
"After all, you don't have much family left, do you?"
"I don't.", (Y/N) said, not bothering to hide her fire she felt running through her veins. And they too felt the sting.
"She only meant…", Mrs. Laddler jumped in, only to be cut off by Mrs. Sloan.
"We were just wondering where you got him from."
As if he was a lost puppy or a trinket.
But (Y/N) also knew she wouldn't get rid of them that easily. So she locked away her anger for now.
"He's the son of…of an old friend."
It wasn't the truth, but not too far away to be considered a lie. They hadn't been friends, but her brother had been friends with John, and they had known each other for ages, so the old part was true.
"Ah?", Mrs. Jackson asked. "How come he's with you?"
"Because his father has some business to attend to."
It wasn't the bone they had hoped for, so they began to sniff again.
She had half a mind to tell them, just for the enjoyment of seeing the shock on their faces, but (Y/N) bit her tongue. It would only cause her, and Emma, trouble.
"We don't know him, do we?", She asked.
"No, I'm afraid, you don't.", (Y/N) said.
They knew of him of course, like every single person in this city, but sometimes she wasn't sure if even his family could claim to know him.
(Y/N) was glad to see the back of them and sighed.
"Was Dad really your friend?", Charlie asked, his head still resting against her shoulder.
No, would be the short answer, but she couldn't say that to the boy.
"When we were little, he lived on the other side of the courtyard. And his brother and my big brother were friends, so we saw each other a lot."
Charlie pulled back to look at her.
"But you're friends now? That's why I can stay with you?"
She stroked a strand of hair out of his face and hummed. Anything else would have been a lie.
End of Part 4
~
Thank you for reading! I’d be very grateful for feedback of any kind! If you are interested in more, here is my [Masterlist].
The Boy in the Window 8 ~ Tommy Shelby x Reader (Series)
Chapter Summary: Tommy's regret and Emma's tantrum
Notes: Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback to the last part so here's the next one. I hope the content makes up for the comparably shorter length. I do not consent to my work being translated, copied or posted elsewhere on this platform or any other.
Here, you can find my [Masterlist] and the [Series Masterlist]
Warning: Canon conforming mention of violence. Smut/ sexual content (18/21+). Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Expect spoilers for Peaky Blinders Season 1-4.
Wordcount: 3714
Part 8
[Previously]
They took the shortcut down to the canal and began to walk alongside it until factories gave way to smaller buildings that grew ever smaller.
As the pathway narrowed, she made sure that the children walked on the inside. It was still cold enough for thin sheets of ice to form and the last thing she wanted was for one of them to lose their footing and slip.
Tommy slowed his steps so that the children could keep up and she was grateful for it, as she didn't exactly trust her own footing. Even if it hadn't rained, the stones were still slick from the cold.
Soon all the grey and red stone buildings on the other side disappeared, giving way to green plains and distant trees, as the banging and hissing of the machinery faded away until they could actually hear birds singing. The last time she had heard that, she had yet to become a window.
"What kind of bird is that, Dad?", Charlie wanted to know.
Tommy sighed deeply before answering, and when he did, his voice sounded strained and almost regretful, speaking with the voice of an old man.
"Blackbirds.", he mumbled.
They continued walking until Tommy's steps slowed. Across from the canal, which was wider now, they could see no sign of civilization while on their side they only passed smaller enclosures for boxes that she doubted held legally shipped goods. For that they were too far away.
For a while he just stood there and stared, but then, without a care to the cleanliness of his suit, Tommy crouched down and picked up a few small rocks in his hand, pulling off of his glove to clear them of dirt with his fingers.
"Do you know how to skip stones, Emma?", He asked, looking up at her daughter.
Emma shook her head as she and Charlie both crowded around the man.
She looked away before she could see more, her eyes burning from more than the cold.
(Y/N) was glad she was able to lean against some of the stacked boxes, as her feet had begun to ache a while back.
When he had announced he was going for a walk, she hadn't thought he would lead them out of the city.
But it really was a pretty view, even if the memories tasted bitter in her mouth.
As she allowed her feet, and even her eyes to rest, she could hear the song of the birds and the soft voices of Tommy and the children as they tried to skip stones all the way to the other side.
Only when she heard heavy steps approaching, did she open them again.
He leaned against the boxes next to her and lit a cigarette.
She watched the smoke escape his lips, and the figure that appeared from it, only to disappear a moment later as if it had never existed in the first place. Gone. Just gone.
But Tommy didn't watch the smoke, nor the children, nor the treeline or the way the light played tricks on the canal's water.
He was staring at something neither she nor any living person could ever see.
Then he shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You missed John today."
She barely whispered the words, but he heard them all the same.
Even if the only sign he gave was the faintest shaking of his head, still unable to overcome the disbelief.
Her hand found his shoulder and she sighed. It had been her suspicion ever since she had caught herself looking around for the Shelby brother that had been her brother's friend, the one who was missing. But the skipping stones had confirmed it.
It had been David and John's favourite passtime, one they made bets on with the same ferocity the rich folks did at the races, always trying to beat each other.
They must have sunk a thousand rocks in their attempt to make it all the way to the other side.
The memory was a sweet one, so sweet that the pain in her chest could not fully turn it to ash, but not sweet enough to cover the bitterness. And with her own loss, it had been years.
Suddenly (Y/N) had to fight the desire to lean into him. All she did was keep her hand on his back and watch him bring the cigarette to his lips once more.
Over and over again.
"You'd think it'd be easier…", he finally said, still staring into the distance. "After all, we didn't talk for two years."
The response already lay on the tip of her tongue, but he got to it first, flicking his cigarette away into the darkness.
"But it just makes it worse…fucking wasted time."
There was no grief in his voice, but it trembled all the same- with something darker than pain.
"So much time just fucking wasted.", He snarled. "Not just with John, with fucking everything. The business, the foundation -"
He broke off as his eyes found the children.
(Y/N) was about to defend him, but he wasn't finished.
"I had plans before…fucking dreams as stupid as it sounds. To make things better."
He shook his head once more.
"But you have.", She insisted. "For your family and for the people here, with your foundation and the charity work and the institute."
Tommy turned to look at her, not with his eyes, but with his whole body- facing her with wide, searching eyes.
And for a while he searched, until he seemed to find what he was looking for. And then he nodded.
"I'm going to increase Shelby Company Limiteds non-taxable donations to charities by 25% and I'm going to build two new institutes for destitute children in the city."
He said it as casually as if he was making a remark about the weather, while all she could do was not to cry out.
"Tommy, that's incredible."
He only sighed and glanced out into the distance.
"It's still not close to what I once wanted to do."
"What did you want to do?", She asked, surprised at his sudden defeatism.
He swallowed hard as his eyes gained a glassy shine.
"I promised someone I'd change the world."
"Grace?"
He shook his head.
"Before."
Before- that would mean before the war, half a lifetime ago. But it didn't matter whom he made the promise to, not as long as he intended to fulfil it.
"Good.", She said, making his eyebrow rise.
"Good?"
(Y/N) nodded.
"You'll make sure it's good."
He huffed and leaned back against the boxes once more, sighing deeply.
There, they remained in silence, him lost somewhere between thoughts and memory, while she kept an eye on the children.
"Mummy!", Emma called as she ran over, wrapping her arms around her legs. "Mummy my hands are all cold."
(Y/N) crouched down and pulled her gloves off to warm her daughter's hands with her own.
"Mine too.", Charlie said.
"Come here then!", She said, clasping one hand around Emma's hands and the other around Charlie's.
The sun was lowering already and the air was getting colder in its absence. Slowly, she no longer felt the bite of the children's cooled hands as they began to warm up.
"Perhaps she should head back soon.", She said to Tommy, who was towering above them.
He inhaled sharply but nodded, waiting until all the others had their gloves back on, before leading the way.
(Y/N) followed, one child on each hand, letting them go first when the path was too narrow for the three of them.
"Mummy do we have to go all the way back now?", Emma asked after a while.
"I'm afraid so.", She said.
Her daughter threw her head back and groaned, and when that didn't cater the reaction she wanted, she began to pull at her arm with her whole weight while dragging her steps until half her shoes were covered in dirt.
"Emma, please.", She reminded her sharply.
"I'm not even doing anything.", She argued.
"Yes you are. You're pulling my arm and you're not walking properly."
"I am walking properly!", She insisted, stamping her feet. "You're walking too fast for me."
Oh no, she thought, feeling the tantrum coming. Her plan to calmly continue lasted about another ten leagues, before Emma kicked the ground again only to lose her balance and pull at her arm for real.
(Y/N) yanked her own arm up in time to ensure she didn't crash to the ground fully, but even in the absence of pain, the damage was done.
Emma, despite standing on her two feet for several seconds, chose to drop herself to her knees and began to sob.
"I can't walk, Mummy. My legs are broken!", She wailed.
"No, they aren't."
"They are. They are. You were walking too fast and you made me break my legs!", She accused, slapping her hands against her thigh.
Taking a deep breath, she let go of Charlie's hand and crouched down in front of Emma.
"Darling, your legs are not broken. You don't even have a scratch.", She told her, trying to keep her composure.
Instead of responding, Emma threw herself in her arms with her full weight, going as limp as a sack of flour. It nearly made her lose her balance in the process.
"Up, Mummy!", She demanded, sounding like a child half her age, as round tears ran down her cheeks.
"No.", she said sharply, trying to pry her arms off her, but like most children, Emma had the magical ability to make her two arms feel like eight.
And when she removed her arm from her shoulder for the fourth time, she felt her patience run thin.
"Emma-", she warned, but it wasn't her stern tone that got through. Instead, a lower, gentler one caught her attention.
"C'mere."
The voice startled them both enough to stop their wrestling.
"C'mere, Emma.", Tommy repeated, his voice almost comically calm compared to her impatient instructions a moment earlier.
She slowly pushed herself up and when he reached out and picked her up with ease, she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Tommy-"
"It's alright.", He said, before she had a chance to continue. "It's been a long day and she's been busy. Are you still good, Charlie?"
Charlie nodded.
That made her smile slightly as she let him take her hand once more.
They walked back in silence, and long before they reached the yard, Emma's head had dropped against Tommy's shoulder.
Still, he held her, only changing his grip slightly to support her better as her arms and legs went limp from slumber.
Upon their return, they were met by piercing looks, undoubtedly thrown to confirm or deny the suspicions they had begun to debate as soon as they had left.
They looked and they judged and she knew it was not in her favour.
Thankfully though, Tommy walked straight past them, nodding for Finn, who separated himself from Isaiah and Michael.
"You been drinking?", He asked, glancing up and down the frame of his younger brother.
"Just beer.", The youngest Shelby said.
"Good.", His older brother huffed.
"Take the car, take them home.", Tommy instructed, shifting Emma slightly so that he could reach for his keys.
He tossed them to Finn before wrapping his arms around her daughter again, carrying her all the way to the car.
Finn opened the door for them and Charlie slid through, then (Y/N) got in.
Tommy made sure to support Emma's head as he handed her over as gently as possible.
She mumbled slightly, but didn't wake from her slumber, as she took her in her arms, her head resting against her chest.
"Thank you.", She whispered, but he waved it off. In the mirror, she could see him watching as Finn drove them back.
~
The children were not the only ones tired after that day, although her fatigue was not from running around a scrap metal yard but rather from being chased with glares and questions.
She had always hated to feel attention on her, but today had been particularly cruel. They knew her, had known her, which made it even harder to face them.
She could not pretend or hide the truth from them. They hadn't shown her of course, but they didn't have to. She knew all the same.
So (Y/N) got ready for bed earlier than she normally would have, coming down to make herself a cup of tea, already in her nightdress and dressing gown.
She had undone her hair and brushed it out, letting it fall to her shoulders.
Just as the kettle began to hiss, she could feel the gust of cold air, as the kitchen door opened.
"That late already?", He asked, his voice carrying a trace of amusement.
She turned, but only after making sure her robe was secure.
"I'm just early.", She told him.
(Y/N) knew she ought to be shocked or horrified for him to find her like that, that she should be ashamed or embarrassed, or even scared - but she wasn't. Not anymore.
"Long day?", He asked, leaning against the kitchen counter.
"They went to bed happy.", She said with a soft smile. "So it's worth something. Tea?"
She always asked, even if he turned her down. He did so today as well, but by the time she took the tray over to the living room, he had built a fire.
He was quite good at that, better than she had ever been.
"Thank you for today.", Tommy said once they sat on the sofa. She had drawn her legs under her, the tea on the small table beside the sofa.
"I tried.", She said. "I know it's not as grand as it would have been if you were at your home, but he seemed to like the cake and the horse especially."
She did not say it without pride, and it amused her especially since she hadn't known about Tommy's gift.
He leaned his head against the back of the sofa.
"It was a lot better than last year, and the year before that.", He admitted softly.
"This was his first proper birthday…apart from his first, which he didn't even realise was his birthday."
She swallowed hard and averted her eyes.
Emma's first birthday without her father had been crushing - and she had been sick for a week after dragging herself through the mental and physical strain of putting on a brave face for her. And yet it wouldn't have been any easier, she thought, with maids and servants.
"I'm sorry.", (Y/N) whispered. "I didn't mean-"
"No.", He said sharply, shifting closer to where she was sitting.
When she only shook her head, his hand found the side of her face and brought it round so he could look at her.
"Don't be sorry, please don't be sorry.", Tommy whispered, as if the thought seemed to cause him pain.
"Not after today.", He repeated, bringing her face closer to his until his forehead was resting against hers.
"Don't ever be sorry for…for any this, not when-"
Tommy broke off and sighed once more.
His hand was still on the side of her face and his thumb gently stroked over her cheek.
A few strands of her hair had fallen out of place, brushing against his knuckles, but he did not remove his hands, and he did not push her hair away.
Her heart began to thunder as she saw the change in his eyes, but not in a bad way- not at all in a bad way.
She watched him glance down at her lips and then meet her eyes again, a silent question, a chance for her to go pull away, to end this before it had a chance to begin. Without strings. Without consequence. If she ended it now, they'd both have complete deniability.
But she did not want to.
When he closed the distance between them, she held her breath.
His lips were gentle, so very gentle as they met hers, as if he feared she might still change her mind.
Only when she began to kiss him back, did he dare to do more than merely brush his lips against hers.
The one hand that cupped her cheek moved to the back of her neck, stroking over the sensitive skin and leaving a curious tingling in its wake.
Her own hands found his chest, and somehow feeling that his own heart thundered as much as hers did calmed her as much as it excited her.
(Y/N) felt her breath hitch as his other hand found her waist, having slipped in somewhere between her robe and her nightgown, but more to steady her than anything else.
It was her, who pulled him in, her fingers brushing over the shorter hair on the back of his head. Her husband had let his hair grow out as soon as he returned from the war, before she had truly known him, so the feeling was entirely foreign to her- soft and yet coarse at the same time.
She pushed herself up on her knees slightly, leaning into him until she felt the fabric of his trousers brush against the exposed skin of her knees.
Tommy broke the kiss only to catch his breath for a moment before his lips found the side of her neck, pressing fluttering kisses down the length of it.
His hair tickled her jawline, and yet it was a different kind of itch that threatened to drive her mad.
She inhaled sharply as his lips brushed over a particularly sensitive spot and for a split second she could feel his lips curl into a smile, before sucking.
"Tommy.", She whimpered as she felt a tingling run from the side of her neck down her spine into every last part of her body.
The vibrations of his humm made her shudder as her robe slipped down her shoulders.
She shrugged it off, as quickly as she could so that she could touch him again, in any way possible.
She had to.
Her own fingers trembled as they fidgeted with the buttons of his shirts. she had barely undone the first few when he reached back and pulled it over his head himself, his undershirt following suit at once.
The light of the fireplace made his pale skin gleam golden, like that of some mythical statue depicting a hero of old- not quite a God, but more than a mere mortal.
The tattoos captivated her attention more than anything else, and, like a moth to a flame, she reached out. Her fingers barely brushed along the lines of the sunburst on his chest, when he pushed back against her, his knees parting hers, thereby pushing her up onto his lap.
A hand on the small of her back kept her steady as the other slipped under the hem of her nightgown, already hiked up. Where his hand brushed against her thigh, they left flickering flames in their wake, and an burning only he could satiate.
Goosebumps appeared all over her arms, despite the ache he caused her.
She inhaled sharply as she felt his finger slip inside of her, almost startled by how easy it was, and how much she yearned for it- for him.
Bit by bit- touch by touch, she could feel herself getting lost, lost in his arms, in the smell of his skin, in the softness of his hair, in the sound of his breath until he seemed to be the only thing left in the world.
Just him and the feeling he gave her.
An almost pathetic whimper escaped her lips as he pulled his hand away.
"Are you sure?", He asked. His eyes, usually so pale, were almost entirely dark now, with some stray strands of dark hair falling into his forehead.
(Y/N) nodded, her chest rising and falling with heavy breaths as if she had just run a race.
"I need to hear you say it…I need to hear you want this- please."
"I do want this.", She whispered, seeing the look of concern fall, toppled by her words.
"Yes?", He asked once more.
"Yes.", She whispered. "Yes."
But no matter how sure she had been, a wave of doubt crashed over her when his hands travelled from her waist upward, slipping under the thin sleeves of her nightgown, feeling it slip from her shoulders in the wake of his touch.
Her body had seen the changes of childbirth and what came after and she wasn't as young as she had once been, nor had she ever considered herself beautiful.
What would he - a man like that- make of her? He, who could not only have half of Birmingham at his feet and in his bed in a heartbeat, but most of London too, no matter if they were dancers in his nightclubs or ladies in lunching circles.
But as his hands ran down the sides of her body, Tommy kissed her as if she truly was beautiful, with a desperate need.
Her fingers slipped under the waistband of his trousers. In search of the buttons on the inside of the fabric, her fingers brushed against him. Feeling how hard he was, sent another wave of need and anticipation through her.
"Don't tease me, love.", He groaned between wet kisses he had pressed on her collarbone. To urge it on, he helped her with the buttons and pushed his trousers down with one hand, wanting to be rid of it.
When she felt him slip inside her, she shuddered. It had been so long, and even if it was far from the pain she had felt on her wedding night, she couldn't deny the strain.
He had felt her muscles tense and slowed his movements, easing it away with tender kisses and practiced caresses and before long it was her that moved against him, eager, no- desperate for more.
When Tommy began to rock into her, almost agonisingly slow at first, she felt the rise inside her, growing, ever growing- a kind of warmth that she could get addicted to.
And it felt right- he just felt right.
End of Part 8
~
Part 9 will be out on Thursday
Thank you for reading! I’d be very grateful for feedback of any kind! If you are interested in more, here is my [Masterlist].
Request: no - part of @sunsetmourners ‘s 300 followers celebration
Pairing: Tommy Shelby x reader
Summary: (Y/N)’s by Tommy’s side from the beginning, and she has every intention of staying by his side for as long as she can.
Warnings: smoking, language, familial argument, mentions of war/ptsd
Word Count: 2130
A/N: let me start off by saying that I loved this idea for a celebration. The poem I chose to base this story off of is called ‘Devotion’ by Robert Frost. It’s a short poem and is included in the bold letters within the story. Enjoy! :)
Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future stories similar to this one!
———
"The heart can think of no devotion,
Greater than being shore to ocean..."
Right from the moment she met him, (Y/N) had been devoted to Tommy Shelby. Whether it was through defending his name in front of her parents (who thought she was too good a girl to be with a boy like him), or making sure that he had someone to talk to when his family problems became too much for him to bear. She was there for him, and he could count on her.
And as they got older, they grew closer. So close that not even the Great War could dull what they had. (Y/N) waited for him. She wrote to him constantly and prayed for his safe homecoming. After three long years of waiting, her prayers were finally answered. Even though the man that returned to her was noticeably different from the man that left her on the very same platform, (Y/N) still decided to stay devoted to him.
Her parents didn't like her decision. They would have much rather seen their daughter with a respectable man — one who managed to dodge the draft and was now spared of shell shock and trauma, but (Y/N) didn't want that. She wanted the man whom she had waited for. The man who was now home with her once more. So, to finally show her parents that she would not be heeding to their wishes, she decided to move out of their home and into Tommy's. He happily accepted her, feeling a bit more content now that he had someone around that would be by his side, always.
She was in the middle of washing the dishes when the door opened and slammed shut. Before she could question who it was, it opened and slammed shut again.
"You need to get over yourself, Thomas," it was Polly; the woman who was like a mother to the Shelbys, and who ran the business while the boys were at war. By the sounds of it, she wasn't happy.
"The fuck is that supposed to mean, Pol?" Tommy's voice held no positive emotions either.
The both of them came quickly walking from the entryway into the main area, where (Y/N) nearly dropped the dish she was drying at their sudden entrance. "You need to do what's right for our business," Polly continued, staying at the far side of the room while Tommy continued stalking over to the doors that separated the living quarters from the betting shop.
"I am doing what's right for our business," he answered in a low voice, trying to keep his anger in check.
"Keeping those stolen guns is not what is right for business...it'll get us all hanged," each word that Polly uttered held more anger than the last, and at this point, (Y/N) was standing shocked watching the intense verbal tennis match unfold in front of her. "You know I kept this whole bloody enterprise afloat while you boys were away at war," she added in, reminding him of the feat that she'd accomplished.
"Yeah? Well we came back, Pol," Tommy answered, his eyes wide as he spoke, "we all fucking came back, and I've assumed leadership now. Arthur handed it over to me; couldn't fucking handle it. And this is how I'm handling it," he told her, the tone of his voice showing that his statement was not up for discussion. He grabbed hold of the green doors' knobs then and held them for a moment before he turned to face the woman he was angry with, "and I don't want to hear anymore comments about the war, eh?" he told her, his eyebrows raised once more. "It's over. Shut the door on it," and with that, he was gone.
Polly let out a long sigh once it was just her and (Y/N) in the room. She shook her head and moved over to the dining table, sitting in one of the chairs as she pulled a cigarette out of the tin and lit it. "Why are you so devoted to him, (Y/N)?" she asked, finally speaking after a few moments of silence had passed.
"He's good to me, Pol," (Y/N) responded as if it was the easiest question she'd ever been asked.
Polly scoffed at her answer, shaking her head slightly as she blew the smoke out in a thin line. "Yeah? Well you're about all he's good to...the bloody idiot that he is," she commented, her demeaning words making a frown form on (Y/N)'s face.
"Don't speak like that about him, Polly. He's good to you as well," (Y/N) immediately stuck up for her partner, "and how low is that of you to say such things about your nephew...after all that he's done for the family in this short amount time," she then took a moment to criticize the other woman's word choice.
Polly gave the younger woman a pointed look. She was surprised that (Y/N) had it in her to respond in such a way. But she couldn't be angry at her for doing so. She knew of the connection that she and Tommy had. It was one that was rare; (Y/N) knew him like no one else did.
(Y/N) held her steadfast gaze on the other woman. She hated to see the animosity that had been stacked up against Tommy seemingly from the second he returned home. The worst of it came from his own family too. They didn't understand the reasons why he was making the decisions he made, and they often got mad at him for them.
"You need to speak some sense into him...since he listens to you when you speak," Polly said after a few silent moments had passed. "He cannot keep those guns under his possession...he needs to dump them."
"I'll speak to him, Pol," (Y/N) nodded her head, the slight smile that formed on her face showing the older woman that she was on her side and that she'd see what she could do. Polly only nodded before (Y/N) got back to drying the remaining dishes.
——
It was rather late in the evening when Tommy finally came back through the door of his house. He wasn't expecting (Y/N) to be sitting on the couch by the fire. She had a soft smile on her face as she worked on her current knitting project.
"You're still awake, love," Tommy stated once he stopped by the dining table. He took off his suit jacket and draped it over the back of a chair before walking over to where she was sitting.
"Yeah," she answered in a nonchalant tone, still focused on her knitting.
"Not tired?"
"No."
Tommy nodded at her response. "I'm going up to the bedroom," he then told her.
"Ok. I'll be right up," she smiled at him and he nodded before going to the steps.
(Y/N) sat in silence for a few more minutes, finishing what she was working on before she put her things aside and stood from the couch. Slowly, she made her way up the steps, trying hard not to wake Finn, who was sleeping in one of the other rooms.
She walked down the hall and knocked softly on the door at the end of it, letting Tommy know that she was entering before opening the door. She had learned to do this the hard way, when she opened the door to a revolver pointed in her direction. These knocks were only to let him know that she was there, she didn't wait for a response before opening the door and entering the room.
"Hey," she greeted Tommy softly. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, a cigarette perched between the fingers of the hand that was on his knee; bracing himself as he was hunched over slightly. He looked up at the sound of her voice and nodded in her direction, his silent way of greeting her. "You're not dressed for bed yet," she commented as she moved over to the wardrobe and began the process of changing into her night clothes.
"Might go down to the floor again; do the evening tallies...I haven't decided yet," he told her, clearing his throat after he spoke.
(Y/N) frowned slightly as she heard his response. "There's no need for that, Tommy. Stay up here for the night...maybe try to get some sleep," she then voiced her thoughts on his dilemma.
"But..."
"But nothing, love. You deserve a night's rest. Especially with everything you've been doing for us and this family," she cut him off, not wanting to hear his excuse for throwing himself back into work.
"It's still not enough," Tommy mumbled, hoping to keep the words to himself, but (Y/N) heard them.
She let out a sigh as she moved over to the bed. She then sat down beside Tommy and turned her head to look at him. His head was hung, his eyes focused on the ground. Gently, she reached over and placed her hand on his thigh. Tommy glanced in her direction at the feeling of her touch, and he couldn't ignore the feeling he got inside when she smiled at him.
"Polly wanted me to talk to you..." she started, her words making Tommy scoff before he brought the half-spent cigarette up to his lips for a drag. "She told me to speak some sense into you," she paused again, laughing slightly as she recited the older woman's words. Tommy shook his head and sighed, bracing himself for what was to come. What she said next surprised him though. "I'm not going to do that though. I know why you do the things you do, Tommy...I think..." her added statement earned a laugh from him, "I know you that do what you do for this family and that the moves you make are moves that are well-calculated and will hopefully bring us fortune. So I trust you. I have trust in the things you are doing, and I know that you have our best interest in heart," she paused a beat before adding, "I love you," and with that she leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.
Nothing more was said as Tommy reached over to the bedside table to stamp out the cigarette in his hand. (Y/N) watched him quietly, hoping that he received her words well. She got her answer when Tommy turned back around and reached out to take her cheeks into his hands so that he could pull her into a passionate kiss. His actions said all of the words that he couldn't, and (Y/N) couldn't help but smile against his lips.
"I'm gonna marry you, (Y/N)," he told her once he pulled away, his voice full of honesty as his eyes stayed locked onto hers.
"Tommy," she breathed, a smile on her face as butterflies fluttered in her stomach at his words. She reached up and placed her one hand on top of his, squeezing it gently as another show of her love for him.
"I'm serious, love. You're the only one who's been in my corner every step of the way," he doubled down on his statement, his eyes searching hers as he spoke.
"I told you from the start, I'm devoted to you, Tommy," she reminded him, smiling so wide that her cheeks were starting to hurt.
"I know, I know," he nodded, a smile forming on his lips, "but I'm gonna marry you. I'm gonna get you a decent ring; make sure that we're settled with the business first. And I'll do it right..." he paused, laughing to himself slightly, "get down on one knee and ask you to be mine for forever."
(Y/N) was trying not to cry at this point, laughing as the butterflies continued to go crazy inside of her. "Since when are you such a sap, Tom, eh?" she joked, laughing again as he reached over to brush a tear off of her cheek.
“This is what you do to me,” he grinned, making (Y/N) laugh once more before she leaned in and kissed him, unable to stop herself from doing so. “Soon enough we’re not gonna have any problems,” he told her once they pulled away, “the tracks’ll be ours and we’ll expand out of Birmingham, maybe even over to the fucking United States,” he laid out his plans for their future.
“I’ll be by your side for all of it,” she assured him, meaning those words with every bit of her heart.
The Boy in the Window 7 ~ Tommy Shelby x Reader (Series)
Chapter Summary: (Y/N) reveals a secret, Tommy's secret, which she has kept for nearly fifteen years.
Notes: I'm so glad you're back and thank you for all your lovely words, likes and reblog. I am most nervous about this part and desperate for your thoughts...I hope you enjoy! I do not consent to my work being translated, copied or posted elsewhere on this platform or any other.
Here, you can find my [Masterlist] and the [Series Masterlist]
Warning: Canon conforming mention of violence. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Expect spoilers for Peaky Blinders Season 1-4.
Wordcount: 4538
Part 7
[Previously]
That particular morning lingered in her memory like an old wound that, while healed to the clear eye, still ached if one applied pressure.
The day after, Tommy had explained the positioning of his guards, of how it was impossible for the Italians to get anywhere close to Small Heath without them knowing, let alone this part of it. He also reaffirmed the deal - no civilians, no children.
“So you are out of it.”
“But you’re not.”
It was a foolish thing to say. Of course he wasn’t out of it. He was the reason they were in it, after all.
But time went on, and soon something else was on her mind, a subject she broached with Tommy on a particularly cold evening, when ice flowers appeared on the window. They wouldn’t last of course, like snow, in Small Heath they never did.
But it wasn’t cold in here, not when he was there to tend to the fire.
“It’s Charlie’s birthday soon.”, she said, running her fingers along her cup of tea.
“How do you know?”, he asked.
She almost smiled.
“You do know that you and your family are the main topic of gossip for the people in this city?”, she asked.
That almost made him blush.
“People talk about us?”
“Of course they do. How could they not?”
“No, not like that.”, he mumbled, “about the children too.”
She nodded, a small smile playing on her lips.
“You’re like our own royal family.”, she said. He shot her a scolding gaze.
But even if he didn't approve, it was the truth. And in addition to that, his late wife did not have many friends in Small Heath, at least not after they found out that she was the reason all their houses had been invaded and searched by the police, with all the broken glass, splintered woods, black eyes and bruises it brought with it. And when it seeped through that she was the reason Danny Wizzbang was dead, any chances of redemption were long buried.
So when Tommy Shelby not only bought a house with her before and married her after she had what was officially another man’s child, of course everyone knew.
“Anyway, I wanted to do something nice for his birthday.”, she said.
“He won’t know it is his birthday.”, he argued.
“But I’ll know.”, she insisted at once. “I’ll know and I want it to be nice. Don’t you?”
He tilted his head and nodded his acceptance.
“Alright.”
“We have to do something about the cake.”
Tommy blinked slowly, once more staring at her with curious eyes, as if she was performing a very strange magic trick in front of him which he was desperate to decipher.
“I’ll give you money to order one at the bakery.”, he said.
“That’s very kind but I want to do it myself.”, she said. “It won’t be as big and fancy, but it’s a birthday cake. Just a small one for breakfast. He likes chocolate, so probably that.”
He huffed and leaned back, twirling the whisky in his glass.
“Fine.”
“Good.”, she said with a smile. “But that means, the children have to be out of the house for a bit - for an afternoon so it can be a surprise.”
Once more he shook his head in disbelief, but then he agreed.
“When’s Emma’s birthday?”, he wanted to know.
“In May.”, she told him. “She was a spring child.”
“Emma.”, he mused, letting her daughter’s name roll off of his tongue. “That was your mother’s name, wasn’t it?”
(Y/N) nodded. Her smile turned a little sad, but it was still a smile.
She hadn’t been sure at first, if it was the right decision to name her daughter after her mother, and it had hurt, but somehow it felt as if she was keeping her mother alive through that connection between her and the granddaughter she never got to meet - her only grandchild. And she would have such a wonderful grandmother.
“I remember your mother.”, Tommy said. “She’d bake that cake with the butter crumbles on top and she’d leave it in the open window to cool.”
He smiled slightly as he shook his head.
“And we’d always sneak up and pick off the crumbles from the edges.”
“Why do you think she put it there?”, she asked, making his smile widen, as he nodded.
“She was a good woman.”, he affirmed.
For a while, she let that statement sit between them, feeling pride at his assessment.
But the comforting warmth soon vanished like smoke on a cold winter night.
“She died right before my mother, didn’t she?”
(Y/N) swallowed hard.
“My mother died in winter. Your mother died in the summer.”
He nodded slowly, bringing his glass to his lips and taking a deep gulp. He then got up, and walked over to the whisky bottle he had decided to leave here. When he returned, he held a second glass out to her.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be the worst idea, she thought. After all, they were headed into dangerous territory.
“How come we never talked?”, he sighed.
“Did you expect us to?”, she asked curiously. “We weren’t close. John and David, maybe, but not the rest of us.”
“You were close with Ada.”, he reminded her.
“When we were five.”
Then they had gone to school, and Ada had gotten louder and braver, too brash for her while she grew too boring for the only Shelby sister.
Maybe it was the whisky, or her own curiosity for his reaction, but (Y/N) gathered the courage to speak.
“We did talk, you know.”, she finally said, staring into the crackling flames.
“You and Ada?”, he asked.
“You and me.”
She could feel him lean forward slightly, a line between his brows.
“No we didn’t.”
(Y/N) drew her legs under her on the sofa and took a deep breath.
“I’m not surprised you don’t remember.”, she admitted. “You were very drunk.”
His lips parted slightly as he stared at her in a mixture of confusion and disbelief.
(Y/N) brought the glass to her lips before daring to continue.
That whole year was so strange in her memory. The time her mother had been sick was a blur, with gaps so large they filled days and whatever few memories she had, she couldn't put them in order. Only after her death, did she remember- and she remembered it like it was yesterday, the grief, the confusion, the sharp pain of losing and dull ache of missing her.
“I couldn’t sleep for ages after my mother,", she began, before clearing her throat in an attempt to stop if from closing fully.
If he noticed, he didn't show her.
"Back then, I had Emma’s room and I heard noises one night. I thought you had been on the roofs again and fallen.”
It was an open secret that Tommy Shelby sometimes climbed out of his bedroom window and onto the roof to lie there during the night.
Like a stray cat, he could climb over the roofs of the city and gaze at the stars.
“So I went out to see if you needed help. I thought you might’ve broken a leg.”
He had made enough noise for her to suspect it.
“Anyway, you weren’t hurt, but you had had a lot to drink and I offered to open the door for you, but you said you didn’t want to go back in there.”
Her chest tightened at the memory, and she could no longer meet his eyes, not when his begging still echoed in her memory.
"Not yet, please, not yet."
His hands had trembled as they had found her arms, like a suppliant at court.
“You told me why.”, she told him, as she ran a finger over the top of her glass.
“And what exactly did I tell you?”, he asked, his voice strained with fear and suspicion.
He remembers.
He might not remember their encounter, but he remembers where he went, what he had done or rather planned on doing.
She bit her lip and chose her words carefully, but in the end, she decided to repeat his.
“Well,”, she sighed, “you told you couldn’t stand it anymore, that hearing the cries of the baby made you sick...that you could no longer see Ada’s tears, that you had no time for John’s anger, even if you felt the very same rage but couldn't show it, and that Arthur’s helplessness brought you to the edge. And that you didn't want to listen to your aunt's lectures because you had been the one making sure she didn't drink herself to death in the last months."
That year hadn't been kind to the Shelbys- first the parish had taken Elizabeth Gray's children, and then they had lost their mother only to be abandoned by their father.
Her throat burned.
“You said that it all made you feel like you would explode at any moment, like the world was caving in on you."
His eyes never left her, making the hair on the back of her neck rise but she had gone to far to turn back now.
"You said that it all made your skin itch so badly you wanted to rip it off just to end it.”
All this was not what he had asked for but she had to tell him that, so that he knew she understood, or at least heard his explanation.
When (Y/N) reminded him of the last part, she couldn't look at him. Instead, she focussed her eyes on the dancing flames.
“You said that you took your horse and wanted to ride away, because you couldn't stand it any more.”
She traced the glass with her thumb. He had been angry then, raging at the world who put him in a situation like this. She still remembered how he had paced up and down, long strands of dark hair sticking to his forehead and falling into his face.
He had frightened her, but not enough to make her return to the safety of her home. Because a hurt animal might be the most dangerous, but it was still hurt.
“You said you wanted to leave it all behind and ride off to some place where no one knew you and where no one needed you and never come back. That you made it all the way to Yorkshire before -"
When she glanced up, she saw his jaw was clenched to bursting, and his eyes shone like two pale sapphires. Like they had all those years ago.
Hers were the first that broke, a single silent tear running down her cheek.
“You said you couldn’t, because if you went away, no one would be left to take care of them. That it had to be you, or there would have been no one but that didn't mean you were any less hurt, any less tired…and any less scared."
She felt a chill run down her arms. She had still been frightened, but she had pitied him more than she had feared him.
“You asked me why it had to be you, but I couldn’t tell you of course.”
One never could in situations like these.
“And then-”, she broke off and shook her head. There was no reason she could find to keep it from him, but she still hesitated.
“Then?”, Tommy demanded to know.
She glanced up at him and took a deep breath. So she decided to tell him.
“Then you cried.”
He averted his eyes, which was ironic, since now he too knew that the sight was already familiar to her.
“I cried, eh?”, he asked, staring into the fire.
“Yes.”
He huffed and shook his head in disbelief, before downing the glass in one go.
“Scared you off, did it?”, he wanted to know.
“Not really.”, she said, remembering how she on the absence of guidance has reached out to him.
Back then, his tears had burned on her skin as they ran down the side neck, as her fingers had tried to draw calming circles under his long hair.
He trembled so fiercely, it had made her own teeth rattle.
“You cried yourself to sleep- you were so exhausted I think."
Less from the journey than from the strength it took to come back from it.
"I didn’t want to wake you.”
He had been heavy, and she couldn’t have gotten him off of her without a lot of effort, but she didn’t want to leave him all alone.
Instead, she had let him sleep with his head in her lap, stroking through the dark strands of hair as she cried with him, or perhaps for him…for the both of them, and all the other orphaned children in the broken homes they lived in.
“Fucking hell, (Y/N).”, he whispered. “You never said.”
She shrugged. “What was I supposed to say?”
He had no answer for that. The truth was that Mrs Gray had come out in the morning and seen them, her dark eyes glaring at the sight, before she had rushed back into the house. The last thing (Y/N) saw was her pouring a bowl of cold water over his head and shouting at him to get moving, demanding to know where he had been the last few days.
“You gonna finish that?”, he asked, tearing her from her memories.
She shook her head and handed him her glass.
The whisky burned his tears away, it seemed, and he took both glasses to the kitchen, returning to the living room with his coat slung over his arm.
“Good night.”, she told him, getting up from the sofa. If he left, she could go to bed as well. He’d lock the door just fine without her. He always did.
She was already halfway out of the room, when he said her name.
For a moment he looked as if he wanted to say something, but he only turned and disappeared out into the darkness.
~
After the conversation they had, Tommy kept his distance in more ways than one. Gone were the meals together, the drinks after, traded back for short visits and fleeting encounters. And get Tommy kept his word and took the children to his house the day before Charlie's birthday, giving her time to bake, prepare and decorate. And he was also early, arriving before the children did, who were equally giddy.
(Y/N) and Emma sang for Charlie, which made him beam from ear to ear.
"Dad, look, there's a horse on my cake!", He exclaimed, pointing at it.
She had spent the better part of an hour cutting dark chocolate into tiny pieces, small enough to use like little mosaic pieces to create the image.
"Be quick with the candles or you'll have wax in your cake.", His father told him.
All three of them clapped, when he blew out the five candles in one go.
"Happy Birthday, Charlie.", She told him for the second time that day as she handed him the knife to cut the cake.
The relief she felt when he found it tasty was incomparable. But she knew that with the cake and the other chocolate treats she had prepared for his birthday breakfast would make the children run on a sugar high for hours.
Today, she'd have to bear it. Today was a special day.
"There's a gathering at Charlie's yard.", Tommy told her, while she began her cleaning up "Just family. Some food and things, but there he'll get his present."
"Alright.", (Y/N) told him as she collected the plates. "Just tell me the time and I'll make sure he's ready."
"What are you talking about? You're coming with us.", He announced bluntly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"A-are you sure?", She asked. "With your family there?"
"So?", He asked. "Charlie barely knows them, apart from Lizzie, and I want you there."
"Oh.", She said because she did not know what else to say to that.
If he had said it at any other place, at any other time, she would have been glad, but the prospect of encountering his family, all at once, made her skin crawl.
As if sensing her distress, his hand found her shoulder.
"It'll fine, eh?", He assured her. "Nothing you don't know, well, and Linda."
But that was easy for him to say.
~
She didn't know what to expect, when the four of them reached Charlie Strong's Yard. It smelled of mud and metal, with sparks and ash floating in the air like snowflakes.
But Tommy didn't take them in through the front from where she could hear voices, but instead guided them towards the stables.
"Where are we going, Dad?", Charlie asked, clinging to his father's hand.
"To unwrap your birthday present."
“Emma, stay with me please.”, she instructed, calling her daughter back.
This was Charlie’s birthday and his moment with his father. Emma had no business sticking her curious little nose in it.
“We’ll wait here.”
Tommy turned, looking at her in confusion.
“No they won’t, will they, Charlie?”
“Don’t you want to see my present?”, he asked, tilting his head.
“Course I do!”, Emma insisted, and with that she was overruled.
The present made her jaw drop, even though there was nothing to unwrap.
Charlie had squealed in excitement, clasping his hands over his mouth.
“Really? Really, Dad? Is he really, really mine?”
“Yes, my boy.”, Tommy said, smiling down at where Charlie jumped up and down.
“Mine to ride? All on my own?”
“All on your own!”
“I want to try! Lift me up!”, he instructed, running towards his father with outstretched arms.
She saw his small smile as he placed his son on the top of the back of the large, brown horse. His dark fur shone in the early afternoon sun like waves of the ocean.
"Best stay back, Emma.", She told her, placing her hands on her shoulder for good measure.
Horses were beautiful, but most beautiful from afar. Their strength, and the skittish nature made them as intimidating as they were intriguing to her and all sorts of horrid accidents could happen if Emma's excitable spirit got the better of her
"Can we go riding together then? Both on big horses?"
"We can.", Tommy promised. Charlie beamed at him with all the love and joy he could hold in his little heart.
"What's his name?", Emma asked.
"Don't decide now, Charlie. Give it a day or two.", Tommy advised his son as he lifted him off of the horse.
"Come on. You can help Curly brush him later."
"But Dad, can't I brush him now?", Charlie asked.
"Later.", He promised. "Now run ahead."
He did and Emma wasn't far behind.
"So you got him an actual horse?", She asked as he fell in step with her, lighting a cigarette.
"You disapprove?", He asked, as he let the lighter disappear in his pockets once more. There was a hint of amusement in his voice.
"It's not mine to approve or disapprove.", She reminded him.
"But you do."
It was no longer a question, but a statement that he didn't seem to mind.
"I'm just not sure it's safe.", She argued.
"He already rides a pony better than most adults."
"But a pony isn't a horse, Tommy. And he's only five. Only just."
He only ever smiled, a strange, almost distant smile that hid more than it revealed.
"Hm."
But that smile faded as soon as his family came into view.
Of all the people gathered here today, Lizzie was the one she was most familiar with.
The others she knew of course, but years and circumstance had driven them so far apart, she wondered how true her memories yet were of them.
But they were just that- memories, distorted by time and illusion.
With Lizzie at least, she could claim to know her.
Lizzie was still around. Despite the looks and despite the sneers, she did a lot of work around here, with charities and gave generous donations, especially to girls and women in need.
So (Y/N) often saw her around the church and its initiatives and right now she was more than grateful for a familiar face.
They had gathered, either around the table or in small groups, talking and smoking. But they stopped the chatter as soon as they came into view, curious eyes digging into them.
As soon as she felt their piercing gazes, she knew she had made a mistake coming here today.
What did she have to offer these people? What answers could she have to their questions and demands? What could she possibly possess to satiate their curiosity and fulfil their expectations?
Once, a lifetime ago, she could have. But Ada Shelby now wore coats laced with fur smoother than silk that looked to be straight from a magazine and was held in place by a glittering brooch.
Mrs. Gray's were still sharp, but so was the jewelled hat needles that held a milliner's work in place.
Arthur's wife was new to her, blonde and well dressed, with a smile that cut through her the same way Mrs. Gray's eyes did.
Arthur looked like Arthur always had, at least since the war, resembling his father more by the day.
She recognised Finn of course, how could she not? He was the most present of them all, with Jeremiah's son.
With them was Michael Gray, whom she only knew from sight- well dressed in tailored suits with materials one couldn't possibly procure in Small Heath.
But among all the little differences that overshadowed what remained of the similarities, one burned brighter than all the others.
John.
Beside her, she felt the head of this family tense and Charlie sensed it too.
His hand searched in the flaps of her coat for a moment before they found her hand, his fingers wrapping around her own.
For a while the other Shelbys just stared at them as if they were some sort of curiosity in a zoo, only she was separated by more than glass or fences.
She was from a different world and had no place in theirs.
I shouldn't have come here.
But she was here now, and before she could excuse herself and Emma, Ada Thorne strode towards her with confident steps and a beaming smile.
"(Y/N)!", She greeted as if they had parted only yesterday and not half an eternity ago.
"You look well."
She could do nothing but respond in kind to the woman's greeting, feeling like she would melt of shame even in iciness of the cold winter air.
"And you must be Emma.", She said, as she looked down at her daughter.
"I am. It's Charlie's birthday today.", She announced. "That's why we got cake for breakfast."
"Did you now?", She asked, her eyes fluttering up to her.
"Well, I don't think you've met my son before. He's a little older than you, but I am sure you'll get on just fine.", She said.
Karl Throne looked just like his father had done at that age, only that Freddie's hair had never been that long and his clothes never that expensive.
"Hello Karl.", Emma greeted, beaming from ear to ear.
The boy had come with slow, cautious steps, but Emma had that effect on children which drew them to her more than anything and in less than five minutes, he was following her on her exploration quest.
"Come. Sit.", Ada instructed. It was worded sweetly, but she knew that she had an interrogation coming her way.
And an inevitable judgement where they will deem her unworthy and pathetic, too small for the likes of them.
And there'd be no reason against their call.
But Emma wasn't concerned at all with the questioning gaze. To her, this was like unwrapping a present of her own- a brand new playground. And she had the time of her life exploring it.
She was running and climbing, touching and prodding under the impatient and ever watchful argus eye of Charlie Strong.
"Don't touch that.", He'd sometimes call.
"Don't climb up there."
"Don't crawl under there."
The answer was always the same.
"Why?"
To her it soon became a game, and every 'no' seemed to spur her on further.
(Y/N) reached her bursting point when Emma decided to climb up on a pile of metal, which looked dangerously structurally unsafe.
It made her leave Ada and her sharp question standing as she rushed across the yard.
"Emma Marjorie Hale!", She snapped.
At the sound of her full name, Emma stilled, her eyes wide.
"Come down at once.", She said.
Slowly but surely, Emma made her descent. As soon as she came in arms reach, (Y/N) picked her up and sat her down herself, before crouching down in eye level and taking her hands in hers.
"Mr. Strong has told you not to climb up there, hasn't he?"
Emma nodded.
"And what did you do?"
"Climb up anyways."
(Y/N) nodded.
"Now, first of all- this is Mr. Strong's Yard and we are his guests. If he tells you not to do something, you don't do it. Is that understood?"
Her daughter once more, pouting slightly.
"And then- it's dangerous to climb on things that aren't secure. Because you could fall and slip and hurt yourself."
"I understand, Mummy.", She muttered, addressing the tips of her shoes.
"Good girl.", She sighed, stroking over the top of her head.
"Can I go back and play?", She asked.
"How about you sit down instead?"
Emma wasn't pleased with that but she had no ground to argue on.
As soon as she sat down on the bench next to her, eyes downcast and pouting, Charlie climbed off of the chair at his father's side and ran across the table to sit next to her.
Even though she couldn't hear the words, she could see that whatever he was whispering in her ear made her smile slightly.
"These two seem to be getting along.", Ada remarked.
"They are.", (Y/N) confirmed.
It was also why she agreed to let Emma, after half an hour of comparable quiet time, join Charlie and Karl for another game.
By then, the party had separated into several smaller groups, with only Arthur's wife leaving early, having spent the entire time staring at her with suspicious eyes.
The only person standing alone was Tommy, leaning in the shadows, a cigarette between his lips.
His eyes met hers once he realised she was approaching.
"Is there anything you need?", She asked. "Anything I can get you?"
He shook his head slightly, staring out at something she couldn't see.
"Someone reminded me of something recently.", He said. "Of something I thought I had forgotten."
"Oh?", She asked.
He dropped the cigarette and killed the spark with his polished leather shoe, turning to leave. He had barely taken a few steps, when the children stopped him.
"Dad, where are you going?", Charlie asked. Even throughout the children's games, his eyes had hardly ever left either (Y/N) or his father.
"For a walk."
"Can we come?", Emma asked.
"No.", (Y/N) said.
At the same time a "Why not, eh?" came from Tommy Shelby's lips.
The children looked from him to her and back again.
"You can come.", He affirmed. "If you want to."
The last part sounded almost like a question.
End of Part 7
~
Part 8 will be out on Tuesday
Thank you for reading! I’d be very grateful for feedback of any kind! If you are interested in more, here is my [Masterlist].
Summary: (Y/N) stumbles upon the man she used to call 'hers'. She's happy to see him, of course, but she quickly finds out that he's engaged to another woman. This doesn't stop her from trying to rekindle what they once had. Does he play along with her or put his foot down?
Warnings: smoking, language, drinking, sexual situations (PG-13 rated), cheating
Word Count: 4633
A/N: well y’all...here it is...the story I embraced the chaos with. And let me tell you, I think it’s the most chaotic piece I’ve written so far. And I’ve also realized that I’ve inadvertantly made the story with the OC that you’ll meet kind of run along the lines of both Clive and Lizzie’s stories (you’ll understand that later...hopefully). Enjoy! :)
Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in stories that are similar to this one!
———
Checking herself in the mirror one last time, (Y/N) rolled her lips around to make sure that the lipstick she'd just applied was evenly distributed. She chose the shade she thought looked best on her, and it accentuated her dress pleasingly. With a slight nod, she deemed herself ready to join the party that was already happening downstairs.
She almost immediately found her mother, who pressed kisses to her cheeks and told her how beautiful she looked in her formal attire. (Y/N) smiled at her compliments as she took the glass of champagne that was offered to her. For a woman who thought that she wouldn't fit into this new lifestyle, she seemed to be doing a good job.
Although the (Y/L/N) family was new to the life of luxury, they acted like they'd been in it for years. Two years ago, they moved from Small Heath (of all places) to London when her father got word of there being big moves within the automotive parts industry. They left everything of their old lives behind, and her father struck the jackpot. Within a year, they had a rather lavish townhouse in one of London's popular squares, and her father was a force to be reckoned with amongst the export industry.
This status granted them entrance to many higher class parties; much like the one that they were in attendance of on this night.
"Go on, (Y/N)," her mother nudged her after they had a short conversation, "go make friends with the potential partners."
(Y/N) nodded and did what her mother said. She had a pretty important role within the operation that her family was running. Her charming nature and cunning mind oftentimes pulled in people that otherwise wouldn't bat an eye in her father's direction because he was still working his way up the ladder. She knew what she was doing, and she was willing to risk everything for it. Her background of being a Small Heath woman who knew that she had to fight for everything she wanted still very much shined through in the woman she was today.
The night was going swimmingly. She'd already managed to get two, rather prominent businessmen hooked onto her father's pitch by wowing them with her knowledge of the business that her family ran. Surely, it helped that she looked the way that she did, as she sure knew how to clean up nicely. But regardless, her father's company now had two more potential partners.
She was on her mission of finding more people to talk to when someone across the room caught her eye. She had to blink a few times when the realization of who this person was registered in her mind. There was no way that Tommy Shelby was in attendance at this party. Now she had to go see for herself.
So she confidently strode her way over to where he was standing, talking with another older-looking man. As she got closer, she confirmed that the man she was fastly approaching was indeed Tommy Shelby, although his presence at this event still boggled her mind.
"Thomas Shelby?" she called out once she was a few steps away from him.
The calling of his name took Tommy's attention away from the man standing to his left, and the breath got caught in his throat when he realized who was approaching him. He never thought he'd see her again.
"It is you, Mr. Shelby," (Y/N) continued with a smile as she stopped in front of him, taking a quick glance over his person to see that he was dressed in a fine three-piece suit, much finer than what he used to wear. He still had very strikingly handsome features though...(Y/N) couldn't deny that. "I would have never expected to see you here," she said, watching as realization flashed in his eyes as he then did a similar look over of her.
"Likewise," he responded, his voice sounding the same, and even after their time apart, it still gave her chills just hearing it. But she kept her composure and stood confidently in front of him as he turned to the man standing next to him. "Could you give us a moment, Mr. Lameridge?" he asked in a hushed voice.
The man nodded his head in response, "sure, Mr. Shelby. I'll be at my table with my wife if you'd like to come over later and continue our conversation," he responded, making Tommy nod before he looked over at the woman standing across from him.
"(Y/N)," he finally spoke once they were alone in their conversation, "what are you doing here?"
"My father made it big in the exporting of automotive parts," she proudly told him, "and I could ask the same to you."
"It seems that your father and I are now in the same business," Tommy responded, making (Y/N) tilt her head slightly as realization flashed in her eyes.
"Oh, really?" she questioned as the beginnings of a grin formed on her face, "so I should be charming you into becoming a partner of his?"
Tommy chuckled at her forward statement. "I guess you should be," he shrugged slightly, an amused expression on his face. "You look good, (Y/N)," he complimented her then, and she tried hard not to let the blush form on her cheeks.
"I could say the same about you, Shelby," she sent a compliment of her own in response, "guess you could say that we both did better for ourselves once we moved out of Small Heath."
"Oh I never left Small Heath," Tommy corrected her, shaking his head, "my business has just expanded past the confines of it."
"Good for you then, Tommy," she stated, her words holding no amount of sarcasm. She was actually happy to hear that he'd made something of himself because she knew better than anyone the amount of ambition he held.
This, obviously, was not the first time that Tommy and (Y/N) had met each other. They used to date actually, back when (Y/N) lived in Small Heath with her family. She met him after he'd returned home from war and the attraction was instant. He kept her around when he found how smart she was, and she complimented him in every sense of the word. Their relationship lasted for around eight months before (Y/N) told him that she'd be leaving for London with her parents.
The option was on the table for her to stay in a place of her own in Small Heath, but her parents ultimately didn't allow it. They wanted her to stay living with them until she found a man that she would marry and move in with. Even though she and Tommy were eight months into a steady relationship, there were no talks of marriage being had.
So they amicably decided to call things off. She was ready to help out her father in any way she could with the growing of his business, and Tommy was working tirelessly to start a successful business of his own. And the distance wouldn't have helped their causes.
(Y/N) never thought that she'd be face-to-face with him again...and by the looks of it, Tommy didn't either.
"How have you been then?" she questioned him, a smile gracing her lips.
"'Ve been alright. Been busy," he answered her.
"I can see that much," (Y/N) stated, motioning to everything that was around them, "you still have any free time? Or has that been overrun by your business?" she asked, her eyebrows raising slightly as she moved the slightest bit closer to him.
Although it was unspoken, he seemed to know what she was getting at. "Depends on what will be taking up my free time," he responded, his statement as coded as hers was.
But (Y/N) knew what he was getting at as well. So she stepped closer to him so that she could lean in next to his ear and her hand could caress his bicep. "I'm staying in room 237," she informed him, her voice coming out in a sultry whisper. When she pulled away to stand straight again, she tried to flash her best bedroom eyes.
This wasn't normally how she got her father prospective partners, but Tommy was different. From the moment she laid her eyes on him, the attraction she previously felt for him had returned. And by the looks of it, he was feeling something towards her as well, or else he wouldn't still be entertaining her conversation.
She kept her eyes locked onto his as the smirk started to tug the right corner of his lips upwards. He dropped his hands in front of his waist and clasped them together, squeezing them like he was noticeably trying to restrain himself.
Another woman walked into their conversation before anything else could be said. "There you are, Tommy," she said in a sweet voice as she smiled up at him, "I was looking all over for you."
"I got side-tracked," he told her, his eyes still fixed on (Y/N), who was now looking between the two people standing across from her. "This is (Y/N)," he introduced the two women then.
(Y/N) watched as the other woman wrapped her hand around Tommy's bicep before sending a smile in her direction. "It's nice to meet you, (Y/N). I'm Alice, Tommy's fianceé," she extended her own greeting, and (Y/N) bit on her cheek so that she wouldn't show her initial reaction. She was also now able to see the rather sizable diamond resting on the woman's left ring finger.
"Fianceé?" (Y/N) questioned, a slight bit of shock laced into the word, "you must be really special to have managed to get him to propose to you so quickly," she couldn't help but comment.
"Well when it's love, you just know," Alice answered, still keeping her sweetness about her as she smiled up at Tommy, who was still looking at (Y/N).
"Oh, I'm sure," was (Y/N)'s tight-lipped response, "I need to go speak with my father, so if you'll please excuse me," she said then, thinking of a way to leave the conversation before her jealous nature came out. Alice sent her a smile and bid her farewell, which was just about to take her over the top, but luckily she managed to leave the situation without saying anything else.
She wasn't able to shake those jealous feelings as she went about the party the rest of the night. Just the thought of Tommy being engaged to another made her blood boil for some reason. She didn't expect him to move on so quickly, to have gotten so serious with someone within those two years that had passed. And Alice seemed like a doll. She was genuinely posh and proper, and looked good standing on Tommy's arm. It certainly wasn't an act that she had to put on.
(Y/N) retired to her room when the night finally wore down. She had the suite to herself, as her parents had booked the room a few doors down. She was in the process of taking off her makeup when a knock sounded off the door. With furrowed eyebrows, she stood from the chair and walked over to open it.
A gasp left her lips when she saw who was waiting outside. "Tommy," she breathed, her eyes widening slightly.
"I hope my invitation still stands," he said as he stepped into the room. Within the next few seconds, their arms were wrapped around each other and their lips were locked.
"Always," (Y/N) breathed as she managed to kick the door closed before Tommy moved her back up against it. He linked his fingers with hers and brought her hands above her head before his dropped to hold onto her waist. She couldn't stop from dragging her nails against his scalp as their kisses became more fervent in nature. He started to peel the straps of the dress from her shoulders and his lips moved to follow them, placing hot kisses to the skin of her neck and collarbones. "Tommy," she panted, her chest heaving now.
"What?" he asked her, removing his lips from her skin to look up again, his eyes now dark and hazed over.
"It's good to see you again," she breathed out with a smirk before she grabbed his neck and pulled him in again. Their tongues meshed and they kissed like two years hadn't passed as they blindly made their way over to the bed.
No more coherent words were said, instead there was a mess of panted praises in between breathless moans as they rid themselves of their clothes and sought after what they both seemed to need from each other.
Some time later, Tommy was sitting up against the headboard of the bed with a cigarette between his fingers, and (Y/N) was laying with her head pressed against his chest as she drew lazy shapes against the skin of his abdomen. "Alice is innocent," Tommy finally spoke, the first thing that was said after they both finished, "she doesn't deserve to be hurt."
(Y/N) couldn't help but scoff at his words. "'S a bit rich of you to mention your fianceé while I'm pressed up against you, isn't it?" she queried, lifting her head up to show her raised eyebrow expression. Tommy only glanced down at her before he closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the headboard, taking a drag from his cigarette then. "Besides, she's too good for you anyway," (Y/N) said nonchalantly as she dropped her head against his chest once more.
"Too good?" he sounded like he needed some clarification.
"She's obviously a member of the society you worked your way into," she paused, sitting up so that she could say her next piece while looking at him, "and let's face it...no matter how high we move in society; no matter how much money we have under our names, we'll still only be Small Heath scum."
"So what are you saying then?" he asked her with furrowed eyebrows.
"Be with me," she simply said, "leave Alice and come back to me."
"(Y/N)..." he trailed off, a bit of a sigh escaping his lips.
"What do you have to lose?" she cut in before he could say anything else. "Alice will surely see your true self in due time, and you can't be sure that she'll like what she sees when it happens. That'll leave you all alone and if you lose me now, just know that I ain't comin' back when time takes its toll. So you should drop her and be with me."
Tommy chuckled and glanced away from her, shaking his head slightly before he scratched his nose with his thumb. "You still have some devil in you," he commented with a grin.
"I guess I do," (Y/N) shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, "I just had him show up at my door wantin' to fuck me," she said, grinning over at him.
"And you let him?" Tommy played along, an amused smirk on his face.
"Always," she responded with a devilish look in her eyes as she twisted to press her lips to his once more. Unlike their other kisses, this one was languid and comfortable. "Leave her," she whispered against his lips before kissing them again, "leave her and be with me, Tommy." She slowly moved her hand below his waistline as she spoke, effectively pulling him into her grasp again.
Tommy left her hotel room after they had their way with each other for the second time. Instead of going back to his room, where his fianceé was sleeping, he went down to the bar. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he sipped on whiskey. There was a lot to think about; a lot swirling around his head in regards to (Y/N) and Alice. He smoked cigarette after cigarette and downed several glasses of whiskey hoping it would give him a clearer idea of a path to take, but it only served to do the opposite. It was like (Y/N) was the devil on his shoulder and Alice was the angel, and they were both having their way with each other. He just didn't know who should win.
——
(Y/N) crossed her leg over top of the other as she sat at the desk in her father's office. Her main task within the company was keeping track of the logs and making sure that everything was running seamlessly. She worked in silence until there was a knock on the office's door.
Standing and smoothing out her dress, she moved to go open it. "And so we meet again," (Y/N) said, a grin forming on her face the second she saw Tommy standing outside the door.
"Your father here?" Tommy asked, completely ignoring her statement as he tried to look around her and into the room.
"He's not...left me in charge," she told him, her expression unwavering.
"Can you tell him that I'd like to talk to him? That I'm interested in looking over the logs and comparing output with certain buyers," Tommy continued on with his reason for being present.
"I will," (Y/N) nodded her head, "anything else you'd like to say?...do?" she asked then, her eyebrows raised slightly.
"No," he said definitively, "just wanted to talk business with him."
"You know there's no one else in the office, Tommy," she told him, a sultry tone laced into her words.
"Have your father phone me once he has what I'm looking for. I need to get back to my fianceé," he told her, dismissing her previous statement and keeping the formal tone to the conversation.
(Y/N) was a bit taken back by how closed off he was to her, considering what happened the last time they saw each other. But she didn't let her shock show. Instead she nodded her head, looking him over before responding: "I will. Make sure you tell your fianceé I said 'hi'." Tommy only nodded at her before he turned and walked away from the office door. (Y/N) couldn't help but laugh to herself. She knew that wasn't the last she'd see of Tommy Shelby.
——
Mr. Shelby,
Enclosed are the export logs that you requested to see. My father thought it would be more efficient of me to copy them and send them to you instead of having you travel here to get them. He is intrigued by your offer and would like to talk with you at a later date, if that is ok with you, of course.
Speaking of later dates, I'd like to remind you that I'm not going to wait around for you much longer. I take it that you're still with Alice, which means that you haven't made up your mind yet. Think of all of the times we spent together back in Small Heath; before anyone knew who we were. Think of the night we spent while you still had Alice waiting for you back at your room. Who were you with, Tommy? Both then and now. You were with me. So you need to leave her and be with me...
"Who's the letter from?" Alice's sweet voice cut into Tommy's mind, making him jump slightly and fold the paper as he looked at his approaching fianceé.
"No one," he quickly lied, shaking his head and clearing his throat before he continued speaking, "it was just a...just from a business partner of mine," he gave her more information then as he kicked himself for being so jumpy. His answer wasn't a complete lie though; also enclosed in the envelope were the export documents that he'd requested to view. This damn letter just had to be sent with it.
Alice nodded her head, not thinking anything of his response — although she wouldn't have known the questions to ask even if she had any. "Are you coming to bed?" she asked him, walking behind the chair he was sitting on so that she could run her hands along his shoulders.
"I'll be up in a second," he nodded, his mind distant as it was now taken up by the woman who had managed to work her way back into his life.
"Ok," she accepted his answer once more, leaning in to press a kiss to his temple, "I might be sleeping when you come up though. I love you."
"Love you," Tommy mumbled, sending her a ghost of a smile as she exited the kitchen area and went for the steps.
Once she left the room, Tommy opened the letter with a sigh. His eyes scanned over the page, falling on the words 'you need to leave her and be with me' each time that he read it through. They seemed to be darker on the page, like she'd written them with a purpose. Taking a deep breath, he dropped the letter on the table and picked up his pack of cigarettes. Lighting one with a match, he tipped his head back and let the smoke billow out into the room. He had to think of a way to straighten this situation out, but he had no clue where to even start. Each time he closed his eyes though, he saw (Y/N).
——
“Follow me please, Mr. (Y/L/N),” the maître d’ said with a smile before he began walking onto the floor of the restaurant. (Y/N) followed behind her father, her heels clacking off of the marble floors.
They were led to a table that already had two people occupying it. Tommy Shelby was sitting, watching his dinner guests join the table with a stony expression on his face, and Alice was sitting right next to him. She had a polite smile on her face as she watched the other two people sit down opposite to her. The table was situated so that (Y/N) was on Alice’s right; her father on her left. Tommy sat directly across from her and was in the middle of staring her down. She noticed his stare and flashed him a grin before wine was brought.
(Y/N)’s father got into conversation with Tommy right after the waiter left to place their orders. She was half-listening to their conversation, but occupied her time with picking at her fingernails. Time passed like that. She tried to put her thoughts into the conversation, but it was clear that Tommy was driving it and her father was just merely agreeing. So she sat with pursed lips and listened in until the food came. Then, she occupied her time with enjoying the delicious food placed in front of her while the men still focused on business.
It wasn’t until the plates were cleared and more wine was served that (Y/N) got an idea. Discreetly, she leaned towards Alice who, up until this point, was practically just sitting and enjoying the ambiance of the room. She glanced down at the other woman’s engagement ring and couldn’t stop the pang of jealousy from forming in her stomach before she opened her mouth to speak: “I’ve mentioned it before, but it amazes me how fast Thomas proposed to you.”
Alice, finally having someone to talk to, turned to (Y/N) with a genuine smile, “he’s a sweet man,” she responded before glancing over at her fiancé, who was still engrossed in business. She then looked back to (Y/N), the smile still on her face. She’s too pure for his world, (Y/N) thought, that being what she needed to continue on.
“The Tommy I remember wasn’t,” she stated, a bit of a scoff following her words as she tried to imagine the words ‘Tommy’ and ‘sweet’ being in the same ballpark.
“Excuse me?” Alice’s eyebrows furrowed at the other woman’s comment.
“Your fiancé and I had a relationship...before he moved into the big name circles, when he most likely wouldn’t have caught a glance from a woman like you. He and I...” (Y/N) paused, looking over at Tommy to see that he was now staring intently in her direction. Seeing this made a grin form on her face as she looked back at Alice and continued, “we...I guess you can say we reacquainted ourselves just recently, and I can honestly say that nothing about him has changed,” she said, her smirk growing as Alice’s jaw dropped, “oh, besides the fact that he’s now engaged to you...but that doesn’t seem to matter to him that much,” she added for a final measure, and that was the straw that broke Alice.
Within seconds, she was standing from the table, her happy expression now swapped for one of shock and distaste. “I can’t believe you can say such words about someone!” she shrieked, a glare now on her face as she zeroed in on (Y/N).
The other woman was unfazed. “I’ve said them because they’re true,” (Y/N) shrugged, her grin only growing as Alice threw the napkin down on the seat, sent a death glare over to Tommy, and then stormed out of the dining area.
The pleased grin stayed on (Y/N)’s face as she locked eyes with Tommy. They held their gaze for a few moments before Tommy spoke to (Y/N)’s father, “I need to have a word with your daughter,” he said, then standing from the chair and nodding at (Y/N), who got the message and stood as well. She followed him out of the dining room, allowing him to take hold of her arm and bring her into the quiet lobby area. “What the fuck were you thinking in there, eh?” he asked, trying hard to keep his anger down. Truthfully, he wasn’t only feeling anger at the moment though. Some of him was surprisingly relieved that she’d taken charge and done something.
“I was just telling her the truth, Tommy,” (Y/N) stayed nonchalant, completely unbothered by Tommy’s words.
“You’ve fucking lost her for me now is what you did.”
“Good. She was gonna leave you anyway,” (Y/N) said in a matter-of-fact tone, “you could be with me now...like you’ve wanted to be since I came back into your life,” a grin worked its way onto her face as she spoke, making Tommy suck in and exhale a deep breath to steady himself.
“You don’t know what you’re doing, (Y/N)...messing with other peoples’ relationships; other peoples’ feelings,” part of Tommy didn’t know why he was still continuing with this. Part of him was already ready to take her back.
“Oh, I know exactly what I’m doing,” she was quick to fire back, the grin still on her face as she took a step closer to him. She placed her hands on his shoulders so that she could lean in and whisper into his ear: “I’m staying in the same room as before, so you’ll know where to find me,” she told him before she pulled away to place a kiss on the corner of her lips; just enough to leave him wanting more.
She dropped her hands before Tommy could do anything, sending him a wicked grin before she sauntered off. She then sent him one last glance over her shoulder before she began making her way up the grand staircase. Her destination was her hotel room, the same room that Tommy would be visiting later to ensure that that kiss was not the last that he shared with her.
Thank you so much! I’m so happy you enjoyed reading! 🥰❤️ I’ll most certainly add you! — do you want to be added on all of my stories or only the Tommy taglist?
Summary: (Y/N) stumbles upon the man she used to call 'hers'. She's happy to see him, of course, but she quickly finds out that he's engaged to another woman. This doesn't stop her from trying to rekindle what they once had. Does he play along with her or put his foot down?
Warnings: smoking, language, drinking, sexual situations (PG-13 rated), cheating
Word Count: 4633
A/N: well y’all...here it is...the story I embraced the chaos with. And let me tell you, I think it’s the most chaotic piece I’ve written so far. And I’ve also realized that I’ve inadvertantly made the story with the OC that you’ll meet kind of run along the lines of both Clive and Lizzie’s stories (you’ll understand that later...hopefully). Enjoy! :)
Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in stories that are similar to this one!
———
Checking herself in the mirror one last time, (Y/N) rolled her lips around to make sure that the lipstick she'd just applied was evenly distributed. She chose the shade she thought looked best on her, and it accentuated her dress pleasingly. With a slight nod, she deemed herself ready to join the party that was already happening downstairs.
She almost immediately found her mother, who pressed kisses to her cheeks and told her how beautiful she looked in her formal attire. (Y/N) smiled at her compliments as she took the glass of champagne that was offered to her. For a woman who thought that she wouldn't fit into this new lifestyle, she seemed to be doing a good job.
Although the (Y/L/N) family was new to the life of luxury, they acted like they'd been in it for years. Two years ago, they moved from Small Heath (of all places) to London when her father got word of there being big moves within the automotive parts industry. They left everything of their old lives behind, and her father struck the jackpot. Within a year, they had a rather lavish townhouse in one of London's popular squares, and her father was a force to be reckoned with amongst the export industry.
This status granted them entrance to many higher class parties; much like the one that they were in attendance of on this night.
"Go on, (Y/N)," her mother nudged her after they had a short conversation, "go make friends with the potential partners."
(Y/N) nodded and did what her mother said. She had a pretty important role within the operation that her family was running. Her charming nature and cunning mind oftentimes pulled in people that otherwise wouldn't bat an eye in her father's direction because he was still working his way up the ladder. She knew what she was doing, and she was willing to risk everything for it. Her background of being a Small Heath woman who knew that she had to fight for everything she wanted still very much shined through in the woman she was today.
The night was going swimmingly. She'd already managed to get two, rather prominent businessmen hooked onto her father's pitch by wowing them with her knowledge of the business that her family ran. Surely, it helped that she looked the way that she did, as she sure knew how to clean up nicely. But regardless, her father's company now had two more potential partners.
She was on her mission of finding more people to talk to when someone across the room caught her eye. She had to blink a few times when the realization of who this person was registered in her mind. There was no way that Tommy Shelby was in attendance at this party. Now she had to go see for herself.
So she confidently strode her way over to where he was standing, talking with another older-looking man. As she got closer, she confirmed that the man she was fastly approaching was indeed Tommy Shelby, although his presence at this event still boggled her mind.
"Thomas Shelby?" she called out once she was a few steps away from him.
The calling of his name took Tommy's attention away from the man standing to his left, and the breath got caught in his throat when he realized who was approaching him. He never thought he'd see her again.
"It is you, Mr. Shelby," (Y/N) continued with a smile as she stopped in front of him, taking a quick glance over his person to see that he was dressed in a fine three-piece suit, much finer than what he used to wear. He still had very strikingly handsome features though...(Y/N) couldn't deny that. "I would have never expected to see you here," she said, watching as realization flashed in his eyes as he then did a similar look over of her.
"Likewise," he responded, his voice sounding the same, and even after their time apart, it still gave her chills just hearing it. But she kept her composure and stood confidently in front of him as he turned to the man standing next to him. "Could you give us a moment, Mr. Lameridge?" he asked in a hushed voice.
The man nodded his head in response, "sure, Mr. Shelby. I'll be at my table with my wife if you'd like to come over later and continue our conversation," he responded, making Tommy nod before he looked over at the woman standing across from him.
"(Y/N)," he finally spoke once they were alone in their conversation, "what are you doing here?"
"My father made it big in the exporting of automotive parts," she proudly told him, "and I could ask the same to you."
"It seems that your father and I are now in the same business," Tommy responded, making (Y/N) tilt her head slightly as realization flashed in her eyes.
"Oh, really?" she questioned as the beginnings of a grin formed on her face, "so I should be charming you into becoming a partner of his?"
Tommy chuckled at her forward statement. "I guess you should be," he shrugged slightly, an amused expression on his face. "You look good, (Y/N)," he complimented her then, and she tried hard not to let the blush form on her cheeks.
"I could say the same about you, Shelby," she sent a compliment of her own in response, "guess you could say that we both did better for ourselves once we moved out of Small Heath."
"Oh I never left Small Heath," Tommy corrected her, shaking his head, "my business has just expanded past the confines of it."
"Good for you then, Tommy," she stated, her words holding no amount of sarcasm. She was actually happy to hear that he'd made something of himself because she knew better than anyone the amount of ambition he held.
This, obviously, was not the first time that Tommy and (Y/N) had met each other. They used to date actually, back when (Y/N) lived in Small Heath with her family. She met him after he'd returned home from war and the attraction was instant. He kept her around when he found how smart she was, and she complimented him in every sense of the word. Their relationship lasted for around eight months before (Y/N) told him that she'd be leaving for London with her parents.
The option was on the table for her to stay in a place of her own in Small Heath, but her parents ultimately didn't allow it. They wanted her to stay living with them until she found a man that she would marry and move in with. Even though she and Tommy were eight months into a steady relationship, there were no talks of marriage being had.
So they amicably decided to call things off. She was ready to help out her father in any way she could with the growing of his business, and Tommy was working tirelessly to start a successful business of his own. And the distance wouldn't have helped their causes.
(Y/N) never thought that she'd be face-to-face with him again...and by the looks of it, Tommy didn't either.
"How have you been then?" she questioned him, a smile gracing her lips.
"'Ve been alright. Been busy," he answered her.
"I can see that much," (Y/N) stated, motioning to everything that was around them, "you still have any free time? Or has that been overrun by your business?" she asked, her eyebrows raising slightly as she moved the slightest bit closer to him.
Although it was unspoken, he seemed to know what she was getting at. "Depends on what will be taking up my free time," he responded, his statement as coded as hers was.
But (Y/N) knew what he was getting at as well. So she stepped closer to him so that she could lean in next to his ear and her hand could caress his bicep. "I'm staying in room 237," she informed him, her voice coming out in a sultry whisper. When she pulled away to stand straight again, she tried to flash her best bedroom eyes.
This wasn't normally how she got her father prospective partners, but Tommy was different. From the moment she laid her eyes on him, the attraction she previously felt for him had returned. And by the looks of it, he was feeling something towards her as well, or else he wouldn't still be entertaining her conversation.
She kept her eyes locked onto his as the smirk started to tug the right corner of his lips upwards. He dropped his hands in front of his waist and clasped them together, squeezing them like he was noticeably trying to restrain himself.
Another woman walked into their conversation before anything else could be said. "There you are, Tommy," she said in a sweet voice as she smiled up at him, "I was looking all over for you."
"I got side-tracked," he told her, his eyes still fixed on (Y/N), who was now looking between the two people standing across from her. "This is (Y/N)," he introduced the two women then.
(Y/N) watched as the other woman wrapped her hand around Tommy's bicep before sending a smile in her direction. "It's nice to meet you, (Y/N). I'm Alice, Tommy's fianceé," she extended her own greeting, and (Y/N) bit on her cheek so that she wouldn't show her initial reaction. She was also now able to see the rather sizable diamond resting on the woman's left ring finger.
"Fianceé?" (Y/N) questioned, a slight bit of shock laced into the word, "you must be really special to have managed to get him to propose to you so quickly," she couldn't help but comment.
"Well when it's love, you just know," Alice answered, still keeping her sweetness about her as she smiled up at Tommy, who was still looking at (Y/N).
"Oh, I'm sure," was (Y/N)'s tight-lipped response, "I need to go speak with my father, so if you'll please excuse me," she said then, thinking of a way to leave the conversation before her jealous nature came out. Alice sent her a smile and bid her farewell, which was just about to take her over the top, but luckily she managed to leave the situation without saying anything else.
She wasn't able to shake those jealous feelings as she went about the party the rest of the night. Just the thought of Tommy being engaged to another made her blood boil for some reason. She didn't expect him to move on so quickly, to have gotten so serious with someone within those two years that had passed. And Alice seemed like a doll. She was genuinely posh and proper, and looked good standing on Tommy's arm. It certainly wasn't an act that she had to put on.
(Y/N) retired to her room when the night finally wore down. She had the suite to herself, as her parents had booked the room a few doors down. She was in the process of taking off her makeup when a knock sounded off the door. With furrowed eyebrows, she stood from the chair and walked over to open it.
A gasp left her lips when she saw who was waiting outside. "Tommy," she breathed, her eyes widening slightly.
"I hope my invitation still stands," he said as he stepped into the room. Within the next few seconds, their arms were wrapped around each other and their lips were locked.
"Always," (Y/N) breathed as she managed to kick the door closed before Tommy moved her back up against it. He linked his fingers with hers and brought her hands above her head before his dropped to hold onto her waist. She couldn't stop from dragging her nails against his scalp as their kisses became more fervent in nature. He started to peel the straps of the dress from her shoulders and his lips moved to follow them, placing hot kisses to the skin of her neck and collarbones. "Tommy," she panted, her chest heaving now.
"What?" he asked her, removing his lips from her skin to look up again, his eyes now dark and hazed over.
"It's good to see you again," she breathed out with a smirk before she grabbed his neck and pulled him in again. Their tongues meshed and they kissed like two years hadn't passed as they blindly made their way over to the bed.
No more coherent words were said, instead there was a mess of panted praises in between breathless moans as they rid themselves of their clothes and sought after what they both seemed to need from each other.
Some time later, Tommy was sitting up against the headboard of the bed with a cigarette between his fingers, and (Y/N) was laying with her head pressed against his chest as she drew lazy shapes against the skin of his abdomen. "Alice is innocent," Tommy finally spoke, the first thing that was said after they both finished, "she doesn't deserve to be hurt."
(Y/N) couldn't help but scoff at his words. "'S a bit rich of you to mention your fianceé while I'm pressed up against you, isn't it?" she queried, lifting her head up to show her raised eyebrow expression. Tommy only glanced down at her before he closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the headboard, taking a drag from his cigarette then. "Besides, she's too good for you anyway," (Y/N) said nonchalantly as she dropped her head against his chest once more.
"Too good?" he sounded like he needed some clarification.
"She's obviously a member of the society you worked your way into," she paused, sitting up so that she could say her next piece while looking at him, "and let's face it...no matter how high we move in society; no matter how much money we have under our names, we'll still only be Small Heath scum."
"So what are you saying then?" he asked her with furrowed eyebrows.
"Be with me," she simply said, "leave Alice and come back to me."
"(Y/N)..." he trailed off, a bit of a sigh escaping his lips.
"What do you have to lose?" she cut in before he could say anything else. "Alice will surely see your true self in due time, and you can't be sure that she'll like what she sees when it happens. That'll leave you all alone and if you lose me now, just know that I ain't comin' back when time takes its toll. So you should drop her and be with me."
Tommy chuckled and glanced away from her, shaking his head slightly before he scratched his nose with his thumb. "You still have some devil in you," he commented with a grin.
"I guess I do," (Y/N) shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, "I just had him show up at my door wantin' to fuck me," she said, grinning over at him.
"And you let him?" Tommy played along, an amused smirk on his face.
"Always," she responded with a devilish look in her eyes as she twisted to press her lips to his once more. Unlike their other kisses, this one was languid and comfortable. "Leave her," she whispered against his lips before kissing them again, "leave her and be with me, Tommy." She slowly moved her hand below his waistline as she spoke, effectively pulling him into her grasp again.
Tommy left her hotel room after they had their way with each other for the second time. Instead of going back to his room, where his fianceé was sleeping, he went down to the bar. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he sipped on whiskey. There was a lot to think about; a lot swirling around his head in regards to (Y/N) and Alice. He smoked cigarette after cigarette and downed several glasses of whiskey hoping it would give him a clearer idea of a path to take, but it only served to do the opposite. It was like (Y/N) was the devil on his shoulder and Alice was the angel, and they were both having their way with each other. He just didn't know who should win.
——
(Y/N) crossed her leg over top of the other as she sat at the desk in her father's office. Her main task within the company was keeping track of the logs and making sure that everything was running seamlessly. She worked in silence until there was a knock on the office's door.
Standing and smoothing out her dress, she moved to go open it. "And so we meet again," (Y/N) said, a grin forming on her face the second she saw Tommy standing outside the door.
"Your father here?" Tommy asked, completely ignoring her statement as he tried to look around her and into the room.
"He's not...left me in charge," she told him, her expression unwavering.
"Can you tell him that I'd like to talk to him? That I'm interested in looking over the logs and comparing output with certain buyers," Tommy continued on with his reason for being present.
"I will," (Y/N) nodded her head, "anything else you'd like to say?...do?" she asked then, her eyebrows raised slightly.
"No," he said definitively, "just wanted to talk business with him."
"You know there's no one else in the office, Tommy," she told him, a sultry tone laced into her words.
"Have your father phone me once he has what I'm looking for. I need to get back to my fianceé," he told her, dismissing her previous statement and keeping the formal tone to the conversation.
(Y/N) was a bit taken back by how closed off he was to her, considering what happened the last time they saw each other. But she didn't let her shock show. Instead she nodded her head, looking him over before responding: "I will. Make sure you tell your fianceé I said 'hi'." Tommy only nodded at her before he turned and walked away from the office door. (Y/N) couldn't help but laugh to herself. She knew that wasn't the last she'd see of Tommy Shelby.
——
Mr. Shelby,
Enclosed are the export logs that you requested to see. My father thought it would be more efficient of me to copy them and send them to you instead of having you travel here to get them. He is intrigued by your offer and would like to talk with you at a later date, if that is ok with you, of course.
Speaking of later dates, I'd like to remind you that I'm not going to wait around for you much longer. I take it that you're still with Alice, which means that you haven't made up your mind yet. Think of all of the times we spent together back in Small Heath; before anyone knew who we were. Think of the night we spent while you still had Alice waiting for you back at your room. Who were you with, Tommy? Both then and now. You were with me. So you need to leave her and be with me...
"Who's the letter from?" Alice's sweet voice cut into Tommy's mind, making him jump slightly and fold the paper as he looked at his approaching fianceé.
"No one," he quickly lied, shaking his head and clearing his throat before he continued speaking, "it was just a...just from a business partner of mine," he gave her more information then as he kicked himself for being so jumpy. His answer wasn't a complete lie though; also enclosed in the envelope were the export documents that he'd requested to view. This damn letter just had to be sent with it.
Alice nodded her head, not thinking anything of his response — although she wouldn't have known the questions to ask even if she had any. "Are you coming to bed?" she asked him, walking behind the chair he was sitting on so that she could run her hands along his shoulders.
"I'll be up in a second," he nodded, his mind distant as it was now taken up by the woman who had managed to work her way back into his life.
"Ok," she accepted his answer once more, leaning in to press a kiss to his temple, "I might be sleeping when you come up though. I love you."
"Love you," Tommy mumbled, sending her a ghost of a smile as she exited the kitchen area and went for the steps.
Once she left the room, Tommy opened the letter with a sigh. His eyes scanned over the page, falling on the words 'you need to leave her and be with me' each time that he read it through. They seemed to be darker on the page, like she'd written them with a purpose. Taking a deep breath, he dropped the letter on the table and picked up his pack of cigarettes. Lighting one with a match, he tipped his head back and let the smoke billow out into the room. He had to think of a way to straighten this situation out, but he had no clue where to even start. Each time he closed his eyes though, he saw (Y/N).
——
“Follow me please, Mr. (Y/L/N),” the maître d’ said with a smile before he began walking onto the floor of the restaurant. (Y/N) followed behind her father, her heels clacking off of the marble floors.
They were led to a table that already had two people occupying it. Tommy Shelby was sitting, watching his dinner guests join the table with a stony expression on his face, and Alice was sitting right next to him. She had a polite smile on her face as she watched the other two people sit down opposite to her. The table was situated so that (Y/N) was on Alice’s right; her father on her left. Tommy sat directly across from her and was in the middle of staring her down. She noticed his stare and flashed him a grin before wine was brought.
(Y/N)’s father got into conversation with Tommy right after the waiter left to place their orders. She was half-listening to their conversation, but occupied her time with picking at her fingernails. Time passed like that. She tried to put her thoughts into the conversation, but it was clear that Tommy was driving it and her father was just merely agreeing. So she sat with pursed lips and listened in until the food came. Then, she occupied her time with enjoying the delicious food placed in front of her while the men still focused on business.
It wasn’t until the plates were cleared and more wine was served that (Y/N) got an idea. Discreetly, she leaned towards Alice who, up until this point, was practically just sitting and enjoying the ambiance of the room. She glanced down at the other woman’s engagement ring and couldn’t stop the pang of jealousy from forming in her stomach before she opened her mouth to speak: “I’ve mentioned it before, but it amazes me how fast Thomas proposed to you.”
Alice, finally having someone to talk to, turned to (Y/N) with a genuine smile, “he’s a sweet man,” she responded before glancing over at her fiancé, who was still engrossed in business. She then looked back to (Y/N), the smile still on her face. She’s too pure for his world, (Y/N) thought, that being what she needed to continue on.
“The Tommy I remember wasn’t,” she stated, a bit of a scoff following her words as she tried to imagine the words ‘Tommy’ and ‘sweet’ being in the same ballpark.
“Excuse me?” Alice’s eyebrows furrowed at the other woman’s comment.
“Your fiancé and I had a relationship...before he moved into the big name circles, when he most likely wouldn’t have caught a glance from a woman like you. He and I...” (Y/N) paused, looking over at Tommy to see that he was now staring intently in her direction. Seeing this made a grin form on her face as she looked back at Alice and continued, “we...I guess you can say we reacquainted ourselves just recently, and I can honestly say that nothing about him has changed,” she said, her smirk growing as Alice’s jaw dropped, “oh, besides the fact that he’s now engaged to you...but that doesn’t seem to matter to him that much,” she added for a final measure, and that was the straw that broke Alice.
Within seconds, she was standing from the table, her happy expression now swapped for one of shock and distaste. “I can’t believe you can say such words about someone!” she shrieked, a glare now on her face as she zeroed in on (Y/N).
The other woman was unfazed. “I’ve said them because they’re true,” (Y/N) shrugged, her grin only growing as Alice threw the napkin down on the seat, sent a death glare over to Tommy, and then stormed out of the dining area.
The pleased grin stayed on (Y/N)’s face as she locked eyes with Tommy. They held their gaze for a few moments before Tommy spoke to (Y/N)’s father, “I need to have a word with your daughter,” he said, then standing from the chair and nodding at (Y/N), who got the message and stood as well. She followed him out of the dining room, allowing him to take hold of her arm and bring her into the quiet lobby area. “What the fuck were you thinking in there, eh?” he asked, trying hard to keep his anger down. Truthfully, he wasn’t only feeling anger at the moment though. Some of him was surprisingly relieved that she’d taken charge and done something.
“I was just telling her the truth, Tommy,” (Y/N) stayed nonchalant, completely unbothered by Tommy’s words.
“You’ve fucking lost her for me now is what you did.”
“Good. She was gonna leave you anyway,” (Y/N) said in a matter-of-fact tone, “you could be with me now...like you’ve wanted to be since I came back into your life,” a grin worked its way onto her face as she spoke, making Tommy suck in and exhale a deep breath to steady himself.
“You don’t know what you’re doing, (Y/N)...messing with other peoples’ relationships; other peoples’ feelings,” part of Tommy didn’t know why he was still continuing with this. Part of him was already ready to take her back.
“Oh, I know exactly what I’m doing,” she was quick to fire back, the grin still on her face as she took a step closer to him. She placed her hands on his shoulders so that she could lean in and whisper into his ear: “I’m staying in the same room as before, so you’ll know where to find me,” she told him before she pulled away to place a kiss on the corner of her lips; just enough to leave him wanting more.
She dropped her hands before Tommy could do anything, sending him a wicked grin before she sauntered off. She then sent him one last glance over her shoulder before she began making her way up the grand staircase. Her destination was her hotel room, the same room that Tommy would be visiting later to ensure that that kiss was not the last that he shared with her.
The Boy in the Window ~ Tommy Shelby x Reader (Series Masterlist)
Summary: (Y/N) thinks the boy her daughter sees in the window of the neighbouring house is nothing but a childish fantasy, after all, no one has lived there for years, but when she brings that boy to lunch, she realises that he is in fact very real, rather hungry and quite cold and above all- the son of none other than the infamous Tommy Shelby. Expect spoilers for Peaky Blinders Season 1-4.
With eleven parts already written, I plan on publishing a new part every two days.
Prologue ~ Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Part 5 ~ Part 6 ~
izzy806
tangentwithtanner
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