pairing: thomas shelby x alfie solomons
characters: thomas shelby, alfie solomons, the shelby family (excluding ada)
warnings: just some soft moments. tommy is worried about alfie and alfie is nervous. continuing from the previous one-shot, “worried”.
It took some time before Polly left the room and closed the door behind her.
"He needs to rest", she told Tommy about Alfie, "Tried to resist staying here, at first."
"And what did you do about it?" Tommy questioned, not bothering to look up at Polly. He felt her eyes on him, though - he didn't feel pleasant about it.
"Made him stay", Polly told him like it was obvious and truth to be told, it was. Alfie would've come out of the room already if Polly hadn't said anything to him.
Tommy chose not to say anything and Polly left the room.
John had already been gone for a while - he had probably gone to drink with Arthur and gossip about next fights.
Tommy, however, remained still and stared at the worn wall, his mind feeling surprisingly hollow at that moment. He knew Alfie would be fine, he hadn't been damaged too badly and Polly had fixed him up. But still Tommy worried - and he wasn't even sure why he felt like that; he just couldn't get the uncomfortable feeling to go away.
Alfie needed to rest, Polly had told him. So Tommy could go do his own things, he could go outside for a smoke or he could take a drink with his brothers, or maybe he could try to talk to Polly about business -
But he didn't. He stayed right where he was and leaned his head backwards against the wall behind him, his arms now feeling a bit uncomfortable against his chest. He didn't bother to move them away, though. He just couldn't register it.
And Tommy wasn't sure for how long he had stayed there without moving an inch.
Polly had come in to check on Alfie and left, saying nothing to Tommy and he hadn't said anything to her either.
John had come to check on Tommy and mentioned that he looked tired, he should rest. Tommy had refused to.
Arthur had come to offer some company to Tommy, but he hadn't felt like talking with anyone for a longer time. Arthur had understood that he needed some space and left.
Finn had came in to sit next to Tommy for a while, swinging his short legs in the air and eyes locked on Tommy while he had still been looking up at the ceiling.
"Is he going to be alright?"
"Yes, Finn. You don't gotta worry."
"But you worry." Tommy hadn't been sure how to respond to that.
"Sometimes we do that, Finn. But you're young. You shouldn't have to worry."
"I'm almost twelve", Finn had mentioned and Tommy had let out an amused huff, lowering his gaze at his little brother.
"In half a year", he had teased and Finn had puckered his lips, which had amused Tommy even more.
"You're a big boy, I know. You could go now and tell Arthur about how old you're becoming already, eh?"
Finn had got excited about that and left the room, leaving Tommy to sigh before moving his gaze up to the ceiling again and closing his eyelids.
It really had been some time since he had moved. Most of his movements were just opening and closing his eyes, tapping his feet against the wooden floor or his finger against his arm, or slowly blinking his eyes while thinking about business - then Alfie - then business again, and the cycle repeated for a long time.
Had Alfie got enough rest already? Could Tommy go see him?
Tommy slowly moved his arms away from his chest and grimaced at the uncomfortable feeling in his numb arms, waiting for a moment for them to recover their senses.
He got up from the chair and put his hand on the knob of the door. However, he didn't move for a while.
Should he go in or not? Would Alfie want anyone to see him in a vulnerable state? Maybe Alfie was asleep and Tommy would disturb his dreams, then he'd be mad at Tommy for ruining his moment of rest.
Tommy decided not to think too much and opened the door to the small room, seeing Alfie lying down on the bed and moving his head to see Tommy.
"Sorry to be a bother", he heard Alfie say while getting up to sit and Tommy closed the door behind him, glaring at Alfie.
"Why are you apologizing?"
"For, ya know", Alfie tried to explain while gesturing his hand from a wound to another, "This. Yer supplies and stuff."
Tommy was looking at Alfie with disbelief, moving to stand close to a window. It was night, he noticed - he really had been sitting there for a long time.
The moonlight brought a pretty lightning to the small room and Tommy didn't bother even sitting down. He kept his eyes on the moon, keeping a silent moment between him and Alfie.
He could hear Alfie make a questioning sound, meanwhile Tommy finally looked away from the moon and took a cigarette out.
"I'll open the window", Tommy mentioned while already working on opening the window before he lit his cigarette.
It was quiet again and Tommy sat down on a desk near to the window, inhaling in some smoke.
"We won't run out of supplies if we take care of you once", he finally chose to respond and Alfie looked genuinely confused. Tommy had his own way of handling things, and sometimes he just needed time to register things before saying anything.
Alfie didn't seem to judge, though. At least not out loud.
"You're an independent man, but it doesn't hurt to be taken care of sometimes." It was easy to say but Tommy had hard times to understand that for himself, too. He took the cigarette off his lips and moved it to rest between his fingers.
"'S good", Alfie replied, "I mean, better than before, y'know. Thanks." Tommy only nodded and didn't say anything, bringing the smoke to his lips once again while keeping eye-contact with Alfie.
Or more like, Tommy was trying to keep eye-contact while Alfie tended to glance away at times.
"Eh, 's nothin', just..." Alfie seemed more nervous than before and that wasn't a sight Tommy had seen often. Maybe after staring at him had made him uncomfortable - usually Alfie hadn't minded, though.
At least Tommy thought so. Now he was just thinking about Alfie being well-mannered and having kept his mouth shut about it. Shit.
"Yer eyes. They're crisp", Alfie confessed, "Never seen 'em in a pretty lightnin' like this. Looks innocent, ya know."
Alfie's words actually made Tommy feel a quick, warm feeling inside his chest and even on his cheeks, his guard breaking for a moment.
"Oh." He didn't know what to say.
"Don't take it in a weird way, though, just sayin'", Alfie pointed out and Tommy moved his gaze back to the window.
Of course he shouldn't take it like that. He was stupid to even think of that.
"I'm flattered, actually. Thank you", Tommy said after a while and hid his disappointment from thinking Alfie's words hadn't actually meant anything.
Alfie was more quiet than he ever had been with Tommy, though. Usually he would be telling a story or cracking some jokes, but now he just seemed tired and nervous.
"I'll leave you alone now", Tommy said while dumping the already burnt out cigarette on the table and he got up to stand. He already turned his back towards Alfie and grabbed the knob-
Tommy didn't move his hand and he turned his head to see Alfie, looking at the Shelby.
"I mean- I could use company, ya know. Gets lonely in here."
Tommy thought about his words for a while before breaking his lips into a little smile and lifting his hand away from the doorknob.
