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lavender-romancer · 9 months

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I'd Do Anything

Part One Tommy Shelby x Reader

You met when you were sixteen and from there, your lives ebbed and flowed closer and further away from one another but there was always something that brought you together.

”*°•.˜”*°•. ˜”*°•. ˜”*°••°*”˜.•°*”˜.•°*”˜.•°*”˜

1906

When you were a child your parents' marriage always seemed too difficult, with such a lack of care or affection for each other. More like two adults who had married for social convention than for love and you decided then and there that you'd never accept anything less than love.

Your teenage years had a few flings but you knew you were never in love with them, there was one boy you had met whilst watching your younger siblings play on Watery Lane with some other local children.

This boy didn't approach you initially, instead looked at you across the street with an inquisitive expression as he sat in a doorway with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. You decided to walk over to him which seemed to take the boy by surprise.

"Can I have a smoke?" You asked, attempting to start a conversation. He quickly scrambled to his feet and was noticeably smaller than you but most boys were at your age anyways.

"What's… what's your name?" He asked and you smiled before rolling up a cigarette and holding it between your fingers.

"I'm Y/n, and you?" You looked at him expectantly and he quickly brought out a pack of matches.

"I'm Tommy," he smiled and gestured to where the children were playing. "That's my brother John and my sister Ada. Arthur's around here somewhere."

"How old are you, Tommy?" You lit your cigarette and Tommy looked at you hesitantly before answering.

"I'm sixteen, I know you would have no way of realising that. I still haven't had my growth spurt." Tommy huffed and you smirked before telling him you were also sixteen. "Do you live 'round here?"

"I'm at the end of the street," you smiled "I hadn't seen you before either, if that's what you meant." You struck a match and lit your cigarette before handing them back to Tommy.

"Will I see you again?" He asked with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"I suppose you will. But I'll be busier than before so you'll just have to have wonderful timing." You giggled and Tommy's cheeks went pink.

"I- I only meant that we could do more than watch our little brothers play." He stumbled over his words and you found it quite endearing.

"I'd like that. You'll have to meet me after around 5 at the school. I get extra tuition there on weekdays." You took a deep inhale of nicotine and your head seemed to clear.

"Why are you at school still?" He asked.

"Because, Tommy, I am trying to pass an entrance exam. They have a women's college in London so for the next two years I have to work harder than I have before." You felt the fogginess in your brain returning but you had to ignore it.

"I never considered leaving here and you're going to London, it's impressive." Tommy looked up at you and then averted his gaze, not wanting to make you feel he was too small.

"I have to get out of here, at least for a few years. Small Heath isn't the problem, it's my parents and their lack of concern for my education." You rolled your eyes and leant against the brick wall behind you. Tommy saw what you were doing and followed your actions, wanting to seem interesting.

"Jesus." Tommy let out a long breath and you nodded.

"There's no other way for me to break the cycle of my family never earning enough to get by and constantly being worried, I can fix it all." You tapped some ash off your cigarette.

"I can't say I could match you academically but I could definitely beat you at cards." He joked and you smiled.

"I wouldn't be so sure." You looked down at him.

"I could absolutely rinse you when you get all rich." Tommy raised an eyebrow and you looked at him with offense.

"Now that will definitely have to be tested." You smirked.

For the next two years Tommy would meet you after tuition every single day and when you didn't have tuition you would be spending the day with one another. Going on walks, visiting his family or going to his uncle's dockyard and messing about there. He was your escape from the fogginess in your brain that crept up when you thought about the future. He made you laugh and feel at ease with the world.

Tommy had figuratively and literally grown up in front of your eyes, now a bit taller than you and a lot more mature. The two of you acted like an old married couple with the way you bickered and then made up. But the two of you had never breached the subject of romance. Regardless of the Shelby brothers' teasing, the two of you had never brought it up.

You got a lot closer with Tommy's aunt, Polly when her daughter Anna was born. You loved babies and wanted to help in any way possible with childcare. Her and her brother Michael were angels to look after, most of the Shelby brood were. But they were always a bit more mischievous than the Gray children.

When Finn was born things got significantly difficult for Tommy. His mother was dead, his father had abandoned them and you didn't have the social faculties to try and soothe the hurt. You tried to help with Finn whenever Polly had to work or the Shelby offspring went to try to find work. But it wasn't the same between you and Tommy, he had taken the position of the leader of the family and the responsibility weighed on him greatly.

"Tom," you asked as you leant against the same wall you'd met in front of two years prior. "Can I have a cig?" You asked with a pleading smile, he looked unimpressed but rolled you one anyway.

"When's your entrance exam?" He asked.

"It's next week, I'm absolutely terrified. I didn't think trying to get matriculated would be so stressful after this much preparation but I'm losing it." You let out a long sigh and rubbed your eyes.

"You need time to chill out. Polly is with Finn, Ada and John all day tomorrow so we could go for a walk? Take the bus out to the countryside or something?" He suggested and you could have blushed. You didn't want to admit that you had feelings for Tommy but it was hard to not feel that way when he was just so wonderful.

"I would like that very much." You smiled broadly and Tommy bowed his head, trying to hide that he was blushing too.

The next few months after your entrance exams in London were a lot more relaxed than you thought they'd be. But it was all down to Tommy. He did everything possible to spend time with you and never even mentioned university so you could take your mind off it. All you could do was look at him adoringly as he made you tea and helped look after Anna and Finn. Polly often joked that the two of you looked like "a couple with a baby". The first time she said it you looked up from cradling Finn and Tommy looked up from spoon feeding Finn his milk. The two of you simply blushed to yourselves and never spoke of it again.

But the family was beginning to see you as a couple regardless of what the two of you thought about it. One night- more alcohol fueled than you wanted to admit- the two of you had been lounging all over one another as you drank more and more pints when someone started a daring game. Most of it was boilerplate dares until Arthur focussed his attention on the two of you.

"Tommy, I dare you to kiss Y/n!" He announced with a resounding cheer from everyone taking part. You looked at Tommy with a confusing expression and Tommy went to refuse but you put a hand on his cheek in some drunken confidence. He turned his head to look at you before leaning forward and kissing you deeply. In the back of his mind Tommy could hear his brother's laughing but none of it mattered. He was kissing you. Kissing the person who had made him anxious when they first met and now continually impressed him with their dedication and affection for others. The two of you pulled apart and both finished your pints before going up to the bar together to order another.

"Well that was…" you slurred and Tommy hiccuped which made you laugh.

"I liked it." Tommy said in a very serious voice before you both started laughing.

"I know you're definitely too drunk to remember this tomorrow but I've wanted that to happen for so long." To stop yourself drunkenly stumbling you were leaning against his shoulder with your eyes fluttering shut.

"You think I haven't?" Tommy asked as the pints came and you were convinced you misheard him.

"Huh?" You said as he went to move back to the table.

"You heard what I said!" He said happily before turning around and heading for the table. You stood for a moment and had to check your bearings, leaning against the bar. He'd wanted to kiss you? Your head was spinning and you didn't know how to process that information so you headed outside. The cold autumnal air hit you like a slap and woke you up a bit. You needed to calm down and try to figure out what had just happened.

Tommy turned around to see where you'd got to and saw your pint still on the bar. He knew it was unlikely you'd leave it so he stood up and looked around a bit before walking outside. The air also woke him up a bit and as he looked around he saw you leaning on the wall of the Garrison smoking a hurriedly rolled cigarette. He stood in front of you and took the cigarette out of your mouth before smoking some of it himself, you just looked down at his shoes and it made him shuffle uncomfortably.

"This is the longest we've been silent with one another the whole time I've known you." Tommy noted and you nodded without a reply. "What's wrong?" He finally asked and you stole back your cigarette.

"I'm just coming to terms with the fact that you wanted to kiss me." You wouldn't raise your gaze from his shoes and Tommy sighed.

"But you said you wanted to?" Tommy said, confused.

"I did, I do. But I didn't know that you did. For how long?" You asked.

"Since the day I met you, Y/n." Tommy admitted without any shame and you smiled.

"Even when you were that short I found you endearing so I suppose I did pretty early on as well." You finally met his gaze and could stare at nothing else but his eyes.

"So what are you so confused about?" He asked, taking a step closer to you.

"The eventuality that we might hate each other," You paused. "I don't know if I could live with it."

"Why would we hate each other?" Tommy seemed even more confused.

"If something happens and then the two of us grow apart and everything changes and I don't know." You trailed off and just lent against the wall and looked up at the sky.

"You're thinking too much again." Tommy smirked and you rolled your eyes.

"You're a bastard." You smiled a bit, not willing to admit he was right.

"You need to be in the moment." He said softly, moving slightly closer to you, your eyes met his before he leant down and kissed you.

You spent the night with him after that but waking up in his bed partially clothed with a banging headache, all you could feel… was regret. You prayed he wouldn't remember the night, the kiss and everything after. As you left that morning from the Shelby house you were so familiar with, you almost didn't look back.

By the following week much has gone back to normal between you and Tommy with neither of you broaching the topic of the night in question because what was there to say? There was an air of difference between the two of you but you refused to address it. You were back to hanging out together platonically, looking after each other's siblings and dealing with all the teasing about you both 'looking like a couple'. Even if you had to suppress your feelings forever it would be worth it. Tommy was worth more than a night of a drunken mishap, it wasn't that you regretted the act, you did regret the way it happened. You didn't want the first kiss you shared to be influenced by alcohol or the first night you spent together. You wanted it to be normal.

That week you received your letter from Bedford College and practically ran to the Shelby household. You burst through the door unable to speak with how out of breath you were, all of the Shelby's looked at you as if you were insane but you shook the letter at them whilst puffing. Polly took the letter from your hand and quickly opened it as you keeled over.

"Oh my god." Polly said quietly looking at the letter.

"W-what?" You managed to get out, absolutely terrified.

"You got in." She turned her head to you with wide eyes and a smile. You genuinely felt like you might faint.

"We've got an academic in the family!" Arthur yelled with a smile and even Finn started laughing happily. Your eyes fixed on Tommy and he smiled at you but his eyes were sad.

"Well done sweetheart." Polly said before embracing you in a close hug. "You deserve it."

"I think I might need a drink." You said quietly and she laughed.

Polly cooked you all dinner and sitting together you couldn't believe you would have evenings like this for a while. You looked at the faces of all of the people you were able to call your family and just wanted them all to come with you. The security blanket you'd had these last two years would be so far away in only a month. Anything you knew would be so far away and it was incredibly daunting. As you were all cleaning up, you and Tommy had been saddled with washing and drying, it had been about five minutes and he hadn't said a word.

"Are you alright?" You asked him and he nodded. "You have absolutely nothing to say to me?" You prompted and he rested his hand against the countertop.

"I'm happy for you." He replied in the most deadpan voice you'd ever heard before walking out of the backdoor. You sighed deeply before placing the plate you were holding back in the sink and following him outside. He was sitting on a rusty metal chair smoking a cigarette and didn't walk away as you approached him so it seemed he did want to discuss whatever was going on.

"Please talk to me," you said softly as you pulled an upturned box closer to sit near Tommy.

"What is there to say?" He brought his eyes to yours and you could see the glint of a tear forming before he sniffed and looked down.

"I know everything is changing, you know I love this place, I love your family I love…" you trailed off. "Anyways, you know I love it here with all of you but just because I love something doesn't mean that I can't want better opportunities for myself even if they are somewhere else. You understand what it is to want to protect people and I can do that with proper qualifications and a good job. I can help all of you the way I want too."

"We're not asking for charity." Tommy said harshly and you were taken aback.

"Charity? It would be a gift for all you have done for me." You were referring to the whole family but it felt as if your words were so directed towards Tommy you just didn't know how to express yourself.

"Everything is going to change." Tommy said simply and you rubbed the back of your neck anxiously.

"But you knew it would, for years you've known my plan." You tried to explain and he scoffed.

"It's different now. We're different now and it's not the same as before." Tommy tried to subtlety wipe his eyes but you saw it and it sent a pang to your chest.

"What do you mean?" You tried to deflect from what he was referring too.

"Don't tell me you're still pulling a 'Im too drunk to remember' excuse. You know what I'm talking about and honestly, I think we both might be finished with this conversation." Tommy stood up and tried to walk away but you grabbed his hand and then his leg and held on like a scolded child. You didn't know how to express yourself but you knew you wanted him with you. In whatever capacity that was, you didn't care.

"Please." You whispered and you heard Tommy sigh before stroking your hair.

The two of you stayed like that for a moment before Tommy sat down again. Your eyes were glassy and threatening to release tears at any point and Tommy knew that. You took hold of Tommy's hand and traced the lines of his palm so you didn't have to look him in the eye.

"I did what I did because I was scared. I meant what I said when I was talking about how worried I was that you'd hate me because things would change. Not that I didn't want them too but that they could end badly and then nothing would work the same as before. I'd much rather sacrifice my own happiness than our bond and the closeness I have with your family." You explained quietly and Tommy closed his fingers around your index finger tracing his hand. You looked up at him and could see the hint of a smile before he pulled you closer to him.

"The affection I feel for you would overpower any petty fight or disagreement we might have." He said softly and you smiled slightly, it tugged at the edges of your mouth like an annoying child.

"I'm sorry for leaving and-" you began but Tommy just shook his head.

"Everything is settled now." Tommy picked up your hand and kissed your palm. "I think-"

"We're going to the pub do you-" Arthur started saying as he opened the backdoor but then saw you holding hands and burst out laughing before going inside.

"Oh Jesus Christ." Tommy muttered that you could only laugh, which caused you to lean backwards and forget you weren't sitting on a chair. You tumbled backwards and hit the ground hard but you were laughing so intensely you ignored the pain.

"Fuck me, that hurt." You giggled as Tommy helped you to your feet. When you were stable Tommy kept hold of your hands and looked down into your eyes.

He was so beautiful. It took you back every time you looked at him, the way his lips parted slightly when he was near you or how his hair fell over his face so he'd constantly be pushing it back. Everything Tommy did was so endearing it was hard not to feel the way you did for him. When he leant forward to kiss you, it was the first time you had both been affectionate with one another with clear heads. It didn't feel real, like a daydream that would wander into your head whenever you were staring off into the distance- whenever someone tried to get your attention and it took a moment it was because you were usually thinking about Tommy.

"I'd do anything for that to happen again." Tommy whispered as the two of you lent your foreheads against one another.

Your stomach felt like it jumped out of your body, did an excited somersault and jumped back into your body. All you could do was smile.

next chapter

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runnning-outof-time · 6 months

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Actions Speak Louder | Pre-War!Tommy Shelby x Reader

Request: no - based off of this post by @thomashelbyswife

Pairing: pre-war!Tommy Shelby x reader

Summary: Tommy’s never one to say sorry…that doesn’t mean that he isn’t though.

Warnings: one bad word

Word Count: 1404

A/N: M, your headcannon immediately sparked this idea. I just had to write it. And I may have gotten a bit carried away. This is the fastest I’ve written something in a long time. Thank you so much for the inspiration!! I hope you like it. Enjoy! :)

I’D LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! - YOUR COMMENTS & REBLOGS HELP ME WRITE!

Comment/Message me if you’d like to be tagged in future stories similar to this one!

Tommy knew he’d messed up the second he entered his bedroom to see (Y/N) standing at the bedside with her arms crossed and a sour look on her face. The problem was he didn’t know what he’d done.

“Hey,” he tried, but she didn’t respond. Instead, she made sure he’d caught her look before she went about taking off her jewelry and getting ready for bed. Tommy frowned at her lack of response before he shut the door and walked over to her. He said her name in a soft voice, hoping that it would get her to turn.

She continued with what she was doing, not yet acknowledging him. Tommy sighed in response. He tipped his head to the side in thought, thinking of how he could get her to look at him. It wasn’t hard to notice that she was not happy with him. Words weren’t working, so maybe actions would.

He reached out and took hold of her hips, holding them for a second to test the waters. (Y/N) didn’t resoond. So he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him so that he could tuck his chin into the crook of her neck. “What’s wrong, love?” he queried, attempting to press his lips to her neck, but she titled away from him. This only added to his confusion.

“I can’t believe you, Tommy,” she huffed under her breath, dropping her hands to his firearms and applying pressure to them, hoping he’d get her hint and let go.

Tommy’s eyebrows furrowed as he tried to figure out what her statement meant. Meanwhile she was still pushing down on his forearms. She held the pressure on them until he dropped them from her, allowing her to step away and finally turn to face him.

“What have I done?” he asked after a few moments had passed and his brain-wracking had turned up empty.

(Y/N) scoffed at his question, shaking her head at his answer. “Of course you wouldn’t have remembered.”

“Remembered what?” he was still lost. It only added to her irritation.

“You were supposed to come to dinner with my parents tonight. We were going to go over plans for the wedding. My father was going to give us some money towards it, but now he’s not so sure if he should be letting me marry you at all,” she filled him in on the commitment he’d forgotten while biting on the inside of her cheek in hopes that it’d stop her welled up tears from falling.

Tommy froze upon hearing what he’d missed. His jaw went slack as he wracked his brain in hopes that there’d be some sort of inkling of rememberance of the day’s plans, but there was nothing.

Anger was building up inside (Y/N) with each quiet second that passed. His silence was frustrating her, maybe even more so than his earlier absence was. “Do you have anything to say?” she asked him, her eyebrows raising as she spoke.

“I got caught up at the stables,” he told her, his answer making her scoff and look away as she rolled her eyes. Obviously it wasn’t enough to clear him of his wrongdoings.

Silence fell between them then. A couple beats passed before (Y/N) looked at him again, expectantly this time. It was obvious that she wanted something else from him. But Tommy wasn’t catching onto it. “That’s all you have to say?” she finally questioned him when it became apparent that he wasn’t going to speak unless spoken to.

“Love, I…” the words died on this lips as he then stepped back from her, turning to the armoire as he began undoing the buttons of his waistcoat.

Shock filled (Y/N)’s features as she glared at her fiancé’s back. What are you doing?! she screamed at him in her mind. But nothing was said as she watched him take the waistcoat off and drop the braces from his shoulders. He then worked on taking his boots off, kicking them to sit next to the wardrobe before he finally turned back around. (Y/N) was still glaring at him.

“Are you seri—” the exasperated question got caught in (Y/N)’s throat as Tommy cut the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her frame.

His hug was tight, and he swayed her from side to side as his arms stayed fastened around her waist despite her hands pressing against his shoulders.

“Tommy, you can’t just…whoa!” the direction of her statement changed as he spun them and dropped both of their bodies to the bed.

His arms unraveled from her waist as they were falling so that he wouldn’t crush her with his body weight. They moved up to trap her underneath him. He immediately tucked his face into her neck and began placing kisses to the skin he found there.

“Tommy,” she breathed as she tried to push him off of her, but to no avail. “Tom, you’re not being fair!” she shrieked as his lips connected with the sensitive spot on her neck; a spot that he knew all too well.

His kisses trailed up to her jaw and across her cheek before his lips found the corner of hers. The feeling was now driving (Y/N) wild, slowly making her forget what she’d been upset over as all of her senses became focused on his actions.

He pulled away just slightly so that he could look at her, his eyes traveling over her face; seeing that her look of frustration was slowly slipping away. “Fuck your father’s money. I’ll get what we need to pay for our wedding,” he told her before his lips matched hers, properly this time.

“I can’t believe you,” she breathed when they pulled away, biting on her lip to hide her smile as she took his cheeks into her hands, lifting his face further away from hers. Their eyes met and he cracked a smile, one that made her insides flutter. She tried to act angry, scrunching her nose and eyebrows in hopes that her true feelings didn’t show. Tommy found it adorable.

“What?” he asked her, reaching up to brush a piece of hair from her face.

“You’re trying to get yourself out of this,” she stated matter-of-factly.

“Is it working?”

“No.”

Tommy pouted upon hearing her response, and he dropped his head against her chest, burying his face into her sternum and breathing in her intoxicating sent before he let out a whine.

That did (Y/N) in. She tried to hide it, but the shaking of her chest was a dead giveaway that she laughed at his actions. He clocked that immediately, his hands moving to her sides where her shirt had rode up so that he could brush his fingers against her sensitive skin. She shrieked at the feeling, squirming under him as she tried to get him to stop. Now her anger was the furthest thing from her mind.

His actions continued until she managed to grab his hands and remove them from her sides. She then lifted his face again, making him look at her once more as she tried with all of her might to keep a straight face. “You’re ridiculous, Thomas,” she told him, unable to stop the smirk from tugging one corner of her lips upwards.

“Am I forgiven?” he asked with raised eyebrows, waiting on bated breath for her answer. When it didn’t come right away, he jutted his bottom lip outwards, hoping that pouting might help.

(Y/N) sucked in a breath at the sight in front of her. She just couldn’t resist him when he was like this. Somehow, he’d managed to make her mood do a complete flip. His persistence was something that drew her to him, but it was times like these when she hated it. She wanted to stay angry at him, but she really couldn’t. Not when his lips were looking more kissable by the second.

“Hmm?” he asked her, getting antsy with each second she stayed quiet.

(Y/N) bit on her bottom lip, sending him one last glare before giving into him and mumbling a “yes”. Tommy couldn’t even celebrate. She didn’t give him time to. The second she spoke, she pulled his face to hers so that their lips could crash together. It wasn’t like he was going to dispute it though…her kiss told him everything he needed.

Read Part 2 -> HERE

Tagged: @mystcldydrms @the-anxious-youth @cloudofdisney @look-at-the-soul @elenavampire21 @mrsalwayswrite @julkaamazing @evita-shelby @lilyrachelcassidy @notyour-valentine @shelbydelrey @theshelbyslimited @peakyswritings @just-a-blackhole @watercolorskyy @strayrockette @peakyduchesss @alexxavicry @captivatedbycillianmurphy @yummycastiel @dark-academia-slut @tommystargirl @emotionalcadaver @stevie75 @lyarr24 @signorellisantichrist @zablife @anotherblinder @cillmequick @dandelionprints @letal-y-poetica @gypsy-girl-08 @insanitybyanothername @depxiety @raincoffeeandfandoms @dragons-are-my-favorite @dlmlufics @forgottenpeakywriter @cljordan-imperium @brummiereader @areyenotfondofmelobster @everythingelseisextra @little-diable @thomashelbyswife @shaddixlife

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dearshelby · 1 year

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“You look like a man," she whispered, feeling the texture of Tommy's army uniform. “And before I didn't?" he asked with a smirk on his face."No, you looked like my sweet boy"

#not to romanticize the war or anything it's just about pre war tommy being bae #tommy shelby x reader #peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinder fanfic #peaky blinders moodboard

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thomashelbyswife · 1 month

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so i think...

if you were to nap under a three with pre-war tommy, he'd let you rest your head on his chest/arm bc he wouldn't want the grass to scratch your face

with your eyes closed, you'd smell the smoke of his cigarette mixed with his cheap cologne, feel his fingers patting your back and hear him mumbling about a new horse

eventually he gets quiet, his firm embrace around you is the only sign he's still awake and when it gets soft, you know he fell asleep

sorry but i had to, he's baby 😔

Oh darling! I think yes! A NEW HORSE?! YES 😍 him talking about a new horse that he spotted or someone else bought it near him or around the neighbours would've been such a hot gossip for him I can see him be somewhat sassy about it "how the horse was eating from his hands or being only comfortable around him? And how they kept pushing me away"? 🤭 he's salty

I am melting inside out just thinking about napping with him there the lil scenario you've constructed is tooooo adorable!! Also him setting down his worn out jacket beneath you so the grass doesn't bothers you or tickles you about which you kept telling him you love it but he insists anyways 🫠

This is so cute!! He's such a lil angel :") I love this sm, tysm for sending in this ask i'm gonna go and daydream about this one <333

#asks🎀#tommy shelby #pre!war tommy owns my heart <3

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queenmaddsauthor · 2 years

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Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Peaky Blinders (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tommy Shelby/Original Female Character(s) Characters: Tommy Shelby, Original Female Character(s), Polly Gray, Arthur Shelby, John Shelby, Finn Shelby, Ada Shelby Additional Tags: Time Travel, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Tommy Shelby Needs a Hug, Pre-Canon, Season/Series 01, Thunder and Lightning, Woke up in the Past, Women Being Awesome, Botany, Birmingham City, The Peaky Blinders, 1920s, Post-World War I, Developing Relationship, Happy, First Meetings, Meet the Family, Work In Progress, My First Work in This Fandom Summary:

Charlie considers herself to be a relatively normal woman, but one day on her way to a meeting the impossible happens - she’s struck by lightning. And it only gets crazier from there, when she wakes up in the past… and not just a few years in the past, but over 100 years ago.

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warnersister · 4 months

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Pre Traumatic Stress Disorder - Finn Shelby x Reader

Finn Shelby x Reader

Finn’s seen his brother’s wives comfort them when they have PTSD, can’t he tell a little white lie and get the same treatment?

Finn stood in the doorway to your bedroom, pondering his current decisions. He’d seen his brothers do this with their wives and partners, perhaps he could try with you. They’d go to their other halves, trembling and drenched in sweat; crying as they plead for comfort as night terrors of the war had haunted them iteratively.

You were all currently staying in Shelby Manor, the home playing homage for a hotel while a close family friend’s wedding took place the day prior. Since working at the Garrison you’d become a close friend of the Peaky Blinder’s and quite the eye-catcher of a particularly young Shelby. So Tommy didn’t think twice before inviting you and Harry along - after all, you’d be family once Finn grew some balls and actually asked you out.

“Finn?” Shit, too late to back out now. He took a deep breath before putting his acting skills to the test. “Are you okay, it’s-” he saw your shadowed figure move to look at your small wrist watch on the bedside table “two in the morning.” You spoke, groggily. Just do it. He sniffed, thinking of his mother to try to build tears in his eyes.

You noticed his ‘upset’ and sat up quickly, the confused look in your eyes softening to concern. Finn wiped the wetness under his eyes with shaky hands. “Finn, what’s wrong?” You ask, voice laced with worry. He opened his mouth, bottom lip quivering. “I-it’s stupid.” He whispered between forced breaths. “It’s not stupid if it’s upsetting you, please tell me what happened” you encourage.

He steps away from the doorway and into the room slightly, comforting himself by rubbing his right arm with his left. “Well,” he stuttered “well I had this dream, right?” You nodded “and usually it doesn’t bother me, all the violence and nightmares” he looked to his feet “but; but you were shot and I couldn’t help you. And I can still hear them firing.” He breathed out, forcing floods of tears from his eye ducts - an applause worthy performance.

Your body language relaxed as a sympathetic expression appeared on your face. “Oh Finn,” you untucked yourself and stepped out of bed, Finn’s cheeks hot seeing you in a simple night gown. You walk over to him and take his face in your hands, looking him over.

Come on. Say it. Say it. Say it. He begged internally.

“Come on, come get in with me” you say, rubbing his back comfortingly. “Really?” He asks, trying not to sound as hopeful as he is. You nod confidently in response, shutting the door and leading him towards the bed. YES. You both lay in silence for a moment, before he sniffs loudly: still not fully happy with the response. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry for waking you up with something so ridiculous. You were just laying there-” you hushed him and sat up, pulling him to lay on your chest.

“It’s okay, you’re okay, I’m okay” you comfort, running your hands through his hair gently. “I’m not going anywhere, and I’m not hurt.” Finn looks up at you, to which you wipe his tears away with a soft thumb. “I just care so much about you, I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t protect you.” He admitted, mentally hoping you’d do what the others do to their husbands. “Oh you sweet, sweet boy.” You coo, a small smile on your face, leaning down to kiss his forehead tenderly before going back to play with his hair.

“Tell you what, you stay here with me tonight. Then I know you’re okay and you know I’m safe. How’s that sound?” You ask, cocking your head to the side. He grins between drying tears. “Thank you, you’re angel.” He whispers, moving up to touch your cheek to check you were real, that this wasn’t his dream. You lean into his touch and close your eyes for a moment.

“Can I hold you?” He asks, pushing the boundary as far as he could stretch it. You nod, tired. He pulls himself up and holds you like you were leaving him, like someone would take you away from him, you leaned up to kiss his jaw before settling down for the rest of the night. Maybe he should go into acting.

The next morning, Finn was eating breakfast, looking out the window and into the vast countryside. His brother Arthur walked over with a cup of coffee, but it smelled like he’d added a hint of whiskey. He clapped his brother on the back. “Alright, Finn?” The boy hummed in response. “No PTSD I hope.” The boy side eyed the older man. “Oh the bombs, oh the guns” he fawned and Finn elbowed him; mannerisms changing when you walked into the room to ask how he was feeling this morning.

Certainly not guilty, that’s for sure.

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acewritesfics · 3 months

Text

The Neighbour's Cat | Tommy Shelby

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x Reader

Request: from @rainydayteacups

Fic Type: Imagine

Warnings: Swearing. Fluff overload. Soft Tommy. I guess you could say pre-war Tommy but I didn’t really mention it.

Word Count: 1,564

TOMMY SHELBY MASTERLIST || TAG LIST SIGN-UP

⚠️ THIS IS A REPOST FROM MY MAIN BLOG @/DLMLUFICS. UNFORTUNATELY, I HAVE TO DO IT THIS WAY. MORE INFO IN MY PINNED POST.

“Did you hear that?” Ada asks after a loud thud came from out in the backyard.

“It might be the neighbour's cat,” Y/N replies. The grey tabby is often in her small backyard, making himself comfortable in one of her flowerpots as he slept. She no longer had flowers growing in the one he took a liking too. “He often comes into the yard.”

She goes to pour herself another glass of the wine that Polly had swiped from the Garrison when she sees movement outside the window. Recognising the familiar hair cut she stands up from the table. "I'll be right back. I need to make sure the cat hasn't gotten into anything it shouldn't have."

"But it's dark outside, what could it possibly get into?" Ada whines, lifting her glass to her lips.

"You'd be surprised," Y/N mumbles and makes her way to the back door and slips outside, looking into the darkness of the night for a person sneaking around the back of her home. "Tommy?" she whispers loudly unsure if it was him, she'd seen.

As Tommy moves in front of her, a hand clasped gently over her mouth as he holds a finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet.

"Come with me," he speaks barely above a whisper, the hand covering her mouth moving to take her hand in his and leads her away from the back yard and into the street.

“Tommy, I can’t just leave,” she protests but makes no real effort to break away from him and go back inside. “Where are the others?”

“Back at the Garrison,” he informs her. “And who says we can’t sneak off to spend the night before our wedding together?”

“It’s tradition,” she sighs knowing the women currently in her kitchen will have her head once they realize she’s disappeared.

“Fuck tradition,” he scoffs as he slows his walk now that their getting further from the house. “Since when have we been ones to follow tradition, eh?”

“I guess you have a point,” she smiles.

“We’ll start our own tradition,” he announces, his voice echoing through the empty street as he walks ahead of her lighting his cigarette and turning to face her while walking backwards. “Our future generations will spend the eve of their wedding together instead of apart because we did it first.”

Not realizing he’s about to step off the curb, he stumbles backwards causing Y/N to gasp as scrambles forward to try stop him from falling. He steadies himself before he can topple backwards. “I’m fine, love.”

She shakes her head with a chuckle as his hands reach for her hips and pulls her closer. “So, what do you say?”

“I say, I’m the luckiest woman in all of England, maybe even the whole world,” she smiles. “Let’s make our own traditions.”

He smiles, kissing her, before taking her hand again and leading her further from her home.

Arriving at Charlie’s Yard, Tommy helps her through the gate and towards the stables. Y/N looks around apprehensively, unsure if they should be there. It's been a long time since they snuck into the yard of the man who's like an uncle to the Shelby siblings. Last time they did it, they'd been caught. Charlie had almost fired Tommy from his job as punishment, but Tommy promised never to do it again. Until now.

"Tom, are we allowed to be here?" she questions him, even though she has a feeling she already knows the answer as they walk into the makeshift stable.

"I cleared it with Charlie," he informs her, surprising her a little.

"But Charlie's at the Garrison with the rest of the blokes," she says, realization hitting her. "He was in on this plan of yours."

"He tried to talk me out of it," he tells her.

"But of course, Tommy Shelby gets his way," she teases.

"I convinced you to marry me, didn't I?" he asks, a smug smile on his pouted lips.

"It didn't take much convincing," she smiles.

"We first met here," he reminds her. "You were tending to one of the horses Curly was working with."

"Moonlight," she smiles remembering the day well.

She came to Birmingham two years ago to visit her cousin, Curly, and look for work, having been fired from her last job for no good reason. Curly talked to Charlie about hiring her, claiming he needed a hand with the horses. Charlie hired her after Curly gave him his word about Y/N being a hard worker and almost as good with horses as he was.

She was three days into her job when she crossed paths with Tommy. She was grooming Moonlight, a black stallion with a diamond shaped patch of white on his forehead. Moonlight just so happened to be one of the horses Tommy saved from a man who was about to put the beautiful boy down, because he was sick, and he couldn't afford to get him well again. Curly had nursed him back to health within a few weeks. Y/N had bonded with him so much that Tommy couldn't bring himself to find him a new home, instead keeping him as a gift for the woman he had fallen so quickly in love with.

Those few weeks curly was nursing Moonlight back to health, Tommy spent pursuing Y/N, unable to get her from his mind. It took a month before she gave in to his advances and they've been together ever since. And Moonlight is now in a stable on a farm a friend owns, living his life to the fullest. Y/N is out there almost daily attending to him and taking him for rides. Tommy can't wait for the day when he can move Moonlight into their own stables, on property they owned, with as many horses as his wife wants.

"The first time I saw you, I knew I had to have you in my life," he tells her. "You looked so beautiful, covered in dirt and grime, humming that tune as you ran a brush through Moonlight's mane. He seemed so calm and at peace that I felt it within myself."

"Oh, Tommy," she coos softly, feeling her heart erupt with all the love she has for him. The fluttering feeling like a kaleidoscope of butterflies was inside her chest. She steps towards him, placing her hand on his face as she looks at him lovingly, her thumb stroking his well-defined cheek.

"I've felt it ever since that moment," he says, his voice softer. "You bring peace to my chaotic life. It's one of the many reasons why I love you."

"I love you," is all she's able to say before she pulls him in for passionate kiss, expressing all the love she has for the man who turned her life upside down in the best kind of way.

Y/N startles awake the next morning when a loud noise comes from outside. Placing her hand on Tommy's bare shoulder, she gently shakes him awake, hearing the rattling of gates being opened.

"Tommy, we need to leave," she tells him barely above a whisper.

Groaning, his eyes flutter open and connect with Y/N's eyes. He smiles and reaches behind her head to pull her in for a morning kiss. His other hand travels up her thigh, plays with the hem of his shirt she's wearing before slipping under it to grab her hip to pull her closer.

"Enough of that you two," The sound of Charlie's voice causes them to part. "You best get out of here before they send a search party. Can't be late to your own wedding."

He walks away before they could say anything. Standing up, Y/N quickly dresses into her clothes from the previous day as Tommy takes back his shirt and coat.

"I'll walk you home," he tells her as they leave the stable. They thank Charlie who waves them off with a shake of his head and tells them he'll see them at the ceremony. Hurrying home, Y/N holds onto Tommy's hand tightly, bracing herself for the lecture she's about to encounter.

Standing on her front doorstep, she turns to face Tommy with a small smile on her lips. "I'm about to get my head bitten off by your aunt and our sisters but last night is worth every second of it."

"I agree, my love," he smiles also. "I liked that tradition far better."

"This coming from the man that said a fuck you to traditions," she teases.

"To traditions that aren't ours," he corrects her.

"You better get going before Polly sees you," she chuckles and pulls him in for one more kiss before they become man and wife. "I love you."

"I love you too," he says pulling away from her and stepping back on to the footpath. "Don't be late," he tells her.

"I'll be the one in white just in case you can't find me," she laughs.

"I'll always be able to find you," he smiles and turns around, starting his walk to Arthur's house.

As soon as she opens the door and heads inside, she gulps seeing Polly standing there with her hands on her hips and an angry look on her face. "And where the hell have you been?"

"The neighbor's cat needed to see me," she replies slipping past her to go to the bathroom.

TAGGED: @chapter-in-my-old-diary - @hanawrites404 - @goblinjnr - @halsteadbrasil - @forgottenpeakywriter - @star-ggirl - @iceman-kazansky - @alexxavicry - @galactict3a - @crispynutella - @il0vebeingdelulu - @nicole-19s-world - @yeppaweshallsee

Bold means your @ didn't come up when I tried to tag you. Sometimes your blog will be linked after posted but I don't think you get the notification. You'll have to let me know and I'll change it from bold to normal. Tags have been weird lately. Here's a post I found that could help: WHY OTHERS CAN'T TAG YOUR BLOG

#acewritesfics repost #thomas shelby x reader #tommy shelby #thomas shelby #tommy shelby x reader #peaky blinders #peaky blinders x reader

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motherofdogs1010 · 2 months

Text

Letters to Juliet & Romeo II (Thomas Shelby x Reader)

Summary: Heartbroken and in the midst of the Great War as a nurse, Y/N L/N writes to a person she never expected to write to before... her brother's friend, Thomas Shelby... But the war's over now and it is time to face the letters...

Warnings: angst, wartime talk, fluff, reunion, pre-Peaky Blinders Tommy, solider!Tommy, nurse!Reader, chubby!reader, age gap (everyone is of age)

Italics: contents of letters

🪖 Dividers by @firefly-graphics 🪖 Banner by @vase-of-lilies

June 1918, 5 Months before Great War Ends 4 Years of Letters

I picture what my life might be like when this war ends, I picture how I will ever continue to go about life after seeing the worst of men...

Y/N read Tommy's newest letter, she could see the dirt on it and the smudged thumbprints he left as he traced it; they were flooded today in the camp ever since they moved further onto the field. It was night now when she got to reading his letter, she wondered too how her life was going to be like when she got home.

I picture you there by my side, I imagine us together... I imagine you in my arms, holding you at night. You are the only one that knows me, the me that this war has crafted and spat out...

Y/N felt tears well up in her eyes as she read his profession, her lip wobbling as she read his letter before the tears soon began to fall down her cheeks as she heard some of her fellow nurses snore away into the night.

If we survive this war, I plan to make you a Shelby, make a honest woman out of you... dedicate my life to the woman who has held me together...

🪖

11 A.M., November 1918, the Great War was declared over... she could remember patching up a badly injured man when the gun fire stopped. She had looked up and saw the confusion on everyone's faces when they realized the total silence around them.

And now, the train she was on that was taking her home stopped, the conductor announcing their stop in Small Heath. She stood, grabbing her suitcase as she was still dressed in her ward uniform since that's what they were told to wear home. She wondered if Tommy had made it home first, she knew there was soldiers on the train, but she prayed he was somewhere.

She had written to her mother, who told her that her brother had arrived home first since he was one of the first to head home and that they would be greeting her.

As she stepped off the train, suitcase heavy as she saw the crowded train station, witnessing the reunions happening and she felt a sadness come over as she began to look around for her family.

"Y/N..."

Her eyes widen as she heard that familiar voice and turned around...

Tommy was dressed in his uniform just like how many others were as him and his brothers stepped off the train, immediately seeing Polly, Ada and Finn waiting for them in the crowd.

"There you boys are", Polly said, embracing them.

Tommy's mind wandered as he hoped Y/N was close by, he needed to see her, hold her just as anyone needed air to breath. He tuned out whatever the others were talking about as he looked around and his heart stopped as he saw her, the glimpse of her face as she was dressed in those damned nursing clothes.

Here she was, the woman he wanted to make his wife...

"Y/N..."

He watched as she froze and began to turn, but he had already begun to move, pushing past people and ignoring the voices of his family as he watched Y/N also drop her suitcase and began to walk towards him.

"Tommy", she said with tears in her eyes as finally, they embraced.

It was a tight embrace, one that felt as if one of them let go, they would never be here again. Tommy buried his face in his neck, his hand accidentally knocking off her cap as he squeezed her, feeling her tears wet a part of his uniform as little sobs escaped her.

He felt whole as if the missing piece he never had was returned to him as he lifted her off the ground for a few minutes as they embraced...

"So that's who the bastard's been writing to", Arthur mused, John chuckled.

"Don't be mad that he had a bird waiting for him", John teased as Polly rolled her eyes.

She watched as her nephew embraced the girl tightly, the two lost in their own world as Polly's eyes widen at who the girl was.

"Blimey, that's B/N's sister", she breathed, Ada squinted and saw it too.

"Looks like we've got a wedding to plan for, huh Polly?" Ada said.

Polly let out a little chuckle and thought that at least something good came out of this war...

TAGLIST

@calmingmelody96 @69your-best-night-mare69

#reader insert #x reader #peaky blinders #chubby reader #peaky blinders imagine #peaky blinders x reader #thomas shelby #cillian murphy #thomas shelby smut #tommy shelby x reader #cillian murphy x reader #thomas shelby x fem!reader #thomas shelby x you #thomas shelby x y/n

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padfootdaredmetoo · 7 months

Text

Romance, fluff, hurt/comfort, and the occasional heartbreak.

Peaky Blinders, Sherlock, Tangerine, Wade Wilson, Peter Parker, Marauders

Peaky Blinders

Kidnapped - Tommy Shelby X Reader - Pt. 2

Reader gets taken and Tommy does everything he can to get her back - kidnapping, torture / hurt /comfort confession of feelings

Arthur Shelby X OC Joey Request - Catching feelings / hurt / comfort

Falling Hard - Tommy Shelby X Pregnant Reader

She falls off the horse - Rated G, Cute fluffiness, Worried Tommy

Meet Cute - Tommy Shelby X Reader

Proper courting, Rated G, Tommy falls for reader at a party

Domestic - Tommy Shelby X Wife Reader

Cooking, Baking, Slight hurt comfort, Tommy being a good dad, kids being little, just lots of fluffy goodness

Self-Defense - Tommy Shelby X Reader

He defends her but she can defend herself - Teen for violence Hurt / Comfort

Girls Outing - Tommy X Wife Reader

Attempted Murder, mild description of attempted sexual assault, Murder, Tommy Comforts reader, Hurt / Comfort

Time Travel - Tommy Shelby x X-Men Reader

Rated Teen for extreme heart break, time travel, romance, X-Men themes

The One That Got Away - Tommy Shelby X Reader

Hurt and pain. Charlie gets kidnapped and Reader has to make a difficult choice

Campbell - Tommy X Reader Wife - Pt 2.

She’s beaten by Campbell and eventually talks - Mature content - Reader is beaten badly and miscarries. Tommy comforts her.

Stay Home - Tommy X Wife Reader

He doesn’t want her to work while pregnant.

Heart Broken - Tommy Shelby X Reader

You just got broken up with - Fluff, Comfort Tommy

First Wizarding War - Tommy Shelby X Reader (HP crossover)

Reader gets attacked, falling in love, pre war, then post war follow up

Protecting What's His - Tommy Shelby X Pregnant Wife Reader

When someone breaks into the house Tommy has to protect what’s his - violence, shock / panic is described. Fluff at the end & kissing

Scarlet Witch - Tommy X Magic Reader

She has kept her powers hidden but Tommy and the family find out! Reader saves the day with her magical abilities.

Sold Down the River - Tommy Shelby X Reader

Reader gets sold to Tommy Shelby by her fiancé. Her and her baby have to adjust to arrow house

Animal Shelter - Tommy Shelby X Reader -- Pt.2

When Tommy gets Charlie a dog from the pound he doesn’t expect to take the bubbly worker home as well.

The One That Almost Got Away - Tommy Shelby X Reader

Tommy and the reader play hard to get until Polly puts and end to things. Drama, trust issues, happy ending, Polly to the rescue.

The Doctor - Shelby Sister X Alfie Solomons

he reader is underappreciated so she leaves and begins her own life. After becoming a doctor she falls back to her family and finds out that not all things are lost. Mending her heart she also finds her way back to a long lost love…..

Kisses - Finn Shelby X Reader

The one where the reader ends up with a marked up neck, the family is determined to find the culprit only to find out it was one of their own.

The Witch - Tommy Shelby X Reader

The reader is a witch who can tell the future but she definitely did not see him coming.

Childhood Bestie - Tommy Shelby X Reader

Even though he married Grace true love never dies - even when you almost do

Mean Boyfriend - Finn Shelby X Orphaned Reader

The Reader happens to have a mean boyfriend. Good thing the Shelby’s have a strict *no mean boyfriends allowed* rule at the garrison.

The Smallest Blinder - Tommy Shelby X Reader

The boys hate having to watch over her, but more often than not she’s the one that saves the day

Quiet Working Girl - Tommy Shelby X Reader

Reader is hired on to work at the Garrison, and Tommy takes an interest in her. When things start to fall apart, she’s the first person he suspects. He makes a right mess of things again, but this time he’s not so sure if he can fix it.

Cold - Tommy Shelby x Reader

Head cannons about a woman who never smiles and how the Shelby family would interact with her.

Ambition - Tommy Shelby X Reader

The reader always wanted a big life and so did Tommy. Promises were made and the reader comes to cash in

Sickness - Tommy Shelby X Lizzie Shelby

Lizzie makes a difficult decision to hide her diagnosis from Tommy. She goes off on her own much like he does, when word reaches him of Lizzie’s illness he has to find a way to make peace with her before it’s too late.

Spellbound - Marauders Reader X Tommy Shelby - Series

The reader leaves the magical world - not knowing what else to do she sees an advert for a bartender. Having worked at Three Broom Sticks she figured it couldn’t be that different. Falling for her boss and getting sucked into the complicated crime underworld of Birmingham was not a part of her plan

I Can Fight - John Shelby X Reader

Having been in a toxic relationship she learns what it means to be with John Shelby.

Languages Expert - Tommy Shelby X Reader

The boys assume Tommy only keeps the reader around because she’s pretty to look at. when a deal starts to go sideways they quickly learn the importance of having a language expert

Lunch Dates - Tommy Shelby X Reader

with limited time and lots of stress you decide to take a breath and get some lunch with your husband.

Rejected - Tommy Shelby X Reader

The reader isn’t interested in what Tommy has going on

The Kindest Blinder - Tommy Shelby X Reader Wife

Tommy’s wife isn’t what people expect. Her soft kindness is visible to anyone that see’s her. She’d do anything for her family, but when she’s pushed to the limit a different side of her shows.

Grace - Tommy Shelby x Reader

When she showed up to reclaim the love of her life, she wasn’t expecting you to be there.

Pregnant? - Tommy X Reader

The reader doesn’t realize she’s pregnant and a big surprise awaits the family

Mr. Brightside - Tommy X Reader

Tommy realizes his feelings for you, too bad he’s too late and you’ve already found a guy.

Bad Habits - Tommy Shelby X Lizzie Shelby

Tommy struggles with his drinking thankfully Lizzie is always around to help.

The Mark of a Kiss - Sherlock's Sister X Tommy Shelby

Sherlock's other sister solves a mystery involving the notorious Tommy Shelby

Come on Barbie - Tommy Shelby x Reader

Thomas sits back and wonders how his girl manages her crazy lifestyle.

I've Got My Eye on You - Tommy Shelby X Reader

A traumatic event has left the reader with one eye and an emotionless appearance. Captivated by her beauty and voice Tommy tries to get to know her better

Sherlock - Enola Holmes

The Mystery of the Shelby Sister - Sherlock X Peaky Sister Reader

Sherlock tries his best to ignore his neighbor but when Enola gets attached it becomes increasingly difficult. Extras - Big Kiss

Tangerine - Bullet Train

Angst - Tan X Reader

Things go from bad to worse leaving you two very far apart…

Geralt of Rivia

Surprises - Geralt X Reader

Geralt of Riva finds out you are pregnant with his baby

Wade Wilson & Peter Parker

Tired - Hurt & Comfort

Trusted - Hurt & Comfort / Seeing his face for the first time

No Powers - SpideyPool

The Amazing Panic Attack - SpideyPool

Peter has a panic attack after saving someone that looks like Gwen. After being MIA Wade comes to find him, and after a whole lot of comfort, their relationship takes a new direction.

Marauders

Head Cannons

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look-at-the-soul · 7 months

Text

All I ask (Part 1)

Tommy Shelby x reader

@runnning-outof-time thank you so much for requesting this song! It’s one of my absolutely favorites of all times… but guess what? I also wrote this for your 3.5 celebration 🎉 !! Using the prompt Please stay with me tonight and this is also the prequel to the request you did @l1-l4 a while ago 🥰

✨A/N disclosure although I had used this very same song to one of the first stories I posted, my pre-war series they’re totally different

⚠️ Angst

Word count: 3,724 Song: All I ask by Adele

Summary: You find Tommy after the race, he’s injured but that’s not the strange part, you know there’s something bigger, you can see it in his eyes. You had been there for Tommy and as he finally decided to make his feelings official, he asks for a bit patience as something-someone- just changed the course of how things should be.

“Y/N…” His deep voice caught your attention immediately and when you looked at Tommy, he was already walking directly towards your desk. “Are you coming to the Garrison?”

A soft smile and glint in his eyes was all it took to make your insides turn into jelly.

“Yeah, I’m just finishing the invoices of todays shipment.”

“Alright, I’ll save a spot for you then.” Tommy winked at you. “And after a few drinks… we can talk about us, ey?” He cleared his throat, nervous about it. But excited of finally finding the courage to ask you to be his.

“Us.” You repeated with a bunch of butterflies in your stomach. Tommy had been walking you home every night, offering some of his whiskey and cigarettes during your breaks, brushing his hand with yours deliberately, and this was probably it, the moment you’ve been waiting for. “Of course…don’t keep them waiting.” You pointed at the group giving the two of you glances.

Tommy glanced at the blinders. “What are you doing here? Get the fuck out already.” He barked with his cigarette perched between his lips, then you noticed how his shoulders relaxed a bit as he leaned his palms on your desk. Hovering over you, bordering on being intimidating but not to you, not when you had seen another side of him.

“Our lives are about to change after the races.” There it was the sparkle and excitement in his eyes. “And I’ll finally be able to compensate you for being right here for me.”

You have been helping him for a few weeks with the shipments of rum after closing the shoe shop.

“Tommy you don’t have to do anything, I’m just happy to see your success.” The smile grew genuinely on your lips.

“Nevertheless… you’re part of that.”

He rubbed his thumb on your chin seconds before to pull your face towards him and plant a soft kiss on your cheek before disappearing from the betting shop with the rest of the Blinders. Leaving you with a butterflies revolution inside of you, fluttering not only in your stomach, but in your entire body.

This had been going on for a while now, the subtle touches and looks, the countless winks and smiles that made your knees go weak.

Looking at the empty betting shop you couldn’t help but go back in time to the day when you met Tommy. After arriving back home to help your parents with their shop, to take over his place because he couldn’t work anymore, in your very first day in charge Tommy arrived to get a pair of shoes for his brother.

(Flashback)

“Will you pay in cash or should I add this to your account sir?”

The smirk he gave you sent chills all over your body, your poor Mother went pale and rushed towards the counter.

“Mr. Shelby it’s just fine she doesn’t know.”

“Just asked him-”

“Y/N… Mr. Shelby is in charge of our security, his shoes are on the house.”

You gave him a shocked look. “We don’t eat from security mother, my father’s medicines are meant to be paid for.” You stated firmly looking at him defiantly.

Tommy was immediately amused by your bold temper and your sense of loyalty towards your father. Fishing into his pockets he got a few bills.

“No Mr. Shelby, we can’t accept that.”

“Under different circumstances, I’d have this place burned right away. But we only have two options… one is you get your father’s medicines on the house or I burn that place down… or you either accept that I pay for my shoes, therefore you can cover the medicines.” He dragged his piercing eyes from the counter to yours. “So, which will it be, Y/N?”

If only you knew a little about his reputation before that first encounter, you’d have just shut up and let him take the bloody shoes.

But although you had a big mouth and impossible dreams, you also knew when you just stepped on the line so quietly you took the money, with your head down.

“It was lovely meeting you,” Tommy admitted looking at you, then he tipped his peaky cap towards your Mother. “Don’t worry Mrs. Y/LN, the privileges stay the same.”

Flopping into the closest chair she shook her head.

“I’ve told you endless times your boldness will lead you towards trouble! Did you see the razor blade on his cap? He blinds people with that!”

Your hands started shaking just as your heartbeat sped up, realizing how close you were to mess everything up.

“Don’t you even dare to tell your father this happened, he’d get a heart attack.” She scolded you while she counted the money, realizing Mr. Shelby left way more than what the shoes costs. “Go over the betting shop to give back Mr. Shelby the extra money. Go!”

But showing up in the shop went worse, because not only he didn’t accept the money back explaining it was to cover some of the previous shoes he didn’t pay, but he made you place an order for every single blinder in the room with the respective payment of course.

(End of flashback)

You could only dream to finally being asked out properly. How would his hand feel around your waist? Or his lips on yours?

But your daydream was cut by a blonde woman who showed up unannounced, expensive clothes and jewelry on display, her eyes scanning the place.

“I’m looking for Mr. Shelby.”

Getting a strange feeling, you thought something wasn’t right, she didn’t belong there. What could she possibly be looking for?

“Tommy left already.”

Her eyes stopped on you finally, at the mention of his name. And a shiver cursed over you… could this be the woman that everyone talked about? The one who broke his heart and turned him into a heartless man? The traitor…

“Can I help you?” Your words tasted bittersweet on your lips. Of course you didn’t want to help her.

She shook her head, making her short curls move.

On one of the very first days that your unusual relationship with Tommy started, you accidentally over heard a conversation between Tommy and his aunt, Polly she was furious after finding out that he saw her. But Tommy quickly brushed it off saying he was just working on part of his revenge to Campbell.

That it meant nothing.

But you didn’t understand anything as you entered to show him the catalog for the new shoes you would get to sell in the shop, giving him a first sneak peek to choose from.

But with the races coming up, that topic was soon forgotten, until now.

“I’ll call tomorrow, maybe I’ll get better luck because I really need to see him.”

“May I have your name?” You needed to confirm your suspicious.

“Never mind.” She turned her back at you and left without another word.

It took you several minutes to recover from the encounter, something in your gut was trying to warn you about what would happen next.

A lot of women were after Tommy, that wasn’t a secret, but there was something wrong about this one.

Agitated when you arrived at the Garrison, didn’t notice Tommy was calling out your name until his hand wrapped around your shoulders.

“I think I’m heading home.”

“Woah why? Thought we’d get to pre-celebrate.”

But you didn’t feel up for it, not after seeing her.

“Want me to get you a doctor sweetheart?” He examinated your face, looking for a sign.

“No, I just need to be alone.”

“That’s not going to happen.” He stated taking off his coat to place it on your shoulders before guiding you outside.

Your mind was miles away while you walked that you never noticed he took you to his house.

“I’m sure we’ve some soup left.”

“I just want to have some rest.” You insisted.

“Y/N… what’s the matter? You can get some sleep here.”

“This isn’t my home, Tommy.” It’d be wrong.

He took you by the shoulders, to force your gaze meet his. “But it’ll be… very soon.” His piercing blue eyes getting through every layer. “This house, the business, me, the dreams, the success, we’ll share absolutely everything. Would you like that?”

By the way he was holding your face between his hands, you didn’t have another choice but look into his eyes.

“That sounds lovely.” You’ve seen all the hard work he did, always ahead of every challenge, he never backed down of anything. And it would finally pay off after the races.

“We’ll take over the racing licenses, the bets. Pol will be able to get her revenge, and Darby Sabini won’t even know where to look.” His eyes sparkled in excitement, his whole face seemed to be lit up. “We’ll have it all, people will look at us and talk about what we did for years.”

His hopes were contagious, his excitement made you feel proud.

But deep down, you felt worried about Grace’s come back, if she was in his past what bloody business could she still have towards Tommy? She was married now and Tommy used to burn her letters as soon as they arrived.

“Oi, don’t worry… everything will be just fine.” He misunderstood your worry thinking it was about the races, not what was really on your mind. “Once I’m done, I’ll come and look for you, hmm?” His knuckles ran absently on your cheeks and chin in a tender motion. He was even smiling feeling in total control over how events would unfold. “And we’ll go somewhere on our own.”

“You promise?” Your voice cracked, there was an uneasy feeling about the whole thing; the races, the plan, the outcome.

He nodded profusely.

“Stay with Ada and the kids, I’ll take care of everything else.”

It was your turn to nod.

“You don’t seem so sure.” He added feeling the tension take over his shoulders and back.

“Because the risk is huge.” You turned around to take the cigarette case from his coat, in the mean time he took the matches to help you light it. “I don’t want to lose you.”

Blowing the smoke in the opposite direction, you didn’t catch the smirk playing on his lips. He loved this game, taking two steps back and then one forward.

“Stupidity can ruin things up you know?” You added bothered, terrified of Grace coming back into his life.

Tommy chuckled, amused by your attitude.

“I love when it when you’re like this.” He bit his lip, trying to not give onto the temptation with all his willpower.

There was something special about you, about the way you did everything that pulled him towards you, it was inevitable and he couldn’t wait to ask you out formally after the races, he wanted to make it right, take things slow. First he’d ask your father for his blessing and then finally ask you to be his.

Taking a long puff of your cigarette he flicked it over the sink, hands planted firmly at each side of your face but being careful enough to not burn your hair.

“Tomorrow night will be the first night of our lives, you hear me?”

Everything he ever dreamed of, it would finally be materialized after the races… and he’d be able to move out of Small Heath.

You could see it all in his eyes, the promises in his words.

“While I was mapping out the races, I saw a house.” He trailed off getting rid of his suit jacket, placing it over the chair.

“A house?” You asked confused.

But Tommy shook his head, turning around leaning his body against the table. “It was a fucking mansion, actually.”

You studied his features, his tone.

“So I made an offer for it and they accepted.”

“Why would you want a mansion?”

“Because that’s where we’ll live when we get married.” He added and he didn’t even try to hide the wide smile that appeared, golden tooth catching the light.

A hand flew to cover your mouth. “Tommy…”

“And you’ll get loads of space and rooms to decorate whatever you want, and I’ll hire maids for you, a cook…” he offered you his hand and you took it, only for him to pull you towards his body, trapping you between his legs. “What do you think?”

He was always thinking big, and the image of a future with you after all the hard work was making him feel hopeful, excited even about rebuilding his life and having you by his side. All his life he waited for this moment, the instant before everything changed for good. And he was particularly looking forward to share it with you.

Closing your eyes at the sensation of his lips on your neck, you lost track of any coherent thought.

Pushing away the doubts about what Grace could possibly want with him, you gave in into what he making you feel, kissing him back.

He never crossed the line, sure he flirted, made suggestive comments from time to time, touched you when no one was watching, stole a small kiss close to your mouth, but he always respected you.

‘Cause in that moment it didn’t really matter that you weren’t officially a couple, you knew deep down it was all or nothing at all. And for a split second the rational part of your mind, chose to be with him. Even if it was only for one night.

It could all go wrong.

I will leave my heart at the door

I won't say a word

They've all been said before, you know

Or maybe it could just be unfounded fears.

So why don't we just play pretend?

Like we're not scared of what's coming next

Or scared of having nothing left

But either way, tonight you just wanted to feel him.

Look, don't get me wrong

I know there is no tomorrow

“Tommy I need you.” You whispered against his ear, feeling his body tense immediately.

All I ask is

Bitting your lower lip, you dared to look at him, to make sure he understood your statement.

If this is my last night with you

Hold me like I'm more than just a friend

Give me a memory I can use

And there it was, the fire in his eyes shining like the clear sky you had only seen so far away from Birmingham. Blue flames dancing, wondering if you actually wanted to take this step.

Take me by the hand while we do what lovers do

It matters how this ends

'Cause what if I never love again?

He didn’t waste anymore time, lips finding yours with the eagerness and passion he had been holding back for a while.

I don't need your honesty

It's already in your eyes

Regardless of what could happen at the races, or what Grace had to say to him, you wanted to lock this moment in your heart for the rest of your life.

No one knows me like you do

Returning the kiss with the same passion, you let him took you by the hips to hook your legs around his waist, carrying you upstairs so easily. You hold onto his neck as if your life depended on it, leaving featherlight kisses all over his jawline and neck, and when he finally reached his bedroom you took your time undoing the buttons of his vest and shirt. Ever so slowly, to make it last as long as possible.

Let this be our lesson in love

Let this be the way we remember us

The uneasy feeling at the top of your stomach settling even more by the minute.

I don't wanna be cruel or vicious

And I ain't asking for forgiveness

Something you couldn’t name was telling you this would be the last night that you’d spend together.

It matters how this ends

You were determined to make the most out of it.

'Cause what if I never love again?

Giving into the desire, you let him undress you.

Hands exploring each other’s bodies, skin mapping like there was no tomorrow, he was determined to give it all to you, but also he wanted to take everything from you; your moans, your pleasure, your reactions to his touch, the way your face contorted from the pleasure.

Fingers exploring every corner like they always belonged there, eyes finding unanswered questions, lips setting skin on fire.

As Tommy reached his peak, you whispered; “Please stay with me tonight.”

You could’ve asked him anything in the world and he would’ve given it to you.

Laying on his side, he passed an arm to wrap it around you. His eyelids closing from the exhaustion. It’s was the happiest he had been in a long time and to be honest he couldn’t find the right words to say, that’s why he chose to press his lips against your hair.

***

The pub exploded in cheering as Arthur proposed another round for everyone. People chanted happily after the Peaky Blinders took over the licenses just like they had planned.

But Tommy was nowhere to be seen.

Eyes looking at the door every time it was opened, heart hammering against your ribcage, longing to find those blue eyes among the people.

It was pretty late, most of the people were drunk by now, until John got close to you to let you know he heard Tommy was last seen entering the offices. So you didn’t waste another minute at the pub, you needed to see him, make sure he was alright.

Storming into his office without knocking, you ignored the fact that Michael was there.

“Are you sure of that decision?”

Tommy looked at his cousin before he nodded profusely, after the events of the day he was more than sure that he wanted to marry you.

“Oh Tom! What happened?!” You gasped at the ugly cut in his temple, he had dry blood there.

“Just stumbled a little.” He lied with a chuckle, waving at Michael to leave as you walked around the desk to do a quick examination of his injury.

“Stop joking.” You scolded him taking the handkerchief from the pocket of his suit, using some water to soak the fabric and you turned to clean his face gently.

Tommy stared at you intensely, you could feel his gaze on you but you couldn’t bring yourself to look at him. Not yet.

He winced as you pressed on a particular spot that really hurt him.

“Y/N… I’m alright.” I could be dead, he thought. But decided to not mention it at the moment, another matter had him concerned.

“Can’t you stay away from trouble, can you?” You sighed dropping the handkerchief on his desk.

He noticed the lines of worry all over your face, hair half pinned up the way he simply loved how you styled the curls. You failed at the attempt to smooth your skirt, god this was the sight he wanted to come home to.

Standing up, he pinned you between his body and his desk, palms next to your hips. Lips finding yours desperately, you could feel his hands trembling.

He was fearless, relentless, never backed down… but earlier he had been so close to lose it all, to lose you. And he didn’t want to take a chance.

Breaking apart the kiss, you stared at each other for a moment, and you couldn’t stop the tear that slipped from one of your eyes. Because you knew something had happened, something changed.

“Let’s go home, ey?” He wiped away the tear with the back of his hand, wrapping his arm around your back.

With a heavy heart you closed the door to his office. Feeling time was passing by so fast, it was getting closer to an imminent end.

Tommy took off his coat to pass it over your shoulders as the two of you walked home. A lot of things on his mind, images of the moment where he faced the grave flashing in the back of his head.

But it wasn’t his time yet, he was just about to start turning things over for the business, for his family, and for him as well. Arriving no long after, he started the fire to keep you both warm, in silence he glanced at you noticing how quiet you had been.

It was inevitable, you’d find out one way or another, so he took a deep breath and took your hard to get your attention.

“Y/N I need to tell you something… but first I want you to know that our plans remain the same, this doesn’t affect it directly, or at least I hope we can work things around.”

He was probably asking for too much, but he needed to try. This wasn’t the way he imagined, it wasn’t part of his plans.

Here it was, the moment you wanted to avoid the most.

“I told you that I wanted to make things right, and marry you, and that’s a promise I’m intended to keep but something got in the middle…” his thumb caressing the back of your hand absently, “You know I saw Grace a while ago, before meeting you. After that I never heard of her until today at the races…” your heart had been hammering, ringing in your eyes as you listened to him. You felt underwater. “She’s pregnant-”

As he continued talking, you couldn’t process the rest of his words too shocked to do anything else. He didn’t cheat, that was clear you didn’t knew each other when it happened, but she it hurt to know that woman got something you’d never get with him.

You thought she was trying to get him back, but this, this changed everything.

Because yes, of course you were bossy when you needed to be, you got mad whenever he put himself at unnecessary risk.

“Y/N? Y/N we can make this work I’ll be responsible of that bab-”

You looked up at him with your eyes filled with tears. “No Thomas, there’s no more we.”

You probably did a lot of wrong things… but you’d never take a man away from his child. It didn’t matter how much you love him.

***

Part 2 Can’t love in the dark

Masterlist

🥹Right in the feels? I know, I know… feel free to vent over how this went in the comments ♥️

Tag list: @lyarr24 @runnning-outof-time @cillmequick @datewithgianni @cloudofdisney @gretelshelby @gypsy-girl-08 @lespendy @onlydeadcells @fastfan @stevie75 @prettylittlehoneyeyesxoxo @esposadomd @forbidden-forest-witch @ange-thoughts @moral-terpitude @elenavampire21 @forgottenpeakywriter @thenattitude @winchestergirl22 @zablife @elk96 @heidimoreton @imichelle-l-rigby @allie131313 @already-broken144 @peakyscillian @babaohhhriley @mrkdvidal1989 @shelbydelrey @shaddixlife @sloanexx @sydneyyyya @adaydreamaway08 @pono-pura-vida @thomashelbyswife @darleneslane @everythingelseisextra @kmc1989

#that’s what Cill said #tommy shelby x reader #tommy shelby x y/n #tommy shelby x you #tommy shelby fanfiction #tommy shelby fan fic #tommy shelby imagine #peaky blinders fanfiction #cillian murphy fanfic #cillian murphy fanfiction

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shelbyssins · 1 year

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HI 💕 I loved Home so much and I was wondering if I could request something?? I had this idea of Tommy x Reader where reader was like a one that got away situation with pre-war Tommy and she married someone else but her husband dies during the war but Tommy didn’t ever know that he just thought she was married.. so time passes and they meet again then you can choose the ending!! Happy or sad you can choose, I hope this makes sense English is not my first language lol!! And if this doesn’t inspire you that’s okay too but know I love your work and am excited to see what you write next!!!💕😇😇

Seasons Change, People Don't ~ Tommy Shelby x Reader

Warnings: Language, a sprinkling of angst

Word Count: 6,880

A/N: So this past week or so has just been insanely busy for me and I was struggling to find time to finish this request but here it finally is! I wanted to make this a little more light hearted than my previous request and the idea of Tommy and reader's relationship changing through the seasons really stuck with me so I hope you enjoy! I will be posting some shorter form one shots this week with some different characters so watch out for those! As always, if you read this, let me know what you think! - Rosie x

June 1912

“Tommy!” Y/n shrieked as she bounded over to her friend in the stables. The summer sun was breaking through the thin cover of cloud that drifted over the fields today. Y/n watched as Tommy’s eyes met hers, a soft smile playing on his lips when he recognised her. Y/n pressed a kiss to Tommy’s cheek, smacking her lips louder than she needed to because she knew it wound him up. He made an exaggerated show of wiping the spot she’d kissed and Y/n punched him lightly in response, he laughed gently, feigning hurt as he rubbed his arm.

Tommy was reverently brushing his mare, a bay horse who’s coat gleamed like copper coins under his attention. Tommy was a quiet man, never really as raucous as his brothers could be, but he laughed a lot, those soft little chuckles that never failed to make Y/n blush whenever she pulled one out of him. Tommy was a middle child, but Y/n knew he acted every bit the eldest. Having been blessed with intelligence, his head would soon be burdened with the crown of the Shelby family. Though he did laugh a lot, Y/n could often see the strain he felt as the head of the family, so it was nice to see him relaxed and in his own world.

He was twenty two now, about a head taller than Y/n and she found him so frustratingly handsome. She watched as his solid muscles shifted beneath his crisp shirt with every movement over his mare’s back, all broad shoulders and quiet strength, it was no wonder he had every girl in Small Heath falling over themselves for the chance to go out with him, though he never seemed to care much. Despite the obvious physical attraction, Y/n’s favourite part of him was his bright blue eyes, shining like sapphires in the sun, like stormy seas in the shade. Y/n would like to pretend that she was better than all the other girls, far above so obviously throwing herself at Tommy; but it was hard to push down the magnificently huge crush she had on him when he gazed at her with those pools of blue.

Y/n had known Tommy ever since she could remember, her mother was best friends with his Aunt, Polly Gray, they were practically sisters, and as her father had abandoned them before she was even born, the Shelby family pitched in to help wherever needed. Then, when Y/n was twelve years old, her mother passed and she’d lived with Polly ever since. She knew full well that Tommy only ever deemed her like a sister, but that didn’t stop her dreaming that he’d one day notice her affections.

It didn’t help that Tommy always treated her like a child as well, chiding her when he’d seen her smoking for the first time, always referring to her and her friends as ‘the kids’. Y/n had hoped that now she was eighteen, Tommy might see her in a different light, might start treating her like an adult, but if anything he was even more overprotective.

Just recently he’d refused to let her sit with him and his older brother, Arthur, in the Garrison, telling her, “It’s not proper for young ladies to listen to conversation like ours, you don’t want to be around us when we’re drinking anyway,”. It was kind of humiliating, especially when Arthur had laughed that booming laugh right in her face, so she gave up that night and trailed home, feeling every bit the little girl Tommy thought she was.

“You know, Mark’s been hanging around me a lot recently,” Y/n began, hoping that Tommy might get jealous if she talked about another guy, “Ada says she thinks he likes me,”

Y/n got nothing more than a non committal grunt from Tommy, though his hands had stilled their work over his mare’s mane.

“She thinks he’s going to ask me to go to the Garrison’s jazz night this weekend. As his date,” She added the clarification at the end, searching Tommy’s face for absolutely any reaction.

Tommy obviously wasn’t going to bite, so Y/n decided to try a more direct approach, “You know, if you asked me to go with you instead of him, I’d say yes,”

For all the intelligence he apparently possessed, Tommy just looked at Y/n blankly, a puzzled eyebrow raised as he went back to grooming his horse.

“You know I don’t like jazz, Y/n,” Was all he said on the matter, and Y/n wondered if he really was that bad at picking up her hints or if he was ignoring her attempts at flirtation on purpose.

Y/n was beyond frustrated at the fact that Tommy just didn’t understand what she was trying to say, she had hoped distantly that maybe she had a head start on all the other girls who liked Tommy too; she knew him far better than they did after all. But maybe it was because they’d grown up together that Tommy couldn’t see her as a potential girlfriend, maybe she’d always be just a kid in his eyes. Maybe he had some misguided idea that he was protecting her feelings by pretending to be confused, because perhaps in reality he just wanted to reject her.

“Well maybe I’ll just say yes to Mark then,” Y/n snapped, all together fed up with trying to get her meaning across. She looked away from Tommy then, afraid that if he caught her eye that she’d start blushing.

Tommy didn’t look up at her statement, just scratched at his horse’s ear as he said a bored, “Ok,”

Y/n huffed, storming away in a barely contained stomping tantrum that would rival any fit Finn could throw. She felt utterly defeated as she walked away from Tommy, thoroughly embarrassed that she was a tiny bit jealous of a horse.

March 1913

The sun was warm today, the first hints of spring blooming to bask in its light. The grass, damp with morning dew, caressed Y/n’s bare legs just below her skirt as she walked through the meadow in search of Tommy. Y/n knew he would be out here somewhere, desperate to get the family’s horses out in the fields for some exercise after the previous week’s relentless storms had kept them locked in the stables.

As she climbed her way over a short hill, Y/n’s eyes finally set on Tommy, who was standing under the shade of a tree, smoke from his cigarette billowing out of his mouth. Y/n ambled over, the closer she got she took in more of his appearance. He was dressed only in an undershirt tucked into his trousers, his suspenders hung loose by his legs. Tommy’s hair, not gelled down for once, flopped over by his ears. Y/n swallowed thickly as she remembered that she had a boyfriend waiting for her at home.

“Hi, Tommy,” She said softly, not wanting to startle him out of whatever daydream he seemed to be in.

“Y/n,” He replied simply, blowing some smoke in her face by way of greeting.

Y/n rolled her eyes as she waved the cloud of smoke away, faking a cough as she did.

“You got another one of those for me?” She asked with a gesture towards his cigarette, putting on the sweet voice she always used when she wanted something from Tommy.

He wordlessly opened his packet and she took one gratefully, leaning forward when Tommy flicked his lighter. Tommy moved in close to light Y/n’s cigarette for her, she held her breath as he did, wanting to avoid accidentally breathing in his dizzying scent of fresh soap and a hint of whiskey. Y/n took a long drag of the cigarette, having smoked almost half of it in one go when she finally exhaled. Tommy quirked an eyebrow at her obvious craving for the nicotine but didn’t comment.

Y/n relaxed her shoulders a little as she felt the effects of the smoke calm her rushing blood slightly, sagging against the tree as she pulled at the last dregs of the cigarette. Her mind wandered back to the problem at hand when she flicked the butt away into the grass.

“To what do I owe the pleasure,” Tommy asked as he too finished his smoke.

Y/n sighed and looked off into the distance, her eyes finding two of the Shelby horses grazing at the far side of the field in the shade, “I think Mark is going to propose to me.”

She sighed out a breath and couldn’t stop the way her eyes immediately went to Tommy’s face, waiting for his reaction. Y/n had accepted months ago that Tommy wouldn't ever see her the way she wanted him to, so she shut the door on those feelings and kept them buried under Mark’s affections. But she couldn’t help but worry that the lock on her heart was too weak now that she spoke to Tommy about impending marriage, she was powerless to stop the small hope that Tommy might tell her to say no, knew she’d run right into his arms if he wanted her to.

“I’m not sure what light you think I’ll be able to shed on the matter,” Tommy responded, his bored voice grating on Y/n’s final nerve.

“I should’ve known you’d be no help,” She huffed, pushing away from the tree and smoothing her skirts with angry hands. She made to stomp off back across the field, like she always did when Tommy irritated her, but a warm hand circling the entirety of her wrist stopped her in her tracks.

“Alright, love, alright, stop your tantrum,” Tommy was barely concealing a laugh behind his hand, but Y/n could see the humour clearly in his twinkling eyes.

“Shut up, Tommy,” Y/n replied, articulating her scowl with a harsh shove into Tommy’s side, “I’m just… not sure I want to marry him, at least, not so soon,”

Tommy pushed his hair out of his eyes and seemed to consider for a moment, “Well, don’t you like him?”

Y/n rolled her eyes, “Of course I like him, he’s sweet - kind to me, you know... Has a good job,”

“Well there you go, if you like him, why can’t you marry him?” Tommy said, so matter of fact that Y/n might have thought he’d mulled this over before.

“That’s just the thing, Tom. I like him, sure. But I just described him like he’s a pet dog, not a potential husband,” Tommy snorts at that and Y/n can’t help the little giggle that escapes in response, “I just… I always thought I’d be madly in love with whoever I was to marry, I’m scared I’ll regret it if I say yes,”

“What if you say no and regret it?” Tommy asked, his voice as soft as the breeze whispering over Y/n’s skin.

“You’re right. I don’t want to end up alone the rest of my life, and it’s not like anyone else is lining up for the chance to propose to me,” Y/n cringed at how obvious she sounded as she glanced at Tommy, she hunted for any change in those expressive eyes but came back disappointed when there was nothing.

Tommy said nothing more, sensing that Y/n was deep in thought, so they stood there in comfortable silence as the sun climbed higher into the afternoon sky.

Y/n felt bereft at the way her life had turned out. She and Ada used to dream of their weddings like all little girls did. They would excitedly tell each other all the details, what kind of dress they would wear, the colour of the bouquet they would hold, even the flavour of the wedding cake. They would clasp their little hands together and wish their dreams would come true, but there was one dream little Y/n never told Ada. The dream that a handsome blue eyed man would be waiting for her at the end of the aisle, he’d say she looked beautiful as he lifted her veil and they’d vow to belong to each other as long as they both lived.

Y/n's chest tightened sorrowfully as she felt that dream slipping through her fingers. No matter how tight she tried to hold onto it, she knew now that it would never come true.

“Come on,” Tommy spoke up, apparently done with the silence, “We can ride the horses back to the stables and I’ll see you home.”

Y/n felt pained by his words because they came from brotherly concern rather than the love she’d always wanted from him. He walked on ahead of her and Y/n closed her eyes, trying to find a way to barricade the door to her heart just a little more, so that maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much the next time Tommy smiled at her.

November 1913

Autumn came and went silently through the town of Small Heath. The residential area was completely taken up by dull houses and sooty factories, so Y/n always had to go searching for trees just beyond the cut if she wanted to see the change of the leaves before there weren’t any left. All that evidenced Autumn was a slight chill in the air and the constant heavy rain that deluged the narrow streets.

Y/n and Mark had married in that quiet Autumn a month ago in a small ceremony attended by only Mark’s family and the Shelbys, including Tommy. Life since then had been sweet, Y/n had to admit. Mark absolutely doted on her, hanging on her every whim to keep her happy, and Y/n found herself a little besotted with being Mrs Mark Johnson too, much to her surprise. At the wedding reception, Tommy had done nothing more than offer a muttered congratulations and brood in the corner alone for the rest of the night. But for once in her life, Y/n couldn’t find it within herself to actually care what Tommy was doing, thoroughly intent on enjoying a day that was all about her.

Winter then took Autumn’s place. Freezing air bit at bare faces, the town blanketed by a persistent cover of grey cloud. Y/n pulled her coat even tighter around herself as she made her way to the Garrison, praying that she’d find Tommy there since he’d been putting great effort into avoiding her recently. As she neared the place she hoped she’d find the second oldest Shelby, Y/n felt firmly resolute about her plan to talk to him, as she knew his stubbornness all too well. She knew that he’d let the silence between them stretch on until the end of time if she didn’t do something about it. So she steeled herself as she reached the heavy doors of the Garrison and walked inside.

She was immediately hit by the familiar smell of stale alcohol and tobacco permeating the air, barely containing a shudder as her senses tried to get used to the offending scent. Y/n quickly scanned the main area and didn’t find her target, so she walked over to Harry, the barkeep, and smiled at him as he finished wiping a glass.

“Hi, Harry. Is Tommy here?” She asked, hoping he’d at least caught sight of him today.

“He’s in there,” Harry replied, glancing over at the snug and nodding in that direction.

“Thanks, Harry,” Y/n gave her best sweet smile as payment, feeling a little bad about not buying a drink.

She pulled open the door to the snug and felt triumphant as she finally laid eyes on Tommy. He didn’t even bother to try and conceal the heavy sigh he huffed when he made eye contact with her, strengthening Y/n’s resolve that she would confront him about his avoidance even further.

“Hello, Thomas,” Y/n opened the conversation, inviting herself to sit at the table with him.

Tommy immediately brought out his pack of cigarettes, lit one and hastily shoved it between his lips as if he was trying to stop himself from speaking.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, smoke flowing out of his mouth with every word.

Y/n was puzzled at the question, “Is this not a public place?” She asked her own question back but didn’t wait for a response, “I’ve been trying to meet with you for weeks now, Tommy, but you always had some convenient excuse to avoid me,”

Tommy kept his face even and calm, the only tell that he’d been found out being a minute twitch of his lip, “There’s always business to attend to these days, Y/n,” He offered his meagre reasoning, another hasty excuse to hopefully placate her.

“Business,” Y/n couldn’t help but scoff, “Tommy, we haven’t had a conversation as long as this one since my wedding!” She didn’t miss the way Tommy’s shoulders straightened at the mention of the wedding. Curious.

“Why have you really been avoiding me, Tom?” She asked, softening her voice a little in hopes that Tommy would be more liable to answer truthfully.

But just as he’d opened his mouth to speak, in waltzed Arthur, the very embodiment of awkward timing, barrelling in like a rearing stallion, voice booming as loud as gunfire. Y/n rolled her eyes but couldn’t fight the smile that rose to her lips as Arthur pressed a rough kiss to the top of her head.

“And how’s married life treating the new Mrs Johnson, eh?” Arthur articulated his thinly veiled innuendo with a suggestive wink.

“Just fine, thank you, Arthur,” Y/n replied with a smirk, quite enjoying the way Arthur’s eyebrows rose into his hairline, surprised that she’d actually played along.

“I bet there’ll be tiny little versions of you running around Small Heath in no time at all, eh, love?” He garbled around the cork of a whiskey bottle he’d pulled out with his teeth, pouring the amber liquid into his glass.

“Well, that might not actually be the case,” Y/n smiled a little sadly, watching as Tommy sat up a little straighter, quirking a confused brow as a means to ask her to explain.

“Mark has been looking at a property in the countryside, about an hour away from here. If nobody outbids us we’ll be moving come New Year,” Y/n looked down at her hands, her fingers twisting themselves into knots as she tried to avoid Tommy’s penetrating eyes.

Arthur hummed but didn’t say anything on the matter, and Y/n knew Tommy wasn’t going to offer anything new, recognising that the contemplative look on his face meant silence for the foreseeable. So she felt compelled to continue on explaining herself.

“With all this talk of war getting closer and closer to us, we really want to settle down and start a family sooner rather than later,” She rambled, feeling a little interrogated even though neither man had said anything yet.

As Y/n flicked her eyes over to Tommy apprehensively, she saw that his jaw was completely set and he was gripping his whiskey glass so tight that his knuckles were white and his fist was shaking a little.

Y/n looked at him quizzically, trying to make him meet her eyes by some sort of telepathy, but Tommy’s gaze remained firmly fixed on his alcohol. She couldn’t understand why he’d be angry with her about this, her move hadn’t come as a shock to anyone who actually spoke to her often; it had been on the cards pretty much as soon as they were married. Maybe it was because Tommy thought she’d be happier here, maybe it was because he didn’t like her husband; how was she to know if he rebuffed her every attempt at communication?

Silence continued on for a minute before Arthur, characteristically oblivious to the tension, piped up again, “Well! The countryside, eh? Sounds marvellous, love,”

Tommy raised his eyebrows, as if in disbelief, and shook his head, dragging on the last fragments of his cigarette. Y/n muttered a quiet thanks to Arthur as he stood, saying something about another bottle of whiskey from his private collection to celebrate. Her eyes followed Arthur’s slightly drunken gait as he made his way out of the snug.

“Thomas, why are you sulking at me?” She interrogated immediately as the door shut.

Tommy stamped out his cigarette in the ash try, “I’m not sulking,” he replied, frowning.

“Well, you’re doing an excellent impression,” Y/n countered, sighing when Tommy’s lips didn’t even attempt a smile, “I just don’t understand why you can’t even pretend to be happy for me at least,”

Tommy’s shoulders sagged at that and he finally lifted his head up to meet Y/n’s eyes, “Don’t get upset ok?” He began carefully, and just by his tone of voice, Y/n knew she absolutely was going to get upset, “I just didn’t think you’d marry so soon, especially after our conversation in spring, you said he was like a pet dog, not a husband. Now all of a sudden you’re moving away? I know you Y/n, you love our town, what if you hate it in the country?”

Y/n’s face flushed hot, she was utterly incensed that Tommy thought these things about her marriage and apparently just chose to never say a word about it, “Firstly, if I remember correctly about that conversation in spring, you offered me no actually helpful advice when I was obviously asking for it!” Y/n was careful not to shout, so her voice came out like a hiss, “Then you practically encouraged me to marry him! Now you want to act as if you’re the font of all knowledge when it comes to my marriage.”

Tommy bit his lip and scrubbed a rough hand over his face, the way he did when he was trying not to get angry, “I just can’t help but think that your decisions have been too hasty, Y/n,” he supplied, any sweetness in his voice long gone.

The words wounded Y/n deeper than anything he’d said to her before, she felt the tears pricking at her eyes as she tried not to show that she was upset. All she’d ever wanted was this married life with him, but now that she’d moved on and accepted that it was never going to happen, Tommy chose to criticise her every decision, blissfully ignorant of the fact that she had worked so hard to get over him.

“I could hardly wait for you forever, Tom,” Y/n whispered, suddenly feeling exhausted as all the memories of her relationship with Tommy flashed in front of her eyes, she couldn’t help but feel it was such a waste, pining after him for all that time. Such a waste to crave the affections of a man who didn’t pay enough attention to her to notice she was utterly in love with him.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Tommy finally said, looking away from Y/n’s tearful eyes.

“If you had such strong opinions on the choices I made, who I was going to marry, where I was going to live, maybe you should’ve voiced them while you still could’ve done something about it,” Y/n stood as soon as she finished her speech, walking towards the door when she was certain Tommy wasn’t going to speak again.

Tommy didn’t call after her when she left.

February 1917

The fire crackled distantly as Y/n stared blankly into the flames, amber light casting lonely shadows onto the walls of her cottage home. The room was near silent, but the thud of her heart in her ears was almost deafening.

She clutched a telegram in her trembling hands and didn't bother to fight her tears as she read it for the fourth or fifth time, hoping this time she might make sense of the words written there on the page. But she didn’t know whether she couldn’t understand the sentences or just couldn’t believe the words were true.

Before the war hit England in July 1914, Y/n and Mark had spent a wonderfully happy, albeit short, married life. A few months before Mark was shipped off to France like every other man fit to fight, he worked as a clerk in the postal office of their little village, while Y/n looked after their house. She tended the garden too and often found peace planting flowers and thinking up new arrangements. Mark would come home every evening and greet Y/n with a kiss on her cheek before they sat down to eat dinner. Life was peaceful and picture perfect, no fighting, no drunkards lining the streets, no constant threat of crime. Y/n would be lying if she said she didn’t miss the chaos of Small Heath at least a little bit, but somewhere between their move to the country and Mark’s constant devotion, Y/n well and truly fell in love with him.

Now, as Y/n looked around her desolate sitting room, she realised she had absolutely nothing to prove that their love had ever happened. No matter how hard they had tried, God wouldn’t bless them with a child, and in the suffocating silence of this house, Y/n suddenly ached with longing to hear the patter of little feet running into her arms. At least she’d be comforted by the knowledge that a piece of their father resided still in this cottage, could look at their faces and still see his eyes looking back. But there was nothing, just utter loneliness.

Up until now, Y/n had grasped at any small shred of hope that Mark would return, ever since he left three years ago. She wrote to him every week, prayed for him every night, even though she wasn’t sure there was anyone listening anymore. She wished for his safe return and dreamed of the day he would warm their bed again. But now, there was no hope left in all the Earth that Y/n could beg for. There was no marriage, no husband to speak of as Y/n sat completely alone in this world, still clinging to that damned letter, her tears ruining the ink that spelled the end of her life.

Mark Johnson - Killed In Action.

July 1919

Y/n stepped off the train and took a heaving breath in as she tried to calm her nerves. Tendrils of anxiety curled around her chest as she carefully walked up the steps to leave the station, she knew she was only a short walk away from her home town and the odd need to run away was rising through her body.

Only the month prior, Y/n had sold her cottage in the countryside, finally accepting that nothing was keeping her tied to that place anymore, accepting that she couldn’t fit in without Mark. In the village, every corner she turned was a reminder of her husband, the route he used to walk to work, their favourite spot in the park, the station where she'd kissed him for the last time. She twisted her wedding ring around her finger nervously, she’d kept it on even after Mark's memorial service, it seemed a simple service she could do her husband to wear it, to remember him every day.

Y/n decided to rent a flat just down the road from where she’d grown up, and the familiarity of the streets comforted her as she entered her new home, dropping her few belongings in the hallway. It wasn’t much, but as a woman alone Y/n didn’t really see the point of buying a big house with no one else to keep her company. She sagged against the door, suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to get a whiskey, so she decided to leave the flat for a while and hoped that the Garrison would clear her head.

Almost as soon as she opened the door to the pub, Y/n could hear John’s familiar voice shouting over to someone at the bar and her eyes immediately landed on all of the Shelbys sat around a table, drinking various spirits and pints of ale. The relief she felt as she counted the boys and noted that they were all intact and alive was brief, she couldn't believe her bad luck that she had run into every Shelby the minute she set foot back in Small Heath. Y/n quickly scurried up to the bar, hopefully unnoticed by the family, deciding that she definitely wasn't having this reunion sober.

She had barely taken a sip of her whiskey when a voice called to her from across the room, "Well isn't this a sight for sore bloody eyes," Y/n heard Polly's familiar drawl and didn't need to look up from her glass to know all the attention was suddenly on her. Y/n gave up on the dainty sipping and knocked back the rest of her whiskey as the Shelbys began to descend like vultures to their prey. She focussed on the way the alcohol spread through her body, warming her and giving her that little bit more confidence as she gave a tight hug to her surrogate mother, "Hi, Pol," she said with a smile.

"Now what the 'ell are you doing back 'ere, love?" Arthur spoke as he nodded to the barkeep to refill your glass.

Y/n sighed, overwhelmed by the sudden questioning even though it was only Arthur who had asked anything, "You ok?" Polly whispered, squeezing her arm. Y/n nodded quickly and took another gulp of whiskey, "I wasn't counting on seeing you all so suddenly, I only got here half an hour ago!" She laughed nervously, "But now's as good a time as any to say I've moved back here. Surprise!" There was a chorus of congratulations and happy remarks, but there was only one person's face Y/n searched for, and she finally felt like she was home when she found Tommy's blue eyes.

He looked different, older definitely, but there was a cold harshness in his eyes that Y/n had never seen before. She shivered at what those eyes might have seen in France.

"It's good to have you back round here, Y/n," Tommy said lowly, and Y/n felt like everyone else in the room had faded away as she let Tommy's presence wash over her.

"Let's get a bottle to celebrate!" Arthur boomed, ruffling her hair like he did when she was a child, "Where's that husband of yours?" Y/n sucked in a sharp breath at the tactless question, fighting back tears as she tried to remember that it wasn't their fault if they didn't know Mark had passed.

"Probably at home looking after the kids, eh, Y/n?" John chimed in, nausea rising in Y/n's stomach as she tried to get a word in edgewise before someone said something they would regret.

"Nah, he's probably avoiding the pub, you know he can't handle his booze," Tommy was the one to pipe up that time and Y/n hated the cruel edge to his laugh, she'd hoped he'd grown up enough to get over his childish dislike of her husband.

"Tommy," Polly warned in that low, threatening voice of hers, picking up on Y/n's quickened breathing and tearful eyes. But Tommy carried on laughing, oblivious to his Aunt's insistence that they stop making fun, "You have to admit, he's always been a bit of a boring bastard," and there was the last straw. Before she'd even told her arm to move, Y/n's hand was flying at Tommy's face, slapping him right across the cheek so hard his head actually looked like it might detach from his neck. It happened so quickly Y/n wasn't quite sure if she had actually done it or not, but the boys had stopped laughing instantaneously, and the way Polly physically flinched told her she had genuinely just smacked Tommy Shelby. "How dare you," Y/n hissed before she could think better of it, her voice cold as steel, "My husband is dead, Thomas, have some fucking respect," The entire pub had gone silent, all staring intently at the scene unfolding, but wincing at Y/n's words, like they were watching a car accident happen right in front of them, too morbidly curious to look away. To his credit, John looked thoroughly ashamed of himself even though he hadn't said anything insulting and Arthur's eyes looked like they might pop out of his head, Y/n might have laughed had the cause been different. "Y/n, love, I'm sorry, we-" Arthur reached out as if to comfort her, but he cut off his sentence when Y/n flinched away from his touch, too overwhelmed to be crowded by him. She didn't know when she'd started to cry, but tears were flooding down her cheeks and pooling on the floorboards at her feet.

"Right. John, Arthur? Time to go," Polly insisted, ever the observant one, she knew that Tommy and Y/n had some talking to do. Neither man moved at first, but all it took was for Polly to level them with her menacing glare and they were hurrying out of the pub faster than a horse at full gallop.

Tommy and Y/n stood in silence for a moment, Y/n being too scared to speak because she desperately didn't want to acknowledge that she'd just slapped him.

"Y/n, I'm so sorry," Tommy finally whispered, and his voice was so genuinely sincere that it broke the final shred of dignity that Y/n cared to hold onto, and she started to cry louder than she had even let herself cry at Mark's memorial. Tommy opened his arms and that was all the prompting Y/n needed to fall straight into his chest, she sniffled as he cradled her head against his steadily beating heart, he shushed her softly and held her tight, "Come on now, love, let's go in the other room yeah? We can talk away from all the prying eyes,"

Y/n allowed herself to be led into the snug, struck by how familiar it was even after all these years, Tommy lowered her carefully onto the couch, as if he was afraid she might fall over.

"I'm sorry for hitting you, Tommy," Y/n babbled as soon as her breathing evened out, "It's not your fault, you didn't know Mark was dead,"

Tommy rubbed his cheek and smiled lightly, "Don't apologise, I deserved it. You've got some power in that hand, you know? Not sure any man has ever hit me that hard," Y/n giggled despite herself, sniffing and wiping at her face to dry the tears.

"So how come you're moving back here?" Tommy asked as she sagged into the couch, he avoided asking about Mark's death, sensing that she'd talk about it in her own time.

"Everything back at the village just reminds me of him, I couldn't stand it. Every time I left the house I couldn't stop thinking about how I waved him off to France, to fucking war, and didn't know he was never coming back. So I just isolated myself, only left the house to buy food, never made any friends because I couldn't bring myself to walk around without him by myside, I couldn't walk around as if nothing had happened," Tommy just hummed, knowing there was more to say and just waiting for Y/n to go on, "So when I finally sold the house, I decided to make a new start somewhere I knew would be easy to fit in,"

"You were right, you know," Y/n laughed into the quiet of the room, "I really did miss it round here. I missed how unpredictable it was, the routine of the village was hard to get used to but..." She teared up all over again as her husband's smiling face flashed in her mind, "I really did love him,"

"I'm sorry," was all Tommy said as Y/n swallowed around the lump in her throat.

"I didn't think I'd fall in love with him so deeply. At the start, my main reason for marrying him was because I thought I had no other option," Y/n confessed, not entirely sure why she was spilling all of her secrets to the man she used to love.

"I always thought you liked him a lot either way," Tommy said, a confused edge to his tone, "You used to talk about him constantly,"

Y/n laughed a genuine laugh at that, reminded suddenly of herself at seventeen, "I only talked about him so much because I thought it would make you jealous,"

Tommy's head shot up at that, and Y/n was once again concerned about the structural integrity of his neck, "Jealous?" He reiterated, pausing the rolling of a new cigarette to stare at Y/n expectantly.

"Yeah, I used to hint at you all the time about my very massive crush on you. But for all the good your intelligence apparently does, you never got it. Or, you know, you were just trying to let me down gently,"

Tommy looked like he was about to choke, or possibly stop breathing all together, "Hold on, you liked me?"

Y/n rolled her eyes at Tommy, assuming he was overreacting on purpose, "I know, it's embarrassing Tommy, don't make fun of me. But yes, I didn't just like you. I loved you, Tommy, ever since I was eleven,"

"Oh my god," Tommy breathed, suddenly struggling to get his rolling paper to stick.

"What? There's no need to be dramatic, Thomas," Y/n said, voice snippy due to her slight mortification.

"I just... I liked you too, for years, but I thought you didn't have any feelings for me since you were going out with Mark,"

Y/n was sure her blood had turned cold in her veins, either that or someone must have dumped a bucket of ice over her head, "Are you serious right now? Tommy, you should've just told me! I was being so obvious with my hints and you just refused to see it!"

Tommy looked indignant as he gave up on rolling his cigarette, "Well, why didn't you just tell me!" Y/n couldn't deny that that was an excellent point, "Anyway, I was sure someone as beautiful as you couldn't possibly have feelings for someone like me,"

Y/n slumped in her seat, overwhelmed by the revelations, she smiled as she imagined how she would've reacted to this information when she was a teenager all those years ago.

"Oh, Tommy, you're an idiot!" Tommy started to laugh and Y/n couldn't help soon joining in, feeling weightless for the first time since the war. She gazed into Tommy's eyes again, searched for the same look they'd had when he was in his early twenties, even though she knew she wouldn't find it. He'd changed so much, they both had, but in that moment she wondered if they really could just be the same two kids who loved each other so much, couldn't help but wonder how their lives would've played out if they'd both had the courage to admit their feelings.

Y/n didn't know when it happened, but their faces were suddenly only a hair's width apart, she could feel his breath whispering over her mouth, he smelled sweet despite the tobacco that clung to him. Y/n's eyes fluttered closed out of instinct, her heart thudding as she let herself be intoxicated by Tommy's entire being. But just as their noses touched, she sprung away from Tommy like he'd burned her.

"I'm sorry, that was-"

"No, don't apologise," Y/n cut him off before he could start spiralling, "Tommy... I've loved you since the day I met you, and... I think I always will love you, no matter what happens, or what has happened. You mean the world to me," she stared at her hands, afraid of the vulnerability she felt as she laid her heart at Tommy's feet, "But you have to understand... I loved my husband too, and I can't help but feel like I'm betraying him, because I'm falling for you so fast all over again. I'd - I'd feel so guilty if I rushed into something with you when he loved me so much before he passed. I can't just forget him."

"I won't ask you to," Tommy replied, tentatively putting his warm hand on Y/n's knee, making her look up at him, "But I have loved you too, and I love you right now, and I'll love you tomorrow. I won't ever be able to forgive myself if I let you get away again, not now that I know you feel the same. I want to be with you, whenever you're ready. We can take it slow,"

Y/n was breathless, like all the air in the room had suddenly been sucked out, she was completely consumed by thousands of thoughts running through her head all at once, "What does slow look like?" She whispered, entirely swept up by the ocean of love in Tommy's eyes.

"It starts like this," He murmured softly, taking Y/n by the hand and brushing his lips against her knuckles, "Then it might continue if you'll accompany me to dinner soon?"

"I'd like that Tommy," Y/n replied, a wave of relief flowing through her body, grateful that she could find love again at her own pace.

Tommy leaned in slowly and placed the most gentle and reverent kiss on Y/n's cheek, looking so deeply into her eyes that she thought he might be gazing directly at her soul, his voice was full of adoration as he said, "I promise I won't ever let you go,"

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lavender-romancer · 5 months

Text

I'd Do Anything

Part Four Tommy Shelby x Reader

You met when you were sixteen and from there, your lives ebbed and flowed closer and further away from one another but there was always something that brought you together.

”*°•.˜”*°•. ˜”*°•. ˜”*°••°*”˜.•°*”˜.•°*”˜.•°*”˜

previous chapter

September 1918

It had now been three and a half years since you'd seen Tommy in person and some parts of you debated whether you fit into one another's lives anymore. Whenever you would eventually be reunited, nothing was guaranteed. The love you had before wouldn't be the same, you wouldn't be the same people or know how to interact like you did before. Everything would be so different. It was incredibly daunting but you didn't give too much time to those thoughts. You knew being close to the front of the second 1918 battle of the Somme was as close as you would get to Tommy for a while now. Assuming he was even in those trenches, the two of you hadn't spoken through letters for so long by this point.

You'd been writing to Polly the last few months. After many attempts to create a dialogue between you and Tommy you gave up, he wouldn't write back and soon you lost track of where his battalion was stationed. It seemed futile to try anymore so you wrote to others who wanted to hear what you had to say. Polly told you to focus on your work and not think about him. But it seemed harder with every day that passed, the more you felt disconnected from him. The string that had attached the two of you together since you were young felt like it was fraying.

Every small thing that had happened in your life felt insignificant when you looked into the eyes of soldiers. Your pain, your anguish paled in comparison to theirs. Even their eyes looked haunted, it was the worst at night on the ward when men would wake up screaming and then they would be sent back to the front once again. Sometimes they would beg to not be sent back, praying to God for their death to be quick and every night you seemed to be haunted by the possibility that Tommy longed for the release of death.

He didn't think he would be so close to the same front for so many years. He was only 25 miles away from where the Battle of the Somme had taken place. Digging out trenches for infantry and doing all the grunt work tunnelers preferred to their normal role underground. Tommy was just glad to not be back in La Bassée digging deep concrete dugouts during the cold winter last year. He was lucky he hadn't got frostbite on most days, it was relentless hours with few breaks and the constant anxiety that they would hit a mine or a water source that would flood the dugout.

Tommy never thought he'd be glad to be digging out trenches but he was, there was order and a method to all of it. After the Germans stabilised their trenches clay-kickers and engineers were ordered to dig stronger defenses with even deeper dugouts. All he could do was pray to a God he knew didn't exist that they wouldn't put him back underground. Mines weren't being used anymore but Tommy wouldn't believe he was free of the torment until the war was over. He couldn't do it again, he refused to hear the shovels again.

The Second Battle of the Somme ended in early September and you were reassigned to Hèbuterne. As you approached late October there were more and more whispers that a peace deal might be reached- irregardless of how impossible that seemed with the amount of casualties being reported.

The unlikely outcome of peace talks was reaffirmed when you were relocated again to Cambrai. There to give medical assistance to the allied forces pushing the German forces using tanks and other heavy machinery. In two days 12,000 allied men lost their lives and it was a victory. This fatality toll was better than earlier battles and you couldn't quite believe the brutality of it all. Soldiers recovering discussed how they had breached the Hindenburg Line. You wished you could talk to Tommy about it all, where was he? No one knew where tunneling units were given; it was supposed to be more secretive.

Your station didn't change for a while, you were to act as a walking wounded CCS and also a rest station for the XXII Corps. You always hated being a walking wounded CCS, it often felt like sending lambs out to slaughter after you had looked after them. Looking into those soldiers' eyes as you cleared them for duty after stitching them back up when all they wanted was to go home. Their eyes would plague your dreams more than when they would plead for a quick death, some of these men you had seen multiple times and by this point they wouldn't even plead.

After a week or so you walked into the huts to check on new patients as walking wounded was essentially a rotating door.

“Bullet only grazed you I see?” you asked, walking up to the first man.

“Y/n?” The voice asked and you looked up from your tray of sterile needles and implements. It was Arthur. The Arthur who had teased you and treated you like a brother for so many years, he looked like a frail shell.

“I-” you faltered before your eyes began to well up, it had been so long since you had seen anyone you loved that you didn't know how to react. Arthur just reached out and held your shaking hand.

“Come on, let's get this sorted and we can talk.” Arthur said softly, in the kindest voice you had ever heard. It refocused your brain, you went into an autopilot state of mind. You became a sister again, devoid of identity and there to help. After he was patched up your hands started shaking again and you both walked out to get some extremely watered down tea-it was essentially hot water.

The two of you sat down on a bench together, your dress covered in mud and a bit of blood on your sleeves, Arthur didn't look much different. There was a respectable distance between the two of you but you wanted to hug him so badly it was infuriating.

“I'm so glad you're alive.” Was all you could say.

“I could say the same for you. A lot of these places get bombed.” Arthur stared out at the littony of men under makeshift tents on stretchers.

“I'm not unfamiliar with it.” You paused, “Where have you been? Do you know where the brothers are?”

“I've been all around it feels like. Pulled from one place to another getting patched up and sent out again, it's a never ending cycle until I finally get shot on the head.” He spoke plainly and without emotion, every now and then bringing the mug to his lips.

“Cigarette?” You asked, offering him one. “I'm not exactly supposed to smoke but I don't know if it will matter after long, we could all be dead tomorrow.” Arthur brought out some matches and lit both of your cigarettes as you simultaneously breathed out smoke.

“I'm glad you're not in the trenches. I'm glad you're here but not any closer. I don't think I could take losing someone else, I haven't seen either of the boys in months, maybe years I can't remember.” Arthur looked up at the sky and placed his empty mug next to him on the bench. “It feels like time just throws you along, I don't think I've felt like a person until this very moment. I know I'll have to go home at some point but I don't think I'll ever feel human again.”

“Don't say that.” You turned to him.

“There's never just one direction, it's this fight then, this battle, then this wound, then this hospital and all of it round and round and round. My life is stuck in this fucking loop and my head… my head can't fucking live with it, I- I think I might be broken, Y/n.” Arthur looked at the ground with a sad expression, maybe it was pity for himself you weren't sure.

“There's rumors of peace talks.” You offered and he scoffed.

“It's just more fucking words. Words won't save anyone until they fucking mean something.” Arthur stubbed out his cigarette and stood up. “I need to report back, I think-” before he could finish you enveloped him in a hug that was so tight you thought he might burst. You held you close and sighed.

“I feel like a child when I hug you, like it all goes away and we're playing together in the street again.” You said quietly before drawing apart.

“It will never be like that again, Y/n. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can try to live.” Arthur said with such sadness in his eyes before turning and heading towards his commanding officer to report back.

It was only a month later when the bloody thing ended. Even later than the 11th of November when you could finally go home. Transport was full, boats even fuller and you feared catching some sort of illness so you stayed. Liaising with nurses near Cambrai to help locals with any medical issue, writing to Polly and even traveling around in a mobile medical vehicle to make sure no one was left behind. It took close to two months and you all but forgot that you'd missed Christmas when you arrived back in Birmingham.

At no point had you ever taken leave. You didn't see the point since you knew you wouldn't want to go back to the front and it was your duty to be there. What could you do in Birmingham? Run the betting shop? What would be the point when everyday people were dying and you could have helped prevent some of it? No, you had made the right decision.

Tommy didn't know what to do with himself. He stared up at his ceiling with a blank mind, his eyes sunken with dark circles. How could he sleep when he heard the same thing, the shovels. The war hadn't killed him but he was convinced that he could be the one to do it.

“Thomas,” Tommy heard Polly call “Come downstairs.” He regrettably stood up and rubbed a hand down his face before walking downstairs, hearing surprisingly happy voices.

“I thought you'd never come back!” Finn yelled excitedly before jumping into someone's arms.

“She wasn't going to leave any of us, were you dear?” Polly asked with a raised eyebrow and then he heard your laugh- there was less emotion behind it.

“How could I ever leave such a troublemaker like you! Someone's got to give Polly a break.” You put Finn down and smiled at him.

Your gaze rose to the man in front of you, Tommy. Your Tommy. He didn't look like the man you remembered but you didn't care, you walked toward him and enveloped him in the same hug you gave Arthur months ago.

“I'm so glad you're alive.” You whispered close to Tommy's ear and his arms wrapped around you timidly at first before pulling you even closer.

It was your smell that made Tommy emotional. Not replying to letters kept home at an arm's length but when he had come home for a weekend's leave it would always be Finn asking for you that left a bitter taste in his mouth. He knew it was wrong to thrust you away with a lack of replying but he just couldn't do it.

“Tom, where is she?” Finn asked in a quiet voice as Tommy sat by the fire still in his uniform taking his boots off.

“She might not have been allowed to come home yet.” Tommy answered.

“But you're here? Are you not together?” His eyes looked even sadder.

“We both have important jobs but they don't work together,” Tommy paused. “I miss her too.” He replied looking into the fire.

“Why couldn't you come home?” Tommy buried his face in your neck and his words were slightly muffled. Polly pulled Finn by the hand and took him into the kitchen to give both of you some time.

“What did you say?” You asked softly, pulling back slightly. Tommy's head was bowed a small dim beam of light highlighting his jaw perfectly- his hair flopped over his face and you noted to take him to the barbers soon.

“Why didn't you come home?” He asked quietly and your breath hitched in your throat. “I understand what it's like out there. Polly and Finn won't understand but I do, even more so and I came back.”

“I couldn't bear it.” You said after a few moments, you walked forward and sat down on one of the steps of the creaking stairs. “I didn't know if any one of you was alive, I couldn't face this house without any of you. If I focussed on my work, on my routine, then I didn't think about if you were dead.” You looked at Tommy as he sat next to you, “You stopped writing. I thought you might be dead and Polly didn't have the heart to tell me.”

“Writing to you gave me solace at the start. When we all thought it would be over soon with some fucking diplomatic intervention,” he laughed coldly. “The further it got into the nightmare the more I didn't want to bring you into it.”

“Everything has changed from who we were before. But we can trust one another like never before.” You put your hand over his.

“And why can we trust one another more than before?” He asked with a slightly concerned face.

“Because at one or multiple points in the last few years, we have seen death or thought we were about to die. We're both broken.” Your finger traced up and down the top side of his hand.

The two of you sat in silence for a while, until Tommy turned his head to look at your face and the both of you hadn't realised how close you were. You had both aged and matured in different ways, both of you had a sadness behind your eyes that had never been there before. Being plagued by memories of such intense suffering had an impact, long hours and lack of proper nourishment making the two of you look very different to how you remembered. But it didn't matter, you were each other's person in one way or another. Leaning your foreheads against one another, your head's went quiet for a moment- you couldn't hear the screams of agony and Tommy could no longer hear the shovels.

Peaky blinders taglist: @queenofkings1212 @severewobblerlightdragon @cl5369 @fairypitou @stressedandbandobessed7771 @shadow-of-wonder @hipsternoionlylikeunicorns @curled-hair-red-lips @lucystivinsky1315 @lovemisshoneybee Series taglist: @swordofawriter @jessimay89 @globetrotter28 @marcysbear

#peaky blinders #tommy shelby #tommy shelby imagine #tommy shelby x reader #tommy shelby imagines #tommy shelby angst #peaky blinder fanfic #peaky blinders imagine #tommy shelby x you #tommy shelby x y/n #peaky blinders imagines #peaky blinders fanfic #bbc peaky blinders #peaky blinders tommy shelby #peaky blinder imagine #pre war tommy shelby #tommy shelby fluff #tommy shelby fiction

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runnning-outof-time · 4 months

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Hello Hello K!! 💗 I believe that this is my first ever request to you and im so happy that now is the time I was wondering if two can be sent at the same time but I guess I'll have to send one more 🤭 I was thinking 14 with Tommy from the three word sentence prompt list!! Loads of heavy fluff perhaps?? I will be looking forward to this and i cannot wait to read what you'll come up with, congrats once again 💋💋

Thanks so much for this lovely message and for sending this request in, M! I hope I put enough fluff in this one!! I hope you don’t mind that I set it as pre-canon….it can be read as a little snapshot of the Actions Speak Louder couple…it can also be a standalone as well. I also tried to change things up from the normal ‘homecoming’ story. Enjoy! :)

The prompt used is “I missed you.”

I’D LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! - YOUR COMMENTS & REBLOGS HELP ME WRITE!

Part of my 3.5k Celebration - find more stories here!

You’re Home

Tommy Shelby x Reader (PRE-CANON)

Warnings: none

Word Count: 965

Summary: The war is over. (Y/N) wouldn’t have missed Tommy’s return for the world, but unfortunately her boss doesn’t find his homecoming as important as she does. But things have a way of working out this time.

— November, 1918 —

The bell to the flower shop rang, signalling that someone had entered the store. (Y/N) couldn’t even be bothered to turn and see who it was. She was too busy begrudgingly shoving another tulip into one of the orders that her boss had left her with. A deep frown was etched into her features, and it grew deeper each time she let her mind wander.

I should be welcoming him home right now.

“Excuse me, do you have any red roses for sale?” a man’s voice came from the sale counter. (Y/N) didn’t even bother tearing her eyes away from the arrangement she was working on.

“No, sorry. They’ve all been bought,” she answered, hoping the man would leave without another word. A few moments passed, but the shop’s bell never rang. He was still standing at the counter. She didn’t have to look to feel his presence. Maybe if I ignore him, he’ll leave, she thought to herself as she snipped the stem of the next flower she was planning on using in the bouquet.

The man didn’t leave though. (Y/N) waited a few moments longer, gaining as much information about him that she could from looking at him through the corner of her eye. He was dressed only in brown, and his - what looked to be brown - hair was slicked back.

She let out a sigh and finally turned when it became clear to her that he wasn’t leaving. She wished she never let out a sigh when she was who was standing at the counter. Her eyes widened, and she blinked a few times to rule out the possibility that her mind was playing tricks on her. But he was still standing there.

“Have you forgotten the sound of my voice, love?” Tommy asked her, a smile creeping onto his features as he saw her shock.

(Y/N) rounded the corner and was in his arms within seconds. Tommy held her tightly against him, nestling his face into her neck and inhaling her sweet scent.

“You’re home,” she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. She clung to him like her life depended on it; like if she let go even the slightest bit, they’d both turn to dust and blow away.

“I’m home,” Tommy responded, turning his head to press his lips to her cheek.

They held the embrace for a few more moments before (Y/N) finally loosened her grip and stepped back slightly to get a better look at him. “I’m sorry I wasn’t at the station,” she said to him while wiping the tears from her eyes. “Mr. Johnson wanted me to work today.”

“There’s no need to apologize, (Y/N),” Tommy assured her with a shake of his head, “I knew you would have been there if you could. Your mum told me where you were,” he added then, laughing slightly when (Y/N)’s eyes widened for the second time.

“You went to my mum’s house?” she quite literally gasped, shocking filling her features once again.

“I did. I wasn’t sure where you were and figured she’d know,” he answered nonchalantly. (Y/N) took in the information, exhaled a long breath and decided to let it go. Right now she was just happy that her fiancé was home, for good. “All good?” Tommy broke the silence, making (Y/N) realize that nothing had been said for a few moments.

“Yeah,” she answered, taking a moment to really study his face. It looked sharper now than it did before, and any baby fat that was left had now disappeared. But she was still able to see her Tommy beneath it all. He became more prevalent as a smile started to break onto his features. God how she missed that smile.

“(Y/N)?” his voice brought her out of her thoughts and made her focus in on him again.

“Yeah?” she asked, wondering why he said her name.

“Are you ok?” he asked, his eyebrows raised.

“Yeah,” she breathed while nodding, a smile taking over her features as she felt her cheeks heat up. She just had to look away from him to conceal her reaction. Tommy’s chuckle told her that he’d saw it though. She’d been with him how many years now and still she’d get shy around him.

Silence surrounded them again until she lifted her head to match his eyes once more. Tommy hadn’t taken his gaze off of her since he entered the shop. She almost wanted to melt - again - under his gaze.

“I just…I missed you,” she whispered after a few more moments passed. She bit on her bottom lip to try and stop the tears from flowing, but they were too quick. Tommy saw them before she could swipe them away and he had her back in his arms within seconds.

“I missed you too, love,” he whispered back as he held her tight against his body. “But I’m not leavin’ you again,” he added, his words making her hold onto him even tighter. He took hold of her shoulders then so that he could hold her at arms length. “You hear me, eh? I’m not leavin’,” he told her again, his eyes focused right on hers.

“Please don’t,” she whispered through her tears.

“I won’t,” he assured her, “and we’re gonna get married. The first chance we have. I’m gonna make sure we have the wedding you deserve. Ok?”

“Ok,” she nodded in response, a smile forming on her face as she wiped the last tears from her cheeks. “I love you, Tommy,” she said then, her words making a smile form on his face.

“I love you, (Y/N),” he repeated the phrase before leaning in and pressing his lips to hers in a passionate kiss.

**tagging in reblogs so hopefully the notification gets sent out

MASTERLIST

#tommy shelby #tommy shelby x reader #tommy shelby x y/n #tommy shelby blurb #tommy shelby imagine #tommy shelby fanfic #tommy shelby fanfiction #peaky blinders #peaky blinders x reader #peaky blinders x y/n #peaky blinders blurb #peaky blinders imagine #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky blinders fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #k’s 3.5k celebration

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dearshelby · 1 year

Text

“You're young, you're wild, you're free, you're dancing circles around me”

Pre-war!Tommy x reader

#I'm yearning for pre war tommy and I must let y'all know #the empty space at the side of the gun is bothering me SO DAMN MUCH #tommy shelby x reader #peaky blinders moodboard

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all-mirth-no-matter · 1 year

Text

Time After Time | Chapter Eight

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x Reader, Tommy Shelby x Original Female Character

Summary: Chapters two through seven from Tommy’s POV.

Warning: language, smoking, war mention(ish), PTSD mention(ish), suicide thought, ethnic slur

Side Note: Taking some liberties with some of the back and pre-pilot stories, as well as some of the stuff we just don’t know (Harry’s backstory and involvement in the war, as an example). Just go with it lol.

ao3 link | catch up on tumblr here

Chapter Eight: Devil Inside Me

There’s a devil inside of me, and he’s holding on. And I don’t know if he’s staying, or for how long. Pulling at my heart-strings, kicking in my mind. And I’m sad to say he’s got me thinking, about the bad parts of my life. — Devil Inside Me, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes

Tommy was a dead man, walking through a life he knew he shouldn’t be walking, breathing an air that he shouldn’t be breathing. The realization that he hadn’t in fact died, or that he was actually going to go home, hadn’t even set in until hours after he stepped out of the train station the day they all came home.

Well, not all of them came home. The faces of those he left with, who he fought with, who hadn’t been “as lucky” as him were always there, flashing just behind his eyelids with each blink.

Ghosts of a fate that should have been his.

He knew he wasn’t the same Tommy Shelby who’d left those handful of years ago. None of the men who were returning with him were. He could see it in Polly’s eyes the moment she saw them — a relief that was immediately replaced with a new coat of worry.

Looking around as he stepped off the train, he was surrounded by men of all ages embracing their loved ones, crying, weeping. He watched John cradle his wife’s face as he kiss her, his children surrounding his legs. He watched Ada hug Arthur, then Freddie, before pulling him in for an extra tight hug. Tommy should have felt that same level of relief that he could see on his brothers and best mate’s faces, to be walking on English soil.

But he still felt like a dead man. And it was all because of her.

The first face Tommy saw as he stepped off the train was hers — the same face he saw while he laid in the mud. Another ghost, standing amongst the sea of people.

The girl seemed just as surprised to see him as he’d been, and in a moment she was dropping her head and turning to leave. Tommy started to move forward faster, determined to reach her before she disappeared again. But by the time he breached the crowd in front of him, she was gone, and the cries of welcome from Polly, Ada, Finn, Martha, and John’s kids pulled him out of his odd trance. But still, in the back of his mind he wrestled with whether she’d really been there in the flesh this time, or if she were just another vision.

Riding back into Birmingham, into Small Heath, and then walking down Watery Lane felt like a dream. His brothers and mates wanted to go to the Garrison first thing, but Tommy just wasn’t ready. After years of living in the trenches, the world around him felt very loud, very crowded, and he just needed a moment of peace in his old bedroom.

Polly had kept his room the same as when he left. The clothes and sheets were recently washed, she’d told them on their way in. Tommy wondered if he could even fit in those old clothes of his anymore, instead choosing to pull out a shirt to sleep in from his luggage, breathing in the familiar scent.

As he dug around further in his bag, he found the medals they’d given him. Acts of heroism and gallantry, the voices of those who’d presented them to him echoed through his mind as he scoffed. He picked them up and threw them in a drawer, then laid down on his bed. A few minutes later, he sat up and dropped his head into his hands, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. He could hear the cheers outside, the music, the merriment and excitement of the war end, of husbands and fathers and sons returning home.

Suddenly furious, he tore the drawer open and grabbed the medals and his coat, barreling out of his room and into the streets.

“Tommy!” A female voice he barely recognized called out to him from the outside of the Garrison.

He turned in time to Lizzie Stark wave a handkerchief at him, starting to walk his way. Ignoring her, he turned away and continued to walk, knowing that would be enough response to keep her from following as he walked down to the bridge. He waited at the ledge for a moment to see if anyone had followed him, but the music and merriment remained behind him as he pulled out a cigarette and looked down into the watery darkness of the Cut.

The canal always made him think about his mother — another ghost in his life — and he wondered for a moment how much better it would be if he joined her. He wasn’t supposed to be here anyway, how easy would it be to just lean his weight forward.

Right now, he reasoned that there were only two futures at play for him. He already saw the effects the war had on some of the other survivors, some of his comrades — the Flanders Blues.

Danny had nightmares, and now it was starting to effect his waking hours, taking him ages to come back even after he’d already awoken. And there were others who were suffering far worse — like Barney, who had what they were now referring to as shell-shock, and Tommy feared would never be able to shake it and wondered if he’d ever leave the institution they’d admitted him in.

Even now, Tommy could close his eyes and still hear the guns, the shouts, of shovels and picks breaking into the earth. He could feel the ever looming threat of breaking through the mud and finding the enemy — of always being so close to death.

He couldn’t even imagine a world where the things he’d seen would ever fade from his memory. The gore, the blood, the flesh. The smell of burning, of gas, of fire, of dirt, of blood.

Whether those who’d died had found their way to a better place, Tommy no longer believed such a place existed. There was only a hell, and he’d volunteered to enter.

The medals burned in his hand as he thought about all those ghosts — his friends, his comrades, even his enemies. They were gone, and he was here.

He thought back to what he’d said to his brothers and comrades after they found out the war had officially ended. That this was their second life, their bonus life. Even then, Tommy wasn’t sure if he actually believed what he’d said in the throws of victory, of finding out that they weren’t going to die after accepting their fates. But now, standing over the Cut, Tommy knew that the only option for him was the second option.

No one was ever going to put him or his family in the mud again. That one day, he’d build his family up so high that not even the King himself would be able to touch them. That was the only way they’d ever truly be able to find safety and peace.

Lifting the medals into the street light, he read the engraving one final time before letting them slip through his fingers. He closed his eyes until he heard the expected splash.

What he hadn’t expected to hear was a person exclaiming below the bridge.

“Oi!” Tommy shouted, suspicion that he’d been followed creeping into his paranoid mind. “Someone down there?”

Not waiting for a response, Tommy was already off the bridge and walking toward the underpass when he heard a woman respond.

“You almost took me out,” the voice quipped, the body still leaning over the waters edge near where the waves were still bouncing.

When the body straightened and turned toward him, he instantly recognized it.

It was her — it was you.

He breathed in deep, remembering his lit cigarette, and for a moment he had the thought that he’d actually jumped.

Tommy could tell by the look on your face that you recognized him as well, and that the fact that you were standing there together was just as a surprise to you as it was for him.

“You were at the train station,” he tested, moving closer to the street light to get a better view and hope that it would prompt you to follow suit. Which, you did.

The last two times he’d seen you felt different than this. Where before, even at the train station, you’d felt ethereal, otherworldly. Now, in this moment, you felt real, your body fidgeting uncomfortably as your eyes moved everywhere but refused to meet his own. He took the opportunity to get a better look at the mystery woman.

The first thing he noticed was how different you looked now than you had in his vision. You were dressed in something similar to what his sister had been wearing earlier that evening. And while your hair seemed slightly in disarray and face looked flushed, you looked just as beautiful as you had the first time he’d seen you.

His vision flashed before him, and he recalled the different version of you he’d seen. In his vision, you had on considerably less clothes, the recollection of your long, bare legs had him moving his eyes down your body.

When his eyes reached back up to your face, your eyes finally met his again and a blush crept across your cheeks. Part of him wondered if you could read his thoughts.

“I was,” you finally replied, your voice a little stronger than he’d expected. You motioned toward the water. “And you were throwing some medals into the river, yeah?”

Sobering up, Tommy felt his back straighten a little at the notion. He hadn’t expected you to notice what exactly he’d thrown into the water. He narrowed his eyes, took a long drag of his cigarette, and made some comment about how the fish could have them.

“Don’t think the fish’ll have much use for them,” you replied back, and he didn’t miss the way your eyes wrinkled and mouth flinched, as if holding back a smile at your own joke.

Despite himself, the sight actually amused him enough to breathe out a shrug. “Seems we have that in common, then.”

Not prompted at all by the thought of your legs from his vision, Tommy began to wonder how difficult it would be to persuade you to join his bed. It’d been a while since the last time he’d slept with someone.

Your voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he realized you’d indicated that you were leaving. He didn’t want you to leave though.

“You a whore?” He asked, reasoning that if he could pay you to stay with him, it’d be the easiest way to keep you from disappearing again.

It wasn’t a crazy question. There weren’t many women walking around alone, at night, in Birmingham, who weren’t offering some intimate services. He knew it was where his unmarried brother and mates would be ending their nights tonight. Hell, one of them was probably giving Lizzie the attention he’d denied her at this very moment.

He didn’t have anything against prostitutes, it was just another business transaction in his opinion. Plus, it was an easy way to have sex without the mess of feelings.

But the way you’d rounded on him, planting your feet just a step away from him as your face contorted into something different than the one he’d just seen, his opinion on the question changed.

You dove into a rant asking what the hell was wrong with him.

“No, I’m not a whore!” You’d finally said. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t support a woman’s choice to sell her services to men who will pay if it means making enough to survive in this God awful existence!”

Tommy chuckled, realizing that the two of you felt the same way about the profession. “So, you aren’t a whore, but you respect ‘em, is that it?”

You rolled your eyes and the sight made him want to smile again. He reasoned that this woman before him had no idea who he was — no person in Small Heath outside of his own family dared to talk to him like this, much less roll their eyes at him without the fear of his blade cutting through them, male or female. You were fearless, it seemed — or stupid. Either way, for the moment it intrigued him.

“Everyone sells part of themselves for something eventually. Sometimes it’s a woman laying on her back for a man. Sometimes it’s a man crawling through the mud for a King.”

Your comment made Tommy shift immediately from amused and intrigued to angry.

No, you weren’t afraid of him, but you should be.

His eyes narrowed as he took a step closer to you, straightening his back and shoulders, expecting you to flinch. But you didn’t, and he couldn’t figure out why the refusal to back away or even break eye contact made him want to kiss you rather than punish you.

“You should go home,” he decided to say, choosing to soften his voice instead of raise it. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t stop himself from scanning down your face to your lips. “The next man you meet alone, under a bridge, at night, might not be as accepting to your ideologies as I am.” He darted his tongue out to lick his own lips when you pulled your bottom lip in between your teeth. While he was willing to let you get away with what you said to him this time, he still wanted to make you realize the vulnerable state you were in, how much power he really had. “If he says you’re a whore, he might treat you like one in spite of your pretty words.”

He watched you finally react, a shiver running through you as your eyes met his again. He noticed the blush on your cheeks deepen as you took a step back, telling him you appreciated the advice before a strong breeze caused you to wrap your arms around your body.

Tommy hadn’t even felt the cold since the minute he laid eyes on you, the adrenaline from marching down to the Cut and then finally getting to speak to you had his blood boiling. Without even realizing it, Tommy was shrugging his coat off his own shoulders and offering it to you, who hesitated slightly before accepting it. The sight of the oversized coat hanging around your shoulders made his chest tighten. He couldn’t figure out why it looked so right on you.

Before he realized it, you were stepping away from him toward the steps of the bridge. His eyes met yours again, and something shifted behind them. Before he could ask, you welcomed him home and turned to finally disappear into the darkness, leaving him alone by the water’s edge again.

Tommy didn’t know why he’d had a vision of you months ago. He didn’t know why he had met you tonight, or how it seemed you also knew about him. But he did know one thing — he was going to find out.

——

Despite his initial internal promise to find out more about the mystery woman, Tommy found his attention otherwise occupied as he threw his energy into building back up the family name and reputation. And despite Polly’s insistence that they take a few days to get back in the swing of things, Tommy spent all his free time reacquainting himself with the family books, starting with the furthest back and moving his way forward. He was happy to discover that true to her letters, Polly had been keeping the betting business going with no qualms. Even with the amount of men in the war, there was enough steady flow of cash to keep everything afloat.

The family business side of things hadn’t been as lucky. While still viable thanks in part to members of their gang who hadn’t enlisted, there had definitely been a drop in income. Tommy made a note of all the people he was going to need to visit.

He could feel Polly hovering as he read through the books throughout the days. Having grown up with his aunt practically raising him, he knew how overprotective she was over her kin, so part of him thought nothing of it at first.

He was nearly done with all the books, finally getting halfway through this year’s ledgers, when he discovered the real reason for Polly’s hovering.

“Polly!” he shouted from his office, standing up and grabbing both books he’d been looking at before moving into the kitchen. He threw the first book open on the table in front of his aunt and pointed to the margins. “Who the fuck’s handwriting is this?”

“Tommy—“ Polly began, moving quickly to close the doors to the bustling betting den.

“Who the fuck’s handwriting is this, hmm?” He tapped against the book pages harder, leaning against the table as Polly closed the other doors, concealing them from any eyes or ears that may have followed Tommy’s tirade. “Fuckin’ answer me, Pol.”

“I hired someone, alright Thomas?” her voice answered softly in contrast to his volume as she shook her head, waving him off. “You didn’t expect after all this time that we wouldn’t bring in new help.”

Tommy threw a second book on top of the first and pointed again at the same handwriting in the margins. “And what is the same fucking handwriting doin’ in the family book, eh?”

Polly held his gaze.

“Did an estranged family member show up while we were away? Perhaps a bastard looking for a father, or a long lost brother?”

She didn’t answer, her eyes narrowing at her nephew’s condescending questions as he went on, taking her silence as a no.

“Okay then, how ‘bout a new uncle? Did you get married and you just forgot to bloody mention it, Pol? Is there a new last name we should be calling ‘ya?”

“No,” Polly answered straight, crossing her arms defensively as Tommy rose up.

“No,” Tommy repeated as a mock and his body mirrored hers, crossing his own arms. “So, there is a non-family member auditing our family books then, yeah?”

“Yes,” Polly answered again.

Tommy took a deep breath, trying not to let his aunt’s stubbornness rile him up. There was information she was keeping from him, that she’d been keeping from him, and he wanted to know everything immediately.

“Go on, Pol,” he went on, his voice still even despite its rise a few moments ago. “Tell me what you were thinking.”

Polly held Tommy’s gaze for a moment before finally relenting, taking a deep breath that matched his own.

“She’s a friend of Ada’s—“

“Fucking hell—“ Tommy’s eyes shot upward as he felt his entire body groan at the mention of his sister.

He loved Ada, but the girl had never shown any interest in their business, either business, her entire life. In fact, the girl had never taken anything serious, so he couldn’t imagine the kind of company she chose.

“She’s smart, Thomas,” Polly insisted, the use of his full name showing her seriousness. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, handing it to him. “Here, see for yourself. That’s a list of everyone who has tried to steal or skim money from us since she started.”

Tommy opened the paper, and immediately recognized most of the names. Two had been men he’d hired himself years ago.

“It started with the betting books. Then I gave her one of our books just to see if she could spot anything. She didn’t know what it meant, just told her to cross check names and numbers.”

Tommy took another deep breath, “If she’s so smart, how do you know she didn’t know what it meant, eh? How do you know you can trust her?”

“Ask around,” she offered. “You’ll come to the same conclusion I did.”

“Where is she now?”

“I told her to stay away until you made your decision.”

“What decision is that? Whether to invite her back or kill her?” Polly’s eyes narrowed, and the reaction actually surprised him. He scoffed, “Really, ‘ave you gone soft on us now, Pol?”

She held her glare before raising her hand. “Just— just look into her first. Do that, and I’ll tell you everything I’ve learned. But, be discreet. Her employment was and still is a secret. Plenty of men were angry when we started taking care of that list.”

Tommy noticed some of the names next to the list had symbols next to them, understanding the meaning behind them. The two men he’d brought in both had black stars next to theirs.

“Any threats?” Without realizing, Tommy began to take a closer look at Polly, searching for any new cuts, scars, or faded bruises.

She scoffed, smiling as she shook her head. “Nothing we couldn’t handle.”

Tommy took a deep breath, taking another look at the list. This really was impressive, and he was curious how exactly the girl had come to discover all of this. He’d paid close attention to her notes in the margins of the books and could already believe Polly’s insistence of her intelligence.

But that didn’t mean she was trustworthy. This wouldn’t be the first time they’d been double crossed or infiltrated by an enemy or copper.

“Fine. You’ve got a deal,” he finally said, folding the list up and putting it in his own pocket. “Just tell me her name.”

“Y/N.”

——

It didn’t take long for Tommy to find out where this Y/N lived and worked. Not only was the number of people moving into Small Heath minimal, but especially young women.

Tommy had been avoiding the pubs since he came home, he still wasn’t ready to dive back into the crowds. But he heard the rumors of a pretty, out-of-town barmaid at the Garrison, and his curiosity finally won over.

He thought his chances would be better if he went over early, and despite being gone for a few years, the old pub hadn’t changed a bit. Which meant, he knew exactly which nook and cranny to hide inconspicuously while the afternoon bustle began to ramp up.

So far, it was just Harry tending the bar, the sitting area still sparse enough for one person to manage. Tommy watched as a couple men filtered in and out of the snug, and an idea began to formulate as he waited.

He’d always liked the Garrison — it was conveniently closer to the house than any of the other pubs in the area, and it was slowly becoming the heart of the town for the everyday man. Presumably, all were welcome, even the men who preferred pubs that catered more toward the commies or Fenians.

And he liked Harry. The man had never treated he or his family any different for being gypsies — Tommy chalked that up to him coming from Irish travelers himself. Even after Harry began to pay the Shelbys for their protection, he’d still treated them without some of the passive aggressive bitterness that some other patrons held. There was always a layer of respect, of common sense, and even a hint of humor that Tommy always appreciated.

Even now, when Harry found him sitting in the dark corner of the bar with his paper raised like a shield, he hadn’t questioned and didn’t bring attention, an unspoken understanding it seemed and instead simply dropped a tumbler down in front of him and kept an eye on its fill level. And as if the man needed any more of a reason, Harry had fought in the war, up until he was sent home, and Tommy respected any man who fought for his country.

Yes, Tommy liked Harry, and decided in that moment to make the Garrison the Shelbys official pub.

He was beginning to formulate the deal proposal when the office door to his right opened and a body emerged. He pulled back up his racing paper, lowering it just enough so he could take in the backside form of a young woman as the door closed behind her and she walked toward the bar. He tried to listen as the women sat a book on the counter in front of Harry. The owner scratched his head as he looked at the page and shrugged. Tommy could read Harry’s lips as he shoved the book back toward the woman and told her he trusted her. She grabbed it and practically skipped away from the counter, obviously happy with the outcome of the exchange, and turned back toward the office door.

It was you.

The girl from his vision, from the train station, from the Cut.

You were Y/N.

Tommy felt his blood run cold at the realization and froze as you continued to look down at the book and walked right back into the office. You hadn’t seen him this time, and for that he was grateful.

Because right now, he was angry.

Who the hell were you, and what right did you have invading his space like this? First his mind, then his home, and now his business? Who the hell did you think you were?

His blood turned from ice to a boil as he stood up and stormed out of the front door. Tommy could feel Harry’s gaze follow him with a silent question that he knew better than to ask.

Tommy’s feet took him to the person who led him there: his aunt.

Polly was near the fire, stacking some of the logs from the shed in preparation for a cold night. It was mid-December now, and the days were growing shorter than ever. All outdoor chores had to be done before supper and Polly always liked to get everything squared up and out of the way before she had to begin.

She heard Tommy storm in through the front door, she could always identify the sound of his footsteps over his brothers, even at a young age. He was heavy in the heels and he was always in a hurry, walking with his shoulders forward. Polly took it as a sign that he would be a leader one day, always firm in his resolve and destined to forever chase a dream bigger than himself.

“Welcome back,” she said evenly, already feeling his attitude before he even made it through the doorway.

Tommy didn’t answer her, only moved to close the door behind him, and then the betting doors, despite the house being quiet at the moment.

Polly wiped her hands on her skirt and rose to look at her nephew, the sight bringing a crease to her brow.

Tommy was always composed, the number of times she hadn’t seen him so could be counted on one hand. But now, in front of her, she could add another count to her list as she reached for him.

“Tommy,” she started calmly, urging him to sit before taking the seat next to him. She was trying to decipher if his expression was one of anger, shock, or something worse. “Tell me, what is it?”

His eyes finally flicked up to his aunt, and the anger returned. “Y/N.”

Polly took in a deep breath, more of the picture starting to fall in place as her back straightened. “You saw her?”

He nodded.

“You talked to her?”

He shook his head.

Polly licked her lips and tightened them. “Why not?”

Tommy ran a hand over his face and assessed his aunt. He was contemplating whether he should tell her his vision. Polly was more in tune to visions and spirits than he was. And despite his outward skepticism of most things religious or religious adjacent, there was something deep within him that was never able to fully dismiss some of the mysteries that came from the Romani people. That’s why he was always respectful toward old gypsy women, and took extra caution to his aunt’s warnings. Same with Curly, his Uncle Charlie, and even his mother back in the day. Whether it was real or just something familiar from his upbringing, he knew without a doubt his aunt could have some insight into all this.

Hell, she probably already had some insight. It wasn’t lost on him that his aunt often knew things that he didn’t. And while usually that was something he trusted to use to the family’s advantage, right now he wanted to know everything.

“We’ve already met,” he decided to begin there, not totally lying but not divulging the whole truth yet. “The night we returned, down by the Cut. It wasn’t exactly the best of introductions.”

“Oh Thomas, tell me you didn’t —“

His brow creased at her response, noticing the look on her face and realizing what she must have thought. He breathed out of his nose, “Nothing like that, Pol. We just talked. I did ask if she was a whore and she nearly pushed me in the water.”

The corner of Polly’s lips flew into a smirk as she tried to refrain from chuckling. It was difficult though, she could only imagine what that must have looked like.

“Tell me what you know,” he continued, back to business. “This girl keeps showing up in my life and I want to know why.”

Polly took a deep breath, her smile turning serious as she leaned back in her chair. He wondered if she caught his use of the word ‘keeps’ and would push on it.

She didn’t, for now at least. “I told you I would tell you once you found out more for yourself.”

“I’ll keep looking into her — discreetly,” he added when he saw she was about to remind him of her secrecy. “But right now I know enough and if I don’t hear what you have to say it might make things worse.”

The anger he was feeling before crept back up. He thought about facing you again in this state, and truly he wasn’t sure how he’d react. Part of him believed he’d just torture you into telling what you wanted from him, who you were working for, what your game was. The other part of him believed he’d fling you over his shoulder and bring you to his bedroom. Both of which would be unhelpful to his current situation.

Something bigger was going on here. He could feel it. And he wanted to know what.

Polly was watching him during his internal battle and could sense his edge. She took a deep breath before nodding. “I believe she’s gypsy,” she stated simply. “Maybe not bred, but by blood.”

Tommy hadn’t expected Polly’s big insight to be this. He restrained himself from scoffing. “That’s it? Just because she might be gypsy you think she’s trustworthy to be privy to our family books?”

Yes, Tommy and his family came from a long line of Romani blood. But that didn’t mean it held any stock with him. Outside of his own family and extended family, other gypsies would be some of the last people Tommy would trust.

“I think she has a gift, Thomas,” Polly continued seriously. “The first day I saw her, the day she met Ada, she predicted the end of the war months before it happened. To the day.”

Tommy’s brow creased. “One correct guess and suddenly she’s a fortune teller?”

“It’s not just that. There was gossip when she first arrived. Mrs. Tully was chirping about a batty new tenant who finally arrived in the empty lodgings they’d been keeping. Said she acted like she’d been living under a rock all her life — didn’t even act like she knew there was a war going on. Strange that a girl who barely knew about the war could guess the exact date of its end, isn’t it?”

Tommy made a mental note to add Mrs. Tully to his list of people to question. “I suppose. But still doesn’t sound concrete to me.”

“Perhaps, but there’s one piece that solidified my guess,” Polly replied, straightening in her seat. “She has a tattoo on her back — I only caught a glimpse but I’m sure of what I saw. I’ve seen the symbol before, once, when I was a girl. The crest of the Delphi family.”

Tommy’s shoulders squared at the name. He, like most gypsies, were familiar with the name and the crest. It was one of the oldest Romani families still around, and there was a reason for that. Their age and their affinity for fortune telling deepened their pockets enough to provide them with muscle and protection. They were ruthless when wronged, and their leader was said to unleash unimaginable curses on her enemies.

And according to Polly — you, his mystery woman, had their symbol branded on your back.

He ran through the possibilities of what this could mean in his head. You could have been a family member who ran away, or a slave to one of the leaders. Polly had mentioned she didn’t think you were brought up in the gypsy life, and from the little bit of interaction he had with you, he was inclined to agree. There had to be a connection between this woman, this family, and his dream. Which was beginning to feel more and more like a curse, or an omen to stay away.

But then, why did every instinct fuel him to get closer, to find out more?

He got up from the kitchen table and began walking back toward the pub. He ignored Polly’s call behind him, obviously worried he’d do something irrational.

But Tommy was beginning to form a plan, a battle strategy, if you will. To defeat the enemy, you had to know the enemy. And whether Y/N fell in that definition for him or not, he needed to gather as much as he could before he made any call.

Over the next day, he managed to speak with Harry while avoiding you. It was easier to ask about you in the pretense of dangling a business proposal, claiming that he needed to trust his employees as much as the owner when it came to matters like this.

“Oh, ‘ya shouldn’t ‘ave a problem there,” Harry had told him.

“Forgive me for askin’, Harry, it’s just you don’t normally give jobs to women. Especially pretty women.”

Harry breathed out of his nose before waving his hand dismissively. “Findin’ anyone to work when I got back was bloody impossible, mate. And when I finally could find help, even if they was a girl, they’d end up spending more time makin’ their own money on the side, if’ya know what I mean.” Harry scoffed, shaking his head. “But let me tell ‘ya, Y/N’s been a dream since she showed up.”

Tommy’s back tightened at the use of phrase.

“She came in with all these ideas and improvements, ‘processes’ she calls ‘em. I tell ‘ya, I ‘aven’t met a more educated woman before in my life. I fought the changes at first, but dammit I can’t fight against less waste and more money. Oh, and don’t worry — I made sure she wasn’t a prostitute. Asked her ‘for I hired her.”

The corner of Tommy’s cheek rose slightly at the comment, curious if he’d been the latest of a long line of people asking her the same question.

“And you’re sure?” Tommy asked, just to scratch a curiosity. “Not even recreationally?”

Despite himself, Tommy couldn’t keep out the thought of your blushed cheeks down at the Cut, the way you pulled your bottom lip between your teeth, and the bareness of your legs in his vision. He adjusted in his seat before forcing his mind to stop before it went too far, noting to make an appointment with Lizzie the next time he saw her.

Harry shrugged, oblivious to Tommy’s internal struggle. “She’s nice to the men at the bar, enough to keep the place calm and in good spirits. But I’ve ‘eard her turn down enough of ‘em to know she’s not interested in making an extra bob like that. Only once did I ‘ave to throw a man out for trying anything on her, and that was after she’d already damaged his boys herself. After that, the men seemed to get the message. She’s pretty though, and a good barmaid — think that’s why they keep comin’ back.”

Tommy breathed a short breath of amusement out of his nose at the thought of you fighting. Granted, he’d seen enough fights between Ada and John to know that women would hit where ever they could to get the upper hand in combat, and he didn’t blame her.

“I promise ‘ya, Tom,” Harry had continued talking. “You can trust her. Whatever business you want to do with me, Y/N could only make it better.”

“Give me a week to make my own assessment,” Tommy replied. They ironed out the stipulations of how Tommy could make such an assessment and agreed to keep it secret. He could sense Harry’s hesitation, and he wondered if it was out of protectiveness or something else.

But eventually, a handshake sealed the agreement and Tommy promised to have the deal finalized and ready by the time he finished.

A little more than a week later, and Tommy came to three absolute conclusions about you.

First: you had a secret. He could tell predominately by the way you talked to people and by the way you carried yourself when you thought people were looking. It wasn’t obvious — in fact, it’s subtlety was one of the more glaring identifiers to someone who was looking as closely as Tommy was.

Second: you weren’t a threat. At least, not to his family or their operation. Aside from the Garrison, your lodgings, the local grocer, and the bath house that he knew Ada frequented, you didn’t have any odd routes that previous coppers narcs had taken in the past. Y/N hardly had a life outside of the pub, Tommy realized, and found it strange. You didn’t go out with any men or friends, the way other women your age did. Hell, even Ada managed to leave the house at least twice a week to go out with her friends. But not you.

You were especially less threatening when he caught you on the first night you were closing up the pub since he began his investigation. Everything was going as expected, until about an hour into the clean up when you began to sing. From his spot (which he’d managed to obtain permission from Harry to watch from with the promise that he wouldn’t do anything unsavory or harmful) he could see and watch as you sang some foreign song and danced around frivolously with your broomstick.

It was hard to imagine you as some nefarious mastermind after watching you slip on a spot of tobacco spit on the floor while extending your arm in front of you and clasping your hand together, then jumping in the air as you shook your fist while singing some repetitive salutations to an invisible audience.

That had actually caused him to laugh, something he hadn’t done genuinely and wholeheartedly since returning to Birmingham.

The last conclusion Tommy made while watching you was the oddest, he thought.

You didn’t smoke. At all.

He didn’t know anyone who didn’t smoke. Hell, even Finn had been caught smoking a handful of times since the brothers returned. And he was ten years old.

Tommy chalked the last observation up to the air of posh-ness he sensed you possessed. He felt strangely drawn to it, and after your odd drinking game after he finally approached you did it only increase.

He still couldn’t quite get a read on you. There was an innocence he could see about you, especially when it came to your understanding of who he was and his place in this world. On the other hand, your eyes held a heavy weight to them that warned him not to underestimate you. That there was wisdom mixed with the innocence that he couldn’t quite detangle.

He’d gauged your reaction to his reveal that he’d dreamed about you. You’d been genuinely surprised, though that hadn’t brought him much reassurance. If anything, it made him more frustrated by the series of events, especially when he had to use every ounce of resistance not to kiss you.

You'd given him all the signs — hell, he probably could have bed you that night if he’d asked to walk you to your bedroom. But you weren’t just some random woman or a prostitute. He’d asked you to officially work again for their company, for their family. He couldn’t be flippant with his more primitive instincts with you.

Plus, if there was something more going on here, something deeper, he wanted to make sure he had all the answers before he made himself too vulnerable. He had not only himself, but his family to think about.

After he left you at Mrs. Tully’s, he began his search for Johnny Dogs, determined that some kind of explanation had to be found in the Delphi camp.

But now, you and him were here. And Tommy felt just as confused and frustrated as he had when they first met.

Just get through the night, Tommy told himself as he led a freaked out you toward the jovial crowd of gypsies dancing around the bon fire. The time for secrets must end.

>> next chapter << chapter masterlist

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anonymooseforever007 · 1 year

Text

The Proposal

(Technically Pre!Luca Changretta x female Shelby reader)

Summery: Despite the assumption of many others Thomas Shelby didn't like unnecessary bloodshed and neither did Luca Changretta. So before a full out gang war could begin, they came up with a plan to make peace between the families.....And obviously the best plan they could come up with was an arranged marriage. And even more obviously not everyone one was pleased....namely the bride.

A/N: Hi Y'all! No trigger warnings other than usually Peaky Language and discussion of arranged marriage. Y/N is furious. Luca isn't in this one but he's technically the groom so....I wrote this purely to prequel another part I'm still writing! Also this is technically S4ish but it breaks away from cannon and is my idea of how a Shelby sister may react if Tommy tried to marry her off to prevent the vendetta! Enjoy❤️!

WC- 1.5k

Main Masterlist Part 2

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You walked into the Shelby Company Limited, waving and exchanging happy greetings with those who offered them. Lizzie looked at you as you approached her desk.

"Hi Lizzie! How have you been today? I absolutely love your dress today, the color is brilliant! You wouldn't happen to know if my brothers are in would you?"

Lizzie smiled, "Hello Y/N. Thanks, I got it at this new shop. I can give you the address of the store later if you'd like. I've been alright, your brothers are planning something though. Been in since this morning I've got no clue what it is though."

"Ohh that would be perfect! Thanks. It was, as always, nice seeing you," you nodded pleasantly to your friend as you started to move to the private office. "Oh and Lizzie? I'm sorry about the noise,"

"Wha..."

"THOMAS MICHAEL SHELBY!!! I WILL STRIP YOUR FUCKING BALLS AND USE THEM AS SKIPPING STONES!!"

The entire betting shop went deathly silent as the you stormed in, heading straight into your brother's office. Slamming the door behind, you ignored everyone else in the room and went directly for your target, grabbing him by his collar to bring his face closer to your attacking fist.

Unfortunately you, and luckily for him, Arthur and John had just barely managed to grab you by the waist and drag you back a few steps before your fist could make contact. Unluckily for them, you turned your wrath another way, practically jumping in the air to land a foot of yours on each of theirs, before dragging them both forward so their heads collided with a hard thud. Both men groaned while you made another break for your older brother. This time he was expecting it and grabbed you in a hold that would be harder to escape. Your hands were trapped between your two bodies and Tommy had one arm around your back, preventing you from pulling back. He'd even managed to wrap one on his legs tightly around the back of yours to prevent any attacks aimed in "softer areas". If someone hadn't heard your words previously, it may have even looked like he was hugging you. And not just that, but hugging the way Charlie liked to do whenever you saw him, wrapped as tightly around you as possibly, keeping you from moving away. And while you absolutely adored such cuddles with your young nephew, this was most certainly not like those times.

The entire company seemed to be frozen in silence waiting for what would happen next. Those outside the office listened for the sounds of more yelling of even the possible shot of a gun. And those in the office looked on at the brother and sister locked tensely together, seeming to have a ferocious conversation without a single word. The furious glare you were giving Tommy would make any man question himself, but your brother only met your glare with an equally strong stare of his own.

Then with an annoyed sigh you finally relaxed in your brother's arms. You looked at your captor with a raised eyebrow signalling to him that this is the part where he lets you go. Tightening his grip slightly, Tommy raised an eyebrow of his own.

"Are you done?"

".....Yes."

"Really?"

".....Yes."

"You're not gonna shout anymore?"

"....Yes."

"You won't punch me?"

".....Yes."

"You gonna apologize to John and Arthur?"

"No."

"Alright," he concluded, finally relaxing enough to let you step back from his grip.

...

You lied...

It was mere seconds later when Tommy's head was turned to the side with an echoing smack. His glasses cracked when they hit the other side of the room. You started to bat your hands at any brother trying to approach you.

"How fucking dare you!!! FIRST of all: sending Finn, FUCKING FINN, OUR BABY BROTHER, MY FINN to tell me because you don't have the balls to do it yourself! I was so worried when he came looking like he was going to throw up, you fucking bastards!! I thought he was hurt or someone died because he was so FUCKING anxious. But NO! He thought that I was going to STOP LOVING HIM because he was the one who had to tell me about your little WEDDING PLAN! DING DONG RING THE FUCKING WEDDING BELLS," you spat venomously, thinking of the absolutely miserable look on your youngest brother's face as he came to see you only an hour ago. Apparently, your other brothers thought if he was the only to break the news of your impending engagement you'd take it willingly, maybe even happily if it came from your favorite sibling. And to be fair, from him you had. You knew it wasn't his idea and given the fact he honesty looked like he was going to cry possibly, thinking you'd hate him forever because of his message. Like it was him who signed your death warrant. No, for Finn and only him you'd taken the news calmly, telling him it was alright and you'd didn't hate him. Reassuring him once again you loved him, and that he could come to you for anything at all anytime and that you also wanted him home by midnight; you'd left him with a tight hug, quick kiss on the side of his head, and some money to take the sweet girl he'd been talking with to the movies....

Then you set out for your older brothers....

Now here you were, giving them your real opinions which they hoped Finn would soften the brute of.

"AND on that note! Who THE FUCK are you? THINKING YOU THINK YOU HAVE ANY FUCKING RIGHT TO MARRY ME OFF FOR YOUR LITTLE PISSING PARTY," your volume increasing as you raged, while dodging around your brothers to climb on Tommy's' desk so you could yell at them without being cut off as easily. "JUST BECAUSE YOUR LITTLE BIRD BRAINS ONLY UNDERSTANDS PLANS INVOLVING FIGHTING AND FUCKING DOESN'T MEAN THEY'RE WHAT YOU SHOULD USE!!," John yelped as you stomped on his hand trying to grab your ankle to pull you off the desk. "I!! I WILL NOT BE USED IN ONE OF YOUR SHITTY LITTLE SCHEMES TO MAKE PEACE BECAUSE YOU MEN FUCKED SOMETHING UP AGAIN!! DO YOU FUCKING HEAR ME! I AM NOT SOME BARGAINING CHIP TO BE BET IN YOUR GAMBLING GAME," you kicked Tommy's stapler backwards towards Arthur's head as he tried to grab you from behind. "I WILL WORK WHERE I WANT. I WILL LIVE WHERE I WANT. MEET WHO I WANT. FIGHT WHO I WANT. AND FUCK WHO I WANT!! DO YOU YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND?!"

Again the room was silent as you and Tommy stared at each other. You from on top of his desk holding his empty whiskey glass, ready to throw, and him right in front, a bright red handprint blooming in his pale skin. Tommy opened his mouth to speak and you opened yours, still angry and ready to refute whatever he said. But then Tommy raised his arms in peace and took a few steps back slowly, keeping his eyes on yours in a show of surrender.

"Alright. Alright Y/N we've heard what you have to say..."

"Don't fucking patronize me Tommy. I'm not a fucking horse you can calm or sell on a whim," you refuted, sighing as the fight finally left you. You were still furious yes, but you were tired of yelling. It wasn't something you did often and even now you were really only doing it to keep yourself from hitting your brother again. He couldn't listen to you if he was unconscious. Still moving forward with his arms slightly raised Tommy tried again.

"Alright," Tommy repeated raising one hand to pinch the bridge of his nose like he did when he was stressed. Sure he expected you to be mad, you had even been pissed when he arranged John's marriage with Esme, and you adored the women as much if not more than John himself did. He knew your feelings on marrying for Love and not business and to be fair he didn't disagree. And even if it made him slightly sick to think of having to do this, a pact bound with marriage was the only was Luca would agree to reconsider the black hands.

'A bond thorough blood bound or blood spilled' those were his words.

"I get you're angry Y/N. And I'm sorry it had to be this way," Tommy spoke firmly but vaguely, and there was almost a slight pleading there, ask if he was asking you to let it go just this once. As if he was asking you to grab his jacket instead of tie yourself to a man you'd never met. "But you don't understand the situation we're in." Tommy moved to grab one of the papers you'd knocked off the desk in your ranting. He reached up to hand it to and you grabbed it before staring at it for a moment processing what was before you. And for some reason you couldn't explain but that paper was all it took for your anger to return full force. Who at kind of death threat even was this?

"YOU EXPECT ME TO GET MARRIED TO A STRANGER BECAUSE OF A FUCKING FINGER PAINTING?!"

....

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Part 2

Main Masterlist

#Peaky Blinders #Peaky blinders imagine #luca changretta #luca changretta x reader #luca changretta imagine #peaky blinders x reader #shelby!reader #shelby!sister

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