red↳ thomas shelby

- little bonus bc i love y'all <3 -

ok besties I promise that the next chapter is coming I already have four pages done, but in the meantime I though I'd drop a little bonus "chapter" with headcanons for this book that in my mind are just completely factual at this point, and just some more background info. thank you guys so much for your constant love and support and I actually can't believe that we're at 64K right now. I never imagined that people would actually read this when I started it less than a year ago <3

♔♔♔♔

WHEN THEY WERE KIDS

zara and theo had always been in a better financial state than the shelbys, but they continued to live in small heath because that's where james and his family were from, and it's where the kings was formed by james' father.

zara spent most of her time with her best friend, anna (she'll be coming back soon), or theo growing up, so she didn't really pay much attention to the shelby boys.

anna had the biggest crush on tommy so she knew who he was.

tommy really noticed her for the first time when they were twelve. they were in the schoolyard, and he was with his brothers while zar was sitting with some boy in their class. the boy kissed her cheek or something and zara punched him in the face. tommy just sat and watched and was like damn that's hot.

that was the beginning of his infatuation with her. he would try to get her attention by throwing dirt at her, or pulling her hair, or just saying crude things like little boys do.

I feel like one time she definitely chased him with scissors or something because he was so annoying, and she never forgot how annoying he was.

after that day he started to pay more attention to her and theo, and that's how I imagine that he found out about the upsides to the gang lifestyle.

he saw the house they lived in, the bar they owned, and how theo and zara never showed up to school wearing the same clothes more than once in a week, and always freshly washed.

in his young mind, he thought that by attaining this lifestyle he could give zara an even better life and win her over, and prove to her and everyone else that he was meant to have this lifestyle, and that he could give his family a better life.

he definitely associated her with the life that he dreamed of having, which also fed his infatuation.

DURING THE WAR

zara was at the market one day when she saw martha struggling to keep her and john's kids in check. she normally hates talking to people but she could tell how martha was on the verge of a breakdown and was like "maybe I should help her" .

she introduced herself and asked if martha needed any help taking her things back home, since she was juggling the bags, and trying to hold onto her kids. martha almost cried.

that was the first time zara went to the shelby house on watery lane. there, she met polly, ada, and little finn for the first time. ada was a teenager I think so she didn't really care too much about meeting zara, but they were friendly.

polly knows everything so she automatically knew who she was. at first she was wary, but she could read that zara was a genuinely good person, even if her actions didn't always support it.

martha made zara a cup of tea to say thank you, and they started chatting and became friends.

from then on, zara would go to watery lane almost every day, if she had time, to help the women out.

polly had even enlisted her help in the betting shop a few times since she knew zara was running the kings while james and theo were at war.

soon enough, zara asked martha if she and the kids wanted to stay with her since she was in her father's big house all alone.

at first, martha was hesitant, but eventually polly convinced her to say yes, for the sake of the kids.

it took martha a little time to adjust, but once she got more comfortable she often joked that she would leave john for zara when he came back.

zara and martha were 100% soulmates. they understood each other so well, and settled into a strange form of domesticity together despite the sad circumstances.

AFTER THE WAR

john was definitely shocked when he came back and there was this woman standing on the train platform with his wife and kids.

he was even more shocked when he found out it was zara king, who he had heard his brother whine about for most of his life.

when martha and the kids moved back home, all they could talk about was zara. they had all grown so attached to her, so john thought that for the sake of his family, he should make an effort to get to know her.

it didn't end up happening until after martha died.

polly invited zara to the funeral where she saw john again. she invited him and the kids back to her house for dinner, and the kids were so excited. how could he say no?

he ended up opening up to her about how heart broken he was about his wife's death. zara just radiates this comforting energy when she wants to, and john fell apart.

he definitely tried to kiss her and she was like "no thank you, I'm not about to kiss my dead bestie's husband".

they laughed it off and little did he know that after that night she would become his best friend for the rest of his life.

tommy definitely pestered polly as to why zara was at martha's funeral, and she told him how much she helped martha and polly with the kids.

while that definitely made tommy swoon so hard, it also made him envious that she was just able to help them so easily, and his family was basically left with nothing when they left for war.

so what does he do?

tommy starts tearing shit up in birmingham, completely reinventing the peaky blinders and angling for them to take over from the kings.

this royally pissed off zara, theo, and james.

zara couldn't believe that after everything she had done for the shelby family that tommy was trying to threaten hers like this.

this is when james starts concocting his master plan. he would never admit it, but he was alarmed at how quickly tommy was able to reinvent his family, and take even some of his territory.

theo is 100% in on it from the beginning, just wanting to do what his father thinks will protect his family.

for zara's safety, they decide that she shouldn't be told about the plan, but if she figures it out then she figures it out (she obviously didn't)

♔♔♔♔

sorry this is so long besties but I hope you enjoyed <3 let me know if you like this and you want me to do one for during their actual relationship when the series takes place. I constantly have these thoughts going through my head when I write so I can definitely crank more of these out lol

as always please remember to vote and comment !! <33 and the next chapter is coming.

while you wait...check out my other books!! I'm working on a pretty little liars fic where I am not only adding an oc but trying to rewrite some plot holes in the series because I am convinced I can fix it lmao