the princess and the pauper ♕ tommy shelby

chapter fourteen

"My name is Ophelia Violet Crawley, 4th daughter of the Earl of Grantham" Ophelia said standing up and facing Campbell. He swallowed deeply. "Now, you better let me out or face the dire consequences" Ophelia said, and he did as fast as he could.

"I will bring you home" Murray said. "No, I need to go back to my apartment, they ransacked the place and I need to clean before my next 12-hour shift starts" Ophelia said. "Alright, I will have to report this to your father" Murray said. "I expect no less" Ophelia said and went back to her apartment. "You're back!" Finn said running to her. She lived few houses away from the Shelby's, so it made sense for Finn to have seen her. "Did you enjoy your birthday present?" Ophelia asked as they walked into her house. "Yes, I did" he said and smiled.

She gave him a book filled with aeroplanes that had been developed recently. She had been helping him a little with reading the book by himself. He helped her out with her apartment, before he went home again. When she was finished cleaning and got some dinner there was a knock on the door. When she opened it was Tommy. "Finn said you came back" he said and held her face in his hands. "Yeah, I was arrested because they suspected I knew a group called the Peaky Blinders" Ophelia said.

"I am. We are. My brothers and I" Tommy said. Ophelia let him in her place and closed the door. "You are?" Ophelia asked surprised. "Ada never told you?" Tommy asked as he sat on her couch. "No, but I never asked. She always said she could handle herself because she grew up with brothers, I assumed that was it" Ophelia said. "We run the bookies around here, and people pay us money for protection, they don't mess with us. And now, you fall under that protection" Tommy said.

"I'm not family, I'm not someone who pays you—" Ophelia said. "I love you" Tommy said looking up. "And I can't bear the thought of something happening to you" Tommy said. His face looked vulnerable and there was pain in his eyes. "I love you too." Ophelia said. She walked over to him and sat down next to him. "I know you said you wanted to work to become the man you think I deserve, but it won't be a long road" she said. "Why not?" Tommy said, placing a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"My sister, Sybil, recently moved to Ireland, where she will get married next week to Tom, and Tom used to be our chauffeur and they got my father's blessing. If he can accept, to an extent, Sybil and her husband, you'll be a piece of cake" she said. "I will still work for it, and to work to please your father" Tommy said. "Good, he'll expect that" Ophelia laughed. Tommy leaned his head against hers. "And I'll be happy to" he said. "When did you sleep last?" she asked. "I don't remember, but I need to go back, they will expect me" Tommy said. "It's raining cats and dogs" Ophelia said. "I'll be fine" Tommy said.

Tommy went back home, and like every other night, unless he was with Ophelia, he heard the sound of digging, it seemed to always be in the walls, like it would collapse, and German soldiers would jump out. He grabbed his opium pipe and tried to get sleep after from smoking it.

For once he didn't dream of the German soldier who got through and attacked him and his men, he dreamt of screams, screams that rang louder than he had ever even heard in real life. He tried to run for it, but the tunnels appeared again, and he could only hear the voice muffled. "Ophelia" he mumbled, and he dug through the tunnel, when he saw her. She was wearing her nurse outfit and wore bloodied clothes. He tried to run to her, but the soldiers once again burst through the wall and grabbed her. "NO!" He said.

He woke up to banging on the door. When he went to see what it was Curly. "Tommy, it's the horse" Curly said and both ran back to the stables. "What is it?" Tommy said when he saw the white horse, which was panicking. "It's the curse, they gave it a curse Tommy" Curly kept saying. "Can't undo" he said over and over again. "I told you, you don't want to mess with the Lee's" Charlie Strong said. "I have always looked out for you Tommy, treated you as my own, but this mistake" Strong said. "It's spreading to the other feet" he continued.

Tommy stepped back. "Go Curly" he said and grabbed his gun before he shot the horse in the head. Knowing he won't get any more sleep he walked over to the Garrison when he saw some light. "I was about to close" Grace said. "Where's Harry" Tommy asked. "He went to the movies, I offered to close" Grace said, she saw this as the perfect opportunity to try and flirt enough for him to start liking her. "Go, I can close" Tommy said and grabbed a bottle of scotch. "I can stay, what happened anyways?" Grace asked. "Shot my horse" Tommy said. "Was he lame?" Grace asked. "He looked at me the wrong way, it's not a good idea to look at Tommy Shelby the wrong way" he said.

It made Grace fall silent, but she tried to think quick on her feet. "I need to talk to you. Harry said I need to ask you" Grace said. "About what" Tommy said, the water from the rain dripping down his face.

"I want to sing, in the pub, at least once a week" Grace said. "Do you now" Tommy said and looked at Grace. "I can proof it to you. I can sing for you" Grace said and placed a chair in front of him and stood on it. "Happy or sad" she asked. "Sad" Tommy said. "Okay, but it'll break your heart" Grace said, smiling hoping to convince him. Ophelia sprung into his mind, her smile, her laugh, the twinkle in her eye when she does something that makes her happy. When she saw Monaghan boy, and when they spend their early morning lying in bed and the sun would shine in her eyes, they looked like dark shiny copper.

"No. Already broken" he said as he lit a cigarette. She started to sing but none of the words reached his ears, he could only think about Ophelia. After the singing was done, he turned to Grace. "If Harry is fine with it, why not" Tommy said and left without a word. He walked over to Ophelia's place. He knocked on the door, knowing very well she could not open given it was 2 am.

The door did however open, with Ophelia looking at him with sleepy eyes. "Come in" she said, and he stumbled in. He wasn't drunk; however, he may still be high from the opium. But he missed her, and he feared the sounds of digging and seeing the soldiers again in his dream.

Without doing anything himself, Ophelia dragged Tommy across her apartment, up the stairs to her small bathroom where she made him sit on the edge of the bathtub. She first took his black long coat he had quickly put on when Curly came. She took off his wet shirt which didn't stand much against the rain. She placed both on a rack and put it in front of the fire in her room. She made him stand up and placed him on a chair in front of the fire. She wrapped him in a blanket from her bed and dried his hair.

"What happened?" she asked. "I had to shoot a horse" Tommy said. "I'm sorry. I know how hard that can be" she said. He stood up and stood before her. "I can't sleep, every time I close my eyes, I hear the digging" he said. "Lay in bed, let me help" she said, and he did after he took off the pants before they both got in the bed under the covers.

She pulled Tommy closer and rested his head under her chin. "I want you to remember. It's not you versus the world. It's you and me, versus the world" she said, kissing his forehead. "You and me, Tommy" Ophelia said. "You and me" Tommy said holding her close to him.