Nothing New / Peaky Blinders

𝘅𝗶𝗶𝗶: tommy and livvie day

He nudged her again with his shoe, whether that was to annoy her or to keep her awake he couldn't quite decide, "Nine minutes."

He stalked out of the room as Olivia huffed, muttering to herself in amusement at the fact Tommy thought she'd be ready in the next nine minutes. She was barely awake!

Even if she was barely awake, and stumbling around her room feeling like she'd been blinded by the sunlight that invaded her room, she was happy. It wasn't often she got to feel happy anymore.

Being surrounded by her friends was usually something that provided Olivia with a great sense of happiness and security. She doubted she'd ever feel that with her group of people anymore. But, with her family, with Tommy, with the people who understood her better than anyone else she was safe. She was happy.

Even if a part of heart ached for the friends she was going to lose due to her own actions.

❋

Olivia stood beside Tommy, at Uncle Charlie's Yard, her hands shoved into her pockets and a small smile on her face as Curly brought the horses round.

Uncle Charlie could not deny how similar the two Shelbys looked stood next to each other. There was the obvious difference of their gender, and Olivia's hair was longer than Tommy's and he was a bit taller than her but other than that... They shared a lot of similarities.

Many had asked Tommy when Olivia was younger if she was his. If Olivia was his daughter. She wasn't, of course, and the question had never failed to make him laugh. Sure, she followed him around like a lost puppy at times but they couldn't be that similar, could they?

They both stood with their hands in their coat pockets, a cap perched atop of their heads and even if Olivia's didn't have the same blade as Tommy's everyone knew it meant the imposing presence of the Peaky Blinders lingered. And their smile was a rarity, seen by few, mainly just family and the few friends the Shelbys actually possessed. But, when they did smile it always felt a little bit sly, as if you weren't supposed to see the smile, or the way their lips would curve upwards a little towards one side and even their smile lines were similar. Their eyes calm, but you knew their minds were working overtime, calculating their next move.

Uncle Charlie hated it. He hated the person his niece and nephew had become, he often wondered where the teenage boy, who had given his littlest sister piggy bags down to his yard, had gone. He wondered why they had to change, why Tommy had to change and Olivia was so desperate to follow in his footsteps.

Uncle Charlie had wished Olivia had stayed little forever, with her gappy smile and her mispronunciation of words and her biggest concern was whether Charlotte would be attending school tomorrow. Not if she'd killed someone and if her friends would ever talk to her again.

(Olivia thought they wouldn't. She wouldn't if she were them.)

Curly stopped before the siblings, giggling as he spoke, "Been so long, the horses don't recognize you, Olivia."

Olivia giggled, quietly, with him. Her hand reaching out to pet the horse's head, "He's missed me ain't he?"

Curly nodded his head, "Yes, yes."

Tommy glanced at Uncle Charlie, who was undoubtedly still upset about the bullet carved with 'Shelby' that turned up on his doorstep a few weeks ago. Tommy had always thought his Uncle was a bit dramatic, his warnings about feuds with the Lees, warnings about Olivia becoming too much like him.