Soft on Rebellion

Soft on Rebellion - Chapter 1

Arthur grabbed his shoulder and shook it, leaning into him.

"Then get in the mood, Tommy!" he grinned, and leant back. "I mean look at her! She's easy pickings!"

"Let it go."

Tommy held up his hand and his glass was filled again. He took a big gulp as Arthur tsk-ed beside him.

"Did something go wrong with Beth last month? Hmm? Oh, she didn't finish? Wasn't she... satisfied?"

"Arthur - " he couldn't help himself laughing lightly. Beth certainly had been satisfied.

"Losing your touch, little brother?" his brother continued to goad. "Not so much the ladies' man anymore? You've peaked too early, that's it."

"Fine," Tommy smiled grudgingly. "Fine. Let me finish my drink."

"Ey!" Arthur hit his back again. "Thatta boy!"

Tommy shook his head and downed his drink.

"Alright, alright."

A group of men behind them who had been listening, gave a small cheer as Tommy got to his feet, straightened out his shirt, and walked over to the girl's table.

"Excuse me," he said.

The girl looked at him, and he saw her eyes widen at the sight of him.

Then the corners of her mouth perked up, and he knew he had her.

When Tommy crept back into the house later that night, Arthur was sat in front of the fire. He saluted his brother, giggled drunkenly to himself, and took a drink. Tommy ignored him, a soft smile on his face as he made his way up to bed.

The next morning, both men had forgotten about the girl. The Girl, as she would later be called. They never caught her name.

6 months after Thomas Shelby's 18th birthday.

Tommy was the only one awake in the house. John and Ada had gone to bed hours ago, Arthur was with a girl, their father still hadn't returned from his weekend-long bar crawl, and Aunt Pol had taken their mother out to another doctor. Doctors visits happened more under the cover of darkness, as the sunlight made Mrs Shelby's head pound twofold.

She was fading, Tommy could see. It made his chest constrict when he thought about it. But his mother had always been frail, even before having another two children after Tommy. She should never have had to keep bearing children when she could barely keep herself alive, but their father wasn't known for his kindness and understanding.

A gentle knock on the door broke him from his morbid musings. It was obviously one of the women with that softness. Perhaps they'd forgotten the key.

Tommy got up from the chair and walked to the door just as another knock sounded.

"Alright, I'm here. I'm here," he mumbled, turning the key and opening the door.

Dark brown eyes stared back at him. It took him a second to place the girl stood on his doorstep. It was the curly hair that made it click. He remembered running his hand through it while pressing his lips to hers.

"You," he said.

"Me," she said.

If his memory didn't fail him, she sounded harsher. Not exactly confident, but she certainly wasn't as meek as she had been when she had gingerly unbuttoned his shirt all those months ago.

Not knowing exactly what to do, Tommy stepped back and let her in. She breezed past him and walked into the living room. He raised his eyebrows at her familiarity and followed her.