Arabella || Peaky Blinders [Michael Gray]

ten

Chapter Ten
"To love, to peace, to marriage."

"Thought Tommy told you to stay off the wine?" Finn asked Arabella as he passed her another glass.

"What Tommy doesn't see, Tommy doesn't know," she responded, bringing the glass to her lips and knocking it back quickly. Finn stared at her for a few moments, watching as she eventually placed the empty glass back down on the table, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "I need to get drunk if I'm making it through tonight."

"It's not that bad."

Arabella held her hand out for a cigarette, which Finn promptly handed towards her. She placed it between her teeth, leaning down to reach the lighter in his hands. "Are you sure about that?"

"Bloody hell." A voice spoke from behind them. Arabella exhaled a puff of smoke before turning around, smile forming on her face as she recognised Polly's voice. "It really is you."

"Hi, Pol," she spoke, moving forwards to greet the woman with a hug.

"I didn't know you were coming back," Polly replied, glancing briefly at Finn before turning her attention back to Arabella, who took another drag of her cigarette.

"Wasn't gonna miss this, was I?" She responded, gesturing to the room full of people, though the attempt fell flat, and Polly saw straight through her act. Not that Arabella wasn't happy to see the Shelby's after being apart for over a year, but a wedding celebration combined with all of Tommy's strict rules was turning out to not be as exciting of an event as she'd anticipated.

"Come and sit down," Polly said, ushering both Arabella and Finn towards the other room. "The speeches are about to start."

Arabella smiled falsely. "Great."

The three of them headed towards the large dining table, which was overlooked by a huge portrait on the wall of Tommy with a horse, which Arabella found very amusing.

"Arabella!" Esme exclaimed, rising from her chair to fling her arms around the girl. "I'm so glad you're back."

"Hello, Esme," Arabella smiled, the two of them drawing back from the embrace. "I love your hair."

"Thanks, spent hours putting those bloody pins in," Esme replied, rolling her eyes. "Where are you sitting?"

Arabella scanned the table for her name card, finally spotting it beside Michael, who gave her a small smile as she began to take a seat.

"Good lord," Ada Shelby suddenly blurted, catching Arabella's attention just a second before she flung her arms around her. "How long have you been here?!"

"An hour or so," Arabella shrugged, smiling up at Ada, who still stared at her with wide eyes, as if she couldn't believe Arabella was actually right in front of her. "You look gorgeous."

"So do you," Ada complimented, taking the empty seat beside her. She reached a few chairs down, quickly swapping the name cards around so they'd be seated next to each other. "We have so much to catch up on. First of all, tell me about that lovely boyfriend of yours you mentioned in your letters!"

Arabella opened her mouth to respond, information already excitedly forming on her tongue, until she was cut off by Michael spluttering on his drink beside her.

Ada and Arabella both stared at him. "Sorry," he mumbled, waving his hand as he took another sip of his whiskey. "Carry on."

Arabella turned back to face Ada, who was waiting impatiently for information. "Well, um, his name is Nick, he works in his family business–"

Ada raised her eyebrows, impressed. "Wow."

"I know. He's coming down to join me in Birmingham next week," she told her. "I'll introduce you."

"I can't wait."

"So how've things been here? How's Karl?"

Before either of them could launch any further into conversation, the speeches had began, and John was already heckling Arthur, who slowly moved to the front of the room.

"First, uh, a few words from...from the heart," Arthur began. Arabella and Ada shared a look, both biting back smiles that were sure to grow into laughter. "This man here, my brother, Tommy, helped me survive through some of the worst times."

Tommy slammed a hand on the table, letting out a loud cough to interrupt Arthur's words.

"It's a wedding, Arthur, tell a joke," Michael encouraged.

"Yeah, tell a joke," John shouted.

"What I'm trying to say is that, my brother and the love of a good woman pulled me through that time," Arthur glanced down at the blonde woman sat beside him, who Arabella assumed was his wife Linda, making a mental not to introduce herself to her later. "Now, Tommy also has the love of a good woman," Arthur continued. "Her name's Grace. Like the grace of the good Lord." Arabella bit down on her lip, struggling to hide her amusement as she stifled laughter. "And even though the circumstances of their union was tragic..."

Tommy stood abruptly, banging his fist loudly on the table, capturing the attention of the room. "All right. Let's uh, Arthur. Let's raise a toast, eh?" He suggesting, holding up his glass. "To uh. To love, to peace, to marriage."

"And to marriage," Arthur mumbled as everybody held up theirs glasses, echoing the toast.

"Well done, Arthur, beautiful speech," John slurred, not bothering to disguise the mocking tone in his voice. "Really nice. Really, really nice."

Arthur didn't say a word, instead snatching his jacket from the chair and storming towards the door. The blonde woman, Linda, took off after him immediately, Tommy following close behind, whilst John watched on with a chuckle.

Arabella released a heavy breath, leaning back in her seat as she picked up her champagne glass.

It was going to be a long night.

A/N

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