LIKE STEEL || Tommy Shelby

XIII. QUIET THE GUNS

"You should stay where they can't find you," she muttered, tears sliding across her lips.

She looked up to see Tommy's eyes fixed on the golden statue on the altar.

"If there is one place they won't expect to find Tommy Shelby, it's here," he replied slowly, as if in a trance.

"What are you doing here, Tommy."

Finally he turned his head to look at her. As he did, she swore she could see those eyes a thousand more times and still be shocked by how mesmerizing they were. The low light- shadows flickering across his face and the hollows of his cheeks- reflected off the glassy blue of his eyes.

"I need to pray."

"What about, Tommy?" she asked quietly, her heart pounding in her chest. She held her breath if only so he wouldn't hear it shaking.

"Everything," he said, his low voice rumbling through the silence. "For my family, the business, those bloody guns. Everything."

His eyes were fixed again on the altar, but she watched him as he took in a deep breath.

"And there's a woman," he continued, letting out the breath slowly.

"She's too good for all this- too good for all this unending shit. But for some reason, she's still here. She's seen the parts of me that very few have, and she is still here."

Again, he turned to her, his gaze knocking the breath from her lungs. The intensity of his stare took the words from her mouth and she could only watch as his crystal eyes flicked across her face.

"I said I was going to help you, Tommy. That was not a conditional thing," she whispered, lifting a hand to his cheek and slowly running her thumb up and down the curve of his face.

"One day," he said, leaning almost imperceptibly in to her touch, "the business is going to be legitimate. One day we will be the top of the game- but right now I have nothing to give her except this life."

The were knee to knee and she just shook her head, pain building up in her throat- holding back another wave of tears.

"I'm not here for your success, Tommy. I'm not here for the money or the status. I told you I would help you and that doesn't mean that I'll leave when something goes wrong. For better or worse, I'm in this now, Tommy."

"For better or worse," he muttered, shaking his head gently and letting his gaze drop to the ground. She lifted his chin with her finger, bringing his eyes back to hers. A laugh made of nerves and fear bubbled out of her and a small smile played on her lips.

"And didn't Polly tell you? I'm a Peaky Blinder now, Thomas Shelby."

He only nodded, finally lifting his hand to wipe another stray tear that dripped down her cheek.

"I'm scared, Tommy. I'm scared, but-"

Her voice was shaking uncontrollably as she grounded herself in his eyes, lifting her other hand to his chest.

"I look in your eyes and despite everything- despite all the shit- things start to make sense again."

She leaned in to him, pressing her forehead to his. In the cold church she could still see his breath swirling around their faces and, slowly, she let her eyes flutter closed. His scent enveloped her as they sat in true silence.

"Okay," he whispered, his hand finding her waist and pulling her closer to him. With his other hand, he lifted her chin gently.

"Tommy," she said, the word less of a name and more a plea.