Thomas Shelby Fanfics

I'll Come Back For You

setting: pre-war/very beginning of

word count: 5198 (longest as of 21.2.20 :o)

smut: yep

proofread- yes

edited- yes

notes- very very very soft tommy, kinda slow burn i guess? I only wrote all this out because once i start something i have to get it finished and yup. Sexual content- smut- and innuendos, bittersweet ending, mentions of death, idk what else but im going to sleep i finished this at 4.40 am and im dead inside

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Since they were children,(Y/N) (Y/L/N) and the Shelby's were best friends. Their mothers were best friends and lived close to each other, so they saw each other frequently, and their children's friendship grew. Your father wasn't around, so the women heavily relied on each other. Thomas Shelby, the only brother around your age, was the one who taught you how to read- your family was too poor to afford for you to go to school, so you were thankful Tom was there for you. You remembered the hours you'd spend in the library in Small Heath, reading about anything and everything so you could tell Tommy and his brothers about it as you walked home from school.

After school, you'd all either go eat lunch and run off to play in the wilderness or the streets of Birmingham or when it rained, you'd wrap up in blankets and play cards- poker with sweets, rummy with small glasses of rum you'd stolen from your parents when they weren't watching. You remembered how the boys laughed whenever you'd scrunch your face up at the taste of alcohol.

You always helped the boys with their homework, often just giving up and doing it for them. You got so good at copying their handwriting that it was uncanny. But when your mother found out about this, she sat you down and gave you a stern talk- that women shouldn't go to school, and that's the true reason you never went. She told you women were only meant to be there for men, and that you had to stop helping the boys. This really upset you, and when you informed the Shelby brothers, they all groaned and moaned how they couldn't be asked to do their homework themselves. It was only Tom who noticed your sadness,

"What are you sad about, (Y/N)? It's only homework, it's useless anyway," he rolled his eyes. You were in the stables with him, tending to the shire horses your mother owned,

"It's useless to you because you never do any of it," You commented, and let out a sad sigh, "The work made me understand the world better, Tommy. I want to learn... But I can't... Because I'm a girl, and girls aren't supposed to be 'smart'" you said sadly, bitterly quoting your mother. Thomas looked at you with sympathy and brought you into a hug. You stayed quiet for a moment before Tom pulled away and cupped your cheeks in his hands,

"Y'know (Y/N), you can still do my work. We can just... Go somewhere private. Just us two, yeah?" You lit up at the proposal, and without knowing it a soft blush crept onto your cheeks,

"Really?" you asked, your mind filling with fresh curiosities,

"Yeah, really. If you wanna learn so much, you should be able to. Don't listen to your mum. Plus, it means I'll look smarter than John or Arthur" he winked at you, making you laugh. And that's it- that's where your love for Thomas Shelby begun.

Soon enough, it was just you two- going to parks, hiding in the alleyways and smoking cigarettes, tending the horses, snatching alcohol from his parents and locking his room shut so none of his nosey brothers or Ada could get in and make fun of you two. You always rolled your eyes whenever they'd hint at you two being a couple, but a part of you always wanted that to be the reality. And as you got older, your friendship started turning to something more...