Peaky Blinders Imagines

"It's time you started acting like it."

Arthur Shelby Imagine #4

          "It's getting late, Arthur. It's almost three in the morning."

          I sighed sleepily as I laid on our bed, fighting the urge to fall asleep. My head was propped up with my hand as I believed if I wasn't laying flat it would help me stay awake. It wasn't. 

          I watched Arthur scribble intensively on a piece of paper only for him to crumble it again and toss it into the waste bin. He groaned in frustration, running a hand through his hair, making sure to grip onto the ends and pull harshly.

          "Arthur, stop hurting yourself. It won't help you." I said softly. My voice seemed to calm him a bit but I knew he was past soothing.

          "I can't fucking think of anything. Why can't I fucking think?" He seemed to be talking more so to himself, so I kept quiet.

          "You could just improvise, Arthur. Let it come from the heart. Feel whatever it is the moment and just say how you feel." I crawled out of bed and placed myself on his lap, effectively distracting him from his dilemma.

          "No, I can't do that. I'll just start— I'll fucking start rambling." He rested his head on my chest and I ran my hands through his hair softly.

          "Tommy should just be happy you've put so much time and effort into this speech. Shows how much you care for him", I pulled at his hair, making him look up at me, "You're the best man for a reason, Arthur. And whatever you say I know will be beautiful."

          He let out a long sigh, possibly in relief but it was hard to tell at the moment. I traced along his skin as he tried to restart his speech, watching him write words and cross them out seconds later. The frustration on his face only hardened and I knew him being sleep deprived only made it worse.

          In a fit of frustration, Arthur snapped the pen in his hand and threw it against the wall. He stood up quickly, holding onto me as he did before slowly lowering me to my feet.

          "You need sleep, Arthur. Please. This isn't helping your mind any." I pleaded, resting a hand on his chest.

          He grabbed onto it softly and rubbed it with his thumb before letting it go and exiting the room. I groaned, mostly from being tired, but I wouldn't go to bed when Arthur was in this state.

          So I followed him.

          I went out the back door of the house to see him sitting out in the grass, a whiskey bottle in hand. Wrapping my robe around me, I walked out barefoot to meet him. When I stopped next to him I waited for him to acknowledge me, but he kept looking straight ahead.

          "Arthur."

          "I ain't going inside, don't fucking bring it up again. Please."

          I rolled my eyes and kneeled behind him, wrapping one of my arms around his neck while the other played with his hair.

          "I wasn't going to ask you to come to bed." I said matter-of-factly.

          He lifted the bottle up past his shoulder, offering it to me. I took it gladly and settled myself on the grass next to him. We took turns taking sips from the bottle, neither of us speaking a word. After several minutes I turned to him.

          "Penny for your thoughts?" I asked quietly, trying not to startle him.

          When he didn't answer immediately I wasn't even sure he heard me, so I didn't press it and turned to look up at the sky. A few moments later Arthur's voice rang out.

          "I'm worried that I embarrass him, Y/N. Or that I will embarrass him." His voice was filled with so much pain and I ached to take it all away.

          "Who, Thomas?" I was almost certain that's who it was, so why I asked I wasn't sure.

          "Tommy. Yeah."

          I grabbed his head in my hands and turned him to look at me, "You're not an embarrassment, Arthur. And you never could be. You're a fucking Shelby. You run this whole fucking city. People cower in fear just hearing your fucking name", when a tear broke free from his eye I quickly wiped it away, "This power that this family has, did not come from nowhere. You, and Thomas, and John, Polly, fucking Michael too, worked for everything that you have today. You are an important member of this family and nobody could've made it this far without you, Arthur. Not even Thomas."

          He didn't speak for several minutes, taking in what I had to say. It was eerily quiet outside but I kept my attention on him, refusing to look away.

          "You're right." He finally said, his voice almost nonexistent.

          "Of course I'm right."

          He sat up straighter, a newfound energy flowing through him, "You're fucking right. I'm a fucking Shelby."

          "Fuck yeah, you are. And it's time you started acting like it."

          He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me up quickly so we were both on our feet, though me being slightly shorter my feet dangled above the ground by a few inches.

          I pulled his face to mine, kissing him hard and not giving him the option to pull away. He deepened it almost immediately and grabbed my  leg with his free hand, wrapping it around his waist, and instinctively the other did as well.

          "Let's go upstairs, Mr. Shelby." I said against his lips. He nodded and raced back into the house.

                                           ~*~

          "So much for getting sleep, ay?" I hummed happily, my eyes still shut from contentment.

          "Who needs fucking sleep anyway?" Arthur shouted, his smile almost as big as mine.

          We were entwined on the bed, our legs tangling themselves in the other's and my arm resting on Arthur's chest.

          "So have you decided what you're going to write yet?" I asked, finally opening my eyes and tracing a small scar on his chest with my finger.

          "I think so", he reached over into the side table, grabbing a pen and paper, "I have a few ideas I want to talk about. But you were right, I should speak from the heart."

          "You should."

          I watched as he now confidently began writing, this time not going back to scribble anything out. I smiled softly and closed my eyes, listening to his breathing and feeling his heart beating against my hand. While I wanted to stay up to see what he'd write, I trusted him completely.

          "Goodnight, Arthur."

          "Night, Y/N. Sweet dreams."

          While Arthur may not be the best with words, I knew whatever his speech was going to say, it would be great.