Peaky Blinders Imagines

"The one that got away."

Arthur Shelby Imagine #5

"Bye, everyone. See you Friday!" I shouted behind me as I headed home for the afternoon.

It was around 3pm as I had gotten to work early so I had the rest of the day to myself. Though what I would do with that time I wasn't sure. I've been back in Birmingham for only a few weeks and still had yet to find something to do with my free time. Maybe I just needed someone to spend time with outside of work.

As I walked down the street I heard a commotion from behind me and turned to look, but when I didn't see anything I went to turn back when I ran into something.

Or should I say, someone.

"You alright?" The man asked as he turned to me.

Immediately I froze. I felt as if I had recognized him from somewhere, but I couldn't think of it. He must've noticed my confused face cause he wiped at his face as if something was there.

I shook my head to bring myself back to earth, "Sorry, you just look very familiar."

He seemed amused by comment, "I do, ay?"

I took a few moments to stare at him, trying to dig into the deepest memories of why he looked so familiar. "What's your name?" I asked curiously. Maybe his name would shed some light.

"I'm Arthur Shelby."

Immediately memories came flooding back and I saw myself back in secondary school. The memories of Arthur specifically hit me like a ton of bricks and I sucked in a breath to keep my composure.

"The Arthur Shelby. I believe we've already met." I waited for him to respond, but his face showed as much confusion as mine did when I tried to recognize his face.

"I think I would've remembered a face like yours." He replied as he dug his hand into his coat pocket. "I might, actually. There's something about your eyes."

I scrunched my face, "In a good way?"

"Definitely."

I laughed softly and ran a hand through my hair, suddenly becoming shy in his presence. I'm sure he was still curious who I was so I figured I should just let him have it now that I've found him after all these years.

"We knew one another in secondary school, Arthur. You were three classes ahead of me." When he didn't say anything I continued, "We used to see each other." Once again I waited for a response but I didn't get any from him. He had a blank expression, possibly in surprise, but also potentially out of confusion. "I'm Y/N Y/L/N."

Finally his face changed and a small smile appeared almost immediately, "I knew I recognized those Y/E/C eyes of yours."

I felt my face flush so I turned to look for somewhere to sit. "So how have you been?" I asked as I made myself comfortable on a nearby bench.

He toiled around as if he was looking for the right words to say, "Working, mostly. Family business."

My curiosity peaked, "What do you do?"

He didn't answer right away and he seemed reluctant to say anything but finally he spoke.
"I'm a bookmaker."

"Bookmaking is the family business?" I asked knowingly. In reality I was just teasing him, but he got more upset when I said it, seeming to fight with himself on how to respond. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."