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'𝙂𝙊𝙊𝘿𝘽𝙔𝙀,
𝘿𝘼𝙍𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙂.'
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Tommy Shelby was the most feared and the strongest Shelby brother. He had brought that reputation upon himself with all of the terrible things that he had done in his life time. Even with such a hard exterior, he couldn't help but worry. After recent events, he had spent four nights in the prison cell while he awaited to hear what would happen to him. His time locked away scared him more than anything, simply because he had a family that relied on him. If he was put to the rope then the Shelby family and the whole business could quite possibly struggle without him.
All throughout his life he had been brought up with a religion, but Tommy never took to it much. But since being brought in by the police, he had spent every single minute praying, praying that a miracle would happen and he would be released to his family.
Tommy jumped to his feet when the foot steps against the concrete steps outside the cell pounded through his ears, the worry about what awaited him began to go deeper within him. The cell door swung open and a police officer stepped aside. "It seems you've got luck on your side, Mr Shelby you're free to go." The officer nodded.
Tommy let out a sigh of relief as he walked out of the door of the cell that he had been locked in for quite some time. Just as he was walking up the concrete steps leading away from the cells, the officer cleared his throat. "But that lady of yours is a keeper, don't be letting her go any time soon. Don't get many round here that are quite like her that's for sure." The police officer called out as he shut up the door of the cell.
The mans words caught his attention and he stopped in his tracks. "What did you just say?" He asked, turning to face him. The officer raised an eyebrow as he looked back at Tommy. "A pretty, little brunette just came in and explained in full detail that she was with you at the time that this incident occured, that it couldn't possibly have been you. Now if I remember rightly, her name was Miss Owen, so keep a hold of her, she's a good'un."
Tommy shook uis head as he continued walking up the concrete steps, finally getting to see broad day light the closer he got towards the exit. "Don't I bloody know it," he whispered to himself, stepping out into the cold air.
A little while later, Tommy pushed open the front door of the Shelby house hold. How he had missed his home very much. Just as he took a step inside, John came walking out of the office.
"Just came to pick up some papers, everyones out at the betting office, we'll all have some drinks later to celebrate your release. But Victoria said that she would be waiting at the church for you... Hurry up, don't leave your lady waiting." John explained with a soft chuckle.
With that being said Tommy stepped out of the doors and ran like his life depended on it. He had already had a taste of how much better and easier life was with her around, and he didn't want that to end, ever.
After running for a few short minutes without slowing, he eventually made it to the church. He waited for a minute to settle his nerves and pulled his off his hat, slipping it into his pocket before running his fingers through his hair.
Tommy then cleared his throat and stepped inside the church, his eyes instantly landed on her and he stood at the top of the aisle for a moment before walking slowly down to the row she sat in. Not once did she look back at him.
He stopped at her row and sat down in the empty space beside her, letting out a soft sigh. "Why did you wait around? After leaving so suddenly last time.. why did you wait around to see me this time?" Tommy questioned, eventually looking down at her.
Victoria looked back up at him, their eyes finally meeting. "I.. I wanted to hear your voice and I wanted to see you again... Since I left you I've been trying to get rid of my feelings for you, so me waiting around now to see you is such a bad idea." She whispered softly, the pain clear in her voice.
After all of the good moments, all the smiles, all of the laughter, how did they end up like this?
"You never were any good at making the right choices, nothing new there then." Tommy teased as he reached his hand up, softly brushing a piece of hair up behind her ear. "Is there any chance you could come back home?"
"I don't know..." She whispered, wiping her eyes as they began to fill eith tears. "My home has always been in London, you know that Thomas. But I just need a little bit of time away to process everything."
"Take all the time you need, but just know that if you ever need any of hs, any day or time, we will be there. There's nothing we wouldn't do for you, no doubt about it." He nodded, his tone had gotten noticeably softer as he spoke to her.
Tommy wrapped his arm around her shoulder, Victoria instantly leaning against him, laying her head on his shoulder. "I need to ask you a favour." She spoke, her voice bearly above a whisper. He leaned down and pressed a lighht kiss to the top of her head, "like I said... absolutely anything."
"Theres this man... he's been following me around town, I get a bad vibe from him and it scares the life out of me. The other day he approached me and asked me to accompany him to the ball in London tomorrow evening." Victoria explained as she lowered her head to avoid his gaze.
"I have heard about this Ball and I had heard that you were attending with another man... As soon as I realised you had left, I had sent some of the men on my pay roll up to London to keep an eye on you and to make sure no harm came your way." He replied, a soft chuckle escaping his lips.
Victoria lightly shook her head and smiled. When walking around, she had noticed men that wore the Peaky Blinders uniform with the infamous flat caps following her around. It was typical Tommy behaviour.
"The man keeps asking me if and how I'm involved with the Shelby's or the Peaky Blinders... So when he asked me to the ball, I tried to decline his offer. But he said I had no choice and that I had to attend with him." She continued to explain as played with her fingers in her lap.
Tommy sat up slightly but kept his arm softly around her. "So how can I be of assistance?" When Victoria looked up at him, he could see an element of fear and sadness in her eyes. He knew that he would do whatever she asked, without any doubt or questions about it.
"It's a big ask, but please could you be there at the Ball too. I'm so scared and I need you Tommy." She whispered as she reached over to his hand, gripping softly.
"Please don't be scared. I'll tighten up the security around you when you go back up, there will always be my men within reach of you. But I'll be there at the Ball too, all of the Shelbys will be, and throughout that event there will always be atleast one of us close by." Tommy explained as he pulled her into a soft and reassuring hug. His words soothed her worry and she began to feel at ease in his arms.
"Remember when you first arrived at our home and I told you that I would always protect and look after you.. that doesn't change just because you're in a different city." Tommy whispered as he softly run his hand up and down her back.
"After the Ball, if it's okay with you all I would like to come back home... I know I'm safe when I'm with you." Victoria questioned as she pulled away to look up at him.
No matter how hard he tried, Tommy couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face. "I would like that very much, and I know the rest of our family would like that too. I'll finally get the spare room all set up, I'll get it properly cleaned ready for you." He explained, looking down at her. Even just the thought of her coming home made him happier than he had been for quite some time.
"Or I could just continue to sleep in your bed with you... having your presence beside me makes me feel safe." She suggested with a slight smile. Her smile still had that same effect on him, it still melted away any bad thoughts that he had buried in his head. Curiosity got the better of her and without waiting for a response she cleared her throat. "So Tommy, what was this little mishap that I managed to get you out of then?" She asked, raising her eyebrow.
Tommy let out a sigh before looking back down at her, their eyes meeting again. "When you left, I went to the Garrison and kept drinking to try and get you out of my head. On my way out a man approached me and started making these comments about you and how you had left me... So I felt it was necessary to beat him till he could no longer speak, but it seems that he survived it."
He hadn't felt guilty about what he had done to the man, he thought that he deserved it for the way he spoke about Victoria. But he could see the disappointment washing over her while he was explaining it, that look on her face was enough to make him regret every single punch that he threw.
Victoria let out a sigh and placed her hand on his check, rubbing softly. "Please try and avoid the violence, or at least keep it down a little bit." She whispered before dropping her hand and standing up from the pew they sat upon. Tommy copied her actions and stood up, "thank you, darling. I owe you one." He nodded before stepping out into the aisle to the side.
She stepped out in front of him and smiled up at him, "I better go... my train will be leaving in an hour." It wasn't till she was stood in front of him that he realised how well she looked. She wore a grey dress coat with a black faux fur trim, dark grey kitten heels to match. He noticed that she had pulled her hair black, leaving a few loose strand that hung at the sides of her face, a dark grey beret hat placed on top. Her pocelian skin had a light blush to her cheeks and her lips coated in her signature red lipstick. All the small details he admired about her.
Tommy then shook away his thoughts before he walked down to the bottom of the aisle, usually where people stood when getting married. He looked back at her and smiled. "There will come a day in the future, where I'm stood here like this, watching you walk to me in a dress almost as beautiful as you with all those that we love around us..."
Victoria kept her eyes on him and slowly walked to where he stood, a light smile creeping across her face. Just as she reached him she lightly whispered, "I do..." Victoria leaned up on her tip toes and lightly pressed her lips to his cheek, "but for now that day only exists in our dreams." She whispered, her words sending shivers down Tommy's body.
He smiled down at her, putting his hand on her lower back and pulling her in close til' their bodies touched. Slowly, Victoria snaked her arms around his neck as their lips eventually met, it was like the whole world was cut off, the only thing that mattered was them both in that moment. Their lips remained locked for a few minutes before Victoria slowly pulled away, keeping her face inches away from his as her eyes looked up into his.
"God, I love you Thomas." She whispered, pressing another soft kiss to his, allowing her lips to linger for a few seconds before she took a step back. Victoria flashed him a smile before she slowly began to walk back down the aisle towards the church door, Tommy remained where he stood, completely star struck.
Just as she reached the door, he cleared his throat. "Goodbye, darling." He called out. Victoria opened the church door but turned her head back and giggled softly like a little school girl. "Goodbye Mr Shelby. See you tomorrow evening." She spoke blowing him a kiss before stepping out of the door, closing it behind himself.
He pretended to catch the kiss that she blew and pressed it to his chest, no words could even describe how happy he felt, it had been an awfully long time. After waiting a few minutes to collect his thoughts, he walked out of the church, putting his cat back on when he stepped back out into the street. This time the journey back to his home was a longer than his journey there, he was in no rush, the thoughts of their time together still rushing around his head.
When he made it back home and stepped in through the front door, he could hear the laughter erupting from the other room, happiness filling the air. Slowly he wandered into the living room, where his whole family sat around comfortably. As soon as they saw him, they all cheered that he was finally back home with them. Ada jumped to her feet and pulled him into a tight hug, part of her heart broke in fear that he was going to be put to the rope so she clung onto him for dear life.
Tommy wrapped his arms around his little sister and held onto her protectively. He glanced over at Arthur with a smile, "pour me a drink then Arthur, I have some good news to share with you all." He nodded, looking at all his family around him. After a few minutes, Ada slowly pulled herself away from her older brother and sat back down in her seat with her glass in her had, taking a sip.
"Oh c'mon Mr Cheshire Cat, what's got you all smiley for then?" Polly asked raising an eyebrow as she leaned back in her armchair. Tommy took the drink that Arthur had poured him and smiled for a second before cleaning his throat. "Victoria and I talked some things over and I've managed to persuade her to come back home, she's went back to London but after the ball she will be coming home with us."
As soon as the words had left his lips, excited cheers filled the air. Clearly he wasn't the only one that was happy with her future return.
He allowed a minute for the excitement to die down slightly then continued on. "I want you all to clear your calendar tomorrow, any plans are now cancelled. I'm sure you've all heard of the big Ball in London tomorrow evening. Well I spoke to Victoria about what had happened and she states that she has been forced into attending with a man that has been continuously approaching her. He frequently asks if and how she is involved with us." Tommy explained, keeping a tight grip of the glass of whiskey in his hand.
They all kept their eyes on him as they listened to him. "I saw the fear in her eyes, she's worried that somethings going to happen to her tomorrow evening. So I've told her that we'll all be attending the Ball too, that way we will be there to protect her if anything was to happen. I just can't let anything back happen to her, I just can't..."
Once he had finished, Polly glanced over at Ada and nodded, "Better get our best frocks out then."
"To Victoria." Arthur called out raising his glass into the air, the rest of the family all raising their glasses before downing the small measures that they had.
Tommy knew that if anything was to happen to her, he wouldn't ever be able to forgive himself.