#and francis is having trouble reaching behind him to fix the collar

[sunlaire]

Francis gaining weight after getting back to England and james struggling to keep his eyes and hands off him

[sceawere]

táimid naimhde sa chathair | tommy shelby/reader

anon request:   you grew up with tommy and had a really long serious relationship but left when grace came along you left him - a few years later he finds you with a job as a singer in sabinis bar in London, engaged to a son of his -tommy is determined to get you back 

“When is that boy going to marry you?”

“Oh, Polly, don’t go buying a hat. It’s been bloody years, I think if he was going to make a move he’d have long done it”

“It took him nearly ten to ask for you in the first place, this is Tommy we’re talking about. Can’t do anything but make things more difficult, that boy”

“It took him nearly ten years because we were children, Polly”

“Still”

“Thanks for listening to me rant, anyway”

You stood from her table, dropping your cup in the sink as you went.

“I better get home”

“Have you told him about London yet?”

Your cousin had got a job offer at a club in London and invited you to come along. They wanted a singer to add to their roster and you were apparently perfect for the job, according to your cousin at least. She didn’t much like Tommy and you thought it was more about her trying to get you to move to greener pastures than actually about the work.

“No. Can’t seem to find the time”

“He’s been thinking about an expansion. This might be what tips him over”

“Exactly. You don’t want him in London, Polly, do you?”

You looked at her expectantly, knowing her answer already.

“No, I don’t. But I don’t want you there alone. And I don’t want you two apart. So here are my options”

“Polly, I love you like a mother, you know I do. But at some point you’re going to have to realise that Tommy is a man now and let him make his own decisions”

“Some bloody chance. This whole place would burn without me clipping those boys ears and sending them the right way”

“Isn’t that the bloody truth”

You smiled back at her, heading for the door. You heard her shout after you right before it closed behind you.

“Tell him or I will!”

-

“Who’s that behind the bar?”

“New girl”

“She’s…nice, though”

John laughed at you, looking through the window of the side room to the bar.

“Yeah, Tommy let her know she’s in the wrong place”

“Oh, he did?”

“Don’t go getting jealous, now”

“Fuck off, John-o. Seriously though, she won’t last the month”

“You putting money down on that?”

“I never bet, not against you lot. I know too much about how you operate”

You saw Tommy come into the Garrison, heading for the bar and chatting to the barmaid.

“He wouldn’t”

You turned to John who had gotten serious.

“Wouldn’t what?”

“Cheat. He’s not like that”

You smiled back, quirking your eyebrows together.

“I know”

“You know what?”

“Uh, that you-“

“Wouldn’t cheat on me with the pretty new thing behind the counter”

Tommy sat himself beside you, lighting a cig.

“You talking about me when I’m not here?”

“Always”

He gave you a slight smile, focusing back on his smoke, distracted.

“You ok?”

He hummed back. You’d learned to expect less from Tommy ever since he came home. Since his body came home at least. The man you’d fallen in love with as a child was long gone. Tommy had always been reserved, calculated, thinking things over constantly. But the war had exacerbated it all, without doing the same to his good traits. He seemed hollower somehow. You’d tried to mend the gaps, fill the spaces. But you can’t fix a person. Especially one who doesn’t want you to.

-

It had been weeks and you and Tommy had been snapping at each other more and more, smiling at each other less and less. You were both pacing round after an argument, the silence stretching between you. Tommy threw himself down in a chair and you took the chance.

“Why do we insist on doing this to each other?”

Tommy sighed, not looking up to you.

“Doing what?”

“Pretending like we still love each other. That this is anything other than going through the motions anymore”

He sighed, stubbing out his smoke, and stood.

“Tommy, we need to talk about this”

“No we don’t”

“I stood on that platform praying to God to bring you home to me at the end of it all. I said I didn’t care how you came back, just please God - just send me my Tommy home alive. I think he listened a little too hard to that first bit.

I thought maybe you’d end up with scars or burns or something. I never thought…you never really came home did you, Tommy? Your body’s here but your souls still buried in that mud somewhere”

“You been talking to Polly?”

“All the damn time”

“That’s why you sound like her then”

“Tommy…do you love me? Say it and I’ll know if you mean it or not”

You swallowed back your tears when he didn’t answer, nodding to yourself, your mind made up.

“My cousin’s going down to London, I’m going to go with her”

“You’re not giving me a fucking ultima-

“No, see, Tommy, this has nothing to do with you anymore. This is about me. This is about what I deserve. I’ve loved you since we were children but we’re not anymore and I think we both need to face up that we’ve just…outgrown this. I waited for you to come home and you never did. I waited all this time for a shadow”

“I never asked you to”

“No, it was my decision. And so is this”

You walked over, eyes fluttering closed as you placed a kiss on his cheek.

“Goodbye, Thomas”

-

“5 minutes!”

One of the women was doing her usual round down the corridor, slamming her hands on all the doors and screaming at the top of her lungs. You’d asked when you first started working at the Eden why they didn’t just pull a bell or something back here but they said it was tradition. It was a different woman’s turn each night to go round and get the rest of the performers off their butt and onto the stage on time. Tonight, it sounded like it was Audrey’s turn and she was committed to her job.

You were putting the finishing touches to your hair and make-up when the door opened out the corner of your eye.

“Yeah, just a sec, I’m almost ready”

“Look pretty perfect to me”

“Frankie! Aww, you brought me flowers!” You gave them a sniff, smiling, before falling back into your chair. You draped an arm over the back, legs crossed. “What did you do this time?”

“Can’t a guy bring his best girl flowers?”

“Depends, did a guy mean to insinuate he has other girls?”

“A guy did not. A guy apologises. A guy would like to remind his girl that she’s a fucking handful and a half and he couldn’t possibly manage anyone else”

You smirked at him, jumping up to plant a kiss on his cheek, then going to get your shoes on.

“A guy can get a handful when a girl has finished work”

“You leading the stage tonight?”

“Uh-huh, any requests?”

“Won’t be here to listen, this is a flying visit”

“Oh?”

“Dad needs me for some business”

You sighed, turning to him.

“And what does Mr Sabini need from you?”

He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

“Some new guys in town throwing their weight around. Dad wants to get the message out before trouble starts brewing”

“Don’t get shot this time Francis, please? I just put new sheets on the bed, babe, they’re fancy. I don’t want your blood getting all over them again”

“My heart warms at your concern for my welfare”

He was perched on the edge of your dressing table and he still had to dip his head so you could plant a kiss on his forehead.

“I’ll sing the one you like anyway”

“Wish I was here to see it”

You’d started working at another Sabini’s clubs when you first moved to London and he’d been impressed with you. One night he invited you to a fancy dinner with his associates and there you met his son, Francis. You and Frankie had hit it off and 2 years later you were the star act at the Eden and engaged to boot. ‘Greener pastures’ your cousin had reminded you. At least 40 times since you got here.

“You’d only fall in love with me” You scrunched up your nose as you spoke and he rolled his eyes, smiling.

“Get up there and drive ‘em wild, yeah? Not paying you to suck up to the boss”

“Oh, in that case, my days are about to get a lot easier”

He followed you out, hand swatting at your bum on the way past and you giggled, joining the crowd of women heading to the stage like a river flowing to the sea.

-

You heard about the ‘new guys’ talking Eden from Frankie the night it happened. It had been your night off and you’d been lounging about, enjoying the peace when he marched in. He was storming about the apartment now, his tie half pulled off, pacing around with his drink in hand.

“Those fucking-“

“Frankie, love, maybe you should calm down a little?”

“I’m too fucking angry”

You were sat on the dresser, watching him move back and forth.

“Then tell me about it, properly. Come here”

You scooted up to the edge and motioned to him. He sighed and moved over to you, dropping the glass on the counter by your hip. You fixed his collar, properly undoing his tie and made him laugh when you slung it over your head to rest around your own neck. You gave him a little smile back. Both of you knew you weren’t in a fairy tale. You loved each other in your own way – a partnership rather than a true relationship. You were friends first, and you were equally fine with that. Both of you had been burned before and were just enjoying being with each other, you didn’t need anything else.

“Now, Frankie, use your big boy words and tell me all about it”

He rolled his eyes at you and sighed, collecting himself before he spoke.

“It’s those fucking Gypsies”

Your heart skipped a beat and you flicked your eyes up to him, tensing.

“Gypsies?”

“From Birmingham. Walked right in and kicked it all to shit”

His hand went to reach for his glass again but you threw yours down over his.

“What’s their name?”

His eyebrows rose, looking to you and noticing your change in behaviour.

“Why?”

“I…”you considered coming up with a lie or just stating you were curious but decided against it. You and Francis had promised never to lie to each other. He was honest about his work, you’d gone into it with your eyes open. You couldn’t leave Tommy for holding back and then become him in your next relationship.

“I think I knew them. When I lived in Birmingham”

“You knew them?”

His tone was leading, asking you to elaborate.

“They’re Shelby’s? They’re brothers?”

“Fucking hell”

“I was…I was with one of them”

Frankie backed off from you, angry again, and started pacing across the room before he dropped onto the end of the bed. He put his arms on his knees, holding his glass between them with both hands.

“This is…actually this is good. You can help us”

“Help you?”

You slipped off the edge of the dresser, pulling your gown around you.

“We need intel. We need to know how to fight back”

“That’s not fair, Frankie, you can’t ask me to do that”

“I already have”

“Francis, don’t”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m your fiancé, not your spy”

“You’re an employee of a club they run now”

“And that comes first?”

“Right now, that comes first”

-

You turned up for work as usual the next night, not knowing what would happen with the new bosses. Would Tommy be there?

You and Frankie had spent the previous day having one blazing row after another, the faults of not being entirely in love with each other was that it was easier to detach at times like this and make it all about the business.

Arthur had gathered all the staff who’d turned up around the stage, barking his orders. They’d fired most of them, or those who were loyal to Sabini just hadn’t turned up for work, knowing better than to risk it. It was mostly the women who worked the stage and the lower downs who had nothing to do with the owners business, they just did their job. You tried to blend into the crowd, avoiding the inevitable as long as possible.

Arthur finished his speech, sending everyone off in every direction and you sighed in relief, turning to head for the backrooms yourself. You hadn’t seen Tommy yet and you hoped he’d given the expansion to his brothers to handle. Hopefully this would all get worked out and territory returned to usual. You knew taking the Eden was a power play to get the game moving, rather than a sensible business acquisition. They were unlikely to be able to hold it long. You just had to stick it out.

You nodded to the other girls as you entered your dressing room, looking down the corridor to them, rather than into the space. When you did, you gasped and then stood still, hand still on the doorknob, eyes wide.

“Tommy”

-

You’d been getting ready around him for 20 minutes and he’d barely said a word. He’d raised his eyebrows when you’d told him to turn around so you could change your dress and only when you’d physically spun him around did he move.

“Nothing I haven’t seen before”

“Nothing you’re going to see again. You forget we’re not childhood friends here, this isn’t lovely old Birmingham. Works different in London. We’re enemies in the city”

He let out a chuckle at that and you let yourself look over to the sound, an ingrained reaction to seek out his smile.

“Ah, yes, I heard about you and Sabini’s boy. Do you love him?”

You sighed, then let out your own sarcastic laugh, shaking your head and perching against the dressing table.

“Would you feel better or worse if I did? Is that why you came back here? To find out if I was happy? Or to convince yourself I’m not?”

His lighter wouldn’t spark and he huffed, shoving it back in his pocket. You flicked the drawer open, digging out yours and handing it off to his side. He turned at the sight and raised his eyebrow at you when he handed it back.

“You smoke now? After you spent 10 years telling me to stop?”

“Frankie bought it for me”

“Oh, Frankie did?”

“Hmm…I like candles in my dressing room. He buys me them too”

“He buys you a lot”

You tilted your head at him, sneering at his tone.

“He didn’t buy me”

“I would never-“

“Fuck off, Tommy”

He smirked at his nickname, blowing smoke up into the air.

“Do you love him?”

“I love the way he makes me feel”

“And what’s that?”

“Happy. Wanted. Like we have a future”

“And what would that be?”

“I don’t know, but I know he’ll be there”

“I’m sure”

“Me and Frankie are wise enough to know that we have a good partnership and that’s just right for us. Sometimes life isn’t a fairy tale, Tommy. I thought you’d realised that by now”

“Oh, I have”

One of the other women knocked on your door, giving you your warning, and you shouted back that you’d heard. When Tommy turned to leave you threw out the question again.

“Why did you come here tonight?”

He pulled the door open, not looking at you, and mumbled his response as he left, balancing his cig in the side of his mouth.

“Because I still miss you”

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