#notyours!
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featsbyfatmansr · 2 months ago
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fatmansr · 2 years ago
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#not Yours! #featsbyfatmansr
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jesski · 6 months ago
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istjury · 9 months ago
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wher yoru bf
wow i wonder who youre tlaking about!!!!!!
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lorelai-l0res · 2 years ago
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Have no idea what to name her😃 gimme name suggestions other then lady rose-
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eepykittensposts · 1 year ago
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Here's fan art for yeager. I loved doing momoko!
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kyraaislynne · 1 year ago
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oetscop · 1 year ago
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ripping cds.....burning cds......why the voilents.......why not hold them gently
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stupidraindesigns · 2 years ago
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(via He Is Not Your Bank Funny Classic T-Shirt by Stupid Rain Designs)
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closetdbisexual · 2 years ago
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if i see the noho hank fans celebrating ill be so mad actually
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runnning-outof-time · 6 months ago
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GIF blurb 5? Last one, scouts honor
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I loved every single one of these you sent in!! Thanks so much again for doing so!! 🧡
Let’s Get Home
Modern!Tommy Shelby x Reader
warnings: some suggestive language
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“Don’t look at me like that,” Tommy said, his forehead still pressed against (Y/N)’s.
“Like what?” (Y/N) questioned innocently, although her sultry eyes were painting another picture.
Tommy stepped away upon hearing her question. She was able to see the change in his eyes, and that a grin was tugging at the corner of his lip.
Looks like this were being exchanged all evening as they wined and dined. Tommy had just returned from a business trip that kept him away for several weeks. (Y/N) missed him something fierce. Now it all seemed to be coming to a pinnacle as they walked along the river outside the stretch of city.
“Like you want to fuck me,” he answered her, his response holding no filter.
(Y/N) bit her lip now. She held his gaze through her eyelashes for a moment before finally letting her smile show. “Maybe I want you to,” she responded, prying her eyes away from him to look at the river.
“Tommy!” she shrieked as she felt herself being hoisted upwards. Within seconds she was resting on Tommy’s shoulder as he then began walking away from the spot they were in. “What’re you doing?” she asked, unable to stop her giggles.
“I want to, too,” he echoed to her previous response, a grin present in his voice as he reached up and tapped her ass, which made (Y/N) shriek again. “Let’s get home.”
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I’d love to know what you think! — adding my Tommy taglist below the cut.
Tagged: @mystcldydrms @the-anxious-youth @cloudofdisney @look-at-the-soul @elenavampire21
@mrsalwayswrite @julkaamazing @evita-shelby @notyour-valentine @theshelbyslimited
@peakyswritings @just-a-blackhole @watercolorskyy @strayrockette @peakyduchesss
@alexxavicry @captivatedbycillianmurphy @yummycastiel @dark-academia-slut @tommystargirl
@emotionalcadaver @stevie75 @lyarr24 @signorellisantichrist @zablife
@anotherblinder @cillmequick @dandelionprints @letal-y-poetica @garrison-girl-08
@insanitybyanothername @depxiety @justrainandcoffee @dragons-are-my-favorite @mrs-bond
@cljordan-imperium @brummiereader @red-riding-wood @everythingelseisextra @little-diable
@thomashelbyswife @shaddixlife @ryecosse @padfootdaredmetoo
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ceirinen · 1 year ago
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December 2023
I decided to make a list of every fic I read each month.
I would like to interact more, but life has been complicated recently and when it comes to interacting, I get very anxious which is something I'm trying to overcome.
So, here I made this to appreciate such amazing writers and stories that inspire me and others everyday. To the authors, I want to thank them for their dedication and time spent on writing to offer us fascinating stories.
I totally recommend their work.
(If you are in this list and you don't want to, please let me know so I can fix it).
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@cillianmesoftlyyy
So New | Cillian Murphy x fem!reader Method Acting | young!Cillian Murphy x Reader
@runnning-outof-time
Research | Tommy Shelby x Reader Bedtime Stories | Tommy Shelby x Reader & Daughter
@zablife
teacher!Luca Changretta x Reader Funeral | Tommy Shelby x sister!reader A Visit to the Peaky Blinders Set | Cillian Murphy x wife!reader
@gypsy-girl-08
Festive Spirit | modern!Tommy Shelby x Reader All I Need... | modern!Thomas Shelby x Reader A Gentle Warning | Thomas Shelby x wife!Reader
@pacifymebby
Arthur Shelby x Reader
@fkmarrycill
Pre-Gaming | Cillian Murphy x Reader
@holacia3
Lost and Lucky | modern!Tommy Shelby x Reader Surprise visit | modern!Tommy Shelby x Reader
@beastofburdenxo
Let Me Praise You | Tommy Shelby x Reader Raising Catherine | Tommy Shelby x Reader
@look-at-the-soul
If I let you go | Cillian Murphy x Reader
@your-nanas-house
What does my princess want? | sugar daddy!Cillian Murphy x sugar baby!reader I'm pretty sure you're mine | sub!William Killick x dom!fem!Reader What are we, idiot? | Neil Lewis x best friend!Reader Thirsty | Tommy Shelby x secretary!Reader
@raincoffeeandfandoms
To the end of the world | Alfie Solomons x fem!oc Tommy, the teddy bear | Alfie Solomons x fem!oc Emergency surgery | baby!Tommy Shelby Fanfiction | Alfie Solomons x fem!oc Anon | Alfie Solomons
@lis-likes-fics
Loner | Edward Cullen x Reader At the End of the Day | Tommy Shelby x wife!Reader
@rafeology
Mentor!Finnick Odair x victor!reader
@wife-of-all-dilfs
Flower Therapy | Finnick Odair x Reader
@darlingsfandom
Cillian Murphy x Reader Tommy Shelby x artist!reader Soft sugar daddy | Robert Fischer x Reader
@pinguwrites
Home Is Where the Heart Is | William Killick x future!reader
@http-finnick
Skin to skin | Finnick Odair x fem!insomniac!reader
@acewritesfics
Lost Love | Tommy Shelby x Reader 36 Minutes | modern! Tommy Shelby x Reader
@dearshelby
Had you first | Tommy Shelby x Reader Little Tommy | Thomas Shelby x oc
@lau219
Red Carpet | Cillian Murphy x Reader
@peakyswritings
I Do Bad Things | demon!Tommy x Reader
@shelbystales
Ceramic Lessons | Cillian Murphy x Reader
@darthannie
Day eighteen: breeding kink with Lenny Miller | Lenny Miller x f!Reader
@hllywdwhre
Afterglow | Cillian Murphy x Reader
@red-write-hand
I'll be home for Christmas | Thomas Shelby x Reader
@mysaintkitten
Bad Behaviour | Mike Kiernan x fem!Reader
@notyour-valentine
The Spirits that I summoned | young!Tommy Shelby
@brummiereader
No Son Of Mine | Tommy Shelby
@youbyradiohead
Strawberry Syrup | Cillian Murphy x Reader
@cillianthinker
British accent | Cillian Murphy x Reader Young and in love | Cillian Murphy x Reader
@cillspropertea
Coming home | Cillian Murphy x Reader
@cillmequick
Operation Christmas Tree | modern!Tommy Shelby x fem!Reader
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jesski · 6 months ago
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My babe cheated on me for his birthday 🎂
W his ex
I'm not into it. It's the guize / claws that says:
"Technically we're both single so I can sleep with whoever I want. Slut."
Then on the flip fandango, tho :(
His ex I spregno w her (her own fiance, some other guy?. So.... wtf; gtfo ur bs) .
Anyways ..... since I got blown off, imma list my swwweet<3's bday gifts with wtf I had in mind for a date
It oughta keep up w/o popping up anywhere
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Lol
#th-pleace
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spacevoir · 7 months ago
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ㅤㅤ+100 usernameㅤㅤ︒ㅤ۪ㅤㅤ⬭ㅤㅤㅤ☾
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤspecial 300 followers!
• undersea • stararts • straw(name) • tulips4u
• don4get • gimme(name) • (name)spoesia
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ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ credits for spacevoir on Tumblr
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤor wassupsex on ig
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noforkingclue · 1 year ago
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I warned you it's brain rot. It's Tommy Shelby brain rot-
But Tommy Shelby has a nurse who knows not to ask too many questions, who lets injured Peaky blinders into her house and helps them quietly. He's been there himself, so has Arthur, John. Finn once, too, but for a scraped knee on the street.
And Thomas has always regarded her as one of his-his men, his assest, whatever. And he's been slowly learning about her-she talks when she works, to distract, put them at ease, and it lets him learn more about her-she likes horses, for instance. Where she grew up, the basics of how she ended up here-and he pays her well enough, and she doesn't seem fool enough to turn coat.
But there are moments...moments where he's injured, where it's her and him in the room, smelling of blood, of pain and that soft voice and comfort-and he knows in those moments she's not just his nurse. Not just a healer he wants to keep around because her stitches are clean and neat, and her mouth shut.
So when Grace the fucking barmaid squeals about her to the coppers-he's not exactly a happy man. And Tommy Shelby angry is a sight to behold.
Note: requests are currently closed
Of course anon! I hope I got all the details in the request as it was a long on!
Enjoy!
Title: Vengeance
Warnings: descriptions of violence against women
Peaky Blinders tag list: @stylesofloki, @ohshititsfenharel, @lenaskyler02, @elenavampire21, @swordofawriter, @zablife, @cillmequick, @polishcrazyone, @nataliewalker93
Thomas Shelby tag list: @alreadybroken-ts, @darlingdevil, @lyrxbz, @watercolorskyy, @notyour-valentine
Everything tag list: @greenrevolutionary, @byebyebreezywrites, @spngingerbread21, @layazul, @lov3vivian, @simonsbluee
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Arthur growled, “once we find out who did this their going to wish they hadn’t been fucking born.”
“Arthur-“
“They fucking hurt y/n,” Arthur said, “Y/n? What has she ever done?”
“She fucking helped us,” said John, “how many times have you been to her?”
“Not as much as you fucking have.”
Tommy was looking into the main bar, smoking silently. He had remained quiet while his brothers discussed what happened and their plans for your attacker. Well, Arthur and John had. Finn remained quiet and very pale, clutching a glass of whiskey so tightly that Tommy thought he was going to break it. That would only add to their problems seeing as you wouldn’t be able to pull the glass out. Tommy had seen Finn wiping his eyes but subtlety was never Finn’s strong points.
“Boys.”
Polly stood in front of Tommy. He glanced over her shoulder and looked at you huddled in a booth. Polly pushed her was passed him and Tommy shut the door behind her.
“How is she?” asked John
“What a fucking stupid question,” snapped Polly before sighing and running a hand over her face, “how do you think? She needs time so, don’t-“
“You need to leave.” Said Tommy
“Excuse me?” said Polly, venom in her voice
“I’m going to speak to her.”
“She doesn’t need that at the moment, especially from you.”
Tommy looked over and locked eyes with Polly.
“I need to speak to her.”
“Tom-“ said Arthur
“Fuck off.” Tommy said as he left the room
Your head jerked up when you heard the door open but you seemed to relax slightly when you realised it was only Tommy. He sat down opposite you and was vaguely aware of his brothers and Polly leaving. Neither of you spoke for a while. You ran a thumb over the rim of your glass and Tommy lit a cigarette and offered it to you. You took it with shaking hands and his eyes dropping down to the cuts on your hands. Deep scratches along the palms of yours hands, knuckles had the skin scrapped away. When he looked up at your face he felt the familiar bubbling rage resurface.
Your left eye was an ugly purple colour and swollen shut. Your bottom lip has been cut open and starting to scab over. Your nose was now slightly crooked and he could see the traces of blood around your nostrils. From the way you drew deep shaking breath, wincing every so often, he guessed that your ribs had been broken.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “this shouldn’t have happened.”
You took a deep drag of your cigarette and said,
“I knew that this could happen when I started helping.”
“You didn’t deserve it.”
“I work for the Shelby’s.”
“Which is why we’re going to find out who did this and kill him.”
You blinked in surprise and smiled bitterly.
“Never knew you cared.”
“Why wouldn’t I? You’re one of us.”
And maybe it was because Tommy liked you a bit too much. You always helped him and his men, probably more often then you should’ve. You stayed up late, humouring an old (and secretly lonely) man. Telling him stories of your life before the Blinders, telling him about your day and in return getting some small snippets of his life in return. In the dark of the night, in a room that smelt of blood and alcohol, the two of you grew closer.
And it was this that had sealed your fate.
“Love, you need to tell me what you can remember.”
“I… can’t.”
“Anything.”
“They blindfolded me.”
Ah.
“But, he had an accent.”
“Hmm.”
“Irish, I think.”
“Irish,” Tommy let out a chuckle, “think I know who you mean. He’d hate for you to call him Irish though.”
“Huh?”
You jumped when there was a clink by the bar. Tommy looked over at it sharply and saw Grace by the bar. A tense silence fell over the room before Tommy said,
“And how long have you been there?”
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little-diable · 1 year ago
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The Ghost of Christmas Past – Tommy Shelby
Part 1 of my Christmas Carol series. A big thank you to @notyour-valentine for writing this with me, this was such a grand joy! Please like and reblog if you enjoyed reading this, your comments keep us writers motivated. Enjoy my loves. xxx
Summary: Tommy keeps on pushing the reader away, only turning towards her when his nights get lonely, but maybe the visit of somebody from his past will finally manage to rip Tommy out of his state.
Warnings: 18+, smut, unprotected piv, some angst
Pairing: Tommy Shelby x fem!reader (4.6k words)
headerby @deathofpeaceofmind
Series Masterlist
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The scent of smoke filled her small bedroom like a poisonous fog, a fog shielding the two lovers from a life that had been anything but kind to them, robbing them of loved ones, robbing them of their sanity, robbing them of their ability to express their emotions without holding back. A downward spiral Tommy and (y/n) had been stuck in for years, finding comfort in her bed whenever the world began to close in on them, forcing them away from the passing by days and weeks they’d go without seeing one another.
She couldn’t remember the moment she had realised that she was in love with Tommy Shelby, well at least not if you’d ask her. But deep down she knew it all too well, the day where she had run into him, soaked through clothes and cold hands, the teenage boy had wordlessly pulled her along, leading her into his home without asking any questions. He had been so gentle with her, a certain kind of gentleness Tommy was now a stranger to. 
“When will you come by on Friday?” Her soft words rang in his ears, a sound that almost reminded him of the sound of shots fired in the distance, a sound so distinct he’d never be able to forget it. Tommy had his chest bare, his eyes focused stoically ahead as he smoked his cigarette. He didn’t meet her eyes, kept ignoring the loving glances she threw his way, half laying on him with her naked body hidden beneath the warm blanket.
“Friday? Why should I come by on Friday?” Tommy felt her freeze, breaths growing shallow, fingertips no longer tracing his stomach. It took (y/n) a few seconds to regain her composure, clearing her throat before she slowly let go, sitting up with the blanket pressed to her chest.
“I mean it’s Christmas day, I just thought we’d maybe spend it together.”  He stubbed out his cigarette, rose to his feet and began to dress himself, almost like he hadn’t picked up on the words (y/n) had just spoken. Her eyes followed his every move, trying to blink away the tears that began to blur her vision, like the rain which had poured down on the day the two had crossed paths for the first time. “Tommy?”
“Why should we spend Christmas together, (y/n)? I will spend it with my family, as I do every year. You know that.” Tommy’s voice had an awfully chilling undertone to it, making goosebumps rise on her skin. Not once had she feared the man with piercing eyes and pale lips, not once had he raised his voice when she was around, but it seemed like today was the day the cards had changed their fate, the die was cast. 
“But–” by now he was fully dressed, back turned to her as their eyes met through the mirror hung on the wall Tommy was turned to. He watched her wipe her tears, unable to stop them from rolling down her cheeks, a sight that left his jaw muscles ticking, biting down the need to soothe the pain he had shot through her system. “You know what, you’re right. How foolish of me.”
No further word was spoken, slowly he turned towards her, nodding at (y/n) before he leaned down to press a kiss to her warm forehead, and without speaking another word, Tommy left the house she was living in behind. The second the sound of her front door falling shut rang in her ears, (y/n) let go of the sob she had tried to keep bottled in.
……
The silence filling his home had an awfully eerie touch to it, a silence Tommy had tried to flee from for the past years, no longer able to be on his own for too long. The nightmares would always catch up with him, robbing him of precious hours of sleep the man desperately needed. He nursed a glass of whisky, eyes closed, fingers holding onto yet another cigarette. (Y/n)’s pained expression filled his mind whenever he closed his eyes, wondering why he had pushed her away once again.
Tommy wasn’t oblivious, he was all too aware of the feelings she fostered deep inside, feelings that left him trembling in fear. Nothing good would happen to those that try to love him, they all ended up six feet under, a risk he wasn’t willing to take with (y/n) – not with her. 
A deep exhale left him as he sunk further into his chair, wondering if yet another sleepless night was awaiting him. He’d never admit it, and yet Tommy felt awfully lonely, without her near, without (y/n)’s voice filling the silence he was trapped in. Whenever he found himself hiding away in his office, his thoughts would catch up with him, forcing him down memory lane without a way out.
He could have sworn that shots were fired nearby, his body trembling in fear, about to disappear beneath earth’s surface, one with the soil he was forced to crawl through. Back then he had been filled with fright, though not the kind he found himself tormented by nowadays. No, back then he had other priorities, other people to care for, not understanding how much (y/n) truly meant to him.
But now he kept digging another tunnel, deeper than those he had crawled through, darker than those he’d see whenever his eyes fell shut. Fuck, she had been his anchor, the antidote to his nightmares, but yet the fear of letting her even closer still managed to push her away, preferring to stay away from her rather than being plagued by worries about her. Whatever grasp she had on his heart, he needed to get away from it, needed to leave her behind  – otherwise he’d go insane, otherwise he’d lose his last drop of sanity.
With one last yawn leaving him, Tommy felt his grasp on reality slip, lured into darkness by the tiredness clinging to his bones. 
……
The first thing Tommy felt was the cold. It crept in through the thickest curtains, the warmest socks and the most sturdy of walls. No blanket, no stone or wood, not even the most expensive of coats, could keep the cold away for long. Perhaps because it never left. Sometimes Tommy thought, it lingered in them, like mist over a lake, only sometimes retreating from burning coals or candles, but never quite leaving. Always waiting for a chance to strike again. By now he was almost sure the cold had found its way inside him too, curling inside him like it curled inside the walls of any place he had ever known. It had lingered in the plain wooden walls of the boat he had been born in, and the painted ones of the wagon that had been passed down generation from generation to find its current resting place in Charlie’s yard. It had always been in the gray walls of Watery Lane. The smoke and steam of the factories could chase away the snow and ice, but never the cold. He even found it in the walls of Arrow House. Or maybe he had brought it here, carrying it with him like all the other trinkets he had collected over his life, the first coin he had ever earned, the first bullet that had ever been dug out of him, a piece of mane from the first horse he had ever called his own. 
Now the cold had stretched out its pale fingers into his joints, making his knees ache as much as his fingers did. The fire must’ve gone out in the night. 
A curse slipped from his lips as he sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his hands for some warmth. They were stiff and strained as if he had been riding in the snow for hours. 
If only his dreams were that gentle to him. 
“Did I wake you?” He heard a woman say. 
His head snapped up immediately, searching for the sight of her dark hair, and her even darker eyes. He found her soon, sitting at the edge of the table, a cutting board in front of her. Busy, always busy. That was a good sign. The restlessness was innate to them, Polly said, once their hands stilled, that was when trouble came. 
“I wanted to surprise you,” she said, offering him a half smile as she brushed her hair out of her face with the back of her hand. “Do you like the sound of that? A Christmas surprise to make it extra special?”
His mouth went dry as he looked at her. He knew her. He knew the shade of her apron and could place each spot where it had been darned with greater certainty than he could place English cities on a map. He knew the curl of the shorter strands of her hair whenever she was out in the rain, or cooking with steam, the ones that framed her face. He knew that her fingernails, even if he could not see them now, would be bitten down all the way. 
Yes, Christmas was always special. It had to be special. 
Travellers didn’t like registries. Most didn’t know the dates of their birth, some not even the month. But Christmas was the same day every year. Christmas was the day when they could be sure to celebrate on the right one. And they did. In the good years, at least. 
“Look, Tom,” she said, putting the knife down, a strange look in her eyes. “I know you’re disappointed I didn’t take you with me on the road this summer, but now we’ll have a nice Christmas, you and me and the rest. And then, when the snow melts on the hills, we can try to go on the road together. You can ride your pony all on your own.”
She had tried, hadn’t she? She had stayed longer than she ever had before, almost until easter. Until the snow in the mountains was almost gone. They had even set the date, and he had packed and repacked his bags every night to be ready come morning, so that he would not miss it. 
Then there had been the fight. He remembered the shouting from below, his father’s booming voice, the shattering of glass and then the silence. Come morning, she had been gone, and she had even taken the pony too, so he had no chance of rushing after her. 
“If you want to, you can help me with the chestnuts,” she said, gesturing with her knife. 
He could see them now, laying in front of her. It was the biggest pile of chestnuts he had ever seen. Stolen, he thought now, just like the three oranges, and the chocolate. 
It had gotten old and brittle, tasting nothing like the silky smooth ones he had tried in Paris, the ones that melted on the tongue. While it wouldn’t even come close to the best chocolate Tommy had ever tasted, it had been the one he enjoyed the most. 
He found himself reaching for it, his fingers just an inch short of reaching it, when she slapped his hand away. 
“Wait for your siblings,” she said, a scowl on her face. “It’s for us all to share.”
He held his breath, waiting for her to say what she had said all those years ago, with that mischievous smile of hers that he had seen more times in John than he had ever gotten to see it in her. 
“Although…they won’t know one’s missing, will they?” She asked, piercing one with the knife and holding it up between them. 
“What do you say, Tom? It’ll be our little secret.” With that she drove the knife down on the board, splitting the small piece of chocolate in two. 
“Christmas is supposed to be special, isn’t it?”
~~~~~~
The last time it had been the cold that woke him, and its ruthlessness that had kept him awake. Now it was the noise, the grating, neverending screams, the wails echoing not just within their rooms but passing through the walls that separated their house from the next. 
And just like back then, it jolted him, made his stomach twist and his chest clench. 
Even now, despite everything, he had never been good with screaming. Although back then he had thought it was the worst sound of all. That was before he had heard men die. 
That was before he had been forced to hear horses die. 
Still, a screaming child was a sound that would never be easy on his ears, nor one he could ignore, pass on or drown out like other men. Or maybe they couldn’t either. 
Perhaps the same thing that made them flee to the pub or reach for the bottle was born from the same desperation that made his throat close all those years better. He had wanted to flee, but he had nowhere to flee to. Besides, if he fled, no one would be left. 
The memory returned the agonising feeling in his chest as if the construct of time had crumbled, between the boy he saw then and the man he was now. Because he was a boy. His hair was long, his eyes sunken, and his cheeks pale, even for winter. 
He looked like he hadn’t slept, and Tommy knew he hadn’t. How could he?
Perhaps it had been a saving grace, that the baby kept him up, or Ada having nightmares, or John crawling into their mother’s bed, finding it colder than it had been even when their parents still shared it. If it hadn’t been them it would have been Polly waking screaming from her night terrors, fighting nothing but her ghosts and regrets, or Arthur stumbling home drunk. 
With sleep, came nightmares. Though back then, the boy thought he was living in the worst one. That was before he knew what nightmares were, and looking at him now, Tommy wouldn’t blame him. 
“What’s wrong with him?” John asked, glaring at his two brothers, the older and the younger, with nothing but plain disgust on his face. 
The boy only inhaled sharply. not having an answer to share. Back then he had thought sometimes babies screamed just for the hell of it, or perhaps he was letting out his rage against the world, against his mother for leaving, against his father for fleeing, against his eldest brother for fleeing and his aunt for being a drunk, against his second brother for being too stupid to figure out if it was hunger, exhaustion, cold or pain that made him wail. 
With a scowl, John ran off, a face like sour lemon, leaving the boy to return to the kitchen. 
The air was thick with steam and smoke, and even thicker with tension. 
Ada’s face was flushed with rage. 
“No!” She insisted, her voice cracking like a whip. “I don’t! I don’t want it with cream, You ruined it!”
“Ada, it’s not ruined-,” Polly tried, her hands shaking too much to light the match for her cigarette. 
“Yes it is!” She snapped. “It’s never with cream. Mum always did it without cream because it’s supposed to be without cream!”
She screamed the last two words, tears shining in her dark eyes. 
She was wrong of course. Their mother didn’t always do it without cream, although there were little things she always did. Always would imply routine, certainty even, reliability. That wasn’t possible with their mother, not even in her death could they count on her absence. She’d come to haunt them in dreams. 
But Ada didn’t know that. She was younger than Tommy, and remembered less. And for all her faults, their mother had tried to make them a nice Christmas. When Polly didn’t respond in the way Ada wished, or in any way, she continued her tirade.
“It’s properly ruined! You ruined the cake and you ruined Christmas!”
“It’s the way I do it,” Polly said, her finger slipping again. She was too drunk to hold the match to catch the spark. 
“It’s wrong!” Ada snapped, trying to force back her sobs. 
“Ada, it’s a bloody cake!” The boy insisted, rocking the baby with his arm in a futile attempt to get him to stop screaming. 
“Well I don’t want it!” She snapped. “I don’t want the cream, I don’t want the cake and I don’t want Christmas!”
She didn’t have to say what she wanted. Tommy knew, then as he did now. She wanted the man back who’d lift her up to sit on his shoulders when he was sober and in a good mood. She wanted the woman back who’d sing to her and braid her hair. She wanted the family back that wasn’t wholly and utterly broken. 
The boy couldn’t give it to her, and the man knew that little girl would have to lose her family once more. 
“Where’s Arthur?” Polly asked the boy as she, having discarded the cigarette, reached for the bottle of gin. 
“Getting drunk.” The boy replied, and Tommy still remembered what he had thought. 
Like I want to. Like I should. But he couldn’t. 
That would leave them here alone, in the first Christmas without. They ought to fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. A mother without children. Children without a mother. 
But it had felt so wrong. 
Now Tommy wondered when it had begun to feel right, not then of course, not in the year after that. He didn’t know when, only that it had. The knocking on the door startled the baby to cry again, making him curse the interrupter before he had even put the baby down and walked towards it. 
Arthur didn’t knock and he wouldn’t be drunk enough yet to return. A gust of cold wind came as soon as he opened the door just a bit, the winter air being whipped through the narrow streets of Small Heath. 
“Happy Christmas, Tom,” she said, her voice muffled by the scarf she had wrapped around her head almost completely. 
The boy tensed. Tommy could see it in his shoulders. He had been upset by her use of the word “Happy” and by the sheer audacity of her to say something like that to him, to them, now. 
“I, ah, look!” She said, handing him a basket. Tommy didn’t have to see to know. Five gingerbread men. 
“These were left over from the bakery when we closed earlier. Mr Higgins gave us some to take home. Thought you’d like some.”
Five gingerbread men in a basket, wrapped in a white cloth. Tommy remembered the look of them, and the taste of them too, though he only had little. Both Ada and John had liked them enough to get distracted by them for a bit, first playing with them like they were dolls, and finally hacking off legs and arms and heads to eat them. 
He could see the look in her eyes, the expectation. 
“If you want, I can set them up in the kitchen,” she said. 
“They’re just gingerbread men,” the boy said. “Nothing to set up.”
She shifted, glancing downward. “Just offerin’.”
Tommy knew now what the boy didn’t, what she was actually asking. What she was actually offering. The boy was too caught up in his own misery to see the outstretched hand, and so instead quickly said that the house was getting cold and that he had to shut the door. 
“Oh alright. I better go then.”
Once more she had that expectation in her eyes, the spark that just waited for the right breath of air to ignite a warm, comforting fire. But it never came. 
The door was shut and locked, the basket taken into the kitchen, and Tommy was left alone in the corridor, as alone as the girl out there in the wind, making her way home. 
“Gingerbread. Ada’s favourite. And yours.”
His head snapped up, seeing the figure sitting on the stairs. Her hair was open for the occasion, with a wreath of holly that she wore like a crown. 
Seeing her here, in this house, on that day made his eyes burn. He almost wanted to lunge at her. 
But perhaps this was her hell, her purgatory, seeing the consequences of her absence, witnessing all their pain and desperation she had left in her wake. But he didn’t want her to suffer. He wanted her to be there. She smiled as she glanced at the kitchen door. 
“You know she lied, don’t you, Tom?” She asked, when from the kitchen the boy called his younger siblings. 
“Course,” he said. 
Mr Higgins was a man as greedy as he was mean. He didn’t give away anything for free. Once Tommy had heard her say that he’d eat himself to death before sharing a crumb. 
Either she’d have stolen them, which meant getting the price deducted from all the girl’s pay, or it would have come out of her salary, little as it was. 
John came rushing first, passing by the woman sitting on the steps, not knowing she was even there. Ada came more reluctantly, even if she ended up enjoying them more and buying them each year. Little did that girl know that the woman she would grow to be would hire one of London’s most famous, and expensive cake makers to create Gingerbread villages, and castles and boats to celebrate, a new motive each year. That year, a man had to do. 
“Happy Christmas, Tom,” his mother said, her eyes piercing through him. 
~~~
He woke with a gasp, hands shooting out to grasp onto the chair he had been sleeping in. An unfamiliar, rather uncomfortable feeling stuck to Tommy, forcing his eyes to blink a few times to adjust to the darkness he was engulfed by. With his eyes finding his clock he let go of a groan, it was already Christmas morning. 
“Tom.” The voice rang in his ears, making his head whip towards the door, only to find his room still empty. His heart was pounding, trying to shake his mother’s voice, hoping that the rather strange dream he had been plagued by would finally let him rest. But the voice called out to him once again, even as he cupped his face in his cold hands, desperately chasing the silence that had been ripped from him.
“It’s Christmas, Tom. You need her.” Her? Tommy caught the question before it could leave him, not wanting to speak out, scared that he was now going insane. He tried to shake his head, tried to rise with trembling limbs, though something clung to him, something his eyes couldn’t see. “Christmas is supposed to be celebrated with your loved ones, isn’t it?” 
He heavily swallowed, reaching for a cigarette in hopes of being able to let the memory of his mother finally rest. The blue smoke left his nostrils like a wave clashing through the streets he had once roamed as a young boy, with his siblings in tow. 
“Find her, Tommy, it’s never too late.” 
……
“Tommy? What are you doing here?” She was wearing her thin dressing gown, wrapping it tightly around herself as her wide eyes kept staring at him. Tommy cleared his throat, hands fumbling with his cap. For a few moments he struggled to meet her eyes, stepping on the cigarette he had finished smoking. 
“We’re supposed to spend Christmas with the people we love, aren’t we?” It was just a whisper, and yet the words were all too clear to (y/n) like bullets piercing her trembling body. The cold nibbled on her skin as she kept holding onto the door, watching snow settle on Tommy’s frame. 
All she could do was nod her head, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. His words still rang in her ears, reminding her that “I will spend it with my family, as I do every year”. 
“I guess sometimes I’m not the smartest man, even though it pains me to say so.” Both chuckled in unison, Tommy took a slow step towards (y/n), and yet he still kept some distance between them. “I love you, (y/n), and I’d like it if you’d spend the next few days with me and my family.” She reached for his coat, pulling Tommy in for a searing kiss, drowning the gasp rumbling through the surprised man. 
Slowly Tommy guided her back inside, door falling shut with a thud as he shuffled out of his coat, falling to the ground with his cap following. They didn’t break the kiss, not as he picked her up, not as he carried her towards her bedroom. Only as Tommy carefully placed her down on the mattress did they part, allowing (y/n) to watch him undo his vest, taking his time as he undressed one by one. 
“You’re a strong headed idiot, Tommy Shelby, you’re painfully oblivious sometimes. And yet I can’t help but love you.” His fingers froze, eyes burning into hers. It took Tommy longer than he’d like to admit to snap out of his trance, lips finding hers again with a soft “I love you too, so very much” rumbling through him. 
Within moments both found themselves pressed together, naked bodies falling back into their all too familiar rhythm. They were a mess of tangled limbs, of racing hearts, and swollen lips, a mixture so loving, Tommy couldn’t help but wonder if he was still stuck in a dream. An almost melancholic feeling flushed through Tommy, momentarily taking him back to his rather confusing dreams. 
(Y/n) whispered his name as if it was a prayer one would only speak on Christmas, needing to keep one another close, wanting to fully pull him into her trap. He interlaced his fingers with hers as he slowly pushed into her, watching her eyes flutter close with a gasp leaving her. She was even more beautiful at that very moment, so beautiful Tommy wished he could freeze the moment to paint her.
His thrusts weren’t rushed, they were almost too slow for (y/n), though the way he looked at her, with so much love swimming in his pupils, seemed to be just enough to satisfy the moaning woman. She clung to him, fingernails scratching at his shoulders, scared that he’d let go of her all too abruptly, not giving her a chance to fully love him.
“Never let me go again, Tommy, promise me.” Her moans rolled off her tongue as he began to meet the one spot that left her gasping, seeing the brightest stars. He dipped his head down, kissing her throat as he spoke his sweet promise, words so loving, (y/n) feared her heart would rot from the love it felt. 
“May I die by my promise. I won’t ever let go again.” Their hearts were pounding in sync, roaring in their chests, louder and louder with every passing moment. Both kept holding eye contact, not wanting to miss their loving, lust-filled expressions. They were addicted, made for one another like Paris and Helen, like Orpheus and Euridice. Ancient lovers reborn at this very moment.
She came with a gasp, back arched off the mattress, pressed against his front. Tommy once again pressed kisses against her throat as he kept snapping his hips, needy for his own high. He didn’t let go of (y/n) as he followed her down the edge, imprinting himself on her walls, groaning her name with a smirk tugging on his lips. 
“Merry Christmas, love.”
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