#the only time I'm skipping pleasantries is when I know you don't give a fuck or if it's urgent

[fictional-worlds-are-exquisite]

I lowkey hate when you ask someone an urgent question and they ignore it to go GOOD MORNING, how are you? very pointedly so you're over there like oh sorry good morning, I'm good i hope you're well too! now can you tell me where the fire extinguisher is so i can put out a fire or do I need to suck your dick first?

[1rsoldiersince2012]

Bound by Law (Matt Murdock x Reader)

Words: 3760 (chapter 48)

'screw valentine's day, i want what they have'

but anyway, you're welcome ☺ thoughts, comments are always appreciated <3

48. this might've been just a dream, right?

"You look like you've seen a ghost." He says again, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Robert? What are you doing here?" You manage to say, feeling as if your whole body has gone numb. The kitchen almost starts spinning, and you feel your blood begin to boil.

"I invited Rob, he's a part of the family." Your father says, leaving Matt alone, and comes to stand next to Robert in the kitchen. Rob. Fucking Rob. Now it was only you against them both. Exactly the way it always has been.

"Aren't you going to introduce us, y/n?" Robert asks, eyes targeting Matt, his voice as sweet as honey. You're not gonna get the authority in this house, and he knows it all too well.

"Yeah, that's Matthew Murdock. My boss." You smile wickedly, watching everyone's eyes widen. "Murdock as in Nelson and Murdock attorneys office."

Matt tries to read the room, waiting for somebody to snap, but Robert only shakes his hand, obviously swallowing some other words.

"Your boss? Y/n, what-" your mother begins, but a single glare from your dad is enough to shut her up. The atmosphere changes immediately, and Matt feels like an outsider, as if he himself was sitting as a spectator in a courtroom, a mere watcher with no real influence on the Jury's final decision.

"I'm sorry, mind if I have a few words with my daughter?" Your father says, walking out of the kitchen, sparing all the pleasantries. He doesn't need to turn back and wait for you because he knows you'll follow.

"Excuse me." You mutter, walking past Matt. He asks for someone to show a way to the bathroom, so he could listen to you and your father talk without completely blanking out in front of others. It was unfair, cheating, using his powers for not a great cause, but he just couldn't be left out in a new environment. Not when it was you and him against the world.

"What? What boss? Mind explaining something to your father?" Harold closes the doors of his bedroom, not shouting or smashing things. But this calmness was always scarier than anger.

"What's there to explain? I work elsewhere now." You sit on the bed, unfazed.

"How long?"

"Two months or so."

"Why?" Yeah, this was the spitting image of a police interrogation.

"I got tired of kissing asses, especially Benowitz's." You simply shrug, holding strong eye contact.

"You had the world under your feet there and left for what? What does he even pay you?" Apparently one look was enough to crack Matt's character and social status.

"Not nearly enough, but I don't really care about money." A steady heartbeat.

"If you think that leaving Benowitz was a great idea, you're very wrong, kid. He's gonna crush that office of yours like a boot crushes an ant." Harold's voice was still unbelievably calm. Matt sits on the closed toilet seat to listen better. "What went wrong? You liked working there."

"He wanted me to give a false statement to the Jury. I refused."

"That's it?"

"Yes." Your heart skips a beat; but you don't desire explaining every 'silly' thing that lead to your resignation. Not now.

He scoffs and a thunder-like laugh leaves his chest. "Honey, if you think that everyone who works as a lawyer is a saint, then you still don't know shit about the world."

"If you thought I was gonna let a guilty party walk freely among everyone else, then you're..." Insane. Stupid. "Wrong."

"But it's not that, is it?"

Matt stiffens, trying to locate your heartbeat again.

"It's... Love, right?" Harold asks again, noticing your pink cheeks. He could always read you like an open book. "Oh, what have I told you after the last time?" A heavy sigh escapes him.

You break the eye contact with him, looking at your feet. The mattress next to you dips, and your face is pulled into your dad's chest. "I know. But it's different. It won't be like the last time." You whisper, your shoulders rigid and unable to release the tension. 

"I want to believe it. But I have a feeling that this time it will be worse."

"No, I promise."

"You don't have to promise me anything. Promise to yourself." He rubs your shoulder with the free hand, thinking over his next words. "Listen, I know that it never worked out with Robert... Although I really wish it did. But I'm not gonna press you this time."

"Who are you and what did you do to my father?" You pull away to look him in the eyes and he wipes the tears from your face.

"I want what's best for my only daughter."

Matt furrows his eyebrows. So many questions and no answers. He understood that the past is better left behind, but not knowing a lot about you was frustrating. 

*** 

The dinner was nice. Apart from the occasional glares thrown at you and Matt from one of the three. You sat next to Matt, who was seated right across Robert, next to your father, facing you, and your mother by his side. Robert was acting like a real man should - he listened, asked questions, commented something on the game that was shown on TV; to a mere watcher, it would've looked like Robert and Matt got along just perfectly. But the tension was hanging thickly around them, as you suspected it would.

Your father was mostly silent, but when he talked, he only asked questions. Questions you didn't particularly enjoy. When you told him about the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, now crowned as Daredevil, about how the whole gang of Nelson and Murdock put the city's biggest criminal behind the bars and accidentally let it slip that you've been poisoned, your father almost choked on the apple pie. Of course, the lecture about being more cautious was inevitable, even in front of a guest, but when Matt placed his warm hand on your knee for reassurance, you felt grateful to have him here with you. 

"Do you agree with this devil, Matthew?" Your mother asks, pouring herself a glass of water. You notice her hands slightly shaking. Obviously, no mother wants to hear about their child getting hurt; not even when that child is a 30-year-old lawyer.

"As a lawyer - no." Matt's voice is firm, he doesn't stutter like he did when Karen asked his opinion about the vigilante for the first time, although it wasn't nice to lie about himself. "As a citizen, a blind one too, I think he's doing a lot more good than wrong. I mean, he has saved y/n, and our secretary, more than once."

"By disobeying and breaking multiple rules." Robert speaks from behind a cup, sending you 'is this guy serious' look.

"Well, you can't have something good without a bit of bad." Matt responds, and you bite away a grin, giving Robert a glare back. 

"Sounds a lot like church teaching." 

"Well, I am catholic." Matt answers to Robert.

"So as a catholic, you believe in his doings?" Your mother asks again. The question hangs in the air for a while, accompanied by the sound of intense commentating on TV.

"Please, let's not involve religion at this table." You groan slightly. 

"No, I wanna hear his opinion." You look at Robert threateningly, but he avoids your eyes. 

"Yeah, I mean... He's not killing people... From what I've heard. Just... Beats them up and gives them to police."

"So what you're saying..." your father clears his throat, "is that police are not capable of dealing with the criminals... and they need another criminal to help them?"

Ah, the police way of talking. You knew this was coming sooner or later. Maybe bringing Matt here was a mistake.

"I usually don't doubt honest work of police officers but-"

"Fisk had at least half of the precinct paid off. I saw FBI arresting them." You help Matt, suddenly feeling the need to defend him from your family's sharp words. You two against the whole world.

"All the good men then left, I see." Harold clears his throat again, this time more embarrassed than confident, "when I was Chief Officer, anyone who was bribed was kicked out of the force... by me. Personally. I guess a lot has changed, in almost ten years."

"Why did you leave the force?" Matt risks a lot with this question, and suddenly everyone at the table tense. You gulp loudly beside Matt, panic evident in your eyes when they meet your father's tired ones. Your mother focuses on the glass of water in her hand, not making eye contact with anyone. Robert notices your eyebrow slightly twitching when you look at Camilla, something about your face now was different; you looked paler, more tired, as if these were your last moments on Earth. He knew some of it, the story, the real reason, but after the time when he asked for more details and was met with your furious father, he didn't dare to look for more details anymore. What he knew, was half of the truth, and frankly, it was enough for him. It was the same for your mother, yet she learned to be humble and silent about it. 

The question hangs heavily in the air, until your father replies, "Uh, just encountered some personal... Health problems."

He's lying. Too obvious for someone who previously worked in the force. Harold's heartbeat is all over the place, loudly pounding in Matt's ears. As is yours. Something about this was not right, suspicious.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Matt sends a small apologetic smile towards your dad, his hand finding your knee under the table again. You almost flinch, but then quickly cover it up with a cough. Your skin somehow feels both hot and cold at the same time, and Matt feels the sudden tensing of your body. "If you were still a captain, none of that mess with Fisk would've ever happened." 

"Don't be so sure, Matthew." Harold's voice is low, with a note of regret, "from what I've heard now, he's worked hard in the shadows to lure powerful people and built his empire from scratch. A man like this is very dangerous and hard to capture."

"But not impossible." Matt strives to bring positivity back on the table, but this appears to be impossible.

"Matthew, take no offense, but you're too catholic for your own good." Harold answers, and you know that this is his final word in this talk.

The men return from the backyard, and you can only guess what they talked about the whole time they were gone. You pass Matt in the corridor, grazing his hand with your fingers as you go and make way towards the bathroom to wash your face. A minute later, someone slips inside, and you think that it's Matt, but when you lift your head to grab a towel, you see Robert standing in the middle of the bathroom, his arms crossed on his chest. 

***

You help your mother get the guest room ready, exchanging only few words. She likes Matt, admits it herself, but doesn't dare to comment anything else. Mother's intuition was telling her that you didn't bring Matt here to simply make a blind man's lonely holiday better, perhaps you wanted to introduce him as your boyfriend, but didn't dare to do so when Robert was in the house. She also liked Robert, he was almost like a son to her, visiting them ocassionally since highschool, he wasn't a rare sight in this house, but... Maybe it was time to move on. For everyone. Camilla knew that if Robert continues coming here, you'll become a rare sight. In her heart, she wanted what's best for you, her dearest daughter, but she also knew about your tough character and how easily you can break apart when you're hurt.

"Occupied." 

"Well, then you should've locked the door." His voice is nonchalant, you notice that he's already changed his clothes, ditched the long sleeved shirt for an old police academy t-shirt. He looks as if he was trying to flex his biceps in front of you, but the thought of that makes you grin. Matt definitely had a stronger body than this Sheriff wannabe.

"Not my fault that there's an idiot in the house."

"Classic y/n." He scoffs, leaning on the door with his whole back. "So, this guy, a new toy of yours?"

"Do I hear jealousy, Robert?"

He ignores your question, going on a ramble, "see, this is why some people think of you as a whore, going around, playing men and then leaving them when you get bored. Even at the dinner table you two can't keep your hands to youself, huh? Are you two fucking?"

"I fuck whomever I want. And it's no concern of yours." You say, leaning on the sink.

"Have you forgotten about us? How good it felt when we were together?" He says, his back still pressed against the bathroom door, keeping the maximum distance in the small space.

"Maybe it felt good for you, but you've never even bothered to ask if it felt good for me." You bite, watching his eyes widen in shock... Or shame.

"Oh please, if someone had heard us, they would've thought that I was the best man on the planet with the way you were screaming."

"Maybe I was screaming because I disliked it? How can you know when you've always turned away to sleep or left after you were done rutting your dick into me?" You wave your hands in front of you in a dirty gesture, noticing Robert's clenched jaw.

"He's gonna break your heart. Like you did mine. I just hope the pain is even worse for you than it was for me."

"I broke your heart? Please." You scoff, crossing your arms, "when I told you about my problem, you basically vanished."

"I needed some time to think, but I still wanted you. I still do." His voice is desperate and it makes you sick.

"Oh, save it for some other poor soul, you just wanted to get me pregnant but when the doctors said that it's impossible, you threw me away like a dirty rag. That's all you wanted - to have nice little children, and not because you loved me, but because you were so obsessed with my father that you wanted a connection between the two of you!" Your voice gets louder and Robert glances at the door nervously.

"I don't need any children to have a connection with your father. I already have it." He boasts, so sure of his place in this house that if he hated you, he would have the power to banish you from here. But he didn't. Deep in his heart, there we still strong feelings for you.

"Oh, right, I forgot that you are the son he wished to have, and not me, the daughter who's whoring around every man she sees, right?" Your voice is strong, displaying years of suppressed anger and not being loved enough in your own home. "Do you know how hard it was for me to be with you after all that I went through? How your touch made me flinch? And you have the audacity to come here to my parent's house and say that you want me back? Don't you understand the reason I left you the second time?" You desperately grab onto the sink with your palms and take deep breaths.

"You said you were better, how was I supposed to read your goddamn mind?" He shouts, and suddenly you feel like you've travelled back in time, before you were even a lawyer, and were arguing about the same things with Robert.

"I said I was better because I was, the therapy was helping, but I wasn't feeling well with you around. You're just... Too similar to him."

"If you think that I'm similar to that psychopath, you're not better than him yourself."

"You-" you grab a tube of body lotion from the sink and throw it at Robert, hitting him in the chest. "Get out of my sight before I throw something sharper than this fucking lotion!"

"You will fuck this up, whatever you two have going on, it's doomed." He leaves the bathroom, closing the door loudly.

*** 

An hour later you're gently knocking on Matt's door, hoping to disappear from the corridor before Robert or your father see you. Robert was staying in the room next to this, and he could exit any moment. Matt opens quickly, much to your luck, a confused look on his face. Without words, he lets you inside. 

"Wow, that is really dark, I gotta," you walk towards the corner of the room and turn on a lamp. Warm yellow light fills the space, and you notice Matt's slumped shoulders. "What did they even do to you?" You say with a humourless laugh, sitting at the end of the bed. 

"Don't worry, we just chatted. What's up with you?" Matt tries to sound innocent, but he didn't know what to do with the information he overheard. He wanted to hug you, and never let you out of his embrace, but you had to tell everything you told Robert to him yourself.

"You want some?" You say, taking a sip of wine straight from the bottle. He doesn't answer, but sits next to you on the bed. "It's wine."

"Where'd you get that?"

"Stole from my parents. I need it more than they do." You push the bottle into Matt's hands, and watch him drink. "I truly hoped that this could be our escape from the problems and the whole Hell's Kitchen, but... I'm sorry it got ruined. By an obvious somebody." Your voice wavers with anger.

"It's alright. I got to spend more time with you." Matt shrugs, his knee resting against yours. 

"Aren't you just full of positivity?" You smile, honestly, for the first time this evening. "So, how bad are the first impressions?" You drink again, not letting Matt out of your sight. 

"They're good. I think your mom likes me a lot." He smiles, and you fight the urge to put your palm on his cheek. "Robert's not very talkative with me, and your dad... I think he has accepted the fact that Robert's not your boyfriend anymore."

"Ah, you know, Matt, I love your ability to see positive aspects of every shitty situation." You laugh, finally loosening up when the wine kicks in.

"You didn't tell me it was your birthday." Matt says, taking a swing from the bottle. The wine is good, not too sweet and just the right amount of sour. "Which day was it?"

"November 13th." You answer, lying on your side with your hand under your head. "I stopped celebrating a long time ago."

Matt drinks some more and puts the bottle away, lying down as well, mirroring you. "Why?"

"Got tired of all the meaningless gifts, and money. I hate when people gift money and say 'go buy whatever you want'. It just completely loses the whole birthday meaning. A gift should be something that screams 'you're on my mind' or 'this made me think of you' and not 'this is shiny and girly, I hope this will pass as a good gift'." You scoff, "One time Robert gifted me a red lipstick because he liked the color."

"Jesus, really?" Matt can't hold the laugh, and you burst out laughing as well, hiding your face in his chest. When the laughter dies, Matt's hand begins gently stroking your hair, "I would gift you the whole world if I could."

"Lying is a sin, Matthew." You smile, kissing his exposed neck. "You should be very careful with these kinds of statements. Or I might twist them around." 

He lets you kiss his neck, his jaw and his chest, but the uneasiness stirring inside of him doesn't allow Matt to fully focus on you the way he'd want to. "I overheard something... You and Robert were talking." 

The words make you stop and you look at him intently, panic setting in, "what exactly?"

Words get stuck in his throat, and Matt's face becomes red, embarassed. He should've just kept his mouth shut, but of course, the devil had to pull his tongue. "Something about pregnancy. I was just passing by and-"

"Oh, that." You close your eyes, bracing yourself. "I was planning to tell you this some time later. I didn't know how far will we go... Because no woman goes around telling that to the first guy in her bed... But I think you already deserve to know." You pause, feeling your own heart beating loudly in your ears, Matt puts his hand on yours for emotional support. He has heard every single word you and Robert said to each other, but he needed to hear it all from you. "I... I can't have children. I can't get pregnant, and... If you had thoughts about family, now it's perfect time for you to run away."

"I won't leave you, y/n." He squeezes your hand, reassuringly, "I... I don't care. Family, no family, I just want to be with you."

"Just please, don't be disappointed later when that honeymoon phase passes." You sigh.

"I won't. I promise." Matt seals his promise with a kiss, one full of love and adoration.

I love you.

***

The night felt like a fever dream for you and Matt. He kissed you the way he has never kissed anyone; his touch was like fire on your skin, exploring your body like he has already done many times before, but this time it was even more intimate. This wasn't just sex anymore; it was a feeling almost divine, as if your spirits were connecting and merging into one. You gripped the sheets, raked Matt's strong back with your nails, surely leaving long red marks, and welcomed his body weight on yours when you both came from the highest of all the highs - it was divine. When Matt continued to tightly hold your interlocked hands next to your head, and panted hot air into your neck, you didn't expect him to say the next words.

This was beyond the description of 'divine' and all the other words that were used to describe a feeling out of this planet. This was something else, something unreal, a thing one so madly in love longs to hear, dreams, expects and waits for... Yet is never ready when these words are said aloud.

If you didn't have to be quiet, you'd surely would have been laughing into his strong, hairy chest, pressing his body into yours a million times until you wouldn't have been able to move a single muscle. But you couldn't. So you showered Matt with kisses, feeling your lips uncomfortably tingling, and swollen, and told him the same three words back.

It was a fever dream, and you both were sick with the worst disease ever - love.

[runnning-outof-time]

To Be Alone | Tommy Shelby x Reader | Chapter 26

Masterlist

Next Chapter

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x OC

Summary: Celia and Tommy travel to London to see Ada. When Tommy leaves the ladies, Ada convinces Celia to go out with her. They meet some interesting men who try to make advances on them. Tommy catches wind of this and, as expected, he’s not too happy about it.

Warnings: language, smoking, drinking, sexual situations (PG-13 rated)

Word Count: 3856

A/N: I love Ada so much...especially when she’s putting Tommy in his place. Enjoy! :)

Let me know if you want to be tagged!

———

"Come to London with me," Tommy stated just a few minutes after Celia had woken up. She had to sit up in his bed and look at him, not sure if she heard him right.

"London? Why?" she asked, hoping he'd give her more details into his request.

"Because I'm expected there for the weekend. And Ada's been phoning me saying she misses you," he told her, making her nod. "You'll come?" he asked her then.

"Yeah. I've got nothing going on this weekend. Why not?" she shrugged her shoulders, making him smile as he then reached up to run his hand down her cheek. She leaned into his touch, both of her hands placed against his chest as she moved to hover over him. Using his hand that was connected to her cheek, he brought her face down to his, his lips pressing to hers. She smiled into the kiss, her hands going to the sides of his neck as she pressed their chests together. "Have something on your mind?" Celia questioned between the kisses they shared, smiling against his lips as his arms moved to hook around the small of her back.

"We won't leave this bed if I act on it," he responded, their eyes meeting where they were centimeters away from each other. Celia didn't mind being lost in the ocean that was his eyes. They held so much power in them.

"We have time, Thomas," she told him, her lips pressing to the skin between his lips and his nose.

"We have to be in London," he refuted, though he didn't release her from his grasp.

"When?"

"Noon."

"It's only seven now," she pointed out, a wicked smile forming on her lips. She both hated and loved that Tommy was able to bring this animalistic side out of her. "We have plenty of time." He let out a breath then, his hands moving to bunch up the night gown she was wearing, making her giggle in excitement.

——

Holding true to schedule, Tommy and Celia were in London for noon. Celia took in her surroundings with amazement in her eyes as Tommy drove into the city. A bit of time had passed since she'd been to London to visit Ada, and she almost forgot how a <real> city looked. There was so much bustle in such small quarters that she felt that she would get lost if she hadn't been in the car. They soon arrived at Ada's home, and Tommy used the key he had on him to unlock the door and enter.

"Ada?!" he called out to his sister once they stepped into the foyer.

"In the sitting room, Tom!" she answered him, making Tommy take hold of Celia's hand before he led her to said room to find his sister on the couch with a glass in her hands. She sent him a look before seeing Celia, a smile forming on her face then. "Such a lovely surprise to see you, Celia. I thought I'd only be dealing with my brother," she commented on the woman's presence.

"You said that there was someone outside of your house yesterday?" Tommy skipped the pleasantries, jumping right into his concerns about his sister.

"Yeah, and what of it? Don't think I'd be able to defend myself? Are you forgetting that you also put your henchmen on constant watch of my house?" Ada crossed her arms over her chest as she stared up at Tommy, her eyebrows raised slightly.

"No. I just wanted to know if you got a look at 'im...see any defined features," Tommy shook his head.

"It was the middle of the night, Tom. He looked like a fucking silhouette," Ada bit back sarcastically. Celia sat on the edge of her chair with an amused expression on her face as she listened to the siblings go at it. It might have been wrong of her to think, but she loved hearing Ada put Tommy in his place. Not many people had the guts to do it, and Ada bossed him around like it was her job.

Tommy ran his hand over his face and let out a sigh, taking a drag from his cigarette then. "So nothing?" he asked her to humor him with a yes or no response anyway, making the Shelby woman sigh and nod her head. "Fuck..." he breathed then, shaking his head as he placed his hands on his hips. "I'll increase the amount of men outside. They'll accompany you wherever you go, as well as Karl when he goes to school," he thought up a plan.

"The hell you won't. I won't be walking around here with your men trailing me like they're some secret fucking service!" Ada was not happy with his plan.

"There is someone walking outside your fucking house, Ada!" Tommy raised his voice, trying to get her to see the nature of the situation.

"Yeah? Well let him fucking walk!" she said right back to him, waving her hand in the air then before she turned to Celia, "you see what I deal with with him?" she questioned the woman who had been sitting on the chair quietly. "I can handle this on my own, Tom."

"You can't. Sabini's men will hurt you. You need to trust me," Tommy stressed to her, his statement falling on deaf ears because Ada was done listening. "Ah, fuck..." he shook his head with a sigh before clearing his throat. "I'm needed now. Celia's staying here with you. I'll be back later. Don't fucking do anything stupid," he announced then, the last sentence directed more to his sister than anything. Both women nodded but didn't say anything as Tommy went to leave the room. He rested his hand on Celia's shoulder for a brief moment as he passed, making her smile up at him.

"So you're meant to babysit me then?" Ada questioned, her words not holding any malice or sarcasm.

"I think it might be the other way 'round, actually," Celia responded, the women having a laugh then.

"Right, so how are things with you then, Celia?" Ada asked the woman sitting across from her on the chair, her chin going to rest on her hand as she waited for the response.

"Things are fine. I'm doing ok. The baby's well and growing as expected. I still haven't told Tommy, but..."

"But what?" Ada was asking before Celia could finish her statement.

"But I'm not sure he's going to be happy when I tell him the news," she finished what she was going to say, biting on her bottom lip slightly.

Ada furrowed her brows at the woman's statement, obviously not expecting to hear that. "What makes you think that?" she decided to inquire.

"Well he mentioned the other night that he doesn't want to bring a child into his world right now," she told her the statement he made that had still been haunting her mind.

Ada let out a breath as she shook her head, "that man...he doesn't even know what his world will look like tomorrow. Could bloody fall down around him for all he knows."

"But that still doesn't give me consolation that he'll react positively to my news."

"I'm sure he will, Celia. He will because it's you. He's got a soft spot for you that I've never seen him have with anyone other than Greta, and she was with him before the war," Ada spoke, her words providing Celia with a slight bit of solace. The two ladies sat quietly for a moment before Ada slapped her hands against her legs, standing up from the couch before she spoke: "ah, what the fuck...let's go out, Celia."

Celia looked to her with wide eyes, "didn't you hear what Tommy said?" she questioned the woman who was now standing over her. Celia didn't follow along with everything Tommy said, but she felt that this direction he gave them was pretty serious.

"I'm a grown woman, and Tommy's not my bloody father, so he doesn't have any say in what I do," Ada responded before moving to the archway of the room. "So are you coming or not?" she asked with raised eyebrows as she turned to look back.

"Where exactly are we going to?" Celia asked for clarification before she made a move.

"The pictures. We'll go see what's playing and waste some time. It'll be better to do that than sit here cooped up waiting for him to come back from god knows where," Ada explained her idea.

"Ada..."

"No. I've been cooped up in this house for too long. Nobody in this city wants anything to do with me because of my family and what they're tied to. Please let's go out and have this one night," Ada cut her off, not wanting to hear what the brunette had to say before she took to begging.

Celia sighed, weighing her options and their possible consequences. Ada just wanted to go to the pictures. What harm could that cause? "Fine, I'll go with you, Ada," Celia nodded, making the other woman smile.

"Thank you, Celia," she said, hugging her as soon as she stood up. "I'll go tell the nanny who is with Karl and we'll head out," she stated, moving to the steps and leaving Celia alone. She waited in the foyer for Ada to return, the feeling in her gut not letting her alone. She just didn't know why it was there.

—

After going to the pictures, Ada dragged Celia to the pub that she frequented. Celia attempted to shoot the idea down, but Ada wasn't having it. She was taking her to that pub if it was the last thing she did. Soon enough, they were in seats at the bar and Ada was ordering her usual from the barkeep who seemed pretty happy to see her. "And for you ma'am?" he asked, turning to Celia then.

"She'll have something light," Ada informed him, leaning in closer to the bar then, "she's with child." The barkeep just nodded and got to making the drinks.

"He seems to like you," Celia stated after observing their interaction.

"I come here a lot. He's always working. I think he fancies me," Ada remarked with a grin, watching as the barkeep came over with their drinks as well as two more smaller glasses. "Thanks, Andrew. What are these?" she thanked him before her attention turned to the mystery drinks.

"They are from those men over there," Andrew pointed to a table across the way. Celia turned to see a group of younger looking men occupying it. "Wanted you to have them."

"Free booze," Ada remarked, stifling a laugh, "they know how to treat a lady," there was sarcasm in her voice as she spoke. "I'll take yours, Celia," she nodded to the woman sitting on her left before she knocked back the shot, chasing it with a drink from her other glass.

The shots kept coming as the day went on, although half of them were only being drunk. After Andrew put the third tray of them in front of the ladies, he leaned forward to tell them something, "I've switched them to water. Those men won't know the difference," he informed them, speaking moreso to Ada because she had actually been drinking them.

"Thanks, Andrew," Ada grinned, making the barkeep smile before he went back to attending his other patrons.

"They're coming over, Ada," Celia stated then, watching a group of three men from that table approaching them.

"Just remain calm," Ada assured her before she spun in her seat to face them. "Hello, boys. Would you be the people who are supplying us with the free drinks?" she went right out and asked them. Celia just about gasped at her forwardness.

"That would be us," one of them nodded. "Hoping it would give us an entry to a chat," he grinned as he looked at the two women.

"You ladies like dangerous men?" the second one asked, a grin on his face as well.

"What makes you think you're dangerous?" Ada asked with raised eyebrows. Celia was just a bystander at this point, though she couldn't shake the gaze of the third man.

"We run with Alfie Solomons, sweetie," the first one spoke up, his grin growing as he took a drag from the cigarette in between his fingers. Smoking just looked wrong if Tommy wasn't doing it.

"The small time rum maker who fucks around this city and can't seem to finish his little tiff with Darby Sabini? You think that makes you dangerous? Please...you probably work in a dark room in his distillery making the alcohol he won't give you a drop of," Ada was going to town on them, seemingly not having a care in the world. It must be a Shelby thing, Celia thought.

"I'd love to hear what you consider dangerous then, love," the man laughed, although he seemed deflated now.

"I'm a fucking Shelby, you fucking twat," she spat back at him, anger clear on her face as she used the name she was so desperately trying to separate herself from. She still was a Shelby at heart though.

Celia watched as the eyebrows on the three men raised simultaneously, a bit of shock in their features. "Ah, now we see what we're dealing with," the second one grinned, elbowing the man to his right as they shared a laugh.

Then the third one finally spoke up, "the Shelby's only have one sister, which begs the question...who are you, love?" he was looking directly at Celia and she was trying everything to stop herself from sinking under their gazes.

"I betcha she's just a piece that that Brummie bastard fucks on the side. He's got loads of them in Camden Town," the first one piped up, eyeing her up and down like she was a piece of meat.

"Should be pretty easy to get then," the third suddenly was moving towards her, and before he got too close, she reached out and smacked him across the face. She didn't even have time to register what she was doing in her mind before she did it.

The three men stood in shock, the one who had just been slapped holding onto the side of his face. "Are you finished now?" she asked incredulously with a huff before continuing, "don't be surprised if Mr. Solomons speaks to you about this tomorrow...and you better hope that you don't ever see Tommy Shelby, because he will surely cut your eyes out of your skull before you're so much as able to say a word," Celia swore she blacked out as she spoke, barely registering the words she was saying as they were coming out her mouth.

"Why don't you boys leave?" Andrew chimed in from behind the women then. He had been watching the women with a smile on his face, loving seeing these men's asses get handed to them. "I can't have you talking to women like that in my establishment."

The men shared looks of defeat with each other before they turned and made their way out of the pub. Ada turned to Celia then, her jaw slightly ajar. "Where did that come from?" she questioned, a grin breaking onto her features.

"I guess I've been around you and your brothers for too long," Celia stated sheepishly, but she couldn't deny the amazing feeling she had inside of her at the moment. She felt like no one could touch her.

"Close our tab, Andrew. We're going home," Ada called to the barkeep then, who nodded his head. After that ordeal, they had had enough of the people of London.

So they returned back to Ada's home, where Karl greeted them at the door, pulling them into the sitting room where he was playing with some blocks on the floor. Ada decided to take a seat on the couch and smoke a cigarette while Karl kept pestering Celia to play with him, an offer that the woman couldn't refuse. So she was sitting on the floor next to him, the fire just to her left. Things were this way for about forty minutes before the door to the home opened and shut, and heavy shoes were heard on the tile of the foyer then. Surely that was Tommy.

"Hello, ladies," he greeted them as he stepped into the sitting room, moving over to where Celia and Karl were sitting on the ground, "how are you, Karl?" he asked the young boy as he knelt down next to Celia, his peaked cap in his hands. Celia couldn't help but stare at him as he smiled at the child who was telling him about his day. Her heart warmed as she got a glimpse of what their future would be like...if he responded well to her news that is.

"...and mummy and Celia went out of the house, so I had to stay back with Maria. She's my nanny, and she's nice, so it wasn't much of a problem," the child shrugged, ending his monologue. Tommy was nodding along with what he had to say, although his eyes had been trained on Celia from the moment her name was mentioned. She knew by the look in his eyes that she was in for it. She sent him a guilty smile in hopes it would get her off the hook, but it did her no service.

"You went out?" Tommy asked, his eyes moving to his sister as he spoke. Surely she had to be the one behind this. Celia didn't even know what there was in London.

"Oh, sue me, Tommy. I haven't been out in ages...we went to the pictures and then to a pub I like to go to," Ada responded, no remorse for what she had done in her words. "Met a few of Alfie's boys there. They tried to chat us up. You should've heard what Celia said to them. She'll fit right in as a Shelby," Ada was grinning over at Celia then, who was a pale as a ghost. Ada's final statement made Tommy's eyes focus back onto Celia, and she immediately felt intimidated by his stare. She was in trouble.

"Come with me," Tommy stated, making Celia stand, his hand going to her elbow as he led her out of the sitting room and towards the kitchen.

"Don't let 'im scare you, love. He's all talk and a bunch of moody expressions," Ada called after the couple, treating this as if it was just banter between siblings. Tommy looked like he could kill someone.

"Give us a minute," Tommy then told the maids who were getting work done in the kitchen. They nodded and then quickly moved out of the room, not wanting to be around to see the fallout that was inevitably coming. The cook, however, didn't seem to get the message, as he was still stirring away at his pot of food. "Oi! Didn't you hear me?! I said fuck off!" Tommy yelled at him then, his anger getting the best of him.

"Sorry, Mr. Shelby," the man quickly apologized, bowing his head before he moved quickly out of the room.

Tommy put his hands on his hips then, taking a deep breath to try and reign in his anger because he didn't want to go at Celia like that. Especially when she was standing in front of him looking as guilty as anything. He knew that she was already paying for this in her head. "Who were the men?" he asked then, deciding that it really wasn't her actions that had pissed him off, but instead it was the fact that a group of men had tried to take a run at her while he wasn't around. If he was, well they wouldn't have been breathing right now.

"Huh?" Celia had to ask him to repeat the question, certainly not expecting him to open with that. She had her apology all ready to go, and was reciting it through her head as he spoke.

"The men. Did they say who they were?" he asked her again, trying so hard to keep the frustration out of his words. He wasn't angry at her.

"No. They didn't give names. Just said that they worked for Alfie Solomons. Ada guessed they were some lower level associates by the looks of them. They couldn't have been older than twenty-two," she answered him, feeling slightly bad that she didn't ask their names for this purpose, although from the second they stepped in front of her, she was looking for a way out of the conversation.

"Ok. I'll talk with Alfie, get their names, and then deal with them," Tommy nodded, spinning the yarns of a plan already as he paced the room. "And what were you fucking thinking, Celia, huh? Did you not hear me telling Ada that she's got Sabini's men keeping tabs on her?" he asked her then, his brows scrunched together in frustration. He was unhappy that she didn't understand the importance of his words.

"I tried to get her to stay home, Tommy, I did. But you know how Ada is. You two are just like each other...you don't take 'no' for an answer," she told him, stresing her words.

"You could have just stayed back here with Karl," he pointed out.

Celia was disagreeing with him immediately, "and let Ada go out alone? Hell no! She would have been severely outnumbered with those men. I wouldn't be able to clear my conscience if I'd let her go alone and then found out someting happened to her."

"I've gotta go see Alfie tomorrow and fucking talk to him," Tommy grumbled then. Celia nodded along with him. "Can't be having men like this working for the person I'm doing dealings with." Silence fell as Tommy lit himself a cigarette, blowing the smoke out before he spoke again, "what was it that you said to them?" he questioned her curiously, Celia noticed that the look in his eyes had changed, and she breathed a sigh of relief knowing that she was off the hook.

"I told them that you'd cut their eyes out if you ever happened to run into them," she admitted, her cheeks starting to heat up slightly in embarrassment. She still couldn't believe she said such a thing to another person. The look that Tommy was giving her, however, made her feel slightly better about the decision she had made a few hours ago.

"They'd just better hope that's all that I do to 'em," he remarked, still feeling anger towards the men he'd never met before. They made advances on his woman. That was about the last thing that someone should ever do when dealing with Tommy Shelby.

Tommy had some choice words for Alfie Solomons, and hoped that his trusted business partner had names for him, because he wasn't going to stop now until he found the men that thought this was alright to do.

———

Tagged: @mootiemoose @theshelbyclan @alreadybroken-ts @cloudofdisney @stevie75 @kagome1414 @epicwaterlemon @magicalxdaydream @the-anxious-youth @woofgocows @joossieisdabomb @strangunddurm

[221bshrlocked]

Ok ok ok hear me out. Javier Peña is a player. He knows, the DEA department knows, all of fucking Colombia knows it. But that doesn't stop him from seeking you out, or you from returning his advances. It's a birthday party of some guy and the two of you are invited and you never expected him to give you a minute of attention but you're basking in it right now, especially when you can see the other women jealous of you. At some point, you expect him to ask you out to dinner or something, you don't know why your expected him to, but instead, he tells you to just skip the pleasantries and leave with him.

And that's when you understand you're just another quick fuck. A part of you is disappointed that you thought you'd be different but the smarter bit of you tells you that at least you'll get some orgasms out of the way tonight. He may be an ass but everyone knew that he made sure he only left good reviews behind him.

So you agree, and you go back to his place, and he can't keep his eyes off of you, or his hands, and you giggle and smile at how needy he is. And it's the best fucking sex of your life. He made you cum more times than you can count, with his mouth, his hands, his cock, his mouth again...fuck, his fingers and his cock again. You were at it for hours and he told you how good you felt and how perfect you're being for him and how he's never felt such a tight, sweet, wet, hot cunt before and fuck he's saying all the right things and you now know why he walks around with so much fucking pride and confidence.

But you know as well why this will only be a one night thing. So when the two of you fucked again for like the fifth time, you wait a few minutes to bask in the after sex glow before you make your way out of his bed. And Javier tries to bring you back into his arms but you just giggle at him and start getting dressed.

And Javier is confused because...well, was he not good enough? Did he not make you cum until you were begging him to give you a break? He's suddenly confused and he sits up and asks you why you're leaving and you just-

"Oh come on Javi, I knew what this was before you brought me home. It was a fun night...lasted longer than I expected to be honest, and you felt so fucking good baby, it's going to take days to walk right again. But I need to leave and you're acting a little too polite so I'm deciding to go before you ask me."

And Javier is...shocked. What the fuck just happened? He's never had anyone throw these words at him before and he doesn't know why but it makes him frown at knowing that he made you feel like that, like he would ever think of kicking you out at such a later hour?! Instead of telling you to stay, or at least to let him give you a ride home, he slips and makes things worse.

"Leave in the morning, it's late now."

And your laugh makes him grow mad with anger and...fuck, is he hard right now? And you don't stop and keep dressing and Javier is really confused right now because he's never dealt with something like this before.

"What? So you can get a few more fucks in before I do the walk of shame into the office tomorrow? No thanks baby, I think I'll pass. You were good, but you're not good enough for me to stay and let every man in the office think they have a chance with me. It was a good night sweetheart, but not good enough to tempt me to look like another whore in front of your buddies."

And he watches in silence as you dress and fix your hair and make up in the mirror. Before you leave, you turn around and walk towards him, smiling at him softly as you lean down and give him a kiss on his cheeks.

"I'll show myself out but don't forget to sign those papers and hand them to me tomorrow. I'll see you in a few hours Agent Peña, sweet dreams."

And with that, you walk out and leave a very sexually frustrated, angry, hurt Javier laying on his bed. He can't believe what just happened and he has the mind to run after you and take you home so nothing happens to you. When he finally catches up with what just happened, he dresses quickly and makes his way out of the building. He turns around like a madman until he spots you walking a few blocks away and before he knows what he's doing, he getting in his car and following after you, staying far enough so he isn't suspicious but close enough to monitor. It's half an hour later that you finally get home and he cringes when he sees you taking off your heels before you go up the stairs. He feels bad for not offering to give you a ride but you clearly didn't want him to, or even expected him to be kind.

He stays in the car until you're in the building and as he's about to leave, he sees the lights of the ground floor apartment turn on and in you walk into your room. He knows what he's doing is wildly inappropriate but he just can't stop from staring at you as you get out of your dress and grab a towel before you head to your bathroom.

When his senses finally catch onto what he's doing, he makes his way back home with a nagging feeling that only increases when he's back in his bed and smells you on his sheets. Fuck, he can still see where he made you cum over and over again and he caresses the wet spots lightly as he recalls how beautiful you looked as you came undone at his touch.

The last thought that runs through his mind before he finally falls asleep is, well, it's not a thought. It's a fucking plan. He decides to make a plan. And for the first time in decades, it's not a plan to get back at someone who made him feel like shit, no. It's a plan that will hopefully make you see that he can be a good man, if the right person came around. It's a plan that he prays will make you see that you are this person, and that he would love more than anything to take you out.

I'm in my feels. No one look at me.