#then the bartender keeps bringing up the fight with tommy

[arthursfuckinghat]

Valentine Saloon - The Heartlands

[pimosworld]

Moonshine

TLOU x Triple Frontier crossover AU

Pairing-Joel Miller x f!reader x Francisco morales

Summary-You we’re a bartender at Joel’s place and everyone knew you were his but when you meet Francisco Morales you wonder if there’s room in your life for one more.

Rating-18+,NSFW, MDNI

Content warnings- alcohol consumption, cursing,smut,angst,fluff,violence,unprotected piv, mentions of mm dynamics, soft dom Joel.

Wk-5k

Chapter summary-Joel gets dirty in his office and Frankie and Moonshine get to know each other a little better.

New characters- Link to characters who have been or will be introduced.

A/N- See series Masterlist for full story notes. Joel loves getting it in his office and we start things off slow with Frankie but I promise it’s coming for the three of them. Don’t be too hard on my French

Not beta read

[Series Masterlist][Main Masterlist]

Chapter III Breaking the Ice

“Don’t bullshit me Fish, I saw the way you were looking at her.” Will paces the small apartment situated above the bar. 

  “I’m a man with eyes, I’m allowed to look. That doesn’t mean I’m gonna do anything.” He points to Santi leaning against the wall. 

  “Don’t bring me into this hermaño, I already paid for what I did.” Santi had a reputation for fucking people he shouldn’t and he evidently fucked the wrong firefly. Hence the reason they went on the run. 

  Frankie would be lying if he didn’t admit to having inappropriate thoughts about you and Joel but he was here to do a job and try to stay in one place. It wasn’t safe moving around as often as they did, they couldn’t afford to lose another person. 

  “Pope let’s go, I don’t want to be late for our meeting with Joel.” Santi looks at the other two men apologetically as he follows Will out the door. 

  “Don’t worry Fish, you know he’s always jumpy when we get to a new place.” Ben plops down on the couch in the middle of the room stretching his legs across Frankie’s. He’s never been keen on personal space. 

  “He’s right though Ben, I felt something last night that I haven’t felt in a long time. How am I supposed to do my job with her looking at me that way?” 

  “Don’t think I missed the way Joel was looking at you…I think you should just ignore Will, he needs to get laid.” 

  “I think we should all keep it in our pants for the time being.” Frankie’s not sure how long he’ll be able to take his own advice. 

  “All bets are off with Santi, he’s already got his eye on Charity.” At least his current love interest seemed trustworthy if Joel was willing to employ her. 

  Ben stands abruptly from the couch as he mimics a fight with the air. “I hope there’s some action tonight.” The amount of unbridled energy he had was beyond words. 

  “Well I hope tonight is uneventful. I’ve had enough action for a lifetime.” 

  “I doubt that Fish.” Ben waggles his eyebrows at the older man as he resumes his fight with a ghost. 

  “I was gonna ask if you wanted some coffee but I don’t think you need anything.” He stands slowly from the couch wondering when his knees got so creaky. 

  “I’m actually gonna head back to my apartment until it’s time for work, knock when you want to head down.” He pulls him into a tight hug, never shying away from affection. He was more open than his brother and Frankie enjoyed that despite their circumstances Benny always kept a jovial outlook on life. 

  Frankie’s left alone still having several hours until his shift starts at the bar. Plenty of time to get a grip on what he was doing. 

  ****

  Joel left earlier than you to meet Santi and Will at the bar, which left you plenty of time to get ready for the night. After your early wake up, he beckoned you back to bed to spend a few more hours between the sheets. 

  This relaxed carefree Joel was so nice to see after he’s spent so much time worrying about others. He opened up to you often about how much guilt he felt in not being able to keep his daughter safe. The guilt compounded with Tommy’s death. You know he worries about you no matter how long it’s been. 

  You checked your appearance making sure you looked appropriate for the walk to the bar, a modest pair of jeans and your signature combat boots. It wasn’t uncommon for you to pack a bag of different clothes to wear during your shift. Joel wasn’t one of those guys who wanted you to dress a certain way but you knew better than to draw unwanted attention walking around the QZ alone. 

  You felt safe enough with it still being daylight but you had your black skirt and weathered Prince shirt your sister gave to you that you cropped once the hem started to fray tucked away in your bag. The bar was the place you could be yourself, you felt so confident and Joel always made you feel like you could walk on water. 

  It’s not like you were trying to seduce Frankie or maybe you were. You had never done anything like this before, having to impress someone you were interested in. You were hoping you weren’t reading into the situation all wrong. 

  Joel swept you off your feet within days of meeting him but this felt different. You didn’t want to scare him away by saying my boyfriend (your boss) and I are interested in you. It doesn’t really roll off the tongue. But Joel had all but reassured you this morning that he meant what he said. Why don’t you get to know him? Getting to know him seemed like the best place to start. 

  ****

  You approach the brick building with a non distinct door and the only indication of a functioning business is the neon green open sign. The only difference is the usually quiet atmosphere inside is bustling with noise as you open the door. 

  Ben slightly startles you as he slides up behind you dropping his voice low. 

  “What’s your business here ma’m?” You turn to face him and he’s got the widest grin on his face you’ve ever seen. 

  “First of all it's Miss and secondly I know the owner.” He closed the small space between you while you both engage in a stare down, neither of you wanting to break. You have to crane your neck to look at him and you’re sure the sight is ridiculous. 

  He picks you up abruptly causing you to burst into laughter. 

  “Sorry Miss, I’m not one for formal introductions but seeing as I also know the owner I figured this was fine.” He sets you down and you hug him properly like someone you’ve known your entire life. He had that energy about him that would make anyone feel like family. He was after all. 

  “I have a serious question.” He smooths his hands along his shirt as he steps back. You nod in permission to continue. 

  “Does this shirt make me look intimidating?” He flexes his arms above his head. 

  “To be honest with you…the shirt is the least intimidating thing about you.” He deflates a little and gives you a confused look as you lightly pat his cheek with your hand. 

  You see Charity leaning against the bar which she usually managed just fine during the slow hours when you were home. Santi is seated in the stool on the other side twirling her hair in his fingers as she giggles at some indecent joke you’re sure. 

  She sees you approaching and pulls her attention away to blow you a kiss. She was your best friend, the person you could talk to about anything. It helped that she was a little older than you the same age your sister would’ve been. When you first arrived you thought maybe her and Joel had a past but he quickly reassured you that it had never and will never happen. He said she reminded him too much of his daughter.

   It helped having another woman around to navigate this new world. She picked up right where your sister left off and you formed a bond that would stand the rest of time. You wished Joel had someone like that for him but it was hard for him to let people in. 

  “Hey babe, Joel told me to have you come to his office when you got in.” She winks at you and bites her bottom lip and it doesn’t go unnoticed how Santi has all eyes on her. 

  You lean across the bar and plant a kiss on her cheek before nudging Santi with your shoulder. 

  “Encantada de verte luna.” He leans over and plants a kiss on your temple. 

  “Es bueno verte también Santiago.” 

  He dramatically clutches at fake pearls. “She speaks the mother tongue.”

  “Of course she does.” Charity chimes in. “I taught her everything I know…or as much as I can remember from childhood.” He knows all too well about things forgotten long ago.

  “Well Frankie is an amazing teacher so he can pick up where you left off.” You don’t miss the smirk into his glass as he takes a long sip of water. 

  Your cheeks grow hot and sweat beads at your neck at the mention of Frankie. You really needed to get a grip. You playfully swat at his arm before heading to the back office. 

  “Be careful with that one.” You call over your shoulder.

  “I’m harmless cariño.” You turn to face them before disappearing down the hallway. 

  “I wasn’t warning her Santiago.” 

  ***

  You lightly knock on the office door before entering to see Will seated standing near the desk hugging Joel. Joel didn’t hug many people so you knew this was special. Will turns to greet you with a smile on his face and you realize this is the first time you’ve seen him smile since he arrived. 

  His blue eyes resemble his brothers but his rugged features bring an edge to him that suits him so perfectly. He was handsome but even more so when he looked happy. 

  “Hi Will.”

  “Hi hon, I’m sorry about yesterday it just takes me a little to shake the edge off after we travel.” He pulls you into the tightest bear hug. You inhale his scent of freshly washed laundry and melt into the warm embrace of his large chest. There was something about these men that just made you feel like home. 

  “You don’t need to apologize to me, I’m glad you all are safe and home.” 

  “I like the sound of home.” He gives Joel one last pat on the shoulder as he makes his way out of the office. 

  Joel has a seat in the chair behind his desk, legs spread wide with a mischievous look in his eye. He beckons you over as you take a sideways seat in his lap. Mindlessly running your fingers through his hair as he hums in approval. 

  “How are you feeling?” 

  “Mmmm much better now that I know you’re safe.”  You lean in and kiss the permanent crease in his brow as he lets his eyes flutter closed. 

  His hand drifts under the hem of your shirt gripping your waist tight as he pulls you further into his chest. His lips ghost over your neck before slowly dragging his teeth along your pulse point. Your body shivers at his touch, he knew every spot that made you weak. Years of mapping out your body and taking you a part in various ways. 

  “Someone’s needy today, I thought you had enough this morning.” His other hand drifts behind your neck as he crashes his lips into yours. 

  “I always need you darlin’, it’ll never be enough.” His words are desperate, punctuated by each kiss as his hand drifts to your front, his large palm squeezing your breast drawing a high pitched whine from your throat. 

  You can feel the heavy weight of his bulge pressed against your thigh and you involuntarily grind your hips into him. He groans from deep within as he licks a stripe up your neck and bites gently on your earlobe. He has you so keyed up just from his touch, it’s all consuming and you could come just like this as he ruts his hips into you in desperation. 

  You don’t register him standing until your front is pressed against his desk as he forcibly bends you over. Your cheek is flush with the desk and your arms are splayed out in front of you. 

  “Joel…I didn’t lock the door.” You pant out as you hear the faint sound of his belt buckle. 

  He pulls your jeans and panties down in one motion as he lines himself with your entrance. He slowly drags his cock through your folds feeling how wet you are, your slick is coating your thighs as it drops down. 

  “You afraid someone might come in.” He pushes in at the last word, you inhale sharply as the stretch takes the breath from your lungs. 

  His hips are flush with yours as his hands tighten around your waist. He leans forward giving you a moment to breathe as he places a gentle kiss on your back. 

  “You might want to hold onto some thin’ Shine.” His words are low in your ear and you grip the front of the desk. His hips slam into yours as he sets a brutal pace. You stifle your moans into your arm as he punches something deep inside. 

  “Oh…fuck Joel.” You whimper softly as the sound of skin slapping and the desk creaking can be heard through the room. He grunts with every thrust as you feel every vein and ridge dragging through your walls bringing you closer to your climax. 

  “Why so quiet?” He brings his hand around your throat lightly squeezing as he lifts you flush with his chest. “Don’t you want Francisco to hear you?” You squeeze around him as a fresh wave of slick coats the base of his cock. 

  “You want him to see you takin me so well.” His words send you over the edge as you reach behind you gripping his hair, lightning flashes behind your eyes as you come with a silent o.  

  His pace falters and you can tell he’s reaching his end, his words always left you breathless but two can play that game. 

  “You want me to teach him how?” Your voice is barely above a whisper in his ear as his body tensed up, slamming his hand down on the desk groaning loudly, and shamelessly as he fills you up thrusting once and twice. His head drops to your shoulder as you both catch your breath. 

  “Shit.” He curses under his breath as he releases his grip on you. 

  “What is it?” You turn around to see him looking down at your jeans below you, small dark stains on the front pooled by your feet. 

  “Don’t worry, I brought extra clothes for my shift.” You move to step out of your jeans but he places a firm hand on your back and guides you back down to the desk. 

  “Where do you think you’re goin’?” He reaches into his drawer for a rag as he gently cleans you from behind. The gesture is always so intimate even in his demanding way. He places a soft kiss on your back before helping you stand again, turning you to face him. All the worry and stress gone from his posture as he adjusts his pants and belt buckle. 

  “I’m supposed to go to work after that?” You shuffle your way around the desk to rifle through your bag,shucking off your boots. You pull on your skirt and replace your sweaty shirt with your crop top. Giving a spin when you're done.

  “You look gorgeous as always….and yes Shine, you always go to work after that.” You do your best pouty face when there's a knock on the door. 

  “It’s Frankie, you asked to see me?” You quickly shove your clothes in your bag and nearly trip trying to get your boots back on. 

  “Come on in.” 

  He slowly opens the door as you try to look anywhere but his face, you’re awkwardly standing next to the desk as he moves to sit in the seat across from Joel. You don’t know why you’re being so weird, it’s not as if he knows what you two were just doing while talking about him. 

  “I’m gonna head out and get the bar set up.” You turn around and before you know it you’re face down on the floor, your traitorous untied boots no doubt the culprit. 

  Frankie’s up in a flash helping you to your feet. The close proximity of his hands on your waist and the concern in his eyes is enough to make you melt. You feel a heavy presence behind you as you find yourself once again between Joel and Frankie. They have to stop doing this. 

  “Are you okay?” You're dizzy and not from the fall as you slowly register Frankie speaking. 

  “Yes I’m fine…just very clumsy.” Joel turns you around tilting your chin up with his finger, moving your head side to side. 

  “As you can see…she’ll need your help walking home tonight.” He smirks at you and you bite your bottom lip to quell the rage inside at his comment. You know he was teasing but right now is not the time. But since he wants to keep playing games. 

  You kneel down slowly not missing the way Frankie clears his throat. You begin to lace your boots not breaking eye contact with Joel, yet your face is level with his ever growing problem. He bites down on his bottom lip clenching his fists at his side. 

  Frankie can feel his palms sweating, he doesn’t know if he should run or pull you up and bend you over the desk. He’s trying to look anywhere else but the way you’re looking up at Joel has him dancing on the edge of no return. 

  A knock at the door feels like an eternity in your compromising position. Your heart is hammering in your chest hoping someone doesn’t open it. 

  “Hey Shine, it’s getting busy out here.” Charity’s voice comes soft through the door.

  “Coming.” You call out and snatch your bag from the ground. You place a chaste kiss in Joel’s lips before quickly retreating from the office,not bothering to look at Frankie on your way out. 

  Joel’s not often left speechless but the red that’s creeped up Frankie’s neck is all but confirmation at what he wants. He steps away before he does something rash and sits in his chair. 

  “I have to meet with some people tonight so I’ll need you to take her home.” 

  “Of course…do you need anything else?” Yes

  “Just look after her while she works, make sure nobody’s giving her a hard time.” He adjusts in his seat trying to look him in the eyes and not where he wants to wander. 

  “No problem Mr. Miller.” 

  “Please call me Joel.”  Frankie hesitates before turning to leave the office. 

  “No problem Joel.”

  ****

  The bar is busy as you try to handle the high volume of drinks you’re making. Frankie leans against the wall at the end of the row with one leg on the sink essentially keeping anyone from walking behind. 

  It all sounded so romantic…protect the lady and walk her home but it was much more than that below the surface. You benefited heavily from being one of two of the busiest bars in the QZ, but if ration cards weren’t being exchanged none of it mattered. 

  You knew there were plenty of days where you got so busy you didn’t notice someone slip out without paying or maybe someone drank more than their rations provided. It was a luxury to drink for some and a necessity for others. 

  Yes Frankie had an important job but each man had a specific task. Frankie needed to protect you but also he needed to make sure everyone paid and if they didn’t they would have to answer to Santi. Will was tasked with rival gangs and elicit activities not taking place inside the bar. If they’ve already been told not to come back then they would need to answer to Benny at the door. 

  It was all carefully orchestrated by Joel. He’s spent years worrying about all of this and keeping you safe on top of that and now he has the reinforcement to truly run things the way he wants. 

  A short gruff man you know all too well whistles at you from the end of the bar signaling you over. “Hey Shine, I'm out of here.”

  “6 rations.” He licks his lips and slaps 4 cards on the bar top as he slides off his stool. 

  Frankie stands and pushes him against the hard wood before he can make a move for the door. 

  “You owe the lady two more unless you want me to take whatever you have left.” The man frantically looks to his side for support as Santi nods toward Benny placed at the door. 

  Will is seated in a booth scrubbing his jaw watching the scene unfold. 

  The man shakily reaches in his pocket procuring two more cards and bolting out the door. 

  The hush that had fallen over the room is replaced with the sweet melody of Charity over a string guitar. As if the slow motion spell was lifted, the bar is back to the clinking of glasses and the rousing laughter. 

  You glance over at Frankie who’s resumed his spot at the end of the bar, leg perched on the sink with a slight smile on his face. 

  The rest of the night goes without incident as the buzz of their presence has made itself known. You’re just finishing cleaning up while you and Charity have a nightcap. It sounded odd at a bar but Lavender tea was your perfect way to end the night. It also helped that it was easy to grow. 

  “I probably should’ve asked you for coffee…I’m planning on being up late.” She looks at Santi over her shoulder and you think he may have met his match. 

  “You’re gonna get yourself in trouble.” She sets her mug down, almost spilling the contents. 

  “Oh I’m trouble?…What was going on in the office earlier?” Touché 

  “It was an important meeting.” You take a sip of your tea to hide your smile. 

  “Well I have a very important meeting tonight regarding my religion…he’s a priest or something.” 

  You chortle into the tea as she tries to contain her laughter. 

  “He’s a pope actually and I hope he saves you from your sins.” 

  “You say my name Luna(Moon)?” Santi slides up next to her and your heart warms at the pet name. 

  “Oh nothing I just heard you’re doing some charity work tonight.” She buries her face in her hands as his eyes go wide. 

  Frankie’s laughter at the end of the bar startles you. You had all but forgotten him as he took his job very seriously. Pope flips him off as his laughter grows louder and you could definitely get used to that sound. 

  Santi loops his arm around Charity pulling her off the stool. “Goodnight Luna, get home safe.” He winks at you as they head towards the hallway giggling like teenagers. 

  Benny and Will head over after locking the door and shutting off the sign. You make your way around the bar and give Will a hug, after he turns to Frankie whispering something just out of ear shot. 

  You feel your feet leave the ground and you’re acutely aware of the force that is Benny hoisting you in the air before gently placing you down. 

  “Does he always do this?” Frankie and Will nod simultaneously at you before Will waves you off to head upstairs. 

  You turn to face Ben and somehow he’s still full of as much energy as he started the night with. His pale blue eyes piercing through you as he bounces from toe to toe. 

  “I changed my mind about your shirt.” He looks at you inquisitively awaiting your response as you stand on your toes to whisper in his ear. 

  “It’s very intimidating.” He looks at Frankie trying to hide the glossiness in his eyes before he leans down and kisses your cheek. “Goodnight sweetheart.” 

  Frankie doesn’t know what you did or what you said but he hasn’t seen his friends that happy in a long time. 

  ****

  The walk home feels foreign. Neither of you break the silence, only the sound of the ground crunching beneath your feet and the city nightlife stirring occasionally causing you to jump. 

  You lived in a relatively nice sector, because of Joel curfew was a suggestion and not necessarily a requirement, but the sounds of the other regions echoed off the brick walls jolting you back to reality. 

  You’re not gonna get anywhere with Frankie at this rate so you decide to break the ice. 

  “So tell me about yourself.” He looks at you sideways trying to ignore the innocent smile on your face. 

  “Not much to tell.” Ok stubborn 

  “How old are you?” He lets out a frustrated sigh. 

  “Older than you.” He’s got his hands tucked in his front pockets, his whole posture is different from the previous night. 

  “Vous êtes tellement frustrant.”-you are so frustrating. His eyebrows raise at the foreign language. 

  “Say it in Spanish and maybe I’ll listen.” His lack of confidence in you makes this game even more appealing. 

  “Eres tan frustrante.” Your smirk at him only further taunts the situation. 

  “Has anyone ever told you, you’ve got a smart mouth.” All the time.

  If he wasn’t going to easily supply information you would just have to use other means of persuasion. You decide to start skipping, just fast enough that he can’t keep up at his normal pace. 

  He’s desperately trying to not get to know you. The less he knows about you and you about him the easier it will be to fight these feelings he’s having. You’re not making it very easy when he has a perfect view of your ass all night while you bartend or the way you’ve fit so perfectly into his friends lives. Now apparently you speak fucking French and Spanish. This was going to be a losing battle. 

He jogs ahead to catch up with you and he’s so not in the mood for this but you’re just as stubborn as him it seems.

  “Fine I’ll talk if you stop skipping.” He’s slightly embarrassed at how out of breath he is. 

  You stop skipping but make no move to speak, waiting for him to lead the conversation where he wants. He doesn’t even know where to begin but he doesn’t want to start running again so he has to think fast. 

  “Where did you learn those languages?” 

  “Charity taught me most of my Spanish, it’s not a lot but I enjoy learning. I learned French from a book Joel found a long time ago.” You’ve piqued his interest at your desire to learn despite this harsh new world you live in. 

  “I could teach you more if you’re interested.” You try to hide your smile and tamp down some of your giddiness at the prospect of him letting some walls down. 

  “I would love that…I could teach you French if you want.” He laughs for the first time all night as he loosens up a little more. 

  “I don’t know if I can learn new things…especially French. I’m sure I’ll butcher it.” 

  “It’s never too late to learn new things.” He looks over at you and he doesn’t remember getting so close. The sincerity in your eyes is too much and he clears his throat as he looks anywhere but your face. 

  “So how’d you meet Joel?” You let out a long sigh as you mindlessly kick a rock out of your path. 

  “It’s a long story…he helped me when I needed it most.” 

  “I’m sure there’s more to that story.” He was starting to enjoy talking to you but he can tell that’s a subject that may have the conversation ending before he’s ready too. 

  “There’s definitely more to it…maybe I’ll tell you one day.” 

  He feels you shiver slightly against his shoulder and without hesitation pulls you into him for warmth. He curses to himself at how perfectly you fit under his arm. 

  “You should’ve brought some pants for the walk, it’s cold.” I had pants.

  “Ya I wasn’t thinking, I will next time.” You might forget again just so you can feel the protective weight of his arm draped around you as you walk the rest of the way in silence. 

  He takes note of the much nicer townhouse as you climb the steps ahead of him. Thankfully your skirt was just long enough or he would’ve got a glimpse of something he couldn’t tear his eyes away from. 

  You dig into your bag for your keys, trying to shield him from the pants placed directly on top of everything. 

  “Do you want to come in for a drink? I hate that you have to walk me home and then just head back.” You open the door slightly, he gets a small peek into your open living room set up much like Joel’s office. 

  “I really shouldn’t…don’t worry about me, it's my job.” He nervously scrubs the back of his neck, he doesn’t miss the way you wince a little at the mention of being a job. 

  “Okay…bonne nuit Francisco.” You slowly close the door and lock it behind you.

  “Buenas noches mi Luna.”

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@fishingforpike @christinamadsen @alwaysdjarin @avastrasposts @basicoccult @pastelnap @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @superhoeva @legendary-pink-dot @jwritesfanfics @milla-frenchy @romanarose @theywhowriteandknowthings @casa-boiardi @moonlightdivine

[tommyspeakycap]

Genuinely think your one of the best peaky blinders writers out there. Do you think you could write something about little toddler Shelby and Tommy. Maybe little Shelby is out in the rain jumping in puddles? Love your work!!!

Thank you!! That’s so kind of you x

Puddles

Polly shakes her head in something of dismay as she holds a cup of tea snugly in her hands, keeping them warm against the winter chill that whips in the open window in front of her. “Mind your sister, Finn!” She calls out it, waiting until she got a “Yes auntie Pol!” yelled back to her from the 11 year old who had become somewhat accustomed to keeping a watchful eye over his only younger sibling. His answer seemed satisfaction enough for his aunt to nod her head and pull that window closed to maintain some semblance of heat in the house, but not enough for her to move away from said window to keep her own eye on the youngest Shelby sibling.

She stands cautionary. She knows better than to trust that Finn will do much to prevent his very clumsy five year old little sister from wandering off and getting herself hurt. (y/n) is notoriously like Thomas is all sorts of ways. She’s always getting into things she shouldn’t, hearing things she shouldn’t, seeing things she shouldn’t. She seems to sit back and observe a lot of things. They’re trying to grow her out of it.

Polly attributes it to the majority of her life being spent in a country torn by war. She was only nearly two when her brothers left, so naturally she didn’t understand much of what was going on. Everything was up in the air and now the war was over, it seemed l to the youngster that a war’s not just over when the fighting ends. It has also become clear that Tommy is her favourite sibling, so her similarities to him can often be attributed to her spending the most time with that brother.

Alas, in all her likeness to Tommy, she is much softer in manner than he is himself. Little (y/n) is like Tommy was when he was her age, incredibly inquisitive. Except softer. She chatters away to herself as she does things and though it takes her time to warm up to people, once she starts talking it’s hard to get her to stop for anything. She’s so kind and so very loving too, she laughs just like Tommy once did and it makes Polly’s heart happy deep down when that little girl falls asleep each night with a sweet little smile.

“Alright Pol?” Tommy greets as he comes through the back of the house from the betting shop to see his aunt standing at the window still. Polly nods, “Just watching to see if that bloody brother of yours is watching your sister like i told him to not five minutes ago.” She sighs as she takes another sip of her tea. Sure enough, Finn had not noticed his younger sister wandering off up the street subtly without even noticing in herself that she was getting further and further from the relative safety in proximity of her home and the brother who was supposed to be watching her. It seemed as though the puddles that filled certain uneven surfaces of the Watery Lane streets were more interesting, and finding more deep ones had stolen her full attention away from her surroundings. Tommy stands next to his aunt, leaning over slightly to spot his youngest sister slowly going further and further away than she should.

“Bloody hell,” Polly curses, sitting her tea down on the table beside her and reaching her hand to the handle of the window, “Don’t bother Pol,” Tommy interrupts her from opening the window fully and yelling for Finn to run and bring you back. Polly looks at him like he’s grown a second head, wondering if he’s completely lost his mind. He would usually have been the one giving Finn a stern word about making sure his sister was safe at all times. He just offered her a smile and says “I’ll get her.” simply, brushing past and grabbing his coat on the way. Polly furrows her eyebrows and watches as Tommy does a slight jog up the street until he nears (y/n) and then stops by her.

Her heart is suddenly warmed when the pair don’t turn back around to head home, but Tommy extends his hand to the little girl and she takes it gleefully to lead him on to find as many more puddles as they could before it got too rainy, cold and dark. He’s been so busy lately it had been a while since she had seen Tommy just be the brother of the little girl he loved so much.

Tommy relishes the feeling of his sisters little hand in his as they walk towards their uncles scrap yard, jumping in puddles along the way. She soaks the bottom of his trousers in dirty puddle water, but his heart sings with her giggles. “Tommy look!” She squeals, jumping in excitement as she spots a huge one near the window of the Garrison. She’s off a few feet before he can do anything other than open his mouth to speak. “Come on Tom!” She calls to him, “you’re so slow!” The tease draws laughter from him that only she can cause. He stops only for a moment in some form of mock shock. “Me?” He gasps, “Slow? Alright then miss speedy pants, wait there and i’ll race you.”

(y/n) does just that, waiting excitedly bouncing on the balls of her feet for Tommy to reach her, both standing still a good few meters away from the puddle near the pub. The streets are pretty empty given the weather conditions and Tommy’s reputation had gone out the window of his thoughts long ago. “Okay then,” (y/n) breathes, “3...2...1!”

The pair take off at a run, the little girl stealing the lead immediately as Tommy runs slower than he probably ever has to allow the five year old to scuttle ahead faster than him. She giggles, elated as she knows she’s in front of her brother. “‘M gonna beat you Tom!” She puffs out, little boots splashing through the barren street as he laughs from behind her. “Not if i catch you first!” He calls back, speeding up his run as he heard the little girl screech in shock at the sound of him getting closer. He can see her putting her all into running from him, looking behind her over and over, laughing only when she realises he’s far enough behind her or screaming again if he’s getting close.

Inside the Garrison, Grace hears a child’s scream and what sounds very much like Tommy Shelby shouting that he’ll get her. It makes her immediately peer out the window just in time to see what most people in Small Health never expect from the gangster.

He runs up behind his little sister quickly, scooping her into his arms with complete ease as she squirms, squeals and giggles loudly. “Faster than me ey?” He snarls playfully, fingers digging softly into her sides to tickle hysterical laughter out of the girl. “No Tommy! Never!” She shrieks, knowing well enough agreeing with her brother was enough to stop his tickles and it clearly is as he places her gently back down on her feet, a sheepish grin overtaking her little features as she looks up at him in adoration. It was widely clear how much she loved her big brother.

Grace moves to the doorstep of the pub, arms crossed over her chest to keep her warm against the chill. “Having fun, Thomas?”

He whips around at the sound of her voice, subconsciously letting go of his sisters hand in surprise, almost as if he was always ready to put up a fight and defend her with everything he had within a moments notice just as reflex. She knows better than to assume he wouldn’t cut anyone who came near that little girl. “Suppose so,” he shrugs when he realises it’s just the bartender he had become rather intrigued by. “Thought i would-“

The sound of loud, proud giggling and the feeling of water hitting the backs of his trousers immediately makes him whip around again, spotting his small little sister grinning up at him like a cheshire cat and his very own devilish glint in her little blue eyes as she stands in the middle of the puddle after having splashed water up at him. “Oh you little buggar. I’ll get you for that.” He threatens, taking a moment to get over his shock as (y/n) laughs at him again but is joined this time by the light giggle of the Irish bartender. That little girl only widens her cheeky grin, her innocence still leaking through her cheeky nature as she looks behind her, knowing her brother would have to run through the huge puddle to get her.

“Only if you catch me first.”

And just like that, the hardened Birmingham gangster bids a quick goodbye to his bartender and is off running through puddles with a five year old little girl who very coincidentally melts his heart of stone down to a puddle each and every single day.

[andvys]

Longing (part 1)

Warnings: “enemies” to lovers type of thing, slow burn, cocky!ellie, alcohol consumption

Pairing: Ellie Williams x reader

Ellie always thought you were the prettiest girl she’s ever seen in her life, you had the most beautiful eyes, the way they would always get lighter in the sun and the way they would always light up whenever you were happy about something. She loved how you would always put your hair into a braid and would still have strands of hair fall in front your eyes, you’d always put them behind your ears only for them to get loose again and fall in front of your eyes once more. She loved how fierce and badass you are, always ready for any situation. You are one of the best fighters in Jackson despite your age. Having seen it herself when you patrolled together, you fought skillfully, making Ellie wonder about where you have learned to fight like that. Anytime something went wrong or someone would say something about hunters or a horde of infected coming Jackson’s way, you’d always be first to volunteer to go and get rid of them. The way you held yourself, Ellie was sure that you could actually get rid of a group of people before they’d even make it to the gates of Jackson. She would never underestimate you. You really were a fascinating person.

If you just weren’t such a bitch.

You were nice to everyone but to her, well except for Seth. Always getting into a fight with the older man.

You weren’t necessarily mean to Ellie but you weren’t exactly nice either, you were sarcastic and feisty with her and you loved to push her buttons but you weren’t as good at it as she was, Ellie always had the upper hand in your little banters and she teased the hell out of you, leaving you annoyed making her smirk every time. She’d also jokingly flirt with you or make dirty jokes, leaving you uncomfortable or at least that’s what Ellie thought. She just loved getting on your nerves.

Dina would always try to convince Ellie that you actually liked her and you just had a funny way of showing that. Ellie would laugh at that every time, she knew you had some sort of resentment towards her for whatever reason.

You wanted to be friends with the girl you really did but something about her annoyed the hell out of you and she made you feel weird. You constantly bickered like little kids and you seemed to have a stand off every time you were patrolling together. She just pissed you off.

“You going to the dance tonight kid?” Joel asked you. Right now you were cleaning the rifles and shotguns in the shed you kept them in. Having injured your shoulder while on patrol a few days ago you were off patrol for a few weeks. So you were assigned for keeping the weapons clean. You were annoyed at that, you had worse injuries before and still fought but Maria wouldn’t let you out, not wanting to risk your health. So here you were boring yourself to death, at least Joel came in to keep you company.

“Umm I don’t know, it’s not really my thing.” You said. Laying the rifle on the table you looked at the older man. Since he and Ellie came to Jackson he became something like a mentor to you. You respected the older man, you already learned more from him than your own father and he was there for you whenever you struggled with yourself.

“That’s what Ellie said too.” You avoided looking at him at the mention of Ellie. You thought, he assumed that you two must be friends, considering you’re in the same friend group. You didn’t even know they were talking again.

“She did?” You asked avoiding his eyes.

“Yes.” He studied your face. He was not stupid, anytime he’d bring up Ellie you got quiet and awkward same with Ellie she reacted the same way at the mention of you.

“Are you going?” You asked him, changing the topic quickly.

“Yeah and you should come too.” He said.

“We’ll see, do I get to have a drink?” You asked, giving him a hopeful smile. He never let you drink.

“Are you 21?” He asked giving you a pointed look.

“Ugh come on Joel, I’m 19 plus I’m allowed to blow up things and kill people and infected but I’m not allowed to have a drink every once in a while?” You said shaking your head.

Joel laughed at that “well maybe you can have a little.” He said.

“Finally, I wanna get drunk.”

“You’re allowed to drink but you’re not allowed to get drunk kid.” Joel said sternly.

“I’ll take what I can get.” Smiling at him. He got up and walked towards you, ruffling your hair.

“I gotta get going, I’ll see you at the dance.”

“Ugh, see ya.” You said annoyed at him for messing up your braid.

Stepping out of the little shed once you were done with your assignment you stood there enjoying the fresh air for a second after being in that shed all day.

Deep in thought you were looking down on your way home, not watching where you were going you ran into something or rather someone, almost falling down if it wasn’t the strong arms catching you by your waist, grabbing their arms you looked up at your savior only to realize that it’s Ellie still with her hands on your waist she had a cocky smirk on her face.

“Careful there (y/n), you almost fell for me.” Smirking at you.

You groaned at that, letting go of her arms you took a step back making her hands let go of your waist.

“Do you want me to escort you home? I don’t want you tripping and falling for someone else.” She said, teasing you

“No thanks Williams, now if you’ll excuse me.” You said, trying to walk past her only for her to step in front of you not letting you go yet, probably to annoy you some more.

“You going to the dance tonight?” Ellie asked. Studying your face.

“Yup.” You replied, looking down on your shoes, avoiding looking at her pretty face.

“Nice, I’ll be there as well.” Ellie said.

“I know, Joel told me.” Shit why did you just say that, you wanted to slap yourself now she knew you and Joel talked about her. Now she would think you’re interested in her, well you are but she doesn’t have to know that.

“Oh, talking about me with Joel when you could talk to me?” She teased.

“Whatever I’m gonna go now, see ya Williams.” You said, this time she stepped aside, letting you leave.

She watched you leave, deep in thought about you she didn’t notice Jesse appearing next to her, throwing an arm around her.

“Man you have it bad for our girl here.” Jesse said, smirking at her. He was aware of Ellie having some sort of feelings for you. It wasn’t hard to see that, Ellie always looked like a kicked puppy around you.

“Shut up, Jesse” Ellie said annoyed.

“She likes you too.”

“What?! No she doesn’t. I’m pretty sure she hates me.” Ellie said, looking down, she began walking away.

Jesse followed her. “She doesn’t hate you, I’ve seen how she acts around people she hates and you aren’t one of them.” He said.

“Well I- so what she likes me now?” She asked. Not believing that you could feel anything towards her but hate.

“She likes Dina and Joel or Tommy and Maria, I’m pretty sure she likes me too, I’m awesome.” Jesse smirked at the last part. “But you? I’d say there’s a little more than “like” Ellie.”

“Are you trying to tell me she has feelings for me?” Ellie laughed at that. Jesse was ridiculous and stupid if he thought you could have feelings for Ellie. Not that she didn’t wish for that but it was too good to be true.

“You know what they say about hate. Love and hate are two sides of the same coin.” Jesse confidently said.

Ellie laughed at that, “alright whatever.” She thought about that. She genuinely couldn’t see you liking her.

It was a little crowded at the dance once you got there. You usually avoided going to these things, not liking being around many people but Dina always made you come. Looking at you with her puppy eyes, you couldn’t say no to the girl.

Looking out for Dina and Jesse you weren’t able to find them. Huh she bugged you about being there on time but she herself wasn’t even here yet. Looking around you saw Ellie standing at the bar. You stared at her for a while.

Suddenly she looked your way, catching you staring at her she started smirking, rolling your eyes at her.

She waved at you to come over. You’d rather have Dina and Jesse be there as well, not trusting yourself to be around the girl without anyone around but you didn’t wanted to be alone so you walked over to her.

“Hey (y/n), if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were just checking me out from over there, that’s kinda creepy.” Ellie said with a teasing smile. Leaning against the bar.

Feeling embarrassed now you rolled your eyes.

“You wish, Williams.” You said sitting down on the bar stool next to her.

“What if I do?” She asked you, smirking.

“I- um.” Not knowing what to say you quickly changed the subject. “I need a drink.”

“I’ll get you something, wait here.” She left you alone.

“Alright, thanks I guess.”

Coming back she gave you the drink. Taking it from her hand your fingers touched for a second, avoiding her eyes you took a sip of the drink. Almost coughing at the taste, Ellie laughed at you.

“You never had whiskey did you?” She asked.

Shaking your head “you?” You asked curiously.

“Yeah.” Nodding at her words, you looked around.

Sitting in silence for a while, you watched all the couples dance. Feeling Ellie’s eyes on you the whole time. You glanced at her, noticing that her glass is empty, you figured it’d be a good opportunity to get away from her for a second.

“Should I get you a new one?” You asked her. “A drink I mean.”

“Uh sure.” She gave you her glass, you walked towards the bartender guy. Ellie had a chance to admire you from the side.

Waiting for the bartender to bring you your drinks, you saw someone heading your way from the side, turning to look who it was you saw it was Joel.

“Hey kid.” He pulled you in for a hug. He always gave the best hugs, they were always warm and safe.

“Hi Joel.” Smiling at him.

“I see you and Ellie are alone tonight.” He looked towards Ellie, who was taking a seat at one of the smaller tables, waiting for you.

“I- yeah. We are waiting for Dina and Jesse.”

“I’m afraid they’re not coming tonight. Haven’t they told you?” He asked.

“What? But I- they told us they’d be here.” You said confused. Why would they tell you come here if they weren’t even here.

“I talked to Jesse today, he said him and Dina are having a date tonight.” Joel said.

“Oh well, I didn’t know.” You laughed. Great now you it was just you and Ellie.

The bartender brought you your drinks, putting them in front of you hitting you with the smell of whiskey, you gave Joel a cheeky smile.

He put a hand on your shoulder, “drink responsibly kid, and take care of Ellie.” He said.

“Yes of course, I promise.”

“Alright, well go on and have fun.”

“Alright you too Joel, I’ll see you.” You smiled at him taking the drinks in both hands you walked over to Ellie. Setting them down on the table you sat down next to Ellie.

“Well it seems like our friends have ditched us.” You said annoyed.

“What?” Ellie furrowed her eyebrows at that.

“Yeah Joel said they have a date night.”

“Great.” Ellie suddenly felt nervous. Being alone with you would surely end bad, she was scared that she’d accidentally confess her stupid crush on you or something.

“I know we’re not friends or whatever but I feel like getting a few drinks, what about you?” You asked. Ellie hated that you didn’t even see her as a friend but you usually avoided her like the plague and you’d never ask her to hang out with you, a year ago you’d just leave if none of your friends were here but Ellie guessed you must’ve warmed up to her a little if you asked her to keep you company.

“Yeah sure.”

Throughout the whole night you and Ellie bickered about every little thing, sarcastically replying to everything the other would say. You definitely wouldn’t be friends anytime soon but you two did kind of enjoy this night.

You were currently walking home side by side. Having a discussion about weapons. Arriving in front of your home, you talked for a few more minutes, fighting on which weapon is the better choice, in any situation.

“Alright, whatever Williams you’re right, I’m wrong.” You said, rolling your eyes at the girl. Walking backwards to your door.

“You know I’m right (y/n)!” Ellie said teasing you.

“Go home Williams!”

“Yes ma’am.” Ellie grumbled, turning around she started to walk back home.

Ellie thought about this night. It was the first time you willingly spent time alone with her. She enjoyed it even if you were still your usual sarcastic self, she still enjoyed it. Hoping to see more of you, without having the rest of your friends around. She liked to be alone with you, not that she would admit it to anyone.

[moral-turpitudes]

Trouble Maker:

A/N: I got a lil carried away but I hope this is decent. I don’t do many headcanons lol.

Trigger Warnings: Swearing, Mentions of Drinking and Drug use.

Headcanon Pair: Thomas Shelby x Shelby!Sister Reader - Based off Angst Prompt #7 from my Peaky Prompts List.

Requested: Yes

Requested by: Anon (You can see the request Here)

Summary: Growing rebellious in her teenage years, Y/N embarks on a journey of defying her brother and the rest of the Shelby family. But little does she know that her actions have consequences.

 Out of all the Shelby siblings, Y/N would be the one to follow the rules up until a certain point. As she’d grow older she’d notice how Ada got away with more things and how Finn would gradually be integrated into the illegal business of her older blinder brothers.

With a scornful look she’d sit through the family meetings, picking at her manicured nails as her older brother Thomas would tell her what she couldn’t do. All while giving orders to the others.

One day though, Y/N decided to challenge Tommy’s authority. Instead of nodding and going along with things, she decided with a drunken voice, racing heart, and clenched fists that she’d say no to the person she somewhat looked up to.

Her defiance would’ve started out small. If he asked her to finish filing a whole stack of papers, she’d file only half, giving herself a much needed break after looking at proposals and betting statistics all day. Then she’d make a glass of whiskey for herself, because if Finn could have some why couldn’t she?

Thomas wouldn’t really catch on at first, thinking she’d just forgotten to do half of the filing, but after one particular family meeting, he realized she was getting into more trouble than she led on.

Y/N had a habit of sneaking off with friends in the middle of the night while Polly would be sleeping. Knowing when and where Polly would go to bed and where the door key was hidden. With careful steps she’d walk through the house, holding her breath tiptoeing at certain points as she made her way to the door and then making a mad-dash outside as her friends chuckled near the streetlights.

Together they would snort cocaine and sneak smokes from people while at the Garrison, where they’d always arrive before closing. The bartender was always too tired to care. Tommy’s on-the-house rule still applying as the group sat around the bar. She had the Shelby name after all, so technically she could get a drink or 10, for free.

If the group wasn’t drinking alcohol or trying drugs, they’d wander through the night, goofing off in the fields until sunrise. But the night she defied Tommy, was also the night she was caught by Polly.

She had a feeling Y/N had been gone several nights in a row when she’d go past her room and not hear the light snoring that usually came from inside. And on that night she noticed her bed was made, never having been laid in the previous day, without a Y/N to be seen. In a panic, this caused Polly to call Thomas, waking him from an already disturbed sleep.

“She’s not here Tom. I think she’s been sneaking out. Don’t know how long but this isn’t like her.” She’d say.

“I’ll call a meeting. If she returns just bring her in.” He’d say, his voice tired and groggy.

Y/N would usually take her time, but her and her friends got carried away, so she stumbled home half-drunk on whiskey. Not realizing how late it had been.

As she opened the door, she’d see Polly standing there, her coat on and her arms crossed over her chest. Her eyes staring holes through her.

“Y/N...I’m glad you’re home. We have a family meeting.” She said as the clock struck 4 in the morning.

“I...Pol...I can...explain.” She said, her head fuzzy as she made her way into her room, Polly on her heels.

“You won’t just be explaining this to me, you’ll be explaining this to the whole bloody family young lady. You’re too young and too sweet to be out in this fucking town this late...And I thought Finn would be a problem...” She said, lighting a cigarette in her doorway as Y/N rummaged around for a heavier coat.

“I’d rather sleep but whatever Tommy wants Tommy gets aye?” Y/N asked, chugging the rest of a glass of water that was near her bedside.

The ride there would be quiet and awkward, Polly periodically looking over at her youngest niece as she’d stick her drunken head out the window. The early morning air relieving the nausea she felt.

“I’ll have your neck if you throw up in this car, Y/N. I swear it.” She said.

“I’m not Pol. How much longer till we got to the bastards house?” She’d say, not knowing what the time was as the old buildings whizzed by.

“We’ll get there soon. You’re staying there.” She said.

She groaned lightly as they neared the fields leading to Arrow House. The dark brick building sending a shiver down her spine as they eventually made it to the drive way.

It was then she knew she’d fucked up. The contents from the nights shenanigans decorating the paved walkway up to the house.

Thomas stood at the door nonchalantly, with his dusty black coat over his night clothes. He usually slept with trousers on, usually neglecting to wear a shirt, but since he had unexpected company he had to look like he cared at least somewhat.

“Good morning Tommy. Are the others inside?” Polly would ask, Y/N retching loudly in the background.

“Mhmm.” He mumbled, a blank expression on his face as he flicked the last of his cigarette on the concrete steps.

Once inside and mostly recovered, Y/N would hesitantly walk into his office. The blinders all in varying night clothes and coats, their eyes puffy from being woken up at such an hour.

“Y/N, nice of you to join us.” Thomas would say. Pouring a glass of whiskey for himself, making her look away in disgust for the time being.

“Would you like to tell us where you’ve been running off to? You of all people should know better aye?” He’d ask as she sat in a chair before him.

“I just wanted to be with my friends Tom....you all get to run ‘round town at all hours with god knows who and I’m stuck in the house. Even fucking Finn gets to.” She’d say, flicking Finn off in the process.

“Aye don’t you bring me into thi-“ Finn would start to say, getting out of his chair with a furrowed brow and his face flushed in anger.

“Sit down, Finn. This isn’t your concern.” Polly snapped, leaning back in her chair. Finn sighing in the corner, rubbing his eyes.

“I’m tired of all this....this bullshit...Do this Y/N. Do that. File these papers. Don’t drink, Don’t stay out past 5. Don’t do anything that makes you happy.” She’d say mockingly.

“I don’t do that last one. You know I tell you to do those things to keep you out of trouble right? I’m trying to keep you away from the illegal business.” He’d say, lighting another cigarette.

“Well you’re doing a shit job.” She’d remark bluntly, crossing her arms over her chest as she remembered striking a small deal with a drug-runner all because of her last name. They weren’t a threat to the family, but it made her defiance all the more alluring as she scored drugs for her friends under his nose.

“Later today I want you to go to your friends and tell them you won’t be out past 8...I’m being generous.” He’d say.

“No.” Her eyes boring into him as she snapped back. Thomas would look at her then, feeling more like a parent than an older sibling at that point.

“Do you have a death wish?” He’d ask.

“Might as well.” She’d say, the alcohol making her not fear him as much this time around.

“Very well. Tomorrow, you’ll join us at the races. If you want to be like us, you’ll have to do it the hard way.” He’d say, getting up from his chair to stand near her.

“Thomas I’m not letting her watch you all kill someone.” Polly would say sternly.

“If she doesn’t want to be in the shop, there’s only one other place, Pol. Let’s just hope she remembers this later.” He’d say, teasingly blowing a cloud of smoke in Y/N’s direction as she swatted it away.

“You bastard...I’ll go, but I’m not ruining my friendships for this fucked up family.” She’d say, walking out of the room and up the stairs to the spare bedroom. Her head was starting to pound as she laid on the bed, her eyes begging for sleep to take her, even if she had to face the consequences later.

“What will you do if she doesn’t want to go Tom? She’s too sweet to be ‘round all that.” Arthur asked.

“If she can run off and drink and do drugs and talk back to us, I think she can handle a day at the races. It’ll show her the other side, Finn was like that too.” He’d say, pointing his cigarette at the young blinder.

“Oh fuck off Tom.” He’d say, almost drifting off.

“You’re both alike, should’ve expected that.” Polly remarked, noting how Y/N was a year younger than Finn, making them sickeningly similar.

After the meeting he’d excuse them all, probably telling the boys to rest up for the races and for Polly and the others to help with the legitimate business at the shop.

Not long after everyone’s departure though, he’d most likely creak the door open to the spare bedroom. An annoyed look on his face but a sense of relief washing over him as he saw his youngest sister was safe and sound. He’d sneakily put a glass of water near her despite him never drinking any himself half the time. And making sure her head was propped up enough before gently closing the door behind him.

As much as his sister was beginning to be a pain in his side, he would fight anyone in the world for her, and he could see that in her as well. She may defy his orders, but she could never defy the family completely, they just cared too damn much about her to let her go.

[binas-idea-vault]

Hear Me Out: Syndicate Mafia/Casino AU

i came up with a casino au once with Kinoko Kingdom/Quackity as owner of the casino but then my brain went “okay but like, what if the Syndicate had a casino but it was also a mafia and then Kinoko Kingdom as a casino as well and then the Eggpire is also involved and so is fucking Dream” so hear we are.

i chose the Syndicate to have a casino cause of the song “Syndicate” by Derivakat (i’ve been binge listening to it as well-) which has a jazz casino vibe. so what if Reader was the star performer (this is self indulgent because i am very much a theater kid and love to sing-) who starts off every night with a performance of “Syndicate”. reader’s performance is used to kinda establish the Syndicate’s power over the casino and to remind the patrons anything they do will be under the scrutiny of a mafia with literally two of the most renowned mafiosos’ (Philza whose reputation of traveling all over and taking down many a mafia family precedes him and Technoblade who has taken down mafia families singlehandedly) in the city, maybe even the entire country.Just mafioso Technoblade watching reader’s performance and just enamored with how they move and their melodic voice. for some extra spice, protective Technoblade seeing the patrons/customers just as enamored as he is. Philza laughing his ass off in the background at how Technoblade goes up to you and puts his arm around your waist protectively and just glares at anyone who looks at you wrong-

the Eggpire is like a rival mafia that is trying to take control over the city so it isn’t uncommon for them to try and infiltrate the Syndicate casino. so i was thinking, what if the people who are Pro-Omlette (but not in the Syndicate so Puffy, Foolish (since it’s not confirmed he’s part of the Syndicate), Awesamdude and Eret) are staff at the casino. they were each like a lone agent after their mafia family split up/they left and decided to join forces with the Syndicate to make sure the Eggpire didn’t gain total control of the city. Maybe Sam is a bodyguard stationed either outside the casino or manning security cameras switching with Puffy, Eret can be like a stage manager/backstage to aid the performers and make sure no one sneaks into the dressing rooms or the light control area backstage and Foolish is like a bartender keeping an eye out on the main floor of the casino for any activity.

Dream was the former head of the well-renowned Dream Team mafia family until the family split. he’s notorious for breaking apart mafia families before disappearing into the night and traveling to a new city. occasionally he’ll hire some aid but they never last long.

Ponk used to be an on-sight medic for the casino in cause of bar fights or performers getting injured on stage but after many rumors (later confirmed to be true) of him being a member of the Eggpire he was fired and not allowed to enter the premise of the casino again.

Kinoko Kingdom was a rival casino/mafia family to the Syndicate’s but they’ve decided to have a truce to make sure Dream and/or the Eggppire don’t take over their city. Their casinos have different vibes with the Syndicate’s being more of a hub for mafia and business activity with jazzy music on the constant and famous for civilized and tame yet very entertaining entertainment whilst Kinoko’s casino is like more of a rowdy type casino, famous for high stake bets, drinks with high alcohol content and lively music and entertainment that can be seen as a bit too glitzy and tacky. Like you go to Syndicate casino for a night of business deals and building yourself up to the top, the type of casino you would bring your boss to, whilst the Kinoko casino is the type of casino you go to let loss and risk it all with cheap entertainment and even cheaper booze. (and if you really wanted to, you could have the Reader character be a bartender at the Kinoko casino and be the reason the casino is so well-known for their booze in the same au but different continuity)

wilbur had a casino (the L’manburg casino) but he went bankrupt so the casino changed management (to Schlatt) and then Wilbur burned it down, resulting in himself getting severely injured. courts can’t prove he did the fire and many claim he was just in the area when it happened and got severely injured. because of this his memories are very much messed up, but he’s slowly recovering (emphasize on slowly) and is now a performer for the day crowd (which is more relaxed and therefore the best place for more cheerful tunes with acoustic guitar, during the day the casino has more of a classy cafe vibe and they actually serve coffee!) under the name Ghostbur. he can’t remember the name of the nurse who treated him so he just remembers them by the name Friend and has a stress toy that is a blue sheep (given to him by the nurse) that is always in his pocket and he gets really stressed when he loses it so the nurse gave Philza copies of the stress toy to give to Wilbur if/when he loses his. for some more fluff Wilbur’s blue is actually just blue jolly ranchers because when his memories got messed up because of the accident he forgot some things like the names of colors so the nurse that treated him used blue jolly ranchers as an example of the color blue so whenever Wilbur is sad and misses the nurse (who can potentially be a Reader character taking place in the same au but a different continuity) that treated him he likes to eat some jolly ranchers to make himself feel better, and hands it out to make others feel better as well! (just imagine Philza standing behind Wilbur like “if you don’t accept his blue i will personally shove you into a body bag” type beat)

Tubbo is a magician/dealer at the Syndicate Casino for three reasons which are as follows:

A) he needed some quick cash and mans doesn’t have much work experience

B) he’s smart so he knows the little ways he can cheat the games so the casino loses less money/gains more when patrons gamble (i like to imagine in the interview process he actually managed to cheat a game and no one knew he cheated until he admitted it during the interview when asked if he could be able to subtly cheat so the house loses less money. it went like

technoblade: alright final question, do you know anyways to make sure the house doesn’t lose out on much?

tubbo: i’ve been cheating during every single game we’ve played.

everyone: 👁👄👁

ranboo wiping away a tear: that’s my platonic husband

i think that’d be funny)

C) i have decided to make it canon in this au that Tubbo and Ranboo are still platonically married for tax purposes

and for reasons (aka because i can) i’m making Micheal a piglet Tubbo bought for a magic trick that he named Micheal and got attached to. however he didn’t have the space for a piglet so Ranboo and Tubbo decided to move into a large apartment together that Foolish helped them find and named the piglet Micheal. now Micheal can be seen in the staff room just walking around and wearing a nice suit.

i have no role for Tommy but i like to imagine he spends so much time at the Syndicate casino (to hang out with Tubbo and totally not Ranboo nope not at all) that the patrons just assume he works there and ask him questions like drink recommendations and directions to where things are. and the best part is tommy actually knows where everything is- like he’s spent so much time at the casino he knows all the ins and outs. at first he’s really annoyed and mad about it until he realizes how much money he can make on tips. next day he shows up in a nice suit, and a big smile ready to help (and totally not make money).

totally random but Eret, Foolish and Niki are gossip central of the casino. Niki is a member of the Syndicate and knows all about Technoblade and Reader’s pining (in the continuity where Reader is the star performer of the casino), Eret is backstage and hears all the gossip the performer’s share and Foolish overhears all the gossip at the bar. all the staff fears them- 

[hayden-thefuck-whywouldyoudothis]

The Inevitable

Hello wonderful people! This is going to be my first ever fanfic that I am posting anywhere, so please be nice. I would appreciate feedback, and I think that if it does well here I’ll post it n Ao3. 

I came up with this fic idea a little while back, and I’ve been writing it since 03/13/21. Basically the idea is that while Tommy was in the afterlife, he met characters who died during Tales From The SMP episodes that took place in the past. They told him their stories, and Tommy connected the dots. He goes to confront Karl in Kinoko Kingdom.

This story includes a headcanon that is not mine. I read a fanfic with the mute!Karl headcanon. The story was an absolute banger. If you want to hear a little more about that go read their story Come Home With Me by icaruswontmelt on Ao3

Story starts under the cut .

The Inevitable, by BangHaydenCoven

Death was the one thing that had always been truly eternal. When Wilbur came back as Ghostbur, it had seemed like death maybe wasn’t completely permanent because Wilbur was back. But he hadn’t been brought back to life. He was a ghost, a shell of the person he had been before everything went to shit. Tommy had truly thought that death was the one thing that stayed constant on this god-forsaken server. Being beaten to death and brought back by the person who hurt you so deeply puts a lot of things that were just beyond reach of perfectly understandable, into perspective. In the amount of time that had gone by while Tommy’s life actually went to hell and back, everything had changed. Tubbo had gotten married of all things, He had a kid. And a new best friend as well, apparently. There was, for the first time in a long time, a semblance of peace between all of the factions. Peace smashed, the moment he had been let out of the prison. No one looked at him the same way anymore. No one looked at him like the kid he was. The kid he was supposed to be. All they saw was an anomaly. Not a real, live, breathing person who has feelings and needs validation, just like other people. Proof of something that never should have been real. 

Since declaring that Dream had to die, Tommy had holed himself up in his little house dirt mound of a house. When he finally got over the initial panic, the firsthand terror of forcing himself to think about the time he had spent dead, he allowed himself to do it freely. Puffy had told him it was good to think back on the trauma. He wasn’t sure just how much he could trust that ideology, but it seemed to work for the most part. Tommy had spent the majority of his time in the afterlife with the people he had known when he was alive.  Wilbur, Schlatt, Mexican Dream. It had been pretty simple. They spent a lot of time playing card games, for some reason. But one day, a fight had sparked between Tommy and Schlatt, causing the younger to storm off into the distance. He had been fuming that day. It hadn’t even been a fight that made sense. Schlatt had thrown some baseless accusations his way, and Tommy had just given up. He needed a break. So he walked away. 

He walked.

And he walked.

And he walked.

And he walked.

And he stopped.

Looming over him was a building that was like nothing Tommy had ever seen. It was old, dusty, and cold. It belonged in the afterlife, to put it simply. It fit. It was a simple embodiment. Then, laughter filled the air. Frightening, drunk laughter that was cold but inviting. Tommy followed the spine-chilling noise into the building where he found four people. Three were dressed like they were from the Wild West. Cowboy hats, cowboy boots, and simple revolvers at their hips. The fourth was also clearly from the same time period, put was dressed simply. When he walked into the building, they just stared at him. Cold, level stares that made him feel like he would rather die all over again then be stuck under those gazes for the rest of eternity. But suddenly the looks of the people softened as they beckoned him over, introducing themselves as Connor, Mason, and Jack Kanoff. They were group of bandits called the Democrat Haters, and a simple bartender named John John. They told him their story, to put it simply. They told him how they died.

That was only the beginning.

Tommy wandered for a week straight, meeting people, hearing their stories. He met higher members of society who attended a masquerade only to die brutal deaths at the hands of a possessed butler, the members of a village with a crazed murderer that didn’t know haw to stop, that killed people brutally, among many others. And every single story Tommy heard had a one thing in common. There was always one man, in every story, who appeared out of no where, wearing colourful clothing and iridescent goggles perched on his head. He didn’t always use the same name, but he was always there, no matter when it had happened. As Tommy moved around his home to prepare, one thought rang true in his mind. 

Karl was getting a visitor tomorrow.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Walking to Kinoko Kingdom had taken a lot longer than Tommy had originally thought and planned for. Not that the little settlement was close to the rest of the Greater SMP, but it wasn’t far either. Regardless of distance, it was still far too long of a walk for Tommy to be in a good mood when he arrived to find Sapnap of all people tending to the garden in Kinoko. Usually Tommy would have snuck up behind Sapnap and scared him to intentionally piss the older man off, but that was the old Tommy. The old Tommy had stayed dead. Instead, he announced his presence by kicking an acorn at the other mans head. There was a loud yelp, followed by a string of curses that matched the flowers in the garden with how colourful they were.

“George, I swear to god, if-” his sentence dropped of in a look of pure disbelief as he turned around, expecting to see his best friend that deserved a good scolding. A dead teenager was definitely different. And confusing. 

“Shit...” Sapnap mumbled, “Tommy?”

“Hello Sapnap. I must say its very nice to see you doing something other than killing pets. Or your fiances.” He smirks.

“Well it’s definitely you. The question is how. How are you alive?” he says as the shock on his face fades into confusion mixed with disbelief. Tommy freezes. 

“Only if your okay with it of course. Don’t answer if your not comfortable. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought that up. That was insensitive of me...” he trails off as he realizes Tommy seems less stressed at the fact that Sapnap isn’t going to make him talk about it.

“Sapnap,” Tommy started, “I need to talk to Karl. Like, right now.” 

“Alright,” said Sapnap, nodding slowly, “I’ll go get him. Stay right here.” As Tommy watched the other man walk away to retrieve one of his fiances, he really hopes that what he is about to accuse Karl of is wrong. Maybe one day they’ll laugh about this. Probably not.

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As Sapnap entered the house, looking for his fiances, he couldn’t help but wonder what it was that Tommy so urgently needed to talk to Karl about. Not finding his fiances on the first floor of their shared house, he went upstairs to continue his search, not wanting to keep the teen waiting for too long. As he opened the door to the throuples bedroom, he let out a small huff of affection when he saw his fiances, the loves of his life, asleep in their bed. Quackity had his arms around Karls waist, with his wings over both of them like a blanket, reflecting the golden light of the sun filtering through the window. Not wanting to disturb the scene in front of him, he let out a small sigh of annoyance as he forced himself to wake up Karl, and by extension Quackity.

“Theres someone here who wants to talk to you.” he muttered softly in Karls ear. 

“Who?” Karl signed sleepily.

“Tommy. It seems pretty important. He’s down in the garden.” Sapnap said a little louder, seeing that Q was now awake, so there was no reason to stay quiet.

“Alright.” He signed, “Let’s go.” as he got up, he tugged on Quackity’s sleeve lightly. “Are you coming, Q?”  He nodded and gave a small smile.

“Alright,” Sapnap said, pulling Quackity into a quick hug, and giving him a quick kiss on the temple, “Let’s go then.”

As they left the house and approached Tommy sitting at the picnic table in their back garden, they exchanged a small conversation in sign language.

“Is he okay?” said Quackity with some concern clear on his face, his movements slow and scuffed from sleep.

“He looks really tired.” Sapnap added.

“Q, could you run in and prepare some sandwiches and lemonade?” Signed Karl, “We’ll bring Tommy inside and we can all have lunch together while we talk.”

“Of course, my love.” Said Quackity, giving Karl a small kiss on the cheek before hurrying inside to prepare some lunch.

Turning to Tommy to thank him for waiting, he was met with a face of absolute, genuine confusion. As Tommy stared at their hands, then looked back over to Karl, his face quickly changed to a look of understanding.

“I forgot,” he said as he stood up sheepishly, “that Karl was mute.”

“That’s okay Tommy.” Karl cut in before Sapnap could say anything, “I know you’ve been through a lot recently. It’s okay to forget things from time to time. I should know.” Karl signed slowly so that Tommy could keep up with his rusty remembrance of sign language, adding a small smile at the end of his sentence. 

“Thank you Karl.” Tommy said with a sigh of relief.

“Would you like to come inside and have lunch with us? I know you have something to talk to me about, but you look hungry. We could talk right after though. How does that sound?” Karl signed with a smile on his face.

“That sounds great.” Tommy said after a beat of hesitation.

“Perfect,” said Sapnap, “let’s head inside. Q is making some sandwiches.” They all headed inside, one dreading the talk that would come after, the other two wondering what could possibly be so important to cause Tommy to come all the way out to Kinoko Kingdom to talk to Karl.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tommy and Sapnap sat down at the table in the dining room as Karl went into the kitchen to help Quackity. Usually it would be all three of the in the kitchen, making food and having a good time, but Sapnap needed to take advantage of the situation at hand. Since he hadn’t visited the main SMP in a while, Tommy gave him the rundown of the current and recent events he knew of. Nothing too bad, but Sapnap knows you can never be too careful. A few minutes later, Quackity and Karl emerge from the kitchen carrying some plates and the food. As they sit down and start to eat, Sapnap and Quackity make small talk that Karl contributes too every once in a while with some one handed movements, putting his sandwich down when it was necessary. But Tommy stayed quiet, which the fiances found quite odd. Clearly whatever the boy had been through recently, on top of all his other trauma, had really messed with him. The loud, boisterous teenager they had known before was gone, replaced with someone they didn’t recognize in the slightest. So Tommy stayed silent the entire time, not noticing the quick, worry filled glances the trio sent his way every so often.

Soon enough, they had all finished eating. They were sitting in the fiances’ living room together, Tommy on one couch, the tree of them on the other. The room sat in an awkward silence as Karl, Quackity, and Sapnap waited for Tommy to talk to them, and as Tommy decided what to say.

After a moment, Tommy said, “Are you sure you want them here for this?” Karl’s eyes widened at how blatant he had been.

“Of course I want them here.” He signed quickly, “They are the people who matter most to me. Whatever you need to say to me you can say to all three of us.” Sapnap and Quackity nodded, not wanting to disrupt anything.

“Alright,” Tommy sighed, “Where should I start...” Karl’s hands stayed firmly in his lap to give Tommy a moment to think. “Well, I guess I’m just going to say what I came here to say, and pray to Prime that I’m wrong.” Karl nodded, once, slowly. Tommy took a deep breath before opening his mouth and saying...

“Your a time traveler, aren’t you?”

Silence.

And then laughter

All he could hear was laughter.

Sapnap and Big Q were laughing. 

Karl was not.

Karl was not.

Karl wasn’t laughing.

The look on his face was not one of someone who had just been accused of some laughable fallacy.

A fantasy, really.

Sapnap and Quackity had stopped laughing.

They seemed to have come to the same conclusion that Tommy had.

“Karlos?” Quackity started, “There is no possible way...” he stopped, a look of pure disbelief on his face.

“Tell me that he’s lying Karl.” said Sapnap. “Please.” Karl’s hands started to move, making aborted and scuffed movements as he tried to figure out what to say.

 “No,” He finally settled on, “he’s right. I’m a time traveler.” Sapnap started crying at this, and Quackity gave him a hug as he buried his face into his fiances neck. Karl looked completely torn. He clearly wanted to comfort his fiances, but he knew he shouldn’t while Tommy was still here. But he also didn’t know if he could. Karl didn’t know if he was even still allowed to comfort them after keeping this big of a secret from them, and for so long. Karl started signing again, this time with clear urgency behind each movement.

“Two things, and then I need you to leave. Understood?”

“Of course,” said Tommy, “I will leave immediately.” Karl nodded.

“Thank you. First things first,” he signed, “how did you know?” Tommy sighed. He really didn’t want to talk about this. But Karl deserved to hear the truth.

“When I died, I was in the afterlife for a little while,” Tommy said softly, “One day I walked away from the people I knew in the afterlife, Schlatt, Wilbur, and Mexican Dream. I walked for so long I came across a building I had never seen before, and when I went in I met a group of people from the Wild West.” Karl’s eyes had gone wide.

“You met Jack and Mason and Connor?” he signed.

“Yeah, and John John as well. They told me what happened the day they died, and they mentioned you. Not directly, but they mentioned a man that had showed up out of nowhere wearing bright colours and iridescent goggles.” Karl looked wistful, remembering his time sent in the Wild West, even if it hadn’t been an exceptionally fun trip at the time. Tommy continued. “I also met the people who visited the masquerade, same story. But this time they mentioned your name. And lastly I met the townfolk of the Village that went Mad. Same story, but no name once again. I just connected the dots.” Tommy fell silent, waiting for Karl to tell him something. Sometime during his revelations, Sapnap and Quackity had left the room to comfort each other. Karl clearly wanted to tell them he was sorry, but he couldn’t do that until Tommy had left. Turning back to the teen, he started signing once more.

“Thank you for telling me, Tommy. I just have one thing to ask of you, then you can leave.” Tommy nodded his head, and Karl continued, “You cannot, under any circumstances, tell anyone what you know. It would put everyone in grave danger. Is that clear?”

“Of course. I won’t tell a soul.” Karl gave him a small smile. “Now I think you should go talk to your fiances.”

“I will,” he signed, leading Tommy to the front door, “Goodbye, Tommy. Have a good trip back.”

“Goodbye, Karl.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

As he walked towards the door of their shared bedroom, he could barely hold himself back from running to the room to comfort them. But Karl couldn’t be sure that they would ever be the same again. It broke him to think that, but he had lied to them, for a long time. They probably hated him.

He stopped outside of the door, hearing faint sounds of crying on the other side of the door. He slowly opened the door to see Quackity and Sapnap cuddled up together against the headboard of their bed, with all of the lights out. Sapnap was asleep against Quackitys chest, tear tracks all over his face. Q wasn’t much better.

“Hey Karl.” Quackity said softly, sniffling a little.

“Hi.” he signed back, gong to sit on the edge of the bed. “I’m so sorry.” he signed after a beat of silence. “I have no excuses. I just wanted both of you to be safe from it.”

“But... what is it, Karl? Why couldn’t you tell us? Are these the trips you’ve been going on? Does it have something to do with your memory problems?” Quackity rambled, question after question. He cut off when he realized how tense Karl looked. “...sorry.” he said, lowering his voice once more.

“Woah, Q, it’s okay. But I can only answer one question at a time.” Quackity nodded. “It is the In-Between,” he started, making the ASL sign for between, then spelling it out, “I don’t actually know what it is, but I managed to get away from it recently. It was stopping me from telling you about my time traveling. It told me that telling you guys would put you guys in grave danger. I couldn’t let that happen. So I kept it a secret.” He stopped, hands dropping when he couldn’t figure out where to go from there. Quackity opened his mouth, about to ask a question, when he felt Sapnap stir at his side. 

“Hey babe.” Quackity said, Sapnap just let out a little huff. “Sap, do you feel up to talking right now?”

“...yeah...is he here?” he mumbled, voice heavy and slurred with sleep. 

“He is.” Quackity answered. Sapnap looked up at him, then looked over to Karl.

“Hi Sap.” he signed, not making eye contact. “I want to apologize to both of you. For not telling you. There really is no valid excuse that I have. The In-Between was crazy. I just wanted to keep both of you safe.”

“What is the In-Between?” Sapnap asked. Before Karl could answer, Quackity cut in.

“He doesn’t know, Sap.” he whispered. 

Sapnap continued, “I want you to tell us the whole story. Please?” Karl looked conflicted.

“Alright.” he signed, “I’ll start at the beginning.” So he did. He told them the whole story. By the time he had finished, all three had tears running down their face. “Do you understand now?” Karl wiped his eyes before continuing, “It wasn’t safe to tell you.” Sapnap nodded, eyes red and puffy from crying.

“You need to stop traveling Karl. Me and Sapnap wouldn’t be able to live with ourselves if you forgot everything.” said Quackity, pulling Sapnap even closer. Karl sighed.

“I can’t control the traveling. I don’t know if it will ever stop. All I need right now is you two. If I hadn’t wanted to get home to you guys so desperately, I would have forgotten long ago.” Karl got up and grabbed his journal. “Fill it.” he signed, after he gave it to his two fiances, “fill it with everything I need to remember. And when I come back each time, help me remember. Please.” Sapnap looked up at him, then glanced at Quackity, coming to a silent agreement. They would do anything to keep Karl with them.

“Of course we will, mi amor.” said Quackity, opening his arms to invite Karl to come sit with them. Karl smiled, tears running down his face once again, crawling into their warm embrace. And as they sat there, holding each other close, Karl took each of heir hands, pressing his favourite symbol in ASL into their palms.

“I love you.”

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Thank you for reading!!! Once again, if you like this, leave a comment or something, idk. And make sure to go check out the story linked at the top of this post for more about the mute!Karl Jacobs hc.

Have an amazing day, wonderful people.

[cruecifymesixx]

Love and Leather /Part Eighty Sixx/

Word Count: 5.9k

A/N: Enjoy! sorry the updates aren’t as often like they were before. I’ll try to do better

Warnings: angst, drugs, language, drug induced paranoia 

Taglist:  @miserablecunt , @dangerous-like-a-loaded-pistol,  @a-simple-salmon,  @hi-my-name-is-riley, @extremesadnerding, @thatbandchick39, @awkwrdcait, @countrygirlswonderland, @awesomealmostdopestudent, , @tashy-bear, @krazykatkay456, @terror-triplet, @shouttatthedevill @beachystars, @rodriguez025, @kickstart-myheart-sixx, @s-outhie, @anxious-diabetic, @awkwardblackgirls, @vintagebox @shamelessobsessions, @jerseytaint, , @criminalyetminimal, @motley-queen, @trapt-in-a-dream,  @broke-n-bitchy​,  @lovesick-heart0, @keepcalm-and-beyou, @miriampraez, @teenwolflover28​, @lilyhw1, @herbertweeest, @random-internet-user-4471, @falcon-arrows, @talranocchia2001,  @waywardprincess666, @iluvmesomemarvelndc, @zoenicoles, @vamprlestat, @supersoldierballerina, @electradestiny, @marshbev, @n0-sh0rtage-0f-faults, @cruebaby, @ggorehorror, @valentines-in-london, @nassauartist  @cmft-jr-winchester, @bokkie92, @notworthyofyou1120 @xrosegoldwolfx, @mgkobsessed, @chaoticvybe,  @kellysimagines @thoughtsoftheantagonist , @sleepyjunhong  @meetthesixxter @sparxx27 @gingerspicetalks @kaitieskidmore1 @unknownoblivion @nevergoodenuffbutokaaayyy @sublimeprincesswasteland @kylieinwonderland @haileynicoleseavey17 @lavendersoundbarrier  @xxisxxisxxis, @dogmom2014, @cruesixxlover1991, @xpoisonousrosesx,  @m0rnlngstar, @love-struck-aries, @youretheonlyonewhomakesme,  @i-want-to-shoot-myself, @arianareirg, @fentitrbl, @patheticgay69 @rocknroll--baby​ @redlipscrystalskies14, @samanthadegaro @jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels @thechangingme, @idkmanhereisshitilike, @makaelahdelvalle

Nikki held my hand tightly as we walked through a crowd of photographers. Quickly, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him, my hand darting up to his chest, fingers intertwining with the layered rosaries and the same padlock necklace I had gotten for him years prior.

I heard Nikki mutter a curse word when photographers screamed for pictures and a quick word. Nikki declined but allowed them to take pictures of us. We were at the album release party and there was already a buzz about the music. Mainly because they wanted to see if Mötley could do it without Vince.

We walked inside hand in hand before he quickly let go and put distance between us. I frowned a bit but quickly perked up when Alan Kovac came up to him, "Nikki! Congratulations man." He gives him a quick hug "All the hard work has paid off. C'mon let's celebrate." He's quickly pulled in another direction, I see him glance back at me before he starts talking to Alan and the other suits. The record label, the marketers...those people.

I sigh deeply as I walk over to the open bar. At least I had an excuse to go shopping and get a new dress. I order a vodka soda with lime as I sip and people watch. I didn't know half of these people and I'm sure Nikki felt the same way. I should have just stayed home with Arianna however I wanted to make an effort in supporting him like a good girlfriend should do, or whatever I am to him.

Ever since my date a few weeks ago, Nikki has been extremely distant. I know he wants to talk about it, and I do too but we both don't know how to bring it up. So the best thing we know how to do is ignore it and act like it didn't happen. Therapy was a bust the other day too, we sat in silence for forty five minutes. How much longer can we keep doing this?

I get tired of sipping through the plastic straw and toss it to the side, chugging the rest of it before putting the glass down and ordering another one. The bartender tries to make small talk, I brush him off and leave before walking over to the VIP area where the band is. Cigarette smoke from John and Mick hit my face, I would usually say Tommy too, but he's trying to quit before the baby gets here.

I sit down in the red velvet chair besides Clementine, "That's a pretty dress. Where'd you get it?" I smile at her.

She leans closer to my ear, "I got it at Target."

God bless Clementine for not being like the other wives and girlfriends.

"It's probably the last cute dress I can fit in for the next six months. I've already been gaining weight."

"I think it's just you stress eating and not pregnancy weight." I smirk as she flips me off and playfully hits my shoulder, "What are you drinking?" I point at the red liquid in a martini glass.

"A virgin cosmopolitan." She points at mine, "Vodka soda?"

I nod, "Double the vodka." I glance seeing Nikki come over, he eyes the spot next to me before changing his mind and opts for sitting by Corabi instead. I look at him a moment before looking back at Clementine. Her eyebrows raise in question as I take another long sip.

"Let me just take a guess, he's bitter over your date with Jon?" Clementine questions as I roll my eyes, "He needs to get over it. This was the deal, you both date someone else and decide if it's what you want. It's not that hard to comprehend."

I chuckle at her words, "You would think right? The only time we talk is at the dining table with Arianna and who's doing pick up duty. Other than that, there's no interaction. I even walked around the house in my underwear and one of his shirts and he still wouldn't talk to me."

"Have you tried being the bigger person?"

Well, obviously that would be too easy.

"I don't know why I have to be the bigger person. He's the one that's all cranky about it. I stopped giving him shit for Donna after their second date. He just doesn't like when I play his game better than him, he never has." I express to her as she chuckles.

"God, you two are a match made in hell." Clementine laughs, "Forget about all of that tonight and just have some fun. You're kid free and it's an open bar. What more could you want?" I glance at Nikki as she follows my gaze, "That's beside the point!"

I smile a bit, "I'm fine Clementine. I'm here and I'm having fun."

"You're always just fine, Van."

I glance, "Because I'm fine. I'm good." I look over when Nikki gets up, holding his cell phone to his ear before he disappears into the crowd, "I'm gonna go use the restroom. Maybe get another drink and some food. You hungry?"

Clementine chuckles "Do I even have to answer that?"

I nod, using her knee as a crutch to get up. I squeeze past people before I get to the restrooms, seeing the line and groaning. I eye the men's bathroom for a second, not seeing a single line or a dude walk through the doors. I clear my throat walking past dirty glares and eye rolls as I walk into the bathroom.

"Oh fuck.." I turn around seeing Corabi taking a piss, "I'm sorry John."

He laughs a bit, I hear the noise of his zipper before the flush of the urinal, "It's okay. There's nobody in the stalls." I nod quickly, walking into it. God, men are fucking disgusting. I squat over the toilet doing my business as I hear him wash his hands before repeated sniffing. I hear him mutter a "shit" before more sniffing. I flush the toilet and step out seeing him using his car key to take a bump.

"You want some?"

My mouth runs dry and the angel and devil are arguing on my shoulder, "I didn't know you used." I step over paper towels on the floor and go to wash my hands hearing him sniff again before pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Just socially. Helps with my anxiety." He responds monotone as he looks at me through the mirror. I see his eyes wander down the backside of me as I reach to dry my hands.

"Does Nikki know?"

"Why? You gonna tell him?" I shake my head and he smiles, "Good girl." He offers the bump to me as I stare at it.

C'mon. Just go ahead. Look out how little that bump is. It won't do anything to you.

I shake my head, "I'm okay John. Thank you though." I step to the door but he steps back and leans against it, "I should get back to-"

"Nikki?" He laughs, "Arent you two fighting right now? He's bitched about you for weeks now."

"John, you don't know what you're talking about. We're just having a disagreement." I stare at him, watching him sniff the white powder again.

Go ahead. Just say yes. You know you want too. C'mon, what's the big worry?

John laughs at me as he shoves his curly strands out of his face, "I guess dating other people is a pretty big disagreement."

"It's what he wanted." I raised my voice, becoming stern as he smiled at me.

"Hey sweetheart. It ain't any of my business." John snorts one last key bump before closing the vial and puts it back in his pocket. He grabs the door and holds it open, "Ladies first..."

My feet stay planted as I stare at him, he raises an eyebrow before closing the bathroom door, "One bump and that's it." Johns lips tug upwards as he pulls out the vial, "And you don't say shit. It stays here in the bathroom or I swear to god I will ruin your fucking life."

He doesn't say anything in return just a simple chortle as he dips the silver key into the vial. I hold a nostril close as I snort it up quickly. The whiz going straight to my head. I feel my heart beat throughout my body and the goosebumps rising on my skin cause me to shiver. I try to rub away the irritation, sneezing repeatedly right after, "Thanks.." I see that he holds out another one I sigh and snort it in the other nostril.

John chuckles as I wipe my face. He opens the door and follows behind me.

I feel Corabi's hand rest on my lower back as he gets us back over to the bands section. I stop walking seeing Donna sitting next to Nikki, her tan legs draped over his knee as she clutches a fruity drink with an umbrella. She's whispering in his ear and he laughs at whatever she said. His hand is placed over her knee, rubbing up and down her bare thigh, fingers pulling on the bottom hem of her skirt.

I glare at them, feeling my wrist being pulled on as my name is being shouted over the music, "What did you say?" I look at Clementine, eyes low and hazy as she stares at me.

"I said...what took you so long!?" She shouts a bit, dragging me over to the booth as I can't take my eyes off of them. Donna leans over and kisses his cheek and jaw as he as the biggest smile plastered on his lips. I feel my chest heaving up and down as I try to find a solid breath of air to suck in. Clementine touched my cheek to bring me back to her and away from the looming panic that was slowly rising.

"Sorry, the bathroom...the-the uh line was really long." I stare confused again as I now hear Donnas high pitched laugh over all the other noise. Why? Why was she here when I'm here? When he held my hand and held me close when we got here?

"And no food?" Clementine laughs. How could she be laughing? Does nobody see what's going on? My eyes widen when Nikki gently grips her throat, his thumb running over her skin back and forth as he kisses her. His eyes stay opened and locked on mine.

"Why's he doing that?!" I shout, startling her as she turns to look at what I'm yelling at.

"Who? Whose doing what?" She asks confused, staring at me concerned, "Vanity? Hey! Look at me!"

I can't rip my eyes away, Nikki smiles at me when she kisses his neck and touches his exposed chest, "Don't you fucking see her kissing him?!?"

"Whose kissing who Vanity?! Jesus Christ are you drunk already?!" She pulls me to the side but I try to fight her, "Vanity! Stop!"

"Nikki!! He-he's just!!-" I try to get it out, but my words are a jumbled, slurred mess.

"....is getting his picture taken with the band?" Clementine says in my ear as she points over to them. Huge smiles on their faces as they hang off of one another laughing and yelling as flashes from cameras go off.

I blink a few times, staring. Nikki sees me and waves at me. I look over to the couch, no one was there, "What?" I say quietly as Clementine grips my arm and drags me out the back doors. I feel relief wash over me as the cold air hits my skin.

"What did you do?" She shoves my shoulders, "What did you do Vanity?!" She shoves me again until I'm leaning against the concrete wall. I feel the world spinning around me, Clem is a distorted mess as she yells "What did you fucking take?!"

"I-I didnt..." I can barely focus on the three of them that were standing in front of me "Oh god..." I mutter as I run my hands through my hair.

"Don't you dare lie to me!" She shouts, "You look sicker than a fucking dog and your eyes won't stay still!"

I rest my hand at the base of my throat, I felt like I was choking on nothing as I try my hardest to focus, "B-blow! I had some blow in the bathroom! A-and I-I think I'm h-having a bad reaction!" I stutter over my words, trying to keep my tears in.

"Yeah?! You fucking think?! God Damnit." Clementine groans as she paces around before grabbing my hand "C'mon-" she tries to pull me back inside.

"No! I can't go inside! Not while he's with her!!"

"What?!" Clementine stares at me, eyes narrowing, "What are you talking about? He's not with anyone-"

"Yes he is!! I saw them!" I flinched, breathing rapidly when Clementine cupped my cheeks, "I-I saw them. And they were kissing and he was looking at me to make sure I was watching!! Why would he do that?!"

"Van-Vanity hey! Hey! Listen to me-" I shook my head as she forced me to look at her, "Nikki is not with anyone. You're just seeing things and none of it is real. It's just your mind making you hallucinate. None of it is real-" She repeated, "Let's go inside and try to relax, alright? We'll get some water and some food."

"None of it is real..." Clementine nodded as I shook under her hands, "Okay..."

*Clementine’s POV*

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!!!!

I held onto Vanity's arm, feeling her tremble as we walked back inside. Her jaw muscle was clenching and unclenching repeatedly. I looked down at the crease of her elbow hoping to find a prick mark from a needle but there was none. I guided her back over to our section as she plopped down on the couch, hunched over with her head between her knees.

"Okay. C'mon, you gotta sit up or someone's gonna ask questions." I told her as she leaned back against the cushion, pupils blown with greens and golds lit up around them, "I'll be right back, okay? I'm just gonna get us some water." Van looked panicked but she quickly nodded.

I glanced at her one last time before walking away, seeing the guys at the bar. Tommy smiled, running up to me and giving me a kiss, "There you are!" He cheered, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"Hi baby." I leaned up to kiss his cheek "I'm just getting some water for me and Van.." I tell him, he yells at the bartender to get one water and one Jack and coke, "Tommy..."

"It's too early for her to be drinking water." He whistles loudly and yells for Vanity as loud as he can, "Go bring her over here! She needs to celebrate too instead of moping around." He laughs a bit, "Vanity!!" He shouts, cupping his hands around his mouth.

I glance seeing her watching, she slowly gets up...well stumbling up as she comes over, "Jesus, maybe she does need a water..."

"Tommy...she fucked up.." I say in his ear as he looks at me.

"Well yeah! I'm sure she is a little fucked up by the way she's walking." He laughs loudly again and I grow frustrated with him.

I grab his arm and pull him closer to my height, "No Tommy. She fucked up. She snorted some blow and now she's having a bad reaction or trip or whatever the hell it is. She's hallucinating." I tell him over the music as he stares at me for a moment before glancing behind me. I turn around seeing Nikki sitting in a chair laughing.

Tommy walks away from me as he goes over to Vanity, wrapping his arm around her waist and helps her walk straight. He brings her over, blocking Nikki's view as he helps her up onto the barstool. He reaches over the bar and grabs a bottle of water and forces it into her hand "Drink it now or I dump it on you." He tells her sternly, I see the gleam of fight in her eyes, but she does what she's asked to do anyways.

Tommy turns back to me, "We need to tell Nikki." I suggest as he stares, before laughing.

"Baby have you gone nuts?! That's gonna be world war three! Just let her relax. She's just having some coke induced paranoia, she'll come down from it in a little bit." I move past him when I see Vanity struggling to keep her head up. I place my hand at the base of her neck and glare at him, "She could be overdosing Tommy."

"She's not foaming out the mouth and she isn't seizing. She's fine. I've seen her snort two eight balls in one night and obviously she lived. She's clean and sober and it's probably a shock to the system." Tommy laughs a bit, taking a sip of his beer as he looks at me, "What?"

"Is that suppose to make me feel better?!"

"Please don't fight over me. I'm sorry..." Vanity slurs as she looks at us, "I just wanted something to make me feel better."

"It's okay, Van. Just try to relax." Tommy sweet talks her as I slap his chest.

"It is not okay! Just sit there and be quiet. And pray to god Nikki doesn't feel like making things up with you."

*Nikki's POV*

My eyes wandered a few seats over seeing Tommy and Clementine laughing with Vanity. An empty pit formed in my gut as i watched them for a moment. I was only avoiding the situation because she was avoiding it too. I rubbed my face before ordering a Jack and coke and a vodka cranberry for Van to break the ice. I pop a piece of gum into my mouth before grabbing the drinks.

I strutted over, seeing Tommy and Clementine bickering about something before they turn to me, staring intently "What?" I glance at them before sitting in the chair next to Van, placing the glass in front of her and resting my forearm against the back of her chair.

"Vans actually done drinking." Clementine announced, "I told her not to eat that shrimp cocktail."

I glanced at her before Van "Are you okay?" I spoke against her ear as she nodded quickly.

"I'm okay. I feel better now. Just got a little woozy is all." I catch a bit of her slurring as I watch her reach for the glass and take a sip, the ice cubes shaking and clinking as she holds the cocktail. I glance down at my watch, we had barely been here for 2 hours.

"Do you wanna go home?" I ask softly, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, "I've talked to enough people and don't mind being home with you." I touch her shoulder and feel her tense up.

She shakes her head, looking at the counter of the bar and not me, "No, it's okay. I promise I'm fine. I guess I just drank too much to fast. I'm good Sixx."

I nod, leaving it at that but I still look at her worried. I notice her hands shaking still as she grips the edge of the bar, "Van, look at me a moment." She quickly glances at me before looking past me, "Please look at me. Just me." My eyes wander behind her seeing Tommy and Clementine looking at me, Clementine nervously chewing on her thumb nail as Tommy had a look of worrisome.

Golden eyes find mine, pupils blown but I don't react as I can see tears in her eyes. She knows that I know and that's enough for me. I put my hand on the side of her cheek, she was flushed and burning up, "Keep it together." I spoke sternly as she quickly nodded at my words.

"I-I I'm sorry.." she stumbled over her words, "I'm so sorry Nikki." My thumb catches the tear that rolls down.

"Just keep it together, okay? Only for a little while longer."

Vanity takes a deep breath in and exhales through her nose, "Okay...I can do that. Then we can go home?"

My lips curl in a smile, fighting back every derogative word I wanted to scream in her face "Yes doll, then we can go home. You sit tight, get some water and relax." I tell the bartender to give her a another water bottle before I glare looking at Clem and Tommy.

I leave Vans side, motioning for the two to come over to me, "What is she on? Is it coke? If that's the case, it's the calmest I've ever seen her than."

"W-what do you mean? She's on something? I had no clue.." Tommy stammers as I give him a look.

"Cut the shit. Is she using again?" I look at Clementine, begging for answers as she shrugged.

"I don't know Nikki. And I don't know what she's on. She wasn't making any sense and she started crying then she was hallucinating. She needs to go home Nikki."

I laughed "Have you fucking lost it? Arianna will still be up. If she's hallucinating here she'll be hallucinating at home." I look over at Van seeing her reaching out for something that's not even there, "Fuck. Just keep her distracted or something. I don't want her ruining anything tonight." I sighed in frustration running my hand over my face as I let out a muttered fuck, "I gotta step outside for a minute. Just keep an eye on her, please."

~Next Morning~

I jolt awake, gasping for a breath as I push and kick my comforter off of me. I wipe the sweat from my forehead before holding my stomach, god I felt like I was gonna hurl. My bedroom door is thrown open, the handle hitting the wall as Arianna and Anarchy come running in.

"Mommy!! I'm going with auntie and uncle Tommy today!" She announces pulling herself onto my bed and sitting on her knees in front of me, "Daddy said she's on her way to get me."

I rub my eyes and smile looking at the bun Nikki put her hair in "Is your backpack ready? And your shoes picked out?"

She nodded feverishly, "Yes! Daddy did it and told me to come wake you up to say bye." I run my hands through my hair before getting up. I notice my rooms in disarray as I pull up a pair of sweats. I help Arianna jump off the bed and she's clinging to my leg as we walk down the hallway and to the stairs. She lets go of me as she sits, sliding down the stairs and laughs up a storm as Anarchy chases her down.

"You ready for the whole day with your favorite person besides me?" Nikki smiles handing over her sneakers. I say good morning to him as I walk to the kitchen but he ignores me.

"The whole day? Does that mean I can bring my toys over?!" I hear Nikki chuckle, "No sweetie. I think you still have plenty of toys over there."

I pour myself a cup of coffee and let Anarchy out at the back door before going to the living room and sitting down, "Daddys right baby. You still have a lot over there."

She pouts a bit, "But they aren't new toys like the ones I have here.."

"Just ask Uncle Tommy for new toys." I shrug and smile at her as her eyes light up.

"Van." Nikki scoffs and rolls his eyes, "Arianna, you're fine with the toys you have there and the toys you have here. You aren't getting anything new."

Arianna huffs before she stands in front of the tv watching cartoons, "You hungry V? I can cook you something. She already ate."

I nod, looking at him "I'm starving. Can you make French toast? What are we doing today since she's going over to Clems?"

I stare when he narrows his eyes at me, "I'm staying home and so are you." He says sternly as my eyebrows pull together, "Don't need you in public till the news and frenzy dies down about your behavior."

I tilt my head to the side, "My behavior?" I say confused as I hear a car horn.

"Wait till she's out of the house, yeah?" Nikki rolls his eyes at me and I frown at his attitude. He helps Arianna with her jacket and hands over her backpack, "See you later bug." He bends down and kisses her forehead before he leaves to the kitchen.

"Is daddy mad?" Arianna questions curiously as we walk to the front door.

"What? No, no, daddy's not mad. You know he's just grumpy in the mornings." I bend down to fix her laces, "I'll see you later okay? Be good and we can go to blockbuster tonight." She leans forward and gives me a kiss on the cheek and a tight hug. I open the car door for her and help her get up and wait till she buckled. I feel Clementine looking at me and I glance, "Good morning."

"Morning.." she grumbles but cheers up when she says the same thing to Arianna.

"Thanks for taking her. I don't remember us talking about it though?"

"Yeah, you didn't. Nikki asked me."

Why was everyone being so damn short with me?

"Okay...well have fun. Bye Ari." I wave to her as Clem rolls the window up and starts heading down the driveway.

I walk back in the house, leaning against the front door as I smell cinnamon and vanilla coming from the kitchen. I feel jittery as I walk through the house, Nikki has the portable radio on to the rock station in the kitchen. He's moving his head a bit and has his back towards me, I pull myself on the barstool and keep to myself.

"That was Bulls on Parade by Rage Against The Machine and you're listening to KLAZT LA's best rock station. Up next, we're taken it back with a littl Home Sweet Home by Mötley Crüe. Speaking of the Crüe, did anyone else see the article in entertainment today about the antics of Vanity Blackwood last night at their album release party. Chick seems like a real keeper...Not!"

I gasp before Nikki tosses the magazine down on the counter, "You fucking embarssed me last night Vanity."

I stare at the magazine cover. I look fucking plastered as Nikki is trying to keep me standing and the headline reads: The princess takes a tumble as Mötley Crüe heads in the direction of their old antics.

My eyes widen at the shots of me on my knees outside of a limo with both Tommy and Nikki trying to pull me up. I pull up my sweats seeing cuts and bruises on my kneecaps and shins.

"God, Nikki..I-I'm so sorry. I don't even know what to say. I-I don't remember any of this."

Mötley Crüe was suppose to be celebrating their album release with new lead singer John Corabi, however they ended up babysitting. Vanity Blackwood (Nikki Sixx's ex and baby mama) had one too many fruity drinks and ended up having to be escorted out (see above). Our office reached out to the bands rep but they had no comment.

Nikki slammed his hand down on the counter, covering the picture of me in the limo with a bright yellow star reading 'censored' between my spread legs, "You're really going to look me in the eye, lie, and tell me you don't remember any of this shit? You humiliated yourself, me, and the band. So who gave you the fucking blow?"

Everything came rushing back, the blow in the bathroom with Corabi, the hallucinations, the vomit outside in the rose bushes when we got home, "I-I went to the bathroom then I needed some air and clem came with me and I started hyperventilating and that's all I remember."

"Vanity." Nikki took a deep breath, "Just tell me what happened. I won't get mad, I just want to know. I was fucking worried sick about you last night, almost took you to the damn hospital."

I pushed the magazine away from me, "I went to the bathroom, then I went outside. I remember I was seeing crap that wasn't there. And I felt sick to my stomach. But I didn't snort anything I swear. I haven't touched anything since New York."

"Vanity! You weren't acting drugged! Or like someone spiked your drink! You were a incoherent mess, you were pale as a ghost and your pupils were as big as the eye of a needle."

The yelling made my head throb as I rubbed my temples to relieve it, "I don't know, Nikki. The last thing I remember is sitting at the bar."

He rolled his eyes, "So I don't know when you're high on coke? You were a babbling mess. Kept saying shit over and over. You're jaw was clenched so god damn tight I thought I was going to have to take you to a dentist! Fuck! Van! You were saying I was with Donna and wouldn't shut the fuck up about it! She wasn't around! Wasn't even fucking invited!" He stepped away from me to go flip the French toast angrily and toss the spatula down after.

"I don't know Nikki..." I spoke in a soft whisper, "I didn't snort, smoke, or shoot anything. Why can't you believe me?" I was already this far down the rabbit hole, why should I stop now?

"Because Van, I know you. Did John give you something because he was acting fucking weird too."

I shook my head looking at him, his eyes were drilling holes in an attempt to get it out of me, "No....I barely talked to him. I congratulated him and that was it."

"Fine." He glares for a moment before looking away, "We'll have to wait a few days before coming out with a statement to clear things up."

"Can't we just wait for it to blow over like everyone else does?"

He scoffed, "Seriously?! You dragged my bands name through the fucking mud!" Nikki shouts before stomping over to the tv and turning it to MTV, "They've been talking about your god damn interview all morning."

"Any thoughts on the album Vanity?"

I rubbed my face as I saw myself almost fall over nothing before grabbing onto the interviewer for stability, "Well, in my honest opinion, the album could be better." I slurred every word, "It's-its not Mötley and it sucks without Vince. Corabi sucks, and the album sucks. It sounds like every band now a days. It's too...too heavy. And! And you know what else!" I pointed my finger at the camera and grabbed ahold of the microphone, "Vince wasn't even fired like Nikki said. I was there that day. Nikki was just bitching like he always does and-"

I felt sick to my stomach when Nikki turned off the tv and threw the remote down, "That's why we need a god damn statement. We'll go with your lie about the spiked drink and call it a day. Got it?"

"It's not a lie.."

"Just don't. Just fucking don't, okay? I know when you are lying and when you're telling the truth. I'm done fucking talking about it."

I stared down at my nails, seeing dried blood around my knuckles. Just say it. Just tell the truth. Just say Corabi gave you the drugs and risk the chance of Nikki kicking him out of the band. I heard Nikki groan when the house phone started ringing.

"What?!" He answers it before rolling his eyes, "It's for you." Nikki glares and hands it to me.

I get up and go with down on the couch, "Hello?"

"Bad time to call huh? It's Jon..." I smiled a bit and peaked over the back of the couch to see Nikki in the kitchen cooking, "I just uh...I saw MTV and-"

"Please, please don't watch it. I was really drunk last night and was acting like a total idiot. That's not how I am and I didn't mean anything I said." I explain, running my hand through my hair, grimacing when I feel it sticking together.

"I figured...they're making you seem like a bad person and I just wanted to make sure you're okay sweetheart." I hear his smile from the other side.

"I'm okay....just dealing with the repercussions. But thank you for checking in. It's really sweet of you."

"You're welcome. But hey..since I have you on the phone. I was hoping maybe we could get together soon? I had a lot of fun last time and I've been thinking about you quite some bit."

I blushed a bit, "Really? Um...yeah, I'd love to see you again. I'm free next weekend."

"That sounds good. Can I pick you up around four?"

My eyes widened, "You wanna pick me up? I can just drive to wherever."

Jon chuckles a bit, "Sixx gonna shoot me or something? Look, I'll take my chances just for you. You'll love what I have planned."

"Okay...yeah you can pick me up. My address is 7904 Palo Verde Court and the code to the gate is 666.."

I smile when Jon laughs, "How clever of him. I'll see you next Saturday Van. Don't listen to the media, it will eat you alive."

I thank him again and say my goodbyes as I put the phone back on the receiver. I go over to the plate Nikki put down as he's already eating, "Will seeing my tits make you feel better?"

"Shut up. Seeing you naked and bent over isn't going to make anything better. I'm pissed Van."

I sigh, "I know. And I'm sorry, okay? I really am. I didn't mean anything I said about the album. I like the album, it's not my favorite but I like it. You know I support everything you create."

"It didn't feel like it." I hear and see the frown and I gently reach over and touch his hand.

"I mean it Nikki. That wasn't me last night and I'm sorry I had you worried." Nikki gave my hand a squeeze before letting go.

"Let's just move past it okay? It already happened and there is no reason for us to argue about it. You said your piece and I said mine. We have time without the kid so let's just relax today." He leaned over and kissed the side of my head, "Love you..”

“I love you too.”

To whom it may concern,

My behavior and antics a few nights ago at the album release party were completely and utterly unacceptable. In no way, shape or form is that how I truly am. I was heavily under the influence and after a trip to the hospital, my blood work had an ungodly amount of Rohypnol in it. So in other words, my drink was ‘roofied’. We are working with the LAPD and the club owners to narrow down the assailant. To the boys, the band, Mötley Crüe, I have never once had any ill feelings towards anything that has been created. I have loved and cherished each album that has been put out by the band. I am extremely apologetic for anyone's feelings in and out of the band I have affected in a negative manor

Best Regards,

Vanity Blackwood

[fortysevenswrites]

SETHKATE and KASTLE and KIMBERLY/TOMMY

HAHA Emily, I had a feeling I’d get these from you (though pleasantly surprised at the inclusion of Tomberly!)

SethKate

Gives nose/forehead kisses - Seth, but Kate has been known to when she being patronizing, usually because Richie is right about something and Seth is not happy to have to acknowledge that

Gets jealous the most - Seth. 10000%. He knows how OUT OF HIS LEAGUE his tiny, vicious person is, and really does not like how she insists on being SO DAMN NICE AND GIVING THE COMPLETE WRONG IMPRESSION to anyone (any MAN) who comes into Jed’s.

Picks the other up from the bar when they’re too drunk to drive - Both. Usually Seth (especially when he gets caught up in his feelings), but then there are the nights where Kalinda convinces Kate to come out with the Jed’s staff and they all get full on shmammered.

Takes care of on sick days - Both. Seth gets really worried about Kate when she gets sick, like REALLY WORRIED, because of the whole...Amaru of it all, and is SUPER into taking care of her. But when Seth gets sick, he is a whiny, needy mess of a human person, and Kate basically has to cuddle him until he feels better (”has to” in HUGE quotes)

Drags the other person out into the water on beach day - Kate. Fuller. Full stop. Seth, for all that he wouldn’t shut up about El Rey, doesn’t actually like the beach all that much (Anakin Skywalker anti-sand vibes here), but he does let Kate drag him into the ocean whenever they go to the beach because she loves it. And also because she’s in a bikini and DUH.

Gives unprompted massages - Seth is the handsiest and cuddliest. Of course he would.

Drives/rides shotgun - Seth drives. Kate controls the music, and doesn’t always play music he can’t stand.

Brings the other lunch at work - Kate. Not that she slides into the homemaker role that her mother took with her family, but Kate knows that Seth gets distracted and forgets to eat, and when he remembers, he eats like shit, so she takes it upon herself that he has at least a meal or two a day that will help him maintain that six-pack for as long as possible.

Has the better parental relationship - Hahahahahahahahahahaha. Kate by default, even though....neither parental relationship is all that great? Jacob did lie to Kate, a lot. And Jennifer, well, she struggled with her own issues and that did put a strain on her relationship with Kate, especially since Kate didn’t KNOW what was going on behind the scenes.

Tries to start role-playing in bed - I actually don’t think either would. They get up to a LOT in bed, but Kate does not have it in her to role play, I don’t feel. And Seth goes along with what’s going to make Kate happy and not embarrassed, because an embarrassed Kate does not have sex.

Embarrassingly drunk dancer - Kate. She just gives no fucks, and once she starts drinking recreationally, she just likes to have fun. Seth thinks it’s fucking adorable.

Still cries watching Titanic - Seth. It’s a f i l m, and the man knows to appreciate a good movie. Kate just can’t understand why they couldn’t just share the door.

Firmly believes in couples costumes - Kate. Fuller. With backing from Richie. Seth hates it, but well, happy wife, happy life ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas - Seth. Gecko. Full stop. Kate never really saw a need for money growing up, what with her dad and that constant message of providing for your community, so she really doesn’t know what to do with the money she gets being part of Los Tres Geckos outside of some small splurges. Seth, on the other hand, sees things and doesn’t look at price tags because he loves her.

Makes the other eat breakfast - Both. Since they keep such weird hours while running an operation that is predominantly nocturnal, it’s really just whoever is up first and remembers to check that they need to eat.

Remembers anniversaries - Seth. The man forgets nothing, like, from the big things to the little things (it makes him more than a little petty, too, but hey, what can you do?). Kate remembers the big dates, but Seth seems to have an anniversary for every day of the week for the two of them, whether it’s the first time Kate successfully learned a trick of the trade from him, or the day he realized she was still alive, or any milestone time period after Matanzas, or when Kate learned how to bartend, or, of course, the day he and Richie kidnapped her and her family.

Brings up having kids - Seth. He doesn’t want to be the one to bring it up, but eventually, LONG into the future, Seth realizes he DOES want that with Kate, and it’s a very uncomfortable (for him) conversation because she’s still so much younger than he is and he doesn’t want to pressure her, but also he wants it all with her in a way he never eve thought he’d want with anyone.

Kastle and Tomberly under the cut!

Kastle

Gives nose/forehead kisses - Frank Castle, full stop. When he lets himself, he is v e r y affectionate. It comes to a surprise to Karen, but she gets used to it quick.

Gets jealous the most - Frank, because he feels guilty about the whole thing where he’s a criminal/vigilante and every man who breathes in Karen’s direction he feels could be her chance at a normal life. It takes a while for Karen to beat the stupid out of Frank in that regard, but does happen eventually.

Picks the other up from the bar when they’re too drunk to drive - Frank, every single time. Girls night with Sarah and Marci and Jones and Trish and Claire? Yeah. Frank plays DD more often than he ever imagined he would. Whenever he gets shitfaced off his ass, which is VERY rare, he usually bunks down wherever he is, which is always a controlled environment where he’s safe enough to let go.

Takes care of on sick days - Both. Frank is SUCH a family man, and can’t stand it when someone isn’t feeling well, and Karen is the QUEEN of overdoing it when she’s sick, so he has to make her rest. And the rare times where Frank is the one who’s sick? Karen has to force him to accept her help. That’s when she tends to comment under her breath about how exasperating he is, even though she knows he can hear her.

Drags the other person out into the water on beach day - Karen. They don’t often do normal things like, “Hey, it’s beach day!” Because of the well, vigilante of it all, but when they do, it’s definitely Karen who has to drag him out from under the umbrella. The bikini helps a LOT with her case.

Gives unprompted massages - Frank. He knows Karen gets VERY stressed (he doesn’t blame her, working with Murdock and all), and she spends way more time than he things could possibly be healthy hunched over her computer, so shoulder massages are the norm in the Kastle apartment.

Drives/rides shotgun - Frank does most, if not all of the driving, which, of course, isn’t much when you live in NYC. Unless he’s been hurt and Karen has to cart him back home from wherever he was where he got his ass kicked (which, also, is rare.

Brings the other lunch at work - Frank, because A, he loves taking care of Karen, but also a little bit because Matt HATES when Frank stops by the office, and it scares the CRAP out of Foggy, which is endlessly entertaining.

Has the better parental relationship - Well, neither Frank nor Karen’s parents are in the picture, but it would have to be Frank by default, seeing as Karen’s mom is dead and Karen’s dad is a jerk.

Tries to start role-playing in bed - Neither. Frank is pretty straight-forward in bed, and it never occurs to Karen that she’d want to pretend they’re anything but Frank and Karen.

Embarrassingly drunk dancer - Karen. She doesn’t let loose often, but on girls night? Endless entertainment.

Still cries watching Titanic - Karen gets teary because she gets frustrated. Titanic is just…not a movie that Frank’s a fan of, but he humors Karen whenever she chooses to hate-watch something.

Firmly believes in couples costumes - Not that they really partake on Halloween much, but Karen would be the one most likely to come up with a couples themed costume. Frank would probably find any and every excuse to be busy on Halloween so he can avoid it.

Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas - Neither really. Holidays are hard for Frank, and neither are very materialistic. They tend to just spend holidays with one another, or they go to the Lieberman’s, and most of their efforts center on getting nice gifts for the kids.

Makes the other eat breakfast - Frank. If Karen had it her way, she’s subsist on coffee and spite. Frank makes sure she gets enough caloric energy in her so she can instill fear in the unjust.

Remembers anniversaries - Both. Frank can’t forget any of his anniversaries and important dates with Maria and the kids, but also really can’t forget things like the day he met Karen at the hospital, the day at the hotel with Lewis, and of course, the day he pulled his head out of his ass and apologized for telling her to walk away. Karen also can’t forget the day she met Frank, when he used her as bait in the coffee shop, also the hotel, and when Frank totaled her car when she was being held hostage by Schoonover.

Brings up having kids - Frank, but only in the sense that he’s concerned that Karen doesn’t know what she’s getting into with him (yeah, right). Karen sets him straight that she really doesn’t want kids and also doesn’t want to think that she wants to replace Lisa and Frankie. They talk about it once and it never really comes up again.

Kimberly/Tommy

Gives nose/forehead kisses - Tommy. Because as much as Kimberly can hold her own in a fight, she is still is tiny and adorable girlfriend.

Gets jealous the most - Neither really (BECAUSE IN THIS UNIVERSE THERE WAS NO STUPID FUCKING LETTER). Yeah, long distance is hard, but they manage to keep things together pretty well while Kimberly competes internationally.

Picks the other up from the bar when they’re too drunk to drive - Tommy absolutely plays DD. When they’re old enough to drink, Kimberly absolutely enjoys letting loose and going to a party or two or…twelve.

Takes care of on sick days - Kimberly, because Tommy, being a leader and all, rarely lets anyone see him when he’s sick or struggling. He is very stubborn.

Drags the other person out into the water on beach day - Kimberly. On days where the bad guys choose not to attack when the Rangers are out at the beach (or, well, the lake in Angel Grove, California, Canada), it’s Kimberly who pulls Tommy into the water with her, but also Tommy who pulls Kim back out with him when he gets bored of her lying around working on her tan.

Gives unprompted massages - Both. They’re both not just Rangers, but they’re athletes too, and they know how important it is to avoid muscle strain as much as possible.

Drives/rides shotgun - When they’re not teleporting to and from the Command Center, it’s Tommy who does most of the driving, so Kimberly can finish doing her makeup or filling him in on the latest school gossip.

Brings the other lunch at work - Neither. They’re both very self-sufficient, but will trade off who picks up their smoothies from Ernie up at the juice bar.

Has the better parental relationship - Neither. Kimberly’s parents are suuuuuuper MIA (like, if they weren’t, they’d probably figure out pretty quick that she’s, you know, A FUCKING POWER RANGER), and Tommy’s parents are also pretty…MIA. Like, really, do ANY Rangers have parents other than…Billy? It’s not that Zordon was looking for teenagers with attitude. It was attitude AND absentee parents.

Tries to start role-playing in bed - They are way too damn vanilla to even consider role play.

Embarrassingly drunk dancer - Tommy. Oliver. For all that he’s very good at fighting, it does NOT transfer to da club.

Still cries watching Titanic - Kimberly. She just gets emotional about how Jack sacrificed himself so Rose could live. Tommy wishes Kimberly would watch more movies with explosions. (And also wonders why the hell they couldn’t have just shared the door)

Firmly believes in couples costumes - Technically both, because Tommy is INTO Halloween and is happy to let Kimberly pick the costumes for them,

Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas - I mean, they’re in high school and fighting a war, so I don’t think they really think much about presents (plus, they get pretty sick gets in terms of tech from Zordon), but as adults, definitely Tommy doting on Kim, who gets annoyed that he’s using his teacher salary on extravagant gifts (she’s the real moneymaker in the family as a world-famous gymnast and coach)

Makes the other eat breakfast - When they do live together, Kimberly does the meal making because she finds cooking therapeutic.

Remembers anniversaries - Both, but Tommy remembers some of the more obscure anniversaries, like the day Kim fainted when she saw him in the new White Ranger uniform.

Brings up having kids - Kimberly. She tells Tommy that she’s planning on retiring from competing and going to coaching full-time, and when Tommy asks why, Kimberly tells him that it’s really hard to do a side aerial off the balance beam while pregnant, since balance is…hard when there’s a bun in the oven.

[rubysunnday]

Could I please request Isaiah proving himself to the Shelbys by protecting Shelby sis from unwanted advances at the Garrison or something?

Isaiah was still the newbie despite being a Blinder for almost a year. He was still proving himself to the others and, whilst he had trust, he didn’t have the trust he wanted.

He wanted to be trusted with you. To be trusted to take you out for a dance and a drink without one of your brothers tagging along for company.

You wanted your brothers to just leave Isaiah alone because it was beginning to get on your nerves. Whenever Finn and Isaiah went out together and invited you to come, one of your brothers simply had to come to purely because they didn’t trust Isaiah (they also didn’t really trust Finn, but anyway).

“They’re watching you,” you muttered to Isaiah, bringing your glass of champagne to your lips.

Isaiah sighed, retracting his arm from where it had been around your shoulders. “How long is this going to go on for?”

“Fuck knows,” you replied, lighting a cigarette and puffing on it. “It’s driving me mad, I can’t imagine what it’s doing to you.”

Isaiah shook his head. “This is stupid. Tommy likes my father!”

“Yes, but your father doesn’t currently have his hand halfway up my leg, does he?” You countered, pushing Isaiah’s hand down.

“I should bloody hope not!”

You chuckled, inhaling the smoke from your cigarette. “Is, just keep doing what you’ve been doing. Maybe try saving my life or something heroic - that worked for Michael!”

“Michael is your cousin, y/n.”

“And yet he still had to win their trust. I’m like a horse.”

Isaiah frowned at you, eyes squinted. “You’re a fucking what?”

“Horse,” you repeated. “You’ve got to win the horses trust before...well, you know...”

“What?”

“Ride it!”

“What? Oh!”

You blushed. “Not the best analogy I could’ve used, I’ll admit.”

“I thought it was perfect,” Isaiah said, sliding closer and putting his arm around your shoulders.

“And John’s on the move,” you muttered, sighing as your brother pulled out a chair and at down opposite you. “Hi, John.”

“‘Ello, what we drinking?” John asked cheerily, his eyes glaring at you as you scooted away from Isaiah.

“Champagne because I hate whiskey,” you replied.

“Weirdo,” John muttered, yelling when you smacked him around the hard.

“Don’t insult my drink preferences,”

You snapped, standing up with your empty glass. “Usual?”

John nodded, downing the rest of his glass and handing it to you. “Please.”

“Is?”

“Whatever you’re having,” he replied, winking.

You rolled your eyes, grabbing his glass and leaning in. “Now you’ve done it.”

You glanced back over to where Arthur and Tommy were, groaning internally when you saw that they were on the move too. Isaiah have you a panicked look as you walked off, but you simply shrugged, mouthing ‘what can you do?’ at him as you did so.

The new bartender - Archie - strolled over as you set the glasses down, taking a cursory glance over your shoulder to make sure Isaiah was still alive.

“Same again?”

“Bottle of champagne and,” you looked over and sighed again. “Four glasses of whiskey since my cousin has now joined them.”

Archie chuckled. “He’s a good kid, love, I’m sure they’ll come around soon.”

You scoffed. “Have you met my brothers, Archie? They’d sooner die then let that happen.”

All of sudden, someone was standing next to you. You looked to your left, eyeing them up and down with a very unimpressed look as he kept moving closer.

“Hello, sweetheart,” he slurred, leaning across you to grab another drink.

“Hi,” you said coldly.

“What’s a fine lady like you doing all on her own in ‘ere?” He asked, leaning on the counter and eyeing you up like a piece of meat.

“Drinking.” You looked over at Archie, willing him to hurry up, but realised he was in the midst of stopping a fight from happening. You froze as a hand began to come around your waist and you pushed the man away, glaring at him.

“Feisty one, aren’t ya?” He said, oblivious to just how unwanted his attention and advances were.

“Touch me again and you’ll be sorry,” you warned, taking a step back.

“I like a woman who’s feisty, but, I love to break them even more.”

He reached for you again and you pushed him away, only for him to shove you to the floor. Your head smacked against the leg of the bar stool behind you and for a second you were terrified.

“Oi, what’s going on?”

Isaiah was standing in front of you, his hand hovering near to where his gun was. “You alright?” He asked, turning slightly to look at you.

“I’m fine,” you replied, sitting up and rubbing your head. “I just tripped over, that’s all.”

“I was just talking to her,” the man said, standing up and puffing his chest out.

“Yeah and she clearly doesn’t want to talk to you,” Isaiah snapped back. “Now, leave the girl alone.”

The man’s expression suddenly went cold. “Who are you to tell me what to do? Hey?”

“I’m a Peaky Blinder, mate,” Isaiah snapped, “and you’re the one who just assault the Shelby’s youngest. Now, if I were you, I’d leave before they come over here.”

You followed Isaiah’s pointed finger to where your brother’s and cousin were watching the whole scene very carefully. John and Arthur were poised to intervene and all four of them, despite their emotionless expressions, had a look of concern in their eyes.

The man quickly disappeared from the Garrison and you chuckled, looking up at Isaiah.

“Nicely done,” you said, accepting his outstretched hand and allowing him to pull you up. ]

“You alright?” He asked, looking at you in concern.

“Smacked my head on the barstool, but, apart from that, I’m fine, Is,” you told him. Archie came back over, slightly flustered, and handed you the tray of whiskeys and champagne.

“Sorry, y/n,” he panted, “I was over there –“

“It’s fine, Archie, Is was on the case.” You picked the tray up and gave Isaiah a smile. “Maybe now they’ll leave us alone?”

“I fucking hope so,” Isaiah muttered and you laughed loudly, throwing your head back.

“I got four whiskey’s,” you announced, setting the tray down on the table, “since Michael has since joined us. And a bottle of champagne for my whiskey hitting self and Isaiah.”

“You ok?” Tommy asked quietly as you passed him.

“I’m fine, Tom,” you replied. “Isaiah saved the day, again.”

You sat down next to Isaiah and ducked as the champagne cork flew out of the bottle with a loud pop. “Are you trying to kill me?” You exclaimed as Isaiah tried to pour the overflowing bottle into your glass.

“I hate champagne bottles,” Isaiah grumbled.

You chuckled, leaning back slightly, only to smack your head on the lamp behind you. “Ow,” you laughed, rubbing your head.

“For the love of god,” Isaiah muttered, rolling his eyes. “I’m never leaving you alone, you’re incapable.”

You turned to face him and leant over to kiss him on the lips – a brief, but oh so much more, kiss. “Then stay.”

Isaiah glanced out the corner of his eye and saw four men pretending not to look whilst also trying to look and rolled his eyes. “I think, I might be approved.”

“Isaiah Jesus now has a tick next to his name,” you said, leaning against him. “I doubt even Finn has that.”

Isaiah smiled as he kissed your head, putting an arm around your shoulders and bringing you close to him. “It’s all worth it.”

[mistersshelby]

Finn having a twin sister who he gets into all sorts of trouble with and the two nearly drive Tommy and Arthur into an early grave

hey hi hello this took me soooo long but i hope you guys like it, please let me know what you think!!!

questions, comments, concerns

masterlist

It was a known fact that of the Shelbys, you and Finn were most likely to get everyone killed. It probably shouldn’t have been something to be proud of, but everyone was so bloody serious all the time, they had to admit that without you and Finn life would be peaceful, sure, but boring,

There was the time when you were eight and encouraged Finn to steal John and Arthur’s guns during a meeting. The meeting had been interrupted by Charlie running in, out of breath, yelling that two Shelby devils were running around his yard firing guns at each other.

When the two of you heard Tommy’s voice thundering across the yard, Finn had stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide with terror, but you? You kept giggling and fired the gun one last time, grazing Finn’s arm.

Tommy cussed out John and Arthur for leaving their guns out in the open and then told you and Finn that the next time you tried to kill each other he’d let you.

Finn didn’t talk to you for a whole week until you stole a knife for him he had been eyeing at the shop down the road.

There was the time when you were twelve and got both you and Finn kicked out of school. You had told Finn a boy had been pulling on your hair and to do something about it. The next day Finn had taken a knife to school, cornered the boy and pulled the knife on him.

“If you ever even think about touching my sister again, I’ll cut you. Understand?”

The boy had nodded profusely and Finn looked down with satisfaction to see that the boy had wet himself. He had immediately told an adult, who had then called Tommy to have him come get the both of you.

“Why me?” You had asked the teacher, “I didn’t pull a knife on him.” 

She shook her head at you, “We all know Finn doesn’t come up with these bright ideas on his own.”

Tommy didn’t speak to either of you as he drove you home. Once inside, he motioned for Finn to give him the knife.

“I wasn’t gonna hurt him,” Finn insisted as he handed it over, “Just wanted to scare him so he’d leave Y/N alone.”

“Which one of you wants to explain to me why I was forced to leave an important meeting to pick the two of you up from school?”

You frowned, “They didn’t tell you what happened?”

“They did,” Tommy stared you down and it took everything in you not to shrink away from him, “But I want to hear it from you.”

You looked down at the floor, “The boy who sits behind me in class kept pulling my hair. He wasn’t afraid of me because I’m a girl, the teacher wouldn’t listen to me no one cared, so I asked Finn to scare him, that’s all.” Tommy was quiet, “I’m a Shelby too, you know. I won’t let people walk all over me just because I’m a girl. You wouldn’t let people walk all over you.”

“You are not me.”

“Why? Because I’m a girl? I’m sick of you lads thinking because you have a cock–”

“No, Christ, not because you’re a girl because you’re twelve, you’re just a kid, Y/N.” Tommy sighed and looked at Finn, “Finn, you can go. Stop bringing your knife to school.” Finn looked hesitant to leave Y/N, but after an impatient look from Tommy he left. “What are you trying to prove?” He asked, curling a finger under your chin and tilting it up so you looked at him.

You jerk your chin from his fingers and he sighs, letting his hand fall back to his side where he reaches into his pocket to grab his cigarettes. “I see the way you all treat Ada.” You start as he lights one. You wonder what he’d say if he knew the reason he was always running short was because you had been pick pocketing him, stealing a couple, and then running to Charlie’s yard to smoke them with Finn. “I’m not like her. I don’t want to sit on the sidelines while the rest of you fight. I don’t want to be stuck in the gambling den while you all sneak off to get into trouble. I want to be like you.”

Tommy took a long drag and then sat down on a chair, craning his neck just a bit to meet your eyes, “You’re a fuckin’ Shelby, you know?” He pointed at you with two fingers, his cigarette between them, “Just as much as me, as Arthur, as John, as Finn. Just because you’re a girl doesn’t make it any different–”

“Spare me the excuses Tommy, the girls in this family have very different roles than the men in this family, let’s not pretend any different.”

“Let me finish.” He said, though his eyebrows rose at your interruption, his only indication that you were toeing the line of outright disobedience, “If Ada had ever come to me and expressed that she wanted to learn how to shoot and do the things we did, I would have let her. As I will let you.” You tried not to show your elation and Tommy could tell so he smiled at you, “You have nothing to prove to me, you know. You can stop trying to act tough around me. I know you’re tough. Tougher than the rest of us, I think.” He cupped a hand around the back of your neck and pulled you to him, crushing you to his chest in an act of affection you rarely got from him. “Just stop getting in trouble in school, okay? I can’t keep picking you up in the middle of the day.”

You froze for a moment, face pressed against him, but you finally reached around and held him tight, grateful to let go of the weight you’d been carrying. 

***

Now you’re eighteen and Tommy held to his word. You and Finn were regularly sent out on missions together. When Tommy sent the two of you out for the first time, the rest of the brothers had protested, even Finn wanted to coddle you, but Tommy put his foot down, gifted you with your first gun, and sent you on your way. 

“Tommy, Arthur,” You said as you opened the door to the private room in the Garrison, Finn on your heels, “Can you give us something fun to do? We’re bored.”

“You want us to send you out on a dangerous task because you’re bored?”

You and Finn exchanged a look and nodded, “Yeah, exactly.” Finn said.

Tommy and Arthur also exchanged a look and Tommy raised his eyebrows, “Yeah, fine,” He said sighing, “Send them.”

“The bar down the road,” Arthur started and the two of you nodded eagerly, “Go sack it. But don’t be starting any other trouble, ya hear? They give you trouble, you leave.”

You stood, taking the glass of whiskey from Tommy’s hand and knocking it back before handing the empty glass back to Tommy, “Thanks brothers,” You say, smiling sweetly, “Let’s go, Finn.”

“If I get word back that the two of you did anything other than what you were asked, I’m confiscating your guns and no more peaky blinders work for a few months.” Tommy said as you both began to leave the room.

“We’re adults now, Tommy, you can’t keep punishing us like kids.” You said.

“Start acting like adults and I’ll stop treating you like kids.”

You rolled your eyes and headed out of the Garrison. Finn caught up and threw an arm around your shoulders, “If we don’t fuck this one up, maybe they’ll stop putting us in time out.”

You smiled at your twin and let him pull you closer, “Or we do it our way and they finally see we were right all along.”

Finn chuckled and ruffled your hair which prompted you to shove him away and lecture him again about touching your hair.

You and Finn were reckless, it was true, but sacking a bar was something the two of you had done for Tommy so many times you had to switch it up. If that meant causing trouble for your brothers, so be it.

The two of you waltzed into the bar and it immediately quieted. This had to be your favorite part of being a Shelby, the way fear spread through a room like the plague at the sight of any of you. Those who had seen you grow up had the sense to be afraid of you, as well, despite your gender. 

But sometimes people slipped up. Sometimes they scoffed at your pants and high heeled boots paired with your long hair and makeup. And sometimes you slipped up too. The difference was, when you slipped up, people died.

The first time you and Finn had walked into the Shelby house declaring that you had killed a man who dared cross you, Tommy had simply nodded and said, “Next time you ask me first.”

But you never asked. If people had the dim wit to cross you, a Shelby, they would pay the price and you would deal with the consequences from Tommy later. And eventually people stopped crossing you, for the most part, they showed you the same fear and respect they showed your brothers. 

“Two whiskeys, neat.” Finn ordered and surveyed the bar.

“Should I be worried that the two of you are here?” The bartender asked as he slid over your drinks. You quite liked him, he had never given you that up and down look of distaste that most people did. Had never asked stupid questions about your clothes or how Tommy felt about you putting your nose in men’s business. He was different, and it wasn’t all due to fear.

“Yes,” You answered honestly, “But no one will be hurt.”

He nodded, “You’re gonna sack the bar.”

“We’ll give you a cut of the money if you cooperate.” Finn said.

“Okay,” The bartender said calmly, “But you should know those men in the corner,” He nodded towards a booth near the door, full of men who were eyeing the two of you carefully, “They won’t let the bar go without a fight.”

You couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face, “If it’s a fight they want, it’s a fight they’ll get.”

But Finn was frowning, “Y/N, maybe we should go back to the Garrison and tell Tommy, we’re clearly outnumbered—“

“If you want to back out of a fight Finn, by all means, I’ll handle this myself, but I’m not going back to cry to Tommy.”

“We could die.” Finn said lowly, “They’re bigger than us and there’s more of them.”

You only smiled at him, “Where’s the fun if there’s not a little risk?” Before he could respond, you held your gun up and fired at the ceiling and spoke over the few screams, “This bar is now ours, by order of The Peaky Blinders. I suggest you all leave.”

“Fuck.” You heard Finn curse before he took out his gun and cocked it.

Patrons dutifully filed out, but the four men in the corner stood, “Big words from such a tiny girl. What if we don’t want to leave?”

He was playing with you, you knew, “Then I hope you like the smell of burning flesh.” You smiled sweetly and pulled out matches.

Bless his heart, your partner in crime, Finn walked behind the bar and started dousing the floor with alcohol. You made a mental note to apologize to him for this later. Because the two of you could do this, you would best these stupid men.

There was a bit of fear on their faces, knowing they couldn’t stop you from lighting this place up unless they shot you. Something you had learned about men was that they would always hesitate to shoot you.

But what you didn’t take the time to consider was that they wouldn’t hesitate to shoot Finn. And while Finn was pouring alcohol all over the bar, depending on you to watch his back, one of the men lifted his pistol, “You idiots talk too much,” and he fired.

You heard Finn scream and before you could let the panic choke you, you shot back. Being a girl, you always had to be ten times better than any man who came along in order to be taken seriously. As such, you could shoot a man through his head every time even if he was moving up to thirty feet away. You hadn’t really wanted to kill anyone tonight, but shooting at your twin was a line that could not be uncrossed. You shot the man who shot Finn and the man who called you a “tiny girl” and waited to see what the other two would do. Predictably, it was enough to get them to run away.

“Fuck, Finn, I’m sorry.” You said, running to him when they were gone, the door still swinging behind them. Assessing the damage, you saw he was hit in his shoulder, an easy fix and not the first bullet he’d taken. It made you feel like passing out with relief.

“You were supposed to be watching for me.” He ground out through the pain.

Knowing he was alive didn’t make you feel any less guilty, “I know, I’m sorry, it happened so fast, I didn’t expect them to–” Police were driving down the road, heading here. Someone had snitched. “Fuck.” You swore at the same time Finn saw them. He scrambled off the floor as you ran to grab all the cash from the drawer.

“Just fuckin’ leave it, Tommy’ll kill us if we get caught!” Finn was yelling, getting ready to toss a match on the bar once they were safe.

“I’m coming.” You insisted, you didn’t go through all of this and get your twin shot with nothing to show for it. The police were getting out of their cars.

“Y/N!” Finn was more insistent now and you slammed the drawer shut, running over to him.

“Go out the back,” You shoved him out, “I’ll shoot it up we don’t have time, go.” You said when he tried to pull out the matches. Once you saw he was gone, you shot through the front windows to delay the cops just a few more seconds before shooting at the floors where Finn had dumped the alcohol and watching it go in flames before sneaking out the back. You snuck around the back of some more buildings, following the river to Charlie’s yard and then to the Garrison where you assumed your brothers still were and could help with Finn’s wound.

When the two of you burst into the bar, Tommy saw you first and for the first time in a while, the anger on his face when he spotted Finn genuinely scared you. “Everyone out.” He said loudly. There were groans from the patrons, but they didn’t need a second command, no one wanted to cross Tommy.

“What happened?” He said deathly quiet, his gaze pinned on you.

Arthur guided Finn away so they could take out the bullet, “Why do you always assume it’s my fault?”

“I asked you a question.” He said, ignoring you. He was running out of patience with you, you knew. 

You sighed, “There were four men at the bar who I assume were from the gang whose territory the bar was in, they weren’t going to let us take the bar. Finn wanted to come back to get more men, I told him we could handle it ourselves.”

“You thought you could take on four grown men yourselves and you didn’t listen to your brother. When the fuck are you going to learn? When you get Finn killed? When you get one of us killed?”

Tears were burning the back of your eyes and you couldn’t meet his stare, “I’m sorry.”

But Tommy just kept going, “Did you get Finn shot because you were running your big fucking mouth again? Knowing they wouldn’t shoot you? But you forgot about your fuckin’ brother, didn’t you? The one who always looks out for you, but you never return the fuckin’ favor?” Tears poured down your cheeks in earnest now, but Tommy didn’t care, you needed to learn, “You only ever think about your goddamn self, you constantly think you have to prove yourself when no one here doubts your abilities except you—“

“That’s not true—“

“Like fuck it isn’t! Everyone in this family, in this shit hole of a town knows what you’re capable of, but you still think you need to raise the stakes, why? Because deep down you know you’re the only fuckin’ person holding yourself back.”

“Tommy, come on, that’s enough.” John said softly behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. You still stood tall, chin lifted, though your body trembled with silent sobs.

Tommy shrugged John off, “You’re done being a blinder. Maybe I’ll reconsider once you learn to stop being so fuckin’ selfish.”

“Tommy, please—“ You were ready to beg, he couldn’t kick you off.

“No, I’ve given you chance after chance, you won’t learn until you get one of us killed and I’m not willing to risk that any longer. Be grateful that I’m sparing you the guilt of being responsible for one of our deaths.”

Then Tommy stalked away from you to go check on Finn. John gave you a sympathetic look and a squeeze of your shoulder before doing the same. You wanted to see Finn, but doubted he wanted to see you either so you left. You wandered around Small Heath aimlessly by yourself all night, trying to figure out what you were going to do. Eventually you wandered over to Aunt Pol’s.

When she answered the door and took in your red face and puffy eyes she only pulled you close to her chest and let you sob.

A while after, when you had finally calmed down, she sets a cup of tea in front of you, “Tommy can be harsh sometimes, but he only does it because he loves you, you know?”

“I know he’s right,” You take a sip of the tea, your insides warming, “I just don’t know if I can fix it. What if all this time, my whole life, all I’ve wanted is to be like Tommy. What if I’m nothing like him and I never will be?”

“Sweetheart, you are nothing like him and you never will be, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of your story. You toughen up and you get back out there and you listen to your brothers. They know what you are capable of, they will never think less of you because you’re a girl, so you need to get that out of your head.” You stared at your teacup while she spoke, feeling numb, “Have you ever thought that maybe Tommy is trying to save you from becoming like him?”

Your eyes snap up at that and you frown, “Why would he do that?”

Polly shakes her head, “Tommy hates himself, Y/N, hates how selfish he is, how he can never let anyone in, that anyone who gets close to him always gets hurt. That is the last thing he wants for you, but it’s clear you’re following in his footsteps. And that’s why he kicked you out. To save you.”

You sat back and pondered this for a while and eventually Polly left you alone, kissing your hair as she went to bed. Maybe you were too much like Tommy, maybe Pol was right. Leaving a note for Polly so she knew not to look for you, you headed to Tommy’s office, knowing he was still probably awake this late at night.

“How’s Finn?” You asked as Tommy bent over his desk, writing something that seemed very important.

He looked up at you, “He’s fine, sleeping.”

You sat in the seat across from him, “Aunt Pol says the real reason you kicked me off the Blinders was because you think I’m too much like you and you want to spare me from a life of self loathing.”

He began writing again, “Well, Polly has always seemed to know my ulterior motives even when they weren’t clear to me.”

“So she’s right, then?”

“It doesn’t matter, doesn’t change anything.”

You sat back and listened to him write for a few more moments, “I love you, Tommy. I don’t think I say it enough, but it’s true. I think of you more like a father than a brother most of the time. I just– I want you to know that even when you think no one needs you that I need you.”

He stops writing and looks you over, “Polly was wrong.” He starts, and you raise your eyebrows, “I don’t want you to be less like me, I want you to be better than me. I’m so hard on you because I think you could run the company one day and I want you to be ready. Do you understand?” You nodded and he picked up his pen, “Good. Now go get some rest, you have a lot of self improvement to do.” You stood and headed out of Tommy’s office door, but he called out to you while you were in the doorway and you turned, “I love you too,” He said, “More than you know.”

You smiled at him and nodded before closing the door behind you and heading off to bed.

[imagines-all-day-everyday]

whizz-bang.

Requested by anonymous:

“Hi, could you please do reader comforting Tommy about the aftermath of the billy kimber fight.”

Warnings: Swearing (it’s peaky blinders duh), angst, violence, fluff

Notes: FIRST PEAKY BLINDERS IMAGINE!!! AND IT’S FOR TOMMY <3

---------------------

“To Danny Whizz-Bang!” The Shelby brothers yelled out, clinking their glasses together before downing their first of many drinks for the night.

“To Danny Whizz-Bang.” *yn* mumbled under her breath before taking a large gulp of her whiskey. 

She winced slightly as the strong liquor burned her throat. She’d never liked whiskey, but it was Tommy’s favourite drink and tonight was his night. After months of scheming and plotting and bloodshed, he’d finally defeated Billy Kimber and his men.

But fuck had it come at a cost.

She let a small sigh escape her lips as she traced the rim of the empty glass with her pointer finger. Glancing over her shoulder, she watched the boys from her spot at the bar down their second drink.

She had a feeling it’d be a long night.

“Grace not in tonight, Harry?” She asked the bartender when she noted the absence of the blonde barmaid.

“No, she’s quit she has.”

“Quit?” *yn* exclaimed in surprise. “Whatever for?” 

Harry shrugged at her question as he filled up three more glasses of whiskey. “Somethin’ about heading to London. Getting away from something I reckon.” He explained before picking up the drinks and bringing them over to the boys.

More like getting away from someone, she thought.

With that thought, her eyes wandered over to the second eldest Shelby. Tommy was seated alone at a table, nursing a drink. Even though this was supposed to be a celebration, she knew him well enough to tell that he was in mourning. She watched as he brought a cigarette to his lips and inhaled deeply before letting the smoke waft out of his mouth. God he was beautiful.

As if he sensed her gaze his blue eyes shifted to meet hers. The pair stared at each other for a few moments before *yn* shot him a small smile and turned her attention back to the bar. 

“Another one Miss *yn*?”

“Please.” She exacerbated, pushing her empty glass towards Harry eagerly. 

“You might wanna slow down there.” A voice teased as she sculled down the liquor the second Harry had finished pouring it.

“Tommy Shelby telling someone to slow down, now that’s a first.” She smirked as she turned her attention to the man beside her.

“It looks like it won’t be the last tonight by the looks of it.” He mused as he watched her push the glass back over to Harry.

“You’re the one who’s always telling me to loosen up.” She answered, raising a brow at him as he took a seat beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

He hummed in response as he took another gulp of his drink and began mindlessly trailing his fingers up and down her bare arm. 

He watched her as she leant over and grabbed his pack of cigarettes. Wordlessly he struck a match, holding it out for her as she placed the cigarette in her mouth and leant forward. Once it was alight she leant her head on his shoulder before removing the cigarette from her mouth to exhale. 

Thomas and *yn*’s relationship had always been one hard to define. They’d been friends for as long as both could remember - ‘joined at the hip since they could walk’ - was what Polly would always say. Over time there friendship had turned to feelings, although had never progressed further than that. 

Both had past boyfriends and girlfriends, although never serious, and to Tommy’s selfish relief he found *yn* still unmarried when he returned from war. Though never spoken about, there was a mutual desire to not be with anyone else. 

Polly woke up every single day waiting to hear the news that Tommy had finally proposed, but that day still had not come. 

“Grace is gone.” 

“I heard.” Tommy answered back, looking out the corner of her eye to observe *yn*’s reaction. 

“Said she’s goin’ to London, to get away from something.” *yn* continued, trying to make herself sound as nonchalant as possible. Tommy watched her as she moved her head from his shoulder to sit up in her chair. “You going to go after her?” She heard herself ask before she could try and stop herself from sounding jealous.

“Now why would I do that?” Tommy asked, raising a brow at her as her cheeks grew pink in embarrassment. She mumbled something under her breath and shrugged before shoving her cigarette back in her mouth in a fluster.

She ran a hand through her hair and kept her eyes fixed on her half empty glass to avoid making eye contact with him. Tommy felt a small smile tug at his lips as he watched her fidget under his gaze. 

Her lips parted slightly as she placed a new cigarette in her mouth and moved to light it. It was almost laughable how much time Tommy spent picturing how soft her lips were and how they'd feel against his, how her arms would feel wrapped around him as she whispered comforting things to him.

How could he ever explain to her that everything he did, he did for her? 

That the only reason he’d fought to keep himself alive while he was crammed in the tunnels was because he’d promised her that he would return home. That ever since he was a little boy, she’d been the only one for him. That no one, not even someone like Grace, could turn his head even for a second. 

But that was all too emotional, and emotions got you and your loved ones killed in his line of work.

He forced himself to push those thoughts aside as he downed the rest of his whiskey. He pushed it back towards Harry as he continued to trace *yn*’s soft skin with his callus fingers. He watched as she jiggled her leg up and down and chewed at her bottom lip. Something she only did when she was deep in thought.

“What are you thinking about?” He asked her. “*yn*.” He continued, nudging her slightly when she didn’t respond.

 “Hmm? Oh... nothing.” She shook her head as she fiddled with the bracelet (gifted to her by Thomas on her 21st birthday) absentmindedly. 

“I swear it’s nothing important.” She insisted when she looked up to see him  staring at her with his brow raised.

“Just tell me, love.” He sighed softly and she could tell that after the day he’d had, his patience was wearing thin.

“....Danny.” She finally admitted, speaking so quietly that Tommy barely caught the name muttered.

“Danny?” He repeated, surprise laced in his words. “Mm.” She nodded sheepishly as she fiddled with her fingers.

“I know it’s probably better for him this way you know, like he used to say, he came home from the war but left his brains in the mud.” She explained, a small smile flashing on her lips at the fond memory. 

“But... his wife Rosie and his boys...” She trailed off as she heard her voice waver. “They’ll get looked after, won’t they?” She asked, finally forcing herself to look back over at Tommy.

She was met with an expressionless look. 

This was the problem with *yn*. She made him feel things. The boys understood. When you lost someone, you paid your respects and you moved on. That was the only way you could survive the war. And that was the only way you could survive the business they were in.

But *yn*, she didn’t understand that. She mulled and pondered and felt for the ones that fallen men like Danny left behind. Her soul was still left mostly in tact, unlike Tommy and his brothers. And what Thomas hated was that when she said things like this, it made him feel too.

“Tom?” *yn* murmured, her eyes narrowing in concern as she tried to decipher what that complicated brain of his was thinking about. 

“Oi you two love birds! Quite fucking talking and come over and have a fucking proper drink!” Arthur shouted as John howled in drunken agreement. 

“*yn* will I’m sure.” Thomas answered as he suddenly rose from his seat. “Where are you going?” *yn* asked him, getting up from her stool hurriedly as she watched him pick up his cap and place it firmly on his head.

“Home.” He answered and the sudden change in his tone and mood didn’t go unnoticed. 

“I’ll come then, we can just have a drink there.” She reasoned with him as she moved to grab her purse.

“Stay *yn*.” He spoke, flicking his finished cigarette onto the bench as he moved past her to grab his coat. She knew he was trying to be as gentle as possible with her, but his words still came out as more of an order than a suggestion. Without another word he shrugged on his coat, adjusted his cap one last time and stormed out of the Garrison.

“What the fuck is his problem.” She huffed, grabbing her drink before making her way over to join Arthur and John.

“You know what he’s fucking like, *yn*.” Arthur shrugged. 

“Yeah don’t worry about it love, he’ll get over it.” John comforted, patting her on the shoulder gently as she took a sip of her whiskey.

“Even a mind reader couldn't understand our brother.” Arthur continued, smiling once he heard a small giggle slip past her lips. 

“Now, I’ve been trying to convince Arthur to play this drinking game I heard about from a friend down in London, but he’s too pussy to give it a go.”

“Am fucking not!”Arthur shouted, horrified that John would try to embarrass him in front of *yn*. 

“Well Arthur might be too pussy, but I most definitely am not.” *yn* smirked causing both boys’ eyes to light up.

“Now this is gonna be fucking fun.”

------------------------------

Turns out, although *yn* wasn’t a pussy, she was almost too good at drinking games. 

Indeed, two hours later as she pushed open the door of the Garrison she realised she was almost completely sober. After completely destroying the boys at the drinking game, both had passed out in a drunken state and she’d only left after Harry assured once the boys had woken up he’d make sure they got home safe.

She giggled to herself as she thought about how miserably hung over both boys were going to be tomorrow. She then felt a blush creep up onto her cheeks as an unexpectedly dirty thought about Thomas pushed itself into the forefront of her mind.

Maybe she was more affected than she thought.

As she wandered through the now quiet streets of Small Heath, swinging her bag beside her, she let herself indulge in thoughts that she liked to call her little Tommy Shelby moments.

She came to a sudden stand still when her eyes fell on a very familiar and very tempting door. She should just leave him alone, she thought. He was probably asleep or busy conjuring up another plan. She should just walk straight past and go to her own apartment and go to sleep.

Or you could go and make sure he’s ok, he seemed upset when he left the Garrison. Usually she didn’t listen to her ‘sinful’ side as she called it, but with Irish whiskey flowing through her veins, this voice didn’t seem so crazy after all.

Before she could overthink her actions, she inched towards the door and pushed against it gently. When it didn’t swing open she reached into her purse and pulled out her key. She always felt slightly awkward using it, but Tommy and the rest of the Shelby’s insisted that it was her home too. 

The key clicked into place and this time when she pushed the door, it swung open easily. She internally winced as it creaked quite loudly, the whole family were extremely light sleepers.

She closed the door softly behind her as she stepped into the kitchen. The house was almost entirely black, with only a warm glow coming from a single candle near the couch.

“*yn*?” 

The quiet and mouse like voice nearly made her jump out of her skin. “Bloody hell Finn you nearly gave me a heart attack.” She scolded once she spotted the small boy lying on the couch.

“What are you doing up so late hmm?” She asked him as she made her way over towards him.

“Couldn’t sleep. Tommy kept waking me up.” Finn murmured as *yn* came to crouch down beside him.

“Tommy?” She echoed in confusion. “Mmhmm I could hear him yelling and stuff.” Finn replied.

The nightmares.

“This happens a lot doesn’t it?” *yn* answered softly as she moved to begin running her fingers through his brown hair.

“Yeah.” Finn nodded as he rubbed at his eyes. “But we aren’t supposed to talk about it.”

“I know you aren’t. But you know you can always talk to me and I won’t tell anyone.” *yn* whispered softly as she watched the boy get closer and closer to sleep.

“I know, that’s why you’re the best wife ever.”

“Wife?” *yn* queried, amusement laced through her words.

“Yeah, wife. That’s what Aunt Pol calls you, Tommy’s wife.” Finn yawned as he snuggled further into the couch.

The answer made a pink rouge appear on her cheeks and a love giddy smile creep onto her lips. “And what does Tommy say about that?” 

Except instead of answering her, all she got was a small snore emitting from Finn’s parted lips. She shook her head and bit her lip to stop from giggling as she pulled the blanket up to his chin and tucked him in gently. After placing a gentle kiss on his forehead she rose to her feet and began to make her way up the stairs.

Once she reached Thomas’ door she came to a stand still. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there for, probably only a minute, but it felt like hours. This was ridiculous, she’d known him for her entire life, she had no reason to be nervous.

But this time, she knew something was different.

Brushing that aside she channeled the little liquid courage she had left and forced herself to connect her knuckles to the chipped wood. When she immediately didn’t hear movement from behind the door she began to feel guilty that she may have woken him up.

“Just give me a second.” 

She waited a few moments before twisting the door knob and easing the door open. The first thing that hit her was the smell. It wasn’t particularly pungent or fragrant - but it was familiar. It was a smell that she had detected on nearly every man who had gone off to war and come back.

The second was Tommy seated on his bed almost completely on top of his pillow, staring at her wide eyed.

“You don’t need to hide it from me, you know.” *yn* murmured quietly as she took a few steps into his room. “I know all the boys use it from time to time.” 

“All the boys you speak to, eh?” He shot back, his eyes never leaving her figure as she came to take a seat beside him.

“Very funny.” She drawled, fighting the smile that was threatening to emerge on her features. 

Tommy didn’t answer, instead he moved over to his side table and grabbed his cigarette case. 

“I’m sorry if I woke you.” She continued, watching him as he placed his freshly lit cigarette to his lips. 

“You didn’t wake me.” 

She wanted to probe further into why he wasn’t sleeping, if his nightmares had been getting worse again, but she didn’t want to push it. His eyes flickered up to her face when she raised her hand to gesture for the cigarette. Wordlessly he passed the cigarette to her awaiting fingers, watching intently as she inhaled the nicotine deeply.

She felt her heart hammer in her chest as Tommy brought a calloused hand up to her face to brush her hair behind her ear. She felt a shiver run up her spine as his thumb brushed against her cheek bone, the cool metal of his ring was a weird contrast to her hot skin.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.” Tommy mumbled against his cigarette as his eyes soaked in every finite detail of her face. “Like a work of fucking art.” He breathed out as his thick eyelashes grew wet as salty tears pooled in the corners of his eyes. “You know that, don’t ya?” 

“Tommy...” She murmured as she watched the tears finally escape from his blue  irises to slide down his cheeks. 

The sound of his name made him recoil, turning his back to her so he could bury his face in his hands. “Fuck!” He hissed, running a hand through his hair, tugging on the ends stressfully.

“Tom...” *yn*  repeated as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

There were a few moments of silence as the sound of Thomas’ stifled sniffles filled the room. Before she could overthink her actions, *yn* leant forward and wrapped her arms tightly around him, pressing her chest against his back. 

“It’s ok to cry you know.” She mumbled into his ear before pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. Wordlessly Tommy twisted around in her arms to face her before wrapping his arms around her waist. She moulded into his body instantly, her hands instantly beginning to rub his back. 

“He was a good man. He kept me alive in France.” Tommy breathed out as his tears pooled against the skin on her neck. “I know he was.” *yn* agreed quietly. “But he gave his life up to protect yours, because he knew that you have unfinished business, that you need to be around to protect all of us.” 

There was a pause as Tommy pulled away slightly to look at her, studying her for a few moments as his fingers traced patterns on her lower back. He watched her curiously as she brought her fingers up to delicately wipe his tears away. 

“You always somehow to bring the emotions out of me.” He observed as she withdraw her hands from his face. “Someone’s got to keep you human.” She teased lightly and to her relief, a small smile twitched onto his lips.

He brought a hand up to trace her jaw before twisting his fingers into the hairs on the nape of her neck. Without another word he guided her head forward to meet his, their lips finally connecting in a kiss.

She felt her heart thumping against her rib cage as Tommy’s lips brushed against hers. It wasn’t what she had expected. In the novels she had read it always went on about fireworks and butterflies and being weak in the knees, but *yn* didn’t feel that.

Instead, she finally felt a sense of completeness and familiarity -  like this was something that was supposed to have happened a life time ago - and now that it had finally happened, she felt calm and fulfilled.

As the pair pulled away from each other and locked eyes with each other they both knew it - this was right, it was so fucking right.

“I love you, I always have.” Tommy confessed and the words once again made *yn* feel a sense of completeness.

“I love you too Tommy, and I’m always going to be here by your side, for every single step of the way, I’ll be here.”

----------------

gah this made me so happy - I hope you guys love it ! :) x

[johnshelbysbabygirll]

Snowball fight - JOHN SHELBY X READER

words: 1628

okay, this is so fckin cuteee 

i wanna be the reader in rl so bad bye 

love youu

You walk into the Garrison and you take off your gloves, your hands and whole body freezing. Outside it is just the beginning of a storm, everyone talking about it and you are really frustrated cause you hate this weather. Everything it's frozen and now it starts to snow, making everything worse. You even convinced your husband and brothers-in-law to let you help homeless people this days, maybe until the storm it's over and you were beyond happy when they accepted, letting you, Ada and Polly to take care of the whole "business".

- Hello, Mrs S-...[Y/N]! How are you?

You hate when Harry calls you Mrs Shelby and he knows it.

- I'm fuckin freezin. You talk with you fur coat still on and Harry laughs a little.

- Want something to drink?

After spending a whole day playing outside with five kids, you really need something to drink, but you are sure that you will find some in the back room.

- No, thank you.

You enter the back room of the pub, your family already here and everybody it's laughing and playing cards.

- Just at the right time! C'mere love!

John greet you, standing up to softly kiss you on your lips and on your frozen red nose.

- Why ya didn't call me to pick you up?

John's voice is full of concerned as he hugs you, trying to warm you up with his body, his hands all over your arms and back. The room it's warm and you are feeling slightly better now; John help you with your coat and after that he takes a seat right next to his brothers and you next to Polly. You put a cigarette between your lips and Polly lights it up for you, before doing the same with hers. Tommy pour you a glass of whiskey and you offer him a smile, thankin him as he continue the game with his brothers, you and Polly waiting for them to finish.

- Are the gifts ready? Polly asks as she raise her eyebrow and you nod, smiling.

- 'Course they are. I'm sure they been searching in all the house, trying to find them.

- That's that they used to do, she chuckles remembering when the boys were little and they quickly start to pay attention too as they end their game.

- Well ya, but their shits are so much better now. Arthur mutter like he was jealous over the toys the kids receive now and he didn't and you all laugh.

Tommy and John agree to him and soon they open another bottle of whiskey, which made you switch sides next to your husband to talk with him.

- Love, we can't stay until too late. You know the kids get up early on Christmas day.

- Don't worry.

John kiss your temple and wrap his arm around you, holding you close to his body on the sofa. Soon all the family gathering together in the back room of the Garrison, which wasn't something unusual and you lost the time when you start to play poker. You and John always cheat at poker, making everyone angry when only you win and things aren't different this time either. But you remember about the kids and you take a look at John's pocket watch, quickly standing up on your feet.

- We have to go home, John. You rush him and he is confused while looking at you, but then he realize that tonight Santa has to come with gifts for his five kids and at this moment he don't even remember where he has hidden them.

Everybody is amused at your agitation and you quickly grab your coat, John doing the same  and you wave at your family as you leave the warm room. John turn around back into the room and you follow him with a frown.

- Merry Christmas all! He shout at his family, clearly drunk and you do the same before pulling him out. In a few hours you have a family day at Tommy's house, but right now you have to take care of the gifts.

The Garrison it's empty at this hour, it's just Harry and the bartender looking amused at you as you left the pub just to face the cold weather from outside. When you came here a few hours ago it wasn't that much snow on the streets, but now everything it's covered in white and it's still going.

You try to cover up your face as much as you can in your fur coat while John start to curse under his breath while walking to his car, all covered in snow.

- Fuck. He start shouting by now and you want to laugh, but you can't cause you are freezing to death waiting for him.

- John, come on. Let's just walk, it takes to long.

- Wha'? No way. We are gonna be fuckin snowmen until we get home.

- It's not that far.

Of course you want to go back into the pub where it's warm and cozy, but you start walking into the snow with John trying to keep up with you, almost falling a few times. You don't realize that he's not next to you cause you try to hide your face from the snow. But that's it until something hit you in the back, wetting your coat even more than already it is and you stop, turning around to see John with a snowball in his hands.

- Wha' are ya doing? You scream, not caring about the late hour and John's colorful laugh full the empty streets.

- Snowball fight!

He screams as he throw the snowball at you and you manage to dodge the hit with a fake frown on your face.

- John, stop! We have to go home, it's late!

He starts to make another snowball, not giving a damn about your words.

- I'm not playing with you!

You turn around and you start walking again, ignoring every snowball he's throwing at you with a smile hidden on your face; not really upset, but wondering what he's gonna do next. He yells your name a few times and you burst into laugh, not able to keep it in anymore and when you turn around, a snowball hit you in your shocked face and a idea light your mind.

You scream a few curse words and you cry in pain with your palms at your nose; John's face drop at your sight and he is right next to you in one second.

- Love? Are you 'right? I'm so sor-...

You don't let him finish, you just grab him by his shoulders and you push him into the snow, caught him off guards. He was surprised and snow was everywhere on his clothes, some even beneath them, right on his skin making him shiver. You stand there laughing with your hand at your mouth, trying to be quiet, but you simply couldn't and he is watching you just a second before a devilish grin appear on his mouth.

He slowly stand up and he doesn't even try to clean the snow from his clothes; he just raise his arms looking at you with a big smile and wanting to hug you.

- Gimme a hug, [Y/N].

- Noo, you scream as you take a few steps back.

- Comere love! I want a hug!

- Stay away from me, John!

You scream laughing as he try to grab your hand and you start running into the snow, forgetting about the coldness and about Santa Claus that didn't arrived at your house yet. The snow on this street it's almost at your calves and you already have snow in your boots. Your hair it's everywhere on your face and it's full of snowflakes, your cheeks and nose are red, but you keep on laughing as John run after you, not stopping for a second.

- I can't breathe. Gimme a second, you put your arms up in defense but that didn't stop your husband that pull you into his cold body.

- I catch you.

He proudly smiles before kissing your lips, that slowly melts together into a sweet hot mess. You raise your arms around his neck and John lets you both fall into the snow, him on top of you as he keep on kissing you, ignoring your cries and screams until you just stop. You are already covered in snow anyway.

- You are crazy, you mutter as you grab his hand, he helping you standing up and you're body is shaking when you feel snowflakes on your back under your dress.

- I'm crazy for you.

John is always romantic, but not with words; he rarely use words like these to show his affection and you totally okay with this, but right now you really appreciate his cheesy declaration. You place more kisses on his cold lips and he hugs you from behind, you two walking like this until you get home.

You found out that all the gifts are already under the Christmas tree in the living room and you chuckles as John slap your ass for bringing him home for nothing. Well, it wasn't for nothing cause both of you felt like children again, playing in the snow together.

Smiles are all over your faces as you go upstairs into the bathroom, taking a hot long bath until the sky lights up in the early hours of the morning. You let your head on John's wet bare chest as he is playing with his fingers on your stomach, enjoying the quiet in the house that it's not gonna last more since the kids can get up at any moment.

- Merry Christmas, John. I love you!

You whisper and look at him over your shoulder, seeing him smiling at you.

- Merry Christmas, princess. I love you!

[bandzrus]

French Toast (Part 1)

The Dirt! Nikki Sixx x Reader

Masterlist

SUMMARY // requested by @brooklyn-antiques – “I’ve been super into the idea of either Nikki or Tommy getting with a girl who is their complete opposite, and never in a million years could anyone see them together, their development with each other and the shock of the people around them because what?? These two people together make no sense!! Idk I’m a huge fan of unexpected pairings”

NOTE // this is my first request I hope I did okay.

WORDS // 3379

TAGLIST //  @brooklyn-antiques @shamelessobsessions @mainly-me @broken-pieces

***

              You had always been the oddball of your friend group. Raised in a very conservative neighbourhood in LA, your family was the textbook definition of perfect.  Your mother was a stay-at-home mom, your dad worked in an office, you were a straight-A student in university, and your younger brother was the quarterback of his high school football team.  Your friends on the other hand were heavily involved in the music scene and spent all their free time prowling record stores and the Sunset Strip.  While they dressed in leather, wore stripper heels, heavy makeup, and teased their hair, you were the total opposite.  It wasn’t that you had anything against how your friends looked or the stuff they were into, it just wasn’t your scene.  Or so you thought up until the night you met Nikki Sixx.

              It had been a surprisingly cold night in LA and your parents were out of town for the weekend visiting your grandparents in Oregon.  Knowing you had nothing better to do, your friends convinced you to come with them to a Motley Crue show at The Rainbow, and you reluctantly agreed.  Foolishly leaving your jacket at home thinking the weather was better than it was, it started out as a miserable night.  In your favourite little yellow dress, you were freezing and stuck out like a sore thumb. Rubbing your arms and shivering, you and your two friends waited in line outside.

              “This is gonna be freaking awesome!” one of your friends, Donna, said gleefully, bouncing up and down in excitement and to keep warm.

              “I heard during their last show one of them punched a guy and knocked his teeth out!” your other friend Marion remarked as if it was the coolest thing in the world.

              “They sound like real stand-up guys,” you muttered, shuffling your feet and avoiding the awkward stares of everyone around you.  The line was moving, but not fast enough.  Looking up at the night sky, it looked very likely that it was going to rain.  You really should have brought a jacket, but instead you were stuck huddling close to your friends with only your purse as comfort.

              “Trust me, Y/N, you have no idea what you’ve been missing,” promised Donna, patting you on the back right before the three of you got to the door. Flashing the bouncer your IDs, the three of you entered The Rainbow.

              It was much warmer inside, though you were sure it was because of the mass amount of people radiating body heat, not the actual heating system.  You were thankful anyway, even though it wreaked of BO and booze.  Grabbing your hand, Marion started leading you through the crowd towards the bar.

              “Can I get a beer please?” she asked, batting long eyelashes at the bartender. Donna flanked you on your other side, leaning her back against the counter and ordered the same.

              “Marion, if you see the singer let me know,” she said.

              “You want his autograph or something?” you asked, tapping your finger anxiously on the counter.  

              “Oh I want more than an autograph,” Donna winked.  She and Marion just laughed as the bartender handed them both their drinks.  Pushing into the crowd, your friends dragged you by the hand until you were much closer to the stage.  It took a lot of wiggling, some use of elbows, and a lot of sorry’s and excuse me’s, but you made it.  The lights on stage were dim at the moment, but drums and mic stands were set up. You’d never really been to a concert before, especially not one like this.  There was a big hairy guy standing next to you and behind you were a bunch of ditsy bleach-blondes jostling to be at the front.  Spotting the anxious look on your face, Marion leaned over to you.

              “Don’t worry Y/N, just stick with us and you’ll be fine.”

              “It’s gonna be a night you’ll never forget,” promised Donna, squeezing your hand reassuringly.  You didn’t know then how right she was.  Just as the pack of blondes elbowed their way in beside you, the shadowy forms of four people could be seen on stage right before the lights came on.

              “ALRIGHT!  WE ARE MOTLEY CRUE!”

              The crowd erupted and you almost threw your hands over your ears it was so loud. The blond on stage who had announced the band was obviously the singer and the one Donna had been talking about earlier.  He was definitely Donna’s type; she was all over cute rock star blonds. You were about to say something to your friend about it when the band started playing.

              “Don't you know, know, know

              It's a violation

              I still hear you saying

              Such a perfect, perfect night

              No, no, no fight all temptation

              Well, in a black-hearted alley fight

              I'm screaming

              Take me to the heights tonight

              Take me to the top

              Take me to the top!”

              Everyone in the whole club was screaming ‘take me to the top’ and by the second verse you almost were too.  There was something about the band that just made you want to chant right along with them.  People had their fists in the air, girls were swooning, and you were coming to the realization that perhaps you had been missing out.  The energy wasn’t like anything you’d ever experienced before.  You had just started shouting along with the band and the crowd when you felt something tug on your shoulder.  As you turned around to see what it was, you felt the weight of your purse leave your shoulder and the shape of a greasy haired dude disappear behind the big hairy guy.

              “Hey, give that back!” you cried, voice almost completely unheard over the music and the crowd.  Pushing past the big hairy guy you attempted to chase after the thief, but your path was blocked and he had disappeared from your sight.

              “That guy just stole my purse!” you tried, hoping someone would hear you and help.  You turned back to your friends, about to ask for help when suddenly there was a shout from on stage and the bass cut out.

              “Hey asshole!”

              The guy who stole your purse froze as the bass player pointed at him. Tossing his bass off his shoulder, he jumped into the crowd after the guy.  The room erupted into even more chaos as people moved out of his way. Black hair flying, he threw a punch at the thief that clocking him right in the ear and knocked him to the ground. Grabbing the thief by the hair, the bass player hit him again, this time full in the face.  There was a crack sound as you heard the thief’s nose break and blood started to pour from it.  Then security arrived and yanked the raven-haired bassist off him, still kicking and holding your purse.  One of the other security guys grabbed the thief by his collar and you watched as he was thrown out holding his nose.

              “Don’t fucking come back!” the bass player shouted as the guy left, brushing the security guard off.  Then his eyes landed on you.  Your two friends had come up behind you during the brawl and gave you a little push forward.  The band had stopped playing and the room had gone quiet.  

              “Oh my god are you hurt?” you asked, spotting the blood on his hand.

              “Nah,” he said, wiping it on his torn up shirt.  

              “I can’t believe you did that.”

              The bassist just chuckled and scratched his nose with his thumb.

              “You look a little lost, I figured you could use some help,” he shrugged. You made to take your purse from him, but he lifted it over your head.  

              “Hey!” you pouted.  If you were about to have your purse stolen a second time this was going to be an awful night.  Your parents would kill you if you lost your ID and your credit card.

              “I’ll give this back if you promise to have a drink with me after the show,” he smirked, looking down at you.

              “I don’t drink.”

              “Pffft what?”

              “You heard me,” you huffed, trying to snatch your purse from him again to no avail.  

              “Fine, then what about dinner?”

              “Dinner?” you squeaked.  You could overhear a bunch of the ditsy blondes from before making rude comments. “Fine.”

              Smiling, the bass player gave you back your purse.

              “It’s a date,” he said with a wink before clambering back onstage.  Picking up his base and patting his mates on the shoulder, they resumed the show.  You were quickly pulled back into the crowd by your two friends.

              “Holy shit, Y/N do you know what just happened?!” Marion screamed, shaking you by the shoulders and grinning ear to ear.

              “I almost had my purse stolen – twice!” you snapped, hugging the bag in question tight to your chest.

              “Nikki fucking Sixx just asked you on a date!”

              “Do you know how many girls in here will probably try to kill you during the next hour?”

              “I’d rather not think about that,” you replied, glancing over your shoulder to find the pack of blondes shooting daggers at you and muttering.  You almost finished your sentence by saying you didn’t really want to go anyway, but stopped yourself because it wasn’t true. At the very least you owed Nikki a shot because he had gotten your purse back, but another little part of you was excited.  You’d been on a few dates before with guys in high school and one or two from college, but all with stand-up guys from sports teams or future lawyers and nothing ever stuck. Nikki was completely different and you were intrigued.  You’d never understood your friends’ fascination with the music scene until about fifteen minutes ago and you now you wanted more.

              “You’re telling us everything after!” Donna insisted, grabbing your arm and bringing you back between her and Marion.  Holding your purse tightly you rejoined the crowd in cheering for Motley Crue.

                Their set went for a bit over an hour, and you spent the whole time staring at Nikki.  The more you watched him the more you started to realize your friends weren’t as crazy as you’d thought for liking all these guys.  He was pretty cute, you had to admit.  So, so, so not your type, and so not a person you ever thought you’d bring home to your parents, but you couldn’t help but love the way he moved on stage and the way he was so wrapped up in the music.  You could tell he really cared about it and what they were doing.

              When the show came to an end, you watched carefully which direction they went offstage.  As the crowd slowly trickled back out into the street or swarmed the bar for one last drink, you waited with your friends until there was a clear shot to the backstage area.  There were a bunch of other girls already there leaning against the wall in the hallway waiting for the band too.  If they weren’t giving you dirty looks, they were raising their eyebrows at you.  You felt like a sheep surrounded by a pack of wolves.  That was until you spotted Nikki coming out of one of the dressing rooms.  Thankfully he spotted you too and motioned for the security guard to let you through.  Turning back to your friends to give them a nervous smile, you ducked under the security guard’s arm to meet Nikki.

              “Kinda surprised you didn’t just leave,” he remarked as the two of you made for the back door of The Rainbow.  “You don’t look like the type of girl who hangs out around here.”

              “I thought about it,” you confessed, looking down at your feet.

              “What changed your mind?”

              “I figured I owed you one for getting my purse back.”

              “I still can’t believe you don’t drink,” he muttered, shooting you a smile.

              “My friends do it’s just… not for me.  Sorry to disappoint you.  Like you said, I’m not the type of girl who hangs out around here.”

              “That just makes you more interesting.”

              Holding open the door for you, it was then that you realized it had started to rain.  

              “Crap,” you muttered, slinging your purse over your shoulder and rubbing your arms.

              “The restaurant’s not far,” Nikki promised.  Nodding, the two of you dashed across the street and around the corner to a Denny’s.  Dripping rainwater on the doormat, you looked up at Nikki.  His makeup was heavily smudged and the rain had deflated his hair a bit, but he still looked good.  A waitress offered you both menus and you slid onto a booth by the window. You kept glancing at him over your menu as you pretended to read.  This was by far the craziest thing you’d ever done and you were unbelievably glad your parents were gone for the weekend so you wouldn’t have to explain why you were out so late with no jacket.

              “You’re staring at me – I can’t tell if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” the bass player chuckled, putting his menu down.

              “S-sorry,” you stammered.  “This is just… the most insane night of my life.”

              “You need to get out more.”

              “You’re probably right,” you admitted, smiling at him.  “What are you getting?”

              “Jack n’ coke, probably a burger.”

              “I was thinking waffles.”

              “So you’re a waffles over pancakes girl.”

              “Yeah,” you giggled.  “I guess so. They’re both alright though.  What about you?”

              “French toast actually.”

              “They have that,” you said, pointing to it on the menu.

              “Maybe I’ll get that instead.”

              “I liked the show.”

              “I was afraid to ask you about that,” confessed Nikki, watching as the waitress came over to your table.

              “What can I get for the two of you?” she asked, ready to scribble down your order on her notepad.  You let Nikki go first.

              “Can I get a Jack n’ coke and the French toast?”

              “Sure, hun.  And what about the young lady?”

              “Just the waffles please,” you answered, folding your menu up and handing it to her.  Nikki did the same and then she left.  You actually were pretty hungry, so you were glad your evening plans had changed.

              “You guys really look like you love being up there,” you told him, resting an elbow on the table and finally letting go of your purse.

              “Yeah,” Nikki said.  “It’s the best goddamn feeling in the whole world.  Seeing all the people who are there just for you, and hearing them sing our lyrics back to us, it’s pretty fuckin’ cool.”

              “I can imagine,” you smiled.

              “What kind of shit do you do?”

              “I’m going to university right now, but still living at home,” you frowned.

              ���You’re just the walking definition of a goody-two-shoes.”

              “And you’re the walking definition of a dysfunctional rock star,” you shot back.  “Jumping offstage, punching a guy in the face, and ordering booze from a Denny’s.”

              There was a pause and then both of you burst out laughing.

              “I can’t believe we’re going on a date,” Nikki chuckled.  “You don’t seem to like me very much, maybe I should just get you a cab and you can go home and never think about me again.”

              “You know what’s funny?” you said.  “I do actually like you.”

              “Really?  You’re not just saying that to let me off easy?”

              “No, you’re actually pretty interesting.  Most of the guys I’ve been out with are football players or soon-to-be-lawyers.”

              “Is your neighbour Mr. Rogers?”

              “No, I’m serious!  This is… actually kinda fun,” you admitted, smiling at Nikki.  He gave you a grin right back, drumming his fingers on the table top.

              “You are so not my type,” he said.

              “You’re not mine either.”

              “Don’t we make a pair.”

              “Oh we definitely do,” you chuckled as the waitress came back with your meals.  

              “French toast for the gentleman, and waffles for the young lady,” she announced, sliding the plates onto the table before handing Nikki his Jack n’ coke.

              “Thank you Dorris,” grinned Nikki, taking the Jack bottle and tipping it’s entire contents down his throat in one go.  You just shook your head.  Dorris rolled her eyes and left the two of you alone again.  

              “A real tough guy I see,” you chided.

              “I prefer bad-ass.”

              “You would.”

              Digging into your meals, you were surprised just how hungry you were.  Nikki was hungry too because both of you barely spoke a word to each other as you shoveled breakfast food into your mouths. Wiping your mouth delicately with a napkin, you finally leaned back in the booth again and sighed.  Nikki polished off his coke and did the same.  

              “That was really good,” you said.  “I didn’t realize I was that hungry.”

              “Glad I went with the French toast over the burger.”

              “That good, huh?  I should get you to try my mom’s recipe, it’s to die for.”

              “Only on our first date and we’re already talking about meeting parents, wow. I didn’t realize you were that serious,” joked Nikki, stacking your plates one on top of the other.

              “I didn’t mean it like that!”

              “Then what, you’re going to bring it to me at my house?”

              “I-“

              “I’m just kidding.”

              “My parents would probably kill me and then you if I ever brought you over,” you confessed, running a hand through your damp hair.

              “You could always bring the French toast to one of our gigs,” suggested the bass player.  “We’re at the Troubador in a couple of days, you should come.”

              “I don’t know…”

              “You’ll come to one, but not another?”

              “My friends dragged me to this one.”

              “Come to our show on Monday, I promise it’ll be fun.”

              You mulled the idea over in your head.  Your parents would be back by Monday, but you figured you could always brush off your late night with a lie about helping someone study.  Your friends were probably going on Monday to Motley Crue’s show anyway, so you could get a ride from them again.  

              “Okay fine, I’ll come,” you agreed.

              “It’s a date then,” grinned Nikki, holding out his hand to shake on it. You took his calloused hand in yours and made the deal.  Dorris the waitress came back to your table just as you started rummaging through your purse for change.  

              “I’ll take these,” she said, loading the dishes into her arms.  “And I’ll be back with the bill in just a second.”

              Nikki’s hand stopped your rummaging.

              “I’ve got this one,” he said, unfolding a couple bills and leaving them on the table.  “This should cover it.  Keep the change.”

              The waitress thanked him, and the two of you made towards the door.

              “Thanks for paying for me, you didn’t have to,” you said, turning to look up at Nikki.

              “A guy’s supposed to pay for his girl.”

              “I’m your girl now?  It’s only our first date, I didn’t know you were that serious,” you remarked, using Nikki’s line against him.

              “I’d like you to be,” you said.  “You’re so much different than all the other girls I’ve been with.”

              “Likewise.”

              “So that’s a yes then?”

              “That’s a yes,” you said, giving him a smile.  You were probably biting off more than you could chew by dating Nikki, but tonight had been the most fun and excitement you’d experienced in a long, long time and you weren’t about to let that go.  

              “I’m calling you a cab,” Nikki said, popping a couple coins into the slot of the machine.  You waited patiently for him to finish, hugging your purse to your chest again and praying it wasn’t still raining outside.  It probably was.

              “Can we wait in here?  I didn’t bring a jacket.”

              Nikki nodded and you two spent the next five minutes waiting by the door of the Denny’s in comfortable silence.  When the yellow vehicle finally pulled up outside, you bid the bass player farewell and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.  You were blushing pretty hard yourself, but couldn’t help but notice him turn a few shades pinker under his smudged makeup too.  The whole ride home you couldn’t get him out of your head. You were already dreaming about Monday.

***

So I’m probably going to write a part 2 to this because I didn’t quiet get as far into the relationship as I wanted, so be on the lookout for that!

[moral-turpitudes]

Could you write a story with 8 and 16 from angst Peaky prompts list? With Thomas Shelby x reader That would be great, thanks a lot! 😀

Here u go love!

Bets & Beatings:

Trigger Warnings: Swearing, Violence/Fighting, Blood, Knives.

Characters: Tommy Shelby x Reader

Word Count: 1,608

Summary: Y/n gets a first-hand look into some Peaky business while at a horse race with Tommy. She had been warned about them while out with friends, but sometimes people ignore what they know, for what they want instead.

Requested by: anon

You sat with your hand resting in his, not knowing exactly what you were getting yourself into. About 10 months ago you had met Tommy at the Garrison while out with your friends. You two hit it off instantly, not knowing at the time that the men jokingly cheering him on in the distance were his brothers. You distinctly remembered your friend tensing up when he came over, a cold yet unguarded look in his eyes. He was drunk, but still handled himself better than over half of the pubs occupancy. 

“What do you drink miss?” He asked, licking his lips before rubbing a cigarette along his bottom lip and lighting it.

“Oh...um whiskeys fine...” You said, watching his ocean eyes pierce through yours.

Your friend quickly leaned over to you as he struck up a conversation with the bartender, whispering in your ear.

“My god look at his hat Y/n...he has a blade in it. He’s one of those Peaky Blinder men...be careful, they’re no good.” She said.

You quickly glanced at the small razor glinting from the peak of his cap, your eyes widening a bit at the realization. They were some of the most respected - yet feared people in Small Heath. They were also very wealthy and you knew from town gossip that they would pay cops hush-money regarding some of their “actions.” 

As you turned back to your nervous friend, you put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. You weren’t scared or really on edge about him, which was odd, but all it did was make you curious.

As you turned back to him, you watched as he nodded at the bartender as he poured two shots of the brown liquid. You lifted an eyebrow at him as he didn’t put any money down for them.

“I’m Tommy Shelby, and a Shelby’s drinks are on the house.” He said before clinking his glass with yours. You smiled and knocked back your shot, the cool burn from it flowing down your throat.

“and I’m Y/n. Y/n Y/l/n...” You said winking and extending a hand to him. Instead of shaking it, he took it and gently kissed the top of it. 

As the night went on, your friends grew tired so they went home, but not before checking to make sure you were okay. With a wink, you sent them on their way and continued talking with Tommy, and eventually meeting his brothers.

You smiled at the memory as your hand still rested in his, the smoke from his cigarette filling your lungs as you waited for the boys, aunt Polly, and her son Michael to come in for the latest family meeting. About a month into your relationship you got to meet everyone and they fell in love with you, which was a huge weight lifted off your shoulders at the time.

Soon enough everyone came in, except for John who strolled in a tad later looking disheveled. You and Tommy smirked at each other as you both knew he was with Esme not long ago. 

“Hey John, nice of you to join us.” You said, next to Tommy who smirked.

“Oh fuck off.” He said jokingly.

“Alright, enough with the pleasantries, we have business to discuss.” Tommy said shortly after your remarks.

Everyone looked at him as did you, awaiting whatever crazy plan was going to come out of his mouth this time.

“We’re going to the races, but keep an eye out for a certain group of people. They’ll be wearing white suits. They fucked with some of the Lee’s things and we’re going to help them out a little bit since we’re on better terms now.” He said.

Y/n smirked slightly. “Is Peaky business funny to you love?” Tommy asked, lightening his stern tone slightly.

The smirk you had only grew. “No of course not, but I find white suits to be a hilarious looking dirt trap.” You said, cringing at the thought of a dirt and horse-shit covered suit. Tommy smirked and nodded in agreement.

“These men never had a good fashion sense dear. Luckily, you’re with the people who do.” Polly said walking by you and placing a hand in your shoulder. You clasped your hand over hers and smiled as Tommy continued. 

“We’re going to take over their books because we know horses, we know the odds, and we know what we’re doing.” He said. 

“Alright, well I’ll go get the car.” Michael said and left. Polly pulled you along to get ready in some race attire. You wore a nice hat with bright flowers adorning the top in extravagant fashion, and a black lace dress with black heels to match. Tommy and you rode separately so he could scope out the scene and get a feel for the place. He looked around slyly and you sipped your drink and made pleasant conversation with some nearby women. Lost in the chit-chat, you briefly lost sight of Tommy, panicking a bit until one of the women pointed past you in the distance. He was talking to one of the men in a white suit. Your eyes grazed down the man, his hair barely visible from his matching white top-hat. You smirked as you saw the hems of his pants slowly browning from the dirt covered tracks and stables. You walked near them and before you get to Tommy you felt a hand on your shoulder.

“Not so fast Y/n. He’s working the bastards, don’t interrupt.” Arthur said.

“Oh. okay, I’ll just sit with Pol, watch the races I guess.” You said, seeing Polly taking a seat in the distance. 

“If you hear a bell toll three times, that’s our signal that something’s happened. You’ll meet us round back in that case.” He said motioning towards the dimly lit area behind the racetrack, near the stables. 

“Alright, thanks for the heads up.” You said patting his shoulder as you took another sip of your drink and taking a seat with Polly. 

You watched as Tommy came back to the boys and discussed something and then went over to you both. He sat by you, kissing your forehead as he often would.

You heard the trumpet signaling the start of the races, the jockeys mounted and the horses ready to go. Then a shrill bell rang once as they sprinted out, passing each other as dirt flung from their hooves. The horses had different names, each with a number on the silks of the jockeys and draping under their saddles. You looked at the program in your hand at the varying numbers by each horse. You were handed it when you had walked in. 

“That horse there went up 5 to 1, instead of 15 to 1. We got them to change it. More people will bet on the 5 to 1 because it’s considered a favorite.” He explained, motioning to a black horse. But you had your eye on a leaner one. It was a beautiful gray color, and you read its name was “Up in Smoke.” You watched as it raced around the track, speeding past the others while still at 23 to 1 odds. “Oi. Now this gray one might do it though, it’s more of an underdog. Now that one will bring in some money.” He said and you smiled.

You saw them go neck and neck and you cheered as your favorite horse won.

“You liked that one aye?” Tommy asked.

“Yeah. It’s beautiful.” You said. You glanced at him as he looked at it’s trainers in the distance. You tensed as you saw a couple of the men in white suits near the black horse that came in second, their faces full of anger as they realized Tommy and the boys fucked with their earnings. 

Tommy noticed too and quickly left to head towards the back near the stables with the rest of the boys following in shifts to not cause suspicion. You nervously sat with Polly as the second race was about to start. Then your stomach dropped as you heard three bells in the distance. “Let’s go.” Polly said, guiding you to the back where Tommy and the boys went. You entered the dimly lit room warily, scared of what you’d see. 

You held back a scream as you saw Arthur, Tommy and two of the men in white suits fighting, each of them covered in blood. Polly took your hand and tugged you towards the exit but you stood there silently, watching to make sure Tommy and Arthur were okay. You shuddered as you caught Tommy pulling out a blade and slitting the mans throat, covering him in blood as Arthur beat the other man to a pulp. Tommy turned around panting a bit and saw you standing there, Polly looking down with her hands folded, waiting for them to be done, but you just stood there staring at him. He walked towards you as his brothers came through, Arthur going to the car after being dragged off the guy by John. 

“Y/n...” Tommy said, walking towards you carefully. 

“Don’t-don’t touch me.” You said, avoiding his hand moving to touch your shoulder, the blood dripping off it. “...not until you wash that shit off.” You said, gulping and looking away. 

“They warned me about you...they really did.” You said, thinking back to that night in the bar with your friends. 

He looked at your bewildered expression, and then glanced at the blood-stained white suits of the men he killed for the bets and for the Lee’s. 

Smirking at his handy work, he turned back to you. 

“That’s just business, sweetheart.”

[brandossss]

( tommy martinez , 24 , cismale ) i  just  bumped  into  brando  esparza  the  other  day  while  walking  down  east  kingsboro , where  he  lives . i  hear  they  can  be  brave  and  impatient , but  when  i  think  of  them  i  immediately  think  of  ( venezuelan  pride , curly  hair , going  to  the  gym  literally  everyday ) 

tw : communism , corruption , poverty , violence , death  ( suicide )

full  name : brando  nicolas  estefano  esparza

nicknames : just  brando , if  he  really  fucks  with  you  you  can  get  away  with  teasingly  calling  him  brandy , but  not  even  lolol

gender : cismale

height :  6 ′ 2

age : 24

birthday : august  4 , 1996

zodiac : leo  ( aries  moon , capricorn  ascendant )

right  handed  or  left  handed : ambidextrous , but  basically  right  handed 

eye  color : light  brown

hair  color : dark  brown

piercings  &  tattoos : no  piercings , this  tattoo  of  venezuela  right  here , but  on  his  left  wrist 

languages  spoken : spanish ( native  tongue ) and  english

sexuality : pansexual / panromantic

place  of  birth : maracay , venezuela

last  3  songs  listened  to : llueve  sobre  la  ciudad  by  los  bunkers , yo  te  esperare  by  cali  y  el  dandee , soñe  ( unplugged )  by  zoé

so  brando  was  born  to  yessenia  olivares  and  bruno  esparza  in  maracay , venezuela . originally , he  wasn’t  supposed  to  be  named  brando . a  fun  fact  &  random  little  headcanon  is  that  his  mother  &  father  had  the  full  intention  of  naming  him  brandon , after  his  grandfather  ( or  father’s  father ) , who  passed  a  week  before  he  was  born . being  both  parents’  first  born , his  father  got  super  nervous  during  his  mother’s  labor  &  basically ? got  really  wasted  because  he  was  practically  crapping  his  pants  about  his  son  being  born . when  he  went  to  sign  his  birth  certificate , he  was  so  drunk , he  literally  forgot  to  write  the  ‘ n ’  in  brandon . once  they  realized  the  mistake  his  father  had  made , they  didn’t  want  to  go  through  the  annoyance  of  changing  his  name , so , they  went  with  brando , and  surprisingly ? it  really  stuck  &  everyone  loved  it  more  than  brandon  kdjvcndfkcmn

he  was  an  average  kid  tbh . his  family  was  middle  class  &  even  though  his  country  had  been  struggling  ( for  the  lack  of  a  better  word )  for  years  now , he  didn’t  fully  feel  the  economic  fall  at  first , of  course . now  fast  forward  a  few  years  &  shit  is  changing  right  before  his  eyes , and  he’s  really ? just  a  kid

pretty  much  communism  coming  to  it’s  finest  point  tbh . all  these  restaurants , stores , businesses , all  these  places  brando  used  to  go  to  when  he  was  younger ? done  with , or  just  government  owned  &  a  blink  away  from  breaking  completely . it’s  actually  really  sad  because  he’s  literally  watching  it  all  happen , watching  his  country  go  down  the  drain  &  there’s  really  nothing  he  can  do  to  stop  it

his  father  becomes  an  active  protester , along  with  many  other  angry  venezuelans , but  this  does  more  bad  than  good . eventually  his  father  gets  arrested  at  a  protest  when  brando  is  11  years  old . that  was  over  a  decade  ago  &  up  to  this  very  day , present  time , brando  has  no  idea  where  his  father  is , if  he’s  well , or  if  he’s  even  alive  tbh  ( talk  about  trauma ? ) . it’s  like  one  day  he’s  coming  home , giving  his  only  son  a  hug , &  the  next  day , he  completely  vanished  from  planet  earth , as  if  he’s  some  high  profile  serial  killer  when  really , he  was  just  protesting  the  shit  communist  government  they’re  living  in 

it’s  just  brando  &  his  mom  from  that  point  on . of  course , things  just  get  worse  with  time . i’m  not  gonna  get  into  details  but  basic  poverty  &  communism  tbh . they’re  hungry , they’re  broke , the  country  is  just  getting  worse  &  worse  with  each  passing  moment  ( hyper  inflation , food  scarcity , severe  corruption , government  abuse , do  i  even  need  to  go  on ? ) . all  these  things  anger  brando  to  no  extent  &  he  finds  himself  releasing  his  anger  with  his  fists . it’s  getting  into  random  fights  for  no  reason  &  screaming  at  anyone  who  even  looks  at  him  weirdly , pretty  much  becoming  an  angry  ass  kid 

TW : SUICIDE , READ  WITH  CAUTION !! things  are  bad  but  they  really  hit  rock  bottom  when  his  mother , surprisingly , commits  suicide . brando  finds  her  foaming  at  the  mouth , a  clear  overdose , but  by  the  time  they  make  it  to  the  hospital , she’s  pronounced  dead . literally  a  15  year  old  boy , alone , in  venezuela .... honestly  terrifying . brando  literally  doesn’t   know  where  to  go ? on  top  of  the  trauma  he’s  holding  he’s  worried  about  his  living  arrangements  as  well . luckily , a  friend  of  his  allows  him  to  stay  at  his  house  a  few  nights  but  this  is  just  temporary

he  just  really  wants  to  leave  his  country  but  he  feels  completely  stuck . he’s  depressed  &  angry  as  fuck  but  he’s  determined  to  get  out  somehow . brando  eventually  contacts  a  family  friend  on  facebook  ( aka  claudia’s  mom ? ) &  tells  them  his  situation . it  seems  to  touch  this  woman’s  heart  so  much , she , wait  for  it , brings  him  over  to  the  states . he  spends  his  16th  birthday  in  america , with  claudia  &  her  family . the  year  is  2012 

very  slowly , but  things  begin  getting  better  for  him . he’s  enrolled  into  school  &  pretty  much  gets  guided  through  everything  thanks  to  claudia . they  are  not  blood  related , but  their  families  were  so  close  at  one  point  that  they’re  pretty  much ? cousins  tbh ! literally  not  blood  related  but  still  family

with  his  dedication  &  ambition  he  pretty  much  catches  on  completely  in  less  than  3  years  ( learning  english  of  course ) , he  loses  his  accent  completely  after  4 . he  goes  through  a  whole  adoption  thing  with  claudia’s  family  until  he  thankfully  gains  american  residency  thanks  to  them , which  of  course , eventually  leads  him  to  citizenship . instead  of  picking  fights  with  people  for  no  reason , brando  takes  out  his  anger  with  physical  activity , becoming  very  much  involved  in  going  to  the  gym , or  even  just  exercising  by  himself . whether  it’s  leg  day , boxing , whatever  it  is , he  loves  any  type  of  physical  work , since  it  keeps  his  mind  distracted 

this  has  pretty  much  lead  him  to  have  quite  a  #body  tbh . like .... it’s  hella  obvious  he  works  out  kdndjndjvnfd

he  also  developed  a  hobby  for  piano , after  taking  piano  classes  in  high  school , beginning  of  freshman  year . he’s  been  playing  since  he  was  16 , eventually  buying  a  crap  keyboard  when  he  was  17 . he  does  piano  covers  on  youtube , but  again , this  is  really  just  a  hobby  of  his 

DEATH  TW !! after  the  passing  of  claudia’s  parents , her  &  brando  move  to  kingsboro  when  they’re  both  19 ! they  share  an  apartment  with  lemon

on  top  of  that , he’s  a  bartender  @  blue ! he’s  also  a  personal  trainer . literally  lifting  24/7  for  him .... bless

he  enjoys  drinking  on  weekends  &  letting  loose  every  once  in  a  while  but  i  don’t  think  he’s  crazy  about  weed  tbh . he  thinks  the  feeling  is  nice , but  he  hates  how  it  makes  you  hungry . would  never  go  out  of  his  way  to  buy  weed  &  basically  only  smokes  it  if  he’s  offered , preferring  alcohol , but  again , he  mostly  just  exercises  &  eats  right , not  really  having  any  addictions  of  any  kind , just  little  hobbies  every  one  in  a  while

brando  honestly ? considers  himself  lucky , despite  all  the  terrible  things  he’s  been  through . he  feels  lucky  that  he  left  before  things  got  really , really bad , even  though  they  were  already  pretty  awful  tbh . anyone  who  hears  his  story  would  think  he’s  anything  but  fortunate  but  the  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  he’s  one  of  the  lucky  ones . not  every  venezuelan  has  had  the  opportunity  to  leave  &  he  just  feels  very  fortunate  that  he  was  one  of  the  few  that  did 

he’s  not  the  type  to  take  anything  for  granted  tbh , very  much  the  type  of  person  who  appreciates  everything  he  has , no  matter  how  small . you  could  literally  get  him  a  present  from  the  dollar  store  for  christmas  &  he  would  still  be  super  happy  about  it . for  him , it’s  the  thought  &  time  put  into  something  that  counts , not  the  price , or  the  brand 

he  very  much  struggled  with  his  sexuality  for  years . not  because  he  was  in  denial  or  ashamed  or  anything , but  for  the  longest  time , he  kind  of  just  didn’t  know  what  he  was ? sometimes  he  thought  he  was  straight  but  undergoing  a  phase , other  times  he  wondered  if  he  was  gay , then  he  considered  himself  bi  for  a  really  long  time . the  truth  is  that  he  didn’t  fully  understand  his  sexuality  up  until  not  too  long  ago , when  he  began  hanging  with  an  lgbtq+  crowd . eventually , he  realizes  society  basically  labels  him  as  ‘ pansexual ’ , but  he  doesn’t  even  really  like  to  label  himself ? brando  just  falls  in  love  with  the  person , with  their  soul , &  he  doesn’t  care  what  they  have  underneath  tbh 

i  haven’t  fully  figured  him  out  yet  because  he’s  a  new  character  but  i  picture  he  can  be  such  a  stereotypical  leo  sometimes , but , his  whole  #capricorn  ascendant  really  does  take  place  for  him , in  the  sense  that  he  can  be  a  very  difficult  person  to  read  sometimes . like  is  he  happy ? is  he  upset ? is  that  just  his  face ? is  he  planning  something ? you  will  rarely  ever  know  tbh 

he’s  a  very  humble  person , probably  because  of  his  childhood . he  hates  show  offs  tbh , or  very  rich  people  with  no  consideration  for  anyone . literally .... miss  him  with  that  bullshit  lmfao . he  finds  the  entire  snobby  or  ‘ i’m  better  than  you ’ attitudes  to  be  so  unattractive  tbh ? you  could  be  the  hottest  person  on  the  planet  but  if  he  hates  your  attitude  you  really  just  don’t  matter  to  him  lolol

over  all  he’s  a  lot  calmer  than  he  was  before  tbh . he  still  has  his  moments  but  he’s  a  pretty  stable  guy  in  the  sense  that  he  no  longer  wants  to  beat  up  everything  or  anyone  he  see’s . he  still  has  a  ton  of  issues  to  work  on  but  basically  just  doesn’t  wanna  go  to  therapy  &  doesn’t  really  talk  about  his  past  at  all , preferring  to  ‘ live  in  the  present ’  even  though  talking  about  his  issues  &  sharing  his  pretty  shitty  story  would  definitely  help  him  clear  out  his  head  but  🥴 it  honestly  probably  won’t  happen  &  he’ll  probs  just  keep  burying  shit  LMFAOOOO

very  very  hard  working  guy , ambition  like  crazy , always  gives  his  all  in  anything  he  feels  strongly  about , he’s  very  good  at  persuading  people  tbh , usually  gets  told  he’d  make  a  ‘ great  lawyer ’  because  he  just  has  this  way  of  convincing  you  like ? he  would  never  become  a  lawyer  but  the  truth  is  that  he  would  make  a  great  one , persuasion  skills  like  a  MF 

this  is  all  i  can  think  of  now  but  i  did  his  birth  chart  ting  🖤