WOUNDS THAT NEVER HEAL || tommy shelby x reader

epilogue

Two Months Later

You finished applying your make up in your room, tucking your hair behind your ears and standing back to see your whole body in the mirror. You wore a pair of wide leg trousers and a silk blouse, unbuttoned to just above your bosom.

You grabbed the essentials—cigarettes, keys—which you stuffed in your pockets—your father's revolver—which you positioned in the back waistband of your trousers, tucked in beneath your blouse, before making your way downstairs to prep the club opening.

It was an hour before the doors were to open, and the bar was empty. Your staff hadn't yet arrived, and Martin hadn't even bathed yet.

You strolled through from the back, making your way into the main room—

Thomas Shelby sat on a stool at the bar, his back turned to you, reading a cocktail menu.

You sucked in a deep breath as you approached him, leaning on the bar next to him. You plucked a cigarette from your pockets, bringing it to your lips.

Tommy shuffled within his pockets and revealed a golden lighter. He slid it across the bar to you. You didn't take it just yet.

"What's someone like you doing in this here establishment?" You asked him, cigarette dangling from your lips. He turned to you, smirk donned.

"I wish to meet the legendary club owner that everyone's been talking about," He began, and you looked at your hands. "I hear she started this business by herself, that she singlehandedly fought off the Kinsmen gang," He paused, his face turning into something softer. "I hear that she loves a man whom she's better off without."

You took in his words, before you picked up his lighter. It was golden, smooth, cold— engraved on the surface were your initials. You lit your cigarette, inhaling smoke deep into your lungs as you made your way round the bar, until you were stood opposite Tommy.

"I don't think she's better off without him," You said, and Tommy's eyes hit yours. "From what I've heard, they just got lost along the way."

"You heard that, did you?" Tommy played along.

"Oh yes, it's the talk of the town. I hear he's a gang leader himself." You held the lighter in your hands, rubbing the engraving with your thumb.

"Which gang?"

"Pesky—something. Pesky something. I don't know. They're not from around here," You flicked ash on the ground, trying to stop yourself from smiling. "I hear he has a temper and an attitude problem, that he has a habit of butting his nose into things that don't concern him."

"Is that right?" Tommy replied light-heartedly. "And what about her? The club owner."

"Oh, she's marvellous," You replied without hesitation, inhaling smoke. Tommy raised his eyebrows as if to ask if there was anything else to add. "That's all."

It was impossible not to smile now. Tommy mimicked your expression.

"He's a lucky man, then."

"Yes," You said, reaching out to take his hand in yours. "He is."

Tommy placed his other hand over yours, thumb circling your knuckles.

After Joseph, you and Tommy had gone separate ways. There was too much damage done, too many people pointing fingers. In the end, Tommy had made it public to gangs that the Peaky Blinders were the reason for Joseph's demise—

He'd stuck to his promise. He'd protected you.

This was the first time you'd seen him since you'd left his estate those months ago.

You tried to stop yourself from tearing up as Tommy stared at you, his presence being nothing but overwhelming after so long apart from him.

"Are you back now? Is it safe?" You asked, trying to keep your voice strong.

"It's never safe for people like us, Y/N," Tommy said, but he kept a smile on his face. "But it's no more unsafe than normal."

Slowly, he reached out and held your chin, tracing your lips with his thumb.

"May I kiss you?" He asked, and your heart dropped to the pit of your stomach—

You'd spent these two months imagining what it would be like when he came back, when it was safe. You'd held his letters and cried, you hadn't slept a lot of the time, craving his touch, his company, his warmth.

Tommy Shelby was many things—a Blinder, a murderer, a bad man, sometimes—but he was also the one thing you wanted to hold onto for the rest of the life.

You would never let him slip through your fingers ever again, and you knew he felt the same, after all that had happened.

All that time wasted, just to get back to where you were both meant to be—

Together.

You smiled at him—Tommy fucking Shelby—

"You may."