In Small Heath | Peaky Blinders

twenty five; dancing with the devil

Sebastian Shelby couldn't catch a break. Not only did he stumble into his nurse whilst not being able to walk away without hobbling, but he also accidentally introduced her to his entire family.

Aunt Polly had demanded the girl give her personal details over for Thomas to add into the roster, but also unto her personal address book.

Bash hated the feeling of having to reply on people, and now that his family knew his nurses knew her name, where to reach her, where she lived — well, that was just a little bit too much for him. He felt suffocated all over again, and there wasn't a single thing he could do to fix it.

Thomas, for lack of better words; had become so far stuck up his own backside with dealing with the new chief inspector that he hadn't truly realised what was going down in his city. Or that was what Bash thought.

Thomas knew everything that happened, and most things wouldn't happen if he didn't allow them to. Of course, the attack on his two brothers wasn't something that was planned, or warranted, but it gave the Peaky Blinders an advantage. The police were no closer to finding the guns, which meant Thomas was one step ahead, and that was exactly where he liked to be.

"I want you to read to Finn, Sebastian."

The voice cut out through the darkness of Bash's room, causing his head to turn towards the door - the one thing the brothers couldn't move without cutting several holes into the walls. He knew it was Tom, he was the only one who gave orders out like they were tiny little sweets, stolen from Comptons Chemist.

"Oh, yeah? How do you expect me to do that?" His own voice came out snappy and harsh, because he would've loved nothing more than to read to his little brother, to help him find the joys in literature, but now all it did was bring him guilt and sadness.

Thomas stood silently, jaw clicking over with frustration, but not with anger.

Sebastian had every right to respond in such a way, it was like asking Thomas to dance, something he once loved to do with the right people and now the mere thought of it made his blood curdle.

"I know just as well as you do, that you've got Treasure Island almost fully memorised. Start with that, and he'll help you. All he wants to do is make one of us proud, and I think you'd be the easiest one to impress, you know, considering."

That caused Bash to laugh, he always had been the easiest to impress, but it wasn't because he had low expectations, he had always appreciated the little things in life far more than Arthur or John. Thomas was fickle, sometimes the wind blowing would impress him and other times, a horse would have to learn how to speak to get him to crack a smile.

"No."

Bash's answer was final. He didn't want to be babysat again, because he knew that deep down, that was what was happening.

"I don't give a shit, Bash. It's an hour with Finn, to keep him out of trouble with the ladies in Artillery Square," Thomas stated, a half truth dressed up as a whole truth, not that Bash noticed, he was too busy trying to figure out the how, to notice the why.

In a rash outburst of anger, Bash picked up the closest thing to him — which just so happened to be an old cricket ball, and lobbed in the general direction of his brother. Despite there being no light wafting through the windows, nor any coming from the door, the ball hit Thomas square in the stomach. The groan was enough of an indication that it wasn't as pleasant as an accidental hit to the arm.

"I said no, Tom. No means no, I've had enough. Of you, of John, of Arthur! Just because I get hurt once, and I was barely hurt-" he paused, trying to pass his lie off as the truth because he was truly hurt, "doesn't mean that I need you to make up some bullshit story about needing to keep Finn out of trouble. He's a Shelby, trouble finds us regardless of where we are, or who we're with."

Anger radiated off of both of the Shelby boys, a silent stand off wouldn't end well. Stubbornness was genetic, and the both of them got the short end of the straw.

"Fine, I'll sell the horse then. Since you can't make time for your brother, you can't make time for my horse either."

Thomas threw a low ball, the horse wasn't his to barter with and he knew it. Sebastian stood up from his bed, groaning as he moved his midsection.

Broken ribs weren't comfortable when stationary, they were even worse when in motion.

"Fuck you, Tom." Sebastian spat, doing his best to barge out of the way, hobbling against sore bones.

His muscles screamed at him to return to the comforts of his warm bed, but he wasn't going to give his brother the satisfaction of him wallowing in his anger.

Thomas stepped to the side to allow his brother past and gave a sideways glance to the three Shelby's who stood in separate doorways, all watching as Sebastian made his way down the stairs and presumably into the living room with the way the door slammed.

Arthur was the first to make a move, he looked worried - enough for Ada to almost mimic his features, too.

"What are we going to do about this, Tom? It ain't fair that he's cooped up in here again, is it?"

It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. If his men had just stolen the right things from the BSA factory, none of this would've happened. Campbell would still be in Belfast, Churchill wouldn't be breathing down his neck, and they wouldn't have felt so cursed.

"We're gonna have a bonfire."

None of them had mentioned the magic horse, none of them even dared to mutter the name of the wonderful beast - in fear of the only brother being kept in the dark finding out the truth.

So, the bonfire was to keep everyone's minds off of the guns and the horse, and keep the name of the Shelby brothers on the lips of every man in London.

Tommy even hoped it'd get back to the King, but he knew it was wishful thinking. All he truly needed was Churchills eyes on the town.

"How's a bloody bonfire gonna help anyone?" It was Ada's voice, the voice of reason to call out but her question was left unanswered.

The boys took a few idle steps to the side to let the head of the family through, John kept biting away at the inside of his mouth - not wanting to state the obvious, and Arthur just wanted things to go back to how it was. Before the war, before the horses, before the guns. Before it all.

"First though, hire as many veterans as you can for work, we need to show the people that this raid was not on us. We might've been out of town, but we didn't agree to this." Tommy added, hastily pushing people in and out of doors, before staring at Ada.

Silent words were spoken between the two but she knew what she had to do. She didn't truly mind sitting with Sebastian... she just didn't know how to talk to him anymore.

It was like there was this big disconnect between the two, neither of them could find the right words to say - but sometimes, two people who cared about each other a lot didn't need words or phrases, or actions to show that they cared. They just needed their presence.

"Okay, fine, but you owe me."

With that; Ada went off to find Sebastian and Finn, who were sat in the sitting room in silence - neither dared to speak and neither would, not unless provoked.

It took a lot more than just glares that Sebastian didn't know he was receiving to get him to talk and Finn? Well, he was paid to be quiet.

At least, for a little while.

As Ada took her seat, she couldn't help but think. She thought about Freddie, about how he'd enjoy spending some quiet time with Sebastian - but with Tommys hatred for him, she wasn't sure they'd ever be able to step foot on the same street as one another.

She thought about her brothers, all of them, even Finn, and how they were all changing far too much in such a short amount of time.

And she thought about this damn bonfire.

"So," she broke the silence, earning a groan from the oldest in the room and nothing from the youngest, "what do you boys do for fun, then?"