Only Time Will Tell - A Peaky Blinders Story

Prelude - They day they came home

To say that Cass was shitting herself was an understatement. Granted, she should be fucking happy that she's on the train home, but she can't help but feel a pit of dread in her stomach. How many brothers is she going to see when she gets off this train? She hasn't seen them in just over a year. She hasn't seen them since she dug a bullet out of Tommy's chest.

Her feeling of dread wasn't just held for her brothers, though. When Cass was in France, she met a soldier. He was handsome, charming, strong, well-built, basically everything she had ever looked for in a man. Her soldier was a fierce man but was always soft towards her. He always treated her like she was the only girl in the world, even if they only shared fleeting moments whenever they could.

When the war was announced to be over, Cass immediately thought of her brothers and her soldier. Hoping endlessly that they were all ok. She sent a letter to her family back in Birmingham, to assure them that she was still alive and fighting, imagining their over-joyed reactions around the kitchen table.

Stepping off the train was an awkward feet as everyone wanted to rush to their families to share the excitement of being home. Cass, however, felt solemn as she let everyone else scramble off the train before her, trying her best to prolong her return. As weird as it sounds, she would much rather have stayed in the trenches with her soldier than be back in dreary old Birmingham. She knew her life would never go back to how it was, everyone had changed too much for that. She had changed too much for that.

She is pulled out of her thoughts as a small boy crashes into her frame. "Little Finn Shelby." She says as she notices her aunt and sister walking over to join them, ruffling her youngest brother's hair in the process. "Did you miss us Cassie?" Finn says, slightly out of breath. "Of course I did, lad. Look how big you are!" She replies with the best smile she can muster, earning a small nod and Finn's best 'big boy' pose in return. "Tommy!" Finn then says with a gasp before running past his oldest sister.

Cass slowly turns her body round to see all three brothers that went to France walking towards her. She drops her bag and lets out a sob of relief before running into the arms of her oldest brother. He returns the favour, chuckling slightly at the sight of her. It was more a chuckle of relief than anything else, she heard all of her brothers do the same.

"Fuckin' hell Cass. How'd you survive all that?" John says as he engulfs her in a hug. "Could ask you the same thing." Cass replies through a cheerful sob, accepting his hug. The pair pull away, and Arthur and John walk to greet their aunt and other sister. "Well, well, well. Look what the fuckin' pigs dragged in, ey?" Tommy says to her with a small smirk. "Fuck off." Cass replied, hitting him on the arm with a laugh. She sighs happily as Tommy opens his arms towards her, inviting her for their first embrace since the start of the war.

They were finally home.

Little did Cass know, that somewhere in London her soldier was walking alone from the station he returned to. He was desperately looking for her but had no luck. His only choice was to assume the worst and try his best forget the mysterious girl who held the only light in his life during the war. For all he knew she was dead, and there was no way of making him believe otherwise.

Neither of them had any choice but to move on. The odds of them seeing each other again were slim-to-none, and they both knew that. Even though there was always a glimmer of hope at the back of their minds.

~AN~ Hi! Thanks for choosing to read my story, it means a lot. I hope you like it enough to complete it! Please like, comment, vote, anything you want really. Any feedback is welcome. Thanks 😊