An adventurous assassin gets called to Small Heath to kill Thomas Shelby. She soon learns just how much the decision to accept this mission changes her. Thomas Shelby stirs long unfelt feelings, and she struggles to decide the fate of her future.
Ann woke up abruptly and tensed, before remembering Tommy had taken her to his apartment for the night after they left the bar. It was small, with no more than one room, filled with a bed, a side table, a tub, a stove and a sink.
She lifted her head from his chest when she registered that Tommy was shaking beneath her, and then sat up. She studied him for a few moments, through the moonlight that shone through his white curtained window, before trailing her fingers across his forehead, lightly grazing his hair.
He was having another nightmare.
"Thomas," she said, gently patted his shoulder. "Thomas." He suddenly sat up, his breathing hitched, and she instantly placed her hand on his shoulder, letting it travel to the back of his neck and rubbing it. "Okay, just breathe."
Tommy glanced at her as he calmed down, and then buried his face in his hands. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" She asked. He looked back at her, tilting his head, and Ann rolled her eyes without animosity. She took his hand and pulled him towards her, so they were lying down again. "Since when do you apologise for things you can't control?" He rolled over so that he was lying on top of her, face buried in the crook of her neck as she brushed the back of his neck.
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Tommy moaned softly in satisfaction, and Ann's lips parted with a quick exhale. A stirring deep in her gut flushed her skin a heated pink. It was a reaction she knew only he could cause from her, and she couldn't imagine ever going without it. But instead of finding solace from that realisation, she found distress.
"I don't think I thought this through," she whispered without thought.
"You mean, thought about the future?"
"Yes." Ann said. "...I think Grace might have feelings for you." Tommy lifted his head to look at her, but he didn't say anything. "I'm just trying to say you have options, other women will fall for you."
"Are you saying that you won't?" He asked, without sounding resentful. Both their tones were light, for the heaviness their conversation was leading to. Ann thought she was going to say no, but another thought crossed her mind. Was this her chance to say goodbye, was this why her body had been so adamant on coming here tonight? Because she couldn't leave him without some sort of resolution. "Maybe it was a little naive of me to think you could," he continued, rolling over to lay on his back, besides her.
"You don't understand."
"Don't talk to me about understanding." There was still no anger in his, but he was firm. For a few moments, all she could hear was his breathing, then. "Do you have to hear me say the words?"
Ann closed her eyes, her heart beat quickening as she clenched the bed sheet in her hand. "Please don't." She didn't deserve to hear him say those three words, to have him feel it for her. If she did, she knew she would make another rash decision that would do nothing but continue to prove her horribleness.
"Because you don't feel the same for me?" He asked, and when Ann didn't respond, he continued. "I need to hear you say the words."
Ann looked at him, and she knew he could feel her gaze, but he continued staring vacantly towards the ceiling. "You would never forgive me. If I let you say those words to me...and I would never forgive me if I said those words to you when I know I'm about to leave." She got out of bed, picking up her clothes - folded on the end of the bed.
"You can't leave the city alone in the middle of the night." Tommy sat up, brushing a hand over his face.
"I'll be fine." She put on her dress.
"Stop." Ann ignored him, sitting down to roll on her stockings. She then moved to put on her shoes, and finally her coat, but stopped when a sudden crash sounded through the room. Tommy had picked something up from the side table, and threw it against the wall. He sighed. "Just tell me what it is you are so afraid of, because if you leave now without a proper explanation, that will be the reason I never forgive you."
Ann slowly walked to the door, and with every step she felt dizzy, Tommy quickly followed. With her hand on the handle, he turned her around, pressing against the door. He placed his hands on either side of her face so she would look at him. His eyes filled with an earnestness so fierce it made her legs weak. "Just tell me."
Ann touched her forehead to his, both their eyes closed with breathless intimacy. Her eyes burned as hot tears ran down her cheeks. ."I can't...just let- just let me..."
Neither of them knew who moved forward first, only that their lips pressed together, hard and igniting a spark within both of them, urging them to consume the other. Ann dropped her coat on the floor, hands moving to grip the back of Tommy's head, her fingers in his hair, body pressed to his. His hands left her face and took her thighs, lifting her so she could wrap her legs around his waist, before walking them to the bed.
They didn't break apart as they laid down and wrecked each other with their embrace for what they both knew was the last time. Proven true when Tommy woke up in the morning, alone in bed.
