Peaky Blinders. One shot and imagines

School teacher - Part 10 - Tommy x John x Arthur x Reader

Tommy waited outside the school for Charlie and the other children to come out. It was strange, but the building looked so different to how it had done, when (Y/n) had been there. The cheerfulness, the brightness, the warmth that had surrounded the structure, having faded over the year and a half since the beautiful school teacher had got on a train and disappeared. Even the children didn't have the same kind of joy anymore. Their leaving the building, no longer accompanied by laughter and cheery conversations, but relieved sighs that the day was over.

Mister Martin, the teacher that Tommy had managed to get to replace (Y/n), was not the best; it wasn't that the children weren't learning; it was more that as an older man, he was much more a stickler for the rules, everything having to be done just so. A man that was more a 'spare the rod and spoil the child' kind of teacher. A fact that Charlie and a number of the other boys had quickly discovered soon after he had arrived; Charlie having taken more and more to asking him if he could get (Y/n) to come back, if he could get her to be their teacher again. And as much as he wanted to, Tommy had thought that given she had been away for so long, she would have been able to make herself a new life; a new life that she wouldn't want to be disturbed. The ex-sapper sticking to his guns and refusing to go and find her; no matter how much his son.........or his brother had asked.

Suddenly, the doors to the small building opened. The children racing out like mice trying to get away from a hungry cat, as the dark figure of Mister Martin loomed into the doorway. Charlie quickly climbing into the car next to his father, for once seeming to have a smile on his face. Tommy sure that it must have something to do with the fact that school was now finished for Christmas. The head of the firm failing to see his son slip a pale envelope back into his pocket, as the two made their way back to the house.

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"Where did ya find him this time?" Tommy asked, as he looked down at Arthur who was slumped, unconscious, in the chair; reeking to high heaven of alcohol, piss and God only knew what else.

From when he had met (Y/n) that first Christmas, Arthur had improved so much; he was calmer, his temper much more even. His violent outbursts become a rarity, not the norm. He had given up the drugs and had curbed his drinking; the whole family sure that the sweet school teacher had been exactly what the oldest Shelby had needed. The one that could help fight the demons that clung to Arthur; demons that sucked him dry of any peace of mind that he may have left. Yet, what could have been something wonderful, what could have been his saving grace, had been ruined that night at the Garrison. And now, all his vices had returned, worse than before; even Tommy now coming to fear what his older brother might do..........what he might be capable of.

"We found him in the gutter out front of tha Five Bells, covered in his own piss and horse shit. I went in ta talk ta old Sid who works behind the bar, and he told me that he hadn't wanted ta throw Arthur out; but he had no choice. Arthur got violent after Sid refused ta give him another drink, said that he could barely stand up as it was. Arthur picked up a chair and threw it; it smashed all tha back a tha bar up. There was even a couple of blokes sporting shiners thanks ta Arthur, when I got there." John explained, pulling the toothpick from his mouth.

"He's gettin worse, Tommy. He carries on like this, he's gonna be dead before tha fuckin New Year. We have ta do somthin..................."

"I know that, John. I've tried, you've tried..........we've all fuckin tried, and no matter what we do..................."

"He doesn't need us, Tommy. We aren't tha ones that can bring him back from wherever he is. You know that there's only one person that can do anything..........." John interrupted, it obvious from his tone that he was more than a little concerned for the brother that he spent so much time with; for the brother that he had served in the same regiment with, during the war.

"I know; but she'll have forgotten all about us by now; and if she hasn't, she should have. I promised myself that I wouldn't drag her back into this mess. That it wasn't fair...................."

"But its fair ta let Arthur die? Ta let him drink himself ta death? He needs (Y/n), Tommy, and you fuckin know it. Alright, what he did was wrong; but whatever he did that night, don't ya think he's punished himself enough for it...........? Don't you think he deserves some peace................?"

"Alright.........but I wouldn't even know where ta start lookin. All I know is that she got on tha first train ta Sheffield, after that.........she could have gone on ta anywhere...................."

"I know where she is." A little voice interrupted, both Tommy and John turning to see Charlie stood in the doorway.

"What...........?"

"You're talkin about Miss (Y/l/n)..............I know where she is." Charles told his father, as he moved slightly further into the room.

"How do you.....................?"

"She sends us letters..............." Charlie explained, as she pulled the newest letter from his pocket and handed it to his father.

"Miss (Y/l/n) lives with her grandparents on their farm, up in...........in the north. She sends me letters and I take em to school. She tells us all about the animals........about milking the cows and feeding the chicken and geese......." The boy continued, as Tommy looked at the letter; a smile gracing his features as he saw the return address written at the top left hand corner of the piece of paper.

"Will you bring her back now? We all hate Mister Martin..........." Charlie asked; looking up hopefully as Tommy ruffled his hair.

"I'll do my best.............I'll do my best................" Tommy replied, before making his way up the stairs, to pack a small bag for his trip up north.