Sunshine

Part 1 - Introduction

The village in which both Alice and Henry grew up was always called the prettiest village in England. Although not many people had ever heard of it, those who passed through were always captivated enough to stay for another few days.

Everyone in the village had heard the whispers that Henry wasn't the true child of those who had raised him. They had come to the village when he was only six years old, but even then, everyone could tell that that boy didn't belong in their pretty village.

When Alice Mason was born, however, she was the exact opposite. It was said that God put the very sun into her soul. She was meant to live in a place just as beautiful as she was.

So it was, of course, expected of her to stay away from the older boy when he came to town. Her father said there was something in the boys eyes that didn't sit right with God.

Of course, however, Alice was just as kind as she was beautiful, and she didn't judge the older boy who seemed to keep to himself.

So when she saw him sitting alone at a Sunday communion, she did the exact opposite of what anyone expected. She took a seat next to him. The entire pew had been empty save himself, due to his lack of popularity.

At the time, she was seven and he was eight. And when he saw her moving towards him, he almost spoke to her. Of course, he didn't dare open his mouth to the village angel. So he did what he thought was best, not only for himself, but for her as well: he left her sitting in the empty pew.

When word had gone around about what had happened, people began to express their worry to Alice's father. It was then that he forbade her from going anywhere near Henry.

Things went on normally until she was eleven and he was twelve. Some members of the church caught Henry in a fight with a local youth. The boy had been terribly injured, and his family swiftly left the village to never be heard from again.

This only confirmed suspicions about Henry. If he wasn't avoided before, he certainly was now. His 'parents' never said a word, and were often excluded from social events.

However, Henry never forgot about the nice little girl who wanted to sit next to him at church. She was well off without him, but that did not keep him from noticing her anytime she was in his eyesight. By the time she was fourteen and he was fifteen, he had truly begun to appreciate her beauty. She was often courted by local boys, but she had declined each one politely.

Alice would never have told anyone, but she still had hope for Henry. She couldn't help but feel his eyes on her whenever they were near one another. She couldn't have believed he was as bad as people made him out to be. There were so many terrible rumors, but she didn't believe any of them.

So when he disappeared only a couple of years later, she had been the only one in the village to feel any disappointment. Everyone knew that this would happen eventually. He didn't belong there.

Not long after, his parents also disappeared. Rumors circulated throughout the town again, until they were all forgotten about entirely.

It wasn't even a year later when Alice's father's business collapsed. He wouldn't tell anyone what had happened, only that he had trusted the wrong people.

Her whole family was forced to relocate to Birmingham. As opposed to Henry, the whole town wept for the loss of their local angel.

A/N: This is my first Peaky Blinders fanfiction! Obviously, Michael is played by Finn Cole, but my OC, Alice, is played by the beautiful Hermione Corfield!