Oceans [A.Shelby]

TWO

LILLIAN WAS stepping out the doorway of number 57 Watery Lane, her heels clicked once against the concrete step before she paused, her sister-in-law Ada passing by the door.

"And where have you been all day?" Lillian teased, a smirk on her lips as Ada turned to her.

"Just here and there, I went to the sweet shop, and then I went to the florists to chat to Irene, and then I popped into the Garrison." The young woman listed, Lillian could easily see through Ada's lies and act of innocence.

Lillian laughed, the smirk never left her red lips, "You've been all those places with your hair looking like that, and your dress just thrown on. I see that when i look in the mirror after Arthur wants a quickie. Whose the lucky man then, Ada?"

Ada's face dropped, before Lillian saw 5 different reactions at once, the young woman shoving Lillian back through her own doorway.

"Fucking hell he said I looked alright, he's a thorn in my side that's for bloody sure," Ada muttered under her breath as she tried to comb through her hair with her fingers, a laugh of disbelief escaping Lillians.

"Thorne? Freddie Thorne. Jesus, it's worse than I thought."

"What do you mean by that?" Ada asked her.

"Ada, he's a communist for christ sake, your brothers dont exactly like him do they, Arthur, John nor Tommy. Especially, not Tommy."

"It's harmless fun, Lil." Ada shook her head.

"Harmless? It's harmless until you're head over heels for him, Ada. Just, be careful." Lillian warned her.

Ada nodded to her.

"And sort that flipping dress out if you don't want your brothers to know you've just been bedding a man." Lillian told her, Ada rolling her eyes at the woman.

"You're only saying this because of the amount of times we've caught you and Arthur." Ada teased her, the pair leaving the house for the meeting.

•••

The family filed into the room on their own accord, Ada taking the seat next to Lillian with Polly across from them, the women glancing between eachother. All were wondering why they had been dragged into a meeting.

John sooned joined them followed by some trusted men, then Tommy and finally Arthur, Scudboat and Lovelock.

"Right, I've called this family meeting, because I've got some very important new," Arthur began.

"Scuboat and Lovelock got back from Belfast last night," Arthur crossed his arms, "they were buying a stallion to cover their mares. They were in the pub on the Shank Hill road yesturday, and in that pub there was a copper, handing out these,"

Lillian raised a brow as Arthur passed her a leaflet, the writing on it was surprising, it was somewhat of a recruitment leaflet.

"If you're over five feet and can fight, come to Birmingham," John read out loud after snatching a leaflet out of Ada's hands.

"So what, the police are recruiting?" Lillian questioned.

"No, Lils. They're recruiting Protestant Irishmen to come over here as specials" Arthur corrected her as she passed the leaflet over to Polly.

"But, to do what?" Ada asked, it was the most obvious question on everybody's lips, and Thomas Shelby appeared to have the anwser for it.

"To clean up the city, Ada. He's the Chief Inspector, and the last four years he's been cleaning the IRA out of Belfast," Tommy informed them.

"How do you know so bloody much?" Arthur questioned, Lillian was sure she could see one of her husband's vein popping on his forehead.

"'Cause I asked the coppers on our payroll," Tommy replied smartly.

"An' why didn't you tell me?" Arthur asked his younger brother, Tommy pausing, his lip twitching as he replied.

"I'm telling you" Tommy's defiant tone sent Arthur on edge, his whiskey flask was soon held to his lips as Lillian rolled her eyes.

Ever since they had returned, Tommy had seen it fit that he took control of the company, he deemed himself more 'right in the head' and able to think better, more logically. This had sent Arthur spiralling, that she knew.

Polly held a small magnifying glass up to the small writing, replying to her nephew, "so why send him to Birmingham?"

"There's been all these strikes at the BSA and Austin works lately. Now the papers are talking about sedition, and revolution. I reckon it's communists he's after."

Lillian pursed her lips as she sneaked a glance at Ada, who looked slightly sheepish as she glanced to the table.

"So this copper's gonna leave us alone, right?" Polly questioned her nephew.

"There are Irish men in Green Lanes who left Belfast to get away from him, Catholic men who crossed him used to disappear"

"Yeah but we ain't the IRA, we bloody fought for the King," John began, "Anyway, we're Peaky Blinders, we're not scared of coppers"

"He's right," Arthur agreed.

"If they come for us, we'll cut them a smile each," John spat, toothpick between his lips.

"So Arthur, is that it?" Tommy questioned, a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"What do you think, Poll?" Arthur questioned the unofficial matriarch of the family.

"This family does everything in the open," Polly reminded them, "and you've nothing more to say to this meeting, Thomas?"

Tommy shook his head, "not anything that's womans business"

"Cut the shit Tommy, us women ran this business while you were away. We're the reason why you still have beds to sleep in, and something to have come back to," Lillian's outburst didn't come as much of a shock, she was known to be 'out-spoken', in some sort of way.

Arthur's lip twitched in response, and smirks grew by the second on Polly and Ada's face.

"I agree, what's changed?" Polly challenged Tommy.

"We came back." Tommy stated, the women didn't agree with him, though. The men that stood around them, perhaps they were here with them, but their heads were elsewhere, still in a battle, still reliving the hardest and most troublesome years of their lives every single night when they tried to sleep. It was hard to integrate back into society.

Arthur seated himself in a chair, and while the rest of the family left to their beds and to see to their kids, Arthur stayed put, Lillian wandering over to him when they were alone at last.

Lillian sat down on his lap, his arm snaking around her waist as he stared down at the table, Lillian stroking the nape of his neck gently.

"What's up with you? You can tell me, you've turned so angry. Who are you angry with, ey?" She asked softly.

"Who are you angry with, Arth?" Lillian whispered again as she took his face between her hands.

She stroked her soft fingers against his rough skin, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"Is it Tommy? Your family? Me? The business? Or the bastards that sent you to war and brought you back to me like this, ey? Tell me Arthur, I made a vow to you, for better and for worse." She muttered to him, Arthur's arm that was curled around her waist pulled her closer to him.

"It doesn't matter, Lil's," He told her, glancing up at her, those eyes, he thought. Innocent eyes, she deserved more, she deserved better.

"But it matters to me, I need to know what's going on inside your head, Arth." Lillian pleaded with him, her forehead falling against his.

"You can't know what's going on inside my head, even I don't know." Arthur admitted, a harder tone to his voice.

He stood up, pulling Lillian up with him, whom he left standing alone in the betting shop, feeling utterly helpless and alone.

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authors note; we aren't far into it at all, you haven't sort of got the full feel yet, but how are you finding 'Oceans' so far? x