Thomas Shelby Imagines

Sunshine

The new house was large. It still wasn't fully furnished. There was a bottle of whiskey loosely in your hand as you walked around the hall, having been let in by a maid, the thought of the Shelby family having a maid was amusing.

"What do you think?" Tommy asked proudly.

"I think it's a large home which will be very empty. There's more rooms than you could possibly fill Tommy." You said playfully and he smiled.

"Well, I suppose you could always stay. A couple brothers, fill a few rooms." He trailed off and laughed when you huffed.

"I see. So you invited me. To see the new home you wanted to invite me to live in." You accused and he yielded jokingly, accepting the bottle of whisky you offered him.

Your independence had been a novelty to the Shelby boys, an inspiration to Ada and a scorn to Polly, you had no interest in settling for any of her nephews. Though she softened into pride when she realised that you'd rather be alone than with anyone but the Shelbys.

While you knew of the boys less than honest streak, they were all careful to ensure your record was squeaky clean. Though the police were sure to call you as they broke up whatever mischief they were planning, sending you on your way, reminding you what trouble the boys were in.

As you walked through the rooms and looked around it was clear that decorating the house had been an afterthought, while there were still huge spaces and some rooms that simply had no furniture in it. You couldn't help but think back. The old house had been small and cramped, but that was what gave it such a charm.

Fighting for a place on one of the sofas or chairs. The mismatched kitchen chairs shoved around the table as Polly pilled the food high and chaos broke out to grab something to eat.

The cold winters would bite at you as you raced along the road, bursting into Shelby's home would be like wrapping in a warm blanket, it was never cold in their home, everyone was welcome.

You imagined that this would be much the same. Or maybe not. It wasn't hard for you to willingly ignore the Shelby family's business. But you weren't deaf. You heard people talk about what they did.

***********************

"I will admit that it's nice to have the countryside on the doorstep." You said to Tommy who'd agreed to walk with you.

It had been several hours and although the chill of the morning sank into your bones, neither of you minded, enjoying the peace of the morning.

"Well the offer still stands." He joked with a smile.

"How can you stand being so out of the way. It's always so busy in the city, everything happens at once." You said happily, as you admired the trees that lined the Shelby property.

"It suits us just fine. Better in fact."

"Ah, yes, less police officers to pull you up when you hooligans steal bikes." You mused playfully, recalling the time when you were all younger, seeing Tommy and John dragged off by officers.

"Well I suppose that is a perk. But we're safer here." Tommy muttered. He frowned when cars started pulling up on the drive. Arthur was out of the door, rushing over to the two of you as he rushed you inside.

"Didn't know they were showing up Tommy." He muttered.

Tommy didn't answer as he dragged you through his office and into a door that seemed to be built into the book shelves. "I'll be back in a moment." He muttered as he turned on the lights that hung from the walls and shut the door.