Thomas Shelby Imagines

Dance The Pain Away

Requested by anon: Would you do a Thomas Shelby imagine where he's loved the reader since they were teens since she was Ada's best friend and close with the Shelby's and it finally comes out after the reader was trying to help a friend escape a abusive boyfriend which she thought she could handle herself and Tommy finding out that the reader was attacked (nothing major just bruises) by the boyfriend?

Pairing: Thomas Shelby x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, abuse mention, fluff, thoughts/mention of violence(?), me not proofreading

Note: So I added a bit more than requested, but I hope you like it!!

"Y/n? Whatever are you doing?"

"Don't be so daft Thomas, you know exactly what I'm doing." Her angelic laughter rang through his ears as he smiled a half smile and shook his head at the ground.

"Okay then. May I ask if you need assistance?"

"No Tommy, I'm fine. Thank you though."

He looked over to the clueless woman. She never really noticed his feelings that grew more obvious over the years. Since they were teens, his heart beat only for her. And now, as she got ready to go visit someone, his mind begged him to tell her. Tell her before she went to see the person, in fear that it was a man she would be meeting up with.

Her kind smile was his reason to live nowadays. Sure, he had others, but he felt she belonged at the top of that list. His sister's best friend, his family's favorite person, his childhood friend.

Y/n walked over to the front door and turned. The door was opened, yet she wasn't walking through it. She raised an eyebrow at Tommy and smiled when he chuckled and walked over to her.

Tommy's strong arms wrapped around her with a tight hug. A hug that pleaded for her not to let him let go. A hug that pleaded for her to hold onto him forever. All of his hugs that he had given to her were usually filled with that feeling, they had always been.

"Tommy?"

"Hm?"

"You can let go of me bud." He pulled away and smiled at her a final time. Unknown to her, the way he looked at her that moment was the same he had since they were younger. His eyes met with hers and he drank in her beauty. God he loved her. "Alright, I'll be back later. Stay safe, Shelby."

"Okay, see you then. Stay safe, L/n."

...

Thomas' eyes widened when he saw Ada walking in with Y/n, the h/c haired girl's arm over the brunette's shoulder. She was bruised in some places and had a bloody nose. She shivered due to her lack of coat, the dress she wore was torn on the arms and a bit on the legs, revealing a bit more of said bruises.

'Whoever did this has to pay. I swear it on my life.' It's like his eyes were glued to Y/n's black and blue markings.

"Hurry Tom! I need you to help me get her to the fire!" Tommy awoke from his angered trance and did as instructed. When the three walked into the living room, the rest of the family ran over in a panic. Aside from their worry, they felt the need to get vengeance. Especially Tommy.

"What happened." His voice was cold. And often, with him using this voice, Y/n was forced to tell the truth. She knew many things about him, many clues and many hints he would give. He had given her a key for his map long ago, and there were times when she needed to use it.

Her teeth clattered before she spoke up. "Well... W-when I left, I wasn't totally h-honest. I-I told Ada I'd be m-meeting a friend, and t-that was true, but I wasn't meeting th-them. I was more... r-rescuing."

Ada brought over a warm cup of tea and a blanket, wrapping the soft material around Y/n and nodding at her quiet "Thank you" before rubbing her friend's arms softly.

"What do you mean Y/n?"

"Her lover... he um... he did horrible things to her. She had scars and...oh Tommy it was horrible!" Everyone made a quiet gasp when Y/n pushed the blanket off of herself and tackled Tommy into a strong hug. She cried into his chest while he processed what was happening. He then smiled comfortingly and brushed his fingers through her hair.

"It's alright love, I'm here. Do you need to take a breather?" Y/n nodded and cuddled into him, squeezing his waist just a little tighter. He took it as a sign of her not wanting to let go of him, so instead, he adjusted her a bit so that she was being held bridal style and sat on the couch.

He set her down in his lap lightly, but left her arms around his neck. As much as Tommy wanted to admire the sight of his childhood crush, she needed comforting.

"I went to make him stop...on my own. You guys do it, so I thought I'd be able to...it wasn't the best idea. I couldn't fight him... she escaped on time, so that makes me happy."

"Y/n, show him." Ada nodded to Tommy with a look of pain.

"Show me what?"

Y/n pushed what was left of her sleeves up and revealed more bruises, tiny crescent claw marks and small cuts. How the bruises got there, was obvious. The markings were from human nails, Tommy guessed that the male tried to prevent her from leaving or moving and grabbed her arm rather harshly, digging his nails into her skin.

As for the cuts? They looked like scratches, but were obviously from some form of knife. The Shelbys (and Grays) knew knives. It was what fueled Tommy the most. But...it also made his heart melt a bit. The woman he loved had been inspired by him and his family so she set out to protect someone she cared about. It went wrong, yet she was still kind of happy for some reason.

"She has more on her legs, but let her wash off and take care of her and she'll heal soon. Now," She turned to the rest of her family, "we'll give you guys some space. Goodbye Y/n, goodbye Tom."

Now the two were alone. The only sound filling the room was Y/n's muffled sobs, no longer muffled after Tommy lifted her head and looked in to her eyes. It was in the heat of the moment. Whether she reacted positively or not, he closed his eyes, leaned in, and pressed his lips to hers.

The action was enough to make the girl stop crying. She hesitated a second, but wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Her emotions were no longer falling from her eyes, they were being shared. Shared with Thomas fucking Shelby.

Had she known he'd kiss her, she would've initiated the kiss long ago. Had he known she'd kiss back, he would've kissed her the first time he felt the urge to.

Most of their time together was spent cuddling. Switching between kissing and talking, they were happy and finally a couple. Both admitted their feelings, giggling at the fact that they were clueless as teens and as adults.

The moon came out to play for the night, and neither of them were tired. An hour or two was spent on the floor next to the window, admiring the stars as they danced around in the night sky.

"You know what we could do?"

A giggle came from the woman cuddled into his side. "What Tommy?"

"We could dance. Just like the stars."

She sat up quickly and nodded at her lover. Y/n stood up and pulled Tommy up from the ground with a small grunt and a large amount of giggles. She tripped over the rug and fell forwards into his chest after doing so. Her eyes looked up at his as a blush found it's way onto her face.

And that's what they did. Thomas found a record that he loved and put it on the phonograph, smirking at Y/n and walking up to her with his hand extended. They danced to the music. Their eyes connected, and at some point, lips the same.

Boy was he proud of her. Revenge could be served later with an extra side of "By Order Of the Peaky Fookin' Blinders." Because right now, in this moment, in the present, happening currently, he was dancing with Y/n. His Y/n. He was not only dancing with her, but healing her in many ways. Her heart, her sadness, and more. They were dancing the pain away.