Arthur Shelby- Love at First Sight

Arthur Shelby- Love at First Sight Part 5

Arthur was true on his word, wearing a sharp black three-piece suit complete with silky black tie. Y/n's eyes kept wandering his way the whole drive to the restaurant, hardly glanced at her menu. She never heard the waiter attempting to take her drink order. It was amusing and a new feeling for Arthur having someone so affected by him. The shy smile on her lips, the flutter of her eyes and the rosy hue tinting her cheeks. It gave him a surge of confidence. Not in a cocky smug sort of way that was common with John or even Tommy, but the sort that made him feel he could face anything as long as she was by his side.

He'd spent an hour before knocking on her door trying to psych himself up. Old feelings of being nothing special, nothing worthwhile raging inside him. Staring in the mirror all he saw were failures, couldn't understand what she saw in him. He was gruff and stubborn, beaten down by anxiety and severe PTSD. His relationship with Linda hadn't help either.

She yelled and screamed at him, blamed him for everything. Nothing was ever good enough for her. Linda had to have the latest of everything, the newest clothes, the in-style hair, and nails. The fortune he'd amassed quickly going down the drain. She was obsessed with staying ahead of the social elite and soon she found Arthur embarrassing. From the way, he dressed and spoke to the unconditional love he had for his family. She pushed and shoved him into taking the family businesses away from Tommy, he was the oldest after all.

Linda never understood Arthur at all, didn't know what made him tick. She never held him in an embrace, never kissed him with anything other than a quick peck that felt more like an obligation rather than love and devotion. She looked the other way and even walked away from him when the night terrors brought on by his PTSD had him screaming and writhing in bed. She never even showed the slightest bit of emotion after finding out he'd tried to kill himself, she only asked why he failed at that too.

Studying Y/n across the table from him, the glow of her in the candlelight left him breathless and grinning like a fool. She cared, Y/n was genuinely interested in him and how he was doing. Even though she busied herself mapping out Changretta's movements and he was up to his elbows in family work, she still found moments throughout the day to text him. Reminding him to eat something, to drink a bit of water because the water content in whiskey didn't count.

She made sure to see him before he'd lost himself in exhaustion at night. The symptoms of the withdrawal had lessened, the shakes had gone, but the emotions still clung to him. He traded one addiction for another and drew her. Sketches on whatever paper he had at hand while at work and a massive sketchbook in his room at Tommy's.

Y/n would stop at his door with a kind smile and a warm embrace. The concern rundown of questions. Did you eat? Get enough water and so forth and so on. They'd steal away a few moments of silence behind his closed door. He couldn't fathom how she could take even the quickest of glances at him and just know he needed something more.

He'd settled himself in bed for the night and she would be there, nothing sexual but she'd lay beside him. Arthur would rest his head on her chest listening to the beat of her heart. Snake his arms around her and sigh at her warmth. The heavy sigh releasing the stresses of the day feeling her fingers ruffle through his hair, the scratch of her nails on his scalp. Y/n would lay that way in silence giving him comfort in the smallest of actions until he found himself losing his battle with sleep. She managed to take away the pain leaving him with nothing but a calming hope and restful night's sleep before she'd take her leave studying her footage.

Any other time in his life Arthur would have jumped the gun. Flashed a fake smile, feigning interest in a woman to get her into bed. Dropping a few bills on several rounds of drinks and taking her home. Rolling around in a night of fun before sneaking out in the predawn hours. He wasn't that guy anymore, he didn't want to be that guy.