Peaky Blinders Imagines.

•Arthur Shelby•

It's a grim night, rain pours endlessly as biting northern winds send it almost sideways, a direct attack as you finally lock up at the tailors shop. You had stayed behind late to finish off some orders that needed to be ready for tomorrow. You wish you had left sooner, when the skies were still a murky grey threatening to spill their contents down upon the earth. Instead you are left shaking, barely able to get the key into the lock of the door, already beyond soaked as the cold seeps into your bones. You should've just started early in the morning, regret floods your system like water, but it's too late to change what has already occurred.

It's dark, the streetlights doing little to break past the curtains of rain. You begin to walk in the direction of home, head down against the torrent of rain. The thought of a hot bath and a cup of tea the only thing keeping you moving. The streets are desolate, only you stupid enough to be out in the middle of a storm. It's not long before you begin to get a dreadful feeling in your gut, the feeling of being watched- followed. You try to brush it off, telling yourself that you're being ridiculous, but your pace quickens nonetheless. You look over your shoulder, seeing nothing, that feeling still boiling inside of you that you're being followed. You turn down the alley cut through you always use to shorten your journeys.

Your heart lurches into your throat when the sound of a bin falling strikes through the noise of the rain. You look over your shoulder again, your worst fears being confirmed as a dark figure pursues you. You'd call out, ask the figure who they are or what they want, but you find yourself speechless, your voice having disappeared from your body. You break out into a run, darting and weaving between bins and piles of rubbish as you attempt to outmanoeuvre your stalker. The streetlights at the far end of the alleyway are your goal as you dare not to look back behind you again.

You finally reach the end of the alley, bursting out into the muted streetlight, straight into a body. The person stumbles back as your body collides with theirs. Startled you look up at the person, the man looks at you for a moment agitated before seeing your distressed state. You instinctively look behind you, the man's eyes following your own as your follower exits the alley and turns in the opposite direction, clearly disgruntled at being disturbed. "Oh my god..." you finally manage to whisper to yourself as a wave of reliefs takes over you. "Are you alright love?" The gruff voice of the man you hadn't realised you were clinging onto until now asks. You leap away from him a flood of apologies spilling from your lips. Despite the rain and cold... and the fact that you'd practically rugby tackled him, the man smiles at you. He finds you rather gorgeous, despite being soaked to the bone. A wave of protectiveness floods him as he realises that you were being followed, that if he wasn't there at that moment, horrible things may have happened to the adorable woman standing in front of him.

"I'm so sorry sir" you mutter, feeling quite embarrassed under the man's assessing gaze, "Please, call me Arthur, are you sure you're alright?" His deep voice asks, laced with concern. You take a moment to look at him, his rugged features drawing you in, "I-I, yeah, better now that creep has disappeared" you stumble over your words, now not out of fear but because this handsome man is stood right in front of you. For a moment you both forget about the pouring rain, standing still under the streetlight. It's like something out of a movie.

"Would you like me to walk you home?" Arthur asks, making your already rosy cheeks turn darker, you crack a smile, shaking your head. "I'll be fine, I've already wasted enough of your time" you reply, but he shakes his head with a chuckle, "don't be daft, I'd feel a lot better knowing you've gotten home safe". Without arguing further, flattered that this man- this stranger- has shown you such kindness, you begin to walk in the direction of your home, him falling into step beside you.

"I'm Y/N, by the way" you remember that you hadn't told Arthur your name, he looks down to you with that charming smile you think you could fall for if given the time, "pretty name for a pretty girl" he remarks smoothly, making you chuckle.

•

You're finally approaching your home when your conversation with Arthur finally meets its end, you both having chatted as though you'd known each other a lifetime, not just a matter of minutes. The circumstances of your meeting long since forgotten as you find yourself wishing you didn't have to arrive home- because that means leaving him. You stop outside the front door, looking up to the man that had inadvertently saved you from a potentially grim fate. The rain continues to pour, but you really don't mind, you're already soaked anyways.

"Thank you Arthur- for everything" you tell him, making a lopsided smile curve his lips. "Anytime Y/N, being rugby tackled by you was a pleasure" he chuckles and you can't help but smack his chest as you laugh. You lean up and kiss his cheek before turning to unlock your door, "goodnight Arthur, I'll see you again?" You ask hopefully, "you bet on it" he winks before shoving his hands into his pockets and making his way off to wherever he was going. You watch as his figure disappears out of view, feeling butterflies erupt in your stomach.

Little did you know you'd never see your creepy follower again, Arthur tracking him down and dealing with him in the way that scum deserves to be dealt with. He'd do anything for the strange girl that quite literally came crashing into his life.