sweet french. peaky blinders

54

Tommy

The ominous knocking filled his thoughts again.

With Lucille by his side during the night, tucked into his shoulder and warming his chest, the shovels had disappeared, forced down by the love that swelled within him every time he felt her touch. The sound of crunching dirt and metal clanging seeped into the daytime instead, following him through the streets and into the light of the sun.

Tommy's nightmares had always remained just that- terrors that struck him while his home was bathed in darkness. Yet with Lucille filling the place with her yellow-tinted warmth, the dreams now plagued his day, cold and swarmed with smoke. Sometimes the noise was loud enough that he could hear nothing else, making him dazed and frustrated, walking through life like the half dead monsters he was.

As he walked toward the camp, John and his gang behind, Tommy could hear nothing but the shovels.

Over.

And over.

And over.

Again.

Again.

Again...

...Until his nails dug so deep into his palm that he had to muffle a gasp, the rasping of his breath taking over from the constant distraction in his head. Just like it had in the tunnels. He was always grounded by the breathing, so long as he was in the company of his friends. He didn't know the meaning of that word anymore- perhaps that was why his war stress had increased when not in the presence of Lucille.

Perhaps it was the guilt. Perhaps it was the guilt of knowing that he was leading his brother to a wedding he never wanted. Perhaps it was the guilt of knowing that he would never see the day they all dreamed when war had made marriage seem so unreachable.

Tommy twisted the flower across his fingers. So white and so pure, that he almost expected to see tendrils of shadow sneaking out from beneath his palms, tainting the soft petals with his darkness. He wondered how long it would be until it was his jacket that the flower would be pinned on- until the day he would be walking to his own wedding. It wasn't fair that John had no build up of anticipation, no flowering of love like Tommy did with Lucille. But it was business, he told himself. John needed this more than anything.

"Tommy, what's your plan then? We're in shotgun range."

His brother faltered behind him, feet tripping as if his legs had turned to liquid. His face was green, throat swallowing as he looked at the men around him. Tommy sighed, walking over to place a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"John, before we go into battle... there's something you're going to need."

Eyes flashing up, he pulled the flower toward him, placing it under the collar of John's jacket. He stared down in horror at the white petals that poked out from beneath the dismal gray. Even though it was so pale against the white of his shirt, it was brazen, staring and jumping out as even more flowers were pushed toward him. 

"What are you bloody doing, Tommy?"

When Tommy placed his hand on his brother's cheek, the other in the back of his head, John's jaw was shaking.

"Smile, John, It's a wedding."

"Whose bloody wedding?" He mumbled, voice so dejected that Tommy could tell he already knew.

"Now if we told you, you wouldn't have come. There's a girl in the Lee family who's going a bit wild. And she needs marrying off," he said calmly, watching as the shock flashed through his face.

His mouth dropped momentarily into a deep from, but then John let out an animalistic growl, the sound ripping through his clenched teeth as he pushed his brother and the men that hung around him away. Breathing as jagged as the ripped petals that were now trampled on the floor, John shouted out, glaring at the hand that was reached toward him.

"John boy!" Arthur shouted, pulling back an arm, stopping from lashing out a second time.

"You have no bloody right Tommy," he screamed, eyes flicking behind to the top of the mound of grass, where the Lee boys gathered in threes.

"Listen to me. Listen to me," Tommy soothed, his hands restraining his head and shoulder again. "A girl who needs a husband. A man who needs a wife."

With a shaky sigh, John shook his head harshly. "Tom, I'm not bloody marrying some fucking mushroom picker..."

"Listen. I have already betrothed you. If you back out now, there's gonna be a mighty war breaking out here. It's gonna make the Somme..." Tommy spoke lowly, pausing as even his own breath hitched, feeling the eyes of his mates around him. "It's gonna make the Somme look like a fucking tea party."

The colour had drained from John's face, the cheeks that Tommy gripped for attention now a sickly shade. He knew his own face probably mirrored that of his brothers; he couldn't imagine what would happen if this marriage didn't happen. His own future rested on it as much as John's or anyone else's did.

"But if you marry her, our family and the Lee family will be united forever. And this war will be over. Now, it's up to you John," he said, nudging him away slightly, his voice still low. "War, or peace."

John glanced around, shoving a hand from his back. "Let go of me."

They were all wary of him. John's face still held the ghost of a snarl as vicious as any exotic animal, the sound of his bark as sharp as the burst of a gun. But he looked down for a moment, before leading the way up to the camp, his movement an answer enough.

Arthur waited until the rest had followed him before he looked to Tommy with a chuckle. He shook his head, clapping him on the back and pushed him forward. Tommy moves one, but not without one last glance to the discarded petals laying in the mud like a wedding veil in a war field.

"Right. You should see the size of her dowry."

Arthur had caught up, pushing his way to the front of the group next to John as Tommy lead the way. John turned to look at him with raised brows.

"Her what?"

"Her dad's giving you a car," Tommy said, coming to stop in front of Johnny dogs.

Zilpha Lee stepped out behind him, staring down emotionlessly to the men below her. Tommy motioned you his brother.

"Will he do?"

A smile broke out on her face and she nodded. Even John smiled too. "He'll do."

Unedited. This is part one.
I split this chapter into
two as it was quite big x