Angel

31

            When we arrived at the house we made sure to stand in the back of the crowd, all eyes drawn to Tommy and Grace who shared a sweet kiss as loud cheering erupted. Tommy helped Grace down from the carriage and walked her into the house as the crowd followed closely. The music was already playing and drinks were being ordered and passed around as I came to a stop before entering. "Are you ready?" Alfie asked, keeping his hat down low. "As ready as I'll ever be," I muttered, bravely taking a step forward into the reception. Alfie strode across the room to the bar and I turned to face my family, catching Arthur's eye. "Kitchen, five minutes," he said as he strode by me. I nodded before turning to Alfie, who Arthur thankfully hadn't noticed as his back was turned to him. "Wait outside the kitchen for me. I'll grab you in a few moments," I told him, and he nodded, following me to the kitchen. I took a deep breath as I entered the room, knowing Alfie would be standing just outside. The boys were all gathered, Michael, Finn and Jeremiah included. The room was bustling with activity, the cooks all preparing for the meal ahead. I cleared my throat as I entered the room, Tommy having arrived just before me. "Right, boys, and Lena, you're all here," Tommy started, lighting a cigarette.

            "Today, this is my fucking wedding day," he started. "Yeah, and you said there'd be no bloody uniforms," John replied angrily. "Nevertheless..." Tommy cut him off, "Nevertheless, John. Despite the bad blood, I'll have none of it on my carpet. Now for Grace's sake, nothing will go wrong. Those bastards out there are her family. And if you fuckers do anything to embarass her, your kin, your cousins, your horses, your fucking kids, you do anything.." Tommy's voice raised to a yell. "Tom," Isaiah piped up. "What?" Tommy roared. "What about snow?" Isaiah shrugged, and my eyes rolled as I crossed my arms over my chest. "Yeah, their women are sports, I'll say that," John chuckled, roughing Isaiah around. "No. No. No, no cocaine," Tommy said, his voice low and hard as he jabbed a finger at Isaiah's chest. "No cocaine. No sport. No telling fortunes. No racing. No fucking sucking petrol out of their fucking cars," he yelled, pointing to each man in turn, "And you, Charlie, stop spinning yarns about me, eh?"

            "Awe, I'm just trying to sell you to them Tom," Charlie replied with a shrug. I let out a small chuckle as Tommy rubbed his eyes in frustration. "But the main thing is, you bunch of fuckers, despite the provocation from the cavalry, no fighting. Oi! No fighting. No fucking fighting. No fighting," Tommy ordered, pointing a finger at each man in the room and then to me. I rolled my eyes, knowing he was referring to the multiple times I'd swung at drunk men making passes at me. "No fucking fighting!" he yelled. The men all nodded, and Tommy relaxed a bit, grabbing his suit jacket. He stopped in front of me, freezing in his place as his eyes locked on something. Dread grew in the pit of my stomach as his head snapped back up to meet my gaze. "What is that on your finger?" he asked slowly, pronouncing each word as if it was it's own sentence. I took a deep breath as my brothers gathered around me, eyes narrowing in on the ring adorning my left hand. "What the fuck is that on your hand?" John yelled, and I ignored his comment, drawing myself up as straight as I could. "You've already established that there's no fighting, yeah?" I started, and the boys all nodded. "There's no bad blood today, because you don't want any on your carpet, yeah?" I asked, and Tommy nodded. "There'll be no fucking fighting, yeah?" I asked, and Tommy gave a slight nod.

            I turned from the room and opened the door to the kitchen. "Come on then," I sighed, and Alfie moved from his position against the wall. He followed me into the kitchen, head down to conceal his face. We came to a stop in front of my brothers and I took Alfie's outstretched arm in my hands. Alfie slowly lifted his face up, his hat no longer shielding his identity. My stomach clenched as I watched my brothers various states of confusion, looking from Alfie's smirking face down to our entwined arms, to the ring nestled on my ring finger, and back to Alfie. "You've got to be fucking kidding me," Tommy sighed angrily. "Alfie and I have been together for about two and a half years now. And we're engaged to be married," I said calmly, watching as John reached out to restrain Arthur. "Engaged to be fucking married! To my little fucking sister!" Arthur roared. "John, Finn, Jeremiah, get him out of here," Tommy barked, gesturing to Arthur. With a lot of yelling and scuffling, they finally removed Arthur from the room. "Well, this is fun, innit," Alfie chuckled as he met Tommy's gaze. "I should shoot you now. My little fucking sister," Tommy muttered, his voice boiling with anger.

            "Tommy," I started, but he held up a hand and I fell silent. "What can I say Thomas? Your little sister 'ere caught my eye the minute I saw 'er, and somewhere along the way, I decided I couldn't bear to live the rest of me life without 'er, yeah?" Alfie said, and my jaw dropped at the sincerity of his words. He'd never once not been sarcastic or rambling when he'd conversed with Tommy, except for now, like he was almost genuinely looking for his blessing. Tommy remained silent for a moment, his eyes flitting about the room as the shock of the news wore off and reality set in. "Lena. Upstairs," he muttered, sweeping from the room. I sighed and closed my eyes in dread. "Love, it coulda gone a lot worse, yeah? Least no one's been shot," Alfie chuckled, and I opened my eyes to roll them. "Not yet anyway," I replied with a sigh. "Don't you worry angel, I'll keep my distance from ya brothers for now, and you can handle Tommy, yeah?" Alfie said reassuringly, and I nodded. He pulled me in to his embrace, pressing his lips down to mine for a brief moment. The kiss was short, but sweet, and it filled me with a new confidence. "I'll find you later," I told him, and he nodded.

            I started off in the direction Tommy had taken, one hand on the railing as I climbed the stairs. I slowly entered Tommy's office and crossed the room to stand in front of his desk. He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "Before you start talking, you will listen to me. I had given up all hope on loving someone, getting married, having children, being happy. I was up to my fucking neck in Peaky Blinders business, and you were using me as a fucking pawn. I had no control or say over my own life. And then I met Alfie. I never expected anything to come of this, but the more time we spent together, the more I fell in love with him. I love him, Thomas. With every fiber of my being, I love him. He's kind to me, and he's gentle, and he genuinely cares for me. What you've found with Grace, I've found with Alfie, alright? And before you start getting judgemental, remember that the Shelby's tend to not fall for suitable matches. Ada fell in love with a communist who almost blew your head off, John fell in love with a Lee girl who's family we'd been at war with before you arranged a marriage, and before Grace became the woman she is now, she sold you out to a detective. So before you tell me I shouldn't be with him, take that into account. And take into account that I finally feel alive. That I am finally fucking happy," I finished, my chest raising and falling rapidly as my words grew louder and angry and stressed tears filled my eyes.

            Tommy remained silent for a beat, lighting a cigarette and slowly exhaling as I anxiously awaited his response. He sighed, clasping his hands together as he leaned over his desk to meet my steely gaze. "I'm not going to tell you who you can and can't be with. You can't help who you fall in love with or what they've done. But don't expect him to be invited to any family meetings, and don't expect everyone to come around to this so quickly," Tommy said finally, and my jaw dropped. "Y-you can't put me in the middle either. I am still a part of the Peaky Blinders, it's in my blood. And you can't shove me in the middle of any business between your gang and his," I said, knowing my brother's ambition and that he would exploit my future marriage for every business opportunity he could. But Tommy nodded. "There'll be no bad blood between the gangs that you'll be involved with," he agreed, rising to his feet, "I can't promise Arthur will ever be completely on board, but the rest of them will get used to it." I crossed the room and threw myself into my brother's embrace, a few tears of relief wetting his suit jacket. "There's one more thing," I sniffed as I slowly let go of him. Tommy looked down questioningly at me as I twiddled with the ring on my finger. "Will you walk me down the aisle?" I asked as I met his gaze. His lips turned up ever so slightly in a soft smile, more emotion from him than I thought I'd get. "I would be honored," he replied, and I grinned, hugging him tightly once more. "Come on, you've got a wife waiting for you," I chuckled as relief settled into my body, and he grinned as he threw an arm around my shoulders.