The Girl and The Gangster

Summary: After being turned down from every secretarial role in Birmingham, Alice becomes desperate. Unable to provide for her sick mother, herself and more importantly, her young child, she takes a chance on joining the Shelby Company ltd. But when she runs into a familiar face, her whole world comes crumbling down around her.

Chapter Eight

When she woke up, she had no idea where she was. She rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands and realised she was in her bedroom and Michael was snoring beside her. Memories of the night before started flooding her mind; the stories that the Shelby brothers told her about Michael, dancing on the tables and stumbling home with him. Alice looked down at herself and slipped a night dress onto her frame before she got up to wake Michael but before she could even get the chance, Johnny burst into her room, full of energy.

"Mumma, I'm hungry!" he stepped into the room and tried to look around her as she held him by the shoulders.

"Go downstairs sweetheart, I'll make you some breakfast." It was hard to usher him out, he was so inquisitive, and he knew that someone was in her bed.

"Is that dad? Why is dad in your bed, mumma?"

"Johnny, please go downstairs and wake your nanny." She pushed him out of her room and closed the door, leaning against it as she stared up at the roof. Michael being here made things more complicated for their son. This wasn't how she wanted things to go.

"Alice?" he mumbled as he rolled onto his other side. He could barely lift his head without feeling like he was going to be sick all over the room.

"You need to get up, Johnny's saw you here." She went over to him, crouching down by his face. "You look like shit."

"I feel like shit." He sat up slowly and planted his face into his hands. "What did you tell him?"

"Nothing yet, I've no idea what to say to him."

"Tell him that we're just working on being a family. It's the truth like." He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and reached for his trousers. "I'll speak to him before I go so you don't have to."

"Why don't you stay for breakfast, he already knows that you're here. It won't be a shock." She rested her hands on his knees and looked up at his pale and pasty face.

"I don't know if I'm going to be able to eat anything." He put on his shirt and struggled to do up the buttons. He smiled every so slightly as she helped him. "I got myself into such a state last night."

"At least you didn't embarrass yourself. Your family probably thinks I'm daft."

He watched her as she threw a cardigan over her nightie and pushed himself onto his feet. "No, they loved you. It's been a while since any of us have been so carefree," he touched her face briefly and stepped into his shoes, "we needed to remember what it was like and you showed us."

"I'm not usually like that," she could feel her cheeks flush as she thought about the way they laughed and cheered at her, "I'll apologise to them, right away."

"Now, now you sound daft." He kissed her gently on the top of the head and nodded towards the door. "Go make breakfast, I'll keep Johnny entertained."

It was hard to lie on the floor when he was so hungover, any way he relaxed made the contents of his stomach gurgle and he tried his best to hold it in. He kept his mind off the sick feeling by watching Johnny as he played with the soldiers his nanny Pol bought him.

"Dad?"

"Yes, Johnny?"

"Why are you here? Why were you in mumma's bed?" he glanced up at him, the confusion dripping from him.

"Your mother and I are trying to be a family, we want to be together again. Would you like that?"

"Would it mean that I get to live at your house in the country?" the excitement of that thought filled his eyes; he loved his father's house, the garden and all the fancy foods fascinated him.

"If that's what you wanted," he stroked his son's head and let his eyes roam his face, "do you want your mother and I to get back together?" when Johnny nodded, he tilted his head. "Can I ask you why?"

Johnny seemed to stiffen up and lost interest in his toys. He didn't feel like answering any more of his father's questions.

"What's wrong Johnny, you can tell me." He pulled the boy over to him, letting him bury himself into his body even though it made his unsettled stomach worse. "What's going on?"

He traced circles on his father's stomach, staring at his own finger as it went around and round. "There's a boy at school that picks on me."

"Have you told your mother?" when he shook his head, Michael furrowed his brows. "Why not?"

"Because it would only make mumma worse. I used to hear her crying in her room when she thinks I'm sleeping."

Michael let out a deep breath and sat up, bringing Johnny onto his lap. He stared down at his son's face, cupping his head in his hands. "Johnny, why is this boy picking on you?"

"He says that I'm a bastard because I don't have a dad. I told him that I do, and he laughed at me." Tears started to well up in his eyes and he threw his head back into Michael's chest.

He could feel the anger bubbling inside of him, and he was struggling to control it; he had to for Johnny's sake. "What's this boy's name, Johnny?"

"I don't want to tell you."

"Okay, I won't make you." He stood up and kept Johnny in his arms, he was clinging to him so tightly. "Why don't we go see if your mother has breakfast ready and then I'll take you to my house? Will that make you feel better?"

He nodded and wiped his runny nose on the back of his arm. "Can we fly the kite again?"

"We'll do whatever you want to do."

With Agnes at the table, things felt a little awkward between Michael and Alice as her mother tried to find out more information about their relationship. After hearing what was going on at his son's school, Michael wasn't in a talkative mood. He barely touched the food Alice had made.

"So, you and Johnny are going to spend the weekend at Michael's house?" she kept her eyes on her daughter as she picked through her food.

"We talked about this, Johnny loves it there and I hate being away from him." She watched Agnes from the corner of her eye. "If you're not feeling well today, I'll stay here with you."

Michael let out a sigh and fidgeted in his chair, clearly disagreeing with what Alice was offering.

"No, my love." Agnes placed her hand over Alice's and ignored Michael as best as she could. "The two of you need to work on your relationship, even though you did plenty of making up last night."

"Mother," Alice warned as she looked towards Johnny. She could tell that there was something wrong with him because he wasn't his normal, talkative self, "Michael and I want to make this work for Johnny's sake."

"Well, I'm fine with you spending the weekend there. The painkillers are working, and I can go to church for the first time in years. The three of you go to the country, I'll be fine by myself."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, Alice." She reassured her with a nod and got out of her chair slowly. "I'll clean all this up, go pack yourself and Johnny a bag."

"Johnny, why don't you help your nanny while I speak with your mother?" Michael finally spoke, his tone was soft even though Alice noticed that his hands were shaking.

"Okay dad." He picked up a couple of plates and accompanied his grandmother to the sink.

Alice followed him up to her room and stayed in the corner, watching him with her hand over her mouth. She had no idea why he wanted to speak with her privately, she assumed it had something to do with what her mother had said downstairs, Alice knew exactly how much Michael disliked her.

"Has Johnny been acting any different lately?" he asked as he brought his eyes up to hers.

"Not really, he's been a little quiet over the past couple of days… Why?"

"He told me that there's a boy at school who's bullying him. Wouldn't tell me a name." he lit a cigarette to calm him down, but it wouldn't work.

She slid down the wall and shook her head, how could she not have known? Alice felt so guilty, she had been spending so much time at work or with Michael that Johnny didn't really have the chance to tell her. She felt like a bad mother.

"I'll speak with him before we leave." She said quietly.

"I know that you're sitting there, blaming yourself but this isn't your fault." He paused as he inhaled the smoke, letting it sit in his chest for a second. "I want the kids name."

Alice knew exactly what Michael was going to do once he got the name and she was that angry herself that she didn't even care about what he was going to do. The more time she had spent around Michael and the Shelbys, the more she was turning into one of them; the violence and bloodshed didn't seem to bother her as much as it used to. She could turn a blind eye to it all because she fell for Michael all over again.

"I'll get you a name."

"Johnny's going to be okay." Michael promised.

She rolled her eyes up to his, staring at him blankly. "Just do what you've got to do."

As Johnny picked his clothes out of his dresser, Alice packed them into his bag. She couldn't take her eyes off him and she wondered how another little boy could be cruel to him, Johnny was pleasant and tried to be everyone's friend. His teacher always told her how good he was, most of the time. It baffled her. She pulled him over to her, fixing and picking at his clothes.

"I spoke to your father about what you told him. Do you want to talk to me about it?" he hesitantly nodded and placed his hands on her shoulders. "How long has this boy been bullying you?"

"A week."

"Does he call you names? Has he hit you?" when he shook his head, she tucked some his hair behind his ear. "It's because of me, isn't it?"

"Me and you."

"Okay, well I need to know who this boy is because he's not allowed to make fun of you anymore. Will you tell me his name, please?"

"Robert Millar." His voice was barely audible, but Alice picked it up crystal clear.

"Thank you for telling me, you brave boy." She hugged him tightly and looked towards his bedroom door where Michael was waiting impatiently. "Will you finish packing your bag for me, you can bring whatever toys you want."

He went over to his toy box and dug through it for his favourite things. She watched him as she stepped into the hallway, leaning on the bannister beside Michael. He was so tense, like a brick wall.

"Did he tell you?"

"The boy's called Robert Millar. I know his dad, I've met him at the school. He's Edward Millar and he lives a few streets away."

Michael nodded and buttoned up his blazer. "Right, I'll be back to pick the two of you up in an hour." He stormed down the stairs and left the house, taking to the streets like a pit-bull. No one messed with his family.

He knew that the Millar's were home, he could see them moving around their living room from the window. He flicked his cigarette away and marched across the street, pounding his fist against their door like he was going to put it through. Edward Millar was the one to answer the door and he almost shit himself when he realised who he was gawking at.

"You know who I am, don't you?"

"Yeah, you're Michael Gray. What does the Peaky Blinders want with me? I'm just a baker." His voice was shaky, he was petrified of the Peakys.

"Your boy, Robert has been picking on mine." Michael turned to him, his eyes penetrating him like a knife.

"Your boy?"

"Johnny Finlay."

Edward knew that boy and he thought back to all the things he said about him in front of his son; Edward and his wife were very religious, and they disagreed strongly with Alice raising that boy by herself. Now he regretted ever opening his mouth.

"I'll have Robert apologise to Johnny." He went to close the door, but it was stopped by Michael's foot.

"I think you know that, that's not really good enough." He reached through the gap and gripped the man by the collar of his shirt and forced his way into the house, kicking the front door shut behind him.

The marks he was going to leave on his face would be enough to make an example, he didn't need the whole of Birmingham to see what he was going to do to this man.

Once Johnny was in the car, on his way out of the city, the dark spell that was over him seemed to have lifted; he was too busy looking at all the cows in the pasture to notice the blood on Michael's knuckles. But Alice saw it and now that her anger had passed, she started to feel guilty about letting Michael carry out his justice. When he glanced at her, she looked away from his hand and up to his face, smiling at him comfortingly; she didn't know if he was still as furious as he was this morning.

"Are you okay?" he asked when he stared back out the front.

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me." She leaned over to Johnny and placed her head on top of his, taking in the scent of his head; Alice could swear that he still had his baby smell.

"Do you want to talk about what I did? Is that what's bothering you?"

"I don't want to know the details, I know what Edward got by the state of your hand."

Her comment made him notice the drops of blood on his skin and when he wiped it off on his trousers, he clenched his jaw. "That boy won't be picking on our son anymore."

Alice wasn't sure if she liked this side of Michael, how could she? This version of him was violent and irrational but, this was the side of him that was going to keep Johnny safe and over time, she knew she could tolerate it for the safety of her child.

"I don't want anyone to hurt him, ever." She turned to him and nodded at him knowingly. "Do you understand?"

He slipped his hand into hers, keeping his eyes ahead of him. "Crystal clear."

While the boys played together, Alice unpacked her belongings into Michael's room, hanging up the few dresses that she had. As she sat on the bed, her legs crossed and her hands keeping her upright, she looked around his bedroom and noticed how dull and dark it was; she thought her room was miserable but his was just as bad. If she had of decorated this room, it would be bright and crisp. She was getting ahead of herself, conjuring up ideas that would take a long time to be executed. He hadn't asked her to move in with him, it was far too soon. Didn't stop her from dreaming about it though.

Once she had enough of his room, she moved into the room next door and grinned when she saw the work, he had put into it for their son. His bedroom was painted in a baby blue colour and stuffed bears waited for Johnny on the shelves. When she peered into the wardrobe, new clothes and shoes that didn't have holes in them, were waiting for him. She had to admit, she was impressed with Michael; he did say that he would have a room waiting for him and he went above and beyond her expectations. She stepped over to the window and looked down at the two of them as they played with the kite, both laughing and letting go of the trauma that occurred this morning. She had to go out to them, she couldn't watch from the side lines.

"What do you think of his room?" Michael asked as he wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her against his side. He kept his eyes on Johnny as he ran around the garden, his mouth creasing into a smile.

"It's perfect. He'll love it." She set her hand on his chest and let her eyes follow the boy back and forth. "He's loving that kite. If I had of known that he'd like it so much, I would've bought him one."

"It's hard to fly a kite in the city, too many chimneys for it to get stuck on."

"I suppose so." She looked up at him when she felt his fingers slip up and down her side.

"I've got a surprise for you too."

"I hate surprises."

"You'll like this one."

"Tell me what it is then, and I'll be the judge." She perked her brow at him which made him smirk.

"Remember how you loved the bath at the hotel in London?"

"I remember."

"I got one fitted for you. I did tell you that if you stayed every weekend, you could have a bath like that whenever you wanted."

"Michael, you didn't have to do that for me. I'm not here because of a bath, I'm here because of you and Johnny."

"I know, but I wanted to be good to you."

She reached up and touched his face, the heat of his skin contrasted with her deathly cold hands. "You've been nothing but good to me. I don't expect anything from you."

"That's why I wanted to get you one thing that was for you." Their moment was interrupted by the small drops of rain that fell onto their faces. "Come on Johnny, let's get in before we get soaked."

He watched Johnny drop the kite and as he held his arm out towards his son, he clung to his side. The three of them stepped back into the house, both under his arm. They felt safe and he didn't feel as lonely as he used to. He could get used to having a family under this roof instead of himself and a few maids. This was what he wanted.

A:N The next chapter is going to be a lot longer than any of the other chapters because I have a lot of things planned for Alice and Michael; their relationship will change and the three of them are going to become more like a family. Also, did Michael do the right thing when it came to the Millars? How are things going to change for Alice and Johnny now that they're associated with the Peaky Blinders? Let me know what you think, thank you for all the favourites/follows/reviews and we've had over 2K reads on this story! Thank you so much for reading this story.