"She ain't family."

Polly was sat across from Tommy, watching as he swirled the liquid in his tumbler. She had said nothing for a few moments, watching as Tommy took his seat and drained his first glass of whiskey. He had left the girl upstairs in his room, not knowing what to say to her. All she had done was sob and bury her head in her hands. Her mind had been all over the place and Tommy knew now was not the time to discuss a plan with her.

"Aye," Tommy agreed after a moment, his eyes widening. He had never been involved in danger like this before. The business was quiet and the police never bothered them, nor did anyone else. Tommy did not know what to do. He was lost.

"She has to go," Polly said.

Nodding his head, Tommy placed the glass down and onto the table. She said nothing to him and looked to the ceiling above her, wondering exactly who this girl was. Polly did not do sympathy. She was not one to care for people outside of the family. She had her family to take care of, first and foremost, but the girl…well…she was just a girl.

Polly never spoke of her children, but she thought of them often enough. She had a little girl she would protect. And this child had just lost her mother. She had lost her mother and all she had was an abusive father and brother to return to. She was spoiled and rich. But she was not happy. She was scared and alone. With that Polly could sympathise.

"Where?" Tommy asked of Pol. "We can only give her so much money."

"Enough," Pol responded. "She can go down to London and make something of 'erself there. She found a job as a seamstress 'ere, she can find a job down there."

"Simple enough," Tommy repeated.

Pol watched Tommy, wondering exactly what he was thinking. He was keeping silent. He was most certainly quieter than usual. Pol's mind continued to work overtime as she tried to gauge his reaction. She had always been able to read Tommy like an open book. He laughed and joked. He did not keep his thoughts to himself, nor did he hold back when he had something to say.

"What is it?" Polly wondered from him.

"Nothin'," Tommy responded. "Just wonderin' how a good looking lass like 'er will fare on her own."

Polly narrowed her gaze and shook her head. "How is that any of our concern?"

Shaking her head, Polly wondered exactly what Tommy was getting at. He said nothing back to Pol, choosing to draw a cigarette from his pocket and drawl on it. Polly sighed and Tommy made a move to stand up. He knew that Polly was speaking sense. He had met Liz twice. He had spoken with her less than a handful times, yet he didn't exactly know what to do. He had never cared for her. He didn't know her. He needed to stop being foolish over this matter.

"I'll go and tell 'er, shall I?" Tommy said, his tone harsher than he had anticipated for it to be.

He took the stairs slowly, still smoking on his cigarette as he went. He soon came to his room and opened the door again, moving inside and looking to the bed where he expected Elizabeth to be sat. But she had moved. She was in the corner of his room against the wall, sat on the floor with her legs pulled up to her chin. The dress she wore was short sleeved and Tommy noted how her hairs sat on edge. She had her arms resting on her kneecaps and her head resting on her arms.

She didn't even bother to look up when she heard the door close.

Tommy took one final drag from his cigarette and stubbed it out in the tray on his bedside table. Allowing his hand to dangle by his side, he moved his other hand to his pocket and noted how Liz finally moved her head up to wipe her eyes with her fingertips.

"You're safe 'ere for tonight," Tommy told her and she glanced across to him, her eyes wet and rimmed red. "Tomorrow you need to take the first canal boat down to London. We 'ave enough money for you to find a room, but then you're on your own."

Liz struggled to understand what he was telling her, but she knew that it made sense. She had met Thomas Shelby twice in the past three weeks. She had only seen him and he had mocked her and saved her. Why would he do anything for her? He was doing more than enough by helping her escape, yet the thought of going down to London scared her. Staying in Birmingham scared her. Being alone scared her.

"Thank you," Liz managed to say, recalling her manners. He was doing more than he should for her. "I…I…well…"

"You have nothin' to say," Tommy assured her. "But the world is a cruel place, Liz. Loss happens…you can either move on or you can go back to your father."

Liz looked slight dumfounded at hearing his words. "Move on?" Liz repeated his words. "Only this morning did I see my mother…and now…now I will never see her again…I have no one…excuse me if I find myself unable to move on just yet."

Tommy watched her try to move to her feet, her palms pressing against the wall as she moved slowly. He couldn't help but think of how much of a prissy thing she was being. Tommy had met girls before and had his fair share. Lizzie Starke was his preferred woman. She was three years older than Liz and was a strong willed girl. She knew what she wanted and she knew how to go after that. She had no one, but she made her money and had a room to house her. But there was one difference between her and the Kimber girl. She was not born into privilege.

"You put my family in danger by stayin 'ere," Tommy told her. "If they knew that you were hidin' 'ere then it would be our 'eads on the line, Liz. You know that, don't you?"

Lizzie didn't want to think about that. She wanted to know who had put a bullet in her mother's skull and why. She needed to discover that out. Keeping silent, Liz nodded her head once and Tommy took a seat on his bed, as she remained stood.

"I want to know why he sent so many people for me," Liz whispered. "He never bothered with me at home."

Tommy shrugged. "Why would I know the answer to that?"

"You wouldn't," Liz spoke, moving to the window and pulling the net curtain back.

It was quiet. The street was empty and the sky was grey and full of drizzle. It was all too peaceful. She could run now and no one would know. Tommy had kept her hidden for as long as he had to. Liz had been in Birmingham and she had expected nothing from anyone. Her mother had told her that on the first day. People looked out for themselves.

"I could go now if it would make it easier for you?" Liz asked, turning her head over her shoulder to look back at Tommy.

"No," Tommy shook his head, clasping his hands together and resting them on his lap. "You're safe 'ere for tonight. You're in no fit state to be makin' an escape attempt."

"I doubt that there shall be anything different tomorrow," Liz admitted, her face creased as she sniffed and she allowed the curtains to fall shut. "I want to know who did this to my mother."

"The police will find out," Tommy told her.

"And if they do not?" Liz wondered. "I need to know."

"Aye," Tommy said, not knowing what more to say on the matter. "All you can do is wait."

Liz had her suspicions, but she did not want them to be true. She wanted desperately to hear that there had been a mistake and that her mother was still alive and well. She wanted it all to be a lie, yet she knew it wasn't. Deep down she could feel it in her stomach. She couldn't explain, nor did she wish to think about it.

"You look cold," Tommy informed Liz.

She hadn't noticed how her shaking form, but she looked down to the short sleeves she wore. She had left her coat in the seamstresses along with everything else she owned. She had nothing unless she returned to the room they were renting. Liz barely registered what was happening as Thomas moved to his feet, shrugging out of the grey jacket he wore.

He wore a crisp white dress shirt with a deep blue tie and a grey waistcoat. His suspenders were visible over the white and his hand move to hold out the jacket to Liz. She looked to it and Tommy wondered why she wasn't taking it. Rolling his eyes and quirking a brow, he draped the jacket over her shoulders. Liz was shocked for a moment.

She had seen boys do that for girls at parties. They would lead them outside of the party they attended and hand them their jacket before wrapping their arms over their shoulders and walking beside them. Liz had often stood on balconies with her friends and watched that happen. She had wondered why no boy had ever asked her to walk with him. It had been an odd thing to wonder and she had stopped it when she saw her father and brother stood together.

She often forgot that Kimber instilled fear into many people. She hated that about her family.

Tommy moved his hands down her shoulders and upper arms, making sure that the material didn't move from her form. Lizzie moved her hands with haste to keep the material there too, her fingers brushing over his as she completed the motion. Quickly she withdrew her hand from his and gave him a small smile by turning her head over her shoulder.

It was then when Tommy truly looked at her. She wouldn't survive one day out there on her own. She was a woman now, aye, but she was so sheltered. He couldn't deny that she was pretty in her own way. She had the palest skin he had seen, almost making her resemble a china doll. Her eyes were a dark green and her hair was a very light brown colour that hung down in loose curls by her face. Her nose was slightly crooked but small, whilst her lips were thin on her features.

"You can stay 'ere," Tommy gestured to his bed. "I'll take the couch downstairs."

"Are you certain?" Liz worried, finally turning to look him straight in the eye. "I do not wish to intrude further than I already have."

"You ain't," Tommy shrugged, moving his hands to adjust his suspenders on his shoulders. "Anyway, you'll be tired, eh?"

"Yes," Liz admitted, settling herself down on the edge of his bed, his jacket completely covering her upper half as she pulled it tightly around her, only her fingers protruding from the lapels. "Yet I do not want to sleep…I doubt I could…"

Tommy knew what she spoke of. He had a mother before. He knew what it was like to lose someone you grew up admiring and loving. His mother had been the rock in his life, whilst his father had been nothing but a drunken lout. Tommy had no time for him in his life. He appreciated how Liz felt to a certain extent. Yet her sibling preferred to torment her rather than support her. Tommy was grateful that his brothers and Ada were always by his side.

He had started out having no pity for this girl, but the more he watched her, the more he grew to pity her. She had nothing to her name anymore. She had no family wealth, and she had no family.

"It never stops hurting," Tommy finally informed Liz, sitting down next to her. He struggled to look her in the eye as she turned to look at him, the tears now flowing fully down her cheek. "I lost me mother when I was young. I remember bits of 'er…'er laugh and smile…she did 'er best by us."

Liz suspected that Thomas Shelby was not a man to declare his feelings to anyone. He seemed well guarded. She almost wondered why he was telling her this. Was he trying to help her? Did he want her to stop crying?

"But you 'ave to move on," Tommy told her. "You need to find a new reason to keep goin'. It is hard to begin with, aye, but not impossible. It took me a while, but I know your mother wouldn't want for you to dwell."

Nodding, Liz hated to admit that she knew the same thing. "I know," she said. "I just feel so alone."

"Aye," Tommy agreed. "But you'll go to London and find a job. Eventually you will find a man and marry. It might not be some rich bloke with a mansion, but you'll start your own life."

Liz scoffed at that, wiping her sweating palms on her skirt as Tommy finally turned to look at her. "I used to imagine marrying a lord or viscount of some kind," Liz admitted to him, still looking down to her lap. "I used to think of a happy marriage. I know that I have been sheltered. The past three weeks have shown me that. I have seen how men treat their wives…I have seen first hand…and now…the last thing I ever want to think about is marriage."

Tommy chuckled at that. It was the last thing he had ever thought of too. He had to admit that after all of his frolicking with Lizzie, he had never considered marriage to a woman. He didn't want to be tied down.

"You're young," Tommy muttered. "You 'ave time."

"I'm seventeen," Liz responded. "My mother married my father at my age."

"Seventeen," Tommy muttered, unable to recall a time when he felt that young. But she wasn't as young as she had just reminded him. Women were marrying at her age. Some were even pregnant. "I 'ave a sister a year older than you."

"Oh?" Liz asked, pretending to be polite as Tommy drew another cigarette from his pocket, offering Liz one but she shook her head at him. "What is her name?"

"Ada," Tommy said. "She's not someone you'd get along with…not posh enough for the likes of you."

Liz almost smiled at that as she wiped her tears away from her cheeks again. "Well, I suspect I will have to grow accustomed to many things now."

"Including us common folk, eh?" Tommy teased her and he looked sideways to her, noting how a smaller smile grew on her face. "So yer not going to go back to 'im?"

"No," Liz answered confidently. "Mother would not want me to and I cannot. It is not my father I fear. He has never harmed me, nor does he truly bother with me. It is my brother…he…I do not know why he taunts me and hurts me so."

Tommy took a long breath as he blew the smoke from his mouth and shrugged his shoulders at her. "Some people are nasty because they can be. Others are nasty because they have to be to survive. I'd say your brother is nasty because he enjoys it."

"Perhaps," Liz agreed.

It was only then when Tommy heard the familiar sound of the front door slam shut and a gaggle of noise enter the home. Lizzie stiffened and Tommy found his hand going to her arm that was covered by his jacket.

"It's the rest of my family," Tommy told her. "No need to worry."

"Will they be fine with me staying here?" she fretted.

Moving to his feet, Tommy tipped the ash of his cigarette into his tray before stubbing it out again. "They'll 'ave to be," he muttered before leaving to find his family.

….

"'Ave you gone mad?"

Tommy was used to Arthur yelling. His brother was always angry or annoyed for some reason these days. Tommy was calm and collected as he sat at the kitchen table. Ada was sat near Tommy, looking at her brother and trying to figure out more about why he had helped this girl. She didn't particularly like the idea of a posh prissy in her house, but she said nothing for a change. Arthur seemed to do most of the talking. John had taken Finn to bed for the night, preferring to stay out of the argument they were having. It was easier that way.

"No," Tommy responded calmly. "She is stayin' 'ere until mornin' and then she is leavin'."

"And until then?" Arthur yelled. "Do you know that Robert Kimber sent men into The Garrison? They were interrogating everyone."

"Let them," Tommy responded. "They won't find 'er."

"They found out that she works in the seamstresses," Pol suddenly declared, informing Tommy of what the men had told her when they entered the house earlier. "They went to her rooms and saw that her stuff was still there. Robert Kimber…he…he is 'ere, Tommy. He has 'is men in Birmingham."

"How long for?" Tommy asked, suddenly sensing the gravity of the situation. He had thought that they would leave when they realised she wasn't here.

"No idea," Arthur shrugged his shoulders. "So unless you want to risk takin' her out there then God only knows how long she will be with us."

Holding in a breath, Tommy looked to Pol. She was still holding her tongue. He could tell. Clearly there was something else on her mind that she wasn't disclosing with him. He arched a brow and waited expectantly for a response of some kind.

"Arthur," Pol spoke. "Tell Tommy of the girl's mother."

"What of 'er?" Tommy asked, keeping his voice down.

He knew that the walls were paper thin and he had no intention of letting Liz find anything out about the woman through eavesdropping. He looked to his brother who sat down on the spare chair to his right.

"Her 'usband was the one to shoot 'er," Arthur said. "It is just a rumour…well…his men did it. Old Curly down the stable said he saw 'em do it. He was hiding on his way back from market…told us in the pub and then the same men strolled in. He kept his voice down…no one knows…"

"Christ," Tommy murmured.

"What do you think they will do if they find out we're hidin' 'er?" Arthur hissed at his brother. "We'll go the same way."

"And her?" Ada finally made her voice known.

The girl did not know anything about this girl, but she was not foolish. She said nothing as Tommy continued to watch her. He thought about how he would feel if he cast his sister out. The Kimber girl was almost the same age as Ada. He would never abandon his sister to a fate like that. But Ada was family. It all came down to the same argument.

"Will he hurt 'er like he hurt his wife?" Ada wondered.

"I don't think we know the answer to that question," Pol admitted, unable to admit that even she was having reservations about their situation.

"I say we give 'er up now," Arthur said. "I'm the eldest boy…we claim that she was hidin' in the alley when we found 'er."

"No."

Tommy was the one to speak then, watching on as Arthur looked at his younger brother. He wondered what the hell has gotten into him. Even Ada was glaring at Arthur as though he was foolish. Pol had taken it upon herself to pour another drink, waiting for Tommy to say something as a follow up to his no.

"What?" Arthur wondered. "She's a prissy little rich girl, Tommy. She's none of our concern."

Tommy made a move to stand as his brother tried to intimidate him. He was silent. He waited for someone to say something else. Arthur needed someone else to back him up and agree with him on this, but no one did. Everyone was disagreeing with him.

"I made her my concern when 'er mother begged me to see 'er kept safe," Tommy responded. "She stays 'ere until Kimber has cleared out."

Arthur's glare increased. "Who put you in charge, Tommy?" he demanded.

"No one," Pol spoke. "But he is speakin' sense."

"Aye," Ada nodded her head.

"You're all mad," Arthur muttered, slamming his fist on the table. "She'll get us killed, Tommy."

Shrugging, Tommy refused to disagree or agree with him. He supposed only time would tell what would happen.

...

A/N: Thank you for reading and I do hope you will let me know what you think thus far! Sorry if I am updating too fast!