Chapter 6

AN: this is a bit of a filler chapter! In response to a review I got, Edith is 17 and Finn is 18/19 I've changed the storyline a bit so Finn has lost his virginity before the show shows him to in season 4, and has a birthday some time in this story, but I won't be writing about that. Enjoy :)

"The men we dealt with the other night," Tommy explains, pacing the length of the rug in his living room, cigarette in hand. "they're not going down without a fight." Curses are heard from the Peaky Blinders that fill the room; Edith glances around, eyes landing on Bonnie and his father who were stood closest to her brothers, leaning against a bookcase. Bonnie throws her a hint of a smile, enough to make her chest, tight with panic, loosen a little.

"So why are we here?" Ada asks, moving to sit beside her sister, sensing her unease.

"This is the safest place for you all to be." Arthur explains. "Together."

"But surely we're all just sitting ducks here." Edith states, meeting the eyes of her sister-in-laws who were also on edge about the situation.

"Better here than in Watery Lane." John supplies, looking up at Tommy who nods.

"But what about Aunt Pol?" She asks, realising no one had mentioned the fact their aunt had not joined them.

"Mum refused to leave her house Edith," Michael says from across the room. "She's going to be fine, there are Peaky boys at her house too."

"We're going out to fight this war..." Tommy picks up where he left off, stopping his pacing for a moment, only to be cut off by Edith.

"Now?" She exclaims, brows furrowed as she turns to her older sister for support. "It's 1 o'clock in the bloody morning!"

"Edith." Arthur snaps, stopping her with a lift of his hand.

"No time like the present Edie." Tommy says, watching his sister sink back into the sofa, sulking. "There will be Blinders surrounding the house. You'll be safe here until we get back. You'll not leave this room, you'll all stay together. Got it?" All the women nod, somewhat reluctantly.

"Edith?" Arthur growls, watching her for a response. She nods too, rolling her eyes at him.

"Jesus, yes. I'll stay here." She snaps. "Don't have a bloody death wish."

"Good. Then everything's settled. We'll leave when Johnny Dogs arrives with his men." The room falls into silence at this; Edith waits a moment longer before catching Bonnie's eye.

"I'm going to the bathroom." She declares, standing up, not letting her brothers stop her as she all but storms out of the room. She makes it part way down the corridor before ducking into a small alcove, her favourite hiding place in Tommy's house. Only a few minutes later, footsteps pad down the hallway towards Edith's hiding spot. Bonnie calls out her name softly, smiling as she catches his wrist in her hand as he passes her, pulling him into her hiding place.

"Managed to sneak out." He whispers, taking her in his arms gently. "Your brothers are talking strategies with my dad." Edith shivers involuntarily, not against the cold but more the fear that was rising in her.

"You have to go with them?" She asks quietly, Bonnie nodding in response. "Can't you stay with me again?"

"Not this time princess. It's all hands on deck." He replies gently

"Then I can come too." She says suddenly, pulling back in his arms to look him in the eye.

"No Edith." Bonnie states, pulling her closer again. "You're staying here." She sighs, collapsing into his arms.

"I'm scared Bonnie." Edith whispers, clutching handfuls of his shirt in her fists. He shushes her softly, running one hand through her hair, the other rubbing her back. They eventually break their embrace, realising they needed to get back to the living room before anyone noticed how long they'd been gone. Edith leans up to press a desperate kiss to Bonnie's lips before making their way back to the living room, slipping back in unnoticed.

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"Where did you and Bonnie go?" Ada asks quietly after the men had left, Edith curled up under her arm on the sofa they were sharing.

"Hmm?" Edith responds sleepily, blinking you at her sister.

"You and Bonnie. Don't even try to hide it Edith," Ada states, lifting Edith's chin with her fingers. "I can see it in your eyes." Edith sighs, her head falling back on to her sister's chest.

"We were in the hallway."

"Doing what?" Her sister questions, Edith glances up to make sure no one was listening. Satisfied that her sister-in-laws were definitely asleep and not eavesdropping on their conversation before continuing.

"Just talking." She says softly, relaxing in her sister's arms.

"Out there?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I wanted to talk to him in private." Edith responds. Ada hums and nods, considering the best way to approach the conversation of asking her sister what was going on between the two teens. The last thing the family needed that night was the youngest Shelby losing her temper, the two best people to calm her being out, goodness knows where, fighting an enemy.

"Are you...?" Edith cuts her off with a shrug before Ada can finish her question, knowing what the question was going to be.

"I don't really know." She replies quietly, twirling the rings on her fingers.

"But you want to be with him." Ada says, more of a statement than a question.

Edith nods slowly. "I do."

Ada sits in silence for a while, running her fingers through Edith's hair. "What's he like?"

"He's lovely. So sweet. And loving. He's fun Ada. So much fun to be around. We can just sit and talk and laugh for hours." Edith says with a smile, glancing up to see her sister's reaction. "I'd like to get to know him more though, better. I feel like I'm just barely touching the surface of who he his."

"It sounds like you really like him." Ada comments with a smile of her own. "You'll have to tell the boys."

"Not yet." She interrupts "Please Ada. I want to get to know him more first. See where this is going." Ada nods

"You'll have to stop sneaking off then," she chides. "Or they'll catch on, quicker than you want them to."

"Like you and Freddie?"

"It was different with me and Freddie," Ada replies with a sigh. "We weren't careful, we didn't think things through properly. Not like you will." Edith nods, sitting for a moment longer in silence, Ada reminiscing on her time with Freddie.

"But you approve?" Edith asks quietly, holding her breath for Ada's response.

"Of course I do!" Ada says "just be careful, yeah? And for goodness sake, tell the boys soon. You're not very good at hiding that smile around Bonnie anyway." Edith groans with a grin, hiding her face in Ada's side as the two sisters hold back laughs to refrain from waking the other women.