August1914
"Tommy...we need to go..."
He ignored Arthur, too busy saying goodbye to his little sister and her best friend. Arthur was ready to go to war, to make their father proud. The father who hadn't even bothered to show up and see them off. The father who was likely drunk somewhere and hiding from his own summons to war.
Tommy wasn't ready to go.
"Be good, Ada, alright?" Tommy wiped a tear from Ada's cheek and then looked up at Polly, who was standing behind both girls holding Finn, "Make sure she's good, yeah?"
"We'll be fine," Polly nodded, although without the usual sureness in her voice.
"And you, Soph..." before Tommy could say anything else, Sophie flung her arms around him in a hug, her hands running over the woolen fabric of his khaki uniform.
"Here..." She pulled away and yanked hard at the necklace she had worn since she had arrived in Small Heath, and for years before that. It was a thin gold chain with a small ruby, so small it was almost like a pinprick of blood, set it gold and dangling from it as a charm. It had been passed down in her family and it was the only real thing of value she had.
She handed it to Tommy, willing him with her eyes to take it, "So that you have to come back safe and give it back to me when you do."
There was such a commotion around them of all the young men in Small Heath flooding the main street and saying their own goodbyes, that Sophie's request almost got lost in the chaos. But Tommy understood.
He took the necklace and promised her he would come back. He tried to his best to memorize how she looked, how they all looked. His family. In case he never saw them again.
"We'll write, promise, now let's go!" John picked up his duffle bag and stepped onto the caravan closest to them. Sophie reached for Tommy's hand and squeezed her eyes shut as the tears started to come after he pulled away and joined his brothers.
~o0o~
"You aren't coming inside?" Sophie asked Tommy when she stepped towards the door of the Shelby home, and he let go of her hand. It was half past one in the morning, and they had spent the last hour kissing under the shadows of the bridge.
He shook his head, "Best if I don't. I've been finding there's too much temptation in this house lately."
The glimmer in his eye only served to make her heart skip a few more beats. She reached out her hand again, but he was firm on the subject. There had been a night recently when he had walked past her door on the way to his cramped bedroom in the home and heard her sigh his name so indecently, that he knew he wouldn't be able to get an ounce of rest there going forward. The flat he kept a few blocks away would have to do.
He watched her reach into her coat pocket for the key, feeling guilty that he had kept her out so late, "You'll follow my lead on this?"
This had to be theirs and theirs alone for the time being. He trusted her. Wanted her. And so he needed to keep her safe.
Sophie offered him a small smile and wished him goodnight in response, quietly opening the door that led straight into the kitchen. She didn't see Arthur or John's coats hanging in the hallway and figured they must still be at The Garrison. Still, she could feel that someone was in the room.
"Who walked you home?"
Sophie turned in the direction of the voice and saw Polly in one of the high-backed chairs in the sitting room adjacent to the kitchen. Little Henry was sleeping soundly on her chest.
"Tommy." Sophie answered, taking off her own coat and then moving closer to the woman, bending down in a silent offer to take Henry and deposit him into his crib upstairs.
"Sophie, do you know how much I care for you?" Polly asked and even in the semi-darkness of the room, the woman's eyes sought for something. There used to be so much more affection in the Shelby family, so much more openness of feeling. She supposed it died with the boys while they were in the trenches.
Polly held on to the love she was still able to show to Finn, to John's children, to Ada in her own way, and to Sophie. She never wanted the young woman standing in front of her to ever feel unloved or alone.
"You've always treated me with deep kindness, Polly, like a mum." Sophie nodded, her heart racing despite the gentleness of Polly's words, feeling there was something unsaid hanging over them.
"Did you know I had children of my own?" Polly wondered and Sophie shook her head, "A boy and a girl. Taken from me when they were very young. You remind me of my girl in many ways, Sophie. Intuitive. Intelligent. Believing there is more good than bad in people."
Sophie ducked her head to kiss Henry's and avoid her gaze as she continued, "So I want you to know that you can tell me anything, Sophie."
She wondered if it was just a mother's instinct to know when a child was keeping something from them, no matter how old they were.
"I..." Sophie hesitated and her decision to speak was made for her when Henry woke up and started crying in her arms, "I'll out him to bed. G'night."
~o0o~
Tommy was exhausted, but it was the type of exhaustion that came from knowing he had worked for what he wanted and achieved it.
As he sat at his desk, his mind flicked through the events of the past week, his sense of time book ended by when he had kissed Sophie, as if that was his new beginning.
Although they hadn't kissed since, he had wanted to in a desperate way that made him feel quite out of his mind. Remembering the feeling of her mouth against his entered his thoughts nearly every moment of the day, but business called him elsewhere. He'd had a meeting in Birmingham with Kimber, who bestowed upon the Peaky Blinders the paperwork for their first legal betting pitch. He'd also had a tense meeting with Inspector Campbell, where he did offer up the names and locations of several known Communists still in Small Heath as a consolation for not bringing him Freddie.
And that was because he truly did not know where the fuck Freddie and Ada were, and even if he did, he now had a compelling reason in Sophie not to give them up.
He had also started to bring Grace into the fold, albeit keeping her on the very edge, inviting her only to the Blinder's Wednesday morning business meeting in the betting den and introducing her as a courier and informant. He had already asked her to run a few simple errands to see if he could trust her before he asked her to do the task he really needed from her, and so far she had been willing, thorough, and unobtrusive.
But the most remarkable thing had been how clear his head had been since he had kissed Sophie. He had slept better than usual, hadn't needed to find solace in his pipe, and felt that he was once again in control of the Blinders and every aspect of the business. And his plan for dealing with the Lees was working out as intended as well.
And if he had such clarity from one kiss with her, from not hiding what he really wanted, he didn't ever want what he was feeling to end. He knew, though, that he would have to tread carefully.
Tommy had John and Arthur too busy at the moment to notice, and if his current plans worked out, John would be even more distracted in the near future. Ada wasn't around, so that only left Polly, and the few times he had seen her that week, she had looked right through him with such intensity that he felt like a small child again. If she didn't already suspect something had changed between he and Sophie, she would soon.
He just had to stall that inevitability for as long as possible until he figured a few more things out.
"Sophie, can I see you in my office?" He kept his voice as even as possible as he asked, stepping out into the betting den and looking around at Scudboat smoking in the corner, Nipper taking down a bet for a regular, and Sophie bent over their accounting books at her desk. He suppressed a smile when her eyes turned towards him, and she nodded.
He was thankful for the frosted glass of his office door, as it afforded some privacy when he was finally alone with her.
"You've been busy," She said, taking a seat on the chair across from his desk.
"Lately, I've been finding that if I want something done right, I need to do it myself." He absently moved his fountain pen from one side of the desk to the other and straightened it parallel to the edge, "Sophie, I think at this point if there is something you want to say to me you should feel comfortable saying it."
He could tell she was nervous, and he didn't blame her. The last time they had spoken was the night they had kissed, and he told her to follow his lead. She had been incredibly patient considering he hadn't yet given her a lead to follow.
"You are the one that called me into your office."
He smiled, "So we could be alone."
"You don't have anything to say to me?"
"Oh, I do. But I'm much more curious to know what is on your mind." He watched a patch of skin delicately flicker near her collarbone as her heart started to beat faster.
"Tommy, are you ever going to kiss me again, or was that..."
He left his desk chair and circled around so that he was standing in front of her, his back towards the door so that if anyone was looking, all they would see would be his hazy silhouette, "Sophie, I'm hoping to do so much more than kiss you," He told her, disappointed in himself that he had left any doubt in her mind about his feelings for her.
He bent down and captured her lips against his. They were just as sweet and curious as the first time.
"I hope that answers your question?"
He couldn't get enough of how her long eyelashes brushed against the apples of her cheeks when she enjoyed that moment of pleasure, "I'm satisfied for now. What was it that you were going to tell me?"
Tommy straightened, "I remembered that you don't like surprises and I wanted to warn you that John has something along those lines planned for this Saturday evening for your birthday. It's just at The Garrison, but try to enjoy yourself. I have some business that evening but will be there before the night it over."
"Will you?"
"Sophie, I wouldn't miss it."
~o0o~
Grace surreptitiously poured herself a drink to keep under the bar. She knew no one would notice, and she felt somewhat entitled to the Shelby's whiskey, since she wasn't getting much else from them.
And then she watched.
Watching was all she was doing lately. And waiting for the right moment. A moment she wasn't quite sure of. Would she know when it came? She promised inspector Campbell she was getting somewhere now that Tommy was starting to trust her with work outside of The Garrison. And her errands, which were either to follow someone for an afternoon and take notes for Tommy on where they went, or deliver correspondence, had actually amassed her a running list of Blinder associates that the police hadn't been tracking. It was progress.
But she was making none on the guns. Clearly, Tommy and his brothers were keeping that close to their chests. There was only one avenue that she needed to pursue further and that was gaining information from Sophie.
And Grace knew she hadn't been overly friendly with the girl. She had to try harder. To understand what her weaknesses were and somehow...
"Another for the birthday girl!" Arthur tapped his fingers impatiently on the bar, drawing Grace out of her own head and back into the moment. She reached for one of the expensive champagne bottles in an ice bucket and poured a bubbling glass to hand to the eldest Shelby brother. He was gone as quick as he came, back to the young woman who was the center of attention in the pub.
John had closed the pub to the public for the evening and it only held two dozen people now, the Shelby's and their closest associates, to celebrate Sophie's eighteenth birthday. There were two notable absences, though - Ada Shelby, and Tommy.
The entirety of the evening seemed a bit more self-serving towards the Blinders getting rip-roaring drunk, but the girl seemed to be enjoying it all the same, laughing with John and being spun about the middle of the room, most of the chairs pushed to the side, in time to the music being played rather poorly by Jeremiah, the local street priest and friend of the family, on the piano.
Ducking down to take a sip from her whiskey glass, Grace's stomach lurched with a longing that she had tried repeatedly to push away at times like these. She was lonely, having lived this double life for months with no one to go home to at the end of the day, no one to talk to. She didn't have this family. She didn't think it possible for her to carry inside of her the joy Sophie exuded.
She was so jealous.
Grace noted that even Polly seemed to be enjoying herself, having taken her hair down and giggling about something in a way that made the formidable woman seem years younger.
The evening was so lively, that when Tommy walked into the pub hours late, his presence didn't change any of the merriment in the room, as Grace had observed it often did. Tommy's expression was unlike anything she had ever seen it. When he walked over to her at the bar, he was smiling.
She had seen the corners of his lips tug up in amusement before. Saw him sometimes smirk or curl his lips up just to be polite as needed. But she had never seen him smile like that. It pulled at his eyes and cheekbones so pleasantly that she couldn't help but stare.
Grace was terribly, inconveniently attracted to him. Had been since the moment she met him. She supposed she was one of dozens of women in Small Heath with the same fantasies of Tommy Shelby knocking around in their heads. Had to be.
"You don't have to stay behind the bar, Grace. You're welcome to celebrate with us." He told her when he approached, and she poured him a generous glass of whiskey, "You're one of us. So come on then, at least a song?"
"One song." Grace conceded. She didn't have the strength to refuse him and that smile. So she found herself standing next to the piano, singing a jaunty tune and proud of the way her voice captured the attention of everyone in the pub for that moment, especially Tommy, who was usually looking at someone else lately.
It had been clear to Grace for weeks now that Tommy had a deep infatuation with Sophie. Because she was so used to watching, she saw the looks of longing, lust, and reverence that crossed his face anytime Sophie was in his proximity. And she had been so certain the desire was one-sided.
But as she finished her song and the pub erupted in applause for her, she kept her eyes on Tommy and Sophie and came to the stunning realization that Sophie seemed to be just as in love with him as he was of her. She watched Tommy dip his head to whisper something in the girls' ear, and she looked up at him with a smile, her cheeks flushed petal pink.
Grace certainly hadn't expected that. And that changed everything.
~o0o~
Fifteen minutes 'til midnight, Tommy led Sophie out the back door of the The Garrison and out into the cool night air behind the building. It wasn't the most romantic spot, but they would be alone for a moment together and that was all he wanted. Grace had been cajoled into singing another song, and that had been enough to keep eyes off of them as they ducked outside together.
"Have you been enjoying your birthday?" He tucked a piece of her hair back behind her ear.
"I've never had a birthday quite like this." She leaned against him. John and Arthur had tried their best to increase her alcohol tolerance since she had returned to Small Heath, but she had lost track of the amount of champagne she had imbibed, and it made her a bit unsteady.
"I have something for you," He reached into his coat pocket for the small black boxed he had picked up earlier that day in the city and handed it to her.
And he waited for the moment of understanding when she opened it, watched her eyebrows twitch in confusion and then her face light up. He let go the breath he was holding, hoping she hadn't forgotten. Because he hadn't forgotten.
She gently lifted the jewelry from the velvet lined boxed and turned it over in her hands. In the sneaky way time passes, she had forgotten that she had given Tommy her necklace the day he left to go to war. She had remembered for a few years, hoping it would bring him comfort, but life went on, and she with it, and the little ruby necklace slipped from her mind.
But now, it was back. And he was back in the same way she knew him then. The ruby pendant was on a gold bracelet now, and next to it, the new addition of a solid gold charm in the shape of a horse.
"I made you a promise, didn't I? All those years ago? Just took me a bit longer to make good on it." His eyes searched hers and found what he hoped for. Happiness. Because of him.
Sophie looked up at him as he reached for the bracelet to put it around her wrist. It was not just making good on a promise from her youth, but of so much more. There were a dozen empty links on the bracelet that held promises of what could become of them. For them together.
"Happy Birthday," he whispered against her lips before he kissed her, pulling her into him and savoring the taste of her that he had quickly become addicted to. Her hand ran up his waistcoat, searching for the heat of his skin and his hands moved down her body over the fabric of her dress, wanting so much more than he could have in that moment.
"Tommy, please..." Sophie whispered and it almost broke him, but he gently put some distance between them and dropped a kiss on her forehead.
"Soon, alright?" He made her promise him that she would enjoy the rest of her night, get as drunk as she could, and feel no obligation to come into the office in the morning. As he watched her slip back into the pub without him, he almost regretted not giving in to what they both so clearly wanted.
She didn't deserve to have her first time against the back wall of The Garrison. Sophie deserved so much more. And he would give that to her.