CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

               FELICITY AWOKE BEFORE THE man beside her did and for this she was glad, because it gave her the realisation that he held in his features a softened expression. . . one that was not hard and did not include him clenching his teeth as he went about his day. This Tommy was different: more relaxed. This was a Tommy she had hardly seen before. She would never completely understand the inner workings of the Shelby patriarch, Felicity knew that, yet seeing him in a more vulnerable state whilst he slept at least brought her closer to knowing the slightest bit more about the raven-haired man.

And yet she also knew it wouldn't last ― knew that eventually, he would rise from his slumber to reign over the streets of Small Heath once again.

But as of right now, Felicity Woods did not care for the future. She cared for the man that slept next to her, for each and every breath that exited his lungs with the gentle rise and fall of his chest. She cared for Thomas Shelby ― patriarch of the Shelby clan, shockingly ruthless head of the razor gang ― and there was not a single fact in the world that shocked her more than this one.

She left the room as quietly as she could and padded down the stairs, hardly expecting anyone to be up at that time. As it happened, Polly was sat at the table with only the newspaper in front of her as her company, and she glanced up in surprise to see the blonde Woods girl standing before her.

"Thomas didn't mention you were staying the night," she remarked without a single expression giving away her emotions.

"Nothing happened, Polly," the girl reassured her sheepishly.

Polly let out a breathy laugh and in turn, she assured Felicity that she hardly cared what happened and that she should probably go back and return to rest. . . and so relief flooded through Felicity as she made her way back up the stairs.

She slipped back between the sheets as she caught sight of the still slumbering man beside her. Wriggled beneath the covers, attempted to pull them over her shivering shoulders without waking Tommy and sighed, wishing that sleep would take hold of her once again so that she might rest for even the shortest amount of time before the day's events came around.

Barely five minutes later did she feel the warmth of his touch as he snaked an arm around her waist, gently pulling her further towards his side of the bed.

"Morning," she heard him murmur, his voice husky from only just awakening.

Felicity returned the greeting with her eyes still half-closed as she prayed to any god out there that they might be able to stay like this forever, bodies intertwined as they attempted to protect one another from the wintery chill but instead only succeeded in shivering beneath the thin sheets together.

"G'morning."

And that was how they remained for the next twenty or so minutes — breathing in gentle synchronisation as they tried to keep the last few moments of sleep from being ripped from their grasp. Eventually, she turned onto her other side and their lips met briefly before she settled back to meet his gaze.

"Can't we stay like this forever?" Felicity whispered, taking her hand and drawing soft swirls around the Romani sun that had been inked upon his skin. Round and around and around the tip of her finger drew as though controlled by no one, simply moving slowly and slightly, outlining each individual stroke of midnight ink.

"Maybe if you asked the world, it would stop, just for us," he murmured in return, kissing the top of her head with a soft smile.

"Maybe," Felicity repeated, her words hushed as she tugged the sheets further over her shoulders in another attempt to stop the chill from spreading over them, yet such an attempt was feeble and half-hearted because of her half-woke, worn daze.

The time for Tommy to arise came far sooner than she had wanted it to and Felicity repressed a sigh, for she knew that eventually they would have to leave one another's warmth and get on with their days: him to play as though he was King, and her to wait behind a bar for the usual lunchtime visitors as she kept her time entertained by listening to Grace's idle chatter.

She rose from the mattress before he did and busied herself with changing quietly as he attempted to sleep for even a short while longer. His restful nature got the better of him and soon he followed suit, buttoning his trousers and pulling on a shirt.

"I'll see you later, eh?"

Felicity nodded in confirmation and she reached up onto her tiptoes to plant a soft kiss upon his lips before scurrying from the room, knowing that if she remained there for any longer, distraction would take its hold and her unwillingness to leave would only grow.

So she left, choosing to ignore the memory of the fireworks that had exploded in her stomach each and every time they made contact. Felicity Woods decided that for the day, she would get on with it as she normally would, for God help her if the emotions took control and she was left to function in all of its chaos.

⎯

               Tommy entered the pub at precisely the moment the small brass clock chimed for seven, and approached the bar with nothing more but a nod of greeting to the rest of the building's present inhabitants that passed him.

"Can I get a bottle of whiskey and two glasses?" Tommy asked absent-mindedly, glancing first at the two barmaids before him before his eyes flicked anxiously towards the door that he had just entered from. 

"Expecting company?" Felicity asked, out of the curiosity that had emerged at the sight of his  behaviour.

Tommy dragged his gaze away from the door and met hers reluctantly. "Hmm?"

At the realisation that he was choosing to play the ignorant one for once, she huffed out her impatience with a heavy blow of breath. "Don't," she said, her voice ringing with warning. 

Before Felicity could ridicule him anymore, the doors that his gaze had once been fixated upon only moments earlier burst open and she felt her heart drop to the floor with a heavy thud. Smartly dressed with a cold cloud of disdain swirling amongst his hazel irises, there was not any doubt just who this new arrival was. 

"Tommy, that's. . . that's my brother," Felicity began to stammer under her breath, and her hand instinctively reached across the bar for his arm in an attempt to gain his attention as well as for some sense of security. 

"I know."

She blinked up at him, confusion surging through her as she wondered just what on earth he was playing at. "You have already talked with my father," Felicity pointed out, words hushed. "James hasn't any reason to be here. . . what do you want with him?"

"He wanted to talk. I just agreed to his proposal to talk here," was all Tommy answered with.

Felicity forced the groan that was beginning to build at the back of her throat to retreat, away from her lips. All of her previous anxiety was now gone and had been replaced with annoyance. "Tommy, he's won't just want to talk. He'll want something else, something more. Woods men never want one thing and you aren't stupid, so surely you can see that?"

The man rolled his eyes. "Leave me be, Felicity, please," he requested gently. 

In return, her jaw only clenched tighter as she bit out her response. "Like hell I will!" 

He sighed at her difficulty. 

"It'll only end unpleasantly if you're involved in a conversation between me and your brother," Tommy pointed out. "You said it yourself ― he wants something more. I'll keep it short between us because believe me, there cannot be much that both him and I can agree to. Just stay out here, don't pull yourself into any trouble and it'll all be over before you know it." 

At the sight of her beginning to object, he tried once more to prevent these words from spilling from her lips. "Please, Lis."

Felicity pulled a face. "You're an impossible man," she sighed as she regarded him with a frown of disapproval, to which he laughed at shortly. 

"So I've been told."

And so came Felicity's turn to laugh. Unbeknown to her, the man before her was surprised to come to the realisation that there was not a more beautiful sound in the world, and thus with this came his overwhelming tide of subtle adoration for the girl. Not that she would have guessed, for he merely reached out for the glasses and took the neck of the bottle in his hand as well, sending her one final soft smile before turning around, greeting the new man and leading James Woods towards the snug without another word.

All Felicity could do was sigh with the hopes that everything would go just as well as he had promised they would.

⎯

              "Let me just say one thing, Polly." 

Felicity was not drunk. Or rather, she refused to admit that she just might be on the verge of drinking too much and if anyone so much as questioned this, she would be sure to loudly declare that she most certainly was not drunk. Merely tipsy, as she put it. 

Polly Gray sat at the table in the snug with a cigarette clutched between her index and middle finger: a small, unfinished glass of sparkling alcohol situated in front of her.

"When the day comes that your nephew stops encouraging worrisome situations to run headfirst at him, that'll be the day when I know I can die peacefully."

At this, the older woman laughed as she took a drag from the object between her fingers, and when the smoke had been expelled out into the room, she turned to regard the younger of the two with a curious expression warming her chocolate brown irises. 

"Thomas has met his match, has he?" Polly said in amusement. 

Felicity shook her head and took to swirling her glass around and around and around so that the liquid sloshed about inside. "Who knows?"  She returned humorously, meeting Polly's gaze and shrugging. "If he has, there isn't any likelihood of him admitting it."

The doors flung open and in walked the auburn-haired brother alongside John, banter spilling from their lips until they halted at the sight of the two women. 

"Are you talking about us?" John accused, raising an eyebrow at the blonde girl who only shrugged in return. 

"Stop talking about us when we aren't even in the room!" John complained whiningly as he took the seat in the corner opposite Felicity, .

Felicity responded in laughter. "You sound as though you're a couple of eager schoolboys."

Both men chose to, for once, ignore her quip and instead Arthur tipped his head back with a murky bottle to his lips, whilst John only readjusted the toothpick that seemed to be forever bitten between his teeth. Yet Felicity found herself hardly paying attention to the two as Tommy had slipped through the doors and into the chair beside her.

"Evening," she greeted him with a giddy smile taking over her features unconsciously, and she had no way of preventing it from growing upon her lips.

He met this with a soft smile of his own before turning to Polly. "She's drunk?" Tommy questioned, his tone patently half serious and half bemused.

"Like a skunk," his aunt returned, laughing.

Felicity sat up at this, . "I most definitely am not!" She argued profusely, narrowing her eyes as though the woman had betrayed her. 

Tommy laughed before taking her hand and pulling her closer towards him. "Come 'ere," he sighed, so that their chairs were touching. And yet, Felicity found herself wishing to be closer, longing for the man of whom she loved.

And in the earlier hours of the next morning, it was this man that awoke first, hearing the shovels pummel up against the wall and the memories of the war flooding back through his veins. He woke with a start and sat up, heavy breathing rattling his lungs as he gasped for air, pleaded for life to continue to move through his veins. 

Felicity soon stirred at the sudden, abrupt movement. "Tommy?" She murmured, the syllables slurred with sleep. 

Tommy's heart continued to thud loudly but now, the fear had morphed into soft guilt racked it as he realised he had awoken the girl. "It's alright," he whispered in hushed confirmation. "We're alright." Spoken in the hopes of soothing her back to sleep, but in reality, it came out as more of a reassurance to himself. A sigh escaped her lips as she agreed to his words and fell back into her gentle rhythm of slumber. 

Tommy took in the woman beside him with affection as she now continued slept peacefully; yet he did not move any more, and instead settled back underneath the sheets next to her, the steady rise and fall of her gentle breathing calming him just enough to sink back into sleep. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE

okay i'm never deleting this gif
because   it's so much effort to
make them and then change them
on each chapter like no thank you.
anyway school starts on monday
and i'm going to cry cry cry