𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐓 𝐆𝐎
chapter 3

When Harvey woke the next morning, nobody was in the house but Ada. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, looking at Ada through the open doors to the kitchen. She was pouring a cup of tea.

He got up from the couch and walked in to join her. "Morning, Ada." He fretted. She jumped ever so slightly. "Oh, good morning." She breathed. "Cup of tea?"

Harvey nodded once. "Please."

Ada poured him a cup and he held his hands around the glass. "Thank you." He said genuinely. Ada sat opposite him and he began thinking. "Ada," he began.

She looked up from her cup and waited for him to talk.

Harvey felt his mouth go dry and nerves crept up on him. "What are your plans for tonight?" He asked. Ada looked away to think before shaking her head. "Nothing." She replied. Harvey tapped his fingers on the table anxiously. "How would you feel about going out for a few drinks? Me and you?" He asked unsurely.

Ada forced herself to keep a relaxed look on her face as she almost choked on her tea. "I'd love to." She said honestly.

Harvey smiled slightly and nodded. "Let's say it's a thank you for last night."

She shook her head. "That was nothing, Harvey." She excused. Harvey noticed the way her face had grown a light red colour. She then met his eyes quickly when hearing the front door close. "You can't tell any of them—" she whispered to him.

He frowned and looked over his shoulder to see Tommy walk into the house.

Once he closed over the doors to the betting den, Harvey turned back to her. "You know the rule, Harvey." She whispered to him. "I'm off limits to any man who works for my brothers."

Realisation dawned on him and it was evident across his features.

"They don't need to know," he said with a friendly smirk. "Come on, Ada. It'll be fun. I know this one bar down by the train station. The music is amazing, you'll love it. Me and John go there all the time."

"How do you know what i'll love?" Ada played.

Harvey shrugged. "I'm takin' a guess, Shelby." He teased. "But how could I know unless you came with me to see for yourself?"

Ada looked away, a wide smile on her face. "Fine." She gave in. "I'll have to sneak out though. Polly can see straight through me so there'll be no fooling her if she asks where i'm off to." Ada said.

Harvey's face fell. "Seriously?" He asked. "What're you gonna do, climb the drainpipe?" He joked.

She just looked at him.

"You'll climb the drainpipe?" He asked seriously. Ada nodded. "I used to do it all the time during the war. Aunt Pol would go mad." She laughed to herself. "I'd never listen to her, though. I would sneak out and get away with it more than she knows."

"That isn't something to be proud of, Ada." Harvey reminded her, a smile still obvious on his lips.

Ada shrugged. "I think it's rather impressive. Getting past Aunt Pol and not having her know? That woman has eyes in the back of her head."

"She probably knows." Harvey offered. "She probably just gave up telling you off."

"Well, yeah. There's that too." Ada raised her brows.

—

Harvey stood outside, the cold nipping at his face as he stood below Ada's window, patiently smoking a cigarette. His eyes shot up toward the window as she slid it open, peering out and waving at him.

"There you are— I thought you weren't gonna show." He said truthfully. Ada scoffed and looked behind her for a moment before swinging her leg over the edge carefully.

Harvey walked forward, ready to offer her a hand if she needed it.

Ada concentrated as she held onto the drainpipe to lower herself down onto the stone wall. "Do you need any help?" He asked, looking up at her.

Ada shook her head but suddenly she paused. "Actually— yes please." She whispered. Harvey stepped forward and reached up for her. She placed two hands on his shoulders and he gently held her waist, lifting her from the wall.

Ada held her breath as he did so and only released it when he placed her on his feet.

"Right then, Miss Shelby. Shall we get going?" He asked, jokingly offering her his arm. She laughed. "We shall, Mr Ellis." She mocked his tone and took his arm.

They began walking through Small Heath, lowering their heads when passing somebody that could be a Blinder. "This is fun—" Ada whisper shouted at him, still holding onto his arm.

He looked down at her and nodded. "Won't be fun when your brothers take my eyes for being out with you." He joked.

"Oh, don't say that. It isn't funny." She scolded.

Harvey shook his head, entertained at her reaction.

"You know, I always wondered when you'd actually talk to me." Harvey admitted to her as they got to the pub. He placed a hand on her lower back and sat at a table. Ada frowned. "What do you mean?" She asked, her accent particularly strong.

"Well, i've worked for your brothers for months now. And, I've been John's best mate since school. I thought you'd have spoken to me sooner." Harvey said.

Ada leaned on her fist. "Maybe I was waiting for you to talk to me. Did you ever think about that?"

Harvey stood. "I wasn't sure if a girl like you would want a boy like me to talk to you." He said before going to the bar to get her a drink. Ada let the comment settle in before thinking in confusion.

He soon returned with a whiskey for himself and a gin and tonic for Ada.

"How did you know that I drink gin?"

"I see you at the Garrison, Ada." He said, sitting down again. Ada took a sip of the gin and was quick to wince at how strong it was. "Bloody hell—" She coughed into her hand.

Harvey waited to see if she was okay, his drink hovering by his lips. He only took a sip when she began laughing out of embarrassment.

Once she settled down, Ada took a breath. "What did you mean a boy like you?" She went back to his previous comment. Harvey shrugged. "Well you're the princess of the Shelby family and i'm just someone who works for them." He said.

"You're the same boy who has almost every girl in Small Heath fussing over him." She told him. He raised an eyebrow in response. "Don't tell me you haven't heard what they say about you."

"What do they say about me, Ada?" He bit back his grin.

"You have a face of an angel." She sighed. Harvey sipped his whiskey. "I know what they say. I just wanted to hear you say it too." He teased. Ada's mouth fell open.

He began laughing to himself and Ada just shook her head, unable to contain her smile.

The pair had always known of each other, of course. It's just they never found an opportunity to talk to one another. Especially not with the stupid rule of being a Peaky Blinder. Harvey would've made his move a long time ago if it hadn't had been for that rule.

"You were right." Ada spoke over the noise. "About the music— it's amazing."

At this point, they were both many drinks in and definitely on their way to being drunk. "I don't lie, Ada. I never lie." He said.

"What if my brothers find out about this, Harvey?" It dawned on Ada again that they would definitely not be happy if they were to find out. Harvey finished off his whiskey. "I'm not scared of them." He said honestly.

"Everyone's scared of them, Harvey."

"I'm not everyone." Harvey stared at her.

Ada felt a strange feeling in her stomach. Butterflies one might say. But Ada had never felt that toward anyone.

"Will you dance with me, Ada Shelby?" He offered her a hand. She looked at it and automatically took it, pulling herself up and letting him lead her to where everybody had been dancing to the music.

He began spinning her around and she couldn't help but laugh. She hadn't had this much fun in a while. Harvey was gentle and truly what everybody described him to be. When the spinning stopped, he placed a respectful hand on her lower back to steady her.

Ada danced like she had never danced before and was just being the girl she would have been all those years ago if the men hadn't gone to war.

Harvey held Ada's hand and spun her out quickly before bringing her back in.

Her back was against his chest and she breathed heavily, glancing up at him. And it seemed to go... silent for a few moments. Like it was just them in the pub. Ada's chest rose up and down quickly and Harvey's eyes darted across her face. He noticed the way she had light freckles dusted across her face and her lips were a deep shade of pink.

Then the music filled their senses again and Harvey took her back to the table, loosely gripping her hand.

"I think it's time we get back, don't you?" He cleared his throat and began feeling afraid that he had overstepped.

Ada rolled her eyes and pulled his golden time piece from his pocket. "My brothers would still be at the Garrison at this time. They won't be home for at least two more hours." She said.

Harvey took a deep breath, knowing that whatever came out of his mouth was out of his control. The alcohol that rushed through his system would make his decisions for him.

"You can come back to mine. I'm sure I have a bottle of whiskey somewhere." He offered.

—

Ada was giggling on their way back to Harvey's house. To what? None of them knew. He had to keep an arm around her as they walked due to her lack of ability to walk in a straight line.

"Alright, you'll have to be quiet." He whispered, helping her inside and closing the door. "Although I get the feeling my dad isn't home." He showed her to the living room and left her to go and check that Leyland indeed wasn't home. He placed two glasses on the small table beside the couch and poured them halfway with whiskey.

"You don't have a girlfriend." Ada stated.

Harvey paused. "No— no, I don't." He said, slightly confused. "Why? You have all these girls who are definitely interested in you." Ada brought up again, eyeing him suspiciously.

Harvey shrugged. "I don't know any of them." He said. "None of them try and talk to me— just whisper when I pass them in the street." He added. Despite the drink that sat in their hands, they had began sobering up. Both of them. "I've never had a boyfriend," Ada told him, "Arthur used to scare all the boys away." She said, replaying those times in her head.

"Brothers are like that. They'll do whatever to protect you."

"I thought you didn't have any siblings," Ada put the glass down, deciding she didn't want any more alcohol.

Harvey leaned back and sighed, the glass still half full in his hand. "No, but your brothers show me what it's like to have them— well, maybe not John. He's different. Always has been." He said, his eyes focusing on the table as his mouth grew dry whilst speaking of the Shelby boy. "There was this time in school when some lads followed me home because of a game of football. And John had seen— followed after them and told them to fuck off."

"And did they?"

Harvey nodded slowly. "They didn't come near me again."

"John is the best of a bad bunch," Ada joked, "he actually has a heart." She said. Harvey looked at her. She sat back on the couch, slipping her shoes off and bringing her knees to her chest.

"John's the only friend i've had, really." He hummed.

And then it went silent. They just looked at each other, whatever alcohol that was left in their system rushed through them causing their hearts to pound. Ada's lips parted and her breath hitched. Harvey's gaze darted from her lips to her eye and then back again.

Ada inched closer, her eyes fluttering closed and she paused as she was a mere distance away from his face. Harvey looked at her lips.

He gently tucked her hair behind her ear and cupped her jaw. Ada was the one to lean in and place her lips on his. Despite the build up, Harvey was slightly taken aback by the action. But he didn't pull away. He just leaned back as Ada carefully pushed him away, not breaking the kiss.

He wouldn't have done this sober.

Ada threw her leg over and began straddling him. Harvey's hand fell to her hip and the kiss grew slightly aggressive as adrenaline raced through them.

"Your brothers—" Harvey began.

Ada shook her head and pulled back. "Fuck the lot of them." She grinned before kissing him again.

He felt like he was betraying John — in so many ways.

—

Ada sat on the edge of the couch as she fixed her dress. Harvey was stood, fumbling with his shirt buttons as he tried to get it back on. Ada stared at her feet, a satisfied smile on her lips.

"Shit—" Harvey rushed to dig through the pocket of his suit jacket to pull out his time piece. "Ada it's almost one in the morning," he told her. Her eyes widened and she grabbed her coat, shrugging it over her shoulders and slipping on her shoes. Before she went to the door, she turned, not realising how close he had been stood to her meaning their bodies were almost touching now that she was facing him.

Ada looked up to meet his gaze. "Are you working tomorrow?"

Harvey shook his head with his lips pursed into a line. "I'll be working on Friday, though." He said.

Ada nodded and leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"Can I walk you home?" He asked. Ada thought for a moment. "If they see, they'll know." She said. Harvey put his hands into his pockets. "At least let me walk you to the corner," he offered.

Ada playfully rolled her eyes. "If you must."

chapter 3
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