This ain't the Place for Good Girls - (inspired by The Peaky Blinders)

Things Happen at Night

I kept looking out the window expecting a police officer to arrive at any minute. But as the evening arrived, I saw Will walk across the street in a new coat. He looked up at my window and caught my eye. I quietly made my way downstairs and opened the front door. I showed Will inside and led him to my room, hoping Ruby wouldn't hear. I showed him inside and closed the door behind him. Then I pointed at a cup by the window.

"Do you want something, tea, whiskey? I can go downstairs to get something" I said and looked at Will. He was examining the room and shook his head.

"No". I opened my mouth as if to say something while taking a step towards the door, but he just shook his head.

"I don't think I've seen you like this" He said and smirked. I looked at him questioning.

"Like how?" I said and examined him. He narrowed his eyebrows as if he wasn't sure himself of what he meant.

"I don't know. Vulnerable" he said and kept examining me. I walked over to the window and looked outside, still worried that the police would come.

"Is it a bad thing?" I said and looked at him. He shook his head and walked closer to me.

"No, just new" He was standing just a few inches from me now and I could hear him breathing. He looked around the room and walked over to the shelf by the door.

"Do you read?" He said and pointed at the collection of books. I shook my head.

"I did, not anymore." I tried giving him a smile. He smirked and kept on looking at the shelf.

"The incident has been taken care of. I have some of my men guarding the city and they will inform me if Dylan shows up." He said and glanced over at me. I gave him a quick smile and looked away from the window. Having the Cheetham Boys guarding made me feel somewhat safe. William noticed the gramophone on the shelf and smiled. He looked at me.

"If I remember correctly, you were quite a good dancer" he said and looked over what kind of music were in the shelf. He grabbed one of them and put it in the gramophone before starting it. The music started playing loudly and he held out his hand to me.

"Clara, can I have this dance?" He said and I carefully walked up to him and placed my hand in his. He gently pulled me closer and started walking slowly to the waltz playing in the background. I held my hand around his shoulder and closed my eyes as I breathed in the fabric of his jacket. It felt so soft under my fingers, and I moved easily to his lead. I don't know how long the music lasted but I could have danced all night like that.

"What made you do it?" He whispered and I looked down on my feet.

"How did you know how to shoot a gun?" he spoke quietly and kept his eyes on me all the time while moving me slowly. I sighed.

"You said that being around you would destroy me. But what if I already was destroyed?" I said and looked up at his eyes. He stopped dancing and put his hands on my cheeks. I tried giving him a smile, but it was faint.

"What do you mean Clara?" He said and examined my eyes. His expression was gentle, and I closed my eyes tightly together before speaking.

"There was a reason I wasn't afraid of you, Will. I've killed a man before. He destroyed me in every possible way, and I shot him." I whispered and felt his hands hug my face. His arms moved and hugged my body against his. It was such a warm feeling, and I wrapped my arms against him, felling his shoulders underneath my hands. I hid my face in his chest and felt his cheek touch my forehead.

"I never thought I'd do it again, but I couldn't just do nothing. I couldn't listen to them hurting you" I said, and he let go of me and grabbed my face again while looking into my eyes. I felt the tears starting to form in my eyes again and tried smiling through it.

"I'm a monster Clara. I am a cold blooded killer, a dangerous businessman and a liar. I'm not man you should care about Clara. I am a monster and not worthy of love." He said and clenched his teeth while trying to fight off his own feelings.

"There's a difference between a monsters and man who defends for the things he cares about." I said and felt my voice starting to shake and a tear fell down my cheek.

"You are so stupid, Clara. I should never have let you join me" He said and pressed my cheeks in his hands while shaking his head to fight away the smile. I smiled through the tears in my eyes and laughed.

"Maybe we are just too similar to be kept apart. You have seen me, Will. The real me and the part of me I have always been told to push away. And I never want to do that again" I said and leaned my forehead towards his. I could hear Will sigh and then I looked up at him.

"I love you, William Warren". He looked into my eyes, and it was as if a wall had been broken and his body relaxed before me. He moved his hands to my back and pressed his lips to mine. I put my hands on his cheeks and felt the warmth of his lips brush mine. He held me up and moved me over to my bed, where he put me down and carefully leaned over me while pulling his fingers through my hair. He unbuttoned his shirt and pulled my dress down over my shoulders. His warm and gentle touch made me shiver but I wanted more of him. I felt his lips on my bare shoulders and his fingers brushing against my back. The music had stopped, and the only sound heard was from the factories far away. His shirt formed a pile on the floor, and I breathed heavily as he moved slowly over me. His eyes were fixed on me while he moved back and forth, filling me with a sensation I had not felt in years, if ever.

After thirty minutes came a heavy knocking from the front door. Lucy, who worked in the kitchen, sat beside me in the living room, hugging me and humming a song her mother used to sing to her when she was young. The inspectors were shown inside and came to speak to me. I saw them walking in the direction of Tony's study. His body was still lying on the sofa. Lucy was the first to arrive after my screams and she had pulled me away from the room and closed the door so that no one had to see the large pool of blood that had formed on the cushions and the floor. The inspector had sat down in the sofa opposite from me and taken out a notepad and pencil. He had asked me what I had seen and when I had heard the shot. The tears on my cheeks were real, but not for the reason everyone believed. I was free, and now I only had to make sure Tony's death wouldn't steal me of my freedom as well. The inspector had asked if I had seen a new behaviour from Tony recently, depression or bad businesses? I told him what I had seen and heard from other stories. "Things had changed when he came back. He drank, spent most of his time in the study and would not talk to me about his problems. He was my life inspector". What I said was not a lie. Tony had changed, but that was because the time I had spent away from him had made me forget about the monster that lived inside him. And he was my life. He was my life and everything I did couldn't be done without his permission or knowledge.

I woke up and looked straight into the darkness. When my eyes had adjusted, I noticed William standing by the window smoking. He noticed me looking at him and looked over in my direction. He took out his cigarette to breath out and looked down on his feet. I looked over at the clock and saw that it was 3 am. I looked at him again. He wore his shirt, and the trousers had the suspenders hanging down the sides of his legs.

"Aren't you tired?" I whispered and he shook his head while examining the street outside.

"There is too much noise at night..." He said and grabbed his cigarette to take a heavy blow. I wrapped the blanket on the bed around me and walked up behind him. I carefully brushed my hand on his back, and he took the cigarette out and killed it on a plate on the table before turning around and grabbing my hands. "...People screaming, crying, the sound of canons". His finger gently brushed my knuckles and I looked up at his eyes.

"Can I do something?" I whispered and he turned me around and wrapped his arms around my body, resting his chin on my shoulder. I felt his warm breath in my neck.

"You can stay safe" He said and started moving slowly from side to side. "You can stay out of trouble." His voice whispered in my ears, and I smiled as we both stood watching the street outside. A man stood in one of the doorways hidden under his cap.

"I need you Clara, not just for business. You make me forget about the war, the men I watched die at the Somme. The screams, the crying, it is all gone when you are around." I turned around and put my hands carefully on his cheek. Then I gave him a soft kiss before walking back to the bed. He continued standing over by the window and the last thing I saw before closing my eyes again was his concerned and honest expression as he watched over the street down below.