eighteen

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Arthur was panting, hovering above Nancy's body as she lay there gazing up at him, one of her hands gently caressing his face as he planted soft kisses on her lips.

He parted her legs, kissing down her body as her eyelashes fluttered at the sensation. She grabbed fistfuls of his hair, quiet moans escaping as he pleasured her, the way her body responded made him only want to continue more.

"Arthur," Nancy whispered, smiling with blushed cheeks as he moved so they were face to face once again.

"What is it, darling?" Arthur replied, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

"I, I just wanted to say that I haven't done this in a while, I've only ever been with one person..."

Arthur paused, his body now beside hers as he rested himself on one elbow.

"But," He began to speak, recalling that night that he saw her in the window with another man, only stopped, knowing he couldn't say anything more.

"There's been times," she sighed, "You should know, there was a man before you. Every time we got intimate, I just couldn't do it."

Arthur observed as she mindlessly stared at the ceiling. He knew she was reliving past memories of being with this other man, it was upsetting her. She fell quiet, Arthur noticing a small tear trickle down her cheek.

"Nancy," he said, gently turning her head to face him, "We don't have to do anything you don't want to do, alright?"

She just shook her head and wiped the tear from her skin before turning her whole body to face Arthur. She placed a hand on his chest, running her finger up and down his torso.

"I want to do this with you, I just thought you should know."

Arthur wasted no time in kissing her again. He knew some of the awful things Henry had done to her, and could only imagine some of the things that he didn't know. He didn't want Nancy to think that every experience she would have with a man would be the way it had been with Henry.

He held her hips, kissing all over her body before lingering by the tender spot behind her ears and sucking gently at her neck, soft breaths hitting his skin.

"Nancy," Arthur mumbled, looking her in the eyes to make sure she wanted to continue.

"I want you, Arthur."

***

"You look happy. Makes a change."

Arthur scowled at John as his three brothers walked into the pub, pulling up chairs beside him at the table.

"We haven't seen you in a while, what's the latest, brother?"

Thomas lit a cigarette and threw his case down onto the table, pouring himself a large glass of whiskey and leaning back in his chair, waiting for Arthur to speak.

Arthur couldn't help but break out into a small smile, chuckling to himself and shaking his head.

"It's her," he said, grinning at his brothers, "It's that fucking woman, she's got me wrapped around her little finger."

The four of them laughed and John slapped Arthur affectionately on the back.

"No more Linda?" Finn asked, sipping on his pint of ale.

"Oi!" John pointed a finger at his younger brother, "Don't mention the devils name, you should know better."

Arthur chuckled and sipped his drink. He was grateful that his brothers always had his back. They always supported him regardless of what he did, even with Linda, despite all of them thinking she'd lived with Satan before moving to Small Heath.

"No more Linda, that chapter is closed."

"Let's toast to that."

They clinked their drinks together before breaking into conversation about their day. Thomas updated Arthur on current business affairs.

It had been a while since Arthur had been involved in any proper Peaky business. Tommy and the others had decided that it would be best for Arthur to take somewhat of a backseat while he worked things out with Linda, all of them noticing that he hadn't been himself of late.

Although Arthur opposed at first, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He never wanted to be left out of things, feeling like routine was one of the few things that kept him on the straight and narrow, but had they not told him to have a break, he wouldn't have met Nancy.

"She's young, isn't she?"

"Nancy?" Arthur raised an eyebrow at Tommy's question to which he nodded, "Yeah, yeah she is."

"And how are you finding that? A lot of these young girls can be a bit all over the place, I'd know."

"Nah, not Nancy. She's not like that. She's been though so much, you know? Married with a kid, it's like she's had a whole life before I'd even met her."

Arthur thought back to a conversation he'd had with Nancy the other day. It was after they'd shared their first night together and Nancy had been quiet ever since. Arthur thought she was having doubts, perhaps regretting sleeping with him or wishing she hadn't poured her heart out.

Though it turned out that her silence had nothing to do with that. After pushing her to speak, Arthur eventually learned that Nancy was simply insecure. Her sexual history only included Henry and her worries were coming from her comparing herself to other women, Linda included.

Nancy was concerned she wasn't woman enough for Arthur. She expressed how insecure she was about her petite frame and her lack of bust of curve compared to other women. It broke Arthur's heart to hear her talk about herself in such a negative way. It made him think that Henry had planted these seeds in her head long ago, or if he hadn't, things he'd done hadn't helped Nancy's subconscious.

Of course, Arthur did all he could to try and get rid of the thoughts she was having, reminding her that she was beautiful in every way and she shouldn't have any insecurities. To him, she was perfect.

"She seems like a good mother. I've seen her a few times picking up her boy from school."

Arthur smiled at the thought.

"She's a great mother. He's a wonderful kid, cute as fuck, well mannered, she's done an amazing job at raising him, pretty much alone too."

Thomas smirked at his brother. He couldn't remember the last time he saw him that happy, let alone because of a woman. It gave Tommy some peace of mind knowing that Arthur had met someone like Nancy. From what he'd heard, she was exactly what he needed. She had a son so her priorities were with him, intentions of building a family were at the forefront of her mind, proving stability. Arthur needed a life like that.

"Husband and a father overnight, who'd have thought?" Thomas teased, raising his eyebrows.

"Shut up Tom, I can only dream."

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