Birmingham | Tommy Shelby x Reader

Part 15

Three, sharp knocks sounded off of (Y/N)'s apartment door, making her stand from the couch and hurry over to answer it. "This is a surprise," she commented as she found Tommy in the middle of taking off his cap and stuffing it into his pocket.

"I've gotten some information," he started off, leaning in just slightly before adding, "from Sheffield."

(Y/N)'s throat went dry at the mention of her family's home city, and she subtly glanced over Tommy's shoulder before wordlessly reaching out and grabbing hold of his hand. "Come inside," she prompted him, leading him through the threshold of her apartment so that she could shut the door. She turned back around to face him then, holding her breath for a moment. "What have you heard?" she didn't waste much time getting to the point. The contents of her mother's letter from a couple weeks ago were still swirling through her mind.

Tommy slipped his hands into his pockets and rocked on his feet before he nodded his head towards the living area of her apartment, silently signaling that they should go sit down. (Y/N) responded with a silent nod of her own before she walked past him and led the way to the couch.

"What have you heard?" she asked again once they were both sitting.

"I've had men following both of your brothers since you returned from Sheffield," he started, clearing his throat before continuing, "they've been able to figure out their schedules, their whereabouts, their dealings. We have a pretty good read on what they're doing at all times. Things have changed with Garrett these past couple of weeks..."

"Changed how?" (Y/N) cut into his statement, eager to know if he would say anything that would match up to what her mother had told her in the letter.

"He's starting to go against your other brother, Clay, a lot more...he's been making his own decisions; coming up with his own moves, which is unusual because up until now it's been Clay who's been making the moves," Tommy explained what his men had observed.

(Y/N) nodded along with what he was saying. It was definitely stacking up to what her mother had told her. "Clay's been the brains since dad stepped down. Garrett's been the muscle. Violence is the way that he's solved things; it's been that way since the war ended," she gave more background on her brother, looking down at her lap then.

"Your brother faught?" Tommy asked, slightly surprised by this information.

"Yeah," her answer was simple.

Tommy nodded. "Did Clay?" he asked about her other brother. Every bit of information helped in this situation. He wanted to know exactly what he was going up against.

"No," (Y/N) shook her head, "our father had a bit of a health scare around the time that the conscription was happening. He desired to have one capable man around the house during the time, and he had the money and the means to make it happen so that one of his sons could stay home. Clay was older and it was pretty clear that he was going to be the one to take over when dad stepped down. Garrett was only twenty-one when he went to fight...he didn't come back the same, but yet he didn't know any different. Violence became his answer to everything and Clay happily played off of that," she explained the troubles that the younger of the two brothers was facing while trying her best not to feel sorry for him. Sure, he was her brother, but he'd done some truly horrible things...and he was thinking of doing more.

"He's a bit of a loose cannon then, isn't he?" Tommy checked to make sure he was understanding it correctly.

"You can say that," she agreed with him, "my, uh...my mother wrote to me recently..." she started off then.

"What did she say?"

"That Garrett's basically gone off the deep end...he's pushing away any and all help from anyone. My father could usually get him leveled out, but his attempts are coming up empty now. She's scared of what's going to happen to him, or of what he's going to do," she explained the contents of her mother's letter to him, watching as he nodded and pursed his lips. A few moments passed before (Y/N) broke the silence. She was unable to sit in it any longer without asking him the words that were teetering on her lips: "what are you planning on doing?"