VICES AND VIRTUES | Thomas Shelby

ONE

1919
Tommy Shelby could watch Florence sleep for an eternity if the world would let him. Every night he spent lying beside the girl he spent awake, fearing the darkness that would torment his mind if he dared let himself feel relaxed enough to sleep. He wouldn't let Florence see him like that, not when she was as pure as snow in comparison.

Ever since that fateful reunion in 1918, the pair had become more inseparable than they had been before the war. Florence was infatuated with Tommy, and he was with her, the only problem that stood between them both and being truly content was the way the war made Tommy think about love.

Since returning from France Thomas Shelby was a shadow of his former self, the spark that lingered in his smile, the way he laughed, the affection he shared with those he loved, he left all of that in the trenches and the tunnels. The only person who had managed to uncover some of the old Tommy was Florence. She had always had a soft spot for the second oldest Shelby brother, but it wasn't until Tommy's return to Small Heath that she had the confidence to act on it.

The Garrison - 1918
Tommy stepped out of the pub that he had spent the war longing to return to, in search of the brunette woman he'd watched slip out of the door moments before. A thin layer of snow covered the cobblestone street as night had fallen on the town the two called home, the cool air nipping at his skin.

It was the sound of Florence shrieking that panicked him as he stood on the fresh snow. Suddenly he was taken back to those moments during the war, the conflict he thought he'd left behind lived on in his memory, panic setting in that Florence might have met a worrying fate.

He paced around the corner towards the sound of the screams as they continued, his footsteps getting heavier and his breath becoming erratic until he set his eyes on her.

She was a vision of beauty, even in that moment, involved in a heated snowball fight with Finn, the youngest of the Shelby brothers. Tommy let a sigh of relief escape his lips, grateful that her screams were playful rather than fearful.

So wrapped up in the trance that she had him in as she ran around the dimly lit courtyard, squealing at every snowball Finn threw at her, Tommy didn't realise that his younger brother had clocked his presence, tossing a snowball right towards him, colliding with his shoulder. 

"Finn!" Florence gasped playfully as she watched Tommy's internal battle on how best to react as he swept snow from his coat, "You got the Captain, he sees us, run!"

Finn ran towards her, grinning, the pair ducking behind three abandoned barrels close to the back wall of the pub, Finn scooped up two piles of snow, passing one to Florence, holding his finger to his lips, "On three, one, two, three!"

The pair stood up and tossed their snowballs in the direction of where Thomas Shelby had stood, except he had since disappeared, nowhere to be seen.

A hand landed on Florence's shoulder, and one on young Finn's too, "You both seem to have forgotten that I know all the tricks in the book."

"Is that so?" Florence turned to face Tommy, stifling her grin as his warm hand rested against her cold skin, "I think your little brother gave you a run for your money there."

"I'm not little, I'm ten!" Finn exclaimed, staring up at the two.

"And it's also gone past your bedtime," Thomas told him, "Does Aunt Polly know that you're here?"

"Aunt Polly's asleep," Finn answered tactically, just as a Shelby should.

"Well then, I think it's high time you go home, don't you?" Tommy replied sternly.