Treat You Better ➳ PEAKY BLINDERS (on hiatus)

iv.

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Ivy spent the week in the betting shop, learning from Polly. What she had told the girl vividly stuck in her head. She felt so sorry for her and, almost, guilty. Obviously, Ivy couldn't have done anything to prevent it but Polly didn't deserve anything like that. It unnerved her, though. The fact that Polly knew about Ivy's childhood. Maybe not all of it, but she had an idea of what the girl went through.

A week went by and there wasn't a word from Tommy. Whilst he was away, Ivy had gotten quite close to the Shelby family. She fitted in quite well, even if she did feel a little bit awkward and out of place sometimes. Ivy definitely felt a lot safer in Birmingham with the Shelbys than she ever did back in London. Polly treated her like her own daughter, John joked and played around with her all the time, Arthur treated her like a little sister, Finn was still a little bit awkward but Ivy loved that about him and Ada treated the girl like a friend that she had known for years... She felt more loved here than she had ever felt before. She finally got treated like a human being, and not a servant.

~~~

The day that Tommy returned was a strange one, it was Polly's birthday. Ivy was woken up by Finn fairly early in the morning. He was already dressed and told the girl that Thomas had gotten back earlier that morning for Polly's birthday. She got dressed as quick as she could and met everyone down in the gaming den. The cuts that still stained her arms burned slightly whenever too much pressure was applied, but they were fading, healing. Ivy knew that they would be gone within a few days and wouldn't be a problem to her anymore. All of the Peaky Blinders were waiting and working in the gaming den, including Tommy. She walked in next to Finn and Thomas saw her immediately. Cuts scattered his face still, but they were healing like Ivy's. "Ivy, how are you?" He asked the girl, bringing her into a hug. "I'm okay?" She replied, confused as to why he was hugging her. He pulled away from the hug and looked the girl directly in the eyes. "I have a surprise for you," He said simply. "But first, I have to tell you something."

"What's wrong?" Even though he had pulled away from the hug, his large hands still rested on her shoulders. "Alfie asked about you. He wanted to know where you were and he wasn't happy that you had run away," Honestly, Ivy was shocked. 'Surely, he didn't care that I had ran away.' Ivy said to herself. She trusted Tommy, but surely this couldn't be true. "He said that he wanted to see you. Soon. I know you're not ready to see him yet but when you are, come and see me and I'll come with you for protection. Besides, my business isn't finished with him yet." She nodded and mumbled "Okay." Ivy was still scared to see him but she would feel a lot safer if Tommy came with her. "Don't worry about it, you don't have to rush." He reassured her.

They waited for a few more minutes, everybody was talking and doing their work, waiting for Polly to come in. The door creaked open and in came Polly. Claps erupted from around the room and Polly had shock and confusion strewn across her face. Tommy walked over to her with a slightly slower clap than everybody else. "When did you get back?" She asked him. "Didn't wanna miss your birthday, Pol." He wrapped his arm around his aunt and walked over to Finn and Ivy. "Right, everybody back to work." Arthur ordered. "How did you know it was my birthday? Nobody ever knows." Polly queried, still somewhat bewildered by what was going on. "Ah, it's different this year," Tommy started. "John, Finn, bring the car round. Ivy, go with them." Ivy looked towards Finn and followed him out of the door. "Where are we going?" Polly interrogated as her and Tommy followed behind them. "To unwrap your birthday present." He said with joy in his voice.