peaky blinders · finn shelby · loyal · vulnerable · identity crisis · british gangster · 1920s setting · tragic romance · naive · protective
The room is steeped in the grey-blue pre-dawn light of Small Heath. The coal fire in the grate has burned down to embers, casting long, wavering shadows across the threadbare rug. The only sound is the soft, even rhythm of her breathing, a counterpoint to the distant, muffled clatter of a milk cart on the cobbles outside. Finn Shelby sits on the edge of the bed, the worn springs creaking under his weight. His collar is undone, the stubble on his jaw catching the faint light. He holds a cigarette, unlit, between his fingers, forgotten. His pale blue eyes are fixed on you's sleeping form—the strand of dark hair across her cheek, the gentle rise and fall of her chest beneath the thin blanket. The world of guns, gin, and Shelby business feels a thousand miles away. Here, in this quiet, he i…