There's one thing you should know about Sullivan Miller: she was a fast worker. It was probably this ability that made her a good barmaid, however some shifts were hard with only Harry with her. 

"It was a hard one," Sully sighed one day after one of the hardest shift she had since the men's return. Harry lifted from the table he was cleaning.

"Yeah, I can tell," he scoffed as the blonde laughed slightly. The front door of the pub wide opened on the three Shelbys brothers. They walked to the counter, wide smiles on two faces. 

"Is that my favorite blonde working hard?" Arthur asked while she grabbed a whiskey bottle and three glasses next to her. She put them in front of the men, all their eyes on her. 

"Yeah, working very hard," she laughed as she took back the glass she was cleaning before their arrival. "What's up?" 

"We just came by to say hello to our favorite girl, ya know." Arthur carried on with his cheesy words as she slammed the now cleaned glass on the counter.

"Oh, my lovely and cheesy boys," she said sarcastically, laughing at the end of the sentence as the boys looked at one another with annoyance. 

"The cheesy boys are retreating themselves in their fucking private room," John said accusingly, earning a laugh from the concerned girl from behind the counter. However, they gave her a high-five when they passed in front of her. 

"Thomas, may I talk to you? It won't last." The man nodded, letting his brothers walking through their room and shutting the door behind them. 

"Do you want to do it outside?" Sully frowned and shook her head, her eyes fluttering from Harry's form to Tommy.

"Not that kind of talk," she stated. "I know Harry wouldn't do this without me putting a word about it to you, because technically you're our boss. I think it will be a good idea to employ someone to help us." 

"I thought you were the best barmaid in Small Heath," Tommy teased, making her rolled her eyes playfully.

"I am, of course, but sometimes shifts are hard. Plus, we need some rest, but doing a shift alone is hard too." Tommy seemed to think about it for a second, then nodded slightly. 

"If that's necessary, then go ahead, just chose the right one." Sully clasped her hand together, a soft smile on her face. As she thanked Tommy, whom of which was already entering into the private room, she whistled to Harry. 

"Guess what, Harry? We're having a new colleague!" 

Sully, helped by Harry, published the employment advertisement in the evening. 

 --

"I'm sure about what I'm saying."  Sully shook her head at Harry's words, not agreeing at all with them. 

"No, I swear that's not true," the blonde replied, as the man looked at her with an eyebrow raised. 

"I swear to God Thomas fucking Shelby's eyes were devouring you during all the shift," Harry stated again, making the blonde blushed slightly. Harry laughed at the red on her cheeks, while Sully mockingly mimicked him. 

They were still debating when the front door was pushed open, revealing a woman frame behind it. She was blonde, and had in her hand a paper, her eyes scanning around the Garrison. 

"Hello, miss, may I help you?" Sullivan asked, a kind smile on her face as she stepped closer to her, letting the table she was cleaning behind her. The woman cleared her throat slightly, stepping to the other blonde too. 

"I came for the employment," she said, her sentence seems like a question, however. 

"Alright, what's your name?" Sully asked, her gaze floating to Harry. The man frowned and approached the women. 

"Grace, you?" the blonde stretched out her hand. 

"Sullivan, nice to meet you," she shook the other woman's hand, clearing her throat. "And this is Harry." Grace nodded her head to Harry, whom of which stepped closer to her. 

"Are you mad?" Harry asked the newcomer, making her frown.

"Am I what?" Grace asked, as Sully snorted, her eyes traveling from Harry to Grace. It made her think about her first shift at the Garrison, when Harry had told the same words, which she had denied loudly and claimed for a chance to prove herself. What she did brilliantly. She cleared her throat after reminding herself of the good old times memories, trying to interact in Harry and Grace's conversation. 

"You're too pretty," Harry stated while Sully put a hand between the two. 

"Alright, Harry," she interrupted, trying to catch the man attention. "Grace, do you have recommendations?" The blonde nodded, handing to the other woman the paper she was still holding. Sully quickly read the paper, chewing on her bottom lips, then sighed loudly. 

"Okay, Harry, I have to say she had strong recommendations," Harry shook his head defeatedly, knowing how stubborn she was. "But Harry has a point, Grace, you need to be aware of a few things about that place. Men here are savages, and the only thing that saved me here are my relationships." She exhaled deeply, looking around herself, thinking about a good date for Grace to prove herself. 

"Just watch," Grace walked to the counter, grabbing a spittoon after she let her purse on one of the freshly cleaned table, singing as she emptied one of the spittoon in a bucket - Harry's one. Sully wasn't that impressed, but she liked Grace's ability to do two things at the same time. Sully crossed her arms on her chest when Grace turned to her again. 

"In Ireland, my singing made them cry, and stopped them fighting," Grace explained softly. 

"Prove yourself," Sully proposed with a smile. "Come over here on Saturday, 11 o'clock, Don't be late." Grace nodded her head, thanking the woman before she left. 

"Dear Lord," Harry sighed. "What did you just do?" 

--

This Saturday had been busy, really busy. At least, Grace was a fast learner, and didn't make Sully regret her decision to employ her. The new barmaid sighed heavily when another man asked for a whiskey, as Sully giggled of her annoyance. 

"Is it always so busy on daytime?" Grace asked with a surprised look on her face. Gabrielle laughed slightly, handing a customer a gin shot. 

"These boys are on their bloody way for St.Andrews," Sully explained, pouring carefully a new glass of rum. 

"To pray?" Grace asked again, curiously. Both Harry and Sully laughed, and as Harry explained to Grace what St.Andrews was, Thomas Shelby appeared in front of Sully. 

"Hey there," she smiled as she smiled at the man. "What do you want, today?" Tommy looked at Grace quickly, before his gaze came back into Sully's. 

"A bottle of rum," he answered like he was in a rush. 

"A whole bottle? Come on, it's still early," the woman joked as she handed him the bottle.

"It's not for drinking, Sul," the man answered with an annoyed tone. "For Arthur. He's been beaten up last night." Sully rolled her eyes, then giggled a little.

"God, I knew it. Tell the old man he owes me five shillings," she stated with a faint smile on her face, as Tommy frowned, then raised a brow with realization. 

"Oh no, you bet on his fights?" Sully guiltily pursed her lips.

"Yup, seems like we fucking did it," she giggled. "Now go help me, don't want him to bleed to death. See you later, Thomas," she waved at him while he turned away, trying to hold back his smile at their childish bets. Sully turned to Grace, which was staring at her. The blonde widened her eyes and laughed.

"Yeah, the free-run thing," the woman sighed as she held a glass of whiskey for another customer. "Everything a Shelby ask for is on the house, and no question must be asked." Grace frowned slightly. "Don't mess with them, Grace. If they ask you something, just ignore them." The blonde woman pursed her lips, nodded slightly. Then, she opened her mouth again. 

"Are you scared of them? Because Harry is, maybe I should be too," Sully seemed to think about it for a second.

"You definitely should be scared of him, because fear keep you away from the dangerous things," she answered as Harry nodded to her words. "And I'm not because I know them, but I don't know if it's a good thing or not. Don't follow my lead, Grace. Stay away." 

"Him?" Grace asked as raising an eyebrow, her smile growing bigger. 

"You got me here, Grace," the woman laughed. She shrugged her shoulders slightly, drying her hands from some spilled alcohol on the counter, and exhaled deeply. "I meant them." 

"How are you related?" Grace asked with a flash of curiosity in her eyes. 

"You're asking so many damn questions!" Sully sighed, running a hand through her blond hair. 

"And you won't answer, will you?" 

"The hell I will!" The woman exclaimed while grabbing some money on the counter, putting it away from the glasses. "Now, enough questions, just stay away from the trouble, alright?" Grace nodded, going back into her work, just like Sully, her mind floating to Arthur. Five shillings? How predictable. 

As the day went by, Grace found herself standing on a chair, singing one of her country songs; the men around the pub calmed down by, she had to admit, her beautiful voice. She took the time of calm to clean some glasses, the counter, and as she looked at the other blonde she found Thomas standing in the doorway, his eyes locked with Grace's ones. The woman looked away, trying to ignore the slight pain in her heart as Harry came by her side with a loud sigh. 

"Her voice's beautiful, isn't it?" The man asked quietly, his eyes on her too.

"Yeah, I have to admit..." She let her eyes lay on Arthur and John's frame next to their brother, their eyes on Grace too. 

"Your is too, you know," Harry whispered. "I miss it sometimes." The woman smiled, looking at the older male. 

"Really? That's sweet of you." Harry blushed slightly as Tommy approached them quickly. 

"We haven't singing in here since the War," Harry said stressfully, his eyes fluttering from Thomas to Sully. 

"Why do you think that is, Harry?" Thomas answered as Sully scoffed. He turned her gaze at her as she rolled her eyes. "What?" he asked with a tensed voice. 

"Did I say something, eh?" she growled as she stared at him too. "How's Arthur?" 

"Called a family meeting, but he's alright I guess." The woman turned her eyes to his large frame, a sided smile on her lips as she thought of their previous fights. Tommy cocked his head to the side as she shook her head, turning away to take a cigarette in her coat. When she turned again, Tommy and Arthur were gone in their private room, leaving John ordering the drinks. 

"How you're doing, Johnny?" The blonde asked as she prepared their orders. 

"I'm good, Sul" he answered sincerely. "And you?" The girl waved his question with her hand, taking a drag of her cigarette. He looked down for a second before staring at her again. 

"As much as it takes me to admit it, the kids miss you," he whispered. Sullivan knew how much it could hurt him to learn that his kids were missing a woman. Since Marta's death, they never knew any woman despite Polly and Sully herself. 

"I'll pass by, I promise," she swore as she took one of his hand in hers. The man smiled kindly and grabbed the drinks in his hands. "Don't let them fall!" she exclaimed as he mumbled a "fuck you". 

When the pub came to close, Harry left after checking on the girls. They assured him they could handle the closure, that's why Sully found herself speaking to Grace, whom of which kept asking her questions about the Shelbys, more precisely about the peaky blinders. After another unanswered question, Grace changed her strategy.

"I can tell," Grace stated, watching Sully sweeping the ground carefully. "You're not from here either." Sully sighed loudly, lifted to glance at the other woman. 

"I'm American," she answered quietly. 

"How did you found yourself here?" Sully rolled her eyes and turned her back to the woman, cleaning the last table of the pub. 

"I had contacts here, I found my house, and I moved without a problem," she explained. Grace nodded slightly, her eyes focused on Sully. 

"I see," Grace whispered. The two of them remained silent as they ended the cleaning. 

"Go home, Grace, I'll finish," Sully said softly. The blonde nodded and left the pub with a slight "goodnight" to her colleague. While Sully cleaned the last glass and closed the front door, she couldn't stop herself from thinking that something was wrong with Grace. Not that she had proofs or something, but she had a feeling. 

The way the woman had asked her so many questions about her relationship with the Shelbys, about the Peaky Blinders, about how she found herself in Small Heath made her feel uncomfortable and didn't help in trusting the woman. As she walked past the Shelbys house, she found herself stop walking, standing there in the middle of the street, her eyes lifted on the highest window of the Shelbys residence. The curtains were closed, probably in Polly's bedroom. Sully sighed and turned away, walking up to her front door and unlocking her door.

Which was already unlocked. Sully frowned as she opened the door slowly, only to find Arthur sat on her couch, his head turned to the entrance. Like he had waited for her for hours. 

"You bastard, you scared the hell out of me," she cursed as she closed the front door, removing her heels from her feet. Arthur scoffed as she walked to the kitchen, removing her coat and letting it fall on the ground in a soft noise. 

"You should learn to hide your keys properly," the man laughed as she came back in the living room, sitting next to him. "I'm here because I needed to talk." Sully nodded slightly, sighing.

"Me too," she whispered. "Go ahead." Arthur cleared his throat and his eyes went lost above her head. 

"I know you and Tommy aren't talking much," he started as she bit her lower lip nervously. "Maybe this is none of my business, but I know both of you. Obviously he's still in love with you, just give him time." Sully met his gaze and took a deep breath.

"I know I still love him, after all this time, I don't know if I'll really stop one day," she scoffed at the end of her sentence, as Arthur grabbed her hand nicely. "But I changed, so did he. I don't know if he'll love the person I am now the same he loved the old me." 

"I think he'll love it better." 

"How would you know that?" Sully giggled as Arthur sent her a faint smile, standing up slowly.

"I know him, Sul, his eyes don't lie." The blonde stoop up next to her friend and hugged her tightly against her. She exhaled deeply as he placed his hands around her waist gently. 

"God, how much I missed you." 

shorter than the first one, but won't last long, babies. also, I'm sorry that I didn't post, I don't have excuses because my chapters are ready, but I've been busy and everytime I needed to update I just had something else to do. sorry about that, but I'm in holidays tonight, so don't worry, sully will be in fully updated soon