We're all born and raised and maimed.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

AILSA SHELBY HAD ONE rule for herself from the very start. Don't get involved in the family business. It was quite simple, really... well, in theory. She had a daughter to think about, and a husband set to return from the war any day now. She had her own flower shop, the very first to open under the control of a woman in Birmingham, and was hopeful enough to expand into London one day. Ailsa, unlike her brothers and, on the odd occasion, her sister, was a Shelby by name but a stranger at heart.

And it worked, for a while, for everyone involved. She raised her daughter alongside her youngest brother, Finn, while the older three brothers were... away in France with her husband, Henry. Her aunt and sister were more than happy to handle business; for once, without a man breathing down their necks just waiting for them to slip up. Four years went by, then right as the world began to flourish for her, the Shelby brothers returned, only Henry wasn't with them.

The death of a partner, a best friend at that, was said to feel like tearing half of a person's soul from their body. Some people even compared it to a gunshot wound. Ailsa felt incomplete, even two years later when Henry was nothing more than a handful of bones in the ground and a ghost in her heart. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore, until Alfie Solomons quite literally crashed into Ailsa Shelby's life after she found him bleeding out in the alleyway behind her and her daughter's new apartment in London.

At first, Ailsa had foolishly hoped for happiness again. Alfie was kind, and he made her smile like Henry used to. He visited her flower shop, doted on Faith like she was his own daughter, and he made Ailsa feel like the only woman in the world that mattered.

But of course, things just had to get complicated (as usual) when Ailsa visited home one day, only to find Alfie in her brother's study talking business.

Really, it was just her luck that the first handsome man who looked her way was a gangster, the one thing she'd sworn off since the beginning. If Ailsa had it her way, Alfie would've left that day and never looked back. But whenever Tommy Shelby, a much-needed alliance, and an unmarried sibling were involved (please refer to John Shelby and the Lees) everything always seemed to go to shit.

Ailsa Shelby had one rule for herself from the very start. Don't get involved in the family business. But, really, did she have a choice when she was about to marry Alfie Solomons?

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

( MISERY BUSINESS )

STARRING . . .

CAITRIONA BALFE
as AILSA SHELBY
❝I am not your puppet, I'm your sister. Learn the difference.❞

TOM HARDY
as ALFIE SOLOMONS
❝You are much better off hatin' me, love.❞

SOPHIE SKELTON
as FAITH BUCHANAN-SHELBY
❝Even if dad survived the war, he would've ended up dead sooner or later.❞

FEATURING. . .

cillian murphy as tommy shelby
paul anderson as arthur shelby
joe cole as john shelby
sophie rundle as ada shelby
harry kirton as finn shelby
finn cole as michael gray
helen mccrory as polly gray

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Disclaimer: I don't own Peaky Blinders. All rights belong to BBC Studios and their series. I only own my original characters, Ailsa and Faith Shelby, and any plotlines you're unable to recognise.

Dedications!

-trojanwar -blxdreina sectumsirius infantwomanro vveritaserum cqntralperk

Author's Note!

I've been sitting on this story for a good year now, but after finally getting around to watching season 6, I decided Ailsa needed to see the light of day. Let me know what you think? I probably shouldn't be posting another Peaky Blinders fic when I'm not even close to finishing my Tommy Shelby one but whatever lol. Can't wait for you guys to read what I have planned :D

P.S. Ailsa is prounced as ale-sa.

( gif by the talented -WINEAUNT )