"I love you Mrs. Lovett," Sweeney sighed against her neck. Mrs. Lovett grinned and held him tighter.
"I love you too Sweeney, love you so much that I could just-"
"Mrs. Lovett! What in the Lord's name are you doing!" Her eyes snapped open. She realized it had all been a dream. Nellie looked around and found herself in Sweeney's room, on Sweeney's bed, and for that matter, wrapped around her beloved Mr. Todd with a death grip on his waist. She instantly pushed herself away and sat up, tugging at the top of her nightgown.
"I'm so sorry Mr. T, I honestly didn't mean to-I-I" Mrs. Lovett stuttered. Sweeney sat up and put his hands on his face.
"No Mrs. Lovett, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let it go on so long, I am at fault." Mrs. Lovett looked at him a moment.
"Wait, 'so long'? I've sleep walked in here before?" Sweeney looked at her like he was in pain.
"Well yes, but usually you just put you hand on my chest and smell my hair and mumble nonsense into my ear. Obviously I wasn't prepared for your full on embrace and kissing." They stared at each other for a long time. Mrs. Lovett's eyes grew teary and her face flushed bright red.
"You didn't tell me. Why didn't you tell me Sweeney? I could've stopped, I could've-" Nellie stopped talking. There was an awkward pause.
"I didn't tell you because it get's cold up here at night and you're always so warm, I found that I could ignore the human contact and just allow myself to be comfortable. It was really very selfish. Oh, and I didn't want to have to deal with you doing that thing you do when you're horridly embarrassed," he concluded. Mrs. Lovett looked up and him and sniffed.
"You mean cry?" Nellie began to sob. Sweeney sighed.
"Yes, that."
"I'm sorry Sweeney, I just feel so stupid and childish. I mean, how could I? How much do I do this Mr. T?" she asked. He gives her a 'do you really want to know?' look and groans.
"Just about every night." Nellie groans also and shakes her head.
"How do I get back every night? I-I've never woken up here before," she asked, still with tears running down her face.
"Yeah, I usually carry you," he admitted.
"Back to my room."
"yeah." Mrs. Lovett nodded and started getting out from under the covers.
"Well, I'd better go then. Sorry for anything I did while I was sleeping, I didn't mean any of it."
"Oh but Mrs. Lovett, I wish you wouldn't say that," Sweeney whispered. Her head flicked back to look at him.
"Wha-" Sweeney took her heart shaped face in his hands and thrust his lips at hers. They stayed like that for a moment until Sweeney gasped awake. He was sitting in Albert's old red chair with Mrs. Lovett standing over him.
"You alright love? You've been shivering and talking in your sleep," Nellie looked terribly worried. Sweeney peered around.
"Where am I Mrs. Lovett?" he asks. She clicks her tongue and shakes her head.
"Oh deary, you fell down the stairs. There was a little blood that I missed when I was mopping up your shop. So sorry. You've been unconscious since you hit the ground, I'm really worried about your physical condition," she said, looking Sweeney over. He felt nervous under her gaze.
"I…fell down the stairs?" he repeated. Mrs. Lovett nodded.
"Yeah, you did." Sweeney felt his head, that he assumed would be sore but he couldn't feel anything. Then all of a sudden the chair fell back and Sweeney went hurtling towards his immanent doom. Mrs. Lovett screamed and awoke with a start.
"Sweeney?" she gasped in the dark of her room.
"Oh, mum, I'm sorry. You fell asleep, I was just going to take you hair pins out. They look so awfully uncomfortable," Toby said. Mrs. Lovett felt a sharp tug.
"Oh! Toby, that hurts," she said. The boy lets go immediately.
"Sorry mum!" Mrs. Lovett smiled and felt her head.
"No dear, it's alright. You having trouble sleeping?" Toby frowned.
"Well, it's only noon mum, so I 'aven't really been trying," he said. Mrs. Lovett looked at him.
"What? Noon? I guess I'd better lay of the gin a bit 'eh?" Toby smiled nervously as Nellie tried to stand.
"Maybe mum, you shouldn't," he said. She looked at him again.
"Shouldn't what?"
"Uhm, you fell. Pretty badly, you were acting dazed and said something about a puddle of blood, we checked your head, but you weren't bleeding," Toby said. Suddenly Mrs. Lovett got a terrible headache and fell back onto the bed.
"Oh dear, yes that does hurt."
"Yeah maybe you should just lay down," he replied. Mrs. Lovett closed her eyes and awoke. She was underwater, her lungs felt as if they were going to explode, her feet and hands were bound. Instead of dying Johanna awoke on a boat, lying next to Anthony. She couldn't help the feeling that she had made the wrong choice. Should she have left? Her last experience in London was definitely a traumatizing one, but, was leaving all her friends behind without a single goodbye as unacceptable as it seemed? She went back to sleep.
Mrs. Lovett awoke to the sound of Sweeney pacing back and forth on his wood floor. She wished he'd come down to see her, or that she had the courage to go up and talk to him.
Oh well, she thought, maybe if I'm lucky, I'll dream of his lips against mine. With that, all of London went quiet, but for the soft thud thud thud shwoo thud thud thud shwoo of Sweeney's boots on the floor of his tonsorial parlor.