Disclaimer: I own no one but Alli and Tom who are just mentioned.
AN: I tried aiming for in-character/ slightly out of character at the same time. Read on and it will make more sense.
Sweeney headed down the steps from his barber shop to Nellie's pie shop. He needed to talk with her about business. When he found her, however, thoughts of business vanished from his mind to be shockingly replaced by ones of concern. Since when am I concerned about Mrs. Lovett? he wondered, confused with himself.
Nellie was behind her counter, crying her eyes out into her arms. This was the first time Sweeney had ever seen her cry. It felt strange to see someone who was usually so bloody annoying with happiness now be so upset. He noticed a crumpled up paper on the counter next to one of Nellie's trembling hands. Wow, she was really upset.
Curious, Sweeney picked up the paper, smoothed it out, and read it.
Nellie, I ran out of time to write this, hence why it is three weeks late. Alli has died. Tom.
Well, that's not very nice, Sweeney thought. Then something clicked. This was the reason why Nellie was upset. She'd lost someone she loved, and was informed three weeks later. He suddenly felt he could relate to her more, now that she had lost someone too.
"Nellie," he spoke softly, startled, Nellie looked up.
"Oh!" she gasped in surprise. She moved her hand to hurriedly wipe the tears away. Sweeney caught her hand, mid-action. He'd already seen it, it was too late for her to cover up. It actually hurt to look at her face, her eyes so puffy, her face red with tearstain streaks everywhere. Nellie's mouth fell open a bit in shock.
"It's alright," Sweeney said, holding up the paper. "I know, no need for hiding," at seeing the paper, Nellie's tears came back. Sweeney walked around the counter and stopped when he got to her. He pulled her into a hug, in a vain attempt to make the pain go away. He knew the wound would never fully heal, and the scar would always be fresh, but he did the best he could do. "I know how it feels," he murmured into her ear as he let her cry into him.
This was his first act of kindness towards her, Sweeney realized. He promised himself that from now on he was going to be a lot kinder to Nellie Lovett than he had in the past. He glanced over at the clock and took notice that it was almost opening time, for the both of them. Obviously, they were in no position to open their shoes.
He pulled away from Nellie and brushed the remaining tears away.
"Why don't we keep our shops closed today?" he suggested. Nellie gasped, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Do you mean it?" she asked somewhat happily.
"And we can get out of the house," Sweeney added. "Like to a park or something," Nellie's eyes lit up and Sweeney actually smiled.
"Hold your horses, dear dreamer," he warned, laying a hand on Nellie's shoulder. "Don't get any ideas, I'm not ready for another relationship yet," Nellie gasped. So he had been listening to her endless chatter of her fancying him!
"But there's hope?" Nellie asked hopefully.
"Yes, there's hope," Sweeney answered. Nellie beamed at him and threw her arms around him in a hug. Hope was all she needed.
AN: Hope you liked it, tell me in a review - as always! :D