A/N: Hello everyone! So you don't get restless waiting for my next chapter of Scars of Our Hearts here is a cute little one shot for our favorite demon barber and the demon baker of Fleet Street to hold you over! I hope you love it I know I had fun writing it so please sit have a pie and a drop of ale and enjoy!
A Little Love.
'He's pacing again..' Eleanor thought to herself as she looked up at the worn ceiling of her pie shop her rolling pin coming to a stop in rolling out pastry to make pie crusts for the next day's dinner rush. She shifted her eyes to the window as the rain splashed against the grimy glass, it had been nearly two months since the man now pacing in the shop above her own had walked into her life, nearly two months since Benjamin Barker returned to Fleet Street as Sweeney Todd. Her mind lingered on the name Benjamin Barker, as it rang in her head she let her mind drift to memories from ages ago, back before Benjamin had been sent away, back before he and Lucy had welcomed their daughter Joanna into the world in the room above with her help, back before the pair had showed up on her door step looking for a room to stay in, back before Benjamin had even married Lucy in the first place, back to their days as children.
XxXx
Eleanor Gabrielle Walker stood behind a large oak tree in Hyde Park her chocolate brown eyes watching the boy wandering around as if looking for something. Though young, 7 or 8 years old, the boy was very handsome, his deep brown almost black eyes could charm the most stubborn person, his dark brown hair had a slight curl to it but it was combed neatly all the same, his skin was a soft flushed ivory like the rest of the children. It wasn't his looks alone that made him so lovable he was a true gentleman for someone so young, he held the doors for the women and girls in town, he bowed when meeting someone new, he spoke perfectly and he was kind to everyone no mater who they were.
Shaking her head to clear the thoughts Nellie watched the boy as he paused in walking and looked around his eyes falling on her hiding place making her gasp and duck behind the tree so he couldn't see her. She bit her lip as the sound of his footsteps came closer to her spot and after a minute his head poked around to look at her with a smile on his lips that was slowly replaced by confusion, the girl that he was standing face to face with wasn't who he had been looking for. She was an odd sight wearing a deep purple dress that was dirty and it's hem was tattered, her arms and cheeks had dirt and scratches on the pale and milky skin dried blood marks showing she'd wiped at them, her hair was a wild mane of auburn curls that he had never seen in his life, her eyes were the color of milk chocolate as they looked into his.
"Oh sorry, I thought you were someone else."
His voice was kind and gentle as he smiled softly at her.
"'S okay, I was just 'iden from me brother, we's playin' a game."
Benjamin tried not to laugh at her heavy cockney accent as he nodded looking her over again before holding out his hand to her.
"I'm Benjamin, Benjamin Barker it's nice to meet you miss."
Nellie felt her heart race in her chest and heat build in her cheeks, most of the boys wouldn't speak to her because none of them liked how she always showed them up and the girls never talked to her because she ran around and got dirty like the boys. She opened her mouth to introduce herself but someone shouting behind Benjamin drew his attention.
"Oi Benjamin come on! Get away from 'er she ain't nothin' but trouble!"
Benjamin, looked over his shoulder at one of his friends before looking back to Nellie giving her a sorry smile before he turned and walked away his friend meeting him half way.
"Who is she?"
The other boy looked back at Nellie who was leering at him from around the tree.
"Nellie Walker, daughter of the baker down the road, lil' trouble maker she is..."
He trailed off his eyes fallowing a little girl that walked in front of them, her hair fell down her back in golden yellow waves standing out in contrast to her white dress, her skin was light but her cheeks were rosy and her blue eyes were the color of the sky above as she looked at the pair, her petal pink lips smiled reviling pearly white teeth as she waved before running after a dark haired women who took her by the hand. The boy at Benjamin's side whistled hitting his shoulder.
"Now that's a girl ya want ta talk to, Lucy Archer, 'er dads a banker makes lots o' money."
Benjamin watched as Lucy and the women sat on a bench near the fountain and he couldn't help but make a face looking her over, there were to many girls around with yellow hair and blue eyes like hers, like his own mother, it wasn't uncommon to see a girl with some shade of yellow hair and a range of eye color from sky blue to forest green. 'None of them have hair like hers, like that Nellie's.' Benjamin thought to himself as he watched Lucy swing her legs on the bench her eyes focused on him.
"She seems ta like ya, she won't quit lookin' at ya!"
Ben looked at the boy beside him then back to Lucy before he continued walking.
"Come on, we have to find the others before they get to the safe base."
His friend looked at him bewildered for a moment before shaking his head and fallowed. Nellie sighed turning her back to the scene so she was leaning on the tree trunk before she slid to the ground a hand over her still pounding heart, she'd known who he was since his family moved to London weeks before and his mother had stopped by the family bakery with him only Nellie had been rolling pasty in the back and didn't see him. She closed her eyes remembering his smile as his voice echoed in her ears making her smile before opening her eyes hearing her father call her from near by. She glanced over her shoulder at the now ant like figures of Benjamin and his friend across the park before she went to her father's side and walked back to the bakery with him.
XxXx
Nellie snapped from her thoughts by the sound of the little bell over the door of her shop jingle cheerily making her blink realizing she'd rolled the pastry far to thin to use as crust, her mind didn't linger on the ruined pastry long as foot steps made her look up and gasp silently as her eyes met Sweeney's dark black orbs.
"Oh Mr. T ya gave me a fright!"
She placed her hand over her heart trying to slow it as it hammered against her rib cage. She turned her attention back to balling up the pastry in an attempt to salvage it.
"Somthin' I can 'elp ya with love?"
She glanced up at him and bit her lip seeing he was staring at her.
"Mr. T what's wro-"
She was cut off suddenly when he roughly pushed her back against the counter his eyes locked with her's but he said nothing, her heart hammered harder in her chest and she worried that if he couldn't feel it that he could hear it as his face leaned closer to her's but kelt a distance between them.
"What has you so distracted that you forgot to bring up my dinner Nellie?"
She shuddered as his lips brushed her ear as he used her first name making her eyelids droop and her breath hitch in her throat yet her words seemed to spill over her lips without her help.
"I was just thinkin' I'm sorry love I-I'll go and get it now."
She expected him to release her but his hands held her tight by her waist making a blush creep into her cheeks as true curiosity flashed in his eyes for a brief second before fading.
"Thinking about what?"
Though his tone was cold there was the slightest bit of gentility in it as he watched her face, his eyes trailing over her features pausing on her lips.
"Just old things from back when I was a girl, ol' memories of a lad I used to fancy."
A smirk crossed his features making her swallow thickly but relax as his lips brushed against her ear again before moving to her jaw until their foreheads were together.
"Benjamin Barker right? The day I first met you hiding behind a tree in the park, you were all dirty and lied saying you were playing a game with a none existent brother when in truth you had been cornered by a group of older boys who pushed you around then when you got away you hid and ended up watching me as I looked for the other boys."
Nellie blinked at him surprised he remembered so clearly that day when he couldn't even remember his Lucy's face, but she nodded mutely making him smirk again and lean in closing the gap between their lips and roughly placing his to her own. She was frozen in shock for a moment but soon began to kiss back, the moment she did however he pulled away his expression cold as ice once more as he turned his back on her and walked from the shop. She stared after him her finger tips gently brushing over her lips as her mind reeled.
She bit her lip before untying her apron and laying it on the counter before going to her room letting her mind wonder back to her memories as she changed into her night gown and curled up in her blanket letting the sound of pacing lull her to sleep.
XxXx
5 years hadn't changed Benjamin Barker's handsome features at all as he grew up if anything they had made him even more handsome to Nellie who sat under the large oak tree in the park watching him as he walked along the path in the clear afternoon sun. Over the past five years Nellie had watched from afar but she had the feeling Ben always knew she was doing so because once in a while he'd come and talk to her but as he neared the age of 15 he had begun to look else where and as of late it was at a beautiful young women with sky blue eyes and sunshine yellow hair, a demon in angel's clothing by the name of Lucy Archer in Nellie's mind. She and Lucy had grown up just down the street from each other and the other girl had always made it a priority to make Nellie excluded even during forced play dates in the park by her mother.
Benjamin walked along the parks winding paths talking with Lucy who was by his side her arm looped through his as she listened and responded now and again. Over the past five years he had lost some of his dislike for Lucy Archer but he still found her to be uninteresting at times compared to Nellie Walker whom he often talked to over the time but as he neared 15 his parents pushed him toward Lucy trying to convince him she would make a splendid bride for him. He only realized she'd spoken to him when he glanced at her and found her looking up at him with worried eyes.
"I'm sorry miss Archer I was lost in my thoughts."
Lucy nodded once looking ahead of them before she caught him glancing at the large oak tree as they passed it his eyes lingering on the young women sitting there acting like she was reading the book in her hands but her brown eyes peeled over the top as they drew closer then passed.
"What do you think of Eleanor Walker?"
Benjamin looked down at her raising an eyebrow at the out of the blue question but he thought about his answer carefully, what was he supposed to tell her? That secretly he found her fascinating and beautiful now that she had grown into a lovely young woman despite her wild mane of auburn curls, that her chocolate brown eyes seemed to see right through him to his very being with just one look, that he had wanted to kiss her rosy painted lips since he first met her? He'd be slapped and left standing there alone in the middle of the park so he did the only thing he could do, he lied.
"That girl from the bakery, she's a common street urchin nothing more, what could I see in someone like her when I have you in my life?"
Seeming satisfied with the lie that was eating painfully at his stomach Lucy smiled leaning her head against his shoulder as they walked. Ben dared to glance back at the oak tree seeing Nellie with her face hidden by a curtain of her wild curls but he could tell she had heard his words.
XxXx
Nellie woke with a start upon feeling not only tears slide down her cheeks to her pillow but also the mattress dip down beside her. Her eyes flew open to the darkness of her bedroom straining to see who was sitting beside her on the bed as a cool hand lightly touched her shoulder and shook it.
"Mrs. Lovett wake up, it's only a nightmare wake up."
Nellie relaxed hearing Sweeney's voice but she felt a blush creep into her cheeks realizing she was clad only in her thin night gown under the covers and he was siting on the edge of the bed beside her his hand gently rubbing her arm trying to coax her awake.
"Mr. T?"
She sat up whincing when their foreheads collided as she did so. She held the spot on her head that was now throbbing but she shuddered feeling his hands gently move here before his lips brushed the soar spot making her give a small sigh of contentment as his thumb gently wiped a tear from her cheek.
"What are you crying for?"
Nellie looked up at him her eyes adjusting to the dark in the room so she could see his face now filled with concern.
"You were yelling in your sleep cursing someone's life by the sound of it."
Nellie blushed looking down to her hands in her lap, what was she supposed to tell him, that she was dreaming about the day he had told Lucy that he thought of Nellie Walker as a common street urchin that he wanted nothing to do with and that she had gone home and cursed Lucy's very being? She'd be dead before she could blink if she said that but she'd be dead if she lied and he found out, tears slid down her cheeks again.
"Did ya really think of me that way, all those years ago when ya told your Lucy that you thought of me as nothin' more then a street urchin?"
She didn't look up at him feeling him stiffen at the mention of Lucy and the memory instead she closed her eyes and waited for him to leave or lash out at her as he always did but he did neither making her look up at him only to find him looking at the floor with an odd excretion on his face, was it regret? Was Sweeney Todd the demon barber of Fleet Street truly feeling regret?
"I lied to her, it was what she wanted to hear, like everything else, she seen the way I looked at you from the time we were kids and she hated it so I told her what she wanted to hear to keep her from leaving and may parents from disowning me though it didn't matter in the end."
Nellie tentatively reached out her hand and rested it against his arm feeling his tense for a moment before relaxing then in a swift moment pulled her into his lap and he took her spot on the bed. She sat still for a moment before instinctively resting her head against his chest letting her suddenly heavy eye lids close and her mind drift.
XxXx
Nellie Walker was now 19 years old and in a forced marriage with Albert Lovett, a fat lard of a man but he was also a butcher and supplied the meat for the meat pies she made in their shop. Today however she stood hidden in the very back pew of the church wearing a navy dress as she watched the young couple at the front join hands and say their vows to each other before they kissed. Nellie felt rage bubble in her blood as she watched sweet naïve Benjamin kiss Lucy the angelic demon that was playing him like a card in her hand only he had no clue. She stood and left the church but rather than return to her shop where she'd find Albert passed out drunk in the parlor she went to the park claiming her normal spot under the large oak tree pulling her knees to her chest her mind trying to focus on anything but the image of Ben kissing the she devil Lucy.
She was so caught up in her thoughts she didn't realize the clouds filling the sky until the chilled wind blew her hair into her face making her look up. She sighed and got to her feet walking back to her shop on Fleet Street where she paused looking up at the new front of the shop then the room she and Albert had been trying to rent for weeks now. She shook her head and entered the shop looking around unsurprised to find Albert passed out in one of the chairs in the parlor as she passed through the room to their bedroom softly closing its door behind her.
She changed into her night gown and climbed under the blankets curling in on herself as the sky outside lit up with a flash of lightning before the rain poured down hard against the window. At some point in listening to the storm she drifted to sleep but was woken suddenly by the bed groaning under added weight making her open her eyes and look beside her to see Albert heaving himself into the bed. She sighed and moved as far as the bed would allow before falling back asleep. When she woke the next morning it was by a loud knocking on the door of the shop making her groan and slip out from under the warm covers and pull on her dressing gown as she left the room to walk into the shop rubbing sleep from her eyes.
"Oi we're closed on Sunday's! Even if it weren't Sunday we ain't open this bleedin' early!"
She called grouchily after having been woken from a dream where Ben had fallen in love with her, she entered the shop and froze seeing the familiar forms of Benjamin and Lucy standing outside talking quietly.
"Just a minute!"
She called out to them before rushing back to the bedroom changing into a dress and putting her hair up before going back to the shop unlocking the door opening it.
"Good mornin' dears, 'ere about the room above I assume?"
Lucy looked at her and her blue eyes nearly popped out of her skull while Ben looked at her his eyes wide with surprise but a small smile on his lips.
"Nellie, Nellie Walker?"
Nellie tore her eyes away from Lucy to look at Ben with a small smile as she opened the door to let them into the shop.
"It's Nellie Lovett now love, been married for 'alf a year now."
She closed the door working to calm her heart before she walked to the counter digging in a drawer for a nomen before producing a key and closing the door.
"Sorry you couldn't meet me 'usband but 'es not 'ere at the moment so I'll show you the room."
She led them out of the shop and up the outside steps rolling her eyes as Lucy complained about how the stairs seemed unsafe. Once they reached the shop she opened the door stepping aside to let them in before stepping in herself looking around with hands on her hips.
"There's a room through that door it's got your parlor, bathroom and a small kitchen, this room is big enough for a shop or anything you want, rent is 2£ a month for the two."
She turned her eyes to Ben who was smiling looking around as if imagining what they could make of the room before he looked at Lucy who was looking out the large window over the street bellow.
"This will be prefect Lucy, I could have my shop in here and when the baby comes we'll have enough money for a real home."
Lucy looked up at him her face pinched as though she were smelling something fowl.
"I don't know Ben, living here isn't really the safest place, why couldn't we just move to the house your parents left you outside of London?"
Ben looked confused then glanced at Nellie's reflection in the window his slightly pained.
"It's only for a short time Lucy, then we can have a house of our own where ever you want I promise."
Lucy sighed and nodded crossing her arms.
"Alright if you say so."
Ben smiled and turned to Nellie handing her the money for the first moths rent his smile making her smile faintly.
"Alright I'll let you dears settle in if you need anythin' I'm just down stairs, 'eres the key."
She handed the key to Ben her hand lingering in his for a second longer then needed making her inwardly smirk at Lucy's leer before she left the shop openly smirking to herself.
XxXx
Nellie opened her eyes slowly against the pale grey light filtering through the curtains, she yawned moving to get up only to stop as she felt strong arms holding her making her turn her head. She felt her eyes widen and a small gasp escape her lips as she seen Sweeney sleeping beside her his arms holding her tight.
She smiled biting her lip as she shifted slowly so she was facing him and carefully kissed his lips holding her breath waiting to see if he'd wake up, thankfully he hardly stirred beyond holding her closer. She smiled watching him sleep as her fingertips traced his jaw making her mind wonder once more to another situation just like this but also so very different.
XxXx
It had been three months after Benjamin and Lucy moved into the room above, Ben had set up his barber shop and was making a small living for himself and his wife and his business worked out for her own since the newly shaven men would come down to the pie shop for a pie. After closing Nellie would be left to clean up the shop while Albert went out drinking with his friends not that she minded it gave her time to herself. She was in the process of scrubbing a table when the bell above the shops door rang making her sigh but continue scrubbing.
"Sorry dear but we're closed for the night, come again tomorrow and there'll be a nice pie for you."
She glanced up from the table as a chuckle came from by the door, she flushed at once straitening up and tucking a few loose curls behind her ears as she seen Ben standing by the door.
"Oh Ben it's only you, what did you need love?"
She picked up the rag from the table and slung it over her shoulder as she walked to the next table gathering plates she'd stacked to be washed, a few to many for her to grab but she attempted it anyway wanting to be through with cleaning as soon as possible, but as she lifted them the unsteady stack began to fall until a second set of hands grabbed half the stack so it didn't fall.
"Careful Mrs. Lovett you could get hurt doing it like that, let me help you."
Nellie looked up at the young barber astonished her mouth hanging open like a carp until she snapped it closed and shook her head.
"Now Ben I couldn' ask you to do that-"
"I want to Nellie."
She felt her heart melt as he used her first name and sighed gesturing for him to fallow her to the kitchen where she she'd the plates into the soapy water splashing some of it to the floor as she began to wash them. As she washed the dishes Ben leaned on the counter and dried them talking with her about everything from the current on slot of rain they'd had lately to childhood memories and dreams.
"What about you Nellie, what kind of life did you want as a child?"
Nellie looked down at the dish she was washing as her hands slowed and her brow furrowed.
"When I was little my mum would send me to me great aunt Nettie's during the summer, oh 'ow I loved it, she lived by the sea she did and after every visit I would dream about livin' by the sea with a 'usband and children."
She snorted returning to scrubbing the plate with such vigor Ben silently worried it would break.
"'stead 'ere I am 19 years old married to a fat lard who goes out drinkin' till wee hours cleanin' this shop all by me self while..."
Her voice trailed off as she held her tongue before she could finish the thought in her mind.
"While what?"
Ben looked at her his brow furrowed with both worry and curiosity.
"Nothin' love, it's late your wife'll be lookin' for you."
She didn't look at him as she turned to leave the room listening to his foot steps fallowing her through the shop but stopping at the door way to the parlor. She looked over her shoulder to see Ben standing in the door way looking at her concerned.
"Lucy is at her sister's for the week, I told you when she left yesterday, are you sure your alright Nellie?"
Nellie took a deep breath and went to the shelf Albert kept the bottle of gin and took it down with two glasses gesturing for Ben to come in while she sat on the bench in front of the piano tucked away in the corner leaving room enough for him to sit. He sat beside her watching as she poured two glasses of gin handing him one as she downed her's in the flick of a wrist flinching as it burned down her throat. Ben gingerly sipped at his flinching at the burning of his throat before he spoke glancing at her.
"It's about Lucy isn't it?"
Nellie looked up at him ready to protest but as their eyes met everything in her mind vanished leaving her to nod slowly before looking away. Ben sighed beside her setting his glass down beside the bottle before lifting the cover over the keys of the piano and hesitating a moment before he began to play glancing at her waiting for her to continue the song on her end. She let a smile tug at the corner of her mouth before her fingers picked up the music where he left it without effort her fingers lightly touching the keys as she closed her eyes sighing.
They played the song through and once it ended she felt his hand gently turn her face to look at him and before she could full process what was happening his lips were on her's, her mind was screaming that this wasn't right but her body was reacting on its own as her lips kissed back and her arms wrapped around his neck when he pulled her close enough she was basically sitting in his lap. Her lungs screamed for air as he broke the kiss moving his lips down her jaw to her neck making her eyes flutter closed and her head tilt to the side while she gave a purr like sound in the back of her throat.
"Mmmm Ben n-not 'ere..."
Her voice spoke without her minds command but her mind was slowly going blank as his lips returned to her's and his arms lifted her while he stood. With a little help from her he found his way to her bedroom where he laid her on the bed and ravaged her lips and neck with kisses once more his fingers working clumsily with the laces of her corset until she smiled against his lips and pushed his hands away and undid them in a moment and pulled the garment from herself dropping it to the floor. Her back arched as Ben's lips kissed along her shoulder and over the tops of her breasts. She helped him rid herself of the rest of her clothes before helping him out of his, her mind once again screaming how wrong it all was until his lips covered her's once more and her mind went blank of anything but him.
She now laid beside him her head on his arm as he slept soundly beside her one arm under her head of now even more messy auburn curls and the other wrapped tightly around her. She smiled gently tracing his jaw with finger tips her fingers memorizing each of his features before she inched close and placed a soft kiss to his lips closing her eyes contently as she snuggled against his bare chest listening to his heartbeat as it lulled her to sleep.
XxXx
Nellie smiled at the memory but jumped shocked when cool lips brushed over her finger tips making her look into the deep onyx pools locked on her. She let her smile stay on her lips as she leaned closer to Sweeney and pressed her lips softly to his, it took a second before he kissed back his arms wrapping protectively around her before she broke the kiss to rest her head on his chest her fingers drawing small patterns on the cool skin while his fingers made small circles on her lower back pausing only when she placed a kiss in the hallow of his neck then sat up.
"It's time to open shop love."
She began to stand but let out a squeal as he pulled her back onto the bed holding her waist as his lips found her shoulder now exposed as her dress shoulder fell down.
"The filth of this place can last one day without one of your meat pies and a clean shave Nellie."
She closed her eyes letting his lips kiss her skin as his hands skillfully undid her night gown before he moved her into laying on the bed a little forcefully but still gentle as his hands roamed over her and his lips found her's again, she tangled her fingers in his hair pressing herself closer to him as her eyes closed and her lungs screamed for air but she didn't want to lose a second of the feeling she felt from the time she had first laid eyes on little Benjamin Barker, a feeling that made her heart swell and her knees weak, love, unconditional, crazy love.