Merry Christmas everyone!
[or Hanukkah or Qwanzaa, or... just... have a good day?! ;) ]

Gah. I'm so naughty, starting YET ANOTHER story.. Oh well. The plot wouldn't leave my head, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Quite unlike any of my other fics... it will have a few fluffy moments, but over all I think I'm going to try and make this quite a serious fic.
(as I said- quite unlike any of my other stories...)

This is AU. Let me know if you think I should change the rating.. I'm pretty sure it'll be fine, but..?
(enjoy the first chapter, it's laughably bad...)

Oh, and any ideas for a title or a summary would be very much appreciated (as you may be able to tell, I'm not very good at them..)

Ta.

~Drop us a review~

xoxo

Chels


Nellie Lovett sighed as she finished cleaning up her failing business. Ever since her dear Albert had passed (his butchery along with him) her bakery had suffered… good meat was getting difficult to come by, times becoming hard and London's colour slowly slipping away from the city…

Of course, colour and laughter was still alive in some lives: in their lives, for instance.
'Naïve fools' she thought fondly.
More fondly on one fool in particular…

The bell above her door tingled merrily, mocking her gloomy thoughts, announcing an arrival. She turned as the fool in question astumbled in, a panicked look on his face. Benjamin Barker spotted her, and stumbled over, grasping onto her shoulders desperately.

"Ben wha-"

"Nellie! I don't know how to do it!"

Nellie raised an eyebrow at his flustered state, and calmly led him to a table.

"Now you jus' sit down 'ere luv, and tell me wa's wrong."

He sat, and immediately grappled at her hands.

"I don't know how to do it Nellie! I don't!"

"Ben, 'ave you been drinkin'?" she asked, knowing full well the answer. She could smell the alcohol on him, and hid her surprise when he nodded unabashedly. He never drank. Never!

"Why, you silly man? Wha's got you in such a tizzy tha' you turned ta the drink?"

"Lucy"

"Ah.. had a fight 'ave ya luv?"

"…We're gettin' married."

Nellie felt as though he had kicked her in the gut, but Benjamin wasn't finished.


"And I don't know how to
do it!"

Nellie was still processing the information, her heart ripping itself into itty bitty pieces. "Do wha' luv?"

Benjamin scowled lopsidedly; he'd obviously been affected harshly from the drink.

"You know... it... As in 'the night after the wedding' it."

Comprehension dawned.

Nellie held back a blush.

"You mean ta tell me tha' you don't know how...?"

Ben waved a hand impatiently, and ended up hitting it against the edge of the table in his drunken state. He shook it out with a curse and said, not meeting her eyes, "I know the mechanics Nellie… I just... I don't know how to… I want Lucy to still love me… afterwards…"

Nellie nodded. He wanted his -Nellie's heart dropped- …wife… to enjoy herself.

"I get whatcha mean Ben, but I'm still confused as ta why ya came ta me?"

He took her hand again, and Nellie met his eyes, which were only slightly unfocused, and which were trained desperately on her own.

"Teach me" he whispered.


Nellie Lovett sat bolt upright in her bed, her heart beating painfully fast.

She looked around frantically, assuring herself of where she was. The moth eaten curtains feebly held back the morning light, and as her eyes adjusted she could see the bedside cabinet, and her wardrobe in the hazy glow. Birds outside where singing, and the rhythmic thud thud thud of one Sweeney Todd pacing could be heard from above.
She would have to fix breakfast soon...
Nellie closed her eyes forcefully against all of this, and with a quiet thump let herself fall ungracefully back against her pillows.

If only…

If only he had loved her

If only he hadn't married that twit Lucy…

If only he wasn't so hell bent on avenging his old life…

If only he would learn to forgive and forget

If only…

If only it had just been a dream.