The Fall and Rise of Nellie Lovett
Summary : Nellie is badly hurt outside the barber's shop and Sweeney and Toby have to take care of her. Eventually blossoming Sweenett. Dedicated to littlezion, who gave me the idea with their story 'Times Forgotten'.
Disclaimer : I do not own Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, it belongs to Tim Burton and Stephen Sondheime.
Chapter One
"GET OUT!" screamed the demon barber, causing Nellie Lovett to flee the room, closing the door with a final glance behind her. She leaned back on the wall, occasionally casting a glance through the pane of glass that seperated her from the love of her life, a man who had just threatened her with a razor blade. She started to feel a little faint, so she leaned onto the banister of the chipped stone staircase that seperated Sweeney Todd's barber shop from the filthy straw-covered Fleet Street. Her head was still spinning from the confrontation she had had with her tenant, which had contained the fact that they all deserved to die, even her.
She suddenly heard the clang of metal hitting wood, which caused her to turn in horror, backing away from the door, only to realised briefly that there was nothing beneath her feet. She barely had time to scream before she went tumbling headfirst down the flight of stairs, landing in a crumpled heap in the mud at the foot of them.
Sweeney Todd was staring at the silver razor blade which was stuck in the wooden frame of his shop door, reflecting a glint of moonlight through the darkness of the room. The silence was piercing after Mrs. Lovett had slammed out of the room on his forceful orders. It was almost unnaturally quiet for the city of London, but that was a normal occurance for dusk on Fleet Street.
A sudden scream broke through the silence, followed by a dull thump, before silence fell once more. Sweeney Todd, who had heard three or four screams that day from his customers at the shop, thought nothing of it at first, thinking that he was just reminiscing over the kills he had made that day, until he realised that that wasn't possible. Because the screaming voice was female. More than that, he recognised it. Mrs. Lovett.
Leaping to his feet, the barber made for the door, throwing open the wood and glass to see...nothing. He was about to turn and return to his shop when he heard a small moan of pain coming from the bottom of the stairs. Turning back to the street, Sweeney walked right to the edge of the top stair, so as to get a full view of the street below.
There was Mrs. Lovett, lying in a crumpled heap on the concrete slabs of the street below, unmoving. Her slight moans of pain were all that indicated that the woman was still alive. Not even thinking about his actions or the reason that his landlady was lying half dead at the bottom of the stairs to his shop, Sweeney tore down the stairs, wrapped one arm around Mrs. Lovett's back, the other under her knees and swept her off her feet, carrying her bridal style into the bakery where he lay her on the seat of one of the partitions in the shop and called for Toby.
The young boy camed reluctantly into the room, dragging his feet behind him at the notion of being ordered around by his beloved mum's mad business partner, but sprinted to Mr. Todd's side when he saw the auburn-haired woman lain across the seat.
"Mum! Mr. Todd, what happened to her, is she alright?" he begged, sitting down beside her and shaking her lightly.
"Toby, go down through the market, find the doctor's house and get him here now. Hang on, you need a full name for the doctor's. Toby, what's your mum's first name?" asked Mr. Todd, seemingly contradicting himself with every word coming out of his mouth.
"Um, it's...actually, I don't really know."
"Well, what did you call her, before you called her 'mum'?"
"I called her Mrs. Lovett. Oh, hang on...there's a man at the market, when Mum goes to buy flour, he always says to her 'Hello, Nellie, how are you?'. So it must be Nellie. Nellie Lovett."
"Good, go, now!" ordered the barber, opening the door and all but throwing Toby out of it by the collar of his shirt, before settling onto the seat beside the unconcious woman, subconciously slipping his hand into hers, willing her to wake up and make a snide remark or a cheeky smile, anything but this. Even with a steady heartbeat beneath her chest, Mrs. Lovett had never been so dead.
A/N : So, first chapter, what do you think? Also, I know I didn't do the speech pattern for Toby or Mrs. Lovett (though she didn't speak), but I can't do it, so you'll have to imagine it being said the way they say it.