Sweeney eyed his former home, slightly disgusted with how full it was. Well, at least, the downstairs of his home, where his landlords the Andrews lived and had their bakery. It seemed that someone had bought it and turned it into a meat pie shop. He curled his lip at the sheer amount of vermin in the little shop, eating, drinking and making merry. Reluctantly, he shuffled forward, taking a seat in a darkened corner. A woman, obviously, this Mrs. Lovett who now owned the place, flitted around tending to customers and making small talk as she served pies and ale. She looked an awful lot like… but no, it couldn't be…
He squinted, and was almost positive that this woman was indeed Eleanor Andrews, the beautiful young girl who lived below him with her parents, and who he had begun to court before he was exiled. He sat there and watched her until the shop was mostly emptied out, admiring how she'd changed over the years. She was more womanly, fuller in her curves and the dress she wore certainly accentuated that. He watched her curly auburn hair bounce as she started collecting dirty plates and carrying them to the sink. The last drunk staggered out the door, with her locking the door for the night.
She sighed, suddenly looking more tired, and rubbed a hand across her forehead. Sweeney accidentally bumped the foot of the table with his boot. She jumped, finally spotting him.
"Sir," she started, "I'm sorry but we're closed for the night."
He stood.
"Tell me something; are you Eleanor Andrews?"
She froze.
"W-Who are you?" she asked, backing away slightly. No one remembered her as that anymore. Everyone just knew her as Mrs. Lovett.
"An old friend. Well, friend is being modest," he replied, stepping out the shadows.
Her brow furrowed as she looked at him. The dark hair (oddly striped), and the lean body and pale face…he didn't look like anyone she knew… she took a closer look at his eyes. They flashed with the deepest brown, and one eyebrow arched as he looked at her.
Her jaw dropped, her hazel eyes widening.
"Benjamin?!"
He smirked.
"Yes. But it's Todd now. Sweeney Todd."
She felt her heart sink. Benjamin was home and here she was, married off.
"I-I, how did you escape?! Your sentence was for life!" she said, stepping closer.
"I managed," he mumbled darkly.
She suddenly caught her senses, and shook her head. "You- you have to leave, you need to go, before he gets back-," she said as she picked up his bag and shoved it against his chest, pushing him towards the door.
"He? Who he?" he asked as he stepped backwards as she wanted.
"My husband," she said, equal parts irritated and sad and fearful.
"You got married?!" he said incredulously, ignoring the pang in his chest that told him he was incredibly hurt by this.
"Not by my choice," she said brusquely.
"B-But, what about my old room, I have nowhere else to stay," he mumbled.
She stopped, stepping back to look at him, chewing on her lip the way she used to when she was thinking hard.
"Oh, alright. Just stay out of Albert's way, or else it'll be both our heads," she finally said, turning. She rummaged around in a drawer, muttering curses. Finally she stood and produced a ring of keys from her pocket, finally locating one and tossing it to him.
"Better get settled in, then. Dinner should be in about a half hour, that is if Albert's home by then," she said, turning and starting to pull out pots and pans from the cupboards.
He frowned and nodded, heading outside and trudging up the steps.
He had just finished placing all his belongings in the chest of drawers and vanity when he heard the shop door slam. He sighed and quietly stepped down the stairs, entering the little shop through the side door. A fat, pale and bald man was drunkenly making his way to the counter where Nellie was stirring a large pot of stew. He was so incredibly large that the buttons on his waistcoat were bursting out, and the short walk from the tavern down the road had him sweating bullets, the large droplets of sweat visible on his hairless head.
"Nellie, darlin'! Is my din'er ready yet?" he bellowed.
"Yes, Albert. Why don't you go sit and I'll serve you," she said, her eyes stubbornly glued to the churning stew as he leered over her. He nodded, and Sweeney was disgusted as he heard the audible slap on her bottom.
"Jus' like a good lit'le wife, eh, Ellie?" he laughed, making Sweeney's blood boil.
He plopped himself in a seat just as Sweeney stepped inside.
"Who the hell are you?" Albert growled, just as Nellie came over and set the hot bowl of stew in front of him.
"Albert this is Mr. Todd, our new tenant. He rented the room above," Nellie replied as she set two other bowls on the table.
Albert grunted. "Lord knows we need the extra money. You barely make enough these days, Ellie," he growled, shovelling stew into his mouth. "Just s'long as you keep yer hands offa my darlin' wife." He completed this with another pinch to Nellie's bottom.
She sat and started to eat silently, her eyes stuck to the table and her mouth set in a firm line. Albert finished eating, and belched loudly, patting his large stomach.
"I'm off to bed, Nellie, darlin'. Don' forget to join me," he said with a lecherous wink. "Remember my words, Mr. Todd."
As soon as he was gone, Sweeney muttered, "God, he's disgusting. Why is he even your husband?"
"I didn't choose him, if that's what you're saying," she snapped. "If you must know, my mother set us up shortly after you left. About a month, actually."
Sweeney looked at her sadly as she collected hers and Albert's bowls and walked over to where there was a stack of dishes waiting to be washed. After a minute, he steeled himself, pursed his lips and stood. He left his dishes on the counter and walked over to the door.
"Goodnight, Mrs. Lovett."
After he was gone, Nellie stood there for a good twenty five minutes, feeling tears come to her eyes. God, her life was a mess. She had a bastard for a husband, a business that was getting harder and harder to manage on her own, and to top it all off, the man she never stopped loving suddenly returned and is now living above her. Gathering her wits about herself, she began the long task of washing all the dishes and cutlery. She stared at the tall stacks, chewing on her lip. 'Ah well, hopefully by the time I'm done, Albert'll be asleep.'
When she was finally finished preparing everything for the shop the next day, it was close to eleven o'clock. With a long, weary sigh, she trudged to the bathroom and ran some water in the tub, not caring that it was cold. When she finished bathing she pulled on a thin white cotton nightgown and padded back into the parlour to soak up the warmth of the fire.
In the morning, Albert wasn't very happy with her for never joining him in bed. She managed to evade any kind of punishment by locking herself in the bathroom until she knew he had left for work.
XXX
He was beating her. He was positive that her goliath of a husband was beating her.
His suspicions began one morning when he came down for breakfast and saw her stretching for a spoon. In the process, her sleeve had pulled upwards, revealing the pale length of her arm. Except, it wasn't pale. A dark, suspiciously hand-shaped bruise decorated her thin forearm. When he asked about it, she had twittered nervously and tugged the sleeve down, making an excuse about needing to go put some pies in the oven in the bakehouse and had quickly fled the scene. A few nights after this had happened, he was positive that he heard someone cry out below him. The next morning, her lip was split and swollen. Every time he saw that behemoth of a man he felt his blood boil with hatred, so strong it was almost on par with his hatred for the Judge. He had even stopped dining with them, for fear that he would lose himself halfway through dinner and stab him with his fork.
One way or another, he knew he was going to be doing both himself and her a huge favour if he decided to get rid of him.
A/N: Thanks for reading and don't forget to review! I know Sweeney may seem kind of OOC, but I figured he might be different if he had never married Lucy. Also, in this story, he was banished for 'gandering at the Judge's fiancee', but I'll explain that later. Also, I figured that Sweeney would be like super against the abuse of women, hence the reason he's so protective of Nellie. Reviews are love!