A/N: Second Chapter! I don't know how often I will be updating, it depends on how fast I get the chapters done, but I will try to keep it frequent.
Mrs. Lovett's eyes opened slowly. Everything was blurry. She noticed that she was in her room. There was someone in front of her but she didn't know who. As she started to become more aware of her surroundings, she noticed the wet cloth placed on her forehead. She also noticed she was extremely hot. She could feel the sweat on her neck. She tried to sit up but a firm hand pushed her back down.
"Mrs. Lovett," said the owner of the hand, "you are not to set foot out of this bed do you hear me?" the voice showed no sign of concern, more like a command.
As things came into focus, Mrs. Lovett realized that she was looking into the dark eyes of none other than Sweeney Todd.
"Wot 'append?" she groaned.
"You fainted. The doctor came and said that you were running a high temperature. You need rest." There was still no sign of concern. The words were empty.
"Oh." Mrs. Lovett replied, trying to remember what happened. Then, all of a sudden she remembered the look on of pure guilt and horror on poor Toby's face right before everything went blank. "Where's Toby!"
"He's right outside your door. Annoying little brat won't stop asking when he can come in and see you."
"Please, would you be a dear and send him in here for me?"
"No, you need to rest." Sweeney said before starting to head towards the door.
"Then I'll do it myself." she said, jumping out of bed. As soon as she was on her feet she felt woozy. She clung to the edge of the bed for support.
"Stupid woman!" Sweeney growled as he walked back towards the bed and helped her lay back down. He walked over to the door and yanked a very disheveled Toby into the room.
"Mum!" He cried, running towards her with open arms and jumping on top of her before Sweeney could stop him. "I was so worried. I should have told Mr. Todd that you weren't feeling well this morning. It's all my fault. I wanted to help but Mr. Todd wouldn't let me in the room. He was so worried when you fainted. He sent me to get the doctor and her carried you into your room and tried to cool you off with cold water and he…" He was talking so fast, Mrs. Lovett was having trouble keeping up with what he was saying, but when she heard that Mr. Todd was worried about her, hear heart swelled.
"Toby, Mrs. Lovett needs her rest." Sweeney's gruff voice cut him off before he could tell her what else he did while she was passed out.
"That's all right love, I'm fine now." She said sitting up, trying to show him that she really was alright.
"Well then if you won't sleep you have to eat. Toby get the soup." He growled.
"Mista Todd, did you really help me as much as Toby said?" She whispered, looking up at him with her big brown eyes.
Sweeney Todd had been horrified that the boy had told Mrs. Lovett what he had done for her. He knew that she would do anything to get his attention and she didn't want her getting the wrong idea if she found out that he had tended to her for the four hours that she had been passed out, making sure she wasn't too hot or too cold, whipping the sweat off of her neck, catching her when she fainted, and holding her in his arms and protecting her when Toby ran to get the doctor.
Now that Mrs. Lovett was asking if it was all true, he didn't know what to say. He finally decided to tell her the truth.
"Yes." He said flatly. He hoped that if he told her the truth, she would leave him alone, but he was wrong.
"Oh thank you Mr. Todd" she cried, her eyes shining as she wrapped her arms around his waist. He quickly stepped out of her reach. She was little taken aback, and looked down at the floor. Sweeney mentally kicked himself for being so stupid. Of course she wouldn't leave him alone if she knew the truth, she would just keep pestering him and trying to thank him.
Mrs. Lovett opened her mouth to say something else, but Toby came rushing in with the bowl of soup before she could say anything.
"Here Mum! Right off the fire." Toby grinned as he handed her the soup.
"Thank you love. You're such a good boy." She smiled weakly.
"Toby, go and finish cleaning the pie shop for Mrs. Lovett and close the door behind you." Mr. Todd growled. Toby glared at Mr. Todd, but he didn't want to upset Mrs. Lovett by disagreeing him, so he left, shutting the door behind him.
Mrs. Lovett sighed and picked up a spoon full of soup. For the first time, she noticed how much her hands were shaking. As she brought the spoon to her mouth, her hands trembled so much that all the spoons contents was spilling over the edge, falling onto the bed sheets and her white nightgown.
Sweeney rolled his eyes at the helpless creature trying to feed herself. Before he could think about what he was doing, he sat on the edge of the bed, took the spoon from her hand and slowly began to feed her.
He began to wonder why he was doing this. He was only making Mrs. Lovett think he cared about her, but he didn't care about her, he only cared about his Lucy. Her yellow hair and her sweet smile, his perfect Lucy. Then he looked down at Mrs. Lovett's big brown eyes, her fierce curly red hair and her face, her beautiful face. The more he thought about Mrs. Lovett, the more the picture of Lucy faded from his head.
Mrs. Lovett was shocked. Sweeney Todd was actually feeding her. He was taking care of her. She didn't understand, he never acted like this. She wasn't complaining, oh no! She was enjoying herself, but she didn't understand Mr. Todd's behavior. She sat in bliss for the next few minutes as Mr. Todd fed her. Once in a while she would look at his face, but the whole time it remained expressionless. He wasn't happy to be feeding her, but he wasn't angry either. When the bowl was empty, Sweeney stood up and walked towards the door. Mrs. Lovett looked after him she didn't want him to go.
"Don't leave me." She cried, before she could stop herself. Nellie watched him turn slowly to look back at her. He looked into her sad eyes. Then he turned and left, leaving her all alone. Her eyes filled with tears, she knew that he didn't care about her. He wouldn't stay, he wouldn't sit by her side while she was sick. He only cared about Lucy, perfect little Lucy. She cried softly, tears rolling down her cheeks and joining the soup on her nightgown.
Sweeney walked back into the room and found Mrs. Lovett crying softly on the bed, hands covering her eyes. He walked over to her and pulled a chair up next to the bed. He wanted to wipe away the tears that were falling from her eyes, he hated to see her like this. NO! What was he thinking? What was he doing? He didn't care about Mrs. Lovett! He only cared for Lucy! But no matter how hard he tried to think about Lucy, it pained him to see Mrs. Lovett cry. He knew he would later regret this, but he took her hands in one of his own and slowly wiped her tears away.
She looked up at him in awe. She couldn't believe he was doing this. First he was feeding her, now he was drying her tears. What had gotten into this man? She yawned.
"You're tired. Get some rest." He said finally. She tried to protest but he pushed her down and pulled the covers over her.
"Thank you." She murmured, "Please," she yawned again, "stay with me."
"It's late." He replied. She studied his face carefully. "Don't worry, I will…Nellie" She was shocked that he had said her name. It was the first time in 15 years that he had said it, but she was too tired to say another word. The last thing she remembered was feeling Sweeney's hand taking her own as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
A/N: So that's Chapter 2. I'll put Chapter 3 up as soon as possible! I hope this wasn't too sappy. I tried to have Sweeney get angry with himself for thinking about Mrs. Lovett instead of Lucy. If you think that he was to caring in this chapter please let me know for future reference.
Thanks to Samantha Eleanor Lestrange, 360devil and mggsmonkey for reviewing! Reviews are a great way to get me writing so if you want more, you know what to do!
