Ok so it has been .er. & I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter just yet BUT I'm sure you'll let me know if its terrrible. (also sidenote: I sorta rushed writing this the past few nights once my writer's block faded and I wanted to get it out for you so PLEASE tell me of typos or general bad grammar so i can fix it!)
First things first, thank you thank you thank you for the reviewers of the past chapters BUT my biggest thanks go to icyeyeddragon WHO kindly answered the dart question from way way back in chapter five (Band of Brothers - a reader after my own heart that recognized it :) and just in general made my day when I read the message.
So this is dedicated to you all - icyeyeddragon, kayla, ithilya, niffer01 & steffy-michellehere's hopin you don't retract your comments!
Josie's eyes wandered around the now half empty bar and sighed in relief at the sight. It was mostly old-timers left now and she began moving around the pub, picking up empty pint glasses and emptying ashtrays. Soccer – or football as she'd have to start calling it – had never really interested her much, but obviously she'd have to make more of an effort now that she was with Pete. He and the boys seemed to be mad over it and she'd never been the type of girl to get in the way of boys and their sport.
Ah Pete, she momentarily swooned in her head while still trying to concentrate on the task at hand though she did stop to wonder just how loaded he'd be by the time the match was over. Shaking her head she continued cleaning the tables up, cringing at the mess that had been made it what seemed like a matter of minutes.
"Oi Josey-posey, get outta la-la land and 'elp me with these, yeah?" Josie shook herself from her thoughts to see Terry loaded down with boxes of beer and she hurried over to help him. They'd been nearly wiped out during the pre-match hours.
She gave him an apologetic smile, "Sorry Terr, guess I've had my head in the clouds half the day."
Terry snorted in reply, "More like your minds been on one certain lad whose first name starts with a P and ends with an eat."
Josie raised an eyebrow at him slightly, "Seriously with that? Come on Terr, I don't have it that bad."
"Hmph any girl that accepts that boy along with the GSE has got it bad." At this, Josie glanced over at him in confusion.
"GSE? What's that?" Terry's mouth dropped open in horror and his eyes widened in surprise and he began to stutter incomprehensibly while Josie simply narrowed her eyes at him, "Too late to back out now mister, explain or I'll leave you to clean up this mess that we now call a pub."
"Uh, um…Joze this is really somethin' Pete should be tellin' you." Josie felt her heart pound in her chest, He's been keeping something from me?
"Well obviously he hasn't and wasn't plannin' on it but now you've mentioned somethin' you thought I already knew, you are going to tell me. Now. And sharpish too please, I haven't got all day, I have a job, ya know." Terry stared at her, seeming to weigh the consequences of ignoring or telling her and as her glare became more pronounced and she tapped her foot impatiently he sighed deeply.
"Right fine love, but you didn't 'ear it from me…whatchu know about English football?"
"Erm, the basics – black and white ball, no hands, feet only and you all fall down like babies when someone nudges ya." She glanced up at Terry as he grimaced slightly at her explanation.
"Eh, good enough, but all you Yanks see is what's on the TV, you miss out on the Firm aspect."
Josie tilted her head to the side in confusion, "Hmm, firm aspect? Like, we miss out on the solid part of football?"
Terry looked at her oddly before he burst out laughing which only caused Josie to cross her arms over her chest in frustration, "Not firm with a little eff silly, Firm with a capital eff. I suppose you Yanks'd call 'em gangs but they're just staunch supporters who happen to tussle with other team's firms. West Ham's Firm is the Green Street Elite; and your Dunham is the 'ead of it."
Josie felt her mouth go dry and she only managed to strangle a few words out, "Tussle? As in fight?"
"Don' worry Joze, Dunham can take care of 'imself. You'll 'ave him back in no time and he'll be tip-top. Well, in all honesty he'll probably be bleeding but it'll stop, it always does." With that, Terry turned back to begin restocking the bar, leaving Josie shell-shocked and her mind whirling.
How could he keep this from me? She thought sadly, why doesn't he want me to know about an obviously huge part of his life? But the longer she dwelled on it and the harder she thought about it, the angrier she got. Just who in the hell did he think he was fooling these past few months?
As the minutes ticked by the more she realized that Pete Dunham had no idea what was waiting for him. If he thought some little scrap was bad he'd never faced the wrath of Josephine Murphy.
"Goooooaaaaaallll!" Pete raised his arms over his head in victory as he kicked the empty can past Bovver and it hit the trash can of the underground. Pete swaggered forward as he reached the yellow line to wait for the train back to the Abbey. He and the boys had been wandering the underground in search of the Yids with no such long – apparently they'd been scared off back to Tottenham.
"Oi! Lookie 'ere mates – Dunham and his GSE cunts; avoidin' a scrap they was." Pete's eyes flashed across the divide of the tracks to see Jacob, the head of the Yids standing there, seven of his boys flanking him.
Pete felt his body burn with adrenaline, if a fight was what they wanted, a fight was what they'd get, "Thought you twats 'ad run back home? You lot are dumber than I thought you were to hang 'round these parts. If I was you, I'd fuck off outta here – before somethin' bad 'appens."
Jacob smirked cruelly before taking in the boys who were surrounding Pete, each one wore a matching glare and had a certain amount of uncontained glee on their faces, "Hah, bad happin' from this sad lot? Innit that a joke." He'd turned towards his firsthand mate who gave a smug grin and shot a glare directed mainly at Bovver. The two of them had serious history.
The rest of the boys erupted in shouts, curses and threats volleying across the expanse of the tracks. Soon.
"Well, if a fights what you want – who are we to stand in your way?" Pete smirked at the sudden movement that occurred on both sides as each took off for the stairs to meet on the street. Pete jogged up the steps, taking them two at a time before reaching the top and as his blue eyes darted around, trying to adjust to the dark when he felt a quick blow to the side of his head.
He tried to keep his eyes focused through the slight pain and he finally caught sight of a fist coming towards him, dodging it swiftly he raised his arm back before connecting with Jacob's thin face. The familiar burst of pain as his fist met bone ran up his arm. He grabbed the other guy's collar and thrust his head forward, aiming the hard part of his head to the soft area of his opponents. The resounding thud caused more adrenaline to seep into his bloodstream and his heart kicked into overdrive at the sounds of the boys in the midst of the fight.
He muscled him to the ground and Pete continued to pound his fists into his Jacob's face as he tried to cover his face from the blows. Sirens broke through his furious punches and he felt someone rip him off Jacob, swinging wildly he punched whoever it was that'd touched him.
"Shit, thas the hardest I've been hit all night." Pete tried to focus his eyes through the blood streaming into them only to see Swill gripping his eye in pain.
"Sorry mate, got a bit carried away." Pete gave a smirk and looked down at Jacob who was still curled up on the ground just as flashing lights started to appear.
"Oi, yous all wanna get pinched? Let's get outta here." Bovver's voice broke through the sirens and Pete and Swill immediately took off, sprinting into the underground – and with luck – onto the train that'd just pulled in.
As the doors shut tight Pete noticed with a laugh half the Yids stranded on the other side of the tracks and watched as two coppers came thundering down the stairs causing the rest of the GSE to break out into gleeful cheers. He surveyed the damage and noticed most of the boys were bleeding to some degree but were definitely better off than the Yids had fared as they wouldn't be dealin' with any copper's questions.
A successful match indeed, he thought.
Josie sat strumming her fingers on the bar, still seething slightly with anger while the rest of her was numb from the pints she'd been drinking since her shift had ended. She gritted her teeth, wondering if Pete would even show back up at the Abbey tonight or if he'd bother to call his "girlfriend." In her mind she cringed at the word, questioning everything he'd ever said to her.
"Terry! Pint me, now Yoda." Josie slammed her fist down on the bar and Terry looked at her with amusement in his eyes.
"Joze, relax. This is your fifth in about an hour. What are ya gonna do when he gets 'ere? Yell for a second then puke on 'im?" Josie tried to glare through slightly glassy eyes but failed miserably when she saw the smirk on Terry's face.
She heaved a huge sigh before waving him away, "Eh piss off, yer a horrible bartender, less chatty, more drinky – gimme a pint." Terry finally turned to grab it for her and she fell back into her thoughts. How could he do this?, was the only thing that kept running through her mind. He apparently hadn't trusted her with a huge part of his life and she felt like a fool for being the only one not in on the secret.
She now recognized the signs she'd missed before – how all the boys looked up to him, how all the girls wanted to fuck him (albeit he was a good lookin' bloke), how the younger patrons of the bar seemed to show a large degree of respect for him, even going so far as to stare at him in awestruck amazement. She'd always figured it was just the way he was, Pete seemed to be wrapped in a certain aura that caused everyone to gravitate towards him. Josie dropped her head to the bar realizing she'd just been some idiot in a long line of Pete-worshippers.
In short, she felt like a fool.
She lifted her head quickly when she heard Terry set her pint down in front of her. Too quickly, a slight hiccup escaped her lips and she groaned slightly to herself , "Be right back, don't drink that." She mumbled softly to no one in particular as she slipped off the barstool, nearly losing her footing. Josie took a moment to steady herself before taking off to the bathroom.
After finishing her business she moved to wash her hands, glancing up at her reflection in the mirror, "Oye, I look terrible." She was still dressed in her Patriots jersey and her bare legs felt slightly chilled in the cool air of the Ladies room. She glared back at her own face noticing just how pale she looked in the florescent lights and the slight bags under her eyes. Josie cringed realizing she was so sleepy because she'd spent the night with Pete which caused her heart to twist painfully. Idiot, that's what you are.
Heaving a huge sigh she gave one last glance in the mirror, her brown eyes dull and sad before she turned to leave, making the decision to finish her drink and head home.
Josie walked swiftly back to her barstool, ignoring her surroundings completely – her eye on the pint prize on the counter. Just as she reached the counter she felt muscular arms wrap around her waist and a familiar scent wafted into her nose. She smiled softly, momentarily forgetting her anger of the past few hours until it all came flooding back to her. She wrenched herself free from Pete's grasp and sat down on her seat before taking a large gulp of her drink.
She could almost feel Pete's confusion lurking in the air when she heard his voice, "Joze, love? I missed ya." Josie simply rolled her eyes, finished her beer in two gulps before grabbing her bag to leave. She whipped around to face him and her eyes widened in horror.
"Geez Pete, you look terrible – you and the GSE not make out too well?" The words came tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them and she stared in amazement as he seemed to not notice her sarcasm.
"Nah love, my boys are tiptop, we beat them Yi – wait, what?" Pete's eyes widened in horror and Josie fought against the urge to check the cuts and bruises on his face. Instead, she tried to focus on the anger and hurt she'd been feeling for the past few hours.
"Oh yeah, Terry let something slip about you at the Green Street Fleet and how you're the head of it and how you enjoy beating the shit out of people. All very interesting facts that you probably should have shared with me over the course of the past four months instead of me finding out because Terry thought I already knew." Josie watched as Pete fought a smirk and her heart pounded in anger.
"It's Elite, not Fleet Joze." He grinned down at her as though everything was a-o-kay and she shoved him away from her just as he moved closer.
"Gah, fuck off Dunham that's not the point." She jabbed his chest with her index finger, "The point it I've clearly meant shit to you so just, Leave. Me. Alone." She threw her hair over her shoulder before shoving past his bewildered frame and storming out of the Abbey.
Pete stared in horror at Josie's back as she stormed away from him, the pain of the cuts and bruises on his face had nothing on the way his heart was currently twisting in his chest. His mouth had dropped open in the midst of her yelling and he noticed the bar was currently completely silent and all eyes were on him.
"Oi, fuck off! Nothin' to see 'ere." He shouted to the room at large and immediately everyone clattered to life, trying to avert their eyes from Pete's glare. He whipped around towards the bar, searching frantically for Terry – he had to find out what happened before he went after her.
"You're certainly dumber than you look Dunham – and that's sayin' somethin'." Pete locked eyes with the very man he'd been looking for, trying to look angry but failing miserably as his face twisted in despair.
"So how bad she'd take it?"
Terry grimaced and leaned over the bar towards him, "Before that, lemme say just one thing: you're a stupid twat. You fucked up the best thing a Dunhams' ever had. In my opinion, she'd 'ave understood and accepted it."
Pete dropped his head in shame, knowing full well Terry was right, "This is about the only time in my life I wish I'd listened to Swill of all people when he said I should tell her."
"Yea well, lesson learned – Swill knows more about women than you do. And she took it quietly and with lots of drink." Terry pulled a face before continuing, "And sorry mate – bout tellin' Joze…I really thought you'd told her."
"Thanks bruv, not yer fault. I shoulda told her in the beginning before it got to this point." Pete turned to leave and as he walked by the boys he hung his head sadly, "Welp, I'm off to beg forgiveness and in all likelihood be dumped by Josie."
Most of the boys shouted words of encouragement at him; however Pete noticed Bovver sat with a self-satisfied smirk on his face which only served to turn Pete's stomach even more. He could only hope that the next time he saw him he'd have Josie in tow to wipe the shit eating grin off his face.
Pete trudged out of the bar and began the short walk towards Josie's flat. The closer he got the more butterflies erupted in his stomach. Not for the first time, he wondered what had happened to his bollocks only to remind himself that he'd lost them along with his heart.
Aw for fucksake, I would figure out I love her just as I'm about to lose her. Pete shook his head in chagrin and stared straight ahead. He'd just reached her door and for a few long minutes he simply stared at it, trying to get the nerve to knock.
"Dunham – you're breathing wicked heavily, just knock on the door so we can get this argument over with." Pete jumped back in shock and he grimaced as Josie flung the door open. He gazed at her, awestruck for a minute, while she stood there in the same outfit from earlier today. Her brown hair was cascading down her back and she had her hands on her hips and a glare on her face as she looked him up and down.
She tapped her foot impatiently, "Stop starin' at me – what do you want? Something you'd like to tell me?" She practically spit the words at him and he unconsciously recoiled at the venom lacing her voice.
"I just…I really – I just have to…" Pete stuttered stupidly at her and dropped his eyes to the floor. Fuck, this was hard.
"Spit it out Pete, I haven't got all day." Josie snorted softly, "Actually, I do but that's besides the point. You have five minutes – go."
Pete crossed the threshold of the door and moved close to her, cringing when she stepped back using the couch as a divider between them, "Joze, I'm sorry – I kept meanin' to tell you about it all…I just didn't want to fuck this up."
"Oh that's just fuckin' rich, Dunham. Because lying to me the past four months made this any better? Because finding out that strangers know more about your interests than your own girlfriend made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Do have any idea how stupid I felt, standing there with Terry as he joked about your involvement in the GSE and I had this gobsmacked look on my face because I had no goddamn clue what he was goin' on about? I feel like this was all one big joke."
"Lies? …joke?" Pete's mind had gone blank and that was all he seemed able to choke out.
Josie heaved an exasperated sigh, "Yes Pete, this. Us." She gestured between the two of them as though he was stupid, "A lie…and apparently a joke on your part."
Silence filled the air as Josie stared at Pete blankly. His mind was reeling and it seemed all he could do was stare at her. He watched in horror as her eyes began to fill with tears and she dropped her head, "Just go Pete, seems like you've got nothin' to say."
"No." He spoke the word softly and Josie looked up at him, "I'm sorry – I just, I couldn't - …I didn't want to lose you."
"Well you coulda fooled me. What'd you think? You'd say that you and the boys got mugged after every match? Or that I'd turn a blind eyes to the cuts and bruises and the blood? Jesus, Pete – did you think I'd just leave you? Do you really think that low of me?" She practically whispered the last sentence and Pete stared at her heartbroken face.
In a quick movement, so that she had no time to move, he leapt over the couch and latched onto her, "Josie, look at me." He softly reached for her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. "I think everything about you – fuck, I can't get you outta my head. I didn't want you to find out about this side of me. I just wanted to be what you wanted."
Josie looked up at him, her watery brown eyes meeting his blue ones, "You already were you dumb twat." He chuckled slightly as she stared back at him, "I grew up with boys, I'm used to stupid pissing contests between them. I don't care about your obsession over football. I don't care that you and the boys like to fight. Will I be beside myself with worry? Obviously…I just wish you'd have trusted me."
Her voice trailed off pathetically and all he could do was stare, "Fuck Joze, I'm a bloody fool. I should be tellin' you I love you rather than apologizing for being a twat." Pete bit down hard on the inside of his cheek; this was not the way he wanted to be saying this for the first time.
Josie's mouth dropped open in shock and Pete smiled feebly at her, "Guess the cats outta the bag…didn't mean to tell you like that. Seems to be my M.O. with you, huh?"
She gave a watery smile up at him and his heart did cartwheels waiting for her to answer, "I may be dumber than you are cause I guess I sorta, maybe, kinda, love you too."
Pete pulled her into a bone crushing hug, lifting her off her feet and into his arms where she belonged. His lips met hers in a searing kiss and she moaned softly into him.
This had ended up being one helluva Match Day and the only thing that was going to make it sweeter would be the look on Bovver's face when he saw Josie still wrapped in his arms and hopefully a now permanent part of his life.
To be honest, not my best (in my opinion at least) The fight scene was what killed my motivation because I just couldn't perfect it. Anywho, reviews wouldn't be appreciated :)