A/N: In my horrendously hung-over state, I'm currently unable to leave my bed and face the outside world so thought I'd post this to cheer myself up!Happy New Year to all you guys, hope you all had an amazing night and unlike me (and freakishly 'Allie') knew better than to engage in any shot contests :) …enjoy!

"I think Matt's meeting us here," Pete told Allie, placing a kiss on her shoulder as they made their way towards the Abby. After what had happened to her a few years back, Pete wasn't keen on bringing her here that often, but he knew he'd never hear the end of it from the boys if he didn't bring her in.

"He's just dropping some stuff off at Shannon's," he nodded to one of the blokes who was stood outside having a cigarette. Seeing the look Allie was giving him, he grinned at her. "Turns out you were right, we weren't exactly quiet last night,"

"Oh, shit!" Allie laughed. "That's so embarrassing, I can't believe the poor bastard had to listen to us…" she shook her head. How had he managed to look her in the eye all day today?

"Oh, we are such bitches," Allie sighed.

"What?" he laughed.

"We just forced some poor foreign guy…"

"Allie, he's fucking American not Arabic," Pete laughed.

"Doesn't matter," Allie shook her head. "Point is, we've forced him out of the only home he's got because we can't control ourselves," she pointed at him. "Personally, I blame you."

"Oi," he frowned. "I had to put up with him that night a few weeks back when he brought that fucking diseased looking thing back to the flat,"

"Pete!" Allie shoved him, ignoring his laughter.

"What?" he raised his eyebrows. "It was fucking awful; she looked like she should come with her own travelling circus,"

Laughing and throwing him a look over her shoulder, Allie stepped into the pub and smiled; relieved to see that absolutely nothing had changed.

"Fucking hell!" Allie didn't stand a chance as Terry pounced on her, wrapping her up in a huge bear hug. He pulled away after a second and grinned at her. "So, the Sloane Ranger has returned," he winked. "Come on, we're getting you a drink, now."

He pulled her over to the bar and shrugged. "Anything you want, on the house,"

"My God," she gasped. "Anything?" she winked at him and he grinned.

"I knew I loved you for a reason," he laughed.

"Large red," she smiled. "Pretty please,"

"Good to hear you haven't gone all septic tank on us," Terry joked pouring her wine for her and handing it over before pulling a pint for Pete and shaking his head when he went to get his wallet. "And these are on me, think of it as a congrats." He gestured to her engagement ring. "You pissed off out the country before any of us could even give you a hug,"

"I know," Allie laughed. "I'm crap, but I'm here now."

"Yeah, lets keep it that way, shall we?" Terry grinned. "I've had to look at this lot every day while they fucking moped about like a bunch of puppies waiting for you to come back." He tapped her chin playfully. "And even I missed you a little,"

"Thanks," Allie smiled at him, giving him the usual kiss on the cheek. "You'll come over and see me at some point, right?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Try and stop me, hun," he promised her with a wink.

Smiling Allie turned the corner and grinned at the sound of the familiar voices.

"I'm telling you that last fucking round was mine and you know it, you tart!" Dave yelled at Ike and Keith who were counting their winnings.

"How the fuck did I get stuck with you?" Swill huffed, smacking Dave around the back of his head.

"It's your fault," Dave shot back. "That last shot was a fucking give away and you ballsed it up royally,"

"Serves you right for replacing me so bloody quickly." Allie grinned as they all turned to face her. "Jeez, you leave for a few weeks and it's like you never existed." She joked.

Before she had a chance to say anything else, they all jumped on her at once, Swill even picking her up and spinning her around.

"When the hell did you get back?" Ike laughed, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

"Yesterday," she winced at their rather colourful reactions. "I know, I know, I'm shit for not seeing you sooner but I had so much to do and…"

"Yeah, I'll bet," Bovver rolled his eyes at Pete.

"Oh fuck it," Dave told her kissing her cheek. "All that matters is that you're here now."

"And you're not planning on pissing off anywhere again soon, are you?" Ike asked cautiously.

"No," she smiled warmly at them. "I'm back for good unfortunately for you lot."

"I wouldn't say that," Keith laughed.

"I fucking would," Swill pointed at her. "Remember…Beware of the Sloane Ranger, she takes all our money!"

"I've got my team mate back!" Dave shouted, raising his pint. "Thank fucking God for that, one more set down the drain and I was going to be forfeiting my next pay check," he winked at Allie and picked up her left hand. "Speaking of…I hear congrats are in order,"

"How could you break my heart like that?" Swill shook his head and pretended to wipe away a tear. "I've got no fucking chance now if you're marrying Dunham, have I?"

"I wouldn't say that," Giggling, Allie glanced at Pete over her shoulder and shot him a smile that he returned.

"Do you have any idea how fucking nervous he was about doing it?" Dave told her, throwing an arm around her shoulders. Laughing, Allie held onto his hand. Although she loved all the boys, Dave had always been her favourite; she couldn't really explain it, but there was something about him, a big brother type charm which always made her feel safe.

"Did he tell you I messed everything up?" she winced slightly as Dave began laughing so hard that he snorted a few times.

"Aw, mate that was fucking genius," he told her. "I wouldn't expect any less from you, though."

"Come on then," Ike shouted. "Get the drinks in; we're only one American short of our ultimate tag team,"

"There's the little bastard!" Keith pointed over the bar as he wracked up the next set of balls for their game. "Matt, get over here you twat!"

Waving to some of the regulars whom he had gotten to know over the past few days, Matt tried to ignore the feeling he got in the pit of his stomach when he saw Allie was there. Nothing would ever happen, he would never do that to Pete, but he was scared that he was going to get too obvious. Taking a deep breath, he moved to stand next to Ike, ignoring the way Bovver immediately walked away from the table when he appeared.

Allie reached over and squeezed his arm gently, mouthing 'ignore him' and jerking her chin towards where Bovver was stood texting on his phone, his youthful face marred by the presence of his all to familiar scowl.

"So 'ave you two pulled your fingers out and thought about this wedding yet?" Swill grinned at them over the top of his pint. "Because I was thinking you should have a free bar,"

"We'll keep it mind," Allie shook her head, playfully blowing Dave a kiss when he handed her a glass of wine. Suddenly her phone started ringing and she cursed the day Lara was born as Madonna's 'Like A Virgin' began blasting out of her phone. However she'd done it, she managed to lock the ring tone and it had been stuck on this for the past three months. Glancing up at Swill who was dancing around his pool queue, she rolled her eyes. At least it made someone happy.

"Hello?"

"So, my baby sister is getting married and I have to hear about it from Loudmouth Lara?"

Grinning, Allie looked up at Pete who was staring at her with slight confusion on his face.

"Well, if my big brother was actually in the country for more than four days a year, he would have known sooner," she shot back, causing Pete to nod his head and laugh. It had to be Harry. Of her two brothers, Allie had always been closer to Harry, possibly because while Richard was the more mature one, Harry was the one who thought nothing of doing the odd bungee jump or throwing himself out of a plane. Allie remembered how their Dad would often joke that Richard must be adopted because compared to the rest of them, he took himself far too seriously. Harry and Pete had always gotten on well, finding common ground on the one thing that both loved more than anything else in the world: Allie. Harry was the archetypal over protective big brother and so after giving Pete every threat and third degree under the sun, he had long since developed his own relationship with him, even tagging along to a football match once or twice with Pete and the boys.

"Touché," Harry laughed down the phone. "But if it'll make you happy, I'm coming home tomorrow,"

"Really?" Allie squealed.

"Yeah!" Harry squealed back in the same high pitched manner, laughing when she muttered 'piss off' under her breath. "But listen, I have a fifteen hour flight ahead of me, so I can't stay long, but tell Pete I owe him a beer and that he's a miserable bastard for telling Dad and not me."

"What?" Allie frowned.

"He didn't tell you?" Harry yawned. "He rang Dad in Australia at five in the morning and asked for his permission to marry you. Dad found it fucking hilarious!"

"When was this?" Allie looked over at Pete who was chatting animatedly to Bovver and Terry.

"Dad said it was about six months ago,"

Allie's heart stopped. Six months? He'd been planning this for six months? Oh, shit, now she felt really bad for screwing it up the way she had done.

"Allie?"

"What? Yeah, sorry, I'm still here," she shook her head, as though trying to physically free herself from her reverie.

"So my flight gets in at midday tomorrow which means I should be home at about 2," he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I'll treat you to dinner if you want,"

"Sounds great," she smiled. "Take care, ok?"

"Yeah, you too," he paused. "Hey, Allie-Cat?"

She smiled at the nickname he had given her when they were little; only Harry and her Dad were allowed to use it, Richard in all his official glory still insisted on calling her Alyssa most of the time.

"Yeah?"

"Congratulations," he smiled. "I can't think of a single person who deserves to be happy more than you,"

Embarrassingly enough, Allie felt her eyes start to sting; that was the thing about big brothers…when they spent most of their natural life ripping the piss out of you, comments like that could reduce you to a puddle of goo.

"Thank you," she sniffed, laughing.

"Oh fuck, don't start that," he laughed. "Tell me Pete's there so I don't have to feel too guilty?"

"Yeah, he's here," she smiled. "I'll be fine."

"I know you will," Harry told her. "So listen, I'll see you both tomorrow, ok?"

"Ok," she nodded.

"Love you, sis,"

"Love you, too."

Hanging up the phone, Allie stared at it for a long moment; the reality of her situation kicking in for the first time in months. She was getting married. As in, she was going to be someone's wife. Her face fell…oh, shit. She was now officially an adult.

"Oi," Pete stepped in front of her and placed a hand on her hip. "You alright?"

"You never told me you asked my Dad for permission to marry me," she laughed at the look on his face. "Do you have any idea how cute that is?"

"Do you have any idea how badly him and your brothers would have beaten the absolute shit out of me if I hadn't?" he joked.

"Fair point," she tilted her head and then looked down at her ring. "Harry's back tomorrow, he wants to go out for some drinks or something."

"Fine by me," Pete grinned, remembering how the last time they had gone out, Harry had gotten pissed as a skunk and ended up paying for everything.

"We're actually getting married, aren't we?" she shook her head in amazement.

"That's the plan," Pete nodded, laughing at her. "Why? You changed your mind"?

"No!" she slapped his shoulder. "Idiot…I just." She laughed and gestured to the both of them. "We're getting married."

"How much wine have you had?" Pete frowned at her.

"I'm not drunk," she shook her head, laying her hands on his chest. "I'm just…I'm happy."

Leaning down Pete kissed her slowly, teasing her by letting his tongue gently touch her lips, but then pulling back, laughing against her mouth when she punched his side, finally giving in and deepening the kiss.

"Yeah, well you know what would make me happy?" Swill shouted and forcing them to pull apart. "Would be if we can get this game started. Pete you're with Ike,"

"Oh, you're fucking joking," Pete shook his head at his mate who looked up at him with a huge grin on his face. "Why can't I play with Allie?"

"Save it for the honeymoon, Dunham," Bovver quipped, slapping his shoulder and ignoring the slight look of disgust that Allie sent him. "Besides, little Miss Sloane Square is long over due an arse whipping,"

"You reckon?" Allie arched an eyebrow at the two men. "Bring it on. Hey Matt," she called. "Do you wanna get in on this?"

"No, its ok," he nodded for them to carry on. "I just ordered a drink so…"

Smiling at him, Allie felt bad; she knew how hard he was trying to fit in with the boys, but it was amazing what one persons opinion could do. Glancing at Bovver she recalled how much it used to bother her when he would ignore her all the times she would come to the Abby when her and Pete first started seeing each other. Matt seemed like such a nice guy, she honestly couldn't see why Bovver would have a problem with him.

"Tell you what," Dave leant his head on Allie's shoulder. "We'll make it fair, you team up with Dunham and I'll head over to team retard," he pointed to Bovver and Ike who instantly flipped him the finger.

"You're leaving me?" Allie looked at him in horror. "I go away for two months and come back to find you with a new pool partner and I guess I thought that once I was back we could…we could go back to the way we were,"

"You walked out on me," Dave pleaded with her, playing along. "And all those games I played when you were gone were horrible, I was thinking of you the whole time, I swear."

Laughing loudly, Allie shoved him over to the other side of the table and shook her head as he mouthed 'I love you'. Smiling, she felt Pete's arm come to rest around her middle and he handed her a queue.

"Ready to tag team these bitches?" he asked her.

"Oh definitely," she winked and turned her head slightly so that she could look at him fully. "We lose and the engagement's off."

"Fair enough," Pete nodded with a laugh as he saw what could only be described as raw determination pass over her delicate features.

"Loser gets in the next round," Ike called as Allie bent down to take her shot.

"Ok," she grinned, then laughed as she potted the red and all of the boys groaned. "Sounds good to me,"

………………………

"I lost," Allie sobbed, following Matt out of the pub. Turning to face Ike who was smugly counting his winnings, she shook her head numbly. "I lost to you!"

"That's right, baby," Ike laughed holding up the money and doing a little victory dance. "First time in three years, I ever won a game." He wiped away an imaginary tear. "It's such a beautiful moment,"

"Dunham, you are officially off my team," Allie pointed at him and glared.

"Me?" he laughed. "You missed the shot,

"Because of you," she stated. "You didn't line up the balls properly,"

"Yeah Dunham," Dave laughed. "You need to have more control of your balls,"

Allie giggled and then caught Pete's look, and clapped her hand over her mouth.

"Oh, so you think that's funny do you?" he asked her raising an eyebrow.

"Me?" she squeaked. "No." she gasped putting her hand on her heart. "Baby, I would never laugh at you." she shook her head and tried to look innocent. "Or your balls." She grinned at him and the rest of the boys starting cracking up.

"Alright, that's it," Pete said with a laugh of his own as he ran towards her and without warning, grabbed her around the waist and threw her over his shoulder.

"Oh my God, Pete put me down!" she cried, at the same time laughing hysterically.

"So what are your plans sunshine?" Matt jumped as Dave appeared next to him, slinging his arm around his shoulders.

"My plans?" he repeated, trying to get his beer fogged brain working again.

"Yeah, I mean now you're in Jolly Old, you must 'ave something you wanna do?" Dave hiccupped and narrowly missed tripping over the curb.

"Not really," Matt laughed. "Just, uh, I don't know just wait and see what happens I guess," Noticing the other lads were clambering into a taxi, Matt stopped and bit his lip. "Um, should we not wait for Pete and Allie?"

"Nah mate," Dave laughed. "I think they're a bit busy at the moment,"

Glancing further up the road, Matt could just about make out the two figures stood so close together that in the late autumn fog, they almost appeared to be one being. Trying his best to repress the jealousy that roared up in his chest, Matt turned back to Dave who was looking at him strangely; almost suspiciously.

"Well, if you're sure they'll be ok," Matt smiled.

"Yeah," Dave met his eyes and held the other mans gaze, daring him to look away. "They'll be fine."

Watching Matt climb into the back of the cab, Dave couldn't help but think there was something about the boy he didn't quite trust. Not when it came to Allie at least; he'd spotted the way Matt would look at Allie when she wasn't watching and it wasn't just a friendly glance either. Personally, Dave just hoped that the yank wasn't stupid enough to do something, because when it came to Allie, there was nothing Pete wouldn't do.

And he just hoped that Matt had enough sense not to push that too far.