It's long but I hope it's decent...Please keep reviewing, I'm starting to lose faith:( Seriously...love it, hate it, bored by it...for the love of God let me know! xxx
"You should have just smacked him one,"
Pete looked up from taking his shot and raised an eyebrow at Dave who was stood over the other side of the pool table next to Ike and Ned.
"Yeah, and what would that have done?" Pete asked, pulling back his queue and potting the red with little effort. "Other than prove him right?"
"It would have fucking shut him up," Swill told him fairly.
"Well he wasn't exactly lying was he?"
All eyes switched to Bovver who was sat on one of the bar stools around their usual table, calmly sipping his pint and not appearing to be all that interested in their conversation.
"What are you chatting about?" Dave frowned at him; he loved Bov like a brother but that didn't mean that he couldn't be a right twat at times.
"Look Pete," Bovver ignored him, standing up and walking over to Pete who was looking at him expectantly. "I'm not trying to piss on your parade, alright? But there's no denying that your little friend is used to a very different lifestyle than the one we've got going on here. So don't be surprised when one day she gets pissy because she wants caviar but you can only get her a curry,"
Pete slammed his pool queue down onto the table and stalked away from Bovver, leaning against the bar and snatching the beer that Terry silently pushed towards him, obviously aware that now wasn't the time for chit-chat. He could still hear Will's voice in his head from the other day going on and on at him about Allie. He wanted it to stop, he wanted to be able to claim that it wasn't bothering him in the slightest but he couldn't…mostly because as Bovver and Will had both pointed out: what they were saying was true.
"Are we going to this fucking match or what?" he spat, grabbing his coat and downing the rest of his beer. The match would be a welcome distraction from it all, he had a lot of energy that he needed to get rid of and he was just looking for one of the Birmingham boys to start something…
"Nice going, Bov," Dave tutted at the younger man and shook his head as he watched Pete push through the doors.
"What the fuck did I do?" Bovver shot back hotly, tugging on his own jacket and flipping the hood up.
"Other than being a cynical fuck, not much," he shook his head. "Jesus Bov, try a little fucking tact once in a while, will you?"
Ignoring Dave, he shook his head and followed Pete out of the pub, wondering as he watched him scanning the road for a taxi if he had actually been a bit harsh.
"Hurry up," Pete shot at them over his shoulder as a cab pulled up to the curb. Yanking the door open, he hopped into the back seat and sighed, feeling an involuntary grin pull at his lips when Swill jumped in next to him and smacked his head on the top of the door.
"Aw, fuck!" he shouted, holding his hand to his forehead and looking at Pete. "Mate, am I fucking bleeding? What if I've got concussion or some shit like that?"
"Mate of mine had concussion once," Ned told him seriously. "Took one punch and dropped dead on the spot."
"Oh fucking hell," Swill cried. "That falls into the category of shit I don't need to know,"
"I'm just saying," Ned held up his hands innocently.
"Upton Park please mate," Pete called to the driver above the noise that the boys were creating. Staring out of the window as the cab pulled away from the Abby, he took a deep breath and turned his attention back to the lads, determined to forget about everything that had happened the past 24hours, if only for the rest of the day.
"Oh mate did you see fucking Ljungberg with that beauty right at the end," Dave grinned, remembering the shot. "It was fucking perfect, did you see the way it curved…"
"I still can't believe they fucking subbed Bowyer in the last ten minutes, what the hell was Curbishley thinking, the stupid fat bastard?" Pete chimed in, the rush from the game still pumping furiously around his veins. Scanning his travel card through the machine, he jogged down the stairs to the platform with Swill beside him still chatting away drunkenly about something or other when someone shouted his name.
"Oi, Dunham!"
Pete turned and clapped eyes on Dean Connor the head of Birmingham's firm; he was a right little shit by reputation and it was common knowledge that the only reason he'd won as many fights as he had was because the little bastard played dirty.
"You and your girls out of here so soon?" he grinned cockily as the rest of his mates laughed.
"Isn't it passed your bedtime?" Pete frowned at him. "And it's a school night," he tutted and shook his head. "Fuck me; does your mummy know you're here?"
"Very funny, Dunham," Dean nodded. "Come up with that all by yourself did you? You reckon I'm scared of you? Far fucking from it, mate; in fact from what I hear, the GSE is a bit of a joke these days…seems little Petey Dunham's all washed up before he'd even begun,"
Pete shook his head and winced, casting a quick glance at the rest of the boys who were merely grinning; fighting someone like Dean Connor was a bit like shooting a fish in a barrel. But when the fish was fucking stupid enough to not only be in the barrel in the first place, but to then smart-mouth the bloke with the gun, well, fishy deserved to go bye-bye.
"See you had to go and hurt me feelings, didn't you?" Pete walked towards him calmly and watched smugly as the little sod took a step back. "We were willing to leave, let you lot fuck off and hang your heads in shame but you had to be the hero, didn't you Dean?" he stopped in front of the shorter man and smiled. "Now, being the generous bloke I am, I'll chalk all this up to it being your time of the month and I'll let you walk away, how's that?"
Pete winced as his head snapped back from the force of Dean's punch and he bit his lip, tasting blood as he turned back to face the younger man who was smiling at him proudly, apparently unaware of what he had just set himself up for.
"Now that," Pete shook his head sadly. "Wasn't very fucking clever,"
Pulling his fist back, he slammed it into Dean's stomach, barely catching himself as the younger bloke recovered quicker than he thought and clocked him around the head.
Well, he'd wanted a distraction…but in future he'd be a little more careful about what he wished for…
Allie slammed her car door and stared up at the all too familiar building, the faint smell of beer hanging in the air around it, the frighteningly familiar faces she could see propped up against the front door having a cigarette.
Smiling at one of the younger looking blokes who shouted 'Alright, Harding?' to her as she made her way towards the entrance, she made a note than when the punters at the Abby started calling her by her last name, it meant she was coming here way too often.
But saying that, she hadn't seen Pete since that night after he'd dropped her off at the station and he'd been so quiet and distant…so un-Pete like. A part of her worried what had happened with him and Will after she had left but when she'd brought it up he had brushed it off so quickly that she just assumed she'd been worrying over nothing. Although now it was a case of her thinking that maybe his acting skills were just a lot better than she first thought.
"Alright, trouble?" Terry smiled warmly at her as she stepped into the warmth of the bar. "To what do we owe the honour?"
"I was actually looking for Pete," she smiled. "I don't suppose-…"
"Round the corner with the rest," Terry nodded his head in their direction and winked at her.
"You're an angel." She told him with a fond smile which he returned.
"God actually," he joked. "But angel will do,"
Laughing, she winked back at him and made her way around the corner, smiling when she saw Pete sat with his back facing her, chatting to the boys about something or other that no doubt she wouldn't understand. Frowning, she saw the slight bruising on Ike's temple and wondered what the hell had happened to him. She stopped then, noticing that the other boys were all sporting their own war wounds, which meant that Pete must have…
No, she thought, shaking her head, there was no way…he'd told her that she had nothing to worry about.
"Pete," Dave caught the younger mans eye and nodded to something over his shoulder. Shifting in his seat, Pete turned and felt his stomach drop when he met the bright green eyes he'd been hoping to avoid just a little while longer.
"What're you doing here?" he asked her, ignoring the pain that shot through his jaw as he spoke.
"I uh," Allie stuttered, shaking her head slightly. "You weren't returning any of my calls so I came to see…" she stepped forward and reached out to touch his bruised face. "Jesus, Pete what the hell happened?"
"Nothing," he told her shortly, dodging out of her reach and folding his arms. "I'm fine,"
"Yeah, you look it," she snorted.
"It's probably one of those things that look's worse than it is," he shrugged, not really wanting to get into this now. All he could hear the whole time he was looking at her was Will's voice echoing through his head.
"Pete, you're eyes are bruised, you've got a cut on your forehead," she pressed her fingers against her mouth. "You said you weren't going to do this,"
"I never promise you anything," he shot back at her.
"You said you wouldn't get hurt," she snapped. "And now look at the bloody state of you, you can barely walk!"
"Yeah, alright," Pete frowned at her.
"What the hell is your problem?" she demanded, her patience finally coming to an end. "You ignore me for no reason for three days and then when I finally do get to see you, you've had the shit beaten out of you and you're acting like a complete arsehole," she shrugged. "Don't suppose you fancy filling me in on what I missed? I mean, what went wrong in the past three days that could have possibly-…" she trailed off and her eyes widened. Of course, that was it…why the hell hadn't she thought of it sooner. "Please tell me this isn't about Will?"
Watching his eyes darken was all the answer she needed; throwing her head back she groaned and rubbed her face with her hands tiredly. "Pete, listen to me ok? Whatever he did or said was…"
"This isn't about him!" Pete shouted at her, apparently having forgotten that they were still in public. "It's about you making demands of me,"
"Demands?" Allie frowned at him. "Fucking hell, are you high or something? Since when do I make demands of you?"
"This little party of yours for a start," he shot at her. "You really think I want to go and spend time with all those ponces?"
"It's not about spending time with them," Allie shook her head. "It's about spending time with me,"
Pete shook his head and turned away from her; he knew that he was being an unreasonable bastard and that he was hurting her; he wanted so badly to stop but for whatever reason he couldn't…it felt like he needed to push her away.
"Look, if you don't want to go, that's fine," she reasoned. "It's not like you can now, anyway,"
"Why?" he asked her, morbidly curious.
"For God's sake, look at you, Pete!" she cried. "You can't attend a black tie party looking like you've just gone ten rounds with Ali,"
"God forbid I upset the upper crust, eh?" he sneered.
"Pete," Allie laughed bitterly. "It wouldn't matter if you were Prince Harry! You walk in there looking like that and you'll be asked to leave before you can take off your jacket, which by the way you damn well knew, yet you chose to go out and get the shit beaten out of you anyway," she applauded him. "Bravo, Pete,"
"And where would I have fitted in, Allie?" he demanded. "Would they have given you a pat on the back for your charity work in bringing a low life like me?"
"Why are you saying all this?" she whispered. "I've never-…"
"You've never had to," he spat angrily.
Allie looked at him for a long moment and felt her eyes start to water.
"So," she whispered shakily. "You think that I'm…ashamed of you or something? Pete, I love you,"
"Well maybe that's not enough," he told her plainly, trying to remember a moment in time when he hated himself more than he did right at that second. "I don't belong with people like you, Allie,"
"People like me?" she repeated, shaking her head. "The only person drawing that little divide there, Pete, is you. I mean what is it that you think I am exactly? Some little debutant who got bored of playing with the boys in the posh playground so thought she'd go to the slightly rougher one down the road?"
"I never said that about you," Pete shook his head vehemently.
"You never had to," she told him, echoing his words from earlier as she turned to walk out the door.
"Don't just walk out," Pete told her, using every ounce of strength he had not to simply fall to his knees and beg her to forgive him for being the worlds biggest arsehole.
"Do you actually expect me to stand here and listen to you whilst you verbally bash my upbringing just because it makes you feel a little awkward? Grow the fuck up, Pete," she shook her head.
"Sorry I'm not as perfect as your last boyfriend," he hissed. "But then I guess that's the down side of going slumming isn't it? After Mr. Perfect no one else quite matches up,"
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" she practically screamed. "Why do you always have to twist everything into me somehow thinking that you're not good enough?"
"You're telling me that's not what you think?" Pete shook his head.
"If you actually have to ask me that then you are so not the guy I thought you were," she glared at him, her eyes hard and unreadable.
"Yeah, well maybe I'm not," he told her. What the fuck are you doing? His brain screamed at him.
Allie wanted to say something but her body seized up, not allowing her to even breathe; looking up into Pete's blue eyes, she took in a shuddering breath as a few tears swept down her cheeks. Without another word, she turned away from him and pulled the door open, walking through it and leaving him standing there with the boys staring at him with a mixture of sympathy and confusion as he wondered what the fuck had driven him to throw away the one thing in his life that actually made him happy.
"And then Marco said, 'that's not the Kristal, that's Sauvignon Blanc!'"
"Hahahahaha!" Lara threw her head back and laughed animatedly, as the older man kissed her and then trotted away to find his next victim.
"Kill me," she smiled, speaking through her gritted teeth. "Kill me now,"
"You were the one convinced this would be fun," Allie told her, accepting a glass of champagne from one of the over dressed and far too skinny waitresses.
"It was last year!" she hissed. "Remember when Kate Moss had that after party at her hotel and we all got trashed on £700 a bottle champagne? That was a good time, but this," she wrinkled her nose and looked around. "Why is everyone so fucking old?"
"You're not tempted to try and bag yourself a sugar Daddy?" Allie teased her.
"Oh dear God, no!" Lara laughed and then grinned at a pretty looking suit who was staring at her. "However, that doesn't mean I can't date their sons," she kissed Allie's cheek. "I'll come find you in a sec,"
Shaking her head, Allie strode over to the bar and leant on it, realising with distain that the last two hours of solid champagne consumption hadn't dulled the ache in her chest every time she thought of Pete. And if she felt like this now, she dreaded to think what tomorrow would bring. She still hadn't spoken to him since the other night in the Abby when he had been…well, arsehole was the first word that sprang to mind. All the things he had said to her, she had never known he was insecure about. Why was all that only coming up now? Surely, he would have mentioned something earlier, that was of course unless someone put the idea in his head…
"Hi, what can I get you, Miss?" the young and flustered looking girl behind the bar asked her fearfully, obviously having her head bitten off more than a few times tonight.
"Can I please get the biggest glass of ice water you can muster?" Allie asked the sympathetic looking girl behind the bar who had more than likely been harassed by rich arseholes all night about how the lemon wedges in their drinks weren't cut diagonally enough. "And whatever you're having," she smiled, throwing an extra bill onto the bar and catching the girls more than grateful smile.
"You look like you need something stronger than that,"
Allie closed her eyes and sighed; fuck, this was the last thing she needed. Glancing over her shoulder at Will, she saw the smug look on his face and felt physically sick. What the hell had she ever seen in the guy?
"Actually, what I need is to be left alone," she told him curtly, not even bothering to make her tone pleasant.
"Pete seems like a nice chap,"
Allie laughed bitterly and shook her head, turning around to glare at him as he looked her up and down, making her skin crawl.
"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist having a go," she told him. "That would require being a grown up,"
"Oh come on, Allie," he laughed at her. "Poor, lonely little rich girl dates a thug to get some attention…it's all a bit desperate isn't it?"
"He's not a thug," she snapped.
"Oh my mistake," Will told her. "I must have just been overreacting when he tried to break my wrist after you left the train station that day,"
"What?" Allie blinked in shock.
"And then of course, there's the whole thing of how you met him," he winced. "Not exactly one you'll want to tell the grandkids, is it?"
"You know after the way you treated me, I'd be a lot more careful about pointing the finger at the man who ultimately saved my life," she hissed at him, wishing that he would just piss off. But this was Will…she had learned long ago that he had no concept of when to draw the line.
"I said I was sorry." He took a step forward. "What more do you want, Allie?"
"I want you to piss. Off." she told him through gritted teeth, trying to keep her voice as low as possible so as not to alarm anyone.
"Do you really though?" he asked her, reaching out and running a hand down her arm. "Come on, Allie. Can you honestly stand there and tell me you don't still think about me?"
Her eyes actually felt as though they were bulging out of her head at this point; she couldn't believe what she was hearing…the audacity of this son of a bitch.
"Oh my God," she laughed. "You arrogant prick, you actually thought something was going to happen tonight, didn't you?"
"Well," he shrugged, taking a long sip of his JD and coke. "You weren't exactly pushing me away, were you?"
"Fuck you," Allie spat at him, not caring about her water anymore, she just wanted to be away from him. But he caught her arm as she tried to barge past him.
"According to my memory you already have," he grinned at her and she shoved him, hard enough to send him stumbling back a few steps.
"Listen to me. I was as good as it got for you, Allie. Come on, I'm a lawyer with an embankment apartment, I earn more money in a month than your bit of rough does in a year working at Tesco."
"He's a teacher," Allie informed him.
"Couldn't give a shit," Will dismissed her comment. "Point is Allie, you and me, we made sense. We fought, but that's just the way that it was with us, but at the end of the day I would have done anything for you."
Allie shook her head and yanked her hand out of his grasp.
"You're full of it, and you always were." She told him, meeting his eyes and making sure that she understood. "And you know what's really funny about all of this? I'm in love with Pete,"
"Bullshit," he scoffed.
"No, I am," she smiled at him. "He makes me happier than I've ever been. Ever. I could honestly spend the rest of my life with him and you, you're going to end up with a piece of arm candy that spends her days fucking the butler while you're off playing golf and telling all your phoney friends about how you've just forked out however many grand to get the kids into camp America or wherever it is you'll be sending them so that you don't have to face the hatred in their eyes every time they look at you."
"He's a common piece of shit," Will spat angrily. "Don't you dare even put me in the same category as him."
"I wouldn't dream of it," she told him with a shrug. "Because he doesn't belong in a category with you. You're beneath him." She looked at him with a hardness in her eyes that he'd never seen before. "You're beneath me."
Will's jam set tightly and Allie saw his fist clench under the bar.
"How long do you honestly give it, Allie?" he shook his head. "Until you get bored of him?"
"The only person I'm bored of is you," she shot back. "Now go away."
"So where is lover boy tonight then?" he asked, glancing around. "Take my advice did he?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Allie demanded, her head snapping back up. "What did you say to him?"
"Nothing he didn't already know," Will assured her smugly.
Suddenly, it all started to fall into place; the reason Pete had been so off with her since that day at the station, the crappy reasons he gave for not being able to come tonight, the argument they had had was all down to the sniggering little boy in front of her.
"You know something?" she tilted her head and looked at him seriously. "I actually pity you, so you can sit here and make you're lewd comments, or you're demeaning jokes all you like," Allie picked up her bag and brushed a piece of hair off her face. "I'll let you feel big for a moment, because at the end of the night, when I'm with the man I love and all you're friends are with their girlfriends, you'll be sat at home on your own; or maybe if you're lucky some poor girl will get in a cab with you and you'll 'charm' your way into a sympathy fuck."
"You're a bitch, do you know that?" Will sneered at her.
"Ditto, little boy," she grinned, brushing down her dress and waving politely to a couple who were passing them. "Have a good night,"
She pushed past him and then stopped suddenly, remembering the look on Pete's face when he had been shouting at her the other night. At the time she had mistaken it for defensiveness but in reality it had been fear.
"Oh, Will, just one more thing?" she smiled as he turned around and her small fist smacked him square in the nose. Most of the guests who were over by the dance floor didn't notice, but the 30 or so of them by the bar immediately descended into silence.
"Fucking hell Allie!" he shouted, gripping his nose whilst she nursed her hand. Christ, no wonder Pete was such a mess after fights…how the hell did he do that on a regular basis? "Are you fucking insane?"
She didn't answer him, she didn't even bother looking at him; she just strolled towards the exit, flexing her fingers and trying to rid them of some of the pain. Casting a glance over her shoulder at Will who was perched against the bar holding a bloodied napkin against his nose, Allie grinned, suddenly realising what Pete meant when he talked about the rush he got from fighting.
Her fingers felt like they were on fire…but Jesus, was it worth it.
Pete clicked off his TV and sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. After trying to get into beers with the boys for the last few hours, he'd finally realised that he was just being a miserable bastard and so had given up and come home.
Checking his phone, he saw that there will still no messages and that meant that Allie was still pissed at him. Just like she had every right to be; rubbing her back of his head in frustration he couldn't actually believe how badly he'd treated her. The things he'd accused her of, she could never be guilty of doing because the girl was far too good to him. Too good for him.
Noticing Bovver's wallet still on the table from when he had insisted on buying Pete a curry and coming back to the flat with him, he sighed and debated getting in his car and running it over to him, just to give himself something to do other than sit here and think about the fact that he'd fucked up the best relationship of his life all because of his pride.
Suddenly, the sound of someone pounding on his door echoed through the flat and he realised that it must be Bovver. Shit it, at least it was company.
Walking over to the door, he winced at the pile of exam papers he had to mark and oversee on his kitchen table, figuring he had a good 72 hours left before he would have to deal with them. Yanking the door open, he stopped dead, frowning at the woman in front of him.
"Oh for the love of fuck, tell me she's here," Lara peered into the flat behind him, her usually straight red hair falling in perfect ringlets around her face.
"What?" Pete shook his head.
"Allie," she exclaimed impatiently. "She disappeared about an hour ago and she's decided not to answer her phone no matter how many times I call,"
"What do you mean she's disappeared?" Pete demanded, suddenly alert.
"Oh, she had some fight with Will." She told him distractedly.
"Will was at the party?" he spat angrily.
"Yeah, but she didn't know he was going to be there," Lara informed him. "And besides, she was too busy drowning her sorrows over you to notice anyone else," she shook her head. "What the hell happened with you two?"
"That doesn't matter right now," Pete told her, grabbing his jacket and throwing it on, ushering the red head back out into the hall. "All that matter's is finding Allie,"
"Oh, mother fu-…" Allie winced and bent down to inspect her foot. She'd been walking for almost half an hour now and realising about a mile back that her shoes weren't build for comfort, she'd taken them off and was now paying the price. Pete's road wasn't exactly as clean as Kensington Avenue and if she wasn't mistaken that was a shard of glass sticking into her toe.
Sighing, she leant back against the wall of someone's garden and took a deep breath; she'd left the party knowing that she needed to see Pete, to sort this out, but she was beginning to panic about what she was going to say to him.
As angry as she was about what Will had said to Pete, that didn't mean she was any less pissed about the way he'd treated her in the Abby the other night. She just had to keep reminding herself that that wasn't Pete talking, it was Will.
"When did my life turn into Dawson's Creek?" she muttered, scraping a piece of what she prayed was mud off of her shoe.
Suddenly, a loud shout pulled her out of her daydream and she jumped slightly, squinting her eyes at the stumbling figures under the street light at the end of the road.
"Oh shit," she whispered, grabbing her phone out of her purse just in case.
"Oi, oi," one of them shouted. "Who's that?"
"Double shit," she winced, picking up her shoes and breaking into a steady jog, ignoring the shouts that followed her around the corner. Glancing over her shoulder, she realised that obviously they were too drunk to follow her and slowed down somewhat, but unfortunately, not quick enough to avoid slamming into something pretty hard.
"Ah!" she screamed as someone caught her arm and she shook them off, backing away and preparing to run again when she looked up and saw who it was.
"Allie?" Pete stared at her as though he didn't quite believe she was real.
"Hi," she smiled nervously at him.
Pete stared back at her for a moment, still in shock and then snapped out of it quickly, his bright blue eyes taking on a dangerous glint.
"'Hi'?" he repeated. "What the fuck are you doing out here on your own at 1.30 in the fucking morning?"
"I was on my way to yours," she frowned. Why was this such a big deal?
"Why the fuck weren't you answering your phone?" he shouted, the worry sinking in even more now that she was finally in front of him.
"What?" she frowned. "No one tried to call me," she pulled her phone out of her purse and smiled tightly. "Because my phone's dead," she held it up and watched as Pete threw his head back and laughed bitterly.
"Perfect," he told her. "You're walking around London at 1.30 in the morning looking like that with no way of getting through to anyone,"
"Hey!" Allie shouted at him, her own patience snapping. "I don't know how good your memory is, but in case you'd forgotten, you're not really in a position to be a wanker to me right now,"
"Lara said you just left the party, didn't even bother telling her where you were going," he snapped. "What the hell were you playing at?"
"Me?" she laughed. "You really want to talk about playing games, Pete? How about you acting like a world class dick in the pub the other night? How do you think that made me- Ow! Bollocks!" she cried, not realising that she had pressed her foot flat against the ground and in doing so pushed the shard of glass deeper into it.
"What?" Pete demanded, seeing the pain flash across her face. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she winced. "I stepped on some glass a while back and I think its still in my foot,"
"Let me see," Pete frowned.
"Its fine," she shook her head, pushing him away from her.
"Look," Pete told her calmly, determined not to lose his temper. Jesus, this woman was stubborn. "My car's right round the corner, just come back with me, I'll call Lara tell her I've got you and we'll sort your foot out." He saw the reluctance in her eyes and felt his heart sink a little. "You can keep shouting at me if you want,"
Sighing, Allie nodded mutely and started hobbling towards his car, wincing every time her foot touched the ground; without meaning to, her hand shot out and she grabbed Pete's hand, squeezing it tightly as a way of keeping herself balanced and gaining some comfort. She frowned, slightly hurt when he immediately pulled away from her only to turn around a second later and scoop her up, carrying her the rest of the way to his car.
Seeing the slight grin pulling at his lips, Allie turned her head the other way to hide her own smile from him, tightening her hands around his neck.
"This doesn't mean I like you again," she told him bluntly, smiling when she heard him chuckle.
"I know," he nodded, opening the passenger side door and placing her in the seat. "But give it time,"
"Don't touch it!" Allie snapped, yanking her foot away from Pete's hands as he knelt on the floor in front of her, some plasters and a bottle of disinfectant beside him.
"How am I supposed to get it out then?" he asked her. "Magic?"
Allie glared at him and then flopped back onto the sofa, closing her eyes and this time staying silent when he carefully picked up her foot and began inspecting the sore looking toe.
"It looks pretty deep," he told her frowning. "Are you-…"
"Just do it," she shook her head. "I don't want to know how or with what, I don't even want the stupid count down, just yank the bloody thing out,"
Nodding, Pete gently pinched the skin around it and tried to ignore the hiss of pain she gave out as she clutched the cushion next to her and swore. The pretty impressive shard of glass squeezed out of her skin and he immediately slapped the gauze which he'd doused with TCP over the cut, once again ignoring her rather colourful reaction.
Without even realising he was doing it, Pete leant forward and pressed a soft kiss against her bare knee, soothing her as he ran his hand up and down her leg.
"You alright?" he asked her, looking up into her face with was still slightly distorted in pain.
"Yeah," she nodded, trying not to focus on how good it felt to have him touching her again after a week of not even really seeing him. She shifted slightly on the sofa and in doing so, pulled away from him. Pete frowned, but knew why she was doing it, it didn't take a genius to work out that she was still hurt by the way he'd treated her.
"Why didn't you just tell me?" she blurted out suddenly, shocking both of them.
"What?" Pete shook his head.
"I know," she sighed and met his eyes. "I know what Will said to you, ok? He told me, but I still can't work out why I had to hear it from him?"
"It doesn't matter," Pete told her darkly and began throwing things back into the first aid kit.
"Yes it bloody does," Allie spat, sitting up straighter. "I don't know what's more fucking stupid, that you actually listened to what he had to say or that you then took it out on me!"
"What was I supposed to say?" Pete snapped at her. "Did you want me to cry for you? Tell you that I'm scared he might be right?"
"No," she shook her head. "I just didn't want you to lie to me. And I sure as hell didn't want you to make me feel like crap, but you managed both so congratulations,"
She stood up suddenly and bent down, snatching a plaster off of the floor and not even bothering to look as she slapped it over the hole in her toe. Grabbing her bag, she stepped over him and hobbled over to his house phone.
"What are you doing?" Pete demanded.
"I'm calling a taxi and I'm going home," she told him, dialling. "There's obviously no point in me staying here, is there?"
"What?" he shook his head.
"Well, you're not willing to talk and I'm not willing to sit here in silence, so what other option do I have?" she shrugged, opening her purse and making sure she had enough money left over.
"Stop it," Pete stormed over and took the phone from her, hanging it up and looking down at her. "I can't…" he sighed. "Allie, I don't know what I'm supposed to say,"
She looked down at her feet for a moment, and Pete felt his chest tighten when she finally looked back up at him with tears in her eyes.
"I don't know if I can keep doing this," she whispered. "I can't keep reassuring you that you're what I want every damn day." She reached up and touched his face gently. "I love you," she told him firmly. "I love you so much that it hurts, but if you don't see that by now, then something's wrong, Pete, and I don't know how to make it right,"
Realising what she was saying, Pete stared at her in horror and actually found himself laughing. This was fucking ridiculous.
"Oh this is just fucking perfect isn't it?" he shouted.
"There you go again," she snapped. "I'm at a fucking loss here, Pete! I don't know what you need me to say or do to make you realise that I'm with you because I love you, but if someone as pathetic as Will can put doubts in your head, then I must be doing something very fucking wrong."
"It's not you," Pete told her. "You didn't hear what he said,"
"Yeah actually I did," she shouted. "He told me about your little chat on the platform and if that's why we're in the mess we are right now then you must be pretty fucking stupid!"
"What?" he shouted back at her.
"You heard me," she snapped. "What the hell does he know about us? Nothing! He's my ex-boyfriend Pete, of course he's going to try and mess with your head; and not to mention he's the worlds most unstable and emotionally retarded arsehole. What the hell did you think you were doing actually listening to him?"
"You're telling me that none of that's true?" he demanded.
"No, you bloody idiot!" she shrieked. "If any of that was true then funnily enough I wouldn't be here right now fighting with you, and I wouldn't have Will's face imprinted in my fist!" she caught the look on Pete's face and nodded. "That's right, I punched him, and if you don't quit this whole pity party I'm not good enough bullshit you've got going on, I might have to lay one on you as well!"
She felt a tear run down her face but ignored it, too caught up in her own anger to think of anything other than that.
"You think you're the only one who gets scared, Pete?" she demanded. "You think that I don't look at some of those girls down the Abby who constantly throw themselves at you and worry about the fact that they're all pretty and they like football and they probably understand you better than I do?" she shook her head at him. "You think that doesn't scare the shit out of me?"
Pete stared back at her in amazement; how was it that she could ever think he wanted anyone other than her?
"The difference is that I trust you," Allie spat. "I know how much you love me and every time you look at me or you kiss me, I realise what a moron I've been and I actually end up laughing at those girls,"
Again, he just seemed to kind of stand there staring at her, so with a huge sigh, she turned on her good heel and yanked his front door open, preparing to step through it when suddenly it slammed again and before she could even work out what was going on, she was being spun around and shoved against the door, barely even having a moment to breathe before he kissed her.
"I love you," she told him, his mouth still close enough that when she spoke, their lips brushed together.
"I love you," he replied, running his hands down her body to rest in the curve of her hip, pulling her closer.
"So are we-…"
"I reckon we're done talking for tonight, don't you?" Pete asked her, running his tongue along her bottom lip and trying to work out how he had gone for almost a week without the taste of her on his lips.
"Thank fuck for that," she whispered, silencing his chuckle as she stood up on her tip toes, wrapping her arms more firmly around his neck as he kissed her deeply. Picking her up so that her legs wrapped around his waist, he ran a hand up the skirt of her dress, revelling in the feel of her soft skin under his fingers.
"Nice dress by the way," he told her winking.
Allie merely grinned at him before leaning down and kissing him so fully that Pete actually had to stop walking towards the bedroom, not sure if he would even make it that far, his self control hanging by a thread.
"Hmmm," she smiled wickedly at him, playfully biting his earlobe. "You should see what's underneath it,"
She laughed at the look he gave her, before practically running into his bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him with his foot; happily trapping them once again in a world where only the two of them existed and nothing would ever change it.