Right I know that this one is sub-par to say the least but its more of a set up chapter for what comes after. The one after this will be the start of the last of the arc linked directly to WCHB and then I've got some prologue-ish one shots to give you a taste of what happened after the end...thanks for all the brilliant reviews so far, keep them coming. :D
Bovver stomped his way up to Pete's flat, cursing under his breath and realising he was already five minutes late to meet him. Hammers were playing Chelsea today and with a three o'clock kick off the boys had left themselves plenty of time to get pissed up before they went. Knocking on the slightly weathered blue door, he waited patiently for Pete to answer though he wasn't shocked when it swung open a minute later to reveal Allie looking back at him.
"Alright?" he asked her with a small wink, which was a pretty affectionate greeting in Bovver-Land. "Your fella ready yet or is he still getting tarted up?"
"Oh he's still in the shower," she told him quietly, shutting the door behind him and shoving her hands into her pockets. She hadn't told Pete anything that had happened between herself and Sophie last week, but then the phone call she'd gotten from Dave a few minutes after Sophie had left saying that Pete was in hospital had all but pushed it from her mind. A part of her had wanted to beg him not to go to the match today, knowing that it would only result in more trouble, but he'd smiled and promised her he would be fine. And being a mug, Allie had believed him.
"What's going on up 'ere, then?" Bovver grinned, gently tapping his finger against her forehead.
"What?" she shook her head, breaking herself out of her train of thought. "Oh, um, nothing," she smiled. "Nothing, just thinking about….stuff,"
"About stuff?" Bovver winced. "Oh shit, not stuff,"
Against her will, Allie felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth; given the rocky start she and Bov had had, they were fairly close now. Not as close as she was with Swill or Dave, but then she had a soft spot for those two.
"Come on," he snapped a can of beer off of the plastic rings and threw one to her, sitting on the arm of the sofa and staring at her expectantly. "Pete's still making himself look pretty and I won't go shooting my mouth off if you don't want me to,"
Allie shook her head and stared down at the beer in her hands, tapping her finger nail against the metal but not making any move to open it.
"I'm scared about him going to this match," she confessed, not sure why she was telling Bovver of all people. Catching the way he rolled his eyes, Allie frowned and stood up straighter. "Well come on Bov, he was only in hospital a few days ago,"
"And he's fine now," Bov told her. "He's a big boy, Allie. He can take care of himself."
"If that was true, he wouldn't have the imprint of a crowbar taking up the better half of his skull, would he?" she shot back.
Bovver narrowed his eyes, prepared to hit her back with something when the front door swung open once more and Matt stepped through, Ike, Dave and Swill right behind him.
"Ay, Ay," Swill grinned, coming to stand next to Allie and nodding to the beer she was holding. "You coming with us, gorgeous?"
"Uh, no," she laughed, shaking her head. "I was just…" looking back at Bovver, she sighed and held the can out to Swill who accepted it happily. "It's all yours," she told him, moving over to the kitchen and taking a bottle of water out of the fridge for herself.
"How's he doing then?"
Allie very nearly jumped, not realising Dave had come to stand behind her. Turning to face him, she smiled lightly, uncapping the bottle of Evian and taking a long sip.
"He's fine," she nodded. "All stitched up and raring to go apparently,"
"Nice," Dave nodded, leaning back against the counter and nudging her foot with his. "And uh, what about you?"
"Me?" she frowned.
"I get the feeling we don't ask you that enough," he told her. "I know how much you worry about him, I know how much you worry about all of us, actually." he grinned.
"Dave," she shook her head, lowering her voice and casting a glance at the rest of the boys, relieved to see they were too busy examining Matt's still scabbed tattoo to be interested. "Something happened last week, the night Pete got hurt," she rushed, her eyes wide. "I haven't told him yet because I didn't want to make things even more complicated,"
"Hey," Dave stood up, reaching out and taking her hand in both of his. "It's alright, darlin' whatever it is, you can tell me,"
"It's to do with-…"
"Has anyone actually seen the little fucker since?" Ike asked, bringing Allie's attention back to their conversation.
"Nah mate," Bovver shook his head. "He's fucking vanished off the radar,"
"Who?" Matt frowned, buttoning his shirt back up and straightening it.
"Mikey Mullins," Swill told him. "The bloke who tried to brain Pete with the crow bar. Right 'orrible little shit, he is,"
"What'd you mean he's disappeared?" Allie demanded, the men all turning to face her with curious looks on their faces. Apparently they didn't think she was that interested in what had become of the young Liverpool leader, but given what Sophie had told her about what he was doing, Allie had her own reasons for wanting to know.
"S'alright darlin'," Swill shook his head. "He'll turn up in a few days hung over to shit and looking for someone else to fuck up. That's the way blokes like him do it, they're all balls and no brains,"
Allie nodded silently, but couldn't help the sick feeling creeping up in her stomach; why would he have just vanished into thin air after something like that?
"Don't suppose you fancy popping your head around the door and seeing how close your girlfriend is to finishing putting her make up on, do you?" Ike joked, gesturing to the bedroom. "She might have forgotten, but we've got a game to get to," he called loud enough for Pete to hear.
"Yeah," Allie nodded, laughing lightly. "I'll go check,"
"Hey," Dave snagged her hand before she could take another step. "What about…?"
"Its fine," she told him, plastering a smile on her face. "I promise, it's just me being stupid."
Not letting herself think about the look of disbelief on his face, she walked quickly down the small hallway which led to the bedroom and yanked the door open, catching Pete just as he pulled his sweater on.
"Alright gorgeous?" he grinned at her. "Them lot giving you shit about me not being ready?"
"Something about taking too long putting your make-up on," she told him, smiling lightly.
"Cheeky slags," he laughed, shaking his head and walking over to the nightstand to search for his wallet. "You ok?" he asked her, catching her eye in the reflection of the mirror.
"Yeah," she nodded, pushing herself away from the door and kneeling on the bed, she picked up the book he had been reading this morning for work and began examining it as though it was the most interesting thing she'd ever seen.
Turning around, Pete strolled over to the bed and pulled the book out of her hands, throwing it onto the nightstand before wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her up so they were eye to eye, her chest pressed against his.
"Liar," he smirked, meeting her bright green eyes head on. "Come on," he told her, playfully nuzzling her neck. "Out with it,"
"I can't…" she shook her head. "It doesn't even matter,"
"Well whatever it is its obviously bothering you," he told her with a slight frown, pulling back a little bit so he could look into her face. "You're not dying are you?"
"What?" she laughed. "No,"
"Cheating on me?" he narrowed his eyes.
"No," she rolled her eyes.
"Pregnant?" he gulped nervously; truthfully there was nothing he wanted more than to have kids with her, but he didn't know if they were quite ready.
"No," she laughed, shoving his chest.
"Ok then, I've eliminated the three big bastards," he tilted her chin up. "So what is it?"
"I'm just a little nervous about today," she told him. Well, at least it was the half truth. "I just don't want you to get hurt or anything,"
"Allie," he shook his head; he hated worrying her like this, but trying to convince her that he was fine was proving harder than he'd thought it would be.
"I know, I know you're fine," she told him softly. "But that doesn't stop me worrying,"
"You can always come with me," he grinned as she laughed.
"Yeah, sure," Allie rolled her eyes. "See how long it takes me to get punched out,"
"I'd protect you," Pete told her firmly. "No one can hurt you with me around,"
That's great, but it's not exactly me I'm worried about, she thought glumly.
"Pete!" Bovver shouted, his voice carrying through the door. "'urry the fuck up mate, we're gonna miss the train!"
Sighing and laying his head down on Allie's shoulder for a long moment, Pete gently pressed a kiss against the skin and then straightened up to look in her eyes once again.
"I'll be fine," he kissed her nose. "Scout's honour,"
"You were a Scout?" Allie snorted, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Well not exactly," he grinned. "But I did steal one of their uniforms once, that still counts, doesn't it?"
"Go," Allie laughed, shoving him towards the door. "Before I unearth any more disturbing facts about your childhood,"
"You think that's bad?" he laughed. "You should hear some of the shit Bov got into,"
"I can imagine," she rolled her eyes and hopped off of the bed, taking his outstretched hand and frowning in confusion when instead of opening the door, he pulled her over to the wall and effectively trapped her there, leaning down to kiss her thoroughly, making her knees get weak.
"What was that for?" she whispered against his lips, her chest pounding.
"I dunno," he shrugged. "Giving a shit,"
"I love you," she smiled, running a hand down his face. "Giving a shit kind of comes with the territory."
Grinning, Pete leant down and kissed her once more, gently this time. Brushing her hair out of her eyes, he placed a kiss on her forehead, opening the door for her and keeping her hand locked in his as he followed her through.
"Nah mate," she heard Ned saying as they stepped into the living room. "I heard that Mikey was down at the Kings Head,"
"Bollocks," Bovver spat. "What the fuck would he be doing there?"
"My point exactly," Ned pointed at him, looking proud of himself for uncovering some kind of conspiracy. "What the fuck was he doing down there?"
"Its bullshit, Ned," Dave shook his head. "Tommy would have slaughtered him the second his scrawny arse got through the door,"
"Tommy Hatcher?" Allie blurted out before she could stop herself. All seven pairs of eyes in the room zoomed in on her and she glanced at the floor, willing it to open up and swallow her.
"How do you know about Tommy Hatcher?" Pete asked her, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. Tommy was the one subject Pete had been pretty careful to steer clear of when it came to Allie; he didn't want her anywhere near any of that, not after what had happened with Mikey all those years ago. Shuddering at the memory, he forced his mind back to the matter at hand. "Allie?" he pressed when she didn't answer.
"I don't know," she lied, hoping none of them would question it. "One of you must have mentioned it at some point. I don't know anything about him," she emphasised, meeting her boyfriend's eyes. "I just recognised the name, that's all."
Nodding, Pete looked back at the boys, the dangerous look in his eyes letting them know that he was pretty pissed off that they'd been stupid enough to discuss any of that while Allie was in the flat. She knew about the bad blood between the GSE and Millwall, but not the full story on what had started it. But funnily enough the opportunity to start the so-my-older-brother-and-his-mates-inadvertently-killed-a-kid-during-a-fight-and-now-the-kids-dad-who-happens-to-be-Tommy-Hatcher-wants-all-of-us-lot-dead conversation had never come up in the three and a half years he had known her.
"Right well, we better get our arses in gear if we wanna make this train, eh boys?" Pete rubbed his hands together and jerked his head towards the door.
Nodding, they all filed out each of them taking a second to wave at Allie with the exception of Dave and Swill who both jogged over to pull her into a fast hug.
"Allie," Pete started, looking at her seriously. He'd known her for almost four years and he could tell from a mile off when she was lying, especially to him.
"Go on," she smiled. "Hurry up before they come back and drag you out,"
Standing on her tip toes, she brushed her lips over his and pulled back, not quite meeting his eyes.
"I'll see you tonight, ok?" she smiled, squeezing his hand.
"Yeah," he nodded, realising that whatever was going on with her, she wasn't about to spill it out any time soon. "I love you," he told her, bending his head to kiss her again, longer than her kiss had been.
"I love you, too." She told him, smiling softly as he pulled back and let go of her completely, walking over to the door and following the rest of the boys down the stairs, leaving Allie on her own again, trying to work out what the hell was happening.
"Ooooh, look at this one."
Lara held up the bridal magazine in front of Allie's face and then huffed when her best friend barely acknowledged it, instead continuing to stare at her phone.
"You know you're right," Lara told her, chucking the magazine onto the long marble counter they were sat at and shaking her head. "It's hideous," leaning on the counter top, she wiggled her eyebrows. "You know what you should do?"
"What?" Allie mumbled half heartedly.
"Have a nudist wedding," Lara told her with a grin. "You know, everyone just…totally naked, letting it all hang free,"
"Sounds cool," Allie replied, still not paying attention.
"Yeah?" the red head raised an eyebrow. "Great! And also I was thinking that in celebration of the big day, I could shag Pete." She stared at the blonde, waiting for some kind of reaction. "Twice," she added. "On the altar, right in front of you."
"Fine," Allie nodded, then she blinked apparently having registered what she had just agreed to. "Wait, what?!"
"Oh, thank Prada, she speaks!" Lara sighed heavily, flopping back in her chair. "Damn, I knew I should have gotten that whole shagging Pete thing in writing," she grinned and nudged her hand which was resting on the table. "What's the matter with you tonight?"
"Nothing," Allie shook her head. "I'm sorry, hun I just…ugh." She waved her hands, as though physically trying to disperse the subject from her mind. "Forget it, let's do this," she grinned, grabbing one of the wedding books and flicking through it.
"You're still thinking about that girl aren't you?" Lara asked her. "You know the weird one who came to the house?"
"She wasn't weird," Allie told her.
"Uh, yeah she was," Lara shot back, her eyes wide. "Allie, the whole time she was speaking I kept expecting Jack Nicholson to burst through the kitchen door with an axe."
Laughing quietly, Allie shook her head; even in a situation as dire as this, she had to give it to Lara: the girl had a way with words.
"I guess I feel guilty," she confessed. "Y'know, I didn't really help her,"
"Allie she didn't want help," Lara frowned. "She was just content to sit there and dish out her messages of doom, all of which, if you don't mind me saying, sounded a lot like bullshit to me,"
"You think?" Allie bit her lip, not so sure.
"Oh come on," the red head rolled her eyes. "Its like you said, she starts dating Pete's mate, gets dumped, gets pissed and takes it out on you."
"Ok, but hypothetically, what if she was telling the truth?" Allie looked at her seriously.
"Then…" Lara winced. "I honestly don't know kiddo,"
"Me, either," Allie shook her head. "And that's the really scary part,"
"Allie," Lara told her gently and immediately the blonde knew she wasn't going to like what was going to come out of her mouth. "You know when she asked you about...y'know, leaving Pete..."
"Don't even start," Allie snapped.
"I'm not suggesting that," the red head protested. "I know that that's long past the point of ever being a possibility, I was just saying...normal couples don't usually have these kinds of problems." Watching as Allie shook her head, she sighed, her eyes falling back on the Bridal magazines. "Have you even started planning the wedding?"
"It's not that simple," she shot back.
"Why not, Allie?" Lara narrowed her eyes. "I know that Pete has this whole double life thing going,"
"Christ, Lara, he's not Spider-man for God sake!" she laughed bitterly.
"I know that," Lara rolled her eyes. "And even if he was, remember what happened to Mary-Jane?"
"I can't believe you're comparing my engagement to a comic book," Allie muttered, dropping her head into her hands.
"I know I'm the one who always makes jokes," Lara told her seriously. "But I'm worried about you."
"What?" Allie cried. "Why?"
"Because I..." Lara bit her lip, thinking for a second. "I love Pete, ok?" she told her honestly, taking her hands and rubbing them gently. "And God help me I know how much he loves you, but what if the day comes when that's not enough?"
"Where the hell is all of this coming from?" Allie demanded, yanking her hands away, her bright green eyes filled with hurt. "If we love each other, what else is there?"
"Trust," Lara told her plainly. "How about security?"
"You always said that was another word for boring," Allie reminded her.
"Allie, what the fuck do I know?" she laughed. "I'm a single, Kim Cattrall wannabe who lives with her best mate and has more pairs of shoes than she's had hot meals."
"So what are you getting at exactly?" Allie shook her head, feeling tired suddenly.
"Nothing," Lara told her. "I just want you to be sure before you do anything you might end up regretting,"
"I would never, ever regret marrying Pete," Allie hissed. "You have no idea how much I love him-"
"Oh but see I do," Lara nodded. "That's why I'm saying this, because half the time when it comes to that man you're so blind it almost hurts. Just think about what's happening at the moment but picture yourself in five years time with a baby, waiting for him to either come back through the door and play happy families or get that call from A&E again. Honey, I love you so, so much," she smiled. "And just want you to be happy...and right now, I'm not entirely convinced that you are,"
Allie looked back up at her with tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, quivering as they threatened to spill over.
"I'm just so scared, Lara," she sobbed, unable to hold it in any longer. "I want to help him, I want this all to go away but I don't know how,"
"I know," Lara pulled her into a tight hug and rubbed her back gently, hoping to ease some of the pain. "It'll be ok, I promise."
They stayed like that for a long time, both friends, sisters really embracing each other so tightly that neither of them noticed the sullen figure of Pete Dunham as he stepped away from the doorway and made his way silently to the front door, dropping the spare key back under the mat where he had found it. Tears stung his eyes as he walked away, quickening his pace as he reached the road letting the stinging Winter wind purge him of his guilt, welcoming the pain it brought as it whipped about his face. Clenching his fists as he broke into a run, he heard Lara's voice over and over in his head as she spoke to Allie.
"...I just want you to be happy and right now I'm not entirely convinced you are."
All the shit with Tommy and Mikey going on and he'd completely forgotten about her, about how scary this must be for her. Slowing down as he reached the tube station, Pete fumbled through his wallet searching for his rail card. Unable to find it, his patience snapped and he slammed his fist hard against the machine, getting worried looks from the few people around him.
"Fuck!" he hissed under his breath. Leaning back against the wall for a moment, he stared out at the gray sky stretching menacingly across the London skyline and realised that he'd never hated himself so much as he did in that one moment.