I warn you now that this isn't anywhere near as eventful as the last chapter but it sets up chapter 23 which IS pretty damn eventful so be patient with it. The reviews were positively awesome, I now feel a whole lot better about this story (I was on the verge of losing faith and packing it in, feeling I had at this point jumped the proverbial ff shark) but here I am anyway...hope this is to your liking. :)
"Get up."
Allie Harding cracked open one eye and squinted at the unimpressed redhead standing above her; judging by the amount of light in the room, she guessed that it was around 11, but her body didn't care in the slightest, it just wanted rest.
"Give me another hour," Allie mumbled, closing her eye again.
"Allie would you fucking open your eyes and look at yourself," Lara snapped, yanking the covers off of the blonde and slapping her leg hard.
"Ow!" Allie whined. "Shit, that hurt,"
"Good," Lara hissed. "Look at this,"
Shoving herself up so that she was still lying but propped up on her elbows, Allie blinked a few times to adjust her eyes to the light and then stared somewhat horrified at the blood covered Egyptian cotton bed sheet her best friend was waving at her. As though on queue, her hand began to sting and glancing down at it she realised that between her impromptu shower last night and tossing and turning in her sleep, she had not only ripped off the bandage but also reopened the wound.
"Bugger," she muttered.
"Doesn't even begin to cover it," Lara grabbed her good hand roughly and more or less pulled her out of the bed. "You're hot," she frowned, placing her hand against Allie's forehead. "You've got a temperature. See what happens when you lock yourself in the shower for an hour with all your clothes on?"
"I'm not a child," Allie huffed, dodging out of her reach.
"Yeah?" Lara raised an eyebrow. "Act like it then," shoving a towel at her, she went back to whipping the bloodied sheets off of the bed. "Go take a bath, you look like absolute shite,"
"Thanks," Allie rolled her eyes.
"Not a problem," Lara smiled sarcastically. "And don't go taking your time either," she glared at the blonde sternly. "We need to get that hand re-bandaged, not to mention you've got a visitor downstairs,"
Allie froze, wondering if her best friend meant Pete; had he come to shout at her some more…did he want to break up? She wouldn't blame him if that was the case, but she wasn't entirely sure her heart could take it.
"Relax, it's not lover boy," she shook her head.
"Who is it then?" Allie frowned.
"Hopefully someone who can talk some fucking sense into you," Lara told her sharply, gathering the sheets up into her arms. "Be down in ten minutes,"
"What did I do?" Allie asked, her frustration getting the better of her. "Why are you being like this?"
"Being like what?" Lara shrugged, pausing in the doorway and staring at her nonchalantly.
"Such a bitch," she shot at her bitterly. "I mean, what the hell's your problem?"
"My problem?" Lara laughed. "You really want to go there with me right now, honey bunch? Because just off the top of my head, I'm going to venture that you are my problem. You can be stubborn, Harding, you can even be a pretty impressive bitch when you want, but I never had you pegged for being a fully fledged fucking idiot,"
"What?" Allie shrieked. Weren't best mates supposed to be supportive at times like this, even if it was your fault that everything had gone wrong? "Do you not even care that I'm scared right now? You know I'm waking up looking like something from a fucking George A. Romero film, wondering if I have a fiancé anymore and all you can do is stand there and yell at me?"
Lara let her head fall down onto her chest, looking back up at her best mate with sympathy in her eyes which hadn't been there before. Dropping the bed sheets onto the floor for a moment, she walked back over to the distressed blonde and met her shimmering green eyes, shaking her head.
"Oh, Allie, honey I'm sorry…" taking her hand, she ran her thumb over Allie's knuckles and then promptly lifted the other hand, slapping her across the face.
"Fucking hell!" Allie cried, pulling away from her. "Are you insane? You just slapped me!"
"Yeah, I noticed that, too," Lara reasoned. "And I'll do it again if I have to so how about you shut the fuck up for a minute and hear me out."
More shocked than anything, Allie descended into silence and stared at the red head who was wiggling her fingers, trying to get rid of the stinging sensation which had been caused by hitting her a little harder than she had meant to.
"You have put up with more shit in 24 years than most people do in their entire lifetime. I was there when you lost your Mum, Allie and I know that being the only girl, even though you were only 8, you had to step in a try to hold your family together. And you did it, without ever complaining or asking for anything back." Lara reached out and gently touched her face, not surprised in the slightest when she flinched at the action. "But you know what? You finally got something back…you got Pete. And he makes you happy, granted the man isn't famous for his admirable lifestyle choices, but I know how much he loves you. See you don't see the way he looks at you when he knows you aren't looking, or the big cheesy grin he gets every time someone in a 100 mile radius says your name,"
"But I-…"
"Got scared," Lara interrupted her, shaking her head. "Allie, everyone gets scared. Especially when they're in love with someone because we never let ourselves think about the bad stuff and that just makes it that little bit worse when we finally see it." She took a deep breath. "Pete's the Mayor of the firm, right?"
"Major," Allie corrected out of habit.
"Major, Mayor…what the hell do I care?" Lara waved it off. "The point is, you knew about this three years ago, right?"
"Yes," Allie nodded.
"So, what's changed?" Lara shrugged. "Instead of being able to pretend its just a joke he has with the boys, you actually saw it and it messed you up. But that doesn't mean he's changed. It means you've changed."
Allie looked up at her, completely lost.
"Pete is still Pete," Lara explained it. "He's the same guy who you met on the train, who you fell in love with…so the thing you have to work out is, who is he to you right now?"
"I swear, you aren't even speaking English," Allie mumbled, massaging her temples and trying to ease the headache which was building there.
"Next time you see him," Lara grabbed her shoulders and looked at her head on. "Who are you going to see? Are you going to see Pete, the man you love who gave you that ring? Or are you going to see whoever it was you met in the street last night? Because if it's the latter, then yeah, you do have a problem,"
Allie stared down at the ring for a long moment, biting her lip; Pete would always be Pete to her, no matter what. His name triggered off so much in her mind, like the way his skin felt, the stupid grin he always wore in the morning, the way he tasted, the way his skin felt. Never in a million years would that change.
"I hurt him," she whispered shakily. "Lara, I hurt him really badly,"
"I know," Lara nodded, her voice soft as she reached out to brush a strand of hair out of Allie's eyes. "Now you just have to fix it,"
"But what if," she shook her head.
"What if he doesn't forgive you?" Lara laughed. "Allie, you could probably get a Chelsea tattoo on your forehead, burn his West Ham shirt and then have sex with another bloke on its ashes and Pete Dunham would still take you back,"
Allie laughed lightly, clutching the towel she was holding tighter to her body and nodding to herself.
"Hey," Lara tilted her chin up. "Sorry about the slap." She grinned impishly.
"Its fine," she smiled lopsidedly at her. "I think it might have actually helped," tilting her head to the side she peered at her friend out of the corner of her eye. "How's it looking?"
"Pretty cool if I'm honest," Lara nodded appreiatvely, causing Allie to giggle.
"Its got that whole Demi Moore in G.I Jane look about it, blokes love that crap." She nudged Allie's shoulder playfully. "You can slap me back if you want,"
"Tempting," Allie laughed, shaking her head. "But no. I think I'm just going to go and take that bath,"
"Ok," Lara quickly kissed her forehead. "I'll go get started on this," she gestured to the bed sheets and watched as her best friend padded into the bathroom. "Hey, Allie-Cat?" she called.
"Yeah?"
"Don't feel too bad, everyone fucks up occasionally," she shrugged. "Life you just be plain boring if we didn't."
Smiling softly at her, Allie pulled open the bathroom door and stepped inside, wincing when suddenly her stomach seemed to seize, a pain ripping through it unlike any she'd felt before. Gripping the door frame, she bent over slightly and took a deep breath. Jesus that hurt. Rolling her eyes, she padded over to the bath, still hunched slightly from the pain and put it down to stress. Running the water as hot as she could stand it, she sat on the edge of the huge porcelain tub and watched it fill up, trying to figure out what the hell she was going to say to Pete when she next saw him.
Tugging on a sheer floral top over her jeans, Allie looked in the mirror and smiled; it was amazing what half an hour in a bath could do. Feeling bad that she'd broken her promise to Lara, she shoved her feet into a pair of Louboutin heels and checked her reflection once more before jogging down the curved Victorian staircase, prepared to apologise to whoever was waiting for her. Figuring that it might be Dave, Swill or possibly Matt here to check up on her, she would simply tell them that she was headed over to Pete's now and didn't really have to time chat. Grovelling would take time, especially with something as extreme as this.
"Hey,"
Allie turned and saw Lara sat in the guest living room, her feet propped up on the antique stool beside the sofa, a huge glass of iced tea in one hand and the pre-sale issue copy of Vogue in the other. "You look pretty," she wrinkled her nose. "The whole covered in blood and bags under the eyes look is so 80's." putting down her iced tea, she nodded towards Allie's hand. "Come back in here when you're done and I'll wrap that for you, but I think your visitor might be getting a wee bit impatient."
"Ok," Allie frowned, slightly worried as to who it could be. Dumping her bag down in the foyer next to the front door, she made her way into the kitchen where Lara was pointing and pushed through the door, seeing that the TV was on but no one was there.
"Hola Senorita!"
Her head snapped around and tears filled her eyes as she stared in amazement at the old man sat at the breakfast bar sporting a sombrero and munching his way through the strawberries in the fruit bowl.
"Dad?" she whispered.
"Oh thank Christ, she recognises me!" Richard Harding laughed, his hazel eyes twinkling as he smiled broadly at his daughter. "How's my Allie-Cat?"
A tear leaked out of her eye and seeing the sympathy wash over her father's face, Allie knew in that second, that Lara had told him what had happened. Maybe it was the ache in her stomach which was refusing to leave no matter how many pain killers she took, maybe it was a delayed reaction to the fact that Lara had slapped her, or maybe it was just the fact that it had been over six months since she was last in a room with her dad. Regardless of the reason, Allie Harding found herself crying again.
"I messed up, Dad," she sniffed. "I really, really messed up,"
"Hey, hey, hey," he stood up and opened his arms. "Come here,"
She ran at him, throwing all dignity and maturity out of the window as she cried into her father's shoulder, his hands gently brushing her hair just like he used to when she was a little girl. "It'll be ok," he told her gently. "We'll make sense of this yet, you'll see."
Nodding, Allie clutched his shirt and then frowned when he pulled away slightly, reaching onto the chair next to him and pulling out another sombrero, placing it on Allie's head and making her laugh.
"So, we're both wearing our serious discussion hats," he pulled her down on the chair next to him. "How about filling in your old man on just what's going on?"
"I was a bitch," Allie told him glumly.
"Ah, see that much I got from Lara," he nudged her. "I was hoping you could start from the beginning. I'll try and help if I can," picking up her left hand and carefully avoiding the hole in it, he tapped the sparkling ring on her finger. "Can't be too bad if you've still got this on, can it?"
Looking up at him, Allie fought the urge to laugh; she knew how much her dad adored Pete and didn't really want to tell him what she'd said, knowing how disappointed he would be in her.
"You wanna bet?" she snorted, taking a deep breath before closing her eyes and telling him everything. Because, you know…the truth wasn't nearly so ugly if you shut your eyes.
Pete shoved the door to his flat open, feeling slightly guilty as he found himself praying that Matt wasn't in, but needing the space at the moment; the flat had still been a complete disaster when he'd left for work this morning and Matt had been more or less passed out on the sofa, apparently having abandoned any hope of clearing up.
Not that it bothered Pete in the slightest, after all, it was his fault that it looked as though a tornado had hit the place. Dropping his bag onto the floor with one hand and loosening his tie with the other, he was more than prepared to simply go back into his bedroom with a cold beer and pretend that the mess didn't exist for another few hours, at least till his hangover died down.
And as for Allie…sighing, Pete shook his head; he hadn't even let himself think about her today, every time he did, it felt as though someone was trying to yank his heart out through his throat.
Closing the door behind him, he stopped and stared at the flat, his eyes feeling as though they were bulging out of his head. It was spotless, cleaner than it had been in recent memory, not to mention all the lamps had been replaced and there was even a new side table next to the sofa. Fuck, he owed Matt big time for this.
"Matt?" he called, frowning when there was no reply. "Matt?" he tried again.
The front door started to rattle and he turned around just as it opened, watching Allie as she stepped inside obviously still unaware that he was there, her clothes covered in dust, her hair pulled up into a bun as she wiped her hands on her once pristine pair of jeans and sighed.
Glancing at her left hand, Pete noted that it had been re-bandaged, the smaller looking plaster on it making it look a lot less dramatic than it had last night. He continued to watch her unwilling to move a muscle in hope that maybe she wouldn't see him. But she did.
They stared at each other for a long moment, both of them standing their ground, daring the other to make the first move. Swallowing hard, Allie knew that this was her mess to clean up in more ways than one and so cleared her throat, reluctantly meeting his eyes.
"Hi," she winced. Hi? She thought with a laugh, what are you, 12? This is your Pete you're talking to...the man you're marrying and trying to say sorry to and your opening line is 'Hi'?
Pete continued to stare at her, the expression on his face unreadable; catching the black circles under his eyes and the tension in his body, Allie felt another pang of guilt stab her heart.
"I didn't think you'd be home this early," she told him, biting her lip and looking at the clock. "It's a Tuesday; you're not usually home till-…"
"I took a half day," he interrupted her bluntly.
"Oh," she nodded. "Right, that explains it…"
Jamming her hands into her pockets, Allie tried to remember the last time she was this nervous. She could actually hear her heart drumming in her ears, the sweat pooling in the palms of her hands, stinging the cut which Lara had expertly wrapped for her this morning after she had spoken for hours with her dad, who give or take a slap had had the same reaction as Lara before practically shoving her out the front door and informing her that she wasn't allowed back in the house until she had sorted things out with Pete. Sniffing lightly and sensing the first signs of a cold, Allie realised a little too late that her fully clothed shower last night, no matter how dramatic, may not have been the smartest idea.
"Did you do this?" Pete asked her jerking his chin towards the living room.
"Um, yeah," she nodded. "I came over earlier to get my bag, I left it here last night and…" she trailed off. "I hope its ok; I just didn't want you to have to do it later. I um, I taped the receipt for all the stuff to the fridge so if you don't like it…"
"Its fine," Pete told her. "Cheers,"
Slightly disheartened, Allie nodded and then picked her bag up off of the table; it wasn't that she expected him to forgive her just because she cleaned up his flat, but she had thought…shaking her head, Allie fought the urge to snort. She had thought that they would hug and kiss like they always did and that he would magically forget that she more or less broke his heart 24 hours ago.
"I'll head off then," she told him quietly. "You look like you could use some rest,"
"Actually, I need a coffee more than anything." Pete told her, stilling her hand on the door nob. She glanced over her shoulder at him and met his eyes. "D'you fancy one?"
Feeling the smile tugging at her lips, Allie tried to play it down and nodded. That was Pete's little way of basically saying he didn't want her to leave even if he was still pissed. Determined not to mess it up, Allie turned away from the door completely and smiled, not letting herself get disheartened when he didn't smile back.
"Yeah," she breathed. "A coffee sounds great."
Told you it wasn't brilliantly dramatic, but the next chapter takes offf straight from the end of this one. So please be kind when reviewing and wait for it...just you wait for it... ;)