Hope this is ok, I wasn't a huge fan of this when I read it back but the next chapter kind of makes up for it and this is the set up so just try to endure the crapiness if possible. A huge thank you for all the reviews and for taking the time to read this, for that reason alone, you guys are my heroes! xxx
"Just one more,"
Allie stared up at the ceiling and bit her lip, waiting for unpleasant pull of skin, the stinging sensation rippling over the surface and making her hiss out yet another curse. The last stitch was pulled out of her stomach and she stared down at the pale skin, still marred by the pink marks from Tommy's attack two weeks ago.
"All done," the nurse smiled, peeling off her gloves and chucking them into the bin at the end of the bed. "You're lucky, you know," she told Allie, gently touching her stomach. "This could have been much worse,"
"Will it scar?" Allie asked, feeling stupid for asking something so trivial at that moment.
"No," the nurse smiled. "You'll be right as rain in a few weeks," she picked up the chart and nodded. "And I see that baby is doing brilliantly."
"Yeah," she grinned, gently placing a hand on her belly.
"Well, just take it easy for a few days," the nurse told her firmly. "No overly hot baths, no swimming, nothing too strenuous and where possible, try not to wear anything too restricting,"
"Ok," Allie nodded, sitting up and sliding off of the bed, pulling her t-shirt back down to cover her stomach. The marks from Tommy's attack were still there, reminding her just how lucky she had been…if Bovver hadn't found her and Matt at that very moment….
Shuddering, she pushed the thought out of her head, unwilling to think about it anymore. It plagued her dreams almost every night, at a time when she should be thinking about wedding dresses and baby clothes, all she could see every time she shut her eyes was him standing over her with that sick smile on his face, holding the knife against her skin and then pushing down.
"You all sorted?"
Jumping slightly, she turned and saw Pete limping into the room, gasping when she spotted only one crutch.
"Hey!" she laughed. "What's going on with….?"
"I went to see Gemma," he told her with an excited boyish grin. "And she basically said that as long as I promise to go easy on the leg, I can lose one crutch,"
"And you're ok with that?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. She knew what Pete was like, give the boy and inch and he'd run a bloody mile.
"'Course I am," he winked at her. "See, now I've got one arm free, it means I can do this,"
Reaching out with his right arm, he pulled her to him quickly, silencing her little squeak as he kissed her, smiling against her mouth when she giggled happily and wrapped her arms around him.
"So, what'd she say?" Pete whispered against her lips, pulling away just slightly and gesturing to the nurse in the hallway.
"I'm fine," Allie smiled. "We both got the all clear,"
Placing his palm gently against her stomach, Pete smiled and kissed her forehead; someone up there obviously liked him.
"So how about we go get some lunch or something?" she asked, her eyes twinkling. "Spend some proper time together without a police officer or doctor in sight?"
"Ah," Pete smirked. "As good as that sounds, I've kinda already said I'd meet Benjamin," he saw the disappointment in her eyes and gulped hard, feeling guilty as hell. "It's only for an hour though, so…"
"Pete its fine," she smiled at him. "Go have fun, but just remember, my dad wants to see us later, whatever the hell that's about,"
"Oh yeah," Pete frowned. "He's not gonna twat me one around the head again for getting you pregnant, is he?"
"No," she laughed. "I think he's finally come to terms with it," she tilted her head. "Although I think plying him with Jack Daniels and convincing him that it was an immaculate conception helped a lot,"
"Yeah, well you can thank Swill for that one," Pete chuckled and then glanced at his watch. "Shit, Benjamin's gonna be here in five minutes, I better get downstairs," he looked at her. "You're alright with Steve running you back, aren't you?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "Of course," standing on her tip toes, she brushed her lips over his, smiling when he kissed the tip of her nose as she pulled away, peering through the glass and frowning.
"Speaking of my brother," Pete shook his head. "Where exactly is the bastard?"
Steve watched as his little brother said something to Allie, making her laugh before reaching out and pulling her to him, their lips meeting repeatedly as they wrapped their arms around one another, ignoring the world outside.
Feeling a surge of envy bubbling in the pit of his stomach, Steve pushed himself away from the window and strolled back down the hallway, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly. In the four weeks which had passed since Shannon had left him, he'd heard from her about six times, each phone call shorter than the last. She'd put Ben on the phone a few times but it had slowly started to kill him, hearing his sons voice over the line and knowing that he was thousands of miles away.
Leaning back against the far wall opposite Allie's room, he stared out of the window down at the small garden below and trying not to think of his wife.
"Hey,"
He jumped, his blue eyes widening in surprise as he stared into the face of Pete's Physio therapist. Gemma had stopped coming to the house last week, instead giving him a list of things he had to do on his own, which she knew Allie would of course end up forcing him to do.
"You ok?" she asked, a strand of light blonde hair falling out of her pony tail and into her eyes. "You look a little…"
"Nah," he shook his head, standing up straighter. "I was just in a world of my own," he smirked. "Waiting for them two to sort themselves out,"
He gestured through the glass to where Pete and Allie were still kissing, although it looked a little heavier than it had done before.
"Oh," Gemma blushed slightly and laughed. "Right,"
"How'd you get on with him?" Steve asked her.
"Fine," she nodded. "I'm really happy with all the progress he's made; I think he's the most determined patient I've ever worked with,"
"By that you mean he's a stubborn bastard you ignores every warning you give him?" Steve smirked.
"Yeah, but you've gotta love that about the guy," she cocked her head and laughed.
Steve nodded, watching as she tucked the piece of hair back into her pony tail and suddenly, he was struck but how attractive Gemma was. Her dark brown eyes contrasted against the lightness of her hair, her full berry coloured lips forming into a smile as she stared up at him.
"Right well," she nodded, tucking her folder under one arm and holding her hand out to him. "I better get going but it was nice seeing you again, Steve,"
"Yeah," he nodded. "You too,"
Giving him one last smile, she walked away, stopping only when he called out her name. Looking at him expectantly, she drummed her fingers nervously on the side of her folder and watched as he took a step closer to her, nervously running a hand through his hair.
"I was just wondering if…ah," he shook his head and laughed. Who was he kidding? He hadn't asked a woman out on a date in over six fucking years. "Did you fancy getting a coffee or something later?"
"Sure," she nodded, not taken aback in the slightest. Cringing inwardly, he hoped he hadn't been that obvious with her. "I finish work at 6 so meet me here at 7?"
"Yeah," he smiled. "I'll, uh, I'll see you later,"
With that, she walked away leaving Steve Dunham lingering in the hallway feeling pretty damn pleased with himself.
"So, run that by me once more, brother," Benjamin tore his eyes away from the huge building in front of him and looked back at Pete who was staring up at it with a huge goofy grin on his face.
"This is the church that Allie's parent's got married in," he told him.
"Aye," Benjamin nodded. "That bit I got,"
"And we're here to book it for me and Allie to get married in," he smirked. "Next month."
"Right," Benjamin squinted and tapped his finger on the bonnet of the car. "See that was the bit that confused me just a tad." He took a deep breath and pointed at Pete. "You brought me of all people here to book the church for you and Allie to get married in next month even though she was almost just killed and you're still doing you're uncanny impression of a cockney Forest Gump?"
"That's the basis of it, yeah," Pete nodded.
"Fuck me, brother," the Scotsman laughed. "Either they've upped your dosage without telling you or you're crazier than I thought,"
"Probably both," Pete shrugged, picking up his crutch and taking a deep breath. "You ready?"
"Aye," Benjamin laughed, locking the car and following Pete up the small path to the church. "What if they think we're a gay couple here to challenge the Catholic Church and declare our love?"
"Well, we'll just have to restrain ourselves and not hold hands, won't we?" Pete laughed.
"I'll try," Benjamin sighed. "But only if you let me get one cheeky arse grab in,"
They were still laughing when the priest appeared at the doorway, eyeing them up with a mixture of curiosity, fear and apprehension.
"Good afternoon," he told them warmly. "You must be Pete," he shook his hand. "And this is…"
"Ah, Benjamin William Ellis," Benjamin shook his hand and winked. "I'm not Catholic," he winced. "But I'm not gay either, so there shouldn't a problem with me tagging along right? I mean, he's got his girl pregnant out of wedlock so if you can put up with having her in here, one little atheist should be a piece of cake, aye Father?" he paused and then frowned. "Eh, was Mary married when God had a go? If she wasn't that puts her in the same boat as Allie, doesn't it? So y'know, love thy neighbour and all that…"
The priest stared at him in shock as Pete tried his hardest not to start pissing himself; Jesus, he would have been better off bringing Swill.
"No," the priest shook his head. "There's no problem at all," he stepped aside. "Come in, please,"
Following Pete into the church, Benjamin noticed the blonde man was shaking and could hear the subtle snorts of laughter he was emitting.
"Did I just wink at a priest and then proceed to tell him that I wasn't gay so me being in his church wouldn't be an issue?" he whispered.
"Yeah, that came right before you compared Allie to the Virgin Mary," Pete snorted, wincing when his laughter came out a lot louder than he wanted it to.
"Well, I don't know," Benjamin exclaimed. "I was brought up in Scotland, so I'm far from being a member of Team Jesus. And besides, you're telling me all priests believe in this stuff?" he gestured to the paintings on the walls. "You go ask Father John back there how many times he's gotten rat arsed on the holy wine and used the baptism fountain as a pisser, I can tell you now, Dunham, the number he gives you will be higher than my shag-o-meter."
"Ahem,"
They both turned and met the priests surprisingly amused stare.
"This way gentlemen," he nodded towards a door off of the main hall. "I'll talk you through the details and then give you a tour. As I'm in such a good mood, I might even throw in a confession for free. " he smiled at them over his shoulder as they laughed quietly and followed him into the office.
Allie stared out of the window apprehensively as she waited for Pete to get back from wherever the hell he actually was. Steve had offered to stay with her for a while, but she knew he had to get back to work so had made him coffee and a sandwich and then sent him on his way. Sighing lightly, she tore the wrapper off of what was to be her third Bounty of the day and bit into it, feeling a tad bit better as the sweetness of the chocolate erupted on her tongue.
"What did Batman say to Robin right before he got into the Batmobile?"
Looking up, she stared at Lara with a mixture of amusement and curiosity as she leant against her doorframe and smiled.
"I have no idea," she laughed.
"He said, 'Robin, will you please get in the Batmobile?'" Lara looked at her deadpan and Allie promptly started pissing herself laughing.
"That was awful," she shook her head.
"I know," Lara giggled. "But it did the job, look at you, you're smiling,"
"Lara, I'm fine," Allie shook her head.
"Knock, knock," she interrupted.
"Who's there?"
"Handsome," Lara smirked.
"Handsome who?" Allie giggled.
"Hand some of that chocolate to me, I'm starving,"
Giggling loudly, Allie patted the bed next to her and grinned when the red head jumped on it, her head coming to rest next to Allie's stomach. Staring at it intently, she squinted one eye shut and then gasped.
"You've got a bump!"
"Shut up," Allie rolled her eyes.
"No, I'm serious, it's teeny, but I can see it," Lara looked up at her and grinned before reaching into her back pocket and pulling out a tiny book with a bow on it which she waved in front of Allie's face. "This might cheer you up,"
Laughing, Allie took the book from her and bit her lip.
"You didn't have to get me this," she shook her head. "This is so sweet,"
"I know," Lara sat up slightly and took it back, flicking through it. "It has like, every name you could ever want to give your kid plus a whole bunch of crap about what the names mean," cocking her head she nodded. "Hey, Lara means 'the cheerful one'…who'd have thunk it?"
"Lemme see," Allie scooted closer to her, flicking back to the beginning. "Alyssa means 'rational'?" she huffed. "Why'd I get the shit one?"
"Because you smell," Lara laughed when the blonde merely stuck her tongue out. "I wonder what Pete means?"
Allie looked through the book again and started laughing.
"It means 'rock'." She grinned. "Make of that what you will,"
"So together, you're 'rational rock'?" Lara raised and eyebrow and Allie laughed again.
"Apparently so," she sighed. "This was such a good idea, thank you honey," leaning forward, she kissed Lara's forehead and smiled. "I haven't even really thought about this,"
"What?" the red head laughed. "You're pregnant and you haven't thought about names? You, Allie Harding, the girl who refused to call her Barbie 'Barbie' and spent hours on end trying to find a name that would stand out from all the other dolls,"
"I know, it's scandalous," she smiled, picking at the bed linen. "I don't know, it's just lately, with everything going on, I haven't really had time to think about…" she shook her head. "You know what's awful, is that Pete and I, we haven't even sat down and talked about this,"
"You don't think he's happy?" Lara frowned.
"Oh God, no," Allie shook her head vehemently. "I know how much he wants this baby, I mean the look he had in his eyes when I first told him…I don't know, I just…I want it to be normal from now on,"
Pete gulped from where he was stood just outside the door, resting his forehead against the door frame. Of course she wanted to have a normal life for a while, all he'd done the last few months was turn her life up onto its arse and even though she never said anything, he knew how much it got to her sometimes.
Taking a deep breath, he nudged the door open and limped through, smiling at the two women lying side by side on the bed, Lara still holding the book above them, pointing something out.
"Alright?" Pete grinned when they both looked up at him in surprise.
"Hey gimpy," Lara smiled back as she climbed off of the bed.
"Don't suppose you fancy babysitting Benjamin for ten minutes, do you?" Pete winked at her.
"Ugh," she rolled her eyes. "If I must," walking around him, she made her way down the corridor. "But if he tries to make me play Braveheart with him again, I'm not above punching him in the throat,"
Chuckling to himself, Pete turned his attention back to Allie who was sat on the end of the bed, smiling softly at him.
"What've you got there?" he nodded towards the book.
"This, oh, um…" she laughed and held it up. "Lara got for us, it's a book of names. Yours means 'rock' in case you're interested,"
"Funny," he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I thought it meant 'fit as fuck',"
"Oh my God, it does," Allie gasped, looking in the book and smirking. "How didn't we spot that before?"
Laughing, he hopped over to stand in front of her and bent his head down, brushing some hair off of her neck and kissing the soft skin underneath.
"The last few weeks have been shit," he told her, meeting her eyes dead on. "I know how much you've had to put up with, how much you've been through and I'm sorry."
"What?" she frowned. "Don't be daft, I'm fine,"
"Allie," he shook his head and that one word, in that tone of voice was enough to make her quit her feeble attempt at playing little miss sunshine. "So I figured we needed something good, something fun,"
"Right," she narrowed her eyes at him and toyed with the zip on his sweater. "Should I be scared?" she joked.
"What are you doing on the 26th of May?" he asked her with a small smile.
"Um," she laughed. "I don't know…working maybe? Trying to explain to Swill for the thousandth time why I won't let him deliver our baby?"
Pete laughed and shook his head, leaning in and kissing her softly, resting his weight solely on his left leg so that he would pull her closer, their faces only inches apart.
"Marry me," he whispered.
"What?" she shook her head, her breath catching as he kissed her again so lightly that she barely felt it.
"Marry me on the 26th of May," he watched her eyes widen and smiled. "That's where I was this morning, I went with Ben to the church your parents got married in," he nodded. "If we want it, it's ours."
"Pete," she breathed out, tears stinging her eyes. God damned hormones…
"I need this," he told her. "I want this more than I've ever wanted anything in my life. I know that it's been shit lately and that I haven't been there for you but you, Allie," he smiled. "You and this baby are the most important things in the world to me and I want to do this properly, because I love you, I love you so much and we deserve this. No fuck ups, no GSE, just us," he cupped her face in his hands. "So go on, marry me."
He watched slightly horrified as a single tear dripped down her cheek and she shook her head, her bottom lip trembling.
Oh, fuck. He thought he'd been doing the right thing and yet he'd somehow managed to fuck up again.Suddenly, her mouth was on his, kissing him deeply and it took him all of a millisecond to start kissing her back. He was slowly starting to lose control, his mind racing as he revelled in the feel of her tongue brushing over his.
"Yes," she whispered, pulling away too soon for his liking. "Let's do it,"
"Yeah?" he grinned. "You sure about this?"
He'd asked her that same question in the Abbey four years ago, right after they'd almost broken up and right before he'd kissed her, terrifying her as it suddenly hit home that she was in love with him.
"Allie?" he prompted again. "Are you sure, baby? I don't want you to do this if…"
Placing her finger on his lips, she shook her head and smiled broadly, ignoring the tears streaming from her eyes.
"I'm sure," she nodded. "I always have been since that first night on the train,"
Pete stared at her for a long moment and suddenly something inside him snapped; he reached down to where she was knelt on the edge of the bed and pulled her knees up so she fell backwards onto the bed.
"Pete!" she cried, laughing as she bounced on the mattress before lying still and looking up at him. "What are you-…"
Throwing his crutch onto the floor, he quickly assessed what he needed to do and then carefully began climbing onto the bed.
"Baby, please don't get hurt…"
He shook his head, smirking at her as he tried not to show how much pain he was in, positioning himself above her and nearly passing out from the pleasure of having her this close to him again.
"I got this," he nodded, silencing any more of her protests by crashing his mouth down on top of hers. He felt her smile into the kiss as her hands started fighting desperately with the zip on his sweater whilst his hands couldn't decide what they wanted to do, running all over her body until she was squirming happily underneath him.
This was all he cared about; her and him together, not worrying about anything.
His hands were still resting on her stomach, just above the buckle of her belt; moaning into his mouth, she lifted her hips, urging him to take them off which he didn't need all that much convincing to do.
They were happy and that was all that mattered, and for the first time in two months, as Pete Dunham stared down at the gorgeous woman underneath him, his future wife, the mother of his child, he felt like there was nothing that could screw this up.
Lara raised an eyebrow to the ceiling as she heard another crash from Allie's bedroom.
"You reckon they're alright up there?" Benjamin asked, shoving another Kettle chip into his mouth.
The crash was then followed by a giggle and then a loud moan which left even Lara blushing.
"Oh, I think they're fine," she laughed, shaking her head and turning her attention back to her tuna salad sandwich. Another, much louder shout came from upstairs, the distinct cry of 'Pete!' seeming to echo through the kitchen.
"Fancy listening to the radio?" Lara asked, turning on the old school, bright blue transistor radio that she had found at a market years back and allowing the sound of the Kooks to fill the large room.
"So explain to me again how you actually managed to compare Allie to the Virgin Mary?" she giggled.
"I'll tell you what I told Forest Gump up there," he snorted. "We Scotsmen believe in three things: Mel Gibson, Malt Whiskey and our Mother's short bread," he ignored her laughter and took a bite of his bacon sandwich. "Jesus does not factor into it,"
"Did you explain that to the priest in confession?" she teased.
"Aye," he rolled his eyes. "Along with the fact that I once told a girl in a pub that Ewan McGregor was my half brother to get her into bed,"
"Did it work?" Lara raised an eyebrow.
"Like a charm," he winked. "Although I'm running out of attractive Scottish actors to lie about," he shrugged. "No girl really wants to ride the highland pony after you tell her your dad is Billy Connelly, do they?"
Lara almost choked on her drink as she laughed, shaking her head at him.
"You, my boy are immensely wrong," she snorted. The doorbell rang and she stood up, groaning in frustration before taking one more bite of her sandwich and jogging into the hallway. The doorbell rang again and she frowned.
"Yeah, hold on!" she called, yanking the large door open and smiling when she saw Dave standing there still in his pilot's outfit. "Happy Birthday to me," she joked, frowning when he didn't so much as crack a smile.
"Its Pete 'ere?" he asked in a rush.
"Um," she glanced up the staircase. "He's a little…busy at the moment, why?"
"It's Bovver," he told her, the fatigue from his four hour flight to Italy finally hitting him. "Swill called me when I landed 'cos he couldn't get through to Pete,"
"Why?" Lara panicked. "What's happened now? Is he ok?"
"He's been arrested," Dave sighed. "They're pinning him for Tommy's murder."
The time has come for you to be nice and press that little button on the left...y'know, the one that says Submit Review? Go on, it'll be a laugh if nothing else.