So this chapter is a filler of sorts...its based on the mention of the 'note' in the last chapter. It was nice going back to writing Pete and Allie at their awkward flirty stage so I hope you enjoy this :) There's a little time jump back to present day right at the end as well. I pay little attention to Newton and his laws of space and time. :D So enjoy and as always, enjoy!

March 2002

"Bov, d'you wanna look any more fucking miserable or what?"

The man in question looked up from his newspaper and stared at Terry who was wiping the bar down; the Abbey was yet to open for the lunch rush, but given it was Bovver's birthday, Terry had agreed to let him and the rest of the lads have the bar to themselves for the afternoon.

"Just ignore 'im, Terry," Pete grinned, taking his shot at pool and wincing when he missed. "He's been in a foul mood all morning since 'is bird decided we're going clubbing tonight,"

Terry stared at them for a long moment and then burst out laughing, draping his towel over his shoulder.

"You lot are going to a club?" he snored. "Won't that require dancing?"

"Oi, you've never seen me move," Swill told him.

"Yeah, thank fuck for small mercies, eh?" Terry shook his head and went back to cleaning.

"Seriously, bruv," Pete shot another glance at Bovver before dusting his queue. "Its really not that big a deal, it'll probably be a laugh,"

"You fucking reckon?" Bovver shot back. "All I wanted was a few drinks 'ere and now I'm stuck at some poncy fucking club with a bunch of rejects who are gonna be sweating all over me when I'm tryna get a pint."

"Oh shut up, you grumpy cunt," Swill told him with a roll of his eyes. "Look at it this way, we're more likely to get laid by going to a club than we are staying 'ere,"

"Fair point," Dave nodded. "How many fit birds do you see in the Abbey anymore?"

"Speaking of," Ike piped up, smirking at Pete. "You bringing Allie or what?"

"Yeah," Swill raised an eyebrow. "I 'eard you've been spending a lot of time with the Sloaner, what's that about?"

"Its nothing," Pete shrugged.

Bovver snorted and shook his head, turning the pages of the newspaper with more force than before.

"What the fuck are you snorting about?" Pete frowned at him.

"You referring to chasing that bird round with your tongue hanging out as 'nothing'," he shrugged. "It's just pretty funny."

"You shagged her yet?" Swill asked, taking a sip of his beer and cheering when he potted one of the balls.

"Piss off, Swill," Pete muttered.

"That means no," Ike smiled tightly. "But its been a month, right? You must 'ave at least got a hand job off 'er."

Pete didn't answer them, instead he took a deep breath and lined up his next shot, ignoring the stares he could feel on the back of his next.

"Aw, mate!" Swill started laughing. "You're not getting' anything, are you?"

"Alright, we're taking it slow," Pete shouted, getting impatient.

"So you just 'old hands and shit, yeah?" Bovver smirked, knowing that he was pushing his buttons.

"It's not like that," Pete shrugged. "I don't wanna just fuck 'er and then drop 'er."

"But if she was willing, would you turn it down?" Dave raised an eyebrow.

"Fuck no, 'ave you seen 'er?" Pete scoffed. "I'd be in there like a shot,"

"So lemme get this straight," Terry leant on Dave's shoulder, coming over to the pool table and picking up a few empty glasses. "Bov's got a bird who's shagging him but he doesn't want her and Dunham's got a bird who won't put out?"

"Tricky, innit?" Keith frowned.

"Nah, mate," Terry smirked. "Just swap, 'em,"

"Oh, fuck off, you dirty old bastard," Pete laughed.

"Do I get to meet 'er properly this time?" he asked. "Last time she was in 'ere, you dragged her outside after about five seconds,"

"Oh yeah," Pete tried not to shoot an angry look at Bovver and failed; it was no secret that things between them had been a little on the tense side after the stunt he had pulled that night in getting Pete to dump Allie.

"Saying that, it might be best you don't," Terry sighed and flexed his mostly nonexistent muscles. "She might get too tempted…"

Pete laughed and shook his head, dropping his queue onto the table and moving over to take a seat next to Bovver.

"So I take it she's coming tonight, then?" he muttered, closing the paper and staring at Pete intently.

"What?" he frowned.

"Allie," Bovver practially spat out her name. "I take it she's coming,"

"Yeah, I thought you wouldn't mind," Pete shrugged. "You were fine with it the other night,"

"Mate I don't care if she comes or not," he snorted. "But just know that I ain't holding 'er hand all night when she has 'er little rich girl tantrum and demands to go somewhere else,"

"Christ, give 'er a break, will you Bov?" Pete sighed. "She's a good girl,"

"Time will tell on that on, won't it mate?" he shot back, downing the rest of his pint and standing up from the table, leaving Pete on his own to swallow his fury, gripping the edge of the table so tight that his knuckles turned white as he struggled to work out what was going on inside his mate's head.

"Mate, I ain't sure I'm pissed enough to be dealing with this," Dave shouted over the music, glancing around the packed out club and reaching for his pint which had cost him a shocking £4.50.

"Nah, S'alright," Pete smirked. "It's just like being back at Uni, ain't it?"

"Pete, its been a fair few years since I was at Uni," he shook his head. "So I'll 'ave to take your word for it," taking a long sip, he nudged Pete in the ribs. "Oi, she's doing alright, ain't she?"

Pete followed Dave's gaze over to where Allie was chatting to Bov's 'girlfriend' Hannah. He smiled when Allie started laughing, her hair which was curled gently around her face, falling into her eyes as she leant forward and whispered something to the mousy haired girl.

"Ay, lads," Bovver muttered coming to stand beside them. "What'd you reckon we 'ead back to the Abbey now?"

"Bov, we aven't even been 'ere for two hours yet," Pete laughed, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "Give Hannah a break, yeah? She's tryin' 'er best,"

"Yeah, well I don't remember asking her for any of this," he shot back. "I was 'appy with a few beers down the Abbey until you lot 'ad you start shooting your mouths off about it,"

"Bov, she's your girlfriend…." Dave began.

"No, she ain't!" Bov shouted.

"Alright, well whatever she is to ya," Pete frowned. "Try not to be such a miserable looking fuck for a few hours at least."

"Oh like you don't wanna get out of 'ere n' all," he rolled his eyes. "Give it another ten minutes before Allie as 'er little princess fit and demands to go 'ome,"

"I wouldn't speak too soon, mate," Dave laughed, pointing towards the bar where Swill and the rest of the boys were cheering as Allie slammed her tequila glass back down, wincing as Hannah laughed and handed her a wedge of lemon.

"Another!" Swill shouted, looping his arm around her shoulders and tugging Hannah towards them, gesturing for the barman to get in another round of shots.

"You ok?" Hannah lowered her voice, laughing as the blonde next to her stared at the double shot in fear.

"Yeah," Allie nodded slowly.

"Right," Swill rubbed his hands together. "You girls ready?"

"I was just about to say the same to you," Allie winked at Ike and Ned who were stood behind him, grinning when they all laughed.

"Cheeky," Swill nodded and then smirked at her. "I like that,"

"Yeah, yeah," Hannah lifted her glass, clinking it against Allie's. "Come on, down it,"

Doing as she was told, Allie licked the salt off of her hand and shuddered as the cold liquid flowed down her throat, squealing at the bitterness of the lime as she bit into it.

"I leave you alone for ten minutes and you've got my girlfriend doing shots?" Pete smirked, resting his arm on Hannah's shoulder and shaking his head.

"Poor thing probably needs 'em dating you," the brunette teased, dusting the remaining salt off of her hands and winking at Allie. "Besides, we're done now,"

"We are?" the blonde asked hopefully.

"Yeah, come on," Hannah jumped off of her stool and held out her hand. "You fancy hitting the dance floor?"

Allie smiled and hopped off of her own stool, blushing when the action propelled her forwards into Pete's body, his hands coming up to steady her, gripping onto her hips with a gentle firmness than made her shiver.

Lifting her head, she smiled bashfully up at him, her breathing quickening when she realised that they were mere inches away from each other. All it would take was for him to tilt his head just that tiny bit and…

"Hey!" Hannah laughed. "Mary Poppins! Are we dancing or not?"

"We're dancing," Allie nodded, reluctantly pulling away from Pete, grinning when he linked his hand through hers. "You fancy it?"

"Me?" Pete laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Uh…"

"What Dunham is trying to tell you in his own special way," Swill slurred, leaning across Allie's vacant stool so that his face was next to hers. "Is that he has the balance and coordination of a…." he frowned and looked up at Pete. "'ere, you're a teacher, what's the most retarded animal?"

"You," Pete shot back, slapping his face before looking back at Allie. "To be fair, he's got a point though," he shrugged. "I'm pretty much a rhythmic retard,"

"It's really not that hard, Pete," she raised an eyebrow up at him, smiling flirtatiously. "Come on,"

"Nah," he laughed, jerking his head towards the dance floor. "Go on, how about I watch you and see what I can learn?"

"Ok, fine," she shook her head at Hannah who was laughing. Letting go of Pete's hand, she moved to walk away when suddenly, he grabbed it again, using the leverage to swing her around so that she was stood in between his legs where he was now sat on the stool next to Swill.

"Just don't go dancing with any of them poncy blokes out there, yeah?" he pulled her closer so that their noses were almost touching. "And if any of them try anything…"

"I'm not interested in anyone out there," she told him with a smile that made the corners of his lips tug up smugly. Reaching down, he rested his hands on her hips, his thumbs brushing against the skin which was peeking out from her jeans.

"Good," he whispered, his mouth getting closer to hers. "Keep it that way,"

"Easy there, lover boy," Hannah laughed, tugging on Allie's hand. "You can have her back at the end of the night, but I'm bored with this sausage fest! I need female company,"

"Duty calls," Allie laughed, forcing her eyes away from his more than tempting mouth and following Hannah through the crowds, barely managing to keep hold of her hand as they found a spot on one of the raised stages of the floor and hopped onto it.

"So, how did you and Bovver get together?" Allie shouted over the music as Hannah started dancing like a lunatic.

"1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila, floor," Hannah laughed in response. "His bedroom floor to be precise,"

"Oh," Allie giggled. "I get it,"

"We're more…friends with benefits I guess," the brunette shrugged. "That's all any of those boys know about relationships,"

Allie nodded slowly, a tiny little panic alarm starting to sound in her head. What the hell did that mean?

"I don't necessarily mean Pete," Hannah shook her head, seeing the distress on her face. "But y'know with all that GSE crap, they've never really had time for girlfriends,"

"You'd never guess, would you?" Allie laughed, nodding towards where Swill was trying his best to chat up a rather unimpressed looking girl by hiking his shirt up and showing her his West Ham tattoo.

"He's crazy about you, y'know," Hannah called out.

"What, Swill?" Allie frowned.

"No!" she laughed. "Pete's pretty hard to get to, y'know? Don't let the Mr. Charming thing fool you, he's a pretty guarded bloke."

"Guess I've got a battle ahead of me then, huh?" Allie joked.

"You honey?" Hannah chuckled. "You might not be able to see it but you're already half way there,"

Allie stared at the brunette for a long moment, her heart pounding as her words set in; she knew that things between her and Pete was still in the early stages but the fact that she felt like this about him at this stage of their 'relationship' was scary enough. Every time she remembered that kiss and the way he had walked her to her car afterwards, pressing her back against it firmly as his lips brushed hers, teasing her, scaring her by making her want so much more.

She snapped out of her reverie when the music changed, Christina Aguilera's 'dirty' blaring out of the sound system and making the crowd screech.

"You up for it?" Hannah pointed to something on the stage behind them and Allie's jaw fell open.

"Oh God, you had this planned all along, didn't you?" she gasped.

"I realise that this must be something of a change to sitting in the VIP lounge and sipping £15 a pop cocktails," Hannah blew a strand of hair out of her face as she stepped up onto the podium and draped her arm around the pole dramatically. "But Allie, if you're gonna go slumming for the night, do it properly."

She held out her hand and winked, knowing full well that Bovver was watching her; good, the bastard needed to learn that inviting her back to his place and then chucking her out of bed as soon as he had to go to work wasn't going to cut it anymore. Seeing Pete staring at Allie like he was made her stomach cramp with jealousy and he had only bloody known the girl for a month. Bovver had known Hannah since they were 18 and she knew full well that he'd never look at her that way.

"Come on, you posh bitch," she laughed, shaking her hand and waiting for Allie to take it. "I ain't doin' this on my own,"

Taking a deep breath, Allie laughed to herself and then stepped forward, ignoring the whistles coming from the bar, but seeing Pete slap the back of Swill's head out of the corner of her eye.

"Alright," she shrugged, holding onto the pole and staring out across the packed dance floor. "You're on."

"D'you think Hannah will be alright?" Allie bit her lip as she watched Pete unlock the door to his flat, shoving it open and coaxing a long creak out of the worn hinge.

"She'll be fine," he laughed, gesturing for her to follow him and flicking on the light as he went. "I was more worried about you," he gave her the once over again just to make sure she was ok. "You two went down like a sack of rocks when she came a cropper on that pole,"

"Lucky I had that bouncer to break my fall, huh?" she laughed lightly, shrugging out of his jacket which he had given her and draping it over one of the dining table chairs. She took a moment to look around the flat, having never been there before. It was bigger than the building would have her believe; the lamps on the wall creating a warm glow and illuminating the various posters Pete had strewn about the walls, the entire space filled with the same smell he always had about him, something rich and musky mixed with soap.

"You survived though," he winked, pulling two beers out of the fridge and placing them on the counter.

"Survived what?" she shook her head. "I had fun,"

"Really?" Pete raised his eyebrows, holding a bottle out to her as she walked over and leant against the fridge across from him.

"Yes," she laughed, taking a sip. "Hannah's lovely and I got to spend more time with the boys," she looked at him and grinned. "And I guess, I don't mind having to see you either,"

"Now see that hurt," he told her, placing a hand over his heart. "Why'd you have to go any hurt my delicate feelings?"

"Oh wow, I'm sorry," Allie shrugged. "I just though, y'know…big, tough hooligans didn't have feelings,"

Pete laughed and dropped his bottle of beer back down onto the counter, taking a step closer to her and taking her own beer out of her hands, placing it behind him and backing her further into the fridge.

"Common misconception," he smirked. "We're actually very sensitive,"

"I'll bet," she giggled, trying to keep her breathing even when his hand came up to rest against the wall next to her head, trapping her there.

"So you should probably make it up to me, eh?" he whispered, his face nearing hers.

"I'm an imaginative girl," she whispered back, her hand coming up to cup his cheek. "I'm sure I could think of something…"

Pete's heart sped up as he watched her eyes flutter shut, waiting for him to kiss her like he'd been wanting to all night. And now, he finally could…

"Dunham!"

They both jumped, the banging on the front door echoing through the small living room as Swill continued to shout drunkenly.

"Pete, open up you prick!" he called. "I can't find my house keys and I wanna play FIFA,"

"Fuckin' 'ell," Pete muttered under his breath, shooting an apologetic look at Allie who was trying not to laugh.

"Pete!" the shouting continued. "Pete, you cunt 'urry up, yeah? I'm freezing my Jacobs off and Dave's gone off in the taxi with some bird and…oi, I found 20 quid on the floor,"

Pete yanked the door open and stared at his mate who was holding up a Tesco receipt, the disappointment clear on his face.

"I thought it was a 20 quid note," he muttered, letting it go again.

"So if you was in a taxi with Dave," Pete spoke slowly. "Why did you get out at my house?"

"I just fuckin' told ya," he slurred. "I wanna play FIFA,"

Stepping around him, Swill wandered into the flat, bumping into a few choice objects along the way before giving a loud shout of excitement when he saw Allie.

"Ay, ay!" he ran over and hugged her. "I didn't know you 'ad the Sloane Ranger 'ere, we can play 3 player,"

"We were actually gonna just go to bed, mate," Pete told him, his jaw dropping when he realised what he'd said. "Uh…I mean, she's kippin' in the bed, I'm out 'ere," he gesutured to the sofa.

Allie bit her lip to keep from smiling and felt Swill's shoulders shaking as he laughed.

"You'll 'ave to excuse 'im," he nodded towards Pete. "He's just a bit nervous 'cos he wants to shag you,"

"Alright," Pete spoke loudly, grabbing Swill by the arm and pulling him back towards the front door. He could hear Allie laughing and was pleased she hadn't taken what Swill had said too seriously. "I'm just gonna shove 'im in a taxi and then I'll be back,"

Shoving Swill out into the hallway, he shut the door behind him and shook his head, watching his friend dance around the hallway, banging on the neighbours doors.

"I'm forever blowing bubbles…"

"Yeah, yeah." Pete shook his head. "Come on, you fat bastard,"

"Pretty bubbles in the air…they fly so high, they reach the sky and…fucking 'ell," Swill stopped mid-song, bending down and picking up the same Tesco receipt from the floor. "I just found my taxi fare,"

"Swill, that's the same receipt, mate," Pete laughed, taking it out of his hands. "I'll get your taxi,"

"You're a proper good bloke, Pete," Swill turned to him seriously. "I dunno if I tell you that enough, but," he stopped and burped loudly. "You're like a fucking brother to me,"

"Yeah, I love you n' all, mate," Pete rolled his eyes. "Only thing is your timing is shit,"

"Why?" he narrowed his eyes and then grinned. "Oi, oi! Was you about to get some?"

Pete smirked and shook his head, focusing on getting Swill down to the lobby without sending him arse first down the stairwell.

"Aw, mate, get in there," he shouted. "I 'ave faith, son,"

Pushing through the front door of the apartment building, Pete propped him up against the door frame and ran after the taxi which was just about to pull away from dropping off a rather worse for wear looking couple across the road.

"Swill!" he shouted, gesturing for the drunken man to walk over to him.

"Oi," the taxi driver eyed him warily. "He better not get sick,"

"Nah, he's fine mate," Pete shook his head and handed him £40. "That should get 'im 'ome," he watched Swill hurl himself into the back seat and shot a look at the driver. "Don't let the prick keep the change, he'll only buy more beer,"

The driver laughed and waved him off, pulling away from the curb as Swill pressed his face against the glass and licking it before passing out.

Letting out a deep breath, Pete laced his fingers behind the back of his head and jogged back towards the flat.

By the time he reached his front door again, he frowned with his hand on the door, wondering if he was hearing things or if he could actually hear music coming from his flat. Peeking inside, he smiled broadly when he caught Allie standing in front of his stereo flicking through his CD's, her hips swaying to the music as she mouthed along to the words.

"I never 'ad you pegged as a Zutons fan," he told her, shutting the door behind him and making her jump. She blushed and quickly turned the volume down.

"Yeah, well," she raised an eyebrow, holding up the album case and smiling. "I could actually say the same about you. I had you down as much more of a Blazing Squad boy,"

"Piss off," he laughed, walking over and sitting on the back of the sofa behind her. "I 'ad you down as a Britney fan so…"

"Everyone's a Britney fan whether they admit to it or not," she told him plainly. "Ned and Swill proved that tonight with their soul wrenching rendition of 'Ooops I did it again'."

Pete threw his head back and laughed, the sound of her giggled filling the room and affecting his body much more than he wanted it to.

"Rolling Stones," she nodded, pursing her lips. "Stone Roses, Oasis, Ryan Adams, Coldplay, Zutons, Razorlight….oooh, Limp Bizkit?" she winced. "And it was going so well,"

"Alright," he laughed, taking the Zutons album out of her hands and using the remote to flick through the tracks, settling on 'You will you won't.'

"So you reckon just from looking through my CD's that you've got me sussed?" he teased her.

"I think I have a…vague idea," she shrugged.

"Go on then," Pete leant back and smiled smugly at her. "Let's 'ave it,"

"Well, you're smart as hell but you pretend you're not because its easier that way," she shrugged. "You're stubborn, you don't let your guard down easily, not because you don't want to but because maybe at some point in the past you got screwed over and you'd rather be distant than risk it happening again," she bit her lip when he blinked in surprise and pursed his lips thoughtfully.

"That's interesting," he told her. "Its bollocks, but its interesting,"

"Really?" she laughed. "So I got you completely wrong, did I?"

"No," he smirked. "I just get the impression you've been chatting you Hannah a bit too much, because you more or less just described Bov,"

Allie winced and felt her cheeks heat up; ok, so that was a little embarrassing. Now he knew that she had obviously talked to Hannah about him and that meant she would come off as the psycho girlfriend who wanted to know everything about him.

"Hannah talks a lot of crap," Pete shook his head as though reading her mind. "I know she's pissed off with Bov 'cos he don't want some big relationship with her but that's just 'cos he's Bov…poor bastard don't know how to deal with birds,"

"Sorry," Allie shrugged.

"What for?" Pete laughed. "I ain't interested in 'im,"

"No," Allie giggled. "I mean for assuming that everything Hannah said about Bov applied to you as well…"

"Ah." Pete raised an eyebrow. "Well, there's a lot you don't know about me."

"Why does that scare me?" she joked.

"I never tell the boys but I watch Wimbledon every fuckin' year," he shook his head. "I hate hot curries, I only ever order the Korma even though it's what birds go for; two years ago when I was at Uni I was so pissed that I cried when West Ham lost a match." She giggled and he shook his head again. "I still 'ave the superman boxers my mum bought me for Christmas when I was 17…and yeah, sometimes I do actually wear 'em."

Allie laughed loudly and he rubbed his eyes, unsure why he was telling her all this, but something in him felt that he could. He wasn't quite sure if that was a good thing or not.

"I'm a fucking amazing cook," he looked at her with a smirk. "And every Sunday when I go to my mum's for dinner, I actually end up cooking most of it. I'd never fucking admit it, but I own a copy of Billy Elliot, my brothers fiancé is a yank and when I first met 'er, I'd 'ad one too many beers and started doin' impressions of her and that's why she hates me. I really, really can't fucking dance to save my life and I'm scared to shit of snakes since I saw Indiana Jones when I was 11," he took a deep breath. "So there you go…anything else you want to know?"

Allie stared at him for a moment with a huge smile on her face, shaking her head lightly in disbelief.

"Wow," she whispered with a laugh.

"Told you I'm a complex bloke," he held up his hands, smirking at her. "Proved you wrong though, didn't I?" he winked. "Little Sloaner reckons she'd got me figured after four dates," he shook his head.

"Alright," Allie laughed. "Fine,"

Turning around, she caught sight of a post it note and grabbed one, taking a pen out of the pot next to the stereo and scrawling something down onto it before turning back to him and slapping the note against his chest.

"What's this?" he asked, picking it off as she smiled, clicking the cap back onto the pen. Staring down at it, he smirked.

"Compensation," she explained. "For assuming the worst…although you do own Billy Elliot so…"

"I knew I shouldn't 'ave told you that," Pete laughed. "An I.O.U. eh?" he raised an eyebrow. "So what will this get me exactly?"

"Anything you want," Allie shrugged and then her eyes widened. "Uh…that didn't come out the way I hoped it would,"

"Alright," he laughed. "So what if I wanted to kiss you?" he saw her catch her breath in her throat and felt his chest swell with typical male pride. "Would it work for that?"

"I tell you what," she smiled, taking the note off of him and folding it up, before placing it in his hand and closing his fingers around it. "Keep this for something more important," she met his eyes. "You can have the kiss for free,"

Sticking the note back to his sweater, he stood up so that he was towering over her, his eyes boring into hers as he ran his hands up Allie's arms to cup her face, tilting it up to his.

Their lips met and Pete felt his heart start pounding; he'd kissed a fair amount of girls in his time, so why the hell was his body going into overdrive only with her?

He picked her up, walking around to the sofa and falling down onto it with her in his arms, their mouths still battling it out, hands getting impatient when clothes prevented their skin from touching.

"Allie," Pete groaned as her tongue brushed over his; she tasted like cinnamon…he couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but he definitely wanted more of it. "Uh," he linked her fingers through his. "About what Swill said earlier…"

"It doesn't matter," she whispered hotly, her eyes boring into his as she licked the taste of his kiss off of her lips. The action made his jeans tighten and he cursed himself, hoping she wouldn't notice. She reached up, her fingers brushing over his cheek, causing the strap of her white camisole to fall off of her shoulder. Pete's eyes darkened and before he could stop himself, he leant forward, kissing the skin hungrily, scraping his teeth along it when she threw her head back and moaned softly, her hands tightening on his shoulders. Needing more of her, Pete shifted and gently lay her down on her back, lowering himself onto her and hissing with pleasure.

"Fuck," he moaned, his mouth finding the same spot on her shoulder as one of her legs wrapped around his waist which didn't exactly help the uh…problem he was having.

He wanted her so badly it was getting almost impossible to stop but he had to. He needed to.

Allie's eyes snapped open as Pete pulled back suddenly, the warmth of his mouth on her skin vanishing and making her shiver.

"I don't wanna do this," he panted, sitting up and staring down at her, watching as her eyes clouded with hurt. Cursing himself for his choice of words, he shook his head and pulled her up so that she was sat opposite him.

"Rachel, Ella and Charlotte," Pete breathed out.

"Ok," she frowned. "You know I'm Allie, right?"

"All of those girls were my ex-girlfriends…" Pete shook his head. "You're not like any of 'em. You're not like anyone I've ever met and I ain't risking fucking things up by moving too fast," he laughed and tilted her head up to look at him. "Allie, look me in the eye and tell me you're ready for this,"

She bit her lip; she wanted to be ready for this. Lying underneath him just then, feeling his lips moving over her skin, his hands moulding themselves to every curve and dip in her body…she could have easily lost control and most men would have just gone with it. But then she hadn't felt like this about a guy before, she'd never been so wrapped up in someone that her inhibitions had flown out the window. Having two boyfriends in your entire life didn't exactly make you an expert on this subject.

"I'm sorry…" she mumbled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"What?" Pete frowned. "Babe, I'm not saying I don't want this," he reached out to her and cradled her face in his hands. "Believe me, alright, I'm a bloke, so by default, I want this…"

Allie laughed, glad that he was able to put her at ease by joking around.

"Look, I like you," he shrugged. "I know that sounds shit, but I do. I really like you, I don't know what this is yet," he gestured between them. "But I do know that I don't wanna be like Bovver," he met her eyes and held them. "I don't wanna be that bloke you just described who just…shags girls and screws things up."

"So you want to be the nerd that wears superman boxers and watches Billy Elliot instead?" she smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"If he's the one that gets to be with you, then yeah, alright?" he laughed. "I just don't want you to think that this is all I can do. I'm not gonna let you be that girl. I don't want that with you…I want…fuck it, I don't know." He smiled boyishly at her. "I'm fucking this up good and proper, ain't I?"

"No," Allie shook her head, a grin pulling at the corners of her mouth as she leant forward and grabbed him by the collar. "You're actually doing a lot better than you think,"

Pete grunted when she shoved him onto his back and jumped on top of him, giggling when he ran his tongue along her neck, tilting her head up and kissing her thoroughly as he shoved the note into his pocket.

Oh yeah, like it or not, Pete Dunham knew right then and there that he was well and truly fucked.

May 26th, 2005

"Easy, easy, easy…Pete no!" Allie laughed when he dropped her down onto the bed, her wedding dress fluffing up around her as she watched him kick the trolley of champagne and fruit to the side.

"Its been a long day," he told her, crawling onto the bed and grinning at her wickedly. "You tired?"

"Uh-uh," she shook her head, undoing his bow tie and throwing it onto the floor.

Pete stared at her for a long moment; the candle light flickering over her face, the golden strands of hair falling into her bright green eyes as she bit her lip playfully and gave him that look…the one which made his stomach tighten and his breathing get shallow.

She was his wife. His wife.

Pete grinned to himself; shit, that sounded good.

"I've got something for you," he told her, sliding his hand up under the mass of material that was her dress and kissing along the neck line of her strapless gown.

"I'll bet," Allie laughed, moaning softly when he kissed up to her mouth.

"Cheeky," he winked, sitting up and digging around in his pocket. Pulling out the crumbled up orange note, he watched her eyes widen.

"Remember this?" he held it out to her as she laughed and pushed herself up onto her elbows, her eyes running along the familiar scrawl.

"I can't believe you kept it," she shook her head.

"Yeah, well," he placed it next to her on the pillow and fell down on top of her, kissing her teasingly. "I'm thinking tonight might be the night to cash it in…"

"Really?" Allie raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"

"This is four years in the making, Harding," he laughed. "And as the note says, you owe me,"

"I guess I do," she slid out from underneath him and shook her head when he frowned and tried to reach for her again. Reaching back, she unzipped her wedding gown and let it pool around her feet, smiling smugly when his eyes bugged out of his head.

She'd been wearing that in church!? Taking in her lightly tanned skin as it shimmered in the candlelight, contrasting nicely against the white lace, Pete grabbed her hips and pulled her forward, kissing her stomach gently.

"So will this be ok?" she asked him innocently, resting her hands on his shoulders and pushing his jacket off.

"Yeah," he laughed, swirling his tongue around her bellybutton. "It'll do,"

"Good," she shoved him backward, loving the boyish smile on his face. "Oh and by the way," she raised an eyebrow, crawling on top of him and grinning down at him. "My name isn't Harding anymore." She brushed her lips over his. "Its Dunham."

Make way for baby... ;)