Hey! Sorry this is kinda late...the parentals were pushing me to go out and get a job for the summer so that's taken up all my time at the moment :( But I've written the next few chapters so should be able to post them more regularly. Cheers for all the lovely reviews of the last chapter, I hope this one doesn't suck too much either!
The staff room of St Mark's boy's school was unfeasibly warm given the conditions outside.
Battered and ripped lines of multicoloured tinsel hung above the large windows, the glittering frames making the already garish bright blue room almost impossible to be in. Various biscuits and half eaten cakes were scattered about the table and Pete Dunham frowned as he lifted his worn copy of Catch 22 and was forced to brush yet more crumbs off of its tattered pages.
Usually he avoided the staffroom like the plague, barely able to stand the teachers than hung out there but he was still wary of being around Benjamin at the moment.
It wasn't that Pete was particularly convinced that something was going on between Benjamin and Allie…that was ridiculous.
How ridiculous though? His brain taunted smugly, about as ridiculous as the idea of Allie and Matt was all those years ago?
Hating that he was merely working himself up, Pete slammed the book back down, earning some concerned and un-amused looks from his colleagues.
"Problem, Dunham?" Jack Rankin asked, his haughty voice grating even more on Pete and whittling his temper down to a practically non existent thread.
"All those big words getting too much for you?" he joked, gesturing towards the book.
"Go fuck yourself, Rankin," Pete muttered, standing up and yanking on his jacket. "That is if you 'aven't still got Reeves doin' it for you,"
The dark haired man went bright red and looked across the room to where Tamara Reeves, the art teacher who was still very much married was pretending she hadn't heard what Pete had said.
Not that he gave a shit; everyone and their mother knew that Jack and Tamara were having an affair, but from day one Pete had had little time for staff room politics and today was not going to be the day he finally made an exception.
Pushing through the doors and out into the hall, he fished his whistle out of his pocket, silently putting himself forward for playground duty.
It wasn't his day to do it but right now some quality time with the boys was just what he needed. Anything to get him away from…
"Ho, ho, ho!" Benjamin grinned as he skidded to a stop beside Pete, a Santa hat barely hanging on to his head. "Look alive, Petey Pie," he smirked, setting a party popper off in front of him and making Pete jump. "It's the end of term…no more work for the next two and a half weeks,"
Pete simply stared at him but the stupid smile on the Scotsman's face refused to fade.
"Oh come on," he laughed. "Give me one smile," he reached out to playfully slap Pete's face and frowned when his mate dodged out of the way.
"I ain't in the fuckin' mood, alright?" Pete snapped.
"Christ," Benjamin snorted. "What happened to you? Mini-man keeping you up again?" he asked referring to Alex.
"He's fine," Pete snapped, stepping around the dark haired man and out into the playground.
"Oi," Benjamin frowned, following him out but keeping his voice low enough so that the kids didn't hear them. "What crawled up your arse and died? I haven't seen you this pissed off since Hammers got their arses handed to them on a plate at the end of the season,"
"I'm 'avin' a shit day," Pete grumbled, pulling the sleeves of his jacket down to cover his hands which were rapidly turning blue. "What'd you want me to do?"
"Well," Benjamin winced and pretended to think. "We could dance to joy division…you know and celebrate the irony…because everything is going wrong but we're so happy?"
"You're a comic genius, you are," Pete snorted, turning around the corner to the French block where some of the lads from his class waved at him.
"Alright," Benjamin stopped walking and shrugged. "I'm done guessing, Britney. What exactly have I done?"
"Oh like you don't fuckin' know," Pete hissed. "I thought the Scottish were inbred, not stupid,"
"Aye, aye," Benjamin pursed his lips. "That was bellow the belt…you know I only slept with my mother once and she wasn't nearly as good as my cousin,"
As much as he hated the bloke in that moment, Pete had to bite the inside of cheek hard enough to draw blood to keep from laughing.
"Come on, mate," Benjamin shook his head, his tone much more serious. "What the hell is going on with you?"
Before Pete could answer, a loud shout sounded from behind him and he turned to see most of the boys on the playground, their breath coming out as mist in the sharp frost.
"Oi, Mr Dunham!" one of them shouted. "We need a goal keeper,"
"So do we," another boy yelled. "Come on Mr. Ellis,"
Benjamin went to shake his head, determined to sort out whatever the hell was going on with Pete but instead the blonde grinned at the lads and shouted back.
"Come on then," he rubbed his hands together, ruffling various heads as he walked through the rabble and towards the goal. "Let's 'ave it!"
"Pete!" Benjamin frowned.
He wasn't listening, instead putting on a pair of gloves and chatting to one of the boys.
"Bastard," he muttered under his breath, walking to the opposite end of the playground and stepping into his own goal.
"We're down 3-2," Rupert Leal told him with a grin, his teeth chattering in the cold. "Just don't let the next one through and we're golden,"
"Aye," Benjamin winked. "You just worry about the strikers, Leal,"
The game kicked off when one of the older lads whistled loudly, kicking the ball down towards Benjamin who instantly shot forward and smacked it back.
It wasn't long before Pete was forced to do the same but instead of aiming for the boys as Benjamin had done, he ran up and whacked the ball hard, sending it straight towards the shocked Scotsman.
"Jesus," Benjamin shouted, holding his arms out as he stared at Pete. "What're you doing, Dunham? That almost had my head off!"
"Sorry sweetheart," Pete called back with a smirk. "If it wasn't so big and ugly I might have better luck avoiding it,"
Usually, Benjamin would have laughed and shot something right back but there was a seriousness in Pete's tone, a hostility in his eyes that told Benjamin to keep his mouth shut for the moment.
They played on, cheering and shouting at each other as all of them, Benjamin and Pete included willed the lunch time to stretch on that little bit longer.
It was only when one of the boys took someone else out that a whistle was blown and someone shouted "Penalty!" at the top of their lungs that any of them actually paused.
"'Ere," Jake smirked, handing the ball to Pete. "You take it, Mr. Dunham,"
Pete raised his eyebrows but took the ball anyway, strolling down to where Benjamin was hopping from foot to foot.
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee," he muttered, rubbing his hands together as he watched Pete place the football on the ground and take a step back.
Pete stared at his mate, the only best mate he had outside of the GSE and tried to be rational; he fought to tell himself that the anger he felt was stupid, that it wasn't Benjamin's fault things had been shit with him and Allie lately…that something else was obviously going on that Allie didn't feel comfortable telling him about right now.
But she happily chatted to Benjamin about it, his brain laughed smugly.
Pete had never been one for feeling sorry for himself or even holding a grudge but that didn't mean his mind couldn't be a dark, dark place at times.
Which might explain why as he looked back up at the brunette standing in goal, he suddenly flashed back to what he had seen in the bathroom over the weekend. Only this time, when Benjamin touched Allie's face he also leant in to kiss her. And then she was kissing him back, his hands were tugging at her shirt, lifting it up and tracing her body as he pushed her hair to one side and made for her neck.
"Oi!" Benjamin called with a laugh, interrupting the torturous images in Pete's head. "Are you taking that shot or not?"
Pete growled and ran at the ball, swinging his leg so hard that he almost forgot how painful it could be in winter and shouted out as the bone cracked.
The ball shot forward, creating a kind of 'whooshing' sound as it tore through the misty mid morning frost and hit Benjamin square in the chest.
"Shit!" he shouted, falling backwards as the air was knocked out of his lungs. He rolled onto his side, coughing violently before pulling himself slowly to his feet and glaring at the blonde man in front of him.
Around them the boys had turned silent and were staring back and forth between the two teachers as they stared each other down.
"You aimed that at me," Benjamin cocked his head. It was a statement and not a question but Pete nodded anyway.
"You catch on quick, don't ya?" he snapped.
"Right, what the hell is going on with you, Dunham?" Benjamin shouted, temporarily forgetting the students scattered around them.
"Why don't you tell me, mate?" Pete scoffed. "After all you're fuckin' Mr Understanding these days, aren't you?"
Benjamin stared at him for a moment, his hand still clasped over his chest as he took laboured breaths.
"Pete," he shook his head. "Are you high or something brother, because you're making no fuckin' sense?"
"Did you 'ear that?" one of the boys whispered.
"Oi," Benjamin barked, making the lads jump. "You lot, inside now!"
They grumbled and reluctantly began to walk back towards the building, moving as slowly as humanly possible in hopes of catching more of the conversation.
"Right, Petey Pie," Benjamin bent down and rested his hands on his knees as he sucked in painful breaths of icy air. "It's just you and me now so why don't you just come out and say it,"
"I ain't got nothin' to say to you," Pete pointed in his face and locked eyes with him. "Just stay away from me," he jabbed him in the shoulder. "And stay the fuck away from Allie,"
"Allie?" Benjamin frowned. "What does any of this have to do with her?"
"We're done 'ere," Pete snapped, turning on his heel and walking away.
"You what?" the Scotsman laughed. "Are we fuck! Get back here now and explain to me what the hell just happened! Pete!"
The blonde kept walking, striding through the playground until he was just at the gate and then something smacked him hard in the back of the head.
He shouted loudly, biting his tongue in the process before turning around and glaring at the tall man stood a good few hundred yards away from him, looking mildly sheepish as he watched the football which he had kicked at Pete's head bounce three times before it rolled to a stop.
"Did you just fuckin' kick that at me?" Pete asked, his voice dark and menacing.
"Me?" Benjamin squeaked with his eyes wide. "No, 'course not sweetheart. It was just gravity doing what it does best and causing orbit around big, fat, heavy useless pieces of mass…which in this case happened to be your head."
"Always were a smart arse, weren't you?" Pete shook his head.
"Yeah actually," Benjamin shrugged. "But you were never this much of an over dramatic little bitch so either tell me what's going on or I'll finish what I started,"
"Do your worst," Pete scoffed arrogantly.
"I'm sorry," Benjamin leant forward and cupped his hand around his ear. "Was that 'Do your worst' or 'Do your wife'? Because I'd happily do either,"
It was a joke. Usually one which Pete would have laughed at and then playfully slapped him around the back of the head for but given the jealousy still raging through his veins, Pete instead found himself charging forward, the shouts of the boys following him as he ducked low enough to ram his shoulder into Benjamin's stomach and send both of them sprawling to the ground.
"I honestly don't know why he said such a thing about me having an affair with Jack," Tamara Reeves flicked her long brown hair over her shoulder as she followed Cassie Pearson down the corridor past the art rooms and towards the playground. "I mean, it's preposterous I'm married for God sake!"
"Yeah, I know," Cassie snorted, ignoring the slimmer woman's look of disgust.
"Saying that, Dunham never has been…stable, has he?"
"Stable?" Cassie frowned, pushing a strand of frizzy brown hair off of her face. "Well, he's hardly the ideal bloke is he?" Tamara raised an eyebrow. "Always stumbling in late, being too loud in the staffroom…I must say when I met his wife I was completely shocked. She's demure, sophisticated…or at least I thought she was until that night I found the two of them going at it in the art closet,"
Cassie laughed, earning herself a stern glance from her colleague.
"And then there was the night they were fighting with the paints in the year 7 classroom,"
"Oh come on," Cassie rolled her eyes. "He might be a bit of a loose cannon but the cute ones always are,"
"I have a lot of adjectives I could use on Pete Dunham but trust me when I say that 'cute' isn't one of them," Tamara snorted.
"You don't think he's good looking?" Cassie gasped, almost as though it were a sin. "Him and Benjamin are the only bloody reason I still come into work."
"Well, call me old fashioned but I like my men to have a mental age above that of a six year old," Tamara shot back.
"They're not that bad," the chubby woman argued, tugging on her overly tight reindeer sweater as they prepared to step outside.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!"
The chanting burst through the doors at them as the two women embraced the morning chill.
"Oh for fuck sake," Tamara pulled her whistle out of her pocket and blew it. "Remind me again why I felt the need to teach at an inner city school?"
Cassie ignored her, sprinting towards the boys most of whom were still gathered around whoever was on the floor, shouting encouragement.
"Alright, that's enough!" Cassie screeched. "Everyone get back…don't make me go and get…Pete?"
The boys stepped aside, all of them still wearing huge grins as they stared at Tamara and Cassie who in turn where focused on the two men on the floor.
"Holy shit!" Tamara gasped, her whistle falling from her lips.
Pete lay on the floor with Benjamin on top of him, though by the looks of it, it was the Scotsman who had taken the brunt of the beating.
"Right," Benjamin coughed lightly, wiping some blood from underneath his nose and smearing it along the back of his hand. "I know this looks bad but I think once you hear the reason, you'll see that this is all just a big misunderstanding,"
"So am I right in thinking that the reason two of my most valued members of staff were fighting on school property in front of their pupils…" Mrs Walsh stopped pacing her office and stared at both men with chillingly blue eyes. "Is because of a football?"
Pete stared at the oak desk in front of him, determined not to make eye contact with either Walsh or his partner in crime.
"It got a wee bit out of hand," Benjamin sniffed, wincing when his nose began to bleed again.
"A wee bit out of hand?" Mrs Walsh repeated. "You're bleeding on my Venetian carpet Mr. Ellis; I would be tempted to say that this is more than a little out of hand,"
She glanced at Pete and clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.
"Anything you'd like to add, Pete?" she asked.
"Not really," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.
Mrs Walsh shook her head and then slammed her coffee mug down on the desk top hard enough to spill most of it.
"Not really?" she shouted. "Do you two realise how bad this is? Do you have any idea how bad this is going to look when I've got parents ringing me up left, right and centre complaining about how their son came home and told them about how two of his teachers were beating the living hell out of each other in the playground?"
"It was just a scrap," Pete frowned in annoyance.
"I don't care if it was a bloody lovers tiff!" Mrs Walsh glared at him. "You do not fight on school property! You're lucky it's the holidays or I'd be forced to suspend the two of you," she shook her head. "That is if the PTA don't put their foot down and demand you leave,"
"Am I supposed to give a flying fuck what the PTA thinks?" Pete snorted.
"On this occasion Mr. Dunham, yes you bloody well are!"
"Look," Benjamin jammed the bloodied tissue into his pocket and leant forward. "I get that this is bad but we've been yelling for the past twenty minutes," he sighed. "It's the end of the school day, can't we just go?"
Mrs Walsh stared at him for a moment and he bit his lip, suddenly wishing he'd kept his mouth shut.
"Oh go on, get out of my sight, both of you," she snapped, waving them towards the door. "And get this sorted or you can both forget coming back after Christmas."
Pete was the first to stand up, scraping his chair back over the floor and not bothering to even look either of them in the eye as he strolled towards the door and yanked it open with impressive force.
Benjamin sighed loudly and then followed him, throwing his head back in exasperation when he realised that Pete was already storming ahead of him towards the gate.
Jogging to catch up, he followed Pete the whole way to his car, stepping in front of him when he pulled his keys out of his pocket and moved to open the door.
"Look brother," he stared at him hard. "I'm not even going to pretend I know what the fuck is going on with you but given you've literally got my blood on your hands don't you reckon you at least owe me an excuse?"
Pete glared at him dangerously but Benjamin didn't step back, in fact Pete noticed that he had squared his shoulders obviously resolved to be more prepared should another punch get thrown his way.
"Look, you mentioned Allie, right?" the Scotsman shrugged. "So I get that whatever this is, it has something to do with her but that's all I've got so far…how about being a good girl and filling in the blanks for me, huh?"
"I ain't in the mood for fuckin' about," Pete snapped, shoving him out of the way.
"Yeah?" Benjamin snorted. "Well funnily enough brother, neither am I but then I've got an imprint of your first in the centre of my face so I reckon I've got fair reason,"
Sighing impatiently, Pete turned away from the car and started walking towards the old sports field, shoving his hands into his pockets to ward off the cold.
"You coming or what?" he snapped over his shoulder.
By the time he reached the half broken bench under the willow tree, Benjamin was right beside him, sitting down warily for fear of either getting hit again or breaking the bench completely.
He stared at Pete for a long moment, waiting for him to speak and growing mildly frustrated when the blonde just sat there, twirling his silver wedding band around his finger.
"Things are kinda fucked up at the moment," he breathed finally.
Benjamin looked at him strangely but didn't say anything.
"For the first time in all the years I've known Allie, I don't know what's going on with 'er," Pete snorted. "Every time I'm alone with 'er, I panic because I don't know what I'm supposed to say; I know something's going on but I…she won't talk to me, she barely even lets me get close enough to fuckin' hug her anymore,"
"Did you two have a barney?" Benjamin asked quietly.
"No," Pete shook his head. "Everything was fine, y'know we 'ad Alex and I know that was rough for a while given what 'appened but…mate, I don't know what I've done."
He swallowed hard and looked down at his hands.
"I saw you with 'er in the bathroom," he mumbled. "At the weekend…I went up to see where she was and you were in there with 'er. She was chattin' to you, laughing, lettin' you touch 'er and…"
He shook his head and then dropped it down into his hands.
Benjamin frowned, not sure what was wrong but then it hit him and his arctic blue eyes widened in horror.
"Oh no you fucking didn't…" he half laughed, half shouted. "Don't tell me you thought something was going on?"
"Well, I don't know, do I?" Pete snapped. "My wife won't talk to me but she'll talk to you, what the fuck was I supposed to think?"
"Pete," Benjamin laughed and shook his head. "Brother, I love Allie, alright? She's a top lass and one of the best mates I've got but there is no fuckin' way that that would ever happen. Even if I was that dumb, you do realise she'd sooner set fire to herself than go there anyway, don't you?"
Pete snorted and continued staring at the floor.
"Mate, I was in there because I…" Benjamin paused and debated whether or not this was s smart idea. He loved Allie to pieces and he knew that she would be pissed when she found out he had told Pete about seeing her get sick but then if something really was wrong then Pete deserved to know.
"I heard her getting sick," he breathed and saw Pete tense up. "I went in to check if she was ok; she looked like shit but she wouldn't say what was wrong so I did my usual thing of joking about and being a smart arse. That must have been when you came in because about three seconds later Poppy shouted for me and I left, that was it."
"She was sick?" Pete frowned. "As in…"
"Praying to the porcelain God," Benjamin nodded. "But like I said, she didn't say a word to me,"
"Fuck," Pete whispered, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes.
"Pete, its probably nothin'," he placed a wary hand on his shoulder. "Seriously mate; you know what birds are like…she probably just ate something or…"
"What if it's not though?" Pete stared up at him and Benjamin fought to remember a time when he had seen him looked so pained. "What if something's wrong with her?"
"Pete," Benjamin shook his head. "Nothing's wrong with Allie, alright? You know that if something was wrong you'd be the first to know,"
He nodded mutely but the fear in his stomach didn't ease off at all.
"And as for the other stuff…" he shrugged. "She'll come around. You know she's just had a baby, wasn't she like this with Poppy?"
"Its not a case of me not getting any, mate," Pete snorted. "She actually won't let me near 'er. Like I honestly think if she thought I wouldn't say anything she'd be sleeping down the hall,"
He felt his chest tighten, remembering all the mornings when he would wake up and find her in a ball at the other side of the bed instead of stretched across him, her hair tickling his chest, her legs tangled with his as she snuggled into his skin and fought to get even closer.
"That won't happen," Benjamin shook his head and then smirked. "But if it does, I can always come take her place. I warn you though, I'm a cuddler,"
"You're sick," Pete laughed.
"Oi, it's the least you owe me after beating the shit out of me in front of my students…its bad enough that they already like you more than me but now they think I'm your bitch," he muttered making Pete laugh again.
"Oi," Pete nudged him after a long moment of silence. "I'm sorry mate,"
"Aye," he nodded. "Me too, brother. I didn't mean to punch you in the ear,"
"Yeah," Pete frowned, reaching up and rubbing it. "That fuckin' hurt you cheeky slag,"
"So did the double punch you aimed at my throat," the Scotsman slapped him. "Who the fuck goes for the throat?"
"It's not my fault you Scottish bruise like little girls," Pete laughed.
They sat in comfortable silence for a long while before Benjamin spoke up.
"So what are you gonna do?" he asked. "Y'know, about Allie?"
"I dunno mate," Pete answered honestly. "Aside from pinning her down and asking her what the fuck is going on, I'm running out of ideas,"
"You could try that I suppose," Benjamin rubbed his chin. "You might wanna chuck some flowers and candles in there first though…"
"Always a gentleman," Pete laughed.
"And yet I'm still single," he grinned. "It's a crime against nature, isn't it?"
"Come on then," Pete jerked his head towards his car. "I've punched you in the throat, I reckon the least I owe you is a pint,"
"Damn right, you tart," Benjamin stood up and followed him across the playground. "And while we're there I vote we come up with some kind of kick arse story to tell the boys about why we look like shit."
"Bank robbery gone wrong?" Pete offered.
"Nice," Benjamin smirked. "I was thinking more along the lines of we went to the best S&M strip club in the world,"
"Fuck yeah," Pete roared with laughter. "I'm up for that…so what are we going with?"
"Well," Benjamin hooked his arm around Pete's shoulders. "I reckon we say that we were on our lunch break and decided to try out a new bar…" he narrowed his eyes at the blonde and smirked. "See even if I am slightly retarded, you look me in the eye and tell me that having a charming little scamp like me as a best mate ain't a right old bubble?"
"What'd I tell you about using cockney slang?" Pete shoved him. "You're Scottish, fuck off back up to the Highlands,"
"Screw you, you eel pie eating, chimney sweep wannabe," he shot back. "As I'm willing to take verbal abuse from a man who sounds like an Oliver casting call reject,"
"Wanker," Pete snorted.
"Bitch," Benjamin smiled back. "So listen, I might just have an idea of how you can get Allie to talk to you,"
"Oh yeah?" Pete raised an eyebrow as he yanked open the driver's side door on his car. "What's that then?"
"Well, I don't suppose there's a chance you ever watched Say Anything, is there? Because that Cusack bloke has the best chat up line ever, all you need is an 80's stereo system and Peter Gabriel's greatest hits…"
"There we go," Allie smiled down at her son as he stretched and fidgeted against her, content for now having just been fed. "All better, right?"
Buttoning up her shirt with one hand, she placed the baby over her shoulder and rubbed his back until she felt him burp lightly against her and gave a small laugh.
Poppy was still at her after school club so that meant Allie and Alex had some mother-son bonding time before Pete came home.
Alex looked up at her with his huge blue eyes wide and she could have sworn she saw in infamous Dunham smirk pulling at the side of his mouth.
"All done?" she asked him and he gurgled loudly, kicking out and her and fighting to get back to the warmth of her body. "Right then little man," she cooed, kissing his head. "How about you try and get some more sleep then, huh?"
Bending down gently, she placed him on his back in the crib, ignoring the pain that shot through her. As soon as he was settled, Allie practically fell backwards, gripping her stomach tightly.
"Shit," she hissed under her breath.
The pain soon grew into the already familiar sensation she recognised as nausea and she moved quickly into the bathroom, vomiting violently into the sink.
"Fuck," she wheezed out as the last of it fell into the basin. Her whole body had started to tremble and as she reached out to turn on the taps and get her toothbrush, she noted just how badly she was shaking.
"Come on, Allie," she whispered to herself. "You're fine for God sake…they told you it would be like this,"
And she had so badly wanted not to believe the midwife when she had told her that it would be this awful.
Like it or not she had just had a caesarean and contrary to what all the celebrities said, caesareans hurt like hell. Her muscles were torn and bruised and she felt like some kind of invalid, having to crawl upstairs when she thought no one was looking, having to slip out of bed every night so Pete wouldn't see that she was forced to sleep in a ball so that her stomach wouldn't ache as much.
With a sigh, she started brushing her teeth knowing how unfair she was being on him but not just coming out and admitting that she was having trouble coping.
She didn't want him to start worrying or to feel bad like she knew he would.
Besides, she was a big girl…she was more than equipped to deal with this on her own.
Back in the bedroom Otis Redding began to warble on about how he was dreaming of a white Christmas and Allie smiled weakly when she heard Alex gurgle in approval.
At least his taste in music was a bit tamer that his sisters; Allie never quite had gotten over the embarrassment of having to sing West Ham songs and Kanye West tracks to her in the doctors waiting room whilst all the other babies were content with lullaby's.
Spitting out the last of the toothpaste, she rinsed the sink with a disgusted sigh and wiped her mouth on a towel.
"I can just about cope with Otis Redding," Pete's voice drifted in behind her and made her jump. "But yesterday he got a little bit too excited when they played S Club 7…I ain't up for none of that shit,"
"Well, you lose just as many macho points as he does for knowing who they are," Allie teased him back.
Pete could tell her heart wasn't in it but played along anyway.
"It's alright, two beers and a cheeky ball scratch is all it'll take to earn them points back," he winked, earning a real laugh this time.
She turned to face him properly and gasped when she saw that his gorgeous face marred with faint bruises and a cut above his right eyebrow.
"Oh my God," Allie whispered. "What happened?"
"I went to an S&M club," he told her seriously. "Those birds don't fuck around,"
Before Allie could respond, he held out a small box, the messy wrapping and sticky tape hanging off it letting her know that he had wrapped it in the car.
"What's this?" she asked quietly.
"Call it an early Christmas gift," Pete smiled boyishly, shaking the box lightly and causing the bow on top to tremble, the blue and silver strands glittering in the bathroom light.
Frowning slightly, Allie tugged at the bow and ripped into the wrapping paper, smiling when she pulled out a copy of Notting Hill, the first film they had been to see at the cinema when they were dating.
"I know you love that film," he rolled his eyes. "All birds do…personally I don't get the point of it. I mean that Roberts bird talks about getting her tits out but she never does…where's the fun in that?"
Allie choked out a laugh and looked up at him with watery eyes.
"It was eight years ago this week that I first took you to see that," Pete smirked. "And I know you aven't been feeling to clever lately…I know you're in pain and I hate that you won't tell me, I hate that you don't think I'd notice to begin with."
"Pete…" she whispered shakily.
"So I reckon we sit down tonight and you can eat all the popcorn again while I add reasons to my list of why I think Hugh Grant is a cunt…" he reached out and brushed some hair off of her face. "I miss you," he told her bashfully. "I miss hearing you laugh, I miss not waking up with you drooling like a retard on my chest, I miss you taking the piss out of me when I do something stupid,"
He gently brushed his fingers over her cheekbones and shuddered at the feel of her…it was something he'd never get sick of.
"Let me in," he begged her. "I need it, Allie, please…"
"I'm shit," she whispered as she closed her eyes.
"What?" he frowned.
"I'm in pain the whole time," Allie sobbed quietly. "I can't even bend down to get Alex out of his crib when he cries…everything hurts and I keep getting sick and I can't…I can't deal with feeling like this, I'm like a fucking invalid, I just…"
"Hey," Pete shushed her, pulling her into his arms and revelling in the feel of her. Jesus, he had missed this. "Its alright…I got you, you're ok,"
"I'm sorry," she cried into his chest.
"So you fucking should be," Pete told her, ignoring the lump in his own throat. "I've 'ad to spend my time with Lara…and she's not nearly as good in bed as you are,"
Instantly she began to laugh, her shoulders shaking as she pulled back from him and wiped her eyes with her sleeves.
"Whore," she choked out.
"There's my girl," Pete laughed, kissing her forehead and then her lips. She responded eagerly, her fingers clutching at his shirt as he pulled her closer.
"You'll be alright," he promised her, lightly kissing her nose. "Silly bint, you should 'ave told me all this before…"
"Before what?" she whispered back.
"I didn't go to an S&M club," he smirked.
"Really?" Allie snorted sarcastically.
"I took my anger out on Benjamin," Pete winced as her eyes widened.
"You hit Ben?" she gasped.
"He hit me," Pete frowned. "Don't let the little git fool you, he fights like a right whore n' all,"
"He's your best mate," Allie shook her head.
"He was a sarcastic Scottish prick with a Santa hat on who kicked a football at the back of my 'ead," Pete told her. "He's lucky he's alive,"
Allie sighed and rested her forehead against Pete's chest listening to his heartbeat.
"I'm sorry," she whispered to him again. "For shutting you out and…"
"You're a Dunham," he smirked at her. "Shutting people out and being stubborn pricks is what we do best…well, that and we're fuckin' amazing in bed,"
She laughed again and kissed him gently, shuddering against him when he deepened it and rubbed her back gently, easing the tension out of the sore muscles. She moaned softly and Pete kissed her harder, pulling away when he felt himself start to lose control.
"So what'd you say?" he held up Notting Hill and winked at her. "And this time I promise not to spend the whole of the last hour tryna cop a feel,"
"I say chuck in a hot water bottle and some sweet popcorn and I'm there," she smiled weakly.
"I love you," Pete told her, kissing her head and pulling her body close to his as he walked them back out into the bedroom.
"I love you," she replied with a kiss to his throat as he stopped and hugged her tightly, grinning at Alex over her shoulder when he saw his son was fast asleep, still clutching the cuddly football Pete had given him that morning.
"Right then, now all the soppy shit is outta the way," Pete smirked at her, determined to take her mind of things for a while. "Back to my 'Reasons why Hugh Grant is a cunt' list,"
Allie rolled her eyes and laughed as he picked her up and lowered her to the bed careful not to jar her stomach too much.
"Number one," Pete held up the DVD and shook his head. "That fuckin' poncy accent…"
I have a sudden urge to go and watch Love Actually now...all that Christmassy stuff is making me question whether it is actually July outside! :D So anyway, what did you think? Love it? Hate it? Let me know! Reviews are a girls best friend after all ;)