Hey kids! Just to say a huge thanks to all those of you who reviewed the last chapter and a special thanks to Anna S for a lovely PM that made my day and to halabala33 for trusting me enough to play God with her grammar. :) Look out for her latest chapter of her awesome fic, it should be up soon!
Also just to let you know I'm working on a shiny new banner for the story which I'll post as soon as I'm done with it! Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave me a review! I'm sick and voiceless so it will cheer me up! :D
Pete opened his eyes and blinked up at the ceiling, his heart pounding. Sweat was clinging to his skin, making it stick to the bed sheets as he lay there panting.
"Allie," he whispered, turning his head to the side.
She wasn't there.
"Fuck," he whispered, closing his eyes for a moment before realising what he had seen. Their wedding photo sat staring back at him on the bedside table, glancing down at his hand he actually laughed out loud when he saw his wedding band glistening in the early morning light coming from the window.
He was home.
Sighing with relief, he rubbed the back of his neck as he swung his legs out of the bed, wincing at the sudden pain in his temple. Blinking, he remembered the events that had led to him waking up wherever it was he had been and made a mental note to kill Benjamin Ellis when he next saw him.
So it had all been a dream, he frowned to himself; a really long, really fucked up dream.
Shuddering slightly with the knowledge of what could have been or at least what he thought could have been, he cleared his throat drowsily, preparing to call out to Allie when a loud crash from downstairs interrupted him.
Instantly on guard, he stood up the pain in his head fading at the threat of something being wrong. Not particularly caring that he was only dressed in his boxers, he padded out silently into the corridor, panic streaming into his heart when he saw Poppy's bedroom door was open.
That's alright, his mind countered, at least she exists,
Rolling his eyes at his own stupidity and paranoia, Pete took the stairs two at a time, his breath coming out in harsh pants as the adrenaline rushed through him, preparing him for whatever was downstairs.
"Shit it!"
The shout echoed from the kitchen and out into the foyer, the irrepressible grin that always came with the sound of her voice finding its way back onto his face.
Practically sprinting down the rest of the stairs, he shoved the kitchen door open and set his eyes on her straight away.
There she was…crouched down in the expansive kitchen, tentatively picking strawberries off of the floor and chucking them in the trash, her hair cascading over her shoulders in golden waves, the plain white vest top and blue flannel pyjama bottoms she was wearing making her look all the more adorable as she chewed nervously on her bottom lip.
That was the Allie he knew. That was his Allie.
Standing up, she blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and dumped the bruised fruit into the bin, wiping her hands on her pyjama bottoms and sighing.
"Ok," she mumbled to herself. "Stop panicking, the worst that can happen when he wakes up is that he doesn't want to hang around but you can just deal with jumping off that cliff when you come to it. For now, just focus on the bacon…its all about the bacon,"
Pete smirked, listening to her waffle on to herself as she switched on the radio and began humming along to some unknown track, swaying her hips gently as she bent down to switch on the grill, shrieking when she saw him standing there in the doorway.
"Jesus!" Allie cried, clutching the pack of bacon to her chest.
Pete stared at her for a moment, taking her in, finally letting himself appreciate the fact that for the first time in almost a week, he'd woken up in his bed and come downstairs to his wife.
"Alright?" he choked out, slightly embarrassed by how hoarse he sounded.
"I'm cooking bacon," Allie whispered, her eyes wide as she held up the pack, her hands shaking with nerves.
He smiled at her, shaking his head as she continued to stare at him timidly, obviously unsure of what to do. He met her eyes and pictured them as they had been in his dream: dead, desperate and pained as she told him about how she had tried to kill herself.
Shuddering at the thought, he let his eyes roam over her body, smiling when they settled on her hip.
"I uh…I didn't want to wake you up earlier," she stuttered, desperately trying to fill the not entirely comfortable silence that was hanging between them. "From what Ben told me you took a pretty nasty bump to the head so I figured that…"
"Did I ever tell you how sexy that is?" he interrupted her, cocking his head to one side and scratching his chin.
She blinked, laughing abruptly as though caught off guard. Following his gaze, she stared down at her hip and shook her head.
"My tattoo?" she frowned, placing her hand over it protectively.
"Everything," Pete shrugged. "Your eyes, the way you laugh, the way you walk…" he smirked at her, the same smile he'd given her when they first met. "You're a serious piece of arse, Allie Harding,"
She blushed and shook her head, a grin spreading so wide across her face that she worried her skin might tear.
"O-kay," she squinted at him. "Just how hard did Benjamin hit you?"
"Enough to knock some fuckin' sense into me," he shook his head, meeting her gaze dead on and trying to get across to her how much he loved her. "I wanna come home, Allie,"
Suddenly shaking a whole lot more, the blonde placed the pack of bacon on the counter and wiped her hands on her pyjamas, folding them across her chest somewhat defensively.
"Uh…Pete, you already are home," she told him.
"Nah," Pete took a step closer to her. "I mean, I wanna come home to you,"
She took in a sharp breath and taking that as a good sign, he took another step forward.
"What the fuck were we thinking, Allie," he laughed. "I can't live without you, I can't even fuckin' breathe."
Coming to a stop in front of her, he pushed some hair out of her face and she closed her eyes, leaning into the touch.
"I miss you and I miss Poppy and Alex," he whispered. "I miss us,"
Opening her eyes, Allie looked up at him and reached up, cupping his cheek and brushing her thumb over his slightly bruised cheek bone.
"It's Dunham," she whispered.
"What?" he frowned through his smile.
"You called me Allie Harding," she pushed herself up onto her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. "It's Dunham,"
"Ah," Pete smirked at her, letting his hands rest on her waist. "My mistake,"
Giggling, Allie leant in and pressed her lips against his, gasping slightly when he instantly deepened it, pulling her closer.
"Pete," she whispered against his mouth.
His hands moved down her body, curling up under her knee and lifting her, placing her on the counter and kissing her harder. She fell back, bringing him with her, swearing slightly when she knocked a cup of orange juice onto the floor.
"It can wait," Pete growled against her skin before she had a chance to say anything.
More than willing to go with that, Allie focused her energy on helping him get her tank top off, gasping when he brought his mouth back to hers instantly.
"Do we need to talk about this?" she whispered, not wanting him to regret this later.
"No," Pete shook his head, sucking on her bottom lip and making her shiver. "All we ever fuckin' do is talk at the moment, maybe that's half the problem,"
"Good point," she nodded, yanking his head back down and kissing him so hard she tasted blood.
"Poppy and Alex…" he mumbled.
"With your mum," she interrupted, gasping at the feel of the cold marble counter on her naked back.
"So we've got the house to ourselves?" Pete raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her. Perhaps given the mess they'd been in less than 24 hours ago, things were moving to fast but right now all he could think about was how she was laid out beneath him like a feast. And he was a very, very fucking hungry man.
"Apparently so," she bit her lip, knowing full well it drove him nuts.
Getting the same growl she always did, Allie shrieked when Pete rolled them off of the counter and onto the floor, muttering something about this taking a few hours along the way.
"So I was a manic depressive bitch with a botched suicide under my belt and about to get married to Will?"
Allie frowned up at Pete as she lay on top of him, her chin on his chest as his hands gently brushed up and down her back.
"Told you it was a fucked up dream," Pete snorted, noticing the goose bumps on her skin and pulling the blanket on top of them.
At some point they'd made it upstairs though he couldn't remember how or when; smirking over the top of her head at the fallen bookshelf, all he knew was that they'd have some interesting bruises in the morning.
"Do you really think that's what we would have ended up like?" she whispered, drawing invisible patterns on his chest. "If we'd never met?"
"It's not something I've ever really thought about," he told her honestly.
"Really?" she raised an eyebrow. "You've never thought about what your life would be like if we'd never gotten together?"
"No," Pete shook his head, pushing her hair behind her ears and cradling her head. "Because as shit as things 'ave been the past couple of weeks, I don't regret any of it. Meeting you was the best thing that ever 'appened to me and I mean that,"
"Wow," Allie blinked at him. "And I'm already naked…you really must mean that,"
"Piss off," Pete smirked, playfully slapping her behind.
"Hey!" she batted him off, pushing herself up onto her arms and glaring down at him. "Don't think that just because you have a head injury that I'm above kicking your arse,"
"Oh yeah?" Pete raised an eyebrow. "You reckon?"
"Uh huh," she grinned.
"Right then," Pete tackled her, pinning her down and making for her neck, laughing when she screeched and fought against him.
"Pete!" she half shouted, half laughed, slapping his back. "Stop it…"
"Nah, come on," he laughed, tickling her sides. "What 'appened to all that chatter just now, eh? Where's the arse kicking you promised me?"
"I give up!" she squealed, trying her best to shove him off of her.
"You what?" Pete smirked. "I didn't quite catch that,"
"I said I give up!" Allie laughed, pushing at his shoulder. "Stop it before I wet my pants!"
Pete looked down at her and grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.
"What pants?" he asked, casting his eyes downward and causing her to blush.
It still made him laugh that after all these years, he could still get her like that.
"It's just an expression," she smirked. "You know like, you're really good in bed or I love you,"
"Ouch," Pete winced. "Fuckin' 'ell that one's gonna take years of therapy to get rid of,"
Grinning when she giggled, he rolled off of her, lying next to her and keeping his arm wrapped around her shoulders, keeping her other hand on his chest.
They lay in comfortable silence for a moment, allowing them both to reflect on the situation. The past week had been a nightmare, waking up without Pete; she'd missed the mornings of waking up with the smell of him still on her skin, the covers thrown everywhere as the sound of a slowly rousing London drifted in from below.
Listening to the sound of his heartbeat and feeling content, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her own and tensed against him.
"What?" Pete frowned, instantly sensing that something was wrong with her.
"What?" she asked back, drumming her fingers on his chest.
Rolling his eyes, Pete glanced down at her. Why was it that after 8 years together, she still thought that she could fool him.
"You know I can read you like a book, don't you?" he mumbled into her hair.
"I'm fine…I just…" she sighed and hugged him tighter, her voice coming out muffled by his skin. "Is this ok?"
"What?" Pete frowned again.
"This…" she gestured between them, gathering some of the bedding and wrapping it around her before sitting up cross legged next to him. "Us, being like this,"
"You think we're rushing things?" Pete narrowed his eyes.
Ok, so they'd gone from not speaking to having sex. But that was the way their relationship had always worked; they went from 0 to 60 in under a second and as far as he was concerned, that was part of what made them work.
"No," Allie shook her head, reaching out and running her hand down his face as he sat up next to her. "God no, this has been…" she laughed and ran a hand through her hair. "Pete, this morning was amazing, you know being with you again was perfect. I haven't been this happy in so long but…"
"There's a but in there?" he laughed, slightly incredulous.
"I feel guilty for it," she admitted with a shrug.
"What?" Pete frowned, catching her hand before it left his face and kissing it. "Why?"
"Because…" she closed her eyes. "There's still so much going on, Pete. Everything's still so screwed up and I just…I feel guilty for being happy,"
"Allie," Pete shook his head.
"Lara's still gone, Pete," she whispered. "I haven't spoken to Harry since the funeral and…"
"Do you realise how much shit we've put up with the past 12 months?" Pete interrupted her. "Think about it…Alex being born, then losing Lara…" he shook his head. "Allie, it's a fuckin' miracle we're still walking,"
"I know," she whispered.
"Alright, so if you know that then you should know this," he grabbed her face and forced her to look at him. "You deserve to be happy…we deserve to be happy. Believe it or not there was a time when not everything we did revolved around fighting and tearing each other to pieces,"
"Ironically I think that was back when you were in the GSE," she snorted.
"Yeah well, the point is, we were happy," Pete smiled at her. "Babe, I've never been unhappy with you. I've never wanted anything but you, but I ain't gonna sit 'ere and feel guilty because for the first time in a month my life is approaching normal," he kissed her lightly. "And neither should you."
"Wow," she whispered. "That was impressive,"
"What can I say?" he smirked. "Lucy made me watch The Notebook,"
"I love that film," Allie smiled.
"It's the biggest pile of shit I've ever seen," Pete snorted. "Not a single gun fight or car chase and no full frontal nudity," he shook his head. "There's two hours of my life I'll never get back,"
Laughing loudly, Allie leant her head against his shoulder and sighed. The man had a way with words.
"So you think this is ok?" she whispered, pressing her lips over the scar on his chest. Almost six years later and it still haunted her knowing how it had come to be there, knowing how close she had been to losing him for good.
"Yeah," he nodded. "I think this is normal, this is how we were before, y'know…why is it so bad that we want to go back?"
Smiling at him, Allie pushed herself up and kissed his forehead, resting her own against it as she pulled back.
"So what now?" she asked. "Where do we go from here?"
Meeting her eyes for a moment, Pete saw the woman in front of him and the girl he had met eight years ago merge back together for the first time in over a month. Pulling her closer, he kissed her teasingly and smiled against her mouth.
"Actually, I might just 'ave an idea,"
"How is it that after four hours that thing is still going?"
Natalie Dunham rubbed her forehead as she watched Poppy run up and down the hallway, singing to herself as she waved a fairy wand in the air.
"We could give 'er some beer," Swill shrugged from his spot next to her on the sofa. "That's what my old man used to do,"
"Oh yeah and that turned out so well," Bovver snorted, looking at his watch. "How long did Allie say she wanted us to watch 'er for?"
"Dunno," Natalie shook her head. "I think she's just gonna call when 'er and Pete are…" she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Done,"
The boys smirked, concentrating on the TV and shouting wordlessly when the match they were watching apparently took a turn for the worse.
"Fuckin' ell, do you have to shout?" Natalie snapped, slapping Bovver around the back of the head. "Some of us are hung over, you know,"
"Whose fault is that?" Chris Ellis smirked from where he was sat in Matt's Lay Z Boy chair, spinning around slowly.
"Yours if I remember correctly," she snorted. "And why is it that you're here anyway?"
"I'm just doing my bit and helping out with the mini Dunham," he winked over his shoulder at Poppy. "Right, cutie?"
"Yep," Poppy grinned toothlessly at him.
"Still doesn't answer my question," Natalie glared at him, trying her best to ignore the fact that when he stretched out in the chair, his t-shirt rode up revealing the slightest bit of toned stomach.
Realising that he had caught her looking, Natalie shuffled a bit to quickly in her seat and knocked Swill's drink onto the floor.
"Oi, oi love," Bovver frowned when some of the coke splashed on his jeans. "Watch what you're doing,"
"Shit, sorry," she muttered, standing up and blowing some hair out of her face.
"Where are you running off to?" Chris raised an eyebrow, knowing that he was annoying her.
"Mind your own damn business," Natalie snapped, her light green eyes flashing.
Smirking as he looked back at the TV screen, Chris shook his head and reached for another slice of pizza, biting into it and grimacing when the taste of anchovies exploded on his tongue.
"Ugh!" he spat. "Who the fuck is to blame for this travesty?"
"Blame the kid," Ike nodded towards Poppy.
"Aye," Chris laughed, scooping the tiny blonde up as she ran past him. "You're to blame for this?"
"I thought it would be nice," she mumbled shyly.
"Sweetheart, do you know what anchovies are?" he laughed.
"Sweets?" Poppy guessed, settling into the chair next to him.
"Alright," Dave laughed. "No more putting the minor in charge of food decisions, she's as bad as 'er mum,"
"I'm gonna check on Alex and then I'm heading out," Natalie announced, grabbing one of the bottles Allie had made up for her out of Bovver and Matt's fridge, wrinkling her nose at the sight of what may one have been some sort of kebab staring back at her.
"Where to?" Swill frowned. "'ere on the way back, can you grab us some more beers?"
"No," she smiled, turning to where Chris and Poppy were sat. "You're in charge while I'm not here,"
"Sweet," Chris winked at her.
"I was talking to Poppy," Natalie deadpanned, smiling at the tiny blonde. She nodded, her curls bouncing around her little face and grinned at her, making Natalie wonder not for the first time how the unholy union of her cousin and the Sloaner could have resulted in something so adorable.
Strolling down the hall towards Matt's bedroom, she pushed the door open and smiled seeing Alex still snuggled up in his Moses basket, the blue sleep suit he had on making him look like a big ball of fluff.
"I just fed him," Matt told her, making her jump.
"Fuck," she hissed, clutching her chest. "Are you trying to kill me?"
"Sorry," he grinned lopsidedly. "He was kinda grumpy so I figured…"
"No, thanks," Natalie nodded, taking the empty bottle from him. "I did't have you down as being good with kids,"
"I'm the youngest in my family so I never really got to be around babies," Matt smiled, looking down at this Godson and running a finger over his podgy belly. "It's nice…feeling like you've got a proper family again,"
Natalie cleared her throat, suddenly rather uncomfortable with the way he was looking at her.
"I thought we agreed that things wouldn't get weird," she muttered.
"What?" Matt frowned.
"How do you think Pete's gonna react when he finds out that you violated the closest thing he has to a little sister?" she shot at him, her green eyes blazing.
"Oh, ok," Matt laughed, running a hand through his hair and musing it up. "This is about the other night?"
Fed up of the atmosphere in the house, Natalie had left Allie alone for the night and gone over to Matt and Bovver's in hopes of going for a few beers, playing some playstation and ordering food that she wouldn't even be in the same room with whilst sober.
However by the time she'd gotten round there, Bovver was nowhere to be seen and Matt had been watching TV in his boxers. Natalie didn't know whether it was the stress of dealing with everything going on with Pete and Allie or whether it was the fact she hadn't been with a guy in over a year but all it had taken was one beer and she'd been tearing his clothes off.
"We said that it wouldn't be a big deal," she snipped.
"Its not," Matt shrugged. "I mean, it isn't, I just…I'm not being any different than I am normally with you, Nat,"
"Good," she snapped. "Keep it that way because the last thing I want is some yank chasing me around like some school boy bitch,"
"Jesus," he snorted. "You Dunham's have such a way with words,"
"I'm serious, Matt," Natalie shook her head. "It was a mistake and if anyone finds out…"
"Why are you panicking so much?" Matt frowned at her. "So we had sex? So what? We're both adults, we're both single…"
"Yeah well not for long," Natalie blew a wisp of hair out of her eyes. "I have a date tonight,"
"A date?" Mat rubbed his chin. "Wow,"
"What's that supposed to mean?" she narrowed her eyes.
"Nothing," he shrugged. "I just thought that you liked Chris,"
"Chris?" Natalie spat. "Chris Ellis? Chris-I'm-Gods'-gift-to-the-world-Ellis?"
"You flirt all the time,"
"Its called hatred," she shot back. "And by the way, why the hell would I take romantic advice off of the guy who spent his first few months in this country trying to figure out ways to shag his best friend's bird?"
"Touché," Matt shrugged, leaning on the crib and smiling down at the baby. "But that all worked out for the best, right?"
"Whatever," she rolled her eyes. "I'm off,"
"Nat," Matt shook his head, grabbing her hand as she turned to leave. "Whatever happened between us, its not a big deal, ok? I promise but just think about Chris before you do something stupid, ok?"
"I make it a point almost never to think about Chris," she told him slowly. "I don't want to sleep with him, I don't want to date him, I don't really even like acknowledging the fact that he exists so if you don't mind, I have to go and meet a guy who I actually do consider to be worthy of my time,"
"Right," Matt smirked at her. "You go have fun,"
"I will," she frowned, not liking the fact that she felt as though she was being judged. By Matt fucking Buckner!
"So who is he?" Matt's voice stopped her just before she got to the door.
"Who's who?" she snapped impatiently.
"The guy you're seeing?" he inquired. "Do I know him?"
Natalie stared at him for a moment, gulping nervously before shaking her head.
"No," she mumbled. "You wouldn't know him,"
"I thought you said we were going for a romantic meal, I mean are you fucking kidding me? Just when I think you're starting to change, you pull something like this…"
Pete closed his eyes and bowed his head, opening them a moment later and staring as calmly as he could at his lap.
"I was just trying to do something nice, it's not my fault you're a spoilt bitch, is it?"
"Jesus," Allie blinked at the couple sat across the way from them in the coffee shop. "Tell me we were never that high maintenance,"
Grinning at her, Pete shook his head and pushed her pathetic excuse for a coffee towards her; for Pete coffee always had to be black with one sugar while Allie opted for what he genuinely believed was just a liquidized dessert in a cup.
"Nah," he laughed. "First restaurant I ever took you to was Wagamama's,"
"Oh yeah," she giggled, dipping her latte spoon into the pile of whipped cream on top of her coffee. "I remember you trying to act all suave and then poking yourself in the eye with a chopstick,"
"Oi, they're fuckin' trickier than they look," he glared at her playfully before stealing a chunk of her ginger cake and shoving it in his mouth.
Anita's was a tiny little café around the corner from Pete's old flat; back when they'd first started dating, Allie would sneak out first thing every morning and get them breakfast from here. It had become the one place where just the two of them would go in the morning and be just another normal couple, without the GSE or anything else.
Looking around at the same tables, same menus and pretty much the same staff, Allie smiled feeling a similar warmth to that of walking into your house after being away for ages.
"So I know we agreed that we didn't need to talk," Allie cleared her throat and took a long, soothing sip of her coffee. "But…"
"We need to talk," Pete finished for her with a sigh.
"We nearly broke up, Pete," she shook her head. "That's not something we can ignore,"
"We didn't break up," he frowned.
"You left," Allie shrugged. "I didn't stop you, that to me is the same as breaking up,"
"Ok," he nodded. "So what do you want to talk about?"
"I don't know," she laughed. "Why it happened, where we are now…"
"Allie," Pete leant on the table and met her eyes, losing himself momentarily in the emerald depths. "The reason we got into this mess is because we didn't let ourselves get over the accident. Lara…"
He watched as his wife's eyes darkened as they always did when her name was mentioned but steeled himself to go on.
"Lara died, Allie," he shook his head. "And none of us were prepared to deal with it and we were all completely fucked up. But you and me, we didn't even have the breakdown that Harry had, we just shut it up and pretended to be ok. We can't do that anymore, alright? If you have shit day, I want you to tell me. Even if its about boring fashion shit, I'll still at least pretend to listen,"
Allie choked out a laugh and shook her head.
"And as for where we are now…Allie, the four days I wasn't at home were the worst fucking four days of my life," Pete admitted earnestly. "And yeah, alright maybe this morning we moved a little too quickly, maybe we should 'ave talked a bit more before I ripped your pyjamas off…"
"That was my favourite pair, by the way," Allie glared at him jokingly.
"I'll buy you another set," Pete smirked. "But the point is, is that we're ok. I love you and that's all that matters so can we just…can we just put this crap behind us?"
Allie looked at him and smiled, picking up his hand and kissing his palm gently.
"You know something," she shook her head. "You can be sickeningly romantic when you want to,"
"Yeah well," Pete sniffed, pretending to shrug the compliment off. "It helps that I got some earlier,"
"Can't you take anything fucking seriously? I mean, what is it with you that as soon as things start to get serious you turn into a complete dick?"
Allie raised her eyebrows and glanced over at the couple who were shouting once again.
"That is one scary, scary girl," she whispered, watching the poor git opposite the ranting blonde gripping the table so hard that his knuckles turned white.
"It could be worse," Pete smirked. "She could be…Natalie,"
Allie snorted and turned her attention back to him.
"Hey, me and Lara set her up with a million guys over the past year and she didn't go for any of them," she grinned. "Maybe that just goes to show how bad she really is,"
"Nah," Pete shook his head. "I mean, she's outside,"
Turning in her seat, Allie squinted out into the slight mist of the afternoon and spotted the brunette looking surprisingly pretty as she waited patiently next to her car.
"Uh…is it me or is Natalie Dunham wearing a skirt?" Allie laughed, then gasped when she looked closer. "Holy shit, she's wearing one of my skirts!"
"You reckon she's got a job interview or something?" Pete frowned.
Allie laughed and glanced at him, reaching out and patting his cheek.
"You are so lucky you're hot," she giggled. "Honey, girls don't wear skirts like that to go for a job…unless their future boss is Brad Pitt,"
"What you think she's seeing some bloke?" Pete frowned, immediately going into big brother mode. "Nah, bollocks. She would 'ave told me,"
"Oh yeah," Allie laughed. "Because you're so easy going when it comes to her and men, aren't you? No offence, babe, I think the whole over protective cousin act is cute but when you're 23, its nothing short of being a royal pain in the arse."
"But…its Natalie," Pete wrinkled his nose in disgust. "She's not like that…she's probably just…"
"Waiting for a guy?" Allie finished for him, smirking when a dark haired young man rounded the corner and placed his hand on her shoulder, causing her to turn and practically throw herself on him.
"That could just be a mate," Pete told her, his tone clipped.
"Right," Allie raised an eyebrow when the 'mate' proceeded to stick his tongue down Natalie's throat. "Yeah, y'know I greet the GSE boys the same way,"
Pete glared at her and she laughed, shaking her head and squinting through the glass, trying to get a better look at the mystery man.
"Who is he?" she wondered out loud. "Do you recognise him?"
"Nah," Pete shook his head, ducking and pulling her with him when Natalie pulled back from the spotty like prick and looked in their direction. "But I'll get 'er talking," he nodded. "You just wait and see,"
"We should go," Natalie whispered breathlessly as his hands drifted up her shirt under her coat.
"Yeah," he answered. "It probably wasn't the best idea to meet 'ere in the first place,"
Nodding, Natalie looked up at him and laughed to herself when she saw that he had obviously only just woken up, getting out of bed so fast that he'd buttoned his shirt up wrong.
"You're a mess," she shook her head, plucking the buttons open and doing them up the right way.
"Yeah, well," he smirked. "I'm just lucky I've got you around to fix me, aren't I?"
Blushing and snorting, Natalie focused on the task at hand, her heart beat quickening when the edge of his Hammers tattoo peeked out from beneath his shirt. After everything that Allie had told her over the years, she should have had more sense than to date a firm boy. But the GSE was different to how it had been in Pete's day, for one thing, Pete wasn't involved in it, he couldn't tell her not to be with Daniel.
And even if he did, she wouldn't listen to him, it was none of his business what she did, she was a 23 year old woman for God sake and…
Rolling her eyes, Natalie realised that she was managing to have an argument with her cousin without him even being there. That had to be a talent.
"You alright?" Daniel asked her. "If you're worried about this, its just a scratch," he pointed to the cut on his head. "Some Tottenham twat started on us last night and it got a bit messy,"
"I'm not worried," she shook her head, forcing a smile. "I'm fine,"
"Sorted," Daniel smiled at her. "Right then," he looked her up and down. "I take it we're headed to my place again,"
"My place is…complicated," she lied.
It wasn't that she didn't want Daniel to know she was the cousin of the former Major of the GSE. She just didn't trust it not to get in the way of their relationship. That and she didn't trust Pete and Allie not to go ballistic at her.
"So you keep telling me," he frowned. "I'll work you out sooner or later, Walker,"
She had borrowed her mother's maiden name when she'd met him, knowing that carrying the name Dunham was as good as walking around with a target above your head as far as firms were concerned these days. True to the GSE, Pete Dunham was a legend, a man to be revered for all the right reasons but that didn't mean that Natalie wanted her cousin's reputation hanging over her the whole time.
"Can we just go?" she asked him hurridly, tugging on his hand.
"Yeah, alright," he laughed. "You're eager, ain't you?"
"I just…" she breathed. "I'm cold,"
"Don't worry," he winked at her. "I'll warm you up,"
Natalie forced a smile once again, noting that she had to do that around him a lot. As they walked through the frosted streets towards his apartment, she replayed the conversation she had had with Matt back at his place.
"Just don't do anything stupid."
Did dating the man who'd taken over from the role that almost killed your cousin count as something stupid? Shrugging her concerns off, she tightened her hand on Daniel's. Fuck it, this was her life; not Matt's, not Pete's, not Allie's and definitely not Chris's.
Natalie could do whatever the hell she wanted to do and right now, what she wanted to do was date Daniel Courden….she just had to make sure that there was no way Pete or the boys would find out.
Because if they did…she could kiss all of this goodbye.
Uh-oh...bring on the new GSE boys. Natalie might want to keep this a secret but come on people, this is fanfiction. How long can a secret really stay safe?! :D PLEASE leave a review! They make me oh so happy! xxx