So here I am earlier than promised, but that's a good thing, right?! I just got too excited by the fact that I had actually finished a chapter at long last that I thought I'd post it tonight! This is dedicated to everyone who has been lovely enough to follow this story through a scary amount of chapters...you're all legends! Please feel free to leave a review...and remember: its been a while, so be nice! :D
"Jesus Christ, why won't it stop?"
Natalie Dunham whispered shakily as she reached for a clean towel, dropping the saturated one to the floor ignoring the sickening squelch it made as it landed in a bloody lump by her foot.
Staring at the man in front of her, her light green eyes narrowed in concentration, determined to remove the shard of glass she could see embedded in his cheek.
"People tend to bleed when they get hit with glass bottles," Daniel coughed lightly, wheezing as his ribs tightened on his lungs. "It happens,"
"Shut up," Natalie hissed, feeling almost guilty for her harsh tone.
She had just been dozing off when Daniel had called her, the sharp buzzing of her phone cutting her slumber short and forcing her out of bed and into town where she found him slumped against a wall, his face covered in blood.
She hadn't questioned what had happened because she already knew. Having Pete Dunham as your cousin more often than not taught you one of life's hardest lessons: don't ask, don't tell.
"Where was everyone else?" she whispered more to herself than to him. "Why didn't they do something?"
"Fuck knows," Daniel shrugged, staring out of her window and shaking his head. "What I wanna know is how someone like you ended up in a place like this?"
Natalie pulled back and raised an eyebrow catching his amused grin but unwilling to return it.
"You know what I mean," he rolled his eyes.
In Daniel-Land that qualified as an apology.
"I told you, it ain't mine," Natalie bit her lip, choosing her next words carefully. "I live with my cousin and his wife,"
"Which one of 'em's minted?" Daniel asked, his eyes bugging out of his head when he spotted the Porsche on the drive way.
"That would be my sister in law," Natalie grimaced at the term. "She's a born and bred Sloaner,"
"Fuck," Daniel laughed a little too loudly. "And she married your cousin?"
"Apparently," she smirked.
"He must be a pretty decent bloke," he pressed, narrowing his honey brown eyes at her. "What'd you say 'is name was?"
Natalie panicked, her hand shaking ever so slightly as she pressed more gauze against his swollen cheek.
Think, you fucking idiot! Her brain shouted at her, THINK!
"Matt," she blurted, wrinkling her nose at her own choice.
"Matt…" Daniel waved his hand, gesturing for her to carry on.
"Buckner," she breathed. "Matt Buckner,"
"Fair enough," he answered, seemingly satisfied with her answer.
A moment of silence passed between them and Natalie found herself scrutinizing the boy on the bed, wondering how someone who looked so innocent and normal could have been roped into the world of the GSE.
Daniel was more suited to life in a student café than on the streets at football matches; his handsome face bore no scars or signs of hardship, in fact there was nothing about his sandy coloured hair or honey eyes that made him seem threatening. That was until you got too close and saw the anger that lurked beneath them.
But he still looked…innocent. Unlike Pete at least, Natalie thought with a chuckle.
Even from the time he could walk, his mum had said Pete Dunham had been born for trouble. Blonde hair teamed with blue eyes and that bloody grin…he could wrap just about anybody around his finger.
With the exception of Allie Harding: hence the fact that Natalie had actually grown to like the girl. She was the only person on earth other that Steve who not only didn't stand for any of Pete's bullshit, but would happily call him on it.
"Is it alright?" Daniel whispered after a moment, bringing Natalie back to the task at hand.
"What?" she blinked. "Yeah, yeah, it's fine, it won't even scar…"
"No," he smiled crookedly at her. "I mean is it alright that I called you?"
No! she snapped inwardly. This wasn't what she wanted; she wasn't Allie, she didn't want to adopt a fucking hooligan and nurse it, she just wanted fun…which up until tonight, Daniel had happily provided. And now…now she was involved.
"'Course," she forced out, hoping her voice didn't sound too strained.
"So I can stay then?" Daniel asked hopefully.
"Here?" she snorted. "For the night?"
"Babe, I don't even know how to fucking get back to Brixton from 'ere," he whined.
Natalie cringed inwardly at the nickname and pulled her hands away from his face, content that the bleeding had finally ceased.
"You 'ave to be out before seven," she warned. "And no fucking funny business,"
Daniel beamed at her, pushing her hands away from him and reaching down to unbutton his shirt, not missing the slight flash in her eyes when his bare chest came into view.
"Let's just see about that," he smirked. "Shall we?"
Pete Dunham woke slowly, his eyes adjusting in their own time to the blinding rays of light pouring in through the open window. Frowning, he glanced at his watch on the night stand and rolled his eyes.
It only felt like a few minutes ago he had dragged himself away from a terms worth of coursework marking and into the warmth of the bed. Throwing an arm over his face, he breathed loudly and snuck a glance to the side, half expecting to see the all to familiar set of emerald green eyes twinkling back at him.
But the bed was empty.
Blinking in surprise, Pete sat up, the covers falling down to his waist and allowing the warm morning breeze coming from the open french doors on the other side of the room to hit his bare chest.
"Allie?" he called, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
The silence in the room belied his belief that she might be in the shower or downstairs fixing breakfast for Poppy and Alex. Sighing, he swung his legs out of the bed and stumbled slightly as he stood up, apparently still more tired than he had given himself credit for.
Pulling on a grey t-shirt which was draped over the iron railings of the bed, Pete meandered through the papers littering the floor and made his way to the door, stopping only when something caught his eye.
Frowning, he took a step backwards and peered into the closet, a small laugh bubbling up in his throat as he watched her for a moment. Shaking his head, Pete pushed the door to the walk in open further still and padded in quietly, not really wanting to disturb her.
Allie sat on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest, gnawing on her bottom lip as she stared at the shoes in front of her.
Falling down next to her, Pete cleared his throat and stared at the shoes with her, waiting for her to break the silence and growing impatient when she didn't.
"You know we've got a perfectly good TV downstairs, don't ya?" he smirked, nudging her with his shoulder.
The motion seemed to break her from her reverie and with a slight shake of her head she turned to face him, a small but clearly forced smile playing on her lips.
"I have over fifty pairs of shoes," she breathed after a second. "And I don't know which ones to wear,"
Pete grinned at her, seeing the genuine nervousness in her eyes. Today was Allie's first day back at work since Lara had died and even though she was saying and doing all the right things to make him think she wasn't scared, Pete knew better.
Leaning his head down, Pete pressed a soft kiss against her bare knee before resting his head in the crook of her neck, closing his eyes when her hand came up to curve around the back of his neck.
"You'll be alright, babe," he promised her.
"Huh?" she frowned down at him. "I know…I mean, its just work, I'm not worried about anything, I just…"
"Allie," Pete gave her a stern 'don't even try it' look and instantly, she shut up.
"It's going to be so weird," she whispered. "I mean, her office is right next to mine and…"
Allie's voice broke and Pete pulled back from her, straightening his legs out and leaning back against the wall before pulling her effortlessly into his lap and holding her there.
"You don't have to go, Allie," he told her, meeting her eyes with so much intensity that she nearly gasped.
"Yes, I do," she laughed, shaking her head. "Pete…I've put this off for over a month and I can't…" she shrugged, picking some invisible lint off of his t-shirt. "I love my job," she told him honestly. "And I need to start…"
Allie wrinkled her nose, not wanting to use the phrase 'moving on'. It felt so disloyal to Lara, almost as though she wanted to forget about her.
"I can't keep moping around the house," she smirked at him. "And besides, the new fall collection is in and I need to abuse my position as editor and steal from it,"
"There's my girl," Pete grinned, tucking her hair behind her ears. Suddenly the skin bared by her vest top became too much of a temptation and Pete shot forward, pressing his lips to it and instantly feeling her heart rate speed up.
He loved that even after eight years of being together he could get this reaction from her; running his hands up her arms, he felt goose bumps break out over the petal soft skin and began to kiss her harder, making his way down her jaw until he reached her lips.
"You're going to make me late for my first day," Allie mumbled as oxygen once again became a necessity.
"You're the editor," Pete reminded her, kissing her chest and running his tongue along the skin just under the top of her shirt. "Fuck 'em,"
Giggling, Allie pulled his face back up to hers and kissed him, slowly at first, trying to keep it light and playful. But the second his hands came up to frame her face, his tongue sweeping painstakingly slowly over her bottom lip, all bets were off.
"What about my shoes?" Allie panted as Pete shoved her to the floor and climbed up over her body, making her shiver in anticipation.
He didn't answer as he lowered his mouth to her neck, sucking and nipping at the skin not so playfully as his hands got slightly more daring. Reaching out blindly, Pete grabbed a pair of shoes off of the rack and tossed them into the bedroom.
"They'll do," he muttered, his hand wrapping around one of Allie's legs and hiking it up around his hip, groaning into her collarbone at the contact.
Peeking up at the pair of jewelled flip flops Pete had thrown into the room, Allie giggled and shook her head, her attention being occupied elsewhere as her husband with skill that she still couldn't fathom practically ripped her vest top off without so much as fraying a seam.
So maybe this morning wouldn't be so bad after all.
"You need to hurry up,"
Natalie glare at Daniel as he pulled on his jeans a little too slowly for her liking, leaning against her bed frame with a smirk that for some reason she had found attractive last night.
And every night before that.
Sighing, she shoved herself up from the bed a little harder than she needed to, knowing that when it came to the man in front of her, she was a lost cause.
"You need to relax," he smirked, taking a step towards her and reaching out to snag her by the waist.
"What the fuck are you doing?" the brunette hissed, dodging out of his way and glaring fiercely at him. "You were supposed to be gone an hour ago,"
"Jesus, Nat pipe down, will you?" his mousy brown hair falling into his eyes as he spoke. "No one knows I'm 'ere,"
"Yeah and I want it to stay that way so get dressed," Natalie snapped, tossing his shirt at him and ignoring his amused chuckle. Sure this was all fun and games now but she knew exactly what would happen if he walked out into the hallway and met Pete.
Daniel was still under the illusion that Natalie wasn't a Dunham; and so she wasn't overly keen to find out what his reaction would be to the news that not only was she one but they had just spent the night in the house of the notorious Pete Dunham.
Oh yeah, that would go down really well.
"You gonna check if the coast is clear or what?" he raised an eyebrow as he bent down to tug his trainers on. "Let's face it, we both know I've got a fair few talents,"
He gave her a look that made her blush and she hated him for it.
"But X-ray vision ain't one of 'em," Daniel gestured to the door and waited for Natalie to move.
She stared him down out of stubbornness more than anything and huffed before shoving him against the wall and leaning into him.
"I don't like taking orders," she whispered. "Especially from someone like you,"
"You didn't mind too much last n-…"
He stopped only when her hand clapped down hard over his mouth careful to avoid any contact with the sore looking wound on his cheek, muffling his words but not his smirk.
"You finish that sentence and you'll be leaving this room in a body bag," she threatened, pulling her hand away slowly and turning to face the door. "There's probably no one up yet anyway," she muttered, pulling it open quietly. "So all you have to do is run downstairs and head for the back door before- ALLIE!"
Natalie stepped out into the hallway and slammed the door hard behind her, knowing from the resistance on the hinge that she had caught Daniel's hand in it.
"Morning!" she smiled a little too brightly at the blonde.
"Morning to you, too," Allie frowned, shaking her head. "I uh, I brought you some coffee,"
Natalie stared down at the mug and felt genuinely touched. Her relationship with Allie had grown much stronger over the past few years; the fact that they now had a relationship as opposed to mutual blind hatred was something in itself. And even though she'd never admit it out loud, Natalie actually looked on the walking talking Barbie doll as a sister. A sister with too much money, too many shoes and the ability to reduce her cousin to mush.
"What'd you want?" Natalie narrowed her eyes as she took the mug from her, eyeing her up and down and noticing for the first time how Allie was dressed. The emerald green silk camisole and grey cardigan might have looked normal on anyone else but teamed with skinny jeans, a pair of heels that looked as though they were designed for torture and the general fact that it was Allie wearing it, the blonde looked nothing short of stunning.
Casting a glance down at her Fraggle Rock t-shirt and sweat pants, Natalie suddenly felt more self conscious than she wanted to let on.
"You're going to work?" she asked in surprise.
"Yeah," Allie nodded, smiling nervously. "I guess…I mean, I am but I just…"
"Spit it out, Harding," Natalie rolled her eyes.
"Dunham," Allie grinned smugly at her, loving the fact that she got to call her on that every now and then.
"Old habits," Natalie waved her hand dismissively, praying Daniel hadn't heard the name. "So come on, out with it,"
"Well it's just that Sinead can't get over here for another hour and Pete and I need to leave now so…"
"You want me to watch mini man until she gets here?" Natalie finished for her.
"Would you?" Allie clasped her hands together in prayer and gave her a tight lipped smile.
"'Course," Natalie smiled.
Another thing that she never planned on saying out loud even though she was certain Allie already knew it: much like the boys from the GSE, when it came to Poppy and Alex Dunham, she'd walk blind folded over a motor way if she thought it would make them laugh.
"Nat, you're a life saver, I'll have to…what the hell happened to you?" Allie blurted suddenly, her eyes fixed on a spot that Natalie couldn't follow.
"What?" she frowned.
"Your shirt, Nat its covered in blood," the blonde gasped, picking at a piece of the worn t-shirt and wrinkling her nose.
"That," Natalie glanced down and cursed herself inwardly. "That's nothing…I…I cut myself shaving my legs,"
Allie raised an eyebrow at her and pursed her lips, her eyes still focused on the blood.
"What the fuck were you shaving with? A harpoon?"
Natalie actually laughed, the comment not to mention the girls humour catching her off guard.
"Hey," she slugged the smaller girl playfully on the shoulder. "Allie made a funny,"
"I have my moments," she grinned. "But seriously…are you ok? I can wash that for you if you want…"
"Harding, just piss off and go save the world one shift dress at a time," Natalie rolled her eyes.
"Shift dress?" Allie winked. "You're learning…"
"Am I fuck, you just leave those magazines everywhere, I was bound to pick up something, now sod off," she laughed, shoving Allie with her free hand and taking another much needed sip of coffee.
"Alright," Allie giggled in return. "So just…have fun and call me if you need anything,"
"If I have a shoe emergency, you'll be the first one I call," the brunette toasted her with the half empty coffee cup and smirked.
"Right," Allie smiled, turning on her heel and strolling down the hallway, though there was something different about her. A trepidation that wasn't usually there in the way she carried herself.
She's scared, Natalie realised in shock.
For all the years she had known her, Allie had been a lot of things. Fucking annoying being pretty near the top of the list, but despite everything, Natalie had always known the girl had balls. Nothing had ever phased her; Jesus, she'd put up with being married to Pete Dunham for five years, the girl should get a Nobel Peace Prize for that feat alone.
"Oi, Harding," Natalie called.
"Yeah?" Allie breathed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Have fun, yeah?" Natalie smiled at her, feeling actually pretty pleased when a full out grin broke across Allie's near perfect face.
"Thanks," she nodded. "I'll see you later,"
Natalie waited until she had gone out of sight before darting back into her room, shrieking when she came face to face with Daniel, his sandy hair falling into his eyes as he stared at her open mouthed.
"What?" she snapped, trying to get her heart rate to slow.
"Who was that?" he asked.
"What? Allie?" Natalie frowned. "That's my sister in law,"
"Fuck me," he whistled. "With a rack like that your brother must be laughing,"
"Right," Natalie snorted. "Well if you're done creaming your pants over my sister in law, you can go ahead and leave,"
"Aw," Daniel smirked. "You're not jealous, are ya?"
"Fuck off," Natalie laughed. "I've got nothing to be jealous of because in case you've forgotten, this," she gestured between them. "Doesn't mean anything, right?"
"Right," Daniel affirmed, mock saluting her and grinning when she rolled her eyes. "Come on, Nat…"
"Allie's getting the kids up so you've got about six minutes," she shrugged, opening the door for him and folding her arms over her chest. "Go through the dining hall and out the back door, through the garden, past the pool…"
"And then just follow the yellow brick road?" he finished for her.
"Why the fuck can't you take anything seriously?" she demanded. "Do you realise what would happen to you if you got caught sneaking out of here?"
"Dunno," he shrugged. "Having met your cousin's missus, I'm hoping a threesome?"
"Look, just get out, alright?" Natalie shoved him back not caring when he stubbed his toe on the bed stand. "And next time someone shoves a bottle through your cheek, call someone else,"
"So how long does this normally last then?" he asked her.
"What?" she frowned, annoyed that he still wasn't making any move to leave.
"This whole pretending you don't care shit," he shrugged. "Is there an expiration date on it or do I have months to look forward to,"
"Don't fucking flatter yourself," Natalie scoffed "As if you'll be around that long."
Before she could move an inch, Daniel had her pinned against the wall his hands either side of her, his mouth on hers.
The fight was pointless and so she simply gave in, kissing him back but refusing to touch him, her arms glued to her sides.
"Don't underestimate me, kiddo," he whispered as he pulled away. "I'm a lot more dedicated than you give me credit for,"
And it was with that, that Daniel Courden smirked at her one last time before dashing out of her bedroom and out of her life. For now, at least.
"You can do this," Allie muttered to herself as she strolled down Kensington Avenue, her throat drying up as the approaching tube station sign got closer and closer. "Its just work…the same place you've worked in for the past ten years…just…shit, come on…"
"You still talking you yourself?" Pete smirked as he jogged up behind her.
"What are you doing here?" she frowned. "I thought you were driving to work?"
"Yeah well I thought I'd do the whole gentleman thing and walk you to the station," he winked. "Birds love that kind of crap, don't they?"
Laughing, Allie breathed a relieved sigh when Pete wrapped his arm around her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
"Not to mention, you have a serious arse in these jeans," he whispered, making her giggle louder.
"Good boys don't say things like that," she teased.
"You didn't give me your number because I was a good boy," Pete reminded her, slapping her behind when no one was looking.
"So why are you really here?" she asked, scanning her Oyster card and pushing through the barriers.
"Because I know how hard this is for you," Pete looked at her seriously, all signs of playfulness gone from his icy blue eyes. "Baby, you can talk to me, alright? I know I'm shit with this kind of stuff but…"
Allie silenced him by pushing herself up onto her tip toes and kissing him, closing her eyes tightly and trying to focus solely on him and not on the fear bubbling in her stomach.
It only took two cat calls for them to pull apart and glare at the group of school kids who were giggling as they stared at the couple.
"Fuckin' kids," Pete scowled.
"I'm alright," Allie pressed, bringing his attention back to her and smiling gently, albeit shakily. "I'll be alright,"
"I know you will," Pete brushed her hair out of her eyes and kissed her forehead. "You're a Dunham,"
Allie laughed and shook her head, burying her face in his chest for a moment before pulling back and taking a deep breath.
"I should go," she cocked her head towards the crowds who were dashing down towards the underground. "I'll call you at lunch,"
"You better," Pete smirked, trying to keep on the front that he wasn't worried about her. Truth was he hadn't felt this scared since the day they first dropped Poppy at the school gates.
Leaning down, he kissed her once more, lingering a few seconds longer than he should have given she was already late for her train.
"Go get 'em tiger," he winked, shoving her forward and beaming at her when he was rewarded with a genuine laugh.
He watched her disappear into the crowds until she was lost in the sea of commuters pushing and snapping to get down the escalators fast enough.
Sighing, he rubbed his forehead and turned quickly, realising that he needed to get back to the house and into the car in the next ten minutes.
Knowing it was better to be safe than sorry, he yanked his phone from his pocket and began to text Benjamin, requesting that he put forward some kind of bullshit lie in the staff room so that when Pete rocked up late no one would question it.
His eyes were glued to the screen, his ears barely registering the noise of the train station as he slipped out through the barriers, stopping only when someone crashed into him.
"Shit!" the blur shouted before it landed on the floor with a thud.
"Bollocks," Pete muttered. "Sorry mate, you alright?"
Offering the bloke a hand, Pete narrowed his eyes at the young man, lingering on the impressive cut on his cheek and blood on his shirt. "Fuck me, stupid question,"
"Nah, I'm alright," the man shrugged. "I just…uh, I don't really know where I'm going…don't suppose you know what line I need to get on for Brixton, do ya?"
"Brixton?" Pete laughed. "Fuck me, you're a long way from home, ain't ya?"
"Just call me Dorothy," the young man smirked. "I stayed at a mate's last night, just up the road actually but fuck if I can remember how to get back,"
"Change at Green Park," Pete told him. "You'll know where you are from there,"
"Cheers mate," the man winked. "I thought about getting a cab but even from the house to the station was a fiver…and its only the big black and white one up the road…fucking huge Victorian looking thing,"
Pete's head snapped up and he stared at the guy hard, his eyes narrowing.
"Which one?" he asked, his teeth gritting involuntarily.
"Uh…G something…Grenville House," the guy snapped his fingers. "Yeah, that's the one, fucking sweet as a nut up there, they're swimming pool's bigger than my flat,"
Pete didn't answer, he couldn't; not with the raw anger sweeping through him like lava. If he said something now, he'd explode.
"But cheers for the 'elp," the young man winked. "Nice to know not everyone in this neighbourhood is a fucking ponce,"
Pete just continued to stare at him as he waved and passed through the barriers, jumping over them without bothering to get a ticket. He'd stayed at the house…some random fucking kid with half his face missing had been in his house.
Storming out through the front of the station, Pete felt his blood start to heat up, the fury moving through him in waves as he got nearer and nearer to the house.
Ripping his phone back out of his pocket, he dialled, pressing it to his ear a little too hard, not in the least bit surprised when it went straight to voicemail.
"Nat, its Pete," he tried to keep his tone casual, not wanting to let her know that anything was wrong, because if he did, he knew she'd run. "Just wonderin' if you could swing by the school a bit later…it's just…I reckon me and you need to 'ave a little chat, don't you?"
Yay? Nay? Good? Hopelessly crap?! :D I'd love it if you'd let me know...like I said I know its been a while so I hope this chapter was ok! I should have the next one up in a couple of days...so you get to see what happens when Nat's lies start to catch up with her. I'll give you a hint...it ain't pretty! :D