Hey guys and gals! So as it was Valentine's Day, I thought I would throw in some V day themed fluff...with an edge of course. Because you know me, happy endings just aren't my thing :p So here it is, later than promised but building up to the end. Yes, THE END. I'll be carrying on with Rise Of Green Street but if you guys want one shots or have any ideas, PM me and I'll see what I can do :) Please review, they mean the world to me. And I hope all you gorgeous people had a lovely weekend. Much love, El xx
ps. This is especially dedicated to NL92 who's love for this story and penchant for kicking my ass into gear when I get lazy with updates, makes me a seriously happy bunny. Where would I be without you guys? :)
"Rose for the lady?"
Allie Dunham looked up from where she was stood desperately searching through her purse and narrowed her eyes at the young man stood on the pavement, shifting foot to foot as the cold February chill swept around them. Behind her a taxi beeped its horn loudly and she fought the urge to turn and screech at the driver along with rest of London to just shut up and piss off. From the moment she had woken up this morning, her mood had been less than pleasant and as the days events had unfolded it had left her with a mild headache and the taste of bile in her throat, fear creeping into her veins and causing her to shake even harder as she fumbled with the contents of her bag.
"I'm fine, thanks," she smiled tightly, turning to the taxi and gesturing for it to wait.
"Oh come on," the man continued, waving the rose in front of her face with a grin that she couldn't help but return. "A pretty girl like you needs a rose on Valentines day..."
"What I need are my keys and phone," she frowned, staring down into the depths of her Chanel bag and throwing her head back and growling. "Which I've left on my desk, bloody hell!"
The young man took a slight step back, suddenly more than a tad afraid of the petit blonde in front of him.
"Tell you what," he winked. "Its on me,"
Allie stopped what she was doing and laughed, shaking her head as he handed her the dark red rose with a boyish grin.
"That's really sweet but you don't..."
"Oi," he stopped her. "If nothing else, I get to say I gave a pretty girl a flower today," he walked back towards his stall and waved at her. "And smile, things can't be that bad,"
"Is that a challenge?" she cocked her head, raising a laugh out of him.
"Its whatever you want it to be," he shot back watching as she climbed into a taxi dropped her chin down to her chest.
Pulling the small piece of paper that had been waiting for her on her desk when she had arrived at work this morning, the smile bled off of her face and she stared down at it, feeling her heart start to pound, the slight taste of bile rising in her throat.
"Challenge accepted," she whispered, resting her head against the cold glass as the taxi pulled away from the curb and took her towards the only place she wanted to be.
It was half an hour later when she found herself home, her heels clacking gently on the driveway as she strode towards the large oak door, quickly peering into the fountain to check if there were any fish left. In the last few weeks her daughter had decided she wanted to be a zoologist and was determined to liberate the gold fish from the pond and into the house via vases, cups and lately, Pete and Allie's bathtub. Thanking every god she could think of when she spotted them darting about in the cool water, she picked up her pace, letting herself into the large house and slamming the door shut, leaning back against it and closing her eyes.
The letter in her coat pocket seemed to weigh more than lead, its presence causing her body to fold in on itself, her breath shuddering as she looked around the expansive foyer, frowning when she saw no evidence of her husband being home. Pete had gone on a class trip with his boys this morning and usually that meant he got home relatively early. And tonight she needed him home, she needed to tell him...
She jumped against her own will as the doorbell sounded, the shrill ringing echoing through the hall and making the blood rush through her veins in thick, sickly waves. Pushing herself away from it, Allie stared for a long moment at the oak door, wishing she hadn't been so stupid as to switch the lights on when she had walked in. Whoever it was wasn't going to go anywhere, they knew she was home.
Did he know she was home? Was he following her? How did he know where she worked?
Fishing her phone out of her pocket, Allie kept a perfectly manicured nail poised over the 9 and swallowed hard as she reached for the handle with her other hand, yanking it open and feeling her breath leave her lungs in a sharp burst, her heart momentarily stopping.
Pete smirked at her, tweaking his bowtie self consciously and clearing his throat, his blue eyes trained on hers as he took a step forward.
"Harding," he nodded.
"What the hell are you doing?" Allie laughed, for a moment forgetting about what she was going to tell him.
But then again, she defied any red blooded woman to keep their thoughts on track with Pete Dunham stood in front of them in a suit with that smirk on his lips.
"Its Valentines day," Pete raised an eyebrow. "And granted, its soppy commercial bollocks but..." he pulled a bouquet of flowers out from behind his back. Wild flowers. Daisies. Her favourite. "If there's one girl who could make me buy into all this love shit, its you." he pointed at her accusingly. "And you did a right fucking job on me, don't think I've forgiven you for that,"
Reaching down behind one of the flower pots, he produced a large black bag and handed it to her, catching the look on her face when she caught the YSL logo on it.
"Don't be soft," he laughed as she opened her mouth. "I got Jack to steal it from your work for me. But I need you to put it on and be down here in 20 minutes, got it?"
"Where-..."
"Ah, that'd be telling," he grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around, pushing her towards the stairs, sneaking in a playful slap on her behind as he did so. "20 minutes," he pointed at her. "Anymore and I'm coming up there,"
"Is that a promise or a threat?" she bit her lip playfully, knowing how to push his buttons just as much as he knew hers.
"Piss off," he laughed. "For the first time in eight years I'm trying to get you into your clothes, make the most of it,"
Doing as she was told, Allie ran up the stairs, the fear coursing through her veins thankfully replaced with excitement, for the time being at least. Leaning against her vanity, she pulled the letter out of her pocket and placed it on the glass, her emerald eyes running over the unfamiliar scrawl one more time before she grabbed the bag and made her way to the bathroom to change. Whatever it meant, she was willing to let it wait just for the next few hours. What harm would that do?
As she slammed the bathroom door behind her and switched on the shower, the letter shook gently in the wind, falling to the floor and opening as it did so, leaving Allie Dunham's hand written obituary dormant beneath the dresser chair, where no one could see it and where she hoped to God it would stay.
Pete Dunham grinned to himself as he closed the car door behind his wife, watching her eyes dance over the building in front of them, one eyebrow raised, her peachy full lips opening just slightly, a million and one questions ready to pour out of them.
"What did I say about questions?"
Laughing, Allie took his hand and followed him down the small path towards sports hall of St Marks school. Taking in the footballs and odd empty crisp packet laying on the ground, she wondered what the hell she was here for. Frowning when Pete stopped and pulled a screw driver out of his pocket, picking at the lock of the door, she cleared her throat, not surprised when he grinned but didn't stop his ministrations.
"Is this legal?"
"As legal as it can be," Pete shrugged, standing and pushing the door open with a whoosh, stepping aside and gesturing for her to walk through.
"Don't ask?" Allie giggled.
"Don't tell," he pushed her forward, quickly peering around the grounds, confident that no one had seen them before stepping in after, jogging to catch up with her as she strolled down the hall.
"'Ang on," his arms came around her waist and she squealed as one of his large hands came up to cover her eyes. "I didn't work all day on this for you to bloody waltz in and screw it up,"
"What?" Allie shrieked. "I'm not..."
"Do I have to remind you again of how I ended up proposing to you?" he smirked as she blushed, clearly remembering how she had crushed his plans by knocking his jacket off of his chair and finding the ring before the poor bastard had a chance to so much as drop to one knee.
"Touché, Dunham," she mumbled, peeling his hand away from her face but keeping her eyes closed. "No peeking, I promise,"
Pete laughed as she reached out and slapped his hand away before he had a chance to start waving it in front of her face, the bloody woman knew him far too well.
"One...two..."
He pushed the double doors open and grinned.
"Three," Allie finished for him with a laugh, opening her eyes and gasping.
The sports hall was covered in confetti, crudely cut out hearts and streamers; in the middle of the large room sat a table around which had to be at least a hundred candles, boxes of Thai take out along with wine and champagne. A huge bouquet of daisies, purple roses and a single lily sat in the middle, waiting for her.
"Oh my God," she breathed through her fingers which were pressed against her lips. "Pete..."
"I thought about restaurants, about the theatre, I know you love that crap," he shoved his hands in his pockets, suddenly a bit embarrassed and praying he'd made the right move. "But this place..." he pointed to a spot on the floor which was marked with a cross. "Is where I fell in love with you. The night you came to help me sort out parents night, after I'd kissed you outside and it started pissing it down, we came in here and I was desperately tryna teach you how to kick a fucking ball," he laughed at the memory. "And you stood right there, right on that spot and you said you were a lost cause and in that second, I knew I was the lost cause, not you. I was fucked. Right at that moment, you were the only thing in the world."
He took a step towards her and caught the tears glittering on her long, feathery lashes and reached out, cupping her face with his hands.
"And I promised myself in that moment, I'd marry you. Or at the very least, shag you."
Allie laughed and playfully punched his stomach and he grunted, not letting go of her.
"Life was never a long term thing for me, I lived from pay cheque to pay cheque, match to match, hangover to hangover and for years, that was more than enough. And then you...you gave me more. You gave me infinity, Harding. You gave me everything I didn't know I wanted and everything I thought I'd never deserve. And while I hate Valentines day and I know you do too and I fucking love you for it," he smirked. "this is more of a thank you."
Staring up at him, Allie fought the urge to start crying. How the hell had she become this lucky? She knew even if she lived to be a hundred and one, she would never be able to convince him so but the man was perfection.
Shaking her head slightly, Allie threw herself at him, knocking him back slightly and wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him with everything she had in her.
"You're the best thing that ever ever happened to me," she whispered against his lips, pulling back just enough to meet his eyes. "You know after my mum died and I was old enough to think about it, I asked my dad once, why didn't he find anyone else? He was such a good man and I don't know, I wanted him to be happy. And he told me that no one, no one would ever come close to my mother. That she was and is the only one he would ever love, the only person he would ever want. And for years I didn't understand it, how is that possible? And then I met you," she stroked her hand down his face. "You blinded me; the rest of the world disappeared and everyone in it. There will never be anything but you for me. And if I don't say it enough, or I don't make it clear," she kissed him lightly. "You're the love of my life, Dunham." she rubbed her face against his and then turned slightly, looking pained. "But I'm so hungry and I know damn well there's salt and pepper squid in one of those boxes so..."
"Cheeky shit," Pete laughed, planting a hot kiss on her shoulder as he twirled her around, dragging her over to the table and picking up a chocolate strawberry, shoving it in her mouth when she went to yell at him for stealing all the seaweed. Swearing at him through the mouthful of food, she shoved him hard, laughing when he tried to force another one down her throat. Both of them so wrapped up in it all, they didn't hear the latch on the door close as the man in the hooded shirt glared at them one last time before walking out into the cold and leaning against the brickwork. Waiting.
"Get up!"
"Yeah, how about fuck off,"
"So much for that athlete's stamina, huh?" Allie giggled, blowing the hair out of her eyes as she bounced harder, propelling herself into the air, watching as Pete lay on the matt beneath her panting. He should have known better than to point out the gymnastics trampoline in the corner of the hall. The woman would be the fucking death of him.
"Nah," he pulled himself up, leaning back on his elbows and smirked. "Its more than I can get a pretty good view of what's under your dress from down here,"
"Perv," she laughed, clapping her hands to her side to keep her dress from fanning out.
"Oi!" he laughed as she screamed when he shot his hand out, grabbing her ankle and pulling her down to him, her hair bouncing around her face as she came to a slow stop, her head resting next to his, her breath coming out harshly. "Its not perving, its just a preview,"
"Oh really?" Allie laughed, sitting up and straddling him, making quick work of his bow tie. "And what exactly makes you think you're getting any?"
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Pete gestured around the room. "I had an army of very pissed off 10 year olds cutting out hearts all afternoon, went to three different take out places to get all the crap you like, borrowed a dress that I think costs more than my car..." he shook his head and pointed at her. "If I don't at the very least get a hand job, I'm divorcing you."
Allie laughed loudly, slapping his chest and shaking her head. What the hell had she married?
"So all that romantic talk earlier..."
"Got it from a film," Pete told her, trying to keep a straight face. "Never underestimate a man's determination to get some,"
"Uh huh," Allie leaned down and caught the grin on his lips, his hands moving into her hair as he stared down at her.
"You're beautiful, you know that?" he whispered, his eyes turning serious again, sitting up and kissing her, switching their positions and pressing her back into the matt.
"I'll bet," she snorted, noting the slight sheen of sweat on her chest from all the jumping. His lips met hers and she ran her fingernails down the back of his neck, knowing that always got him. He kissed her harder and she nipped his bottom lip, grinning broadly.
"Ever done it on a trampoline, Mr Dunham?" she whispered, liking the deep throaty laugh she got in return.
"I don't think the schools insurance covers it," he smirked.
"Oh well," Allie slowly unbuttoned his shirt. "Willing to risk personal injury?"
"With you?" he raised an eyebrow. "Always,"
Her giggle echoed loudly through the hall as he sat up and practically ripped his shirt off, grabbing her and rolling them over so she was on top of him, his hands deftly locating the zip on the back of her dress as his lips attacked her skin. Around them, the candles dimmed slowly, creating an ocean of wax on the wooden floor, the left over food going cold and stale, champagne glasses laying empty as their moans and whispers filled the room, the same old bubble surrounding them, creating a world where they were all that existed, where nothing could pull them apart.
A world that unbeknownst to them, Eddie Hatcher would see fall to ashes if it was the last thing he did.