Yup, this one gets renovated too.
Disclaimer: Still don't own Sweeney Todd.
April 17, 1874
Anthony slowly crept around the corner of the fence, careful to stay out of sight. He didn't want a repeat of the last time he'd been spotted by the judge.
Oh my God, I'm going to throw up. I'm going to throw up.
To say that he was nervous was an understatement. His heart was pounding in his chest, and the sensation of blood pumping through his head left him feeling dizzy and rather nauseated. Despite all this, he put on a brave face. The possibility of getting caught made this whole endeavor that much more exciting.
He looked up at the window. Johanna was sitting there, looking down at him with a small smile on her lips.
Hello, Johanna.
He smiled back at her, and she reached for something next to her before opening her window.
Why is she opening her window? It's cold out.
Johanna leaned out, and a flick of her wrist sent a small object clattering at his feet, startling him. He leaned down to pick it up and examine it.
It was a key about the size of his hand. It had a light pink satin ribbon secured to it with a bead carved out of bone.
Anthony smiled up at her and she smiled back. He walked away before he heard her close her window.
"Mr Todd!" Anthony ran up the stairs to the barber shop and burst through the door. A familiar woman was standing in front of him with a rag in her hand. "Oh, I'm sorry. Excuse me."
"Mrs Lovett, sir." She said dryly.
"A pleasure, ma'am." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see something move behind the door. He turned to the side, only to see Mr Todd poke his head around the door. "Mr Todd, there's a girl who needs my help. Such a sad girl, and lonely, but beautiful too, and-"
"Slow down, son." Sweeney led him to the chair in the center of the room.
"Yes. I'm sorry." Anthony sat down and looked up at his friend. "This girl has a guardian who keeps her locked away, but then this morning, she dropped this." He held up the key. "Surely a sign that Johanna wants me to help her! That's her name, Johanna, and Turpin is her guardian. He's a judge of some sort."
Sweeney's brows furrowed and Anthony felt his skin crawl under the barber's gaze.
"Once he goes to court, I'm going to slip into the house, release her, and beg her to come away with me tonight."
"This is very romantic." Mrs Lovett commented from behind him.
"Yes!" Anthony turned to give her a grin before turning back to face Sweeney. "But I don't know anyone in London, you see, and I need somewhere safe to bring her until I've hired a coach to take us away. If I could keep her here, just for an hour or two, I'd be forever in your debt."
There was a tense pause.
"Bring here here, love." Mrs Lovett broke the silence.
"Thank you, ma'am!" Anthony looked up at his friend. "Mr Todd?"
Sweeney appeared to consider the implications of what was being proposed before finally nodding his head.
"Thank you!" Anthony stood up and shook Sweeney's hand. "Thank you. Thank you, my friend! Thank you, ma'am!"
And with that, he was out the door.
"He means to marry me Monday!" Johanna anxiously paced the length of her bedroom as Anthony sat on a chair next to her bed. "What will I do? I'd rather die!"
"I don't blame you for that."
"Can you imagine how a marriage like that would play out? Our children would have hooves!" Johanna shuddered and clenched her fists.
"Oh God." Anthony shuddered at the mental image of those hideous children. The very thought made him ill.
Johanna wrapped her arms around herself as if she were cold and stared out her window.
"I can't do it." She whispered. "I just can't. How could I ever love a snake like him?"
Anthony didn't answer. Johanna turned to face him, but he didn't notice. He was too busy thinking of an escape route.
"I have a plan." He said quietly after a few minutes of silence.
"I'll swallow poison on sunday if I have to." She paused. "Yes. That's what I'll do. I'll get some lye…" She froze.
"What?" Anthony looked around to see what was the matter.
"Oh dear, was that a noise? I thought I heard a noise!" She hurried back to the window and looked out. Nothing outside was out of place. "It couldn't be. He's in court. He's in court today. Still, that was a noise. Was that not a noise? You must have heard that!"
"I didn't hear anything."
"I swear I heard something." Johanna cast a worried glance at her bedroom door and resumed pacing. "Oh… If he should marry me Monday, what will I do? I'll die of grief!"
"We can find a way out tonight." Anthony shrugged nonchalantly.
"We haven't much time if we want to do something about this. It's friday now, virtually sunday. What would we do with time so brief?"
Anthony was about to suggest something else when Johanna suddenly stiffened and shoved him against the wall.
"Behind the curtain, quick!" She hissed. He hesitantly complied. "I think I heard a click!" She rushed to the window and looked out. "It was the gate!"
"It wasn't a gate." Anthony's voice was muffled behind the curtain.
"It's the gate." Johanna furrowed her brows and continued to stare out the window. "We don't have a gate. But I know I heard something…" She turned toward her bedroom door. "Like that! Another click! You must have heard that!"
"There's no gate. You don't have a gate." Anthony poked his head out from behind the curtain. "You're hearing noises because you're nervous."
"I know I heard something." She opened her door a crack and poked her head out. One of the maids was walking down the hallway with a stack of linens. "Oh. Kate. It's you. Never mind." She retreated back into her room and shut the door. She turned to Anthony with a concerned look on her face.
"Listen." He stepped out from behind the curtain and gently grasped her upper arms. "Johanna. We'll go tonight-"
"Tonight?" Johanna blinked in surprise. "You were serious?"
"Yes, tonight. I've thought it all out."
"That's so soon…" She furrowed her brows and pulled away from him. "It's frightfully short-notice. I fear we'd be caught."
"Don't be afraid." Anthony took her hand. "We'll steal away into the night."
A look of unease crossed Johanna's face, followed by a look of stern determination as she squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye.
"I loved you from the first time I saw you." She stated bluntly. Anthony was taken aback by her forwardness, but she continued before he had a chance to say anything. "It didn't matter that I didn't know your name. I've been waiting so long to leave this place, and from the moment I first saw you, I felt hope for the first time."
Anthony blinked in surprise, but quickly composed himself. He took Johanna's hands and knelt down in front of her.
"Then it's me you'll marry on Monday, noon at St Dunstan's."
"And gladly, sir." A smile spread across Johanna's face. "I knew I'd be with you one day, even if I didn't yet know who you were."
Anthony paused for a moment. That statement struck him as odd, but he wasn't sure why.
"I was afraid you'd never come." She continued. "I feared that you'd been called away, that you'd been killed, or ill, or imprisoned, or trampled by a horse, gone to sea again, or..." She shook her head. "Well, never mind all that, I'm rambling."
"No, it's fine." The two of them sat down on a nearby fainting couch. "Well, getting back on the subject, we'd best not wait until Monday."
"I fully concur."
"It just wouldn't be right. It's probably better that we're married on Sunday."
"Saturday would also do."
"Or tonight." Anthony suggested, but Johanna didn't seem to hear him. She had perked up as though she were listening for something. "What?"
"I think I heard a noise."
"What kind?"
"Never mind, just a noise. It's probably something out in the street and I'm being silly about it."
Anthony couldn't help but agree with her, but he figured that it was best to keep his mouth shut this time around.
"We'll go to Paris on Monday. We'll take a train."
"Oh, Paris. What will I wear? I'd better pack." Johanna smirked and clasped one of his hands in her own. "Of course, with you by my side, I won't really care if something's missing."
"After Paris, we can sail to Spain." Anthony began to say, but Johanna was already up and dragging a small carpet bag out from under her bed.
"I'll take my reticule. I know I'll need it." She pointed at a small handbag across the room.
"You know we can buy you one, right? You can leave that one here, and we'll just start fresh."
"You mustn't think me a fool. Don't laugh, but my reticule never leaves my side, and it's one of the only things I have left of my mother."
He raised an eyebrow but decided not to comment on that.
"Anyway, in the meantime, we have a place where we can go tonight." He watched Johanna bustle about the room as if she were taking an inventory. She stopped moving for a moment and looked over at him.
"It just occurred to me that I still don't know your name." She said.
"What?"
"Your name. You know mine, but I don't know yours."
"Oh. My name is Anthony."
"Anthony." Johanna repeated, as if she were testing how it felt to say. She smiled. "Do you have a last name, Anthony?"
"Hope, ma'am."
"I like that." Her eyes took on a dreamy look. "I'll marry Anthony Hope on Sunday. That's what I'll do, and God help anything that gets in my way."
Anthony got up to stand next to her. Since he rather short for a teenaged boy and Johanna was rather tall for a girl, their eyes were almost level, and it was not hard to look.
After a long pause, Johanna spoke again.
"Kiss me."
"...What?" Anthony blinked in surprise.
"You heard me. Enough with the pleasantries. I want you to kiss me."
Yes, you heard the girl. Kiss her.
"Of course. You're sure?"
"Yes." Johanna let her lips move into a lopsided smirk, and Anthony began to find those lips very inviting.
"I shall." He leaned in and gave her lips a gentle peck. When he pulled away, he saw that she was blushing. Likewise, he felt his cheeks growing hot.
"...Oh, sir."
"Oh, miss."
They stared dreamily at each other for a few moments until Johanna broke the silence.
"You should go." She looked back at her bedroom door. "He'll be home any minute."
"You're right." Anthony gave her one more peck on the lips. "I'll be back for you tonight."
"I'll be waiting."
"Mr Todd!" Anthony sprinted up the stairs to the barber shop. Mr Todd would definitely be interested in the newest development in their plan. "Mr Todd!" He burst through the door. "I've seen Johanna!" He noticed the barber leaning over an elderly man with his razor at his throat, and he recognized the elderly man as the judge. However, the remainder of his sentence tumbled from his mouth before he could stop himself. "And she said she'd leave with me tonight…"
Sweeney and the judge both froze for a moment, and the tension in the air could be cut with a knife.
"You." Turpin rose from the chair and advanced toward the young sailor. "There is indeed a higher power to warn me thus in time. Johanna elope, with you?" He tore the cloth away from his neck and wiped the shaving cream off his face. "I'll make sure that neither you, nor any other man shall ever set eyes on her again." He turned and advanced toward Sweeney. "As for you, barber, it's all too clear what company you keep. Service them well and hold their custom, for you'll have none of mine!"
And with that, he stormed out of the shop.
"Mr Todd, you have to help me!" Anthony looked toward his friend with wide eyes. He was still standing there, expressionless. The sailor noted the razor still in his hand.
"Out." Sweeney whispered.
"Mr Todd, please!"
"Out."
"Mr Todd!"
"OUT!" Sweeney took a step toward Anthony, who immediately turned and fled down the stairs. On the way down, he bumped into Mrs Lovett.
"Oi, watch where you're going!" She admonished.
"Sorry, ma'am!"
This is bad. This is very bad.
Anthony was beyond nervous. By now, night had fallen, and he found himself praying fervently that the judge hadn't done anything about Johanna yet.
Unfortunately, his prayers went unanswered. He could see a portly figure struggling with a flailing young woman.
"Help! Stop, please!" Johanna's voice rang out in the darkness. "OH!"
Anthony stepped out from his hiding spot in the shadows and ran up to the carriage parked on the curb. The judge was standing on the porch with a glower on his face.
"Johanna!" The sailor yelled out as the carriage sped off. "Where are you taking her?! Tell me, or I swear I'll-"
"You'll kill me, boy? Here I stand!"
Fuck this. You can get him later. Focus on Johanna.
Anthony shook his head and ran off in the direction he'd seen the carriage leave.
"JOHANNA!"
The 'Kiss Me' bit was a bitch to write. Them lyrics are tough to translate into normal speech patterns. But regardless: Yay for bad teenaged decision-making!
