So many people have asked for Audrey and Shelby to go to England and meet Audrey's parents so here goes that prompt! (Picture attached to Tumblr post)

Rated: M (kinda)

The Blind Date AU pt. 20

"You know, I've been thinking..." Shelby hummed, running her hands through Audrey's hair while the both of them laid in bed.

Audrey looked up at Shelby from her resting spot against the other woman's chest. Audrey waited for Shelby to continue before growing impatient and sitting against the other woman's abdomen. "What have you been thinking about?" Audrey prodded, holding Shelby's hands gently.

Shelby pursed her lips. "I... no... Don't worry about it." she said, not meeting Audrey's eyes.

"Shelby." Audrey whined, laying flush against the other woman. "You can't just not tell me now that you've started."

"You'd just say no." Shelby said sadly.

"How can you know for certain?"

"I just know, Audrey."

Audrey watched Shelby for a moment before kissing up her jaw. "Come on, baby." she cooed, sucking lightly at Shelby's neck. "Tell me."

Shelby squirmed slightly against Audrey. "Hey, this isn't fair." Shelby whined.

"Isn't it?" Audrey asked, snaking her hand down over Shelby's panties. She circled Shelby's folds lightly through the material. "Tell me or I won't finish you."

Shelby breathed tightly. "I...I want to meet your parents."

Audrey ripped herself away. "No... no! You really don't."

"I've been thinking for a while now about what you said when you were sick. I wanted to travel Europe with you. I wanted to see where you grew up and just... go far away with you. I know you miss your parents and... I don't know I just wanted to meet them."

"That doesn't matter. I doubt they'd even talk to me now." Audrey said, sitting on the opposite side of the bed. "And you don't want to meet them. They're a bunch of bigots."

Shelby was clearly disheartened by this. She sighed softly, mustering up a smile despite her crushed hopes. "That's okay."

"No, no, no. Don't guilt me."

"I'm not guilting you. I just thought you'd want to go travelling with me and show me where you grew up, but that's okay."

"Baby, don't do this." Audrey said as she crawled up beside Shelby. "Please don't do this to me." she said, brushing Shelby's hair out of her face.

Shelby looked up at Audrey. "Please?"

Audrey groaned loudly, letting herself collapse against Shelby, her small frame barely squashing the other woman. "Fine. I'll show you where I grew up but we're not meeting my parents." She kicked herself for giving in so easily. She never could say no to that face.

Shelby grinned happily. "I can't believe this! We're going to England." Shelby said, pulling Audrey in for a kiss. "Oh, and I think you promised me something..."

Audrey rolled her eyes, trying to hide her smile as she slid her hand back down to Shelby's panties. Of course she'd do anything to make her happy. Even if that meant going back to her hometown.

...

The flight to London was long. Both Audrey and Shelby had packed a decent amount (although Shelby insisted on packing less so she would have room for souvenirs). Audrey stroked the back of Shelby's hand as the other woman slept, thinking about what they would do if they did bump into her parents. Audrey's hometown was small enough. She debated taking Shelby to a different town and lying about everything, but she couldn't do that to the other woman. She would just have to suck it up and show Shelby her town with as much confidence as possible.

...

After landing in London and settling into their hotel room, Audrey stood by the window. She looked out across the city with a slight smile. It felt like a dream. The rain beat against the windows, sending shivers down Audrey's spine. She missed this. She missed the smell of the rain against the ground. She missed the way the city was still so busy despite the rain. She could see the hustle and bustle from the window. Busses were following their routes, people were rushing around with their umbrellas. London wasn't where she had grown up, but it was where her acting career started. A part of her missed the days in the theatre. Studio sets in LA didn't have nearly as much history or elegance.

Audrey was pulled from her thoughts when Shelby's soft lips touched her shoulder. Shelby pressed a light kiss there, gently making her way up Audrey's neck as she wrapped her arms around Audrey's waist. "Does it always rain like this?" Shelby spoke in barely a whisper, not wanting to disturb the calm atmosphere.

Audrey nodded slightly, tearing her eyes away from the window to turn in Shelby's arms. She watched Shelby's eyes for a moment, the corners of her lips perking up slightly. "It doesn't feel real, does it?" Audrey hummed quietly. "When you leave a place for so long... It's as though time stands still while you're not looking." Audrey turned to look out the window again. "Nothing has changed since I've last been here."

Shelby watched Audrey as the smaller woman gazed out the window. She held her hands lightly, her stare not faltering.

"What do you think?" Audrey asked, turning back to Shelby to meet her eyes. There was almost a slight vulnerability in them.

"I think it's beautiful." Shelby cooed, holding Audrey's cheek lightly. "I think you're beautiful." she whispered, leaning in to kiss Audrey's lips.

"I was hoping we could see the sights before our flight to Manchester." Audrey said, a smile growing on her lips as she kissed back.

"Manchester? What's in Manchester?" Shelby asked. She smiled slightly before repeating "Manchester," in an English accent.

Audrey giggled at the terrible attempt at her accent. "Manchester, darling. Turn the 'r' into an 'a'." Audrey said with a smile.

"Manchest-a." Shelby said, unable to stop herself from laughing. "How come I sound ridiculous but you sound so fancy?"

"I grew up here." Audrey replied with a smile. "You know, I actually hated my Manchester accent. While I lived in London I would practice changing my accent until I had it perfect." Audrey bit her lip. "I wanted to sound a little more posh, you know?"

"I think you sound perfect." Shelby hummed, pecking Audrey's cheek. "What's in Manchest-a? When are we going?" she asked, grinning at how ridiculous she sounded.

"My hometown is near there. I used to live in Alderley Edge. It's about half an hour from Manchester by train." Audrey said, her excitement growing. She had pushed her parents to the back of her mind. At that moment she focused on taking Shelby out to see where she used to live and work. "We'll go there after we look around London. There's not really much to see."

"Can we have a nap before we go?" Shelby asked, still tired from their flight.

"Of course, baby." Audrey cooed, kissing Shelby's lips lightly before leading her to the bed. They kicked off their shoes and cuddled up together.

...

"My phone storage is full." Shelby whined, passing her phone to Audrey.

"Why did you take so many photos of me?" Audrey asked with a soft laugh as she scrolled through the photos of her looking around the city happily.

"You look cute in my coat. I couldn't help it."

Audrey rolled her eyes. "Use my phone to take pictures. Here, we'll swap phones in case we get separated."

Shelby held Audrey's hand tight. She didn't want to get separated. They walked in silence for a while, Shelby sneaking a few pictures of Audrey as they walked through a park. Audrey knew but she didn't let on. She loved how pure Shelby's love for her was. "You were right." Shelby said after some time.

"I'm sure I was, but what are we talking about?" Audrey asked.

"The trees. They're different here. I think I like these trees better."

Audrey smiled as Shelby bent down to pick up a leaf. She shook the raindrops off it before feeling it. "They're greener, don't you think?" Audrey asked, watching Shelby's expression.

Shelby smiled, pocketing the leaf and nodding. "Oh, and before I forget..." Shelby hummed, pressing Audrey up against a tree. She giggled when the raindrops from the leaves above them fell onto their heads. Shelby kissed Audrey gently, feeling Audrey smile as she melted into the kiss. After the shutter sounded three or so times, Audrey wrinkled her nose.

"Hey!" Audrey said with a grin.

"What? I wanted to get a nice photo of us." she said, sending it to her own phone from Audrey's. She took another photo after Audrey rolled her eyes. "That's a keeper." Shelby said with a giggle.

"It's blurry." Audrey said, pulling Shelby back in as they walked. Shelby set the picture as the wallpaper on her own phone with a happy smile.

They walked a while longer, seeing more of the sights. Shelby couldn't help but look at Audrey as they walked.

...

"Why is it called Big Ben? Who is Ben?" Shelby asked.

"Well, Big Ben was actually no taller than you or I. Here in England people used to be as short as dwarfs, so regular sized people like Ben were seen as giants. They built this clock in honour of him. It took nearly thirty years. Unfortunately he died before construction was completed. He was buried near by so he could forever hear the sound of his bell." Audrey said wistfully as she looked up at the clock.

"That's... that's so sad." Shelby said quietly. "Can we visit his grave?" she asked, watching Audrey. She frowned when Audrey started to grin.

"I was joking, Shelby. You didn't seriously believe the entirety of England's population consisted of dwarfs, did you?" Audrey mocked, smirking at Shelby.

Shelby swatted at Audrey's arm. "That's mean. I trusted you." she huffed, folding her arms and looking at the clock again.

"Come on. It was just some playful banter." Audrey said as she poked Shelby's sides.

Shelby bit the inside of her cheek before kissing Audrey's lips. "I can't believe I believed you."

...

After a couple of days, Audrey and Shelby had gone around most of London. It was beautiful and the both of them had enjoyed their time together (which was notable from the number of pictures they had taken). They laid in bed together on their last night, soaking in the feeling.

"This is going to sound strange." Audrey began, "but I miss my... our apartment. I miss LA. It was so much warmer over there."

"I miss Ginny. And our bed." Shelby said softly. "I hope Monet knows what she's doing."

Audrey smiled to herself. "She thought I had gone mad for dating you. I thought I had gone mad when I was first considering it."

"Am I really that bad?" Shelby asked, rolling on the bed to face Audrey.

"You're not. I think I was just... so annoyed with you after I finished playing your character. I still don't understand why anyone would make up such an elaborate story." Audrey said, watching Shelby.

Shelby frowned. "We didn't make it up, Audrey. It was all real."

"Of course it was." Audrey said, clearly still sceptical. "Ghosts aren't real. The Butcher isn't real."

"Audrey. It was real. I don't understand. Why don't you believe me?" Shelby asked sadly. She tried not to look as hurt as she felt.

Audrey didn't miss the look. "Maybe... maybe there was just something in the water? Something that made you hallucinate."

Shelby only grew more and more upset as Audrey didn't believe her. She rolled over, facing away from the other woman.

"Baby. No, baby, come on." Audrey whined, resting her hand on Shelby's hip. Shelby shook it off, huffing to herself. "You have to admit it seems a little ridiculous. It's... it was all impossible."

"I just thought you'd have enough faith in me to believe me by now." Shelby said, her voice more saddened than angry.

"Shelby, baby... you can't expect me to believ-"

"Don't. Just don't." Shelby said quietly, feeling her eyes well. She thought their relationship was stronger than that.

Audrey took a deep breath. "Can you look at me for a second?" Audrey asked.

Shelby didn't move for a while before slowly and reluctantly rolling to look at Audrey.

"I believe that you went through something traumatic in that house." Audrey said quietly. "I don't believe in... things like ghosts and pig men... It's just not realis-." Shelby started to roll back over as Audrey was talking. "No, no. Shelby, please." Audrey said, keeping the taller woman on her back. Shelby looked up at her sadly. "I've just never experienced anything like it." Audrey said. "Surely you can understand why I'm so sceptical."

Shelby nodded. "Do you think I did it to get famous?" Shelby asked.

"No. I did at first, but now, no. I know something happened in that house. I know it. I believe you, Shelby." Audrey said, holding Shelby's hand.

"You do?"

"I... Most of it, yes." Audrey said softly. That was good enough for Shelby at that moment. Shelby hugged Audrey tight, burying her face into the other woman's neck.

"Thank you." Shelby whispered, sniffing as her eyes ran with tears.

Audrey held her for the rest of the night, rocking Shelby gently and cooing her to sleep.

...

Thank you all for the lovely reviews and prompts! Don't forget to follow and review for more! Prompts for the next chapter (Audrey's hometown) are more than welcome!