Sorry if uploading has been a bit slow. I still have to write the last chapters of this and may be cutting down the chapters to 29 instead of 31. I'll have to see how i feel about it.

I'm hoping to get another chapter uploaded by the end of the week, as it's the half term and i'll have a lot more free time (yes!)

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Café et fraises

Chapter Twenty Five

Time after Time

The week staying at Don's made Libby forget all her worries about Henry and Swill and that whore bag that was probably groping her ex right now. Rick was one of the funniest guys she had met; a natural comedian, he only had to enter a room to make her smile. James could be a little grouchy sometimes especially when he was hungry. Peter was cute and liked to joke around. Scott came out of his shell a little, but was the quiet one, always looking out for them.

And Don? Don was just being Don.

'Anyone hungry?' Rick called into the flat. 'I got three big pizzas that need to be eaten.' He put the boxes on the coffee table before sitting down beside James.

'Scott, pass me a slice,' grumbled Libby who was slumped back in the sofa, a wet cloth over her face. Scott chuckled, passing her a piece.

'Still feel like shit?'

'Just a bit,' she murmured, taking a bite of the pizza and sighing. 'Serves me right. I'm getting to old for this?'

'What?' James frowned. 'Getting pissed?'

'Yes.'

'You're twenty three years old. You don't even have grey hair yet.'

'I know but… isn't it a bit childish.'

'No,' said Rick with his mouth full. 'There's no joy in life if you can't get pissed every now and again.'

'You're right,' said Libby, sitting up with a wince. The cloth fell onto her pizza slice and she cursed. 'I'm not too old.' Throwing the cloth on the table, she swallowed the rest of the slice and grabbed one of the cans Don was placing on the table.

'I miss Lucy a little,' she said to Don as she cracked open the can.

'Lucy?' asked Peter, wiping his hands on his jeans.

'She's my best friend. She has a little boy,' Libby sat forward with a grin. 'He's such a sweetie. He's called Charlie; he's almost a year old and he can walk.'

'Do you like kids?' asked Scott.

'Yes, I guess so, but then again, who wouldn't like Charlie.' She smiled contently, before grabbing another pizza slice. 'I'll probably have to go back to them soon. Get things over with.'

'Over with? Is there something you're not telling us?' Rick asked, rising an eyebrow. Libby bit her bottom lip but it all spilled out anyway.

'I ran away from my ex,' she started, looking at her hands. 'I caught him with another woman and… I couldn't take it. I came to Don's.'

'You caught him 'aving it with that other woman?'

'Well, no, but he was having dinner with her. He said it was innocent and that she was an old school friend but why wouldn't he tell me? I live with him for Christ sakes!' Libby bit her bottom lip to stop herself crying, shutting her eyes for a moment. 'I live with him…' she murmured. Someone sat down beside her and put an arm around her.

'Don't cry,' said Scott softly. 'He's not worth it if he's willing to chuck you away now, is he?'

'Nope,' she wiped her eyes.

'Sounds suspicious,' put in Rick, slurping beer from his can. 'Not even telling you, you can't be that innocent.

'Would you guys come back with me? For support,' she asked, Scott gently rubbing her arm.

'What do you need support for?' laughed Don.

'Please!' she said, eyes narrowed slightly. 'I don't want to go back alone!'

'If this is to make Swill jealous-'

'Swill? His name's Swill?' Rick burst out laughing, falling back on the sofa as he chuckled. Don ignored this.

'If it's to make Swill jealous I aint being the one to get flirted with. I aint getting punched again. I'll explain later,' he added to the guys.

'It's nothing like that. Just… be there, please?'

'Alright, when do you want to be taken?'

'Give me half an hour to pack and then we'll go.' She turned an eye to the rest of them. 'You're coming too.'

--

They took a taxi to the Abbey. As soon as Libby walked in, Lucy was on her feet, unable to believe her eyes.

'Libby?' she gasped, as the other guys looked up. Then, she hurried over, yanking her best friend into a hug. 'Where've you been?' she demanded. 'I… Christ, Libs!' She looked up and noticed Dom. 'Hey! Thank you so much for bringing her back.'

'Its fine,' he smiled, looking up as another guy came over. Libby's smile dropped and her face hardened.

'You're back,' said Swill, with a half-hearted smile. She stared at him hard for a moment, before looking back at Lucy.

'This is Rick, Peter, James and Scott,' she said, turning round to flash them a smile.

'You Swill?' asked Rick, fighting a smile.

'Yeah,' he muttered. Dave and Pete was now slightly behind him.

'Oh, okay,' he replied, with a small chuckle. Libby gave a laugh, covering her mouth.

'Stop it, Rick,' she scolded, letting her hand drop to her side.

'You've been with these guys?' demanded Swill, still glaring at them.

'Yeah, so what? It was innocent,' Libby drawled. 'They're my friends.'

'There's nothing innocent about staying in a house with five guys.'

'Excuse me?' she growled, moving away from Lucy and towards him. Scott shifted a little towards her and it didn't go unnoticed by the GSE boys, who were all creeping to their feet.

'No, no!' said Lucy, glaring at Ike and Keith and then at Don and his friends. 'No fighting. Stop it. This is between Swill and Libs now.' She glanced at Don. 'You should go.'

'Yeah,' the blonde replied. Lucy gave him a thankful smile. 'Catch you later, Libs,' he said. Libby turned to grin at them.

'Thanks for this week,' she said. Her gaze lingered on Scott a little, before they began to walk out. Soon, it was only Don left. He snagged Libs wrist much to Swill's protests, which was ignored by both of them.

'You can come back any time, you know that.'

'I will,' she grinned in reply.

'I think Scott would like to see you again. You know; if you and Swill don't work.'

'How do you mean?' she frowned.

'I think he might like you,' Don laughed. Libby blushed but nodded.

'He's nice. I'll drop by again some time.' They gave a parting hug and just to piss Swill off, Don kissed her cheek.

Then he was gone and Libby was left alone.

'You,' said Lucy, her arms folded over her chest, 'have some explaining to do.'

'Too right,' seconded Swill. Libby turned to glare at him.

'You can fuck right off Simon Wilkins. I do not want to see or talk to you ever again. Or shag you. Got that?' Then she turned to Lucy. 'What did you do with Henry?' she asked.

'We buried him in a plant pot outside.' The two drifted off to the bar, arms linked and Swill stared hopelessly after her.

'I'm sorry, mate,' said Dave in his ear. 'But you're fucked.'

--

'You could have told me you wanted to go away for a bit,' sighed Lucy as she nursed the beer Terry had given her.

'I know. I'm really sorry, Luce, I am. It was a spur of the moment thing.' Libby sighed, staring at the bar top dejectedly. She hated making Lucy upset or worried.

'So, those guys…'

'Were friends of Don's,' smiled Libby. 'And amazingly, I didn't sleep with any of them.'

'Ooh the urge must have been terrible to resist,' laughed Lucy. 'The red headed one was quite nice. Well, they all were actually…' The two burst into a fit of giggles. 'How did you resist Don anyway?' Lucy frowned when the laughter subsided. 'When you first met?'

'Well, I was going to have him. Hell, I wanted to ride him all night but then I saw Swill with that woman and it all sorter … clicked that I like Swill,' she shrugged.

'Swill missed you,' said Lucy quietly.

'I don't care,' she spat. 'How could he do this to me? We could have got married! Have children? I'd love a baby!' Lucy almost choked on her drink.

'You? You'd like a baby?'

'I love children!' she protested weakly.

'No, you love Charlie, there's a difference.'

'I want a baby,' said Libby with an air of ending the conversation.

'Look, can we at least go one step at a time?' asked Lucy. 'What about Swill?'

'I love Swill,' she said blankly. 'But I've lost my confidence in him. I can't have a baby with him if he's going to be running off having dinner dates with other women.'

'You want him to father your baby? Maybe you should talk to him about it.'

'Yeah, I should,' Libby sighed, draining her glass. 'But I'm not going to.'

--

'Okay, run that last bit through me again,' stuttered Swill when Lucy told him Libby's outrageous thoughts.

'She wants a baby, Swill!'

'A baby?' he said, before running his hands through his hair. 'Jesus, that's… that's a big thing.'

'I know. You need to talk to her.'

'She won't listen to me,' he stressed.

'Tell her anyway! No matter how much she fights and kicks and screams, you tell her what you think.'

'Where is she, then?' he asked, his dark blue eyes meeting hers.

'She's taken Charlie for a walk so it might be better to catch her later.'

--

Libby was walking through the park, trying to get Charlie to sleep. It didn't seem to be working. Moving over to the nearest swing, she sat down with a sigh, gently rocking his buggy to and fro.

'I'm glad I have your mum as my friend,' she said to him. 'She's always knows what to do in dire situations but I needed to get out of there; out of here and Don was the only person I could think of. Your dad and I don't talk much though, unless it's about football; he never shuts up about it once you get him doing and seeing as I know nothing as the sport… You better not turn out like that,' she warned the blonde baby who was smiling back at her.

'But…' Libby paused, 'I don't know what to do about Swill. We had been together almost a year! Before you were even born! And Jasmine, that horrible bitch… Don't repeat that,' she added, with a glance at the baby boy who merely gurgled in response. 'I love him so much, Charlie. He hurt me so much! He broke my heart and he hasn't even said sorry.' She frowned a little.

'Maybe… I haven't given him chance though… I just can't stand to be near him. I feel like I'm bleeding to death when I'm near him, knowing what he did. Okay, they might not have been shagging, don't repeat that, but he could have told me! Even in passing conversation, but he didn't. He did it behind my back and that's what hurt most, Charlie. I need trust; it's what stables a relationship.' Tears were threatening to spill so she changed the subject.

'I wish you could have met my new friends; they were great. Rick was really funny, you would have liked him. He's like a big kid himself. And then there was Peter and James and Scott… Scott was nice.' She paused on that thought for a moment before heaving a sigh. Charlie had fallen asleep. 'I best get you home,' she muttered, getting to her feet and pushing the buggy out the park.

The light of on in Swill's living room. He stepped into the hallway, knowing all the boys were at the pub and unsure of whom it could be. Pushing open the living room door, he stared at the figures on the sofa. Libby was laid there, eyes shut with Charlie sleeping across her chest.

She opened her brown eyes and looked at him. 'I'm back,' she murmured. Swill walked forward, unsure of what to say but saying the first thing that came to his mind.

'You want a baby.'

'Yes. I want you and I want you to have a baby with me because I love you.' The words were tumbling from her and there were tears in her eyes.

'I love you too and I want you back so bad, Libby. I was crazy when you went for that week! But a baby? Are you sure?

'Yes,' she said. 'I'm ready for this.' Swill knelt down beside her head, kissing her softly on the lips. It was nice to have her back.

'Okay…' he said slowly. 'But… not yet. I will but let's get us sorted first.'

'Thank you,' she murmured, before shutting her eyes again.

--

They were laid on the unmade bed, heads touching. The hole in Steve's chest was sealed, stitched up and sewn together; he could only hope it wouldn't tear apart again.

Shannon yawned and stretched, wrinkling the covers with her feet, her dressing gown barely covering her. 'That was… different,' she laughed. Steve turned his head with a grin.

'You're telling me. Now, who said married couples have boring sex lives?' he asked, kissing the tip of her nose when she rolled on her stomach. Shannon giggled, pressing her lips against his.

'Do you love me?'

'I always will,' he replied, their eyes meeting for a second before he attacked her lips once more.

Maybe things were starting to look up. Shannon and Steve were happy; Libby and Swill were working things out; Lucy and Bovver were on the verge of marriage. Yeah; maybe.

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