Chapter 8

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Mrs. Lovett's woke up the next morning, her eyes still painfully swollen with tears. London's muted daylight poured in through the still-open curtains. Her limbs were so sore. It took a moment to process why they hurt so much, and she blinked back the tears still prickling at her eyes. She winced –clutching her shoulder- as she pulled herself off the bed. Looking down, she realized she still had her dress from last night on. God, I'm a mess, she thought, making a hasty attempt to fix her hair up as she caught a glimpse of the state of it in the mirror. Wouldn't want him to see me like this, would I… she started to think, promptly stopping herself as her heart sank. What the hell are you thinking, Nellie, she thought, looking at her disheveled reflection. The man bloody hit you! She thought back to the hate-filled look in his eyes, in her mind repeating to herself what she had the previous night. That it was just from the gin. He didn't really mean it. Deep down, he did love her…

Sweeney's eyes slowly opened, his head throbbing with pain. What the fuck? He was sitting in his barber chair, head slumped over and limbs splayed out. When did I get here….he thought, scanning the room over. His eyes came to rest on the empty gin bottles lying in the corner, realization coming over him. It had been a long time since he'd drank like that. Let himself completely fall inside himself. He groaned, lifting himself slowly out of the chair. God, his head hurt. He began to walk towards the door, taking the staircase down. What he needed now was some tea…maybe that would clear his head a bit.

"Ya alright, mum?" Toby asked as he entered the kitchen, brown eyes laced with worry as he took in his mum's disarrayed appearance. She raised her dark-circled eyes to weakly smile at him.

"It's fine love. Just a bad night's all," she answered, lowering her eyes again to the tea she was making. Toby frowned, sitting down at the table, fidgeting with his knife. His eyes followed her as she dully poured three cups of tea, noting how she bit her lip slightly every so often. Almost as if she was holding back tears.

He was worried about her. Genuinely worried. He absolutely loathed Mr. Todd at moments like these, when the pain he was causing his beloved mum was so apparent. He knew she loved him, and this was what he did to her? He held back a disgusted snort, thanking Mrs. Lovett as she placed his breakfast in front of him.

Mrs. Lovett's eyes snapped up as she heard steps descending from the outside staircase. She quickly turned her head the other direction as he came in through the door, avoiding looking at him as he took the chair across from Toby. Toby stared the dark man over. He could smell the gin on him, strongly at that. Mr. Todd was hung over.

Mrs. Lovett cleared her throat lightly. "I made ya some tea, love," she said quietly, a little above a whisper. Her voice still raw from crying. Mr. Todd grunted in reply, not looking up. She walked over, placing the tea in front of him. "It'll do you good," she said, smelling the drink that lingered around him.

After a painfully tense and silent breakfast, Mrs. Lovett sent Toby to set up the shop for the day, which he happily obliged, but not without a revolted sneer at Sweeney, who stared blankly into his teacup. "I'd better get the kitchen cleaned up, lots of pies to make today," she said hoarsely, with a forced laugh that made Sweeney shoot her a sideways glance. She picked up a cloth, beginning to mechanically scrub the countertop. The bastard hasn't said a word about it, she thought, forcing back the tears that seemed to be unending these days. She continued to scrub the countertop, anger boiling underneath as she watched him sip his tea. She scrubbed harder, seething as she laid her frustrations upon the stains that dotted the wood surface. Suddenly, something snapped and she tossed the rag down. "Mr. T, do ya have any idea what went on last night?" she said, sharply looking at him.

Sweeney put down his teacup, staring at the woman behind the counter.

I drank," he replied tersely. "Wot of it?" he snapped, turning his eyes from her. Mrs. Lovett's own eyes widened. He doesn't even bloody remember! She thought in disbelief. "Oh so you just drank and that was all?" she sarcastically retorted. Sweeney rolled his eyes. The woman's chatter was doing nothing for his head.

"Yes, Mrs. Lovett, I drank," he snapped in reply. Mrs. Lovett stepped out from behind the counter, standing directly in front of him.

"Ya 'urt me, Mr. T," she said, looking down at him. He abruptly looked up at her, into her anger-filled eyes.

"I…wot?" he asked, squinting from the ache behind his eyes.

"Ya got bloody drunk up in your shop and you came down those stairs and-" she took a breath, "-and ya told me to get down on the floor and when I wouldn't ya 'it me!" she exclaimed, voice thick with the threat of tears. Sweeney lowered his gaze in disbelief. I hit her? He thought. The idea shouldn't horrify him like it did. He was supposed to hate her. He was supposed to want to hurt her! He looked up at her again. She was really crying now, her shoulders shaking as she lowered herself into the chair across from him. Sweeney's dark eyes widened in disbelief as he shook his head. He felt an overwhelming sense of guilt as he watched her cry. Hating himself for it, he moved his hand to place on top of hers. She looked up, bewildered as she stared over at him.

"I don't know what came over me…the gin…I-" he cut himself off. "I'm…sorry," he finished. "I…would never want to hurt you like that," Sweeney got out. Mrs. Lovett shook herself in disbelief. Was Sweeney Todd apologizing? She forced herself to keep her face straight.

"Well, ya did," she snapped, looking away and wiping the tears off her cheeks. She got up and walked back over to the counter, beginning to scrub again. That one stain was most difficult to get off. Sweeney's eyes followed her, narrowed.

"It was the gin, Mrs. Lovett," he said slowly. She replied with silence. Sweeney seethed. The woman was ridiculous.

"And who's to say the "gin" won't make ya do it again?" she snapped. The tears were gone. Sweeney suddenly stood up, pushing his chair aside.

"I say that!" he exclaimed, making his way over to Mrs. Lovett to stand directly in front of her. "Be cause I'm bloody sorry!" he near shouted, bringing his hand up to tightly clutch the back of her neck and brought his lips down hard on hers. The man's bloody crazy! Mrs. Lovett thought, her eyes wide before closing them as she let a moan escape from her own mouth. Sweeney broke away, storming back across the room to stomp back up to his shop, letting the kitchen door slam behind him. Mrs. Lovett stood stunned behind the counter, gasping in shock, the rag lying on the floor.

It was all so twisted. He had bloody hit her, for god's sakes. He had hurt her. How could she want a man like that so badly? The problem was, she did want him. Terribly. It got worse every day, and the occasional little "release" they shared every now and again did nothing to help there. Her lips still stinging, she proceeded to get the ingredients for the pie crusts ready. Today promised to be quite busy.

Even the way his eyes flashed in fury got her going on occasion. The way they pierced into her own in all their dark beauty…the knowledge that he indeed was a danger to her and the thrill that came along with that. God, was she actually getting aroused by this? With a slight glance at the doorway Sweeney had just exited, she adjusted her corset to enhance her cleavage even more. Slightly smugly, she eyed her reflection in the window that was across the room. She definitely looked a little better than this morning, and the corset was of assistance there. There you go again, Nellie. There was no knowing whether or not Mr. T would come down to the pie shop today, what with last night and this morning's occurrences after all. But really, who did know with that man. All she knew was that she wanted to be ready for him.

Because she wanted him. No matter how much he frightened and hurt her at times, she wanted him. There was no denying the lust that his eyes took on in those moments either. There was something there, she would tell herself, something she couldn't name, and probably never would be able to.

Proceeding to set up the kitchen, she eyed her reflection one last time. Yes, the corset was most definitely doing its job…

GAH, rambled a little bit at the end and I didn't like how I finished, but I hope you liked this chapter. We got Sweeney to apologize...at least as much as Sweeney can at this point. It's a start, right? I'm really excited to write this next chapter. As in, really really excited. Hehe… just a warning though, it's going to be close to ALLLL smut, dears. Thought we needed a little extra dose of Sweenett in this fic. *winks*