Hey, guys. I realized that in the last chapter, I accidentally had been writing in past and present tense. My sincere apologies. I believe this is in past tense, like it's suppose to be. Please let me know if parts of it aren't. Thanks!

The next few weeks went by smoothly, for business, anyway. No one seemed to notice the change in the "meat" supply. Sweeney was doing rather well, too. Now that he wasn't killing people, his business was booming properly. Sweeney Todd's recent change in behavior had stumped the baker living below his establishment. She knew that he had already explained it to her, but she was still confused as Hell. What he was trying to propose to her is that he had two different souls inside of him; the one known as Sweeney Todd and the other known as the, now dead, Benjamin Barker. It didn't make any sense and did make sense at the same time. Shaking her head, Mrs. Lovett got back to work baking pies down in the bake house.

"Bloody, confusing man," She muttered to herself.

"I'm sorry that you see me that way, my pet." Mrs. Lovett jumped when she heard his voice directly behind her. She turned to see him standing before her with a peculiar look on his face.

"Mr. Todd, I didn' hear yeh come down," She said quietly, backing away from him with haste.

"You were too busy working," Sweeney answered casually, looking around the bake house. Mrs. Lovett backed away a bit more until she felt the blazing heat of the open oven upon her back. Sweeney turned his attention on her, sending chills down her spine. She had insulted him by her words, she knew it. Now he was going to snap and kill her.

"You are always working, Mrs. Lovett," Sweeney continued, "I notice, you know. I can see that you are tense from all of your work. You're also tense because you're afraid of me." Mrs. Lovett's eyes widened slightly. Sweeney took a step forward, making Mrs. Lovett want to back away more. She couldn't unless she wanted to cremate herself in the process.

"Come here, my love," Sweeney said softly, gesturing at her with his fingers, "There's not a thing to fear." Reluctantly, Mrs. Lovett walked towards him until she was only a couple of feet away. Sweeney stepped forward and placed his arm around her. She waited, but he did nothing other than that.

"See? I'm not going to hurt you." She looked up at him, seeing no malice in his eyes. She relaxed, but still kept her guard up. She felt him squeeze her shoulder slightly.

"You are very tense," He murmured, "I think I know just the thing to fix that." With his arm still around her, Sweeney led Mrs. Lovett up the stairs of the bake house. She was not sure what he was planning to do with her. She looked up at him, but he kept his gaze ahead as they ascended the narrow and steep stairs. She cursed to herself in her mind. He always wore an unreadable expression on his face. It drove her nuts!

When they finally reached the top, they went into the parlor and stopped. Sweeney was eyeing the couch. He shook his head slightly and directed them towards the stairway that led to the second floor to Mrs. Lovett's apartment.

What the bloody 'ell is 'e plannin' t' do t' me?

Mrs. Lovett kept on asking herself that as they went up the stairs. They quietly passed Toby's room (Mrs. Lovett thanked the gods that he was asleep). When they reached her room, Sweeney led her inside and finally released her.

"Let me know when you're ready. I'll be waiting outside your door." Mrs. Lovett stared at him blankly.

"Ready fer wot?"

"Your massage." With that said, Sweeney left the room and closed the door behind him. Mrs. Lovett stared at the spot where he was last seen.

A massage? He wants t' give me a massage??

Mrs. Lovett started to undress herself, trying to process the events leading up to this. He overheard her calling him a "bloody, confusing man". Instead of trying to kill her, he talks about her being tense and brings her upstairs so he could personally give her a massage. The Sweeney Todd she knew would never give her a massage, or even touch her unless absolutely necessary! When Mrs. Lovett was only in her bloomers, she wrapped a blanket tightly around herself and stared at the door, taking a breath or two to ease herself slightly.

"Alright, I'm ready." Sweeney entered the room and closed the door behind him. Mrs. Lovett turned and walked over to the bed, staring down at it for a moment before she carefully got on it. She could hear Sweeney approaching and she was very thankful that he could not see her face. She knew that she was probably as red as a tomato. Mrs. Lovett felt him moving the blanket down to reveal her entire back. She almost jumped when she felt him run his cool finger down along her spinal cord.

"So tense," He whispered. Why the hell did he care that she was tense? Before she could ask, Sweeney started to massage her neck, making her let out a groan of ecstasy. Mrs. Lovett heard him chuckle, which was another thing the Sweeney Todd she knew would never do.

"Never gotten a proper massage, have you?" He asked.

"N-no," Mrs. Lovett managed to say as his fingers kneaded into her neck at its most tense points. He chuckled again, slowly moving his hands towards her shoulders. Mrs. Lovett felt like she could melt on that bed. Not only was she getting a massage, she was getting a massage from the man she secretly loved with all of her heart. She didn't know why he was doing this, at this point, she didn't care at all.

Sweeney began on her upper back, having to put more work into that area. Mrs. Lovett let out another soft groan again, that area was one of her trouble spots.

"My dear, your back is as hard as a rock. Tell me, have you ever gotten a massage prior to this?" Sweeney asked as he pressed his elbow down on her and started to move it in hard circles. Why must he ask her these questions when she can barely talk? All Mrs. Lovett could manage was to shake her head.

"Humph, no wonder," He muttered as he switched elbows and spots, "In prison, when the guards were away, the prisoners would give each other massages like the one I'm giving you to relieve the stress and pain of our labor and beatings." Sweeney started on her lower back, which was the most troublesome spot of her entire body.

"I think it is rather silly to think about a man giving another man a massage, but it had to be done. It kept a lot of us going," Sweeney continued. Mrs. Lovett let out another moan, feeling much more relaxed. The only other part of her body that was in desperate need of easing would have to wait until Sweeney was gone and back up in his shop, if you get my drift.

"Thank you," Mrs. Lovett managed to say in the middle of a groan. Even though she couldn't see Sweeney, she had a feeling that he was smiling.

"Anytime, my love," He replied, finally finishing up the massage, "I hope that, by doing this for you, you will see that I will never harm you and that you have nothing to fear, Eleanor." Mrs. Lovett was shocked when he spoke her first name. That was another thing that the Sweeney she knew would never call her.

"Sleep well, my pet." By the time that Mrs. Lovett sat up enough to look at him, Sweeney was already gone.

Ah, what I wouldn't give to get a massage from Sweeney Todd. I just re-read this chapter and the tenses seem right. Let me know, though, if they aren't. Also, leave me review, too!