A/N: Back by popular demand! Yeah, I know it's been a while, but oh well. All who review will get a piece of pumpkin pie with extra whipped cream and three York peppermint patties. Yum. Hope you enjoy!
Me no own, you no sue.
Tourniquet: Chapter 8- Almost Easy
"Mr. Todd!" She gasped. She stumbled back a few steps, almost falling over. "W-w-wot are you d-doing 'ere?"
Sweeney stepped forward a bit. The moon light cast eerie shadows across his face.
"I've come to talk to you." He said.
Mrs. Lovett stood there staring at him. "Well," she said after a bit. "W-wot do ya want?"
"I've come to apologize." He said. "To apologize for everything I've done to hurt you and Toby; and maybe, get some chance at salvation."
Mrs. Lovett stood in disbelief; not quite sure if this was really happening or she was just dreaming it all up. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. A few moments of silence lapsed.
"Well, may I come in?" Sweeney asked.
"Umm, I guess…" she said, at length; and let him into the shop. Sweeney stepped in and she closed the door quietly behind him. He walked around the shop for a few minutes. Mrs. Lovett watched him make his way around the shop; not sure what he was up to. Sweeney then sat down in one of the booths and motioned for her to sit across from him. She obediently sat down.
"Mrs. Lovett," he said "First off, I want to say I'm terribly, terribly sorry for all I've done. I had become all to consumed by hate and rage to see that wot I was doing was wrong. The past few weeks I 'ave been pondering what to do now with my pitiful and miserable existence. I had gotten my revenge I had waited so long for, but now I had nothing left. My dearest Lucy is gone and Johanna had run off with Anthony 'fore I even got a chance to see her. There was nothing left; I was completely empty of everything, including my hate. That's when I really began to relies that wot I've done was immoral. I then started to think that somewhere deep, deep inside my cold, black heart, through all the pent up hate and anger that the part of me that could feel compassion was still there. I know I wouldn't be the same as I was when I was Benjamin Barker, the part of me that had seemed dead; but I was 'oping to maybe have some chance of salvation for myself."
Mrs. Lovett sat in silence; not sure if he was really saying all of this. She wasn't even completely sure if she could believe him. She peered into his eyes and noticed how sincere they were. She shook her head and stood up, walking to the other end of the shop. Why should she even consider listening to, or even believing the man who caused her so much pain; let alone forgive him? She folded her arms and turned her back toward him.
"I- I can't." she said "I can't forgive you. After all that you've done; I don't think I'm quite ready to forgive you."
Sweeney stood up and walked toward her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, but she stepped away.
"Mrs. Lovett," he said "I'm so sorry for all that I've done. I know 'wot it's like to be put through so much pain and suffering; and that it's something that will never fully go away; but I would like to put some of the past behind me and 'ave you forgive me."
Mrs. Lovett turned around. She looked into his eyes and sighed. "Well…" she said trailing off.
Then, Sweeney did something that she was completely unprepared for. He kissed her.
"Will you forgive me now?" he said slyly.
She swayed a bit, almost ready to faint, be he caught her before she fell. She blinked a few times and wondered yet again if she was dreaming all of this up, and that she would wake up at any minute. She then realized that she truly still had feeling for him.
"Well, I suppose so. I forgive you." She said staring up into his dark eyes.
Sweeney, with his arms still tightly around her, led her to one of the booths. She sat down and he sat across from her. Together they sat in silence. Mrs. Lovett sat looking at the floor, deep in thought. She looked up.
"Well, I believe it would do us all some good to try to put the past behind us and move on and start anew." She said smiling. Sweeney smiled back at her.
"The thing is though," She said with a sigh. "Toby is gonna take a lot of convincing. The poor child is scared to death of ya."
Sweeney frowned and looked down at the table, feeling rather guilty. " 'ow is he doing?" Sweeney asked.
Mrs. Lovett sighed. "He's getting better." She said. She really didn't feel like stating that he had almost killed him, which she could tell he felt very guilty about, or that he was having nightmares almost every night and he had now become quite paranoid. She merely sighed again and continued looking down at the table.
Sweeney placed his hand on hers in a gesture of sympathy. She looked up. She could tell in the sincere look in his eyes that he really had changed, and for the better. She placed his hand in hers and smiled.
"We could 'ave a life us three. You, Toby and I. Maybe not like I dreamed, maybe not like you remember, but we could get by." She said.
Sweeney smiled. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Yes, I think we could get by." He said. "I know that I'll never have my Lucy back again; but I want to move on and put the past behind me."
Mrs. Lovett cringed slightly at the mention of Lucy. She knew that Sweeney was under the assertion that she was dead, but Mrs. Lovett knew that she was still very much alive. She knew that the moment that he found out the she was still living, their lives would be completely shattered; in every sense of the term.
They sat in the shop for a few hours casually talking when Mrs. Lovett looked out the window. The sun was already starting to rise and people were beginning to open up their own shops for the day.
"Well, better start getting the pies made and open up the shop." She said standing up. Sweeney got up and followed her across the shop.
"Well, I'm gonna go up and get my shop set up." He said.
"Alright, love." Mrs. Lovett said. "There's probably a good deal of dust up there."
Sweeney nodded and head toward the door.
"Oh, one more thing," she said.
"What is it, pet?" he replied, almost half way out the door.
"I do not wish to see any more dead bodies in the bake house when I go to get the pies."
"Of course." Sweeney said and headed out the door.
After putting a batch of pies in the oven, Mrs. Lovett went to go check on Toby. When she entered the room he was just waking up.
"Good morning, dear." She said cheerfully.
Toby yawned. "Morning mum." He said, rubbing his eyes.
"Did you sleep all right last night?" she asked, wondering if he had heard anything that had taken place that night.
"Mhm." He mumbled, nodding. He yawned again and stretched. He was still only half awake.
She sat down next to him and put her arms around him. She knew she'd have to tell him about Sweeney, but she really didn't want to frighten him. She sighed and stroked his hair.
"Toby, dear, there's something important I need to talk to ya about."
" Wot is it, mum?" he asked.
"Well," she said. "Last night, Mr. Todd came back."
Toby's eyes got wide. He looked as if he was about ready to cry. Mrs. Lovett stroked his back, trying to comfort him.
"It's alright, dear. I talked to him and he said that he really just wants to put the past behind him and start anew. He's changed, darling, he really has." She said.
Toby shook his head. "No, no. He's a liar. He's a liar and he hasn't changed. He's gonna try to hurt me again, I know it!" he said, sobbing.
"Oh, darling, you know I'd never let him hurt you again. And I'm telling ya, dear, he really has changed." She said. She went to put her arms around him, but he pulled away.
"Toby, dear, please, just listen to me." She pleaded.
"No!" he screamed at her and stomped out of the room. Tears were streaming down his face.
Mrs. Lovett sighed. "Well, that went well."
Later that day Mrs. Lovett was sitting in her shop. Business had been slow that day. Actually, business had been slow for the past few weeks. Her pies had now gone back to being the worst in London. She sat drumming her fingers against the table, staring blankly out the window, when Sweeney entered the shop.
"'Ello, pet." He said.
She looked up. "Oh, 'ello." She said dryly and went back to looking out the window.
" 'ow did your day go." He asked.
Mrs. Lovett looked up again, a bit startled. She couldn't remember the last time he had asked her how her day went. Maybe this new Sweeney would take some getting used to.
"Well, I talked to Toby." She said.
"And…" Sweeney said.
"He didn't take to kindly to it. He got pretty upset. He's locked himself up in his room... again." She replied.
Sweeney frowned, not really knowing what to say to this.
"Well, did ya get your shop cleaned up?" she asked, trying to change the subject.
"Well, I got most of it cleaned up, but I still 'ave some work left to do." He replied.
Mrs. Lovett nodded and went back to looking out the window. Sweeney went and sat next to her.
"Is there something wrong?" he asked.
Mrs. Lovett let out a deep sigh. "I'm just worried 'bout Toby." She said. "He's been so depressed lately. He just 'asn't been the same. The poor thing. I feel so bad for him, but I just don't know 'ow to 'elp him any more."
Sweeney put his arms around her tightly. "I'm sure he'll get better soon enough, my dear."
"Easy enough for you to say." she replied coldly and pulled away from him. She looked at him hard. "Easy enough to say coming from someone who 'asn't 'ad to deal with 'im. Especially coming from the person who caused him all this pain. 'ow about I slit your damn throat and see how you feel about it!"
Sweeney was rather startled by her reaction. Mrs. Lovett got up and walked across the shop. She shook her head and sighed. "I'm sorry, it's-it's been a long few weeks." she said. A tear trickled down her face.
Sweeney walked over to her and put his arms around her waist. "That's all right, pet. I just shouldn't have said anything." He held her close to him for a few minutes in silence.
"I'm going to go up and finish cleaning up my shop. Are you going to be all right, darling?" he said at length. She nodded. He kissed her on the cheek and walked out the door.
A few days had passed, and Toby still refused to come out of his room. This wasn't unusual for him, but Mrs. Lovett still worried.
"Toby, dear, please come out." She said, knocking on his door. She got no answer. She tried turning the door knob, but it was still locked.
"Come on, dear. I wanna talk to ya. Come on Toby." She pleaded again, but she still got no answer. She sighed and figured her attempt useless. As she turned to walk back down the hall, though, Toby opened the door.
Mrs. Lovett turned back around and smiled.
"That's my boy." She said smiling and hugged him tightly. "Now, come along." She said, taking him by the hand.
She led him into the parlor where Sweeney was already seated. Toby gulped and tried to pull away but Mrs. Lovett had a death grip on his hand.
"It's alright dear, he's not gonna 'urt ya, I promise." She said as she sat down. Toby sat next to her. She was still holding his hand tightly. Sweeney smiled at him from across the room, but Toby didn't return the gesture.
"Alright, I think we all need to 'ave a nice little chat, huh." Mrs. Lovett said.
Sweeney leaned forward a bit in his chair, which made Toby even more nervous. Mrs. Lovett nodded to Sweeney.
"Toby," Sweeney said. "I am extremely sorry for 'wot I did to you. I can't tell you 'ow guilty I feel about it. I know you'll probably never forgive me for this, and I don't expect you to, but I just want to say I'm so sorry for 'wot I've done."
Toby bit his lip and exhaled deeply. He was still nervous, but that was starting to go away. He could tell that Sweeney was being sincere, but he still didn't trust him completely.
"I've realized all the things I've done were wrong," Sweeney continued, "And I 'ope for some chance of forgiveness. Now, I want to try to put the past behind me and move on."
Toby took a deep breath. "Mr. Todd," he said, "I still don't completely trust you, but I'm starting to get there. I'm really not sure if I can really forgive you and you've really hurt me a lot but, I think it'd be good to try to move on and start anew."
Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett smiled at each other happily. Progress was being made.
"There's one thing I wanna know, though." Toby said.
" Wot is it?" Sweeney asked.
"I wanna know why you killed all those people." Toby said.
Mrs. Lovett glanced at Sweeney. She knew this that this was a subject he didn't like to talk about.
"Well," Sweeney said. "Many years ago I had a wife and daughter. I had a very happy life. But, one day, the judge sent me away on false charges, and took my wife and daughter. Fifteen years later I came back, and sought revenge on the judge and everyone else who had done me wrong. Now, though, I realize that what I've done was wrong." Sweeney sighed and leaned back in his chair.
Toby was starting to feel bad for him. He couldn't imagine what he had gone through.
"I- I'm sorry." Toby said
"That's all right." Sweeney said. "As I said before, I want to try to put the past behind me."
Mrs. Lovett smiled. She was glad to see Sweeney start to come clean with everything. She was also happy to see that Toby was starting to warm up to Sweeney, even if only very slightly. She smiled at Sweeney and Toby, who both smiled back at her. She hugged Toby tightly and Sweeney got up and gave her a kiss and ruffled Toby's hair. She realized that they were a family now. They might be a bit of a dysfunctional one; but they were still a family.
A/N: Well, I hope it was worth the wait and I guess I'll see you next chapter! =~D
Oh, one more thing, this chapter was named after a Avenged Sevenfold song and last chapter was named after an Emilie Autumn song.