A/n: I am so HAPPY!! I was taking a major risk with this story because it's pretty much the first time I've written a romance fic, AND SO FAR YOU GUYS LIKE IT!
Wanna know another reason I'm happy? OVER 5,000 HITS ON MVR! YAY!!
I just need to get something out of my system: I HATE THE AGE DIFFERENCE I HATE THE AGE DIFFERENCE I HATE THE AGE DIFFERENCE!! Okay, I'm good. I've seen other stories where a large age difference has worked (ever read Girl Anachronism or Scream by pinkeop? No? WELL WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR! GO READ THEM!)
Disclaimer: Lindsey's mine, Sweeney's not, I wish it was the other way around, because Sweeney's hot. HAHA! I wrote a poem. Go me.
Chapter Three
It really wasn't long before the nightmares started. For both of them. For a couple of days the two stayed out of each other's way. The nightmares started sooner for Sweeney, he'd seen so much more than Lindsey. He'd wake late into the night, breathing heavily, having relived one or more of his murders in his mind. It was strange to him, being able to sleep. Now that he'd finally gotten the Judge out of the way, he was able to rest a bit. Because he'd rarely slept, he never thought he'd ever have to deal with nightmares. After he woke up, it was hard for him to fall back to sleep.
Some of the worst nightmares were driven by the guilt of killing Mrs. Lovett. In the last few days, Lindsey had seemed to be taking her mother's death harder and harder. Everyone who asked about her in the shop was told Nellie Lovett was taken by a bout of pneumonia that struck and killed quickly. But Sweeney and Lindsey knew the truth. One night he had one nightmare that was particularly gruesome. Not only did he see her burning once again, but he could hear her screams, completely bone-chilling now that he wasn't so numb. The scream had woken him, only for him to find that the screaming continued as he was awake. It was already light outside. Sweeney hurried down to Lindsey's room and knew the look on her face immediately. The heavy breathing and wide, wild eyes told him all he needed to know. "Nightmare?" he asked.
She nodded, unable to speak. The horrible images flitting through her mind were his fault. Not that she would say that. She couldn't risk making him angry.
He sighed. "Come on. You should probably get up it's already morning."
This time she managed a weak, "Ok." When he left the room, she flopped backwards and fought back the tears that threatened to spill. She missed her mother so much, but she couldn't let on for fear of upsetting Sweeney. She dressed quickly and quietly. She'd been wearing her mother's dresses, regardless of the fact that they were a bit small for her. They still smelled like her mother's perfume. She looked in the mirror. Her hair was sticking up everywhere. There were dark circles beneath her tired brown eyes. She was officially a wreck. Then she remembered. It was her birthday. She was seventeen. "Happy birthday to me," she muttered. She went into the shop and found a man sitting at one of the tables. She jumped. "My apologies sir, you gave me a fright."
"No, no, my apologies Miss Lovett. My name is Theodore Livingston. First of all I'd like to say that I'm terribly sorry for your loss. It must be hard for you, losing your mother."
"Thank you," Lindsey whispered.
"Second I am here on official business. Now, as much as I do not want to have to do this to you, I must. You are seventeen today, correct?" Lindsey nodded. "And with your mother…ah…having, passed on, the shop would naturally fall to you. But as you are not yet 18, I'm afraid you cannot own property."
"What?" Lindsey asked. Just when she thought her life couldn't get any more complicated. "Why not?"
"As I said, you are underage and also unmarried."
"And if she was married?"
The pair jumped. Sweeney Todd had found his way into the shop undetected. "How do you do that?" Lindsey said in disbelief.
"Who are you?" Theodore asked.
"Sweeney Todd," he replied. "I live in the shop upstairs. Now you answer my question."
"Well, if she was married and her husband was over 18, then he could own the shop and she would not lose it. Ah, Miss Lovett, I do have other business to attend to, I'll be back in the next week. Good day." As soon as Theodore Livingston left the shop, Lindsey sank into a chair and buried her face in her hands.
"What's wrong with you?" Sweeney asked.
Lindsey stared at him. "I'm going to lose my shop! Weren't you listening?"
"No you're not. Weren't YOU listening?"
"What are you getting at?" Lindsey asked. "You would marry me?"
"If it's what it took for you to keep your shop."
"What in it for you?"
"Think, Lindsey. I rent my shop from you. You lose your shop, I lose mine." He paused. "And…you've grown on me a bit."
Lindsey smiled slightly. "Really?"
"Really."
"You're serious aren't you?" Sweeney nodded. "Well…I guess I don't want to lose my shop…" She thought for a moment. "Alright, I'll do it. But it has to be by next week, he said he'd be back within the week."
"That can be arranged. There's a chapel on the other side of town, no one would have to know we married."
It was arranged that the two would be married in three days. Lindsey couldn't believe she was actually going to do this. She was actually going to marry Sweeney Todd. What did it mean that he had offered? "No," she told herself, "He doesn't love me, he just doesn't want me to lose my shop."
The day of the wedding came all too fast for Lindsey. She woke with a nervous stomach ache. She didn't really have anything to be nervous about, but she still couldn't stop the feeling. A cab would be coming by a noon to pick up the two of them. At 11:45 Lindsey was finishing getting ready. She'd opted out of the usual large white dress and replaced it with a green one. When she decided she that how she looked was as good as she was going to get she walked out into the shop. It was empty. "Where is that man?" she muttered. She went up into the barber shop. "Mr. T?" she said gently. He was standing by the window. "The cab is going to be here soon…Mr. T what are you doing?"
"I'm as bad as the judge," he whispered.
"What? What are you talking about?"
He turned to face his young bride. "I'm more than twice your age Lindsey! It's just like the judge and Johanna."
"No! Of course it's not!" she stuttered. She awkwardly slid an arm around his waist. "You're not forcing me to marry you. You haven't kept me locked up for fifteen years. You're…you're just helping me out of a tight spot. Believe me Mr. Todd, if I didn't want to marry you I wouldn't."
"So you're not just marrying me to keep your shop?"
Lindsey blushed. "Well…that's part of the reason."
"So you actually want to marry me?"
She rested her head on his shoulder. "Yeah, I s'pose I do."
"Promise?"
Lindsey fought a laugh. He was acting like such a child. She kissed him gently. "Promise."