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The Dragon and the Rose

Chapter Three

Pete falls in love (although it's just for puffs)

Pete grinned as Dave passed the beer across the table to him. 'How've you been, son?' the dark haired man asked, sitting down on the torn, cigarette smelling seat beside him.

'Good; first day back at work was a nightmare,' Pete replied, before taking a swig. Terry was idly cleaning a glass behind the bar, a few men dotted here and there, but other than that, the Abbey was quiet. 'Where's Swill?'

'Being a doting father,' Dave replied, shaking his head with a smile. 'Scary thought, innit?'

'What? Swill being a dad?' Pete nodded in agreement. 'Never thought I'd see the day where he was actually responsible for something.' The two men laughed, but after a moment, Pete turned serious. 'Things are changing now, aint they.'

'How do you mean?' Dave frowned over his beer.

'Well, Lucy and Bov are married and 'ave Charlie. Libby and Swill have even grown up a little and 'ave Jenny. Ike's engaged to his bird…. It's just… everyone's growing up now. They all have lives.'

'We're all still 'ere, though. It's not like we're all just gunna get up and leave.'

'I know, but it just seems like everyone's falling in love.' Dave burst out into laughter, before slapping Pete on the shoulder.

'Us tough GSE bastards can't 'ave that now, can we?' he chuckled.

'Nope,' Pete agreed. 'Love's for puffs.'

--

'Oh, fuck off, miss! I don't care about Geography. I just wanna go 'ome!' came the angry shouts from down the corridor. Pete frowned, quickening his pace. He watched as a year six student, Dean, kicked the bin, sending it flying across the corridor.

'Oi, what do you think you're doing?' he demanded, coming to a stop beside Tegan.

'He won't do as he's told,' she replied, cheeks pink.

'I don't even need Geography. It's a stupid subject.'

'Hey, shut it, okay,' Pete snapped. 'Do you want to go and see Mr Watson?'

'He can suck my dick,' the angry boy replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Pete sighed, running a hand over his head, before looking at Tegan.

'I can deal with this,' he said. She nodded, glancing at Dean before turning and going back into her classroom. When she shut the door, Pete turned back to Dean. 'What the hell's all that about?' he demanded.

'I don't want 'er to teach me,' Dean shrugged. 'I want Mr Clark back.'

'He aint coming back, mate,' Pete replied. 'He's retired.'

'He was better than 'er!'

'Give her a chance.'

'Just 'cause you fancy 'er, sir,' Dean muttered in annoyance. 'I bet you'd do anything to get into 'er pants.' Shaking his head, Pete sighed.

'C'mon. Mr Watson's office.'

'You don't even deny it,' Dean muttered as he walked off towards the head teacher's office. Pete gave a small laugh.

'Cheeky git,' he muttered under his breath, as the bell rang for lunch. He waited until Tegan's classroom was empty, before knocking and stepping inside.

'I'm sorry about him,' she apologized, when she saw who it was.

'Don't worry about it,' Pete replied, sitting on one of the desks as Tegan wiped the board clean.

'Thank you for helping out, though,' she added, putting the board wiper down and turning to smile thankfully at him.

'All in a day's work,' he laughed. Tegan smiled broadly, before sitting at her desk directly opposite him.

'I never thought ten year olds could be so troublesome,' she murmured, before meeting his eyes. She let her gaze travel down his body before she suddenly let out a giggle.

'What?' Pete frowned. He'd watched her check him out and now felt self-conscious that she was laughing.

'West Ham socks?!' she said, incredulously. Pete looked down to see the West Ham emblem peeping out from under his trousers. He started to laugh as well.

'West Ham is brilliant,' he replied. Tegan pulled a face, still laughing.

'I'm not a football girl.'

'Tennis?' he guessed.

'Nope.'

'Badminton? Volleyball?'

'Rugby,' she beamed back at him.

'Rugby? That's not very girly.' Tegan rolled her eyes.

'Rugby happens to be a good sport,' she replied.

'What team do you support?' he asked.

'The Ospreys,' Tegan replied, a proud look crossing her face. 'That's my regional club. Shane Williams became the leading try scorer in the 6 nations! Ryan Jones, he's the captain, well, he called Shane 'The Little Welsh Wizard.' I do prefer Shane with longer hair though. He's the shortest person on the team. Oh and then there's Lee Byrne…' Tegan trailed off, suddenly bright red. 'I'm sorry, I tend to go a little crazy when people start talking about rugby,' she said, sheepishly.

Pete laughed. 'Its fine, but you aint seen nothing if you aint watched The Hammers play.'

'Rugby is so much better than football!' she protested, the playful grin still on her face.

'Fine; after school you can show me how to play rugby and I'll show you how to play football,' Pete declared with a twinkle in his eyes. Tegan paused for a minute, before nodding.

'Okay,' she laughed. 'It's a deal.'

--

'Ready?' Tegan asked, as the two stood on the field of the deserted school grounds.

'I'm ready,' Pete replied, ignoring the twinge in his back. They'd already had a rough game of rugby and that's when she'd been going 'easy' on him.

Tegan chucked the rugby ball at him and Pete leapt to catch it. Suddenly, he was thrown to the ground as she asserted all her force onto him in a rugby tackle. He groaned as he hit the floor hard.

'Do you give up?' she asked in that sweet Welsh accent.

'Yeah,' he replied, admitting defeat. 'You win.'

'Say it,' she demanded.

'Huh?'

'Say it!'

'Rugby is better than football,' he grumbled. Tegan beamed, clambering off him. She picked up the rugby ball, tossing it from one hand to the other, before putting it under her arm and walking to the goal posts. She swapped her rugby ball for a tattered football, holding it gingerly in the air.

'We're playing with this battered thing?' she asked. Pete grinned.

'It's my lucky ball,' he said, getting to his feet. 'I'll go in goal first. You can take shots against me.' She nodded, walking a few feet from the goal and setting the ball down. Pete readied himself in the goal, crouching, knee's bent, hands ready to catch it. Tegan backed away from the ball, her face set. Then, taking a run up, she belted the ball way over the goal posts. It hit one of the cars still left in the car park, setting its alarm off. Tegan clapped her hands over her mouth.

'Damn it,' she muttered, covering her face as one of the teachers came out. Pete straightened up.

'Sorry, Burt!' he called, as the man kicked the ball back. 'Bad aim.' Burt muttered something under his breath, before turning off the alarm and heading back inside. Tegan giggled.

'I guess some of us just aren't cut out to be footballers,' she said. 'Even footballers aren't cut out to be footballers,' she added, lightly. Pete glanced at her.

'Meaning?'

'Well, a single tap to the leg and they fall over crying for their Ma. You don't see rugby players doing that,' she grinned. They walked towards each other, mud on their faces, palms and knees, meeting in the middle.

'I think you need a hot bath,' Tegan laughed, looking at the mud that had been swiped across his forehead. He rubbed at it, but it stubbornly refused to come off.

'See you tomorrow, then,' he replied. The two lingered for a moment, before Tegan backed off.

'See you tomorrow,' she smiled, before picking up her rugby ball, and heading towards her car. Pete smiled to himself as he watched her go.

--

The Abbey was packed that evening. The GSE lads were all sat around their usual table, beers flowing, Ned and Ike in the middle of a serious game of snap.

'Snap!' the two yelled at the same time.

'No, I win!' Ned said. 'My hand's under yours.'

'Fuck is it! Anyway, I say Snap first,' Ike bickered. Dave shook his head with a laugh, before turning to look at Pete.

'Mate, are you stoned or something?'

'What?' Pete frowned.

'That smile's not faded since you came in 'ere.'

'Nah, I'm not stoned,' Pete laughed. 'Just… We 'ave a new teacher at the school. 'Er name's Tegan.'

'Is she fit?' asked Swill, leaning in to hear them better.

'She's good looking,' Pete smirked. 'Blonde 'air, amazing smile. Nice arse. She's Welsh.' Swill spluttered over his beer.

'Welsh?!' he asked, looking from Pete to Dave and back again. 'Does she give sheep the ol' rumpy pumpy?'

'She aint a sheep shagger!' Pete swung out at Swill, but he bounced back in his seat with a laugh. 'She gorgeous, Dave, she really is. I can't even describe it…' Pete trailed out, gazing into space.

Dave cleared his throat and leaned closer. 'And 'ere I was, thinking love was for puffs,' he smirked. Pete shook his head.

'You're on your own there, mate.'

'I thought I would be.' Dave fell silent, before looking back at the blonde. 'I guess I need to 'urry up and find a bird, then, shouldn't I?'

Swill shoved him in the side. 'I 'ave the perfect person!' he said loudly. Dave shook his head.

'No, Swill. I'm not 'aving you set me up on any dates with any of your mates, alright?'

'They're not all like Susan you know.'

'You told me Susan was drop-dead gorgeous,' Dave replied, an unimpressed look on his face. 'She turned up with a monobrow, a lazy eye and a few missing front teeth.'

'Yeah, and at that point you were supposed to drop dead,' Swill replied innocently. Dave shook his head.

'I'll find my own bird, thanks.'

'And that grin of 'ers!' Pete continued. 'She's fuckin' amazing!'

'Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be a long night?' grumbled Dave, draining his glass.

'Did I mention 'er arse?'

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