Alright, lovely people. Here's the last chapter! I know we all wanted Nellie and Ben to end up together, but hey that's what sequels are for! ;)
"Ellis!" he heard his mother call for him. He looked back and returned his gaze back to the toad he had been chasing for half an hour already.
"Ellis!" another call and this time, his mother's voice was getting louder and nearer. He was torn between ignoring the enormous beast in front him or ignoring his mother. He contemplated for a few seconds before making up his mind finally, lunging at the animal which so effortlessly hopped away from him and with a croak, disappeared into the bushes.
He did not have the time to be disappointed for his mother caught up with him, holding him by the ear as she dragged him away back to their house. "I've been searching for you! We're leaving soon! Look at you, all dirty and sweaty! Go and have a bath this instant!"
"Yes, mum," he murmured but begrudgingly followed her.
He went up to his room, which was bare of his belongings except for the several bags where his things were stored. He sat down on the bed knowing he still have few more minutes before his mother would come running up and talk about him taking too long to shower. Today, they would be leaving to go back to his mother's hometown. He didn't want to go but he really didn't have much choice on the matter. The idea of having to start over again scared him, although his mother always reassured him that he would like it there and that he would have much more experience with the 'real world'. He did not know what she was talking about when she mentioned the 'real world' but it did nothing to ease him.
If it wasn't for his father, he would have chosen to stay here in Edinburgh. After his grandparents died of old age, his father was swallowed with depression; he stopped talking and going to work. Gin became his only company, and so every day he would drink and then pass out until he has had enough, repeating the same process all over again. Even his mother could not get him out of that state. After months of him being that way, he finally stopped and spoke to them; he told them that he wanted to go back to London and leave the house along with the bad memories it held. Sighing in defeat, he stood up and went straight to the bathroom, hoping the water could wash along the fears he was harboring.
David took her aside while she was busy with arranging the things that they would be bringing. When she turned to him, she could see his face was plastered with worry. She cupped his cheeks and ran her thumbs along his jaws, "David, what is it Love?"
He stood in silence for a while reveling at her touch, but he soon took her hands in and wrapped them on his waist while he did the same to her. "I just want to thank you," he whispered in her ear, his voice cracked sounding like he was about to cry.
"Love, what for?" she inquired; she broke off their embrace so she could look at him. Her heart broke upon seeing his eyes that were filled with so much sadness.
"For everything. For not giving up on me even though I've been a terrible husband and father to you and Ellis for the past few months." He answered, not looking at her.
She knew she was ashamed of his actions but she couldn't let him feel that. It was understandable that he became depressed, his parents died for God's sake! She didn't hold it against him. She knew that was his way of coping and she couldn't do anything about that. She could only look out after him and make sure that he was not harming himself.
"Darling, you don't have to feel sorry. I understand, and Ellis, too. We're here for you, no matter what." She kissed him on the lips, not knowing anymore what to say. What was intended to be a kiss of comfort turned into a heated one, and before the two of them noticed their son was already in front of them, making puke noises.
"Oi! Stop that you brat!" she said while she composed herself. David was beside her grinning like an idiot. She was embarrassed of course, but showing that to her son would only make him tease them more. She was just glad that her husband seemed to gradually come back to his old self.
"Come now, let's all put these things in the carriage." That they all did. They then rode off to the train station and boarded the train back to London, back to Fleet Street.
They were all seated by the fireplace having some good rest after renovating the house all day. When they arrived yesterday, they didn't do much except clean the rooms that they would be sleeping in, they have decided that they would do all the work next day, which is today. When they first set foot in the house, Eleanor was surprised to see it untouched, except for some broken windows which were quickly replaced. Everything was still as they left them, only that there were thick dusts and dirt covering the whole house.
It was nice to be back at her house; if she was going to be honest, she half expected to see Benjamin welcoming her but the room upstairs showed no signs of someone living in there. She was disappointed to say the least. When David told her that he wanted to leave Edinburgh, she immediately thought of going back to London, for a selfish reason being that he wanted to see Benjamin again. She didn't want him anymore as much as she did before, but somehow she still got love left for him no matter how little. Besides, after all those years, she was able to finally learn to love her husband. She had to admit though that her love for David would not surpass how she loved Ben before.
Also, fifteen years of not seeing each other she wanted to know what happened to him, if he and Lucy were able to fix their marriage or if he found someone else. It had been so long, he could be dead or he could be anywhere in the world right now. Maybe they would not see each other again. Well, wherever he was, she wished him well
She was disturbed from her stupor when the seat beside her dipped low. She looked over to see her son placed his head on her lap and stretched his body on the sofa. She couldn't help the smile the crept on her face as she watched him fall asleep. She ran her fingers through his hair and heard him sigh contentedly.
"Mama's boy," David said, loud enough only for her to hear.
She laughed at this and shook her head, sticking her tongue out at him. "You're just jealous!" she shot back.
"Can you blame me? He gets all your attention." He said, feigning hurt although she could see the twinkle in his eyes and the slight tug at the corner of his lips.
"Come here," she beckoned him; when he was in front of her, she suddenly grabbed his face and kissed him roughly, catching him off guard but he soon returned the kiss eagerly once he was able to compose himself. They were so wrapped up in their world but stopped when they both heard puking noises.
David groaned in protest, reluctantly breaking off the kiss. "You always have to ruin the moment!"
"Well, if you would just stop doing that in front of me!" Ellis said, equally annoyed as David. He stood up from the sofa and lazily marched into his new bedroom so he could sleep.
When he was gone, the two happily resumed what they were doing and later continued the rest of the deed in the privacy of their chamber.
It was raining very hard, thunders were rolling and lightings were flashing wildly. The three occupants of 186 Fleet Street were huddled together in front of the fireplace, joined by one comforter. They were exchanging scary stories among one another, and it was currently Nellie's turn. All of them were on edge, but no one dared to show it.
"So the man knocked on the house of the poor innocent family…" They heard three loud knocks coming from the front door. They all ignored it, thinking nothing of it, laughing nervously at the coincidence.
"The mother decided not to answer it first, thinking nothing of it but it only made the knocks louder and angrier…" someone was banging in their door now. This could not be ignored as clearly someone seemed to want to get in their house. Silence reigned among them; they were all looking at each other with fear in their eyes, not knowing what to do.
Finally, after a few minutes which felt like forever, Nellie volunteered to check the front door, mustering up all her courage. David insisted that he come with her but she said that he was being paranoid, that no harm would come to her. When she reached the front door, she opened it a little trying to see outside but she couldn't see clearly as it was so dark. Opening the door fully, she gasped in shock upon seeing a man in front of her, drenched in rain. His dark eyes were boring into hers, yet she couldn't look away from them.
"M-m-may I help you?" she stammered; she was holding the door tightly ready to slam it shut lest the man tried to hurt her.
The man furrowed his brows, "I want to rent the room above," was his simple reply. He seemed unfazed by that the rain that was continuously pouring down him and of the freezing cold wind.
"G-get in," she said. She didn't know why she invited him in, it just felt like it was the right thing to do. She didn't have any idea of the man's background and if he had any plans on murdering her, she would scream her lungs out to warn David and Ellis.
She got a careful look on him once he stepped inside and the candles' light touched his face. He seemed oddly familiar, although she didn't know where she saw him. Maybe he was one of her customers? She let him take a seat at one of the booths and left him to get some towels and to warn Ellis and David that they have company.
"Loves, there's a man in the shop. He said he would rent the room above, looked like he really needed a place to go so I let him in." she announced to them like it was no big deal. The two looked at each other with unease before they went to the shop to greet the man.
Meanwhile, Nellie shuffled through her things to locate the towels she would lend the man. While she was searching for them, she thought hard on when she saw the man. It bothered her greatly that she couldn't remember him, given that she was very good at remembering people. He didn't seem like the type of people that she would mingle with, as the man looked like he hated every person in the world. Yet, deep inside her, it felt like she knew the man very well.
Grabbing the towels she found, she immediately rushed out of the room to attend to the man's need. When she arrived at the shop, she found David and Ellis talking to the man. Smiling to herself, she approached them. When she reached them, she handed the towels to the man.
"Here you go, Mister… what's your name again, love?" she asked sheepishly.
When the man answered her, everything clicked to her. Although his features hardened and his voice turned cold, there was no denying it. This man in front of her is Benjamin Barker, and they've met again.
"The name's Todd. Sweeney Todd."
Thank you everyone for joining me in this roller coaster ride. No more long messages. See you guys to the next part? *wink wink*
Reviews are L.O.V.E. :)))