This is part 1 of 2. As with all 2 part-ers, the second half will inevitably be better, but I hope this one doesn't entirely suck. Its in the next chapter that the madness kicks off big time and there's fights gallore for you to revel in including Pete vs. Allie vs. Shannon. Vs. Steve Vs. Matt Vs. Pete Vs. Shannon Vs. Lara...eh, you get the point. :)

Reviews were awsome, I fell asleep in the park yesterday and am subsequently burnt to a crisp so posting may be more frequent now that I'm confined to the indoors where the A.C is my friend. Make me feel better and review. And on a personal note -b/c I care about you- don't be an ass like me. WEAR SUNSCREEN!!

Allie watched Pete out of the corner of her eye as he strolled warily into the kitchen, still semi unused to life without crutches. The blue tie in his hand dragged along the floor as he yanked the door open to the small room off the kitchen which housed the washer and dryer, crouching down carefully and pulling his favourite beige shirt out of it.

Glancing down at her magazine quickly, she felt him looking at her and bit her lip; they hadn't spoken properly since the other night when Steve had stormed in and confronted her about supporting Shannon in the divorce. She knew Pete was angry at her, but how could she try and convince him it wasn't her fault if he wasn't even speaking to her?

"D'you, um, d'you want me to iron that?" she pointed to the shirt, wincing when she realised it didn't actually need it at all.

"Nah," he shook his head, pulling it on and buttoning it up, her eyes focusing on the West Ham crest on his toned chest until it disappeared out of view.

"Are you nervous about going in?" she asked him, trying to smile. "You know, first day back at work seeing everyone?"

"I'm not going back," he snapped. "Benson called me in to talk about when I can go back so I can get started on my lesson plans and shit,"

"Oh," she nodded. "Can I at least drive you there?"

"Benjamin's picking me up," he told her bluntly.

Nodding mutely, she looked back down at her magazine, the words on the page blurring together as tears stung her eyes. She knew that she deserved his cold attitude, but damnit that didn't mean it wasn't hurting her.

"I'll be back around 3," Pete told her, picking up his phone and shoving it into his pocket. "Steve's dropping Ben off later while he goes and sees 'is lawyer," he paused. "I figured it was the least we could do for 'im." He looked at her sharply, his blue eyes piercing through her. "You're seeing Shannon's lawyer later, right?"

"Yeah," Allie whispered, not trusting her voice to go any louder. Looking up at him, she forced herself not to start crying and pleaded with him. "But, listen Pete-…"

A car horn beeped outside and he shrugged, looking down at his phone.

"That's Benjamin," he told her. "I'll be back around 3,"

With that, he strolled out of the kitchen, pulling on his tie as he went. There was no cheeky grin, no lingering kiss, and no bear hug.

Just the sound of the front door slamming as he left her sitting alone.

Dropping her head onto the marble counter, she cried angrily into her folded arms.

"Stupid fucking fuckwit!" she shouted, banging her head for effect.

"Crikey, did you take the blue pill this morning or what?"

Lifting her head, Allie stared at Lara as she leant against the doorframe, the smirk on her lips bleeding away when she saw the tears on her friends face.

"Hey," she frowned in concern as she raced over to her and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "What is this like a hormone thing or should I actually be worried?"

"I messed up," Allie told her. "Lara, I really, really messed up,"

"Hey," she hugged her tightly, brushing her hair off of her face. "Its ok, whatever happened we can fix it…or at least get drunk trying,"

Giggling into the mass of red hair, Allie pulled away and shook her head, looking up into the brown eyes she knew so well and smiling faintly.

"Come on, blondie," Lara winked, pulling her to her feet and dragging her out towards the hallway. "Get your fun pants on; if we're going to wallow in self pity we can at least go outside and do it in the nice weather."

"It's still the same," Pete breathed, feeling more than a little relieved as he stepped into his classroom, the noise of the playground drifting in through the open windows.

"You've been gone two months Pete," Benjamin frowned. "What were you expecting? You reckon we'd replace you with a robot or something?"

"Wouldn't put it past you, you cheeky fuck," he quipped, perching on the edge of his desk and picking up a lesson plan the sub teacher had left which he noted with disdain included a surprise quiz and 'quiet time'.

"What the fuck 'as this prick got my boys doing?" he shook his head, handing the paper to Benjamin who laughed.

"Aye, sounds about right," he snorted. "I tell you something, Dunham, its me you should feel fucking sorry for, not the lads," he came to sit on the desk opposite Pete and raised an eyebrow. "You were on deaths door, crippled, maybe not coming back," he looked sad suddenly and Pete wasn't sure what to do. "All I wanted was for the school to hire a fit sub…you know, a nice blonde with a D cup and an interest in Chelsea FC, something to take my mind not to mention other parts off of the pain of losing my drinking partner," he wiped away and invisible tear and Pete burst out laughing. "Instead," he snapped, pointing out into the playground. "I get that fucking pansy, strutting about in his pink shirt ranting on about how tennis is better than football."

"I'm sorry, mate," Pete shook his head, still laughing. "I 'ad no idea my accident was so hard on you,"

"Aye, brother well I can tell you now that it fucking well was," he screeched. "No Scotsman in the world wants to hear about tennis. Unless it involves that Kournikova bird, we don't give a fuck about some ponce with a bowl of strawberries and a Hugh Grant haircut smacking a ball with a racket,"

Grinning at his friend, Pete picked up his whistle which sat where he had left it on his desk all those weeks ago, back when everything had been so much simpler.

"Something on your mind, brother?" Benjamin cocked his head thoughtfully at the blonde man in front of him. "The knee hurting again?"

"Nah," Pete shook his head, sighing. "Nah, its all fine."

"So what's with the broody pouting bollocks you've got going on, eh?" he smirked.

"I 'ad a fight with Allie," he shook his head, growing angry again as he thought about what she had done. "And before you start asking me what I did, it was actually 'er who fucked up this time,"

"Wonders will never bloody cease," Benjamin raised his eyebrows. "What happened then?"

"Aw, mate," Pete rubbed the back of his neck. "It's just a fuckin' mess…my brother and 'is wife are goin' through a divorce at the moment and she managed to get Allie on 'er side in court goin' for full custody of the kid."

"Fuck," Benjamin winced. "That's a bit harsh?"

"I know," Pete snorted. "And then she sits there crying like its anyone's fault but 'er own,"

"Come on, Dunham," the Scotsman shook his head. "This can't be easy on Allie either; I mean first a girl who's meant to be her mate takes her for a mug and then having both Dunham boys shouting you down isn't going to be a walk in the park, is it?"

"What so your sayin' I don't 'ave the right to be pissed off?" he frowned.

"'Course not, Pete," Benjamin shrugged. "All I'm saying is that it might not be a bad idea to hear the lass out before you start gettin' trigger happy with the ol' blame gun,"

"You did English at Oxford and that's the best analogy you could come up with?" Pete quirked an eyebrow. "A fucking blame gun?"

"Recovering cripple or not, I'm not above givin' you a slap, Dunham," he smirked, playfully slapping his face. "Think about it: your fiancé is a gorgeous girl and so if you ever want to get laid again, I'd be tempted to at least hear her side of what seems to be a very fucking boring story,"

"Wise words for someone who eats sheep's entrails for dinner," Pete shook his head. "And I won't even go into what you do before you cook 'em."

"Nothing worse than what I do to your mum," he winked, jumping off of the desk as Pete laughed and did the same only much more slowly. "I reckon your boys might wanna have a word with you,"

"Yeah?" Pete grinned, excitement flooding his system when he thought about seeing his class again. He loved those boys, if it wasn't for them and Benjamin, Pete knew he would have quit this place a long time ago.

"Aye," Benjamin rolled his eyes. "They all keep ranting about how they haven't seen you since sports day and blah, blah, blah…"

"You jealous there, Ellis?" Pete grinned.

"Of you?" the dark haired man shook his head. "Let's see: I can bend my leg, I'm getting a pay check at the end of the month and I'm almost garaunteed to get laid tonight…" grinning broadly he clapped Pete on the back. "So for the moment, brother, I'm going to go with no, I'm not jealous of you."

"Not even of my devastatingly handsome good looks?" Pete joked.

"Oh well that's unspoken," Benjamin frowned. "You know you're my hero in that respect; not a day goes by when I don't hate myself for not getting drunk all those years ago and getting a West Ham crest tattooed on my chest."

"Alright, cheeky fucker," Pete laughed, shoving his mate towards the door. "You comin' down the pub with me and the boys tonight?"

"Will Swill be there?" he asked with a wary look.

"Yeah," Pete laughed. "Why?"

"Is he still shit at pool?"

"I'm pretty sure the poor bastards got worse,"

"Well, then I'm there," Benjamin smiled, opening the door for him and gesturing him through. "Now, let's go and have ourselves a playground popularity contest,"

"So you sided with Shannon?" Lara frowned, stopping with her spoonful of double chocolate sprinkle surprise half way up to her mouth. A tiny drop of chocolate sauce dripped onto her pale blue skirt but she didn't seem to notice.

"And you have to go and see her and her lawyer this afternoon to give a statement about her character?"

"Yeah," Allie raised an eyebrow, staring down into her berry sundae and shaking her head. "Clever, aren't I? I've just got remember to wear my 'I love Shannon' t-shirt,'"

"The bitch tricked you," Lara told her quickly. "This wasn't your fault,"

"Oh, but it was," she laughed bitterly, picking out a strawberry and popping it into her mouth. "See, I should have known better. I should have asked Pete or Steve but nooooooo, I had to be a fucking idiot and start shooting my mouth off before I even knew the full story,"

Stabbing her plastic spoon into the ice cream, she leant back against the tree they were sitting under outside their office and stared out across the Thames which almost looked pretty with the sun shining down on it like that.

"I would've done the same," Lara shrugged, taking a cheeky spoonful of Allie's sundae.

"Really?" Allie asked her.

"No," the red head looked at her dumbfounded. "You really think that after almost 16 years of friendship I still consider myself to be at the stage where I have to agree with you to make you feel better?" she rolled her eyes. "Allie, you did what you thought was the right thing, how the hell were you to know you were dealing with the Wicked Bitch of Boston?"

Laughing, Allie picked out another strawberry and bit into it, sighing as she lay her head on Lara's shoulder, smiling when she felt her friend rest her head against hers.

"Still doesn't mean I haven't screwed up though," she mumbled. "You didn't see the way Pete was this morning…he wouldn't even look at me,"

"Did you try taking off your top?" Lara suggested, laughing when she felt an elbow in her ribs. "Alright, it was just a thought…"

"Ugh, I'm done thinking about this," Allie sighed. "You brought me out here for ice cream and I'm ruining it by being a miserable bitch,"

"Well, actually there was another reason I brought you here," Lara told her, licking her spoon.

"Oh yeah?" Allie smiled. "What's that?"

"Mmm-hmmm," Lara shook her head, wiping her face with a paper napkin and picking up their discarded ice cream tubs and throwing them into the bin. "You have to come with me,"

Taking Lara's outstretched hand, Allie stood up, brushing off the back of her jeans and following her towards the impressive entrance to Vogue's head office.

"Work?" she laughed. "Your girls-day-out fun treat is work?"

"Shut up and have some faith, blondie," Lara winked, slapping her butt and ushering her along. "When have you ever known me to let you down when it comes to surprises?"

Grabbing her hand, Allie pulled Lara into the building with her, both of them groaning simultaneously as the air conditioning hit them and their bodies adjusted to the coolness of the room. Making the quick journey up in the elevator to the editors suite where Allie, Lara and Jack worked, the pair of them swiped their cards, stepping into the grand hallway.

"Ok," Lara stopped, turning to face her. "From here on out you need to shut your eyes,"

"What?" Allie frowned suspiciously. "Why?"

"Because…" Lara pinched her arm and she squeaked in pain. "That's why,"

"Ouch, bloody hell," Allie complained, rubbing the tender skin. "Ok, look they're shut,"

"Good girl," Lara smirked, stepping behind her and steering Allie down the hall to the dressing room. The colossal room was a place to which only the art department and the editors had keys and more often than not, it was merely used as a free for all, getting ransacked every time there was staff party or birthday.

"Are we in the dressing room?" Allie frowned, her eyes still closed.

"Ok, when I asked you to shut your eyes, I also forgot to add shut your damn mouth," she told her sweetly. "Right, now just stand there,"

"Ok," Allie told her, swinging her arms anxiously as she listened to Lara shuffling about, swearing when she dropped something which sounded heavy.

"Are you ok?" she called.

"Harding, did you not listen to the rules?" Lara snapped.

"Jesus, ok!" Allie laughed. "I'm sorry,"

There was a few more minutes of shuffling and then she heard Lara sigh happily, her flip flops clacking along the cool marble floors as she came to a stop in front of Allie.

"Right, I'm ready," Allie could actually hear the smile in her voice. "Open 'em,"

Her bright green eyes flickered open and her breathing stopped when she saw what was in front of her.

"Oh my God," she whispered shakily, her hand coming up to rest against her trembling lips. "Lara…"

"I saw you eyeing it up a few weeks back in that vintage Chanel store in Kensington," Lara smiled. "So I went in and I begged, offered them every promotion I legally could and they gave it to me…well, Jack helped pay for it, too," she smirked. "Most of it actually…he and Kurt were having a 'splurging' day,"

"I can't believe you did this," Allie whispered, reaching out and running her hand down the silk material, the light shimmer of the material at the hem making it look almost fairytale like. "Lara…"

"I know," she blew a wisp of hair out of her eyes. "You love me, right?"

Unable to get out another word, Allie flung herself at the red head and hugged her tightly.

"I love you so much," she whispered. "You didn't have to do this for me…"

"'Course I did," she shrugged. "You're my sister,"

Allie found herself a little surprised to see actual tears in her big brown eyes, but she was trying so hard to keep them in that she said nothing. Put on 'The Notebook' and the girl would weep like there was no tomorrow but if she got the slightest bit emotional in every day life, it seemed to freak her out.

"And as my sister," she breathed, her voice shaking slightly. "You have to do something for me,"

Allie nodded as Lara reached out and gently brushed a tear off of her cheek, taking her face into her hands and staring at her intently.

"Quit being a fucking drama Queen," she looked at Allie sternly when she opened her mouth to speak. "Don't you dare deny it!...as I was saying…quit being a drama Queen, sit Pete down on that divine arse of his and do not for the love of God let him get up until you've explained yourself," she shook her head. "Don't be proud, beg if you have to,"

"Ok," Allie breathed, nodding her head. "I should go do that now, right?"

"Shit no!" Lara laughed, grabbing the dress and handing it to her. "You're trying this baby on and getting drunk,"

"Uh, Lara?" Allie winced, pointing to her stomach.

"Oh, shit, right," she stared her still perfectly flat tummy with a quirked eyebrow. "Fantastic…another member of the Harding clan you can't handle their drink," she poked it gently. "I'm counting on that changing it later life…you better make me proud, kiddo."

Allie smiled and clutched the dress tighter, frowning when Lara walked over to the railing again and pulled out a light green strapless bridesmaids dress and winked.

"Oh come on," she rolled her eyes. "You honestly didn't think I'd get one for you and not me, did you?"

"You stole my designs, didn't you?" Allie laughed.

"Oh yeah," she nodded. "I took your diary when you weren't looking and read it,"

"I haven't written in that thing for about two years," Allie laughed. "What'd it say?"

"Oh nothing," Lara told her nonchalantly, making her way to the dressing room with her dress slung over her shoulder. "Although, you did yap on for about two pages about this thing Pete does with his tongue…I gotta say, I'm intrigued."

"Oh Jesus," Allie gasped, mortified as she chased her into the changing room.

"Lara, what the hell did you do with it? Lara? Lara?!..."

"You look nervous,"

Allie looked up from where she had been staring at her phone, secretly waiting for Pete to call and stared at the raven haired woman next to her.

"No," she forced a smile. "Not at all,"

"Good," Shannon breathed. "Because I need you, Allie," she reached out and covered her hand with her own and Allie had to fight not to pull away in disgust. "Well I'm here," the blonde nodded. Pausing for a moment, she thought carefully about what to say next and then with a mental 'fuck it' cleared her throat. "Is Steve still fighting you for full custody of Ben?"

Shannon looked at her sharply, her arctic blue eyes studying Allie's emerald ones almost manically.

"Why would you ask that?" she snapped. "Its only been two days, what did you think had changed?"

"Nothing," Allie shrugged, trying to look casual. "I guess I just keep hoping that this will sort itself out somehow,"

"Yeah, well those of us in the real world have to face the facts that that's not going to happen," Shannon told her dismissively.

"Right," Allie smiled tightly. "Sorry,"

"It's fine," she replied, not sounding as though she actually gave a shit whatsoever. "I'm just going to the bathroom, I'll be back in a second,"

"Sure," Allie nodded, watching as Shannon stood up and straightened her sweater before making her way down the hall.

Sighing and throwing her head back so it banged hard enough against the wall to draw a curious stare from the receptionist at the lawyers office, Allie smiled apologetically and shifted in her seat, knocking over Shannon's bag in the process. A pile of papers fluttered out, spilling across the floor and Allie fought the urge to swear instead bending down with a tired sigh and picking them up one by one, shuffling them into a tidy pile on her lap before moving to put them back into her bag.

Then the highlighted section on the page caught her eye and she felt her breathing get shallow.

It seems kind of strange that after only knowing Pete for all of a day I already feel safer with him than I do with my own brother in law. Shannon had mentioned to me before that he had a temper on him but that he was good at controlling it. But the way he acted today was such a contradiction of the picture she had given me of him over the phone. I was scared…more scared that I can ever remember being in any fight with the GSE. But then I guess I'm forgetting that Steve came from all that, he started it and the violence is in his blood.

Allie stared down at it in horror, flicking through the other pages and seeing that they were more or less the same. This was Matt's diary.

"Shit," she whispered under her breath.

Shannon was going to use her own brother's diary against Steve to get Ben and probably end up getting Pete, Matt and the boys arrested in the meantime. Her fingers tightened on the paper as her patience got thinner, her blood temperature spiking up a few notches.

"Miss Harding?"

Allie looked up at the woman who was calling her name and smiled, trying to look as normal as possible.

"Hi," she squeaked nervously.

"We're ready for you now," the woman nodded, gesturing for her to come in.

"Right," she breathed, quickly shoving the papers into her own handbag and casting a sly glance at Shannon's to make sure she had gotten them all.

"You're going in?"

Turning to look at the woman she had once called her friend, Allie smiled tightly and zipped up her bag quickly.

"Yeah, I shouldn't be long though," she told her.

"Ok," Shannon smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Just try to relax," she advised. "And tell them the truth, that's all that matters,"

"Oh don't worry," Allie looked her in the eye and fought the urge to floor her right then and there. "I'll make sure they know the full story,"

Strolling into the room, Allie took a seat at the table and stared at the scary looking man to her right who had a notepad in front of him.

"Right, Miss Harding," the woman smiled, sliding into the seat across from her. "This is just a routine session," she told her. "Mrs Dunham has listed you as a character witness so what we're going to do now is just get some details from you about the nature of your relationship, about your relationship with Mr Dunham and of course all the reasons why you think Mrs Dunham should be granted full custody of the child,"

"Oh," Allie looked at her, tapping her fingernails on the wooden tabletop and wincing. "In that case we might have a little problem…" she paused. "Because quite frankly, I don't think she should,"

So I'm embracing my inner bitch. First Shannon, now Allie. I wonder who'll be next...? Prepare yourselves people, for the fighting is about to commence... oh, and be a darling and review, would ya? :)