And I'm back! Phew, that was an awesome couple of days, NYC is definately my favourite new place. :D So I'm sorry to have kept you waiting so long, I only just got to check the reviews and I have to say, they were amazing, thank you guys all so much. :) Now I just hope that this one doesn't disappoint you...be nice... :) x x x
Pete watched as his brother's fierce gaze shifted back and forth between him and Shannon as though he couldn't decide which one of them to scream at next.
Rubbing his throat where Steve had grabbed him, he ignored the throbbing pain in his jaw from the punch and stepped forward, clearing his throat painfully as he spoke.
"Steve, don't be such a fuckin' twat," Pete hissed. "Nothin' 'appened, alright? Why the fuck would I shag 'er?"
"Because that's what you do, ain't it, Petey?" Steve leered at him, tightening his grip on his neck. "You fuck up and you hurt people, that's all you were ever fucking good for,"
"I went to see 'er to tell 'er to stay away from Allie," Pete used all the strength he had in him to shove his brother backwards, his hands instantly going to his throat to soothe the aching muscles once again. "We were both a bit pissed and we ended up crashing out on the floor, that's it."
"You actually expect me to believe that?" Steve laughed. "How fuckin' dumb do you reckon I am?"
"Given you're accusing me of screwing your ex-wife I'm gonna say very," Pete snorted. "Mate, 'ave you actually thought about what you're accusing us of? You honestly reckon that I'd risk losing my wife and daughter for that?"
He pointed to Shannon who despite her fury couldn't help being a little offended.
"Hey," she frowned at him.
"Just get out," Steve pointed at the door. "I don't wanna see either of you ever again, you get me?"
"Bruv, you're bein' a right fuckin' mug," Pete told him. "If you shut your mouth for ten seconds and let me explain…"
"Explain what?" Steve practically screamed. "You slept with my wife, what the fuck is there left to explain?"
"What?"
Pete froze, his heart sinking the whole way down to his stomach and then back up, pumping ice through his veins as it went. Forcing himself to turn around, he met Allie's eyes and shuddered at the grief, the utter agony he could see lurking in the emerald depths. Her hands were shaking as she brought her fingers up to her lips, pressing them there as tears filled her eyes. He saw the familiar glow in them burn out, replaced with a deadness that made his stomach ache.
"Oh my God," she whispered again.
"Allie…" Pete started, his heart breaking when she shook her head and turned, running back out of the front door.
"Shit," he hissed, not wasting a second before he took off after her, not particularly giving a shit that he'd left Shannon alone with Steve. "Allie!"
The door slammed behind him and he ran as fast as his aching knee would let him, gaining speed and nearing her as she ran to her car.
"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," she whispered, her voice trembling as tears poured down her face. Her hands shook almost manically as she fought to unlock the door.
Pete was cheating on her. With Shannon.
Pete was having sex with Shannon.
The thought made her stomach flipped and she fought the urge to be sick, fumbling more urgently with the lock when she realised he was following her. She choked out a sob and pressed the back of her hand against her mouth, trying in vain to keep the rest of them quiet as her other hand struggled relentlessly with the lock.
"Allie," Pete called again, his voice much nearer than it had been.
Reaching out he grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face him, his spine going cold when he saw the look in her eyes. It was as though she had no idea who he was.
"Get off me!" she screamed, shoving him backwards as hard as she could.
"Allie, baby its not what you-…" he stopped short when she punched him in the nose, her small fist causing a wave of pain to sweep through his face mixing with the tremors still there from Steve's hit earlier.
"Fuck!" he hissed, grabbing his nose and grimacing at the blood he could feel flowing out of it.
"Don't you fucking come near me!" she shook her head.
"It ain't what you think," he told her, ignoring the blood dripping down onto his jacket as he tried to calm her down. "Steve just…"
"Shut up!" Allie screamed. "Just shut up! I don't care what you have to say right now, just fuck off."
"So what?" Pete laughed. "You're just gonna leave and not even bother getting the full story?" he shook his head. "How stupid are you?"
"The only stupid thing I've ever done with my life was to let myself fall for a piece of shit like you," she snarled, her words having a physical effect on him as he staggered backwards.
"Now just stay away from me," she sobbed, yanking open the car door and throwing herself inside, the sound of the engine breaking Pete out of his reverie.
Staring at her through the glass determinedly, he stepped around the Porsche to stand in front of it, placing his hands on the hood and sending her a bloodied smile.
"You've 'ad your say," he shouted loud enough for her to hear him. "Now why don't you calm down and listen to me for once?"
He got his answer when she revved the engine and the car shot forward, almost knocking him off of his feet.
"Fuck!" he jumped. "Alright, you're pissed, I get that. But do you know what you're pissed over?" he asked her, letting the question hang in the uneasy silence for a moment. "Nothing!" he shouted, slamming his fist down onto the car. "You're pissed over fucking nothing! Nothing happened, Steve got the wrong idea!"
He saw Allie's hands slip off of the wheel and let out a breath of relief, waiting for her to open the car door, jump out and throw herself at him.
But she didn't.
Instead, he frowned watching as she threw the car into reverse, ramming Shannon's jeep which was parked behind her hard enough to dent the front impressively before pulling out and darting around him, tearing off down the street with a loud screech of her tyres.
"Shit!" he shouted, lacing his hands together behind his head. He knew he should have never let her play Grand Theft Auto with him. Rubbing the back of his neck tiredly, he sighed seeing that it was it was 10.27.
He'd been accused of cheating on his wife with his sister in law, taken two punches to the face and almost been run over, all before midday.
Knowing it was the only choice he had, he started jogging to the tube station, praying to God that he somehow made it home before she did.
"See this?" Lara pointed to the Chanel gown on the page and smiled as the baby on her lap gurgled, squirming about excitedly. "Ok, this is what we call Haute Couture…" she picked Poppy up and turned her around so she could look into the infants blue eyes. "Can you say 'Couture'?"
Poppy kicked her legs and burped, blowing a bubble out through her lips and reaching for Lara's hair.
"Close enough," she laughed, frowning when the door slammed open loudly.
"Hey mummy's home," she cooed. "Lets go see if she's in a nappy changing mood, shall we? Because as much as I love you gorgeous, I have a strict no shit handling policy."
Placing the baby back in her basket, Lara carried her out into the hallway and stopped suddenly as she watched her best friend sink to the floor as though she was in agony. Her face was streaked with tears, the light smudges of make up under her eyes making her look ill.
"Allie," Lara gasped, gently placing the basket down onto the floor and running over, crouching in front of the distraught blonde and tilting her head up so that she was looking at her. "Honey, what happened? Is it Pete? Is he ok?"
At the mention of her husband's name, Allie sobbed even harder, curling up into a ball and hugging her knees tightly to her chest.
"This isn't happening," she cried, closing her eyes and rocking back and forth. "Oh God, Lara this hurts so much…"
"What?" the red head pressed urgently. "Allie, come on, you're scaring me. What the hell happened?"
"He slept with her," Allie sobbed, meeting Lara's eyes and letting her see the agony behind them.
"What?" she whispered. There was no way Allie was saying what Lara thought she was saying. Pete would never…
"Shannon," Allie whispered brokenly. "Pete…" she sobbed. "He slept with Shannon."
Silence filled the large hallway for a long moment as Lara stared at the girl who had been her best friend since childhood, shaking her head in disbelief.
No, there was no way Pete would do that; he loved Allie more than anything on this earth, he wouldn't throw that all away for…
"Bullshit," she spat. "No, you're wrong, Allie, there's no way…"
"I heard them talking about it," Allie shook her head. "Steve walked in and found them…" her stomach clenched again and she wondered briefly whether a broken heart could actually kill you. "Lara, why wasn't I enough? Why did he have to do this to me?"
Unable to answer her, Lara pulled her into a tight hug and stoked her hair as tears stung her own eyes.
"Allie, you can't…" she trailed off, burying her face in her friends hair and trying to get her head around what was happening.
"Lara I feel like I can't breathe," she half screamed into her shoulder as the sobs shook her petite body. "Every time I think about it I feel like I can't breathe,"
Lara merely held her tighter, pressing a kiss against her hair and rubbing her trembling back, the silence passing in waves between them until a shrill cry from the bassinette reminded them both of where they were.
"I can go if you want," Lara offered, biting her lip as Allie pulled back and stared at her blankly, a shell of the girl who had left the house not even two hours ago. "Give you some time to…"
"No," she shook her head, standing up shakily and wrapping her arms around herself. Why did she feel so cold all of a sudden? "I need to be with her for a while,"
"Ok," Lara pressed a kiss against her forehead and gently wiped some tears away with the pads of her thumbs. "I'm here if you need me, ok? I'm always here."
Allie nodded numbly and walked over to the bassinette, stopping half way across the hallway and turning back, a hard look on her face as she reached the large oak door and slid the chain across.
"If he tries to get in…"
"I got it," Lara nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder and smiling weakly at her.
Was this actually happening? Pete and Allie were over. The closest real life imitation to 'the perfect-imperfect couple' that Lara had was finished…just because Dunham's had an irrepressible habit of not being able to keep their pants on.
Watching the blonde as she picked up the crying baby and held her closely, her cries subsiding almost instantly as she took in her mothers scent and relaxed, Lara let out a deep breath and pressed her forehead against the rough coolness of the door, trying to convince herself that when she opened her eyes, everything would be back to normal and this would just be some messed up dream which convinced her once and for all that eating cheese before bedtime wasn't just some urban legend her mother had made up.
Counting to three in her head, she snapped her eyes open and looked around the foyer, seeing nothing different.
"Shit," she whispered. "Its not supposed to be like this," she told no one in particular.
But it is, kiddo, a mocking voice inside her head told her. And you know what's worse? Is that there is fuck all you can do about it.
Pete gasped for air as he came to a stop outside the front door, casting a furtive glance over at Allie's Porsche which was sporting some pretty impressive war wounds from where she had slammed it into Shannon's car.
Pulling his keys out of his pocket, he unlocked the door, moving to push it open and frowning when he was met with resistance. Sighing, it took him all of a second to work out that Allie had put the chain on the door.
"Fuck it," he whispered, shoving himself upright and backing up and peering in through the windows, gritting his teeth when he couldn't see anyone. "Allie?" he shouted, pressing himself back up against the door and peering through the crack into the hallway.
"Baby please let me in," he begged. "This is stupid, you've got it wrong. Everyone's got it fucking wrong!"
Pete froze, hearing footsteps in the foyer and glanced at himself in the reflection of the window quickly wanting to look at least semi-presentable for when he got down on his knees and tried to explain. Blood was still smeared over his face and his jaw was swollen where Steve had hit him; no wonder he'd gotten weird looks on the tube coming home.
Caught up in examining his jaw, he jumped, nearly missing the moment when Lara glared at him darkly through the small gap in the door before moving to shut it.
"Lara!" he shouted. "Don't…come on, just let me in,"
"No," she shot back.
"Look, this is all a major fuckin' mix up, alright?" he kept the door wedged open with his foot. "I just need five minutes," he pleaded.
"Yeah, well you're not getting them," Lara hissed. "So you can just go fuck yourself," she paused, staring at him with pure hatred in her eyes. "That is if you're done fucking Shannon,"
The door slammed shut, catching his foot in the process and making him wince.
"I didn't fuck Shannon!" he shouted, not caring if Allie could hear him as well. "Why won't anyone believe me?"
Turning around, he frowned coming face to face with the postman who was obviously stunned by his outburst.
"Its none of my business," he mumbled nervously, handing Pete a pile of letters which he hurled against the wall with a wordless scream, rubbing the back of his neck impatiently.
Taking a deep breath, he struggled to come up with a plan of action; there was no way he was leaving but at the same time there was no way in hell Lara was going to let him in the house so unless he planned on sleeping in his car until Allie needed to leave the house and he could corner her, he needed to think of a way in.
Eyeing the balcony on Lara's bedroom warily, he shook his head deciding against it; he'd once tried to climb up onto Allie's one after a few beers one night and it had almost killed him.
Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he cursed under his breath and then without giving himself a second longer to think it over, pulled his jacket over his fist and slammed it hard through the window next to the door, reaching around and undoing the chain.
He heard Lara scream in shock and turned to look at her as he stepped inside, suddenly wishing he'd thought better of his actions as he shook the glass off of his jacket and gulped at the menacing look in her usually warm eyes.
"Look," he held up his hands. "This is all a really fuckin' stupid mistake…"
She stalked towards him threateningly and though he would never admit it, Pete Dunham found himself scared shitless of the 5'5 red head in front of him, her hand rising up, ready to strike.
"Listen," he pleaded, grabbing her wrist to keep her from moving. "I've already taken two punches in the last hour, so you can go ahead and call me all the names you want but for fuck sake don't hit me,"
Taking in the rapidly drying blood under his nose, Lara relented somewhat and yanked her hand away from his, casting a glance up the stairs before shoving him hard into the kitchen and following suit, making her way over to the sink where she grabbed and piece of kitchen towel and wet it, throwing it at him and watching in disgust as he tentatively began cleaning himself up.
"What the hell were you thinking, Pete?" she asked him quietly.
Rolling his eyes, he lowered the bloodied towel and went to snap at her, stopping only when he saw she was crying.
"It's just a fucking window," he muttered. "I'll fix it,"
"Not about that, you dick," Lara hissed, gesturing upstairs. "Do you have any idea how messed up she is right now? Pete, I'm actually scared to leave her alone because I don't know what she'll do."
He swallowed hard and ignored the sick feeling in his gut as the true meaning of Lara's words sank in.
"Listen to me," he told her, keeping his voice even. "I know this all sounds bad…"
Lara snorted and shook her head.
"But it's bollocks, alright?" he laughed. "Come on, Lara. Me and Shannon? Really?"
"So what'd you do?" she raised an eyebrow. "Trip and fall onto her?"
She watched when he snorted and shook his head, whispering something under his breath, his nose wrinkling in disgust.
"Ok, make all the little comments you want but Steve found the two of you in bed together, how else is there to take that?" Lara shook her head.
"Bollocks," Pete snapped. "You wanna know what happened?" he stared at her, yanking out one of the stools around the breakfast bar and perching on it. "Allie told you about Shannon coming back, right?"
"Yes," the red head answered bluntly, her arms folded as she regarded him with suspicion.
"I got pissed off 'cos Allie starts going off on one about how we should give 'er another chance and all this bollocks," he snorted. "So after we 'ad that fight, I left and I went to the pub with the lads, it turned into a bit of a drinking session and I ended up leaving earlier than everyone else. I planned on comin' back 'ere and sorting things out but I saw one of the trains was goin' to Shannon's new place so I thought 'fuck it, she's the one I've got the problem with, I'll go talk to 'er'."
Lara watched him carefully, sliding into the stool across from him and giving him her full attention.
"Ok, and then what?" she asked fairly.
"I got there and she was in a worse state than I was," he shrugged. "She'd been drinking for I don't know how long but she was a mess. I shouted at 'er, told 'er to go back to Boston, that I didn't want 'er around my family and then when I went to leave, she 'as some fuckin' hissy fit and drops the bottle of vodka that she's practically necked and falls over." Pete rubbed the back of his neck tiredly, realising how much trouble it would have saved him if he actually had walked out then and there.
"So I helped her out," he sighed. "And then she starts crying about Steve, tellin' me that he's asked Gemma to move in with him and that he'd come round earlier that day and dropped off a box of papers and shit that he found in 'is desk. I couldn't leave 'er like that, I 'ad no fucking idea what she was gonna do to herself, I don't think I've ever actually seen anyone like that before…except maybe Bov and we all know he's a fuckin' 'ead case,"
Grabbing another piece of kitchen towel, he shoved it under his nose which had started to bleed again.
"Anyway, I go to stand up and call Allie, not the best idea given I was rat arsed I know but I needed her to know that I was sorry, that I was tryna fix things." He laughed bitterly. "When I got up, I knocked the box over and these two airline tickets fall out."
"Shannon's," Lara snorted, rolling her eyes. As if they should expect anything less from that woman.
"Nah," he shook his head. "Try Gemma,"
"What?" the red head frowned.
"There were two tickets, one for 'er and one with some blokes name on that we'd never 'eard of before," he shrugged. "So we put two and two together and realised that Steve's little friend ain't the angel she's makin' herself out to be. So we started going through the rest of it, seeing if we could find out anything else."
Pete placed his hands flat on the table and stared at the brown eyed girl in front of him, silently pleading with her to believe him.
"We were drunk alright…and drunk people tend to pass out," he sniffed. "We were on the floor, not even fuckin' lying down…Lara I still 'ad my fuckin' trainers on, there was nothin' dodgy about it and then I wake up and Shannon's screaming at me that Steve just walked in and saw us,"
"Wait so you weren't in bed?" Lara frowned.
"What?" Pete snapped. "No for fuck sake, how stupid do you think I am?"
"But Allie said Steve made it sound as though…"
"Allie walked in at a really fuckin' inappropriate point of the conversation," Pete snorted. "Look, how many times 'ave you passed out on the sofa next to me with your 'ead on my shoulder drooling like some kind of retard?"
"A fair amount," she conceded.
"It was the same as that," Pete told her. "It was innocent, alright, I know given its Shannon maybe it wasn't the best decision I could 'ave made but Lara, seriously love," he shook his head. "Look me in the eye and tell me you think I'm capable of cheating on Allie,"
"Why didn't you tell Allie any of this?" she whispered.
"And when was I supposed to do that?" Pete snorted. "In the 30-odd seconds I 'ad in between her twating me one in the nose and ramming her car into Shannon's?"
Laughing quietly, Lara shook her head; Allie was most definitely not your 'go quietly into the night' type of girl.
"You need to fix this," she told him. "And I mean now,"
"How?" he shook his head. "I can't even get her to be in the same room as me,"
"Can you blame her?" Lara shot back. "Pete, she thinks you're sleeping with someone else,"
"Did we not just establish that that was utter bullshit?" he snapped.
"Yeah," Lara nodded. "Pete, I know and I believe you," she placed her hand over his and smiled sadly. "But what are you going to do if Allie doesn't?"
Allie shut her suitcase as quietly as she could, determined not to wake Poppy who had finally drifted off to sleep. Usually when she was crying Allie could calm her down within five minutes but this morning had been a different story. It was almost as though the baby had sensed her mother's grief and it had made her cry more until finally she had exhausted herself.
Given Poppy's age and the fact she had no passport, Allie knew they couldn't fly anywhere so she had called her Aunt Isabel who lived in Cornwall and asked if she could stay for a while, miraculously keeping her tears at bay as she had explained to the only family she had left on her mother's side that Pete had had to go away on a school trip for a while and she didn't want to be alone.
Rushing into the en suite bathroom, she grabbed her toothbrush and Poppy's changing bag, slinging it over her shoulder and taking a moment to look around, checking she had everything she wanted.
A deep, shuddering breath passed through her lips and she swallowed the sobs building up in her throat; she couldn't fall apart now. Later, when she was alone, she could scream and cry and break stuff but not now.
Dashing back into the bedroom, she was moving at such speed, she barely had time to see the large blur as it stepped in front of her, blocking her path and propelling her forward until she was leaning against it.
The all too familiar scent of Pete filled her nose, the feeling of his hands on her body, steadying her almost making her forget what he'd done.
Almost.
Hoisting herself upright, she pushed him back and stared at him in horror, the anger pumping through her veins unlike anything she had ever felt before.
"How the fuck did you get in?" she whispered, her voice low and so unrecognisable that Pete felt his heart lurch.
"The window," he told her, swallowing hard as he held up his scratched hand. "Allie, I know you're upset right now…"
"Upset?" she hissed, her green eyes flaring. "Upset?"
Dropping the changing bag onto the floor, she took a step closer to him and forced herself to meet his eyes.
"Finding out I had to spend a month in America last year, that made me upset," she shook her head. "Waking up to find that Lara's used the last of the cereal, that makes me upset. But finding out that my husband is sleeping with his brother's ex wife doesn't upset me, Pete." She spat at him.
"It makes me lose the fucking will to live, it makes me hate myself for ever putting my trust in someone as pathetic as you, it makes me want to drive my car into the fucking Thames at 100 miles an hour but what it doesn't do is fucking upset me!"
The last sentence came out as a scream and instantly, the crib began to shake as Poppy woke up and grumbled mildly at first, her agitated gurgles fast turning into shrill screams.
"Don't you fucking touch her!" Allie shoved Pete as he looked over at the crib.
"Allie!" Lara shouted, running upstairs and bursting into the room, wanting to see if everything was ok. Her gaze landed on the screaming baby and she met her friends eyes. "Its ok, I've got her,"
Picking the baby up, Lara started singing to her, rocking her gently as she tried with no success to calm her down.
"Allie, please baby, just listen to me," Pete pulled her attention away from their daughter. "You have to believe me…"
"I don't have to do anything for you," she snapped. "You threw away any rights you had with me when you decided to sleep with someone else. Now get out of this house."
Something seemed to snap inside Pete, he didn't know whether it was his patience finally packing itself in or whether his hangover had had enough of being shouted at, but before he knew it he had the blonde in front of him trapped in his arms, lifting her off of the floor so she couldn't move.
"What the fuck are you doing?" she screamed hitting him as hard as she could. "Put me down!"
"No," he shouted back. "Not until you shut the fuck up and listen to me!"
"Pete, maybe you should just…" Lara called from where she was still rocking the screaming baby.
"Look after Poppy," he ordered her, casting a quick glance over his shoulder to see her stepping out of the room and making her way down to the nursery.
Walking Allie back into the bathroom, he let go of her and quickly locked the door behind him, jamming the key in his pocket and smiling smugly at her.
"There, now you ain't got no choice, 'ave you?" he shrugged.
"Let me out of here," she spoke through gritted teeth. "I mean it, let me out of here or so help me God, I'll jump out of this fucking window,"
"No, you won't," Pete shook his head, pulling the chair in the corner of the room to sit in front of the door, blocking any chance she had of getting past him. "What you're gonna do is sit there," he pointed to the small cushioned bench. "And you're going to do the impossible and shut up for five minutes because when I'm done explaining what really 'appened, you're gonna feel like a right fuckin' idiot,"
Her breathing got more erratic as wave of claustrophobia kicked in; she was trapped in a room with the man she loved…the man she loved who was cheating on her.
"Let me out!" Allie screamed, running for the door, not in the least bit surprised when Pete stood up and grabbed her again, holding her to him. "Just let me go, I don't want to be in here, I hate you, you fucking bastard!" she slammed her fists against his chest, hitting him with every ounce of strength she had left. "I hate you!"
Those words coming out of her mouth hit him harder than he thought they would and Pete blinked back the tears angrily, grabbing her fists and slamming her back against the wall maybe a little harder than he intended to. She sobbed violently, her head flopping forward so her chin was against her chest, shaking her head lightly.
"Please just let me go," she whispered. "I can't be in here with you…how could you do this to me?"
"I didn't," Pete stuttered, the tears stinging that little bit more. Telling himself not to be such a fucking pussy, he swallowed and hardened his voice. "I didn't do anything. Allie, look at me,"
She shook her head and continued to stare at the floor.
"Look at me," he told her, his voice much firmer as he shook her wrists. Her eyes met his and he felt his heart break. Right then and there, he felt like he was dying.
"I gave you everything," she sobbed. "I loved you more than I ever thought I could love anything and you threw it back at me and for what?" she spat. "A quick drunken fuck with your brother's ex-wife?"
"No," he shook his head. "No, listen, Steve got it wrong, ok? What he thinks he saw and what he actually saw are two very fuckin' different things. I went to see her last night…I wanted to tell her…"
"No!" Allie screamed, using her whole body to launch herself forwards, sending both of them flying. She managed to regain her balance but Pete stumbled backwards, hissing when his back collided with the edge of the sink.
"You think I want to hear about it?" she shook her head. "You think I want to know how it happened? How you were both lonely…the poor little divorcee and the brother in law who's a little bit frustrated in that department because his wife just popped out a kid?" she screamed. "Gosh, isn't it romantic!"
"Nothing happened!" he shouted back at her. "You irritating fucking woman! I didn't sleep with her, I passed out in her living room! We were drunk and we passed out!"
"Was that before or after?" Allie cocked her head, her face getting red from the force of her tears. "Come on Pete, we're friends, right? How was it?"
"Do you ever shut up?" he shouted. "Stop playing your fuckin' violin for a second and think about what I'm saying to you! I know it's more tempting to wallow in self pity but just for once pull your head out of your arse and listen to what someone else is saying!"
"I heard enough this morning," Allie shouted back at him.
"What you heard was fuck all to do with what actually happened!" Pete slammed his fist against the wall hard enough to send some of the candles placed around the sink clattering to the floor. "You heard Steve havin' a fuckin' hissy fit over something that didn't even happen and instead of being a grown up and stickin around to talk about it, you thought it'd be a better idea to punch me in the face and lock me out the house!"
"Stick around and listen?" Allie hissed, her eyes narrowing. "Listen to what, Pete? To find out whether she's better than me? To find out how long its been going on? To find out whether it's just sex or something else?" she shouted.
"You're supposed to trust me," he spat angrily.
"And you're supposed to stay faithful," she laughed. "But I guess those vows really were just for show, huh?"
"You actually think I want anyone other than you?" Pete shook his head, trying to go at this from a different angle. Yelling at her obviously wasn't getting him anywhere. "In the four years we've been together I've only ever wanted you!"
"So what changed?" she shrugged. "Just because I'm not comfortable with having sex at the moment you thought, 'oh, hey, I know, I'll just keep it in the family and give Shannon a go'?"
"No!" he shouted, rubbing his eyes. "Fuckin' hell, Allie…"
"What?" she cried. "It makes sense, right? I won't put out so…"
"I don't care about that!" Pete snapped at her. "I'm in love with you for fuck sake, if all I wanted from you was sex d'you reckon I would've bothered marrying you? Allie, you want me to admit that I'm a little pissed off at the moment: yeah, alright I am. I miss being with you and I miss us but I get that you're not ready yet but what I'm not about to do is go out and start shagging other birds, let alone Shannon fucking Buckner!"
"God, I feel so fucking stupid," Allie bit her lip, picking up a bottle of bubble bath and watching the gold liquid floating around.
"Babe, its ok," Pete shook his head. "If I thought you-…"
He shouted, ducking out of the way when the glass bottle she had been holding smashed against the wall next to his head. Staring at her in shock, Pete's eyes widened as he watched the shimmering gold gel form an ocean around his trainers.
"Are you fucking insane?" he screamed at her. "That could 'ave fuckin' killed me!"
"Shame I'm such a bad shot then, isn't it?" Allie shot back, picking up a bar of soap and launching it at him.
"Jesus Christ!" Pete ducked again, almost slipping in the goo at his feet. "'Ave you lost your mind or what?"
"Yes!" she shouted. "And if you don't let me out of this room in the next ten seconds, guess which part of your anatomy you'll be losing?"
Growling low in his throat as what was left of his patience finally snapped, Pete darted across the room, sliding in the mess on the floor and grabbing her by the waist, both of them losing their footing and ending up lying in the bathtub, her underneath him squirming as she tried in vain to shove him off of her.
"What the fuck is your problem?" she screamed as he got onto his knees and grabbed her wrists, pinning them above her head.
"Right now, sweetheart I'd sat it's you," he snorted. "I get that you're pissed but I hate to tell you, being brained with a bottle of vanilla bubble bath ain't the way I saw the Pete Dunham saga ending so until you calm down, I ain't letting you go,"
"If I scream, Lara will call the police," she snarled.
"Go on then," Pete laughed. "See whose side she takes…see we 'ad a little chat in the kitchen and I explained things to her. How is it your best mate believes me, but you won't?"
"Because she's an idiot!" Allie shouted.
"And you're not?" Pete narrowed his eyes at her. "You've known me for four fuckin' years and you're honestly gonna tell me that you think I'm capable of cheating on you?"
"You're a man, men don't think with their brains," she snorted. "And believe me honey," she spat the word at him mockingly. "You're no bloody exception."
"Fine," Pete shrugged. "If that's what you think then fine, but just know that I ain't movin' until you believe me,"
"Grow up!" she shouted. "You can't honestly tell me that you think we can come back from this?"
"There's nothing to come back from you fucking moron," he hissed act her. "And just for the record, we're not over," Pete laughed. "We'll never be over and y'know why?" he lowered his head down until their noses were almost touching. "Because you love me,"
"No I don't," she shook her head, yet more tears leaking out of her eyes.
"Yes, you do," he told her softly, his breath tickling her face and making her shudder.
"No, I don't," she whispered, closing her eyes tightly and willing him to go away. Willing all of this to go away. "Pete, just leave," she shook her head. "I want you to leave."
Opening her eyes again, she looked up at his and saw the playful fire, the determination that had been there dim slightly, fighting to stay alight.
"You don't mean that," he told her, shaking his head.
"Yes, I do," she sobbed, watching as the fire went out once and for all.
Pete stared at her for a moment, the air between them getting heavier and heavier until he felt himself waiting to hear his bones crack under the pressure.
He met her eyes again and felt his breathing quicken as the tears he had been holding back for so long started to fall.
And for the first time he found himself scared, terrified that he was going to lose her over something that hadn't even happened. Because even though he'd brushed it off in the kitchen, Lara had been right when she'd said that he'd have to work and convincing Allie he was telling the truth.
But what he hadn't counted on was the notion that the girl he loved more than anything in the world, the one person he trusted more than anyone else might not believe him after all.
Right then...hit me with it: good or bad?