Right I'm getting this out of the way now so I can start the new story arc before I bugger off on holiday again next week. I'm not going to lie, this chapter isn't great but sod it, that's half the reason I want it out of the way. But things do get a lot more interesting in the next chapter with the arrival of a new character...
Reviews as always are greatly appreciated so even if itsa one liner, throw one at me and make my day! :)
"Uh…" Gemma shot a quick look at James who was staring at the two women in confusion.
"Are you gonna get that?" he asked Allie, gesturing to her phone.
Not taking her eyes off of him, she slid the phone open and pressed it to her ear.
"Hi," she spoke quietly.
"Ay, ay," Pete smiled down the phone. "How's my girl?"
"Uh," she fought the urge to laugh. "I can't really talk at the moment,"
"Why?" Pete frowned as Poppy gurgled in his arms, reaching for the phone.
"I'm in a…changing room," she cringed at the lie.
"Oh yeah," Pete smirked. "What're you buyin'? Tell me its something I get to take off later…"
"Baby, this really isn't a great time," she laughed nervously. "Did you need something or…"
"Nah," Pete frowned again. "Just wanted to see how things were goin' with you and Shannon,"
"Oh, it's…great," she shot a look at the older woman next to her. "Just great. But I have to go so…"
"Alright," Pete shrugged. "I'll uh…I'll see you when you get back then, yeah?"
"Uh-huh." Allie nodded. "I love you,"
"Love you, too," Pete told her, hanging up the phone and leaving Allie feeling guilty for being so blunt with him. Glancing at the woman next to her, Allie had a feeling that once she got home and explained what had happened, he would understand.
Sliding the phone shut, she went back to staring at the couple in front of her, waiting for someone to speak.
"So are we doing introductions here or what?" James raised an eyebrow, scratching at the faint stubble running along his jaw.
"Well, I'm Allie," the blonde in front of him smiled a little too brightly. "I'm the one who's all pretty smiles and glitter but with no fucking brains,"
Gemma visibly cringed at the comment and took a step back.
"And this here is my sidekick, Captain America," Allie gestured to Shannon.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Gemma asked suddenly.
"Oh I'm sorry," Allie blinked at her with wide eyes. "Did we interrupt you? Gosh, we are so rude," she laughed. "Come on, Shan, lets go get some coffee or something and let these crazy kids get back to plotting the best way to fuck Steve over,"
"Allie, shut up," Shannon shook her head. There was no anger in her voice, only an eerie calmness which made the blonde in question glance past James to make sure the sharp letter opener was still on the desk and nowhere within reach.
"You're pregnant," she looked at Gemma with cold eyes, watching with more than a little satisfaction as the younger woman took another step back.
"You weren't supposed to hear that," she whimpered.
"And it could be Steve's?" Shannon raised an eyebrow.
"It's not," the blonde shook her head.
"But it could be?" she hissed.
"Listen, love," James stepped in front of Gemma, smirking smugly. "I don't know who you are and quite frankly, I don't give a shit but…"
"If I were you," Shannon snapped, turning her cold blue eyes onto his. "I would be very, very careful about what I say next, because I am in no mood to be messed around,"
"Shannon, maybe we should just…" Allie was cut off when Shannon took another step forward, backing Gemma against the desk.
"How long have you been cheating on him?" she asked.
"I don't have to tell you anything," Gemma spat. "You're nothing to me,"
"No, I'm not," she conceded. "But I'm Ben's mother and I'm technically still Steve's wife and as long as I am both those things, everything that happens to them happens to me, so when some jumped up little skank with more bleach than brains fucks with them, I tend to get a little upset."
"We were having an affair," Gemma hissed. "James is married,"
"Oh wow," Shannon laughed. "You're really something, aren't you?"
"And who the fuck are you to judge me exactly?" the blonde answered. "You walked out on your husband when he was practically on his deathbed,"
"Maybe so but I still came back," she narrowed her eyes. "But you…breaking up two families at once. That's so sick it's almost impressive,"
"It wasn't meant to be like this, ok?" Gemma snapped. "Steve was an accident…he was meant to be nothing more than a one night stand and then…I don't know, ok? But I was still seeing James and it just…"
"What about the house?" Allie piped up. "And the plane tickets?"
Gemma's eyes widened and she stared at her furiously.
"You took them?" she shouted. "Give them back,"
"Uh, that'd be a no," Allie shook her head, looking at her as though she was crazy. "I'm not helping you, you bitch,"
"We need to start over," Gemma hissed at her. "I need to support this kid,"
"With Steve's money?" Allie raised an eyebrow and winked at her. "Nice,"
"Look I don't expect you to understand," she shook her head.
"Good," Shannon snapped. "Because we don't; all I'm getting from this is that you're a sick little bitch," she shoved the blonde hard. "And I'll be damned if I let you destroy my family,"
"Hey," James snarled, grabbing Shannon's shoulder and yanking her away from Gemma. "Get your hands off of her,"
"Or what?" she laughed. "Who the fuck are you anyway? Other than some jackass who can't keep it in his pants?"
"I don't want your opinion, darlin'," he shook his head. "What I want are those tickets…so how's about you hand 'em over now and I don't have to get angry,"
"Why?" Allie snorted. "Will we not like you when you're angry?" she cocked her head. "Is it hard being the Hulk? Y'know, just in every day life?"
"Right little fucking smart arse you are," he looked her up and down. "If I was your husband I would 'ave smacked that out of you a long time ago,"
"Oh wow," Allie blinked, looking around him to where Gemma was still leaning against the desk. "Bravo, Gem, this one's a keeper,"
Losing his patience once and for all, James reached out and grabbed Allie's wrist hard, squeezing it and making her cry out in pain.
"Get off of her!" Shannon snapped, slapping him hard across the face.
He stumbled backwards and upon regaining his composure, looked back up at her with blood on his lip, his dark eyes dangerous as he stalked back towards them.
"Fucking bitch," he growled, grabbing Shannon by the throat and shoving her against the wall. "Where are the fuckin tickets?"
"James!" Gemma shouted. "That's enough!"
Her gaze shifted over to Allie who was fumbling about with her phone.
"What're you doing?" she hissed.
"What does it look like?" Allie snapped. "Calling the police before he kills her,"
"No!" Gemma yanked the phone out of her hands and threw it towards the door.
"You fucking idiot!" Allie shouted. "Are you crazy?"
"He won't hurt her," Gemma shook her head. "He's just scared,"
"Yeah, well I doubt Shannon's having the time of her life either," she snapped. "Why won't you let us-…"
"What the fuck is going on?"
Suddenly all movement in the room stopped, all sounds apart from Shannon's haggard breathing ceasing as Steve stepped into the room with Terry right behind him, both men taking in the scene with wild and wary eyes.
"Who the fuck are you?" Steve snapped at James. "And what the fuck are you doing?"
Launching himself at the smaller man, Steve knocked him away from Shannon with a hard shove, not having to turn around to know that Terry was on guard if the occasion came for them to fight.
"You're Steve, I take it?" James smirked, shoving him backwards and eyeing the blonde man warily.
"Steve, this isn't…" Gemma shook her head, drawing his attention back from James. "Just leave it, ok?"
"Leave it?" he shouted. "I just walked in my house to find this twat with his hands all over my wife…"
"Ex-wife," Gemma snapped.
"I don't think anyone really cares about the technicalities right now, do you?" Allie asked her disdainfully.
"I asked you a bloody question, son," Steve snapped at James. "And if I were you, I'd best answer it before I really lose my temper,"
"Go ahead," Shannon glared at Gemma. "Tell him,"
Silence descended in the room as Gemma glanced about awkwardly, apparently unwilling to meet anyone's gaze.
"Gem?" Steve shook his head. "What's going on?"
"I'm not doing this now," she whispered. "Not with everyone here,"
"Tell him now," Shannon hissed at her. "Or so help me God, I'll do it for you,"
"You know something?" James laughed, picking up his jacket and tugging it on. "I'm done here," he looked at Gemma. "Call me when you are, too,"
"I don't know where the fuck you think you're going," Terry shook his head, stepping in front of the younger man and effectively blocking his path.
"Steve, please," Gemma looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I…it wasn't meant to happen…"
"What wasn't?" he frowned, turning and casting a glance at Shannon who was still staring determinedly at the young girl. "Right, seriously someone 'ad better fucking start talking because I'm…"
"I'm pregnant," Gemma blurted out.
Steve froze, his eyes widening as he looked at her, totally unsure of how he was supposed to feel in that moment. He was going through a divorce, already had a son and on top of all that, had only known Gemma for six months…there was no way in hell they were ready for this.
"But I thought we were…" he stuttered.
"It's not…" Gemma looked down at the floor and bit her lip, casting a lightening fast look at James who was staring at her with no emotion on his face whatsoever.
Steve caught the look and instantly, everything became clear; his fists tightened at his side as the anger swept through him like a tidal wave, clearing all logic and control in its path.
"It's his," he nodded towards James, though not taking his eyes off of the blonde in front of him.
It was statement, not a question but she nodded anyway, a silent sob shaking her body as the temperature of the room proceeded to drop another couple of degrees.
"Tell him the rest," Shannon pushed her.
Gemma looked up at her in disgust and snorted, shaking her head vehemently.
"No," she smiled. "You do the honours, I'm sure you can't wait for this, can you?"
Shannon shrugged and reached into her pocket, withdrawing the airline tickets and the documents about the house, holding them out to Steve who stared at them blankly, not making any move to take them from her.
"What are they?" he asked her darkly.
"Me and Pete found them…" she cleared her throat. "The night that…"
"Not you," Steve shook his head, glaring at Gemma. "Her," he took them out of Shannon's hands and stalked towards her. "I want you to tell me what these are,"
"I didn't think this would happen," she shook her head. "Steve, it wasn't just about…"
"Shut up!" he shouted, causing her to flinch. "I don't want your fucking excuses, I want you to tell me what the fuck this is about!"
"I was going to leave...before you could find anything out so you wouldn't get hurt…" Gemma cried. "It wasn't meant to be like this! I found out I was pregnant two weeks ago and I knew it was James' baby so we talked it over and…" she shook her head. "Fucking hell, Steve I didn't ask for this,"
"No," he laughed. "But you went and did it anyway, didn't ya?"
Picking up the documents for the house, he tore it to shreds in front of her, watching her sob as he let them float down to the floor before he threw the tickets at her, looking her up and down in disgust.
"Call 'em a gift," he told her. "They're yours on the grounds that you get outta my fucking sight right now,"
Gemma sobbed again, her hands shaking as she clutched the tickets to her chest.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered.
"Don't," Steve warned her, getting in her face. "Just don't, alright? I don't want your fucking apologies, I just want you outta here…"
Stepping forward, aware of Terry's eyes on him, James reached out and snagged Gemma's hand, tugging her forwards.
"Come on," he told her, his voice low. "Let's just go,"
She followed him reluctantly, stopping only to look at Steve once more before James pulled her out of the door, down the hallway and out into the street.
Allie glanced nervously at Terry as the front door slammed, leaving the four of them in an eerie silence.
"Steve?" she cleared her throat, taking a tentative step forward. "Are you-…"
"How did you know about this?" he snapped, turning to face her, his blue eyes so wild, so unlike Pete's that she felt a wave of fear shoot through her.
"Uh," she looked at Shannon. "Shannon and Pete found out last week…we just thought that if we got more information on it that you'd…I don't know, that we'd have a better shot at getting you to believe us,"
"So you knew about this for an entire fuckin' week and didn't say anything?" he shouted. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Look, it's not like we went out of our way to lie to you!" Allie shouted back. "In case you've forgotten things were a little up in the air this time last week…" she raised an eyebrow. "Y'know back when you were accusing Pete and Shannon of sleeping together,"
"I wasn't the only one," he reminded her.
"No, you weren't," she conceded. "But unlike you, I eventually realised what a twat I'd been and said sorry,"
"Oh well all hail Saint fucking Allie again, eh?" he snorted. "Why don't you cut the shit and tell me what the fuck you were doing in my house, going through my stuff?"
"It wasn't her idea," Shannon piped up. "It was mine, ok?"
Steve spun around to face her and shook his head in disgust.
"I should 'ave known," he spat. "You never could deal with seeing other people happy, could you?"
"You're blaming this on me?" she shrieked. "Ok, you do realise that regardless of whether or not Pete had found all this stuff, she'd still be leaving you, don't you?"
"I never asked you to stick your fucking nose in!" he shouted. "We're over, Shannon, what the fuck does any of this have to do with you anyway?"
"Just because I walked out doesn't mean I don't care about you," she shook her head. "I didn't want to see you get hurt and…"
"Oh fuck this," Steve muttered. "I've 'ad enough bullshit for one day, just get out, will ya?"
"Steve, please just-…"
"I said get out!" he screamed, picking up a file from his desk and hurling it across the room, a flurry of crumpled papers erupting from the dented plastic.
Allie bent down and grabbed her purse, shooting a questioning glance at Shannon who merely stood there, not moving.
"Shan?" she whispered, almost afraid to let Steve know she was still there.
"Go," the older woman shook her head. "I'll be fine,"
"Come on gorgeous," Terry held out his hand to her. "You can give me a life home on your way,"
Nodding, Allie took his outstretched hand and biting her lip nervously, followed him out through the hallway towards the front door.
"Are you sure we should be leaving?" she asked him. "I mean, what if something happens?"
"They'll be fine," Terry told her, squeezing her fingers reassuringly. "And hey, look at it this way, if he does kill 'er at least we've got witnesses to say we weren't in the house,"
He pointed to a rather unimpressed looking old man who was bending over to scoop up the mess his collie had left on the pavement.
"You really think it'll come to that?" Allie asked him, watching him admire the Porsche for a moment before climbing into it.
"Nah," he winked at her. "That's something you should know about Dunham's being married to one a' the bastards," he smirked at her. "They're all balls and no brains. Yeah, they might get pissed off easily but put a pretty girl in the room with 'em and they can't stay mad for long,"
"I'll take your word on that," she laughed, staring the engine and casting one last glance back at the house before pulling out into the road.
"So," Terry grinned, leaning back in the leather seat and clapping his hands against his knees. "What's all this I hear about you punching little Petey?"
"Steve told you about that, huh?" Allie shook her head.
"Nah, love," he laughed. "I 'eard it out of the horses mouth…so did the rest of the punters down the Anchor,"
Allie laughed and shook her head, muttering something along the lines of 'cheeky git' under her breath.
"So come on then," he nudged her as they stopped at some traffic lights. "After all that I could use a laugh and I gotta tell you sweetheart, the image of a little thing like you twating big bad Petey Dunham in the nose is enough to make me piss my pants,"
"You really want to hear about it?" she laughed.
"You bet your arse I do," he winked at her. "So come on Sloaner…make my day,"
Steve perched nervously on the steps leading down to the kitchen where he could hear Shannon pottering about, the sound of the kettle boiling and porcelain cups clashing together breaking through his thoughts.
Flexing his fingers out in front of him, he tried to swallow his anger, instead turning his attention to the shadowy patterns the afternoon sunlight was drawing on the worn wooden flooring.
The step creaked next to him and he shifted slightly closer to the wall, doing his best to ignore Shannon as she sat down beside him, two mugs in her hands.
"You don't seriously think I'm in the mood for tea and biscuits right now, do you?" he snorted, staring at the cup she was holding in front of him.
"Its not tea," she spoke softly. "Its hot buttered rum," she sighed, running a hand through her hair. "My dad used to drink it when he was stressed,"
Fighting his smile, Steve took the cup from her and took a long, soothing sip of the fiery liquid.
"I'm sorry you had to find out like this," Shannon told him after a moment. "I can't imagine how you must feel right now…"
"Betrayed, stupid as fuck, humiliated…" he smirked at her. "Pick one,"
"She seemed nice," Shannon conceded. "It's not like you could have seen this coming,"
"You did," he snapped. "So did Allie apparently,"
"I wanted to tell you last week," she gulped. "But with everything kicking off like that…" she shook her head. "I didn't want to tell you because I knew that if I did you'd just see it as my way of, I don't know…getting to you, trying to mess with the two of you."
"Yeah, because you've never done that before, have you?" Steve snorted. "Or are you forgetting everything that happened six months ago?"
"No," Shannon ignored the hurt she felt and shook her head. "I haven't forgotten any of it and I know that nothing I do or say now will excuse how I behaved back then but…" she sighed. "Steve, will it make any difference if I try and explain to you that I've changed since then?"
"I would 'ave taken you back then," he told her quietly. "Without even having to think about it, if you'd said you wanted to come home, I would 'ave done anything you wanted,"
Shannon took in a sharp breath and felt tears stinging her eyes, trying to quell the hope in her heart.
"And what about now?" she whispered. "What if I said I wanted to come home now?"
Steve sighed and looked down into his cup, watching his distorted reflection stare back at him, his gaze wavering in the dark liquid. Looking back up at Shannon, he saw the hope in her eyes and shook his head, slamming the cup down hard enough for the rum to spill out over the sides and splash against the wall.
"I can't do this right now," he shouted. "I can't 'ave you fucking with my head again,"
"I'm not," Shannon protested, standing up with him. "Steve, I swear, ok? I just…I know you're hurting right now but I can't feel sorry for you, ok? I just can't. You were never meant to be with her," she bit her lip and prayed she didn't look half as pathetic as she felt. "You're supposed to be with me,"
Dropping his head back against the wall, Steve shook his head and let out a deep breath.
"Shan…" he closed his eyes for a moment before looking back at her. "I can't…"
She nodded, putting up her hand and silencing him as she smiled sadly and placed her own cup on the end of the banister.
"I get it," she whispered. "Its fine, it's not like I was expecting…"
Shaking her head, she trailed off as she pulled her jacket on and shoved her hands into the pockets, taking a wary step towards him.
"I'm here if you need to talk, ok?" she mumbled, not even trying to meet his eyes. "I'll see you later,"
Shannon stepped around him, her watering eyes trained on the front door which despite being only a few feet away seemed like miles. Her body wanted nothing more than to collapse in on itself, for her to lie down on the floor and sob until she passed out.
Not here, she told herself at home when Captain Smirnoff can keep you company.
She gasped when she felt Steve grab her hand, pulling her back around to face him, his blue eyes dark and determined as they met her own.
"I can't afford to lose anyone else," he told her, his voice hoarse. "I'm not letting anyone in anymore; I can't deal with all these fucking lies."
Shannon nodded mutely, unsure of what she was supposed to say to that anyway; was he talking about her or Gemma?
She barely had time to breathe let alone think about her answer as something seemed to snap inside of Steve, his eyes darkening even more as with a guttural growl, he shoved her against the wall and for the first time in over six months, he kissed her.
"Do you think she ever gets bored?"
Pete looked up from where he was flicking through his lesson plans for tomorrow morning and smirked at Benjamin who was holding Poppy awkwardly, almost as though having her any closer to him would put him at risk somehow.
"Bored?" Pete snorted. "Mate, she's a month and a half old, she 'as it sweet as a nut. The only thing she ever 'as to worry about is whether or not she should start screaming as soon as the footie comes on or as soon as me and Allie get into bed,"
He smiled warmly at his daughter as she flopped her head back, staring at him with her big blue eyes, her mouth moving as though she was trying to get words out but knew she couldn't.
"I still can't believe you made this, you jammy bastard," Benjamin sat Poppy down on his lap and played with her feet, smiling when she caught hold of his watch and stared at it in a trance. "And look at this," he gestured to the white sleep suit with pink flowers on it. "Not a Hammers shirt in sight,"
"Give it time," Pete laughed. "I'm just softening Allie up so that piece by piece I can fully kit her out…socks, scarf…the lot,"
Benjamin laughed and rolled his eyes at his friend.
"And just how long do you expect to live, brother?" he grinned.
"I've 'ad a good run," Pete smirked, chucking his work onto the table and rubbing his eyes tiredly. "These fuckin' SATS are a joke," he grumbled. "I dunno about you but my lot are never gonna be able to cope with all this,"
"Aye," Benjamin nodded. "I swear when we were younger it wasn't like this,"
"Yeah," Pete laughed. "But maybe that explains how dumb shits like you and me ended up teaching,"
Standing up, he walked over to Benjamin and picked Poppy up off of his lap, smiling when she instantly snuggled into his chest, her tiny fingers going to the buttons on his shirt and grabbing them clumsily.
"Hungry?" he raised an eyebrow at her as she yawned and stared up at him expectantly.
"She ain't the only one," Benjamin ran a hand through his already messy hair and standing up to reach for his back pack. "I've got to pick up dinner and then get home before Chris does,"
Nodding in understanding, Pete smirked at his friend; Chris Ellis was Benjamin's younger brother and something of a wildcard to the point where even Benjamin and Pete had a hard time keeping up with him. The kid was the very epitome of a University student: he woke up at night, went to bed in the morning, drank to the point of throwing up most nights and always had a different girl in his bed.
"I don't know I got lumbered with the little fucker for this week," Benjamin muttered, shaking his head. "D'you know the little bastard woke me up at three in the morning to play Tekken yesterday?" he shook his head. "Three in the fucking morning, Dunham,"
"Sounds like you're getting old," Pete smirked.
"Keep laughin', Petey Pie," the Scotsman grinned. "They say one of these things ages you ten years," he pointed to Poppy. "So good luck with that,"
"Piss off," Pete laughed, kicking him as he walked towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"
"Bright and early, brother," he called over his shoulder as he opened the door and stepped out into the driveway, leaving Pete and Poppy alone.
"So," he breathed, looking down at her. "What'd you fancy doin' now?"
She gurgled in response and kicked her legs against him, staring at the ceiling blankly as he sat down on the sofa with her.
"What's that?" he raised his eyebrows, holding her up and pretending to listen to her. "You wanna watch The Matrix?" he pursed his lips. "Well, if that's what you want,"
Shoving the DVD into the player, he lay down on the sofa with her on his chest, smiling when she fidgeted against him, her breathing getting deeper as he placed a comforting hand on her back, her tiny fists curled against him.
Bending his head down, he kissed the top of her head gently and stroked her back, hoping to coax her to sleep.
The familiar green writing appeared on screen and Poppy began to kick faster, a loud gurgle escaping her lips as she grew excited.
"Don't get too excited," he told her with a laugh. "It all goes down hill after this one. Reloaded and Resolutions are shit,"
Turning his head back to the screen, he hugged his daughter close as the late afternoon sunshine poured in through the windows, warming their bodies as they both stared blankly at the screen, waiting for Keanu Reeves to choose the red pill.
"Told your mum we wasted money on all them Disney films," he smirked. "You're a Dunham…and Dunham's don't do Disney,"
She gurgled as though in agreement and rested her head against him, both of them getting lost in the film until the soft breeze coming through the window along with the warmth of the sun lulled them both off to sleep.
Allie shut the front door behind her and leant against it with a loud sigh. The warmth of the sun outside was doing nothing to try and banish the coldness in her stomach as she replayed the events of this morning over in her head.
Pulling her phone out of her purse, she glanced at it with a sigh as she saw that Shannon was still yet to call her as she had promised.
Dropping her purse and jacket onto the floor, she moved through the house, kicking off her shoes as she came to the living room and wiggling her toes against the plump, fluffiness of the carpet. Pushing the door open, she frowned hearing the TV murmuring quietly yet unable to see anyone in the room. Walking around the sofa to pick up the remote, she stopped, biting her lip to keep from smiling as her eyes landed on the sight which warmed her to the core.
Pete lay fast asleep with his mouth slightly open, his hand resting on Poppy's back as she too lay slumped over his chest, occasionally twitching in her sleep.
Making her way over to them, she perched on the edge of the coffee table and laughed lightly when she saw her daughter staring back at her, obviously having woken up by just sensing Allie in the room.
Fidgeting against Pete, she gurgled loudly making Allie smile.
"Shhhh," she cooed, gently picking her up and kissing her head. "There's my girl. We don't want to wake up daddy, do we?"
Poppy snuggled into the curve of her shoulder and hiccupped lightly as Allie carried her over to her bassinette and lay her down, gently rubbing her tummy as she grabbed onto the bright orange fish toy she always had with her.
Strolling back over to the sofa, she shook her head, laughing as Pete mumbled something in his sleep.
Leaning over him, she kissed his neck lightly, giggling when she felt one of his hands on her arse pulling her closer as he growled in her ear.
"Where've you been all day?" he whispered, his voice husky from sleeping as slipped his hand up from her behind into her t-shirt, stroking the soft skin of her back.
"Why?" she giggled, kissing along his jaw line and pushing herself up onto her arms so she could look down into his face. "You didn't miss me did you?"
"No," he snorted, trying to keep a straight face. "I just want my dinner," he smacked her arse playfully. "You could throw in a back rub if you want as well,"
"Bastard," she smacked him back, making him laugh as he caught her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist.
Allie tensed slightly, hoping he wouldn't pick up on the faint red finger marks left from where James had grabbed her, but unfortunately for her, her husband wasn't nearly as clueless as his half asleep puppy dog eyes would have her think.
"What 'appened 'ere?" he frowned.
"Oh that," she huffed, brushing it off. "That's nothing…I uh, I did that when I was trying to answer the phone to you in the restaurant," she nodded, fairly proud of herself for thinking on her feet like that. "I banged it on the table,"
"Oh," Pete raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Right,"
"What?" she smiled nervously, bending down to kiss him again in hope of distracting him amongst other things.
"Nothing," he shook his head, turning onto his side and bringing her with him so that they were lying on the large sofa, facing each other with her head resting on his arm. "It's just that when I called you…" he brushed his lips over her cheek, moving down to her neck. "You told me you were in a changing room,"
Allie winced, biting her lip and cursing herself for her own stupidity.
See this is why you don't think on your feet, Barbie, her brain told her with a loud, mocking laugh, because you're shit at it.
"And you don't 'ave any shopping bags," Pete continued, kissing up to her mouth. "Even though you told me you were buyin' something,"
"I lied," she told him meekly.
"Yeah, I got that," he laughed, pulling back from her and meeting her eyes seriously. "What's goin' on?"
Closing her eyes for a moment, Allie sighed, opening them and seeing Pete still staring at her intently.
"Ugh," she sighed. "Fine, look…I know I should have told you,"
Pete tensed, already not liking where this was going.
"This morning when I picked up Shannon…we didn't go shopping," she lowered her eyes away from his and started fidgeting with the buttons on his shirt.
"What'd you do?" he prompted her to continue.
"We went to Steve's house to dig up more dirt on Gemma," she told him.
"And?" he raised an eyebrow.
"And she came back and found us there,"
"Allie," Pete threw his head back and closed his eyes. Jesus, this girl was a liability.
"No, listen," she pulled him back to her. "Gemma's pregnant,"
"What're you on about?" he shook his head.
"Well, you know that thing that we did which resulted in that?" she spoke slowly and pointed to Poppy's crib. "Well, Gemma and that James guy did the same thing,"
"Wait, it's not Steve's?" Pete frowned.
"No,"
"But how the fuck can she be sure?" he shook his head.
"She'd been to the doctor and they told her she's two weeks gone," Allie shrugged. "We heard her saying that she and Steve haven't…done that for a while,"
"So what'd she say to you?" he asked.
"Not much." She shook her head. "But then Steve burst through the door and kinda interrupted things,"
"Oh fuckin' hell," Pete groaned. "Steve knows?"
"Yeah," Allie winced. "Babe, I sorry, but Shannon wanted help and if we hadn't gone there this morning who knows what would have…"
"Hey," he shook his head, shushing her. "I know, ok? I'm not mad," he rolled his eyes. "Not at you, anyway,"
Tangling her legs with his, Allie looked up at him through her eyelashes and bit her lip.
"Do you think they'll be ok?" she asked quietly.
"What Steve and Shannon?" he looked down at her, brushing some hair out of her face. "I 'ave no idea, everything with them is so fuckin' complicated it gives me a headache just thinking about it."
Pulling her closer, Pete kissed her softly, taking his time as he explored her mouth, his hands resting on her hips. He groaned when she pulled away and sat up straightening her t-shirt which had been pulled up by his wandering hands.
"What?" she laughed as he stared up at her practically pouting. "I thought you were bitching about how you wanted dinner,"
"Yeah," he smirked, sitting up and grabbing her so she was sat in his lap, pushing her shirt up and kissing her stomach. "But I can think of something I want more,"
"Uh-huh," she bent down and kissed the top of his head, sliding off of him and reaching down to yank him up with her. "Come on, you big whore," she laughed. "You can help me in the kitchen,"
Walking over to the bassinette, she picked up Poppy and grinned at her as she fidgeted excitedly in her mother's arms.
"Same goes for you, missy," Allie smiled, kissing her nose before turning to Pete with her eyebrows raised. "Did you make her watch the Matrix?" she asked.
Pete smirked and stretched his arms over his head, yawning as he followed her through into the kitchen.
"Yeah but typical Harding," he snorted. "Fell asleep about 20 minutes into it,"
"You and me both cutie," Allie placed her in her cushioned high chair and tickled her chin before going over to the fridge. "I still can't believe that was your idea of a second date,"
"What?" Pete frowned, grabbing a beer from over her shoulder and wrapping his arms around her waist. "You like Keanu Reeves,"
"Yeah, but not when he's ranting on for two bloody hours about how he doesn't want to be 'the one' or whatever," she shook her head as he laughed against her shoulder. "Jesus Christ, Dunham, use some initiative! If you'd taken me to say, oh I don't know…Notting Hill that night, then chances are you would have got a lot more action than you did,"
"Bollocks, are you serious?" Pete muttered and then smirked. "I dunno though, I didn't do too badly,"
"Oh please, one kiss," she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah but I copped a pretty good feel when I hugged you as well," he winked making her laugh.
"Yeah I noticed that," she narrowed her eyes. "But you were hot so I let it slide,"
Taking a couple of vegetables out of her hands, he sat at the counter chopping them as they talked about everything that had happened all those years ago.
Back when Pete had been the fuck up and Steve was the one with everything going for him.
Christ, how times change.
Shoving a couple of pieces of raw red pepper into his mouth, Pete looked around at his home, at his daughter who was happily watching the birds swooping through the trees outside the window, at his wife who was still busy talking, her eyes flashing animatedly as she laughed and blew a strand of honey coloured hair out of her face.
How the hell had he ended up with all this? Of the two Dunham brothers, it had always been common knowledge that even though Pete was the harder working one, Steve somehow ended up getting everything he wanted.
But here Pete was, five years down the line with everything he thought he'd never have, partly because he was sure that he didn't want this. Five years ago, Pete had thought about nothing except the firm: girls were simply there to fuck and the only kids he cared about were the ones he taught in class.
But then it was amazing how much one person could change things, he smiled looking up at Allie who was still chattering away about God knows what.
Taking a long sip of his beer, he grinned at her.
"What?" she frowned, pushing the steak she was seasoning to the side and looking down. "Do I have something on my face?"
"No, you're just…" he shook his head and winked at her. "You can bitch all you want about me taking you to see the Matrix but where the fuck was my escape pod when you dragged me to watch Love Actually?"
"Which you cried at," she smiled in a sing-song voice.
"Oi!" he pointed at her. "I told you, I was eating salted popcorn and then I rubbed my eye, alright? So it started watering,"
"Uh-huh, sure," Allie nodded.
"Don't look at me like…" he laughed. "I wasn't crying,"
"I know, Pete, I believe you," she giggled to herself.
"Right, that's it," he picked up a wedge of pepper and pelted it at her head, laughing loudly when it bounced off of her forehead.
"Oh, so that's how its gonna, be huh?" she raised an eyebrow, reaching for a piece of cucumber and hurling it at him, wincing when she completely missed.
"Don't make me hurt you," Pete stood up and started towards her.
"Oh as if you could," she smirked. "You love me too much to hurt me whereas I don't really care that much about you," she shrugged.
"See, this is what I tell the boys and they don't believe me," Pete shook his head. "You've got 'em fooled with that sweet and innocent look,"
"It's a gift," she grinned. "What are you gonna do about it anyway, Dunham? Are you gonna cry?"
Pete laughed and shook his head; Jesus, this woman was going to be death of him.
"Nah, I can think of ways of punishing you that are a lot more fun for me," he winked, watching the fear pass over her face for a moment before he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder, ignoring her squeals as he raised an eyebrow Poppy who was staring at them blankly.
"What'd you reckon, gorgeous?" he asked her, slapping Allie's behind. "In the pool or in the bin?"
Poppy's reply was to shove her fist into her mouth before becoming interested in the bumblebee which had flown in through the window, gurgling happily as she followed it with her bright blue eyes.
Allie laughed against the back of his shoulder and reached forward, scooping one of the ice cubes out of her glass of coke and shoving it down his back, giggling hysterically when he screamed.
Pete Dunham just screamed.
"Right," he glared at her, letting the ice drop onto the floor, leaving a wet trail down the front of his shirt. "You're dead now, Harding,"
"It's Dunham!" she shouted, running away from him into the hallway.
"Yeah, well it won't be for long if you keep pulling stunts like that," he laughed, grabbing her by the waist and dragging her back into the kitchen, his lips attached to the side of her neck making her giggle, both of them more than willing to forget about all of the bullshit going on around them, for tonight at least.
Ready to meet a new character...you bet your ass you are! xx