Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, its an update! Sorry its been so bloody long, between a crazy amount of Uni work and visiting friends in Miami for Spring Break (those American's sure know how to party!) Its just been a case of finding the time to get the story sorted. Good news is I've written the next three chapters so there shouldn't be much of a wait for the next one! Reviews as always make my day so please feel free to leave me one! Thanks guys!

"King Henry VIII is thought of as one of the most important Kings in history, he defeated France with the aid of Macbeth…"

"Fuck me," Pete muttered, shaking his head as he scribbled yet more notes of disappointment on one of his student's essays. What the hell was wrong with these kids? Slamming his pen down against the nightstand a lot harder than he needed to, he sighed heavily, dropping his head into his hands.

The last rays of sunlight were streaming in through the window, mocking him with the knowledge that it was this time tomorrow that Allie would be going to Birmingham and he…

Biting his lip, Pete stared at his jacket which lay draped over the arm chair in the corner of the room, his gaze blazing fiercely into the pocket almost as though he could see the West Ham match ticket hidden inside.

Fuck knows what would become of him this time tomorrow.

"Nat, it wasn't that bad," Allie's voice travelled up the hallway, making his breath catch and his body tighten. He knew that when she walked into their room she would be able to tell he was worried about something and so forced himself to relax.

"Fuck off," Natalie shot back, shoving the blonde forward as they came to a stop outside her and Pete's bedroom. "It was worse than bad; I can't believe you came back in even after I fucking told you to get out!"

"What're you on about?" Pete frowned, looking up at the two women as they rested opposite each other against the door frame.

"I met Natalie's-…" Allie was cut short when Natalie kicked her hard in the leg.

"Ow!" she half shouted, half laughed, reaching out and slapping the other girl hard on the arm. "That hurt, bitch,"

"Yeah, well keep your mouth shut!" she hissed back, throwing her eyes in Pete's direction.

"What've you done now?" Pete snapped at her, his patience thinning as he watched Allie rubbing her sore leg.

"Nothing!" Natalie spat.

"Oh, she's just pissed off that I walked in on her and her boy toy having a little…recreational time," Allie giggled and ducked when Natalie took another swipe at her. "Hey!"

"You what?" Pete narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"It wasn't like that!" Natalie protested. "God, I knew I hated you for a reason,"

With one last withering look that only seemed to make Allie laugh harder, Natalie turned on her heel and strode down the hall to her own room, slamming the door hard enough to make some of the pictures shake in their frames on the wall.

"So I don't even get to meet this bloke but she thinks it's alright to bring him back 'ere and…"

"Easy there, gramps," Allie rolled her eyes, shutting the bedroom door and limping slightly over to him, flopping down on her back so that her head rested against his thigh, the top of her hair brushing the pile of papers in his lap. "She's a big girl now; we had this talk, remember?"

"She's taking me for a fucking mug," Pete growled angrily.

"No, she's not," Allie sighed. "She's just…happy,"

"Yeah, well why can't she be happy somewhere else?" he snorted. "Its getting on my fucking nerves,"

"Whoa," Allie frowned up at him. "Easy tiger! What's wrong with you today?"

"Nothing," he shook his head. "Just leave it,"

Allie blinked in surprise as he shifted his gaze away from hers and back to his marking, his knuckles turning white as he held onto the sheets of paper a lot harder than need be.

"Hey," she whispered softly, reaching up and wrapping her fingers around his wrist.

He met her eyes and knew what she was asking; truth be told he was pissed off. he was pissed at her for agreeing to go away with Nathan like it was nothing, he was pissed at Matt for thinking that buying him a match ticket would clear up the mess between them, he was pissed at Natalie for thinking that she could do whatever the hell she wanted under his roof and get away with it…he was…

He was losing it.

"Sorry," he mumbled with a shrug. "I'm just being a grumpy bastard, ignore me."

It would be easier than talking to her at least.

She released his wrist and sat up and for once, Pete thought that she might actually be listening to him. But then she was beside him, sitting against the headboard with her legs crossed, facing him completely, her eyes focused on the side of his face.

He snorted and shook his head; who the fuck was he kidding, this woman never listened to a word he said. If she had they probably wouldn't have ever gotten together in the first place.

"What're you doing?" Pete frowned at the paper in front of him.

"Ignoring you," came the answer, the smirk so evident in her voice that he had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from returning it.

"You're shit at it," he told her, clearing his throat.

"I never said I was good," she shrugged. "But you're right; I can do better that this,"

Sighing, she flopped back again, kicking her feet out so they fell onto his lap, kicking the pile of papers and his pen to the floor.

"Oi!" he shouted, glaring at her.

She wiggled her toes, staring up at the ceiling and humming under her breath, leaning her hands back behind her.

He knew what she was doing…but he wouldn't fall for it, not this time, not like all the other times before.

"Allie," he rubbed his forehead. "Allie…"

She hummed louder, drumming her fingers against the bed linen silently.

"Allie!" he half shouted, shoving her legs off of his lap.

"What?" she frowned, looking back behind her and then back at him. "Are you…what, are you talking to me?"

"You're a right fucking comedian, you are," he snapped, leaning down over the bed to pick up the papers scattered about the floor.

It was then that he felt it; the sharp whack against the back of his head forcing him to spin back round to face her, something that sounded almost like a growl coming out of his chest.

The blonde stared at him with wide eyes as she sat on her knees, still clutching the pillow which had served as her weapon, a grin creeping its way across her face.

"I ain't in the mood," he snapped harshly.

"Really?"

Whack.

"Allie…." He gritted his teeth.

"What? I'm not doing anything…"

Whack.

"I swear to God, once more and I'll fucking…"

Whack.

He pounced, grabbing her a lot harder than he normally would have and tossing her down onto her back.

"Are you trying to fuck me off?" he shouted, hovering above her, his eyes blackening.

"Why?" she blinked. "Is it working? You're so sexy when you're mad,"

Pete bit down on his tongue hard, determined not to laugh at her. She was too good at this and she knew him too well.

He hated her for it.

"Stop it," he hissed.

"Make me," she laughed. "Or are you scared that you might get your arse handed to you by a girl?"

Knowing it was a losing battle anyway, Pete found himself grinning, a muffled laugh following shortly after as he hung his head down.

"Christ," he grinned. "You're such a fucking pain in the arse,"

"Yeah, well you're a grumpy git," she shot back, trailing a finger down his nose until she could tip his chin back up and force him to look at her. "Tell me," she whispered.

It was a question, not a command.

"Pete?" she frowned up at him and he could see in her eyes that she was worried. So was he; how the hell could he possibly explain to her that the next 24 hours were his worst nightmare coming true? She was spending the night with another man and he was on the verge of being pulled back into a very fucking addictive world that he was sure he had been shot of forever.

The silence felt heavy around them and he swore he could hear her heartbeat picking up as she began to panic.

And so he did the only thing he could think of. The only thing that would distract them both.

Her hands wrapped around his neck not even a second after his lips first touched hers, her legs falling to the side to allow him to settle on top of her.

This was wrong…he knew it was. He needed to be more of a man to just tell her how he felt and get it over with. But he was happy in denial.

He groaned loudly when her hand drifted down over his stomach and lower still.

Fuck, he was ecstatic in denial.

"I know what you're doing," Allie panted against his ear as he ran his tongue down her neck and over her collar bone. "It's not going to work…oh God!"

He smirked against her skin and gripped her hands above her head, pushing his hips into hers and hissing at the friction.

It was about time she realised it wasn't just her who could turn the tables.

"For once in your life," he mumbled against her lips. "Could you shut up?"

She whispered something that sounded like 'bastard', making him grin before he sat up from her just enough to pull his shirt off.

The short break from his lips assault on her body seemed to clear Allie's head and she gasped, reaching out and slamming her palm against his chest when he moved to lay back down on her.

"Wait," she shook her head. This time it really had been an order. "Pete, can't we just…angry sex isn't going to solve anything,"

His eyes darkened and she felt his chest start to rise and fall much quicker, his heart thumping enticingly against her hand.

"I'm not angry," Pete shook his head.

Allie blinked and let her hand fall back; ok, that was something she hadn't been expecting.

"Um…" she frowned. "You shout at Natalie, shout at me, tackle me half way off of the bed and I'm supposed to believe that you're not angry?"

"I'm fine," he shrugged, gesturing half heartedly to the pile of papers on the floor. "Work was pissing me off,"

"But…"

"You know what?" Pete snorted, pushing himself away from her. "Forget about it,"

Allie blinked in a mixture of both shock and hurt as he sat back on his calves, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly. His shoulders slumped and he sighed once more before leaning down to lazily scoop the bits of paper off of the floor.

Forcing herself up, Allie crossed her legs and waited patiently for him to turn and look at her, growing more upset when he didn't.

"So I take it whatever's going on with you…" she cleared her throat. "Is somehow down to me?"

Pete winced as her voice cracked slightly, the tension around then getting worse as he allowed the silence to hover tauntingly between the two of them.

"Fine," Allie snapped, glaring at the back of his head. "Be a complete bastard, see if I care,"

Scooting back off of the bed she slammed her feet down onto the floor and straightened her shirt that had been left slightly askew by Pete's hands.

"Don't go,"

His voice stopped her just a few feet from the door and she turned to face him, prepared to snap back until she saw the distress in his eyes, the sapphire depths taking on a desperation that her heart could never say no to.

"Pete," she shook her head, walking back over to him until she was able to rest her hands on his shoulders, trying to ease the tension from them. "I'm right here,"

Pete took a deep breath and rested his head against her stomach for a moment feeling lower than dirt for what he was about to do to her.

"I don't mean now," he mumbled into her shirt. "I mean this weekend,"

He felt her tense and knew the damage was done so carried on talking.

"Its just not a good time…" he swallowed. "After everything that's happened,"

Allie let her grip loosen on his shoulders, her eyes focused hard on the wall above his head. Her heart was pounding in her chest, the adrenaline rushing through her veins in the form of pure rage.

"Not a good time?" she repeated her voice barely above a whisper.

"I didn't want to say anything before," Pete told her. "I just…"

"Not a good time for whom, Pete?" Allie demanded, shoving him back a lot harder than she had meant to. Catching the look of shock on his face she began pacing the room, trying for get herself to calm down.

"For me or you?" she laughed bitterly. "My God, I knew this was coming…"

"What?" Pete snapped. "What was coming?"

"This!" Allie gestured between them. "This macho jealousy bullshit…why is it that you can do whatever the hell you want but I'm can't?"

"That's not fair," he shook his head.

"Oh I'm sorry," Allie laughed. "Mr Misogynist is going to give little old me a lecture in what's fair and what's not?"

"You're being a right fucking brat about this," Pete shouted. "You asked me what was wrong and I'm telling you, but of course I forgot I can't do anything right!"

"Well I don't know about that but we both know you can't tell the truth for shit," she stalked over to his coat and he felt his heart sink.

Oh fuck…no, anything but that…

She produced the West Ham ticket with a flourish, waving it at him mockingly as she shook her head in disgust.

"I wasn't even gonna go," he told her calmly.

"Don't you dare lie to my face," she snarled, walking over to him and slamming the ticket against his chest hard enough to knock the wind out of him. "Contrary to what you think I am not a bloody idiot,"

"That's not what I said," Pete sighed.

"Then what was it you were getting at, honey?" she stressed the term of endearment way too much and it made him wince. "Because from here it looks like you were trying to tell me what I can and can't do while you go off to get pissed and more than likely have the shit beaten out of you!"

"Well what the fuck were you doing going through my stuff?" he bellowed, knowing that he was clutching at very thin straws to try and turn this on her.

"Going through your stuff?" Allie narrowed her eyes at him. "I found it when I was doing the washing that you're too fucking lazy to do and while we're on the subject, don't you dare try and get out of this on a technicality,"

"I'm not trying to get out of anything but you shouldn't 'ave…"

"You know what this comes down to?" she interrupted. "This comes down to the fact that after everything, you don't trust me,"

"Bollocks," Pete scoffed. "Of course I trust you,"

"Then why can't I go?" Allie half screamed.

"Because I don't trust him," he shot back, refusing to even utter the wanker's name.

"Who? Nathan?" she frowned.

"No, the fuckin Easter bunny! Of course, Nathan!" he laughed. "It's the whole Matt thing all over again; you actually can't see it can you?"

"Oh my God!" Allie shouted, gripping her head. "You can't keep doing this! You can't keep throwing that in my face, Pete it happened six years ago!"

"Yeah but the point is I was right!" he pointed at her.

"Oh well bravo," she gave him a short, sarcastic round of applause. "Aren't you the clever one?"

"You can act like a smart arse all you want but I know you know he's interested in you," Pete snarled. "He fucking looks at you like you're his next meal,"

"And so what?" she laughed. "Even if he does, so what? Are you that insecure that you think he has a shot…or anyone for that matter! Jesus, I married you, we have a family, what more do you want me to do?"

"Drop out of this weekend," Pete told her.

He knew damn well he was being a bastard, he knew that he was asking too much of her and not giving enough back but then what was he supposed to do?

Let her prance off with the yank for the weekend? No fucking way.

"You're serious, aren't you?" she half whispered, staring at him with tears in her eyes. "Why are you being like this?"

"Like what? Protective?" he snorted.

"No," she snapped. "Selfish and jealous…for God sake Pete, this has to stop. Nathan's a friend, ok? I mean, Jesus, I lived with him when I was in New York and if nothing happened then what do you think is going to happen in 24 hours in Birmingham. And you know the reason nothing happened in New York? Because I was in love with you; the whole time I was out there you were all I could think about, you were all I wanted and nothing's changed, ok? Nothing,"

She took a step towards him, stopping only when his eyes flashed giving away that he wasn't quite in control of his temper yet.

"Don't do this, Pete, please," she begged.

He stared at her for a long moment, his blue eyes boring into her green ones so intensely that she swore she could hear the beat of her own heart.

"You wanna go," he shrugged. "Fine…go."

"Jesus, you wanna sound any more pissed off about it?" she scoffed.

"My wife's spending the night with another man, Allie," Pete shouted. "'Scuse me if I'm not fuckin' jumping for joy!"

"If this was Dave or Swill, it wouldn't be an issue," she shot at him.

"'Course it wouldn't, they're my mates," Pete frowned at her.

"Exactly," Allie spat. "See as long as its ok with you then there's no issue, just because Nathan happens to be my friend and not someone you know, you automatically start throwing accusations around and you know something, Pete, its pathetic,"

"You think me trying to protect you is pathetic?" he shouted angrily.

"No, I think you being a jealous prat is, though!" she shoved past him and grabbed her car keys.

"Where're you going?" Pete demanded.

"To pick Poppy up from Shannon and Steve's," Allie carried on towards the door, not bothering to look back at him for fear of what she might end up doing. "Do me a favour and don't me here when I get back,"

Pete winced as she slammed the door hard enough to rattle some of the photos on the wall before leaving him stranded in silence.

Staring down at the West Ham ticket on the floor, he sunk back down to the bed and sighed, dropping his head into his hands. He had a decision to make, one that would affect everything including his relationship with Allie and for the first time he wasn't overly sure how to handle it.

It was the sound of his phone ringing that snapped him out of his reverie, bringing him back to the world of the living for a second before he shook himself out of his thoughts and reached for the phone lying on the nightstand, seeing Bovver's name and flipping it open with a small sigh.

"Alright?" he mumbled.

"What've you been doin'? Me and the boys 'ave been trying to get through to you all day," Bovver grumbled, not bothering with pleasantries. After almost 18 years of friendship, he and Pete were way past that.

"What's got your dandies in a twist?" Pete shot back.

"Well this fuckin' match on Saturday, we just thought we better find out if you're comin' or not given the whole fuckin' thing was organised for you,"

Pete stared at the ticket for another second and then the photo of Allie next to it, his stomach churning with apprehension.

"Pete?" Bovver snapped. "Mate, are you in or not?"

All it took was a deep, shaky breath and a reminder of the anger in Allie's eyes only a moment ago as she had slammed out of the door to help him make his choice.

"Yeah," he breathed. "Yeah, I'm in."