But We Could Get By

Chapter 17

"So that's the man you and Johanna were talking about." Sweeney mumbled. Nellie nodded. "Throughout my entire relationship with him, if you could even call it that, he made our lives miserable. It only lasted for about a month, but it was still dreadful." She said. She glanced at the body, then looked back at Sweeney. "He's dead now, and yet I still feel terrified whenever I look at him." "He's gone now. You haven't got a thing to fear." Sweeney reassured. "I know." Nellie replied. "It's just... When he showed up, it was like I was reliving those awful moments from the past. Even now, just thinking about everything that happened, I feel so frightened."
   "Come here, my love." Sweeney said. Nellie walked over to him, and he pulled her close and held her tightly. "He'll never hurt you ever again." He said. She wrapped her arms around him and held him as tightly as she could. Everything suddenly felt warm and comforting. The fear she had felt earlier had melted away. She was safe. "You're okay." She heard him say. "Everything's okay." His voice cracked a little, as if he was also afraid.
   "Are you alright?" She asked. "I'm fine." He replied. "Why?" "You just seemed a bit startled." Nellie said. "Oh." Sweeney muttered. "I guess if I'm being honest, I was frightened a little. Not of him, but..." He paused for a moment. "I just... I heard the shouting, and ran downstairs to see what was going on. I had suspected something awful was happening, even before I actually saw it. Just the shouting was enough to worry me." He explained. "I was worried about you and Johanna. I thought of what had happened to Lucy. I wasn't there to stop the Judge from attacking her, but I'm here now, and I was not going to stand by and let him hurt the people I care about. This time, I was able to do something about it."
   "You care about me." Nellie said with a smile. "I do." Sweeney replied. "I don't know why you seem so surprised every time I say it." "Well, sometimes it feels like you don't." Nellie said. "It does?" Sweeney asked. "You ignore me and push me away. Not all the time, of course. It's like sometimes you care, and other times, you only care about revenge." "Oh." Sweeney mumbled. "I'll admit it's all I think about sometimes. The thought of the Judge getting what's coming to him, and avenging Lucy... Sometimes it feels like that's all I have, but I know that's not true. I've got Johanna, and I've got you. I never meant to push you away." He said. "With everything going on, I can't promise that I won't get entirely wrapped up in my revenge plan at times, but I still care about you, even if I don't act like it all the time."
   Nellie kissed his cheek. "I care about you too." She said. "Of course, you probably already knew that." "Still good to hear." Sweeney replied. Nellie kissed his cheek again. "I'll always care about you, my love." She said. Sweeney tried to hide it, but he couldn't help but smile. "You're smiling." She said. "You act like I never have before." Sweeney responded. "Well, it's a lot more rare now than it used to be." Nellie said. "Still just as beautiful as ever though." "You really think so?" Sweeney asked. Nellie nodded. "You're too kind to me." He said. "And I never did anything to deserve that kindness." "You deserve all the kindness in the world." Nellie responded.
   Sweeney didn't respond, but she didn't mind. She knew he was probably trying to process what she had said. He had never been the best at taking compliments. Then again, she wasn't the best at taking compliments either. "You should get some rest. It's really late." Sweeney said, breaking the silence. Nellie glanced over at Mr. Johnson's body. "We've gotta do something about him first." She said. "I'll hide him in the shop for now. Tomorrow, I'll send him down to you." Sweeney responded. "What about the blood?" Nellie asked. "I'll take care of it. You go get some sleep." Sweeney said. "You don't have to do all this by yourself. I'll clean up the blood." Nellie replied. "Are you sure?" Sweeney asked. "It's late." "I'll clean up the blood." Nellie repeated. Sweeney sighed. "Alright. Well, I suppose I should bring him upstairs." He said, letting go of her. "Will you need any help with that?" She asked. "I've got it." Sweeney replied.
   "Maybe tomorrow we can go on a walk through town, just the two of us. We can go anywhere you want." He then said. "To make up for all the times I've pushed you away." Nellie couldn't believe what she heard. He was really offering to spend time with her. It felt unreal. "Mrs. Lovett?" She heard him say. "Would you be interested in that?" "Yes!" Nellie replied, smiling. "I would love to walk through town with you tomorrow!" "Alright then." Sweeney mumbled. He kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, my love." He said. "Goodnight, Mr. Todd." Nellie replied.
   Sweeney lifted Mr. Johnson off of the ground, and walked upstairs. She stared at him until he was completely out of sight. She was rather shocked, but she couldn't stop smiling. She couldn't believe he really wanted to spend time with her. He always said he cared, but it always felt like she was the one putting more effort into their relationship. It felt like she was the one who always offered to spend time with him, and he just went along with it, probably because he had nothing better to do. This time though, he seemed like he actually wanted to spend time with her. He wanted to make up for all the times he had pushed her away, and reaffirm their closeness. "He really does remember how close we once were." She thought to herself. "And we're gonna be like that again. Just like old times."
   She then thought about how he had kissed her on the forehead before saying goodnight. That was also quite shocking for her. It was the first time he had ever kissed her. She felt like she could've melted right then and there. It all seemed too good to be true. She was expecting to wake up any moment, and learn that it was all a dream. It made her happy knowing that it wasn't all just a dream. She and Sweeney really were going on a walk through town tomorrow. He really did hold her, and kiss her forehead, and tell her how much he cared. She suddenly remembered the blood she had to clean up.
   She grabbed a rag, and began to scrub at the spot. Mr. Johnson being dead was another thing that felt unreal. The man who hurt her and Johanna all those years ago was finally gone. "He'll never hurt you ever again." Sweeney's voice echoed in her mind. She usually never wished death on people, but she had almost found herself thanking Sweeney for killing Mr. Johnson. She felt slightly guilty, but she was able to push that feeling away. "It's not like I've never dealt with this before. He's killed several people before. I should be used to this by now." She thought to herself.
   It was strange seeing what had become of them. Long ago, she would've never even thought about helping someone hide bodies, and Sweeney used to never approve of murder. Yet here she was now, cleaning up blood after he had killed someone. "It really is quite strange." She thought. After scrubbing the blood away, she washed out the rag, getting rid of any trace of blood, then walked to her room. It took her a while to fall asleep, for all she could think about was everything that had happened earlier, but she soon drifted to sleep.