Suffering To Survive

Part Two

Part Two

Mrs. Lovett paced around her shop, hands running through her hair and profanity erupting out from under her breath. Toby ran into the shop, his mouth forming a frown when he saw the state that his mum was in. "Mum, what's goin' on, why are ya so upset? Did Mr. Todd do something?" Mrs. Lovett turned and shook her head quickly, telling him that she'd made a terrible mistake and that if Mr. Todd returned in a bellicose mood, the odium she received was well-deserved. "Mum, I may not know what ya did, but I'm sure that he don't 'ave the right to 'arm to ya. If 'e does anything to try to 'urt ya, I'll do whatever I can to stop 'im!"

Nellie pulled him close to her. She smiled down at him and ran her thumbs over his cheeks. "Everything going to be fine, Toby." Of course, she couldn't justifiably convince herself of these same words, she couldn't say that everything would irrefutably be all right; she would say what she needed to make him feel safe, nevertheless. "It does me 'eart good to know that ya care about me and want to protect me, darling. Protectin' ya is my job though, and I don't wan'cha worryin' 'bout it." He protested but she was quick to distract him with a nice long walk before dinner. He grinned and shot out the door, her grin left with him however, knowing full-well that she needed to be away whenever the barber might return. Todd still needed her to complete his revenge, but there was very little stopping him from making her life up to that point a true living hell for her. She opened the door, and after darting her eyes in the direction of where she had returned from, quickly ushered Toby down the street.

A couple of hours passed before Nellie decided that it was time to return home. The evening was quickly approaching, and with that came dangers that she was not readily prepared for. They made their way home; all the while Nellie was subconsciously praying that Sweeney hadn't returned yet. Once they came in sight of the shops, Toby broke into a run and disappeared behind the door.

She took her time approaching the building but was quick to see the barber seated in one of the booths in her pie emporium. "Damn!" She thought of turning back for a fraction of a second but spun on her heels and forced herself to keep her head up as she stepped through the door. Sweeney immediately got to his feet and began to make his way to her. She instantly held out her arms in front of her as if thinking that would hold him back. He left her shocked however, when, instead of attacking her, he grabbed onto her arms and slowly lowered them to her sides.

She could only look at him, her brain fighting to figure out the man in front of her. She was ready for him to attack her, not for him to be almost gentle with her. "Mrs. Lovett, I need you to be honest with me, can you do that?" She didn't even dare blink, in case he might produce one of friends in that flash of a second, only nodding silently at him. "Good. Now, was everything that you revealed to me true? Not just about Lucy, but everything?" Nellie began to wring her hands and nodded again, her eyes trained on the barber, though she deeply desired to look away from his stare. She knew that he was either distraught by her revelations or still furious because of her lies.

He ran his hands through his hair and walked over to the counter. Mrs. Lovett let out a loud gasp when she was calm enough to get a good look at him, her hands quick to cover her mouth. "Blimey, Mr. T! Was that, I mean... Did I do that?" Sweeney couldn't resist the slight smirk that appeared on his lips, telling her that he was rather surprised himself. "Be back in two shakes." She ran out of the room and returned minutes later with a cloth wrapped around a small bit of ice. She dragged Sweeney into the parlour and told him to lie down before handing him the bundled cloth. "Must say though, love, coppin' a mouse really does something for ya, makes ya look even rougher."

Sweeney nodded and looked into her eyes. "Mrs. Lovett, about what I said earlier. I didn't truly mean what I said about you being noth... well, I'm sure that you remember it. I didn't want to believe you when you told me the truth about Lucy, I wanted to think that it was just another lie. Then, to learn that not only had she given up on me and Johanna as you'd said, but she'd even sold off her ring as if it was nothing. I was still furious over you lying to me, I just said what I knew would hurt you back and took my frustration out on you. However, even though you did lie to me, you eventually told me the truth, and as I mulled it over, I realised that it shouldn't have been said."