Around here its 'lover' lol. Mostly used in bristol though but in my group of friends we use it alot. (say it with a farmer accent and it doesnt sound as wierd lol.
in my mum's house, it's almost impossible to get thru a day without someone saying "a'right my loverrrrr!"
my mums from devon and friends from bristol and its just never left us!!
i dont use pet names in RL, even tho my texts and everythng are full of hun and chick! but i hear a lot of babez and hun and love! most guys i know say fella or lad!
where i grew up in scotland, everyone was hen!