The silence in the hospital room had turned heavy.
Liam was still sitting next to me, but his hand had quietly slipped away from my waist. He was watching me, eyes unreadable, probably blaming himself. I sat frozen—knowing Peter had seen everything and not knowing if I had just shattered something I wasn't ready to lose.
"I should talk to him," I whispered, barely audible.
Liam just nodded, gently brushing a strand of hair away from my face. "Yeah."
I pushed the blanket off me, legs still weak but determined. "I owe him the truth. He deserves that much."
And I pushed Liam with power I had because he didn't want me to go out because I was weak with the liquid dripping into me from the bottle, he said stop but I didn't I just ran weakly and he didn't stop me realizing it would hurt me more.
I slid my feet to the floor, heart thumping as I walked slowly into the hallway, gripping the wall for balance. The nurse saw me and tried to stop me, but I gave her a look so desperate that she backed off.
And there he was.
Peter.
Standing near the vending machine at the far end of the corridor, his back to me, his hands in his pockets, head down. That familiar stance. It used to make me feel safe.
Now it just made my heart ache.
"Peter," I called softly.
He didn't turn. It was a bit rude.
I took a few steps closer. "Peter, please…"
He turned around slowly. His face was calm. Too calm. But his eyes… his eyes were storming.
"Hey," he said, like it was just any other morning but he said it cold heartedly. Like he hadn't just seen me wrapped in Liam's arms like he used to hold me. "You okay?"
I nodded slowly. "Can we talk?"
He motioned to the waiting bench nearby, and we sat down, two feet apart, a mile of confusion between us.
"I… I didn't mean for you to see that," I started.
He nodded. "Yeah, I figured."
"It's not what you think," I said, quickly, panicked now. "It wasn't… that. I was just—"
"Crying," he finished for me. "Yeah. I saw."
The silence that followed made me want to crawl out of my own skin.
"I broke down," I confessed, tears stinging again. "I felt like I was drowning and Liam… he just… he was there. That's all it was."
Peter looked away. "You don't have to explain anything to me, Em."
"Yes, I do," I insisted, voice breaking. "Because you matter to me. You matter. And I don't want you thinking I just… moved on or—"
"Did you?" he asked, quietly. "Move on?"
"No!" My voice cracked. "God, Peter. You don't get it. I'm so confused and in pain and everything hurts. I don't even know who I am anymore, and the only thing that makes me feel anything close to safe is when I'm with you—or Liam—or Chloe—but you… it's always been you."
Peter didn't answer. His jaw clenched slightly.
I reached out, placing my hand over his. "Please believe me. Liam's not… it's not romantic. It's just that he saw the worst of me, and I needed someone to hold me in that moment. If it had been you… I would've run straight into your arms."
Peter looked at me then.
Really looked at me.
His eyes softened just slightly. "Then why didn't you tell me you needed me?"
"Because I'm a mess!" I nearly shouted, voice cracking again. "Because every time I think I've survived something, the universe throws me another hell to walk through. I didn't want to pull you into more of my darkness. And after everything with Amelia, with Nathan, with me almost dying… I didn't know if you'd want to stay."
"I stayed," he said softly. "Didn't I?"
That shattered me.
"Yes," I whispered. "And I'm so sorry I ever doubted you."
That's when Chloe walked around the corner. She had a coffee in her hand, earbuds in, but the second she saw us, she pulled them out and slowed down.
Peter looked at her, then at me. "Did you tell her?"
I nodded. "She knows everything."
Chloe walked up, looking between the two of us.
"I didn't mean to interrupt," she said slowly. "But I think you both need to hear this from someone who's not in the middle of a breakdown."
I blinked. "Chloe—"
She raised a finger. "Shush. I'm talking now."
Peter smirked faintly. I stared like she just activated boss mode.
Chloe took a deep breath. "Emma's not in love with Liam. Okay? That's clear. And Liam, as much as he's become your emotional support teddy bear lately—" she shot me a pointed look "—he's not trying to replace Peter."
Peter looked down, quiet.
Chloe turned to him. "She loves you, Peter. But she's terrified. Everything she touches either dies or gets hurt or turns into a supernatural plot twist. She didn't run to Liam instead of you. She ran to what was closest and didn't feel like a ticking time bomb."
I swallowed, hard. "Chloe…"
"No, babe. Let me say this." She knelt in front of Peter now, softening her voice. "She's not okay. And she's not going to be okay for a while. But she needs you. Even if she won't say it every day. Even if she forgets how to show it."
Peter's eyes flicked to mine, glassy, unreadable.
Chloe stood, grabbed my hand, and pressed it into Peter's. "So either you both stop being confused wrecks and hold each other, or I'm going to throw you both off the roof."
I laughed through the tears. Peter chuckled too.
"I missed your threats," he said, looking at her.
"They're love letters," she replied.
And then he looked at me again. Quietly.
"Are we okay?" he asked.
I nodded, my hand tightening in his. "We're trying. That's all we can do, right?"
Peter leaned closer, forehead against mine, breath warm and steady. "Trying sounds like a good place to start."
And for the first time in a long time… I exhaled.
The nurse helped me into my bed, fluffing the pillow beneath my head with soft hands. My muscles ached, my throat burned, and the emotional weight pressing on my chest made it hard to breathe.
But none of that hurt like him walking away.
Peter.
He'd seen me. His eyes met mine for just a second. I thought maybe… maybe he'd run to me. But he just turned. Walked down the hall without a word. Like I was someone he used to know.
I curled into myself as the door clicked shut behind the nurse. My heart was already fragile, barely holding on, and now it felt like it had shattered.
Outside the room, Peter leaned against the cold hospital wall, his head low, fists clenched.
He wasn't angry at me.
He was angry at himself.
And maybe at Liam.
And mostly at the chaos.
He hated how out of control everything felt. How Emma always ended up hurt. How no matter how hard he tried, she still slipped further into darkness. And the part that scared him most—was that Liam was always there to pull her out, not him.
That guilt made him freeze when he saw her walking in the hall.
He didn't know what to do. What to say. He was scared if he spoke, it would all come out wrong again.
But that was when Chloe stormed in.
"You know what your biggest problem is?" she snapped, her eyes blazing. "You love her with everything you've got, but you don't show up when it counts."
Peter flinched. "Chloe, not now—"
"No, now exactly," she growled. "You saw her walking down that hallway. Weak. Hurt. She shouldn't even be out of bed. And you did nothing. You just… walked away."
"I didn't want to make her feel worse," Peter said quietly. "I thought if I went to her, it would turn into another mess."
"She didn't need you to fix it," Chloe snapped. "She just needed you to be there. Like Liam was. Like Edward was. Like I've been. Just be there, Peter. That's all."
Peter looked away, eyes burning.
Chloe's voice softened, just a little. "I'm not saying you're a bad guy. God, I know you love her. So does she. But when things go wrong, you shut down. You hurt in silence. And she's hurting out loud."
Peter shook his head. "It's not that I don't care—"
"I know," Chloe cut in gently this time. "But she doesn't. Not when you go cold like that. Not when she's lying in a hospital bed wondering if she still matters to you."
He finally looked at her, broken.
Chloe stepped back, not unkindly. "Peter. She needs you. And I swear, if you don't figure out how to meet her halfway, you're going to lose her."
Peter didn't say anything.
He just stood there, fists at his sides, staring at the floor as Chloe turned away.