by Fiona Price
"Nah, they usually leave on their own. Thor's still holding down the fort. He probably will until the sun rises in the morning."
"So, you're Gatsby. Hmm," Peter suggested. In a way, yes, William was exactly like the fictional character: always longing for something he couldn't ever have, living a secretive and lavish life, throwing parties with people he doesn't know and hiding his true self from everyone he knows. William, like Gatsby, always had some sort of disguise about him.
I heard he killed a man once...
William and Peter drove back to the compound together wordlessly, but William wouldn't let Peter get off that easily when they pulled into the driveway. Peter immediately felt threatened, knowing what William was capable of. Peter was certain he would probably die if he couldn't give William the answers to the questions that were about to be thrown his way, and he wasn't sure he had any answers at all. He swallowed hard, preparing for the worst that William could give him.
**********
"Oh, that was a bad decision." Maize groaned, realizing she woke up in Jordie's bed with a pounding headache. He was completely unconscious next to her and she took the chance to get dressed and run quickly and quietly out of his room in an attempt to avoid small talk. She had no idea what that was supposed to mean for the both of them, hoping that it wouldn't upset the already-dysfunctional dynamic of the team.
It wasn't long before she ran into Meaghan, who seemed to literally glow with happiness.
"Oh Maize!" She brightly said, causing Maize to squeeze her eyes shut since any sound triggered an icepick headache for her. She got dizzy and threw up a little in her mouth, that signaling only the beginning of a subtle nightmare for her.
"Meaghan, I'm going to go barf and when I'm done you can tell me why you're beaming. I can still taste the tequila right now, ok?" Maize groaned, wiping her mouth, trying to get the taste out of her throat.
"Mm, so can I and I didn't even drink any. You need to brush your teeth, like, four times, Maize." Meaghan responded, the smell of tequila on Maize’s breath was nearly suffocating.
"Would you believe me if I told you I already have?" Maize groaned.
"Yeah, drinking that much wasn't such a great idea, now was it?"
"No. Never again. Every part of last night was one consecutive bad decision."
"Oh, I'm well aware. When you're feeling better, I'll tell you all the good as well as all the chaos that happened the rest of the night while you were passed out!"
"That just makes me want to go back to being unconscious. The last thing I want to hear is how awful everything is, Meaghan."
"Well, not for me." She smirked.
"That's great for you, I'm going to go throw up and consider the weight of all my regrets and compare them to the physiological toll of being alive, want to join me?"
"I'll pass on this one. Let me know when you want to know about Armageddon!" Meaghan cheerily spoke, leaving Maize in her misery.
Maize was not ready for what was about to come to her, but it couldn't possibly be any worse than it had been before.
Besides, how bad could it be?
City Slicker
♦️
Peter was not having a happy-go-lucky time. He snuck out of the compound after William's interrogation and took an Uber onto the East Side just because he had nothing to do but wallow in self-hate. He couldn't stay at the compound tonight, he had too much to think about, too much unfinished business, and he needed some air, some time and some distance away from it all. He didn't even bother changing out of his suit.
He sat in the cab thinking about every mistake he made that night, replaying in his mind how things would have gone and how it would have ended up being different if he only took alternate actions. His thoughts just about caused him to implode.
The cab pulled over and let Peter out at his requested destination, even though it wasn't really where he wanted to be. That, he didn't know. He had no business being out on the city streets: he should be home in bed, but he felt like he didn't belong there either. Peter tipped the cab driver and opened the door, tripping as he got out of the backseat and he stumbled onto the sidewalk in his expensive suit William gave to him.
"Damn it!" Peter muttered, knowing the fabric of his suit was bound to be worn where it scraped against the concrete. One more thing he could add to the list of why William would be mad at him when he got back home, which paralleled the list of all the reasons why he didn't want to go home in the first place. Nothing felt like the right thing to do.
Around the corner, MJ stood frozen in time. She had to think to herself, is that really Peter Lannigan? She was startled to see him, it had been quite some time since she had last seen him, and she didn't know if she was ready to face him. After all, he hurt her. She was bound to hesitate around him, she still had feelings harbored that she convinced herself she worked through but never did. She had her distance, but her emotions still were rampant sometimes when she thought about him, her and where things went wrong.
He never called, he never wanted her, and most of all, he didn't chase after her.
MJ didn't want to be chased. She didn't want to be the type of girl to need a man, but she needed Peter to want her enough to stay. She needed to know if Peter loved her enough to fight for her. Instead, he let her go, he let her walk right out of his apartment and right out of his life. It didn't feel quite right. It wasn't supposed to end like that, she knew that for sure. It had to end, they weren't on the same page in their relationship, but that was not the way to end it. Maybe it was her fault, too. But she knew, and Peter knew, that he was the one to blame.
MJ understood that she might never see Peter again. Hell, she didn't even know that he was a God until he came and saved the school. In her mind, he disappeared entirely. She had already let go, she went through that once before. But yet, here he was, laying on the sidewalk looking helpless in the middle of the night at the same street MJ was lurking on because she had no better place to be.
She had to pass him, she wasn't going to backtrack her route or add blocks to her meaningless walking just so she wouldn't have to see him.
But then, she thought, there is no way that this isn't meant to be. It is too much of a coincidence for them both to be on the same street in New York City in the middle of the night, just because. She shoved her fist in her pocket, trying not to crack the plastic of her iced coffee cup with her other hand. She was angry, every single emotion she had felt when they broke up was bubbling up and threatening to boil over. Instead, she remained calm knowing that something shitty happened to Peter, and she felt a little bit of schadenfreude that helped her approach him.
"Did it hurt when you fell?" A familiar voice asked Peter, the person it belonged to standing over him that had been walking but stopped when they were close to him.
"What?" Peter asked, confused.
"When you fell out of that taxi. I saw you trip over your foot and kind of just lay on the sidewalk for about 10 minutes."
He realized it was MJ. She was drinking an iced coffee, acting just how Peter remembered her. His breath caught in his throat.
"God, I'm an idiot." Peter groaned, laying on the sidewalk. There was more than a moment of silence between them.
"If you're waiting for me to disagree with you, it's going to be a while." MJ spoke, wanting to make her remaining feelings clear.
"I wasn't asking you to... it's just been one of the worse nights I've had in a long time."
"Do I want to know because I'm interested in your feelings? No. Do I want to know just so I can know for the sake of knowing because it'll bother me if I don't? Yes. Let me take a guess, you fucked something up really bad again."
"Vague, but correct." Peter affirmed as he pulled himself up from the curb to stand face to face with MJ for the first time in almost a year.
"It's a long story, MJ."
"I've got all night, Lannigan. Besides, what are you doing in a place like this looking like that? Since when you became Mr. Des
igner Suit, Too Good for His Friends?"
"I didn't think we were... friends anymore." Peter said, pausing and looking down at his shoes before clearing his throat and changing the subject. "But the suit is part of the story, so let me start at the beginning."
They walked down the avenue at a mild pace, but they kept their distance from each other. Neither were willing to get too close to each other again. Peter explained how he got in his position that night. MJ knew that it had something, if not everything, to do with Maize and she swallowed her emotions since she knew it was coming. She would have to hear her name. She would have to repeat the many situations where all Peter was talking about was Maize, despite how much that hurt her. She could only blame herself for this one; she could have gone out of her way and changed her course, but no. She decided to help Peter whom she owed nothing to.
"William Townsend threw this party so all of his fancy business friends could mingle with the Gods and so they could meet us, the young Gods. William has a daughter named Talia who never liked Maize, and she's always doing something to ruin her life. So, at this party, Talia noticed that I was lingering by the bar and decided to take advantage of me just to get back at Maize. Maize cried, Meaghan beat me up in the bathroom and I'm actually supposed to be in my room, grounded right now. But Maize hates me because she thinks I willingly was making out with her arch enemy, when I really wanted to be making out with her."
MJ stopped walking.
"Wait, you're telling me after all this time you still haven't gotten together with Maize?! She ruined our relationship because you wanted her over me, but you didn't even want her enough to ask her out? So, what was I? Because I'm feeling just about as good as that gum you stepped in three blocks back: used and discarded on the streets because somebody was done with it and didn't want it, but didn't have the courtesy to throw it away like a normal person, with respect!"
"MJ, it's not like that!"
"Do you have a better explanation for it, then?" She asked. Peter didn't.
"MJ, you know I loved you."
"But not anymore, right? You didn't love me enough to end things right. You didn't love me enough to chase after me and tell me how much you wanted me to stay, even though I was right and maybe you didn't want me to stay but you should have said it anyway. You didn't love me enough to let me walk right out of your life. You didn't love me enough to call me, or text me or check up on me or even tell me "happy birthday"! I know you don't love me anymore, but you don't have to pretend, Peter."
"What is enough for you, MJ?! I thought you wanted me gone! I thought you didn't want me to call! I thought you didn't want me to chase after you, because you were right! I thought that when you left, it was for good and I'm so sorry I wasn't able to read your god damn mind to figure out what you wanted! Don't discredit everything I felt for you! Even though it was in the past, I loved you so much and don't you dare tell me it wasn't enough. I didn't have anything else to give to you, MJ!"
"But Peter, when your friends said I was a complete waste of time, you couldn't expect me to not take that to heart, because you didn't deny it. I left it up to you to find out on your own if you thought they were right about me, but when it came down to pick a side then you decided where to go. You chose the path that didn't have me in it, and that's something you have to live with."
"But I-"
"Peter, stop." MJ said, standing still. Peter's stomach dropped, he knew what was coming before it even happened. He swallowed hard.
"You and me? We're not friends and we certainly aren't lovers anymore. Peter, like it or not, we're strangers. And that's how it's meant to be." MJ broke, without sugarcoating the truth for Peter. "And by the looks of it, you're getting exactly what you deserve. I don't have much pity for you, Peter. Not anymore. It's over, for real this time, Peter."
She hailed an Uber and went speeding off into the night, once again leaving Peter alone and without answers. It wouldn't be the first time that happened to him with her. Peter, for the first time in a long time, shed hot tears that streamed down his face and dropped off his chin. He sunk against a wall and sat on the sidewalk, crying under the moonlight.
But now he knew how it was supposed to be. He had closure. It still hurt that he lost MJ, he thought that they would be friends through everything. Nothing seemed to be able to break them apart. He thought they were the strong ones. But Peter happened to find the one thing that shattered it all, and he learned the hard way that you can glue the pieces back together, but the big picture isn't the same anymore. It's not what it used to be, and it never will, because in its purest form, it was broken.
Through all of this, Peter realized that he had to face the truth and face his problems or else everyone else that he cared about, every relationship would end up like him and MJ. He wasn't going to make the same mistake over and over again. He had to make it right with Maize or else she would be gone too. If he never fixed the problem, he was going to lose her. And as much as it hurt to go running right into the flames, Peter was willing to set himself on fire for Maize. He would do whatever it takes to make things right again. He wouldn't make another bad decision. He stood up, wiped the back of his hand across his face in an attempt to dry his tears and he got an Uber to take him back Upstate to the compound.
Doing what is right is never easy, but it is always the right thing to do, and Peter was ready to let the flames begin.
Not Lovers, Just Strangers
♦️
As his Uber pulled up to the end of the gated driveway of the compound, Peter's stomach dropped, and he felt an inescapable feeling of dread and impending doom. He was supposed to be in his room, but it was guaranteed that William knew that he snuck out. He was in enough trouble as it is, and he could only blame himself for adding that on, too. He promised himself that he would face whatever was thrown at him. He swallowed his pride and bucked up, ready to go head on. But, as he got out of the car, his legs felt like lead. It was a struggle to walk all the way up the drive and walk into the door, William sitting in the chair and reading a book, looking like a father would in the movies when his daughter comes home after curfew.
"I thought you were supposed to stay in your room and think about what you've done?" William asked without looking up from his novel.
"I'm sorry I left, but I thought about everything that happened tonight long and hard."
"You ruined the suit in the process, huh?" William asked, spying the frayed fabric on the sleeves of the suit jacket.
"I'll pay you back, Mr. Townsend, it was an accident. I tripped and fell out of a cab."
"You don't have nearly enough money to pay me back for that suit, Peter. Again, since I have to say things twice around here, apparently, you're grounded."
"Ooh, grounded? I'll go get the shovel!" Thor's voice boomed, he was lingering around that room and happened to hear the conversation. Both Peter and William were equally confused.
"What do you need a shovel for?"
"Doesn't 'grounding' someone mean burying them alive?!"
"No, Thor!" William exclaimed. "That is NOT what grounding means!"
"Well, I owe Maize an apology, then. Excuse me."
Earlier, William made Thor in charge of grounding Maize, and it led to Maize getting dirt thrown at her and chased throughout the house with a shovel, "The Shining" style.
"I am going to bury you until you learn your lesson!" Thor yelled at Maize. Yes, she did trip and fall into a partially pre-dug hole, but she ran out of Thor's clutches before she could be buried. That was impressive, since she was still wildly intoxicated and was running all over creation like a track star. Then, she fell into the embrace of Jordie for the rest of the night, drowning her sorrows in somebody while Peter was alone and running through the streets with his woes.
On Peter's way upstairs to his room to begin his sentence of grounding, he tripped over a stiletto heel in the hallway and picked it up in a touch of confusion. How did it end up there? Why didn't Marnie just go and pick it
up?
Then Peter realized that the next shoe was just outside of Jordie's door. He finally figured out what was going on and his breath caught in his chest. He didn't think her night would end up that way, but it all began with him and Talia. He had no one else to blame for it.
He gulped and picked up her shoes, carrying them gently down the rest of the hall and setting them neatly outside of her door in place. He didn't want anyone else to trip. That's all he could reason for that action, he was so taken aback that he couldn't even spur up an intense reaction for it. He was just doing a simple task for his friend who wasn't currently sleeping with one of their friends... no. He was just taking care of his friend... that's all that was happening...
