Last Glimpse

Chapter 14

"Hello there. May I have a moment?" Alexander said with a grin.

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I chocked on my breath, gaping at the man that stood before me. Alexander folded his hands behind his back, smiling innocently down at me. My mouth opened and closed a couple of times as I blinked owlishly at him. His smile suddenly turned into a smirk, and he pulled his jacket to the side just enough for me to see the gun in its holster at his side. I gulped.

"It will only be a moment, then I will leave you to continue on with your day. Please, step outside." It wasn't a request, that much was obvious. I glanced behind me briefly, for a fleeting moment hoping that Duncan or, hell, even Gavin would come over and check to see who was at the door. No such luck though, as there was nobody behind me and nobody walking towards the entrance.

I cautiously stepped outside, closing the door behind me quietly at the motion from Mr. Wess. I eyed him carefully, keeping my back pressed up against the door. I stole myself, gaining up as much courage as I could muster and spat, "What do you want? I haven't said anything, you bastard!" He chuckled, eyes glinting.

"Oh, I just love a girl with a little spunk. That's quite a mouth you've got there, girl." My glare intensified, but the fear in my eyes rendered it useless. He seemed to enjoy this as he laughed out loud now. "I am well aware you haven't said anything. I just came to ensure you wouldn't say anything out of turn in the future. We will always be watching, deary. And to ensure that you understand that, I want to show you something." He pulled out a tablet, turning it on. I gasped when I saw Peter, climbing into his car. Another man showed up on the screen. He was wearing a suit similar to Alexander's.

"Give us a wave, Mr. Leland!" Wess said jovially. The man turned and gave a subtle wave to the camera. "Now, Miss Grady," he turned to me, the smile gone from his face, "I don't believe you want anything to happen to Peter here, now do you? Because if you say anything, I can't promise he won't be...removed from the picture." I gulped loudly this time, eyes wide. I shook my head, not trusting my voice. He smiled again, putting the tablet into his pocket, giving me yet another glance at the gun at his side. He began to walk away, heading towards the stairs. Just as I was about to open the door, though, he paused, turning slightly. "Oh, and if you call the police about this, then I will have Mr. Leland make sure your boyfriend doesn't make it to your apartment. Alive, that is." And with that, he turned on his heel and disappeared down the stairs.

After staring at the space he used to be for a good three minutes, I took a deep breath, held it, and let it out in a puff. I turned to the door, opening it with shaky hands and closing it softly behind me. As soon as it was closed, I slid to the floor, discarding the crutch. My head fell back onto the door with a thud.

A few deep breaths later, and after I was sure I wouldn't burst into tears once more, I got up. Bending down carefully and grabbing the crutch, I hobbled back into the kitchen, leaning on the counter heavily.

"Hey, who was at the door?" At the sound of Duncan's voice I jumped, swinging around wildly. "Whoa, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Pause, "Hey, what's wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost." Duncan began making his way over to me slowly. I shook my head to clear it. "I-I'm fine," I stuttered out, "I j-just need t-to rest fo-for a little b-bit I think-k." I pushed past him and into the living room, ignoring his first question. I couldn't answer it truthfully anyways, so it didn't matter.

The next time there was a knock on the door, I ignored it completely.

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Five minutes later, Peter stood in the doorway to the living room, staring at me with concerned eyes. I avoided eye contact completely, instead choosing to keep my eyes locked on the coffee table in front of me. More tense minutes passed before he gave up and sighed loudly, running a hand down his face in a tired manner. I pursed my lips, pointedly keeping my eyes away from his. After another sigh he walked over and took a seat next to me.

"Could you at least look at me? I came all the way here to check up on you, and you refuse to look me in the eyes." My eyes narrowed, but didn't move from their place. He sighed once more, grabbing my chin himself and turning my face to his. I averted my gaze to the place just above his head. He pursed his lips. "Look at me, Hope. You've been scaring me. Please," his tone became a pleading one, "Please talk to me." When I stubbornly kept my eyes away from his and his mouth shut, he released my chin in defeat.

Again, some more tense minutes followed. Finally, he turned to me, looking directly at me before speaking, "I know I hardly know you, and you probably don't even trust me enough yet, but you need to know that you can talk to me. You can talk to me about anything. Because I know that you're going through something, and you seem to think that you need to go through it alone. But you don't. You don't need to go though anything alone, because there are people who you can talk to, who you can lean on, who you can trust. The path you are going down is one I've seen before, and I don't think I can loose another friend to that loneliness. Not when I can to something to help." It took me a minute to figure out what had just been revealed to me, and my eyes widened.

"Peter, I'm so sorry I didn't know-" he raised a hand to stop my apology, smiling sadly. "Exactly, you didn't know. So don't apologize for anything. It was a long time ago anyways." There was a distant look in his eyes for a moment, before he focused back on me. "So please, talk to me, to somebody. I can't stand to see you look so lonely." I openly stared into his eyes, and suddenly my vision blurred.

"I-I really w-wish I could t-tell y-you! B-but I c-can't, I r-really can't-t!" I said, tears streaming down my cheeks. His smile dimmed a bit before it came back, but there was a small amount of hurt behind his eyes that he couldn't quite hide. At that sight, I grabbed the front of his coat and buried my face into his chest, crying my heart out. For a moment he stiffened, but then he wrapped his arms around me, playing with the ends of my hair and whispering sweet nothings into my ear. We stayed like that for the next ten minutes.

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It took a while, but I had finally gotten Peter to accept the fact that I wasn't going to be telling him anything anytime soon. Or at all, but I new he would eventually try.

After he finally gave up trying to get me to talk, Peter left. We both realized that neither of us were really in the mood for going anywhere and he couldn't stay (much to my admitted relief).

Now I found myself sitting alone again. The memories of Alexander spilled into my thoughts, along with some horrible images of what might become of those I care about should I say anything. My eyes pinched shut as I tried to block out those poisonous thoughts, but I couldn't bring myself to do something and get my mind off of everything. Instead I lay down, throwing my arms over my head. It was a feeble attempt to clear my head, and I soon found that sleep wouldn't come.

I sat back up, staring blankly at the wall opposite myself. A sudden thought of what to do came into my head, and I stood quickly, grabbing both crutches (which I would be rid of in two days, thank goodness) my phone and keys before walking out the door, shouting behind me to let Duncan or Gavin know I was going out.

I was going to the restaurant that I went to with my mother the day she died.

(A/N: A new chapter! Yay! If anybody is still actually reading this I hope you like it. To those who have recently voted and commented, thank you so much!

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