Our Fading Stars

3. Hallucinations

Pete's favorites songlist
Track 2: The Fugees- Killing me softly with his song

Tiana's POV

Usually when I hallucinated that Peter was alive and in front of me, I was either hugging my bedroom door, or a lamppost outside on the street. I even once found myself hugging a stray cat, only to be clawed across the face which left a nasty cut.

This time, he felt so real. His warm chest, the one thing I was only supporting myself on. His heartbeat, live and thumping loudly against my ear. The smell of his shirt, although I wasn't sure if it was the same as Peter's, was definitely a manly scent. Everything was all so believable.

The only reason I came to understand that I wasn't in Peter's arms, was because I really wasn't in them. The hesitant arms on the body were stiff and I could feel that whoever it was, the person was very astonished by my acts.

Oh my god. What do I do? What do I say? What will he think? WHO IS HE?

The hallucination had started as I left the classroom to go to the bathroom. I had needed a break from all the people surrounding me. That's when I saw his figure, disappearing around the corner. I had followed him out like I was in a trance.

When it had been a good five awkward minutes of sobbing, I collected my unsteady breathing and rubbed my face on his shirt to wipe my tears away without using my hands. Pleading that he was a nice person, I lifted my head to see who he was, my arms still around him.

I took in a sharp breath of realization as the piercing blue eyes met mine almost instantly. They were full of emotion; worry, confusion, sadness, and... something that I had never seen in anyone's eyes before. They searched my face frantically to make sure I was okay. My eyes trailed down his sharp nose to his lips that were so close to mine that I could feel his light breath against them.

"Christ," I muttered under my breath.

Parker Kane.

He chuckled softly. "Why don't you let go of me, then sort things out?"

As soon as I let go of him I realized how exhausted I was as I automatically almost crumpled to the floor, my legs too wobbly to stand. Parker grabbed my arms and tried to hold me up, as I held on to him to stand.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" he asked me. His blue eyes weren't the icy ones that I had seen before. They were deep and genuine. I kept silent, totally mesmerized in his eyes.

"Parker? Are you up there?" someone called from behind the doors of the rooftop.

"Shit," Parker mumbled. "Can you stand?" I shook my head.

"Parker?" The voice was getting closer along with the footsteps that echoed through the door.

Parker grunted, and looked at me straight in the eyes with a stern face. "Hold on to me," he said, and with that, he swooped his hand underneath my legs and back, picking me up bridal style.

I yelped and wrapped my arms around his neck to keep from falling off. This was the last thing I had expected; hugging a boy that I barely knew and being carried somewhere by him. What an unpredictable first day of school it was.

Parker swiftly moved us into a container that looked like a storage, stacked with books and desks. The smell of dry wood and old books filled the room and made my mixed up emotions somewhat calmer. Parker sat me down on one of the desks and he closed the door behind us.

"That was close." He sighed.

"We're not allowed to be here?" I asked quizzically.

"They might think we were going to jump off," he sighed. "Plus, I don't want my secret hideout to be known to the world."