𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐒𝐊

33. 𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀

"WIth Pete!"

Eszter blushes even through her tears, somehow finding a heart at the sheer thought of Peter. However, she regrets telling Morgan about dating Peter because as soon as the little girl discovered the concept, she went absolutely mad at the fact. For a while, Morgan thought it was gross because cooties, but Morgan loves Peter since he was so nice and sweet. Not to mention, Peter makes Eszter so happy, Morgan somehow understood it--with the help from her princess movies.

"Yeah, Mo. With Pete."

"Are you guys gonna get married?"

"I don't know," Eszter nearly whispered.

There's a quick pause between the two, giving Eszter the moment to compose herself, but the enhanced wasn't in the right state of mind.

"Hey, Essie?"

Eszter doesn't move from her position. "Yeah?"

"Are you sad?"

This time, it was Eszter's turn to go silent. Was she supposed to lie? Morgan wouldn't even understand either way, but she could mention it to Pepper.

But for some reason, there was a strong need to confess and get this overwhelming weight off her chest. "Yeah. Yeah, Mo, I--I am sad," Eszter nearly sobbed again, but she sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth. She ran her hands through her hair, scrunching her face together at the painful feeling of the mental attacks she was feeling.

"Why?"

"Sometimes people hold in things when they shouldn't, and it builds up for so long, and--" Eszter stops at the feeling of her throat closing up. She raises her fist to her lips, pressing it harshly against her skin as she started choking up. "--sometimes, we think we're strong enough to keep going, but . . . sometimes, we're not."

"You know what cheers me up?"

A distant smile tugs at her lips. "Cheeseburgers."

"Cheeseburgers! Yes!" Morgan chirped. "It will make you feel all better!"

"Hey, Mo?" There was a chirp of response. "Can you do me a huge favor and keep this between you and me? I don't want to worry Pepper or anyone else, okay. This is our secret, got it?"

Although she was confused, there was a beaming response. "I will! I'm good at keeping secrets!"

There was a knock sounding at Eszter's door for the first time since Eszter had arrived, catching the enhanced's attention; she was baffled to hear someone approach her room in so long, but Eszter didn't move. She squints her eyes at the door, but then her eyes settled upon realizing who was behind the door.

Ultimately, Eszter flicks her wrist, and the door was opening on its own before she was wiping her face clean from the tears that stained her cheeks. Lowering her gaze, Eszter avoided Peter's as he excitedly entered her room, seeming to be in a brighter mood than she. Oblivious to Eszter's mood and the way she had abruptly ran away. It was like that had swooped out of Peter's mind, and he was properly happier with his night.

"Hey, Mo, Peter's here, so I gotta--"

"I wanna talk to him!" Morgan screams through the line.

Peter beams excitedly, bouncing on his toes as he pointed at the door, still completely clueless. However, he raises a brow when Eszter offers her phone to Peter. "Mo wants to talk to you," Eszter meekly speaks up. Peter chuckles at that, imagining Morgan begging. "She won't let me hang up unless you do."

The tone in Eszter's voice was dimming back down into the monotonous tone, and she lacked any kind of emotion; the enhanced was feeling depressed all over again, but Eszter wasn't sure if she wanted Peter to know. It was the mere fact that he hasn't noticed himself that was what made Eszter a bit peeved, and if he did, she wondered why he hasn't bothered to annoy her for answers.

Snagging the phone, Peter was beaming. "Dude, of course, I can talk to her," he presses the phone against his ear. "Hey, Morgana! What's up, kiddo?" There was a pause. "Oh, that's cool! Yeah--wait, what? Oh, oh. Uh . . ." Peter blushes awkwardly. "I--I don't know what to say about that, sorry. Alright. We'll call you back, okay? Eszter and I have plans tonight." Eszter snaps her neck when she abruptly looked at Peter, confused because plans? "Okay. Bye."

Peter drops Eszter's phone on the bed as she furrowed her brows, glancing up at her boyfriend with a whole other look, making the boy feel more nervous. He didn't like the way Eszter was staring at him like he had done something wrong, but she doesn't know what happened, right? There was no way she'd know so soon. Peter kept his mouth shut, not wanting to say anything until he was right because if he did bring it up, it might not be what Eszter is looking at him for.

"Plans?" It came out almost like a sneer, but it was unintentional.

Eyes widening, Peter was flabbergasted from the tone. "Oh, uh, I mean--uh, I just thought that we--since you know," he stutters.

Realizing what she said, Eszter shakes her head. "Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that," the girl musters a pressed smile. "I didn't know we had plans?"

Anxiously, Peter fiddles with his fingers as he smiles shyly. "Well, no, not really, but it's just a last-minute thing, I guess," Eszter hums at that, a little pleased. "I thought it would be, you know, kind of nice if we just took a walk outside. Just you and me."

Finally, Eszter smiles. "I'd like that."