Warning: Mentions of suicidal thought from the last chapter.
Jane was just finished with her family's Christmas dinner when she received a call.
"Hello?"
"Hey, are you holding a drink or something?" Alister asked.
"No." She replied. "Why?"
"I need some help. LIKE RIGHT NOW!!!"
"What did you do?"
"Just come quickly. I'm at my dorm." Alister explained.
"Fine."
Jane drove over to the dorms and went straight to Alister's. She understood why he was so panicked as soon as she opened the door.
"Is that your roommate!?!?!" She gasped.
"Yes."
"Why is he tied up on your floor?" Jane exclaimed. She looked over at Laurens, who was still unconscious. His wrists and ankles were bound with zip ties. A gag in his mouth as well.
"I didn't want him to leave or scream. But this isn't as bad as it looks." Alister tried to defend himself.
"What on earth did you think made this ok?"
"He tried to kill himself." Alister admitted. "Or threatened to kill himself."
"What!?!? Why?" Jane questioned.
"Again, I'm not entirely sure. Something happened with his brother. He said he was better off dead." Alister explained. "He came in here saying he was gonna jump off a bridge so I hit him in the head and this is where we are now."
"Ok." She tried to process everything.
"What do we do?" Alister asked.
"There's only one person who could talk some sense into him." Jane said. She pulled out her phone and called Peggy.
Alister paced around the room for a minute. He felt like a criminal.
"Ok, she said she would be here soon." Jane said as she put her phone away. "What do we do if he wakes up?"
"I don't know. We can't let him leave, but I don't want to threaten him." Alister sighed.
"You know what? If he wakes up before Peggy gets here, hit him in the head again." Jane said. "I know it sounds harsh, but it's our best bet right now."
"I'm a criminal." Alister whimpered.
"Wow, just wow." Jane sighed.
Peggy didn't take too long to get there. Luckily, Laurens stayed unconscious until she did so.
"Oh my gosh!" Peggy gasped. "What the heck did you do to him?"
"I know this looks bad, but we did this to protect him." Alister explained.
"We?" Jane asked.
"Me. Me did this."
"Why?" Peggy questioned.
"He said he was gonna kill himself. So I knocked him out with my textbook."
"You're the only one who could possibly talk him out of it." Jane added.
"Ok." Peggy nodded her head. She walked over and sat down by Laurens. "Laurens?"
Laurens slowly came to and was not happy with his surroundings.
"Mmmmh!"
"Relax. You're ok, I promise." Peggy pulled the gag out of his mouth.
"WHAT THE HECK ALISTER!?!?!?!" Laurens yelled.
"Laurens!" Peggy got his attention again.
"Fine, whatever. Untie me, Peg." Laurens ordered.
"Not yet."
"What? Why not?" Laurens almost laughed.
"You said you wanted to kill yourself. I know you will still try if we let you go." Peggy explained. Trying to be sweet and calm.
"You can't possibly think you can keep me here forever." Laurens stated.
"We could take you to a rehab." Jane suggested. "Pick your poison, Jacky."
"Don't say that!!!!" Laurens screamed at her. "I'm sorry..."
"It's fine. I get that you're not exactly stable right now." Jane said.
"Guys, could you give us a minute?" Peggy asked.
Jane and Alister left the room.
"Peggy please. I want you to be happy, to find a husband that loves you and can take care of you. I know that with my track record I can't guarantee that for you." Laurens said. "And if you being happy means I can't be with you, then it's a price I'm willing to pay. I can end all this. All this pain. Tonight."
Peggy wrapped her arms around him. "I've never been happier then I've been with you."
"I'm just a burden to everyone I've ever met. And the one person I could always count on to tell me the truth just confirmed it." Laurens whimpered. "Your lives were all safer and less worrisome when I wasn't in them."
"I don't want a life without you. I couldn't live without you." Peggy hugged him. "If you really love me, don't take away the thing I love most. I'll never be happy again. You're the Romeo to my Juliet. Which means if you die, I won't be long after. "
"Ok." Laurens gave in. "I won't do it."
"So it doesn't bother you anymore?" Peggy asked.
"I could care less what Alexander says. I just want you to be happy. And if I have to keep living this horrible life with horrible things happening left and right to keep you happy? Then I guess I'll just have to suck it up." Laurens smiled.
Peggy kissed his lips. "I'm just glad you're safe. Nothing could make me happier then knowing that."
"This is really sweet and all, but my wrists are starting to hurt so if you could just..." Laurens began.
"Right!" Peggy scooted around him but stopped for a moment. "Do you promise you won't run? Because I will not hesitate to tie you up again."
"I promise." Laurens said.
Peggy grabbed a pair of scissors from Alister's desk and cut him free. Laurens then took them from her and cut his ankles free as well.
"Promise me you will never do anything like this again." Peggy stated.
"I won't. I couldn't if it meant you would be depressed for the rest of your days. I love you too much." He leaned in and kissed her.
Alister walked back in to grab his phone.
"How... you know what? I'm not gonna ask." He grabbed his phone and left the room again.
Both Peggy and Laurens started laughing.
"Now, about this whole thing with Alexander." Peggy began.
"What about it? He's dead to me." Laurens spat. "He was partially the reason I was kidnapped and also lied to me about it for years."
"I know, but think of this." Peggy started. "What if he was there? And your father still showed up? It's possible he could've helped you, but what if he couldn't?"
"What do you mean?"
"What if your father kidnapped Alexander too? Or even worse, what if he killed him, just to get to you?" Peggy explained.
"I never thought of it that way." Laurens put his head down. "Guess I was being dramatic, wasn't I?"
"Maybe a little." Peggy smirked. "You did still have a right to be upset for him lying, but you were a little over the top."
"Maybe. I just... I've had a lot of trust issues. Throughout my whole life it just seemed that people always let me down. I never thought Alexander would be one of those people." Laurens put his head down.
"I'm not though."
Laurens gave her 'the look'.
"I'm not anymore." She rolled her eyes and smiled. "You think you're cursed, but I think you're special. I don't know anyone else on earth who is as amazing as you. Someone I always constantly wanted to talk to because I thought you were the greatest thing."
"No way. I was selectively mute! How could..." Laurens was interrupted.
"How could I not? When I saw you that day at the movies, I just wanted to get to know you. Like I needed to talk to you even if you didn't talk to me." Peggy explained. "Like I had so much to share with you even then."
"Thank God. It's a good thing you waited until we got inside though. Ask Eliza, I looked like a red balloon." Laurens laughed. "It's like I saw you and... I just knew."
"Knew what?" Peggy asked.
"That I was meeting my wife."
Peggy teared up. "And you ask how I could love you." She wiped her eyes. "I don't deserve you."
"Really? Cause it seems like everyone in your family, besides your father and sisters, think you're too good for me." Laurens stated. "I mean, that's the whole reason why your grandfather tried to break us up in the first place."
"Yeah I guess that makes sense... wait I'm sorry, what!?!?!?!" Peggy did a double take.
"Y-You didn't know that, did you?" Laurens asked.
"When did you find out!?!?!?"
"About a week before Thanksgiving. Of this year, of course. Kitty called me and said she and Stephen wanted to break us up so Stephen could be with you and she could have me. I don't know how, but your grandfather got involved and is potentially the one who planned the whole thing." Laurens explained.
"Well, I guess me and Kitty are gonna need to have a talk." Peggy said.
"Please don't do anything you'll regret. She apologized. She's sorry." Laurens reminded her.
"You're too forgiving." Peggy stated.
"Would you rather me not forgive you for cheating on me, dumping me, and almost getting me killed?" Laurens joked.
"Are you kidding? I wouldn't have you any other way." Peggy kissed him. "But I'm not like you."
"Don't kill her."
"Fine." Peggy sighed.
"Thank you. Now, it's still Christmas, is it not?" Laurens asked.
"Only for a few more hours. You were unconscious for awhile apparently." Peggy laughed.
"I'll take it." Laurens stood up. "I need to go make some things right."
He walked out of the room to see Alister was still in the hall.
"Hey! I'm really sorry if I traumatized you. I panicked." Alister rambled.
"It's ok. Thank you. You saved my life, I owe you a great debt." Laurens smiled. He kept walking down the hall and towards the door. Peggy followed just to make sure he didn't go to find a bridge.
Gladly, Laurens went straight to Schuyler Manor.