For Us (The Girl I Loved Duet 2)

“My father doesn’t tell me where to go. Besides, I think he’d be comfortable knowing I’m safe with one of his most trusted lieutenants.” Genova suspects there’s something up with him, but that’s not why she’s here.

“I’m not that,” he says, prowling towards me. “Not yet.”

“You will be.”

He’s right in front of me now, and I can feel the energy pouring off him. I want to reach out and touch him, but not yet. That’s not in the script. But this feels like what we had just a couple of days ago, this vibrant, humming tension. We’ve always had good chemistry acting, and it’s harder not to let it bleed across the boundaries now then it was then.

“I’m not sure about that,” he says softly.

I look up at him then, seeing the want and love in his eyes that’s not for me. It’s for Genova, and it hurts. “Why not?”

“Because I don’t think your father’s going to be happy about me doing this.” He reaches out and pulls me toward him, and suddenly he’s kissing me.

Holy fuck.

Fire consumes me, and suddenly I’m kissing him back. Yes, yes, yes. My whole body is singing and somehow this is everything. The last two days thinking I’d never have this again, it’s amazing and perfect and it hurts because I know it might be the last time.

I get lost in this kiss, and I know that it’s not a character anymore. This is me and Peter. I want it. I’m not sure how I could have ever said otherwise. What a fucking idiot I am.

“Cut!”

The word rings out across the set, but it doesn’t register. I don’t stop kissing Peter. My arms are around his neck and I want to pull him closer. One more second, and he’s pulling away. I suddenly become aware that we were kissing well past cut, and Peter takes a step away from me.

I feel the weight of the stares of the crew, but all I can do is look at Peter, and I see him. Him. And he doesn’t hate me. I can see it in his eyes, the want and need as desperate as my own. I’m so relieved and so terrified about what just happened. Everybody saw.

Clay approaches mine. “Good, good. I think that was pretty good. You were right, Amber, he really delivers. I don’t think we need to get another take. But Peter, don’t forget you’ll still have to film the rest when Harley returns.”

“Of course.”

I turn to look at him, to smile, but he’s gone. He’s already half-way across the set, striding toward the door that leads to the lot. And all the hope I’d just built up slips away. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe even though I saw that he feels what I do, I wrecked it. Maybe he’s going to keep his word, that he’s not going to come back.

7

Peter

Past

The nerves churn in my gut as I pull up to the train station. I double checked the time my mom sent and I asked her again if she was sure that she was coming. All signs say yes. But I also know that I’m not going to believe it until I see her. Aunt Lily is still skeptical, and I suppose that she has good reason to be. After everything my mother has done, she’s going to have to earn back Lily’s trust.

Mine too.

There’s a seed of hope in my stomach that isn’t crushed though. It’s sitting there like a piece of light waiting for her to walk off the train. I park the car and head inside. It’s not too busy this time of day, and the signs clearly point to the train coming in from Virginia. The space is light and open, and there aren’t a whole lot of places to sit, so I stand and wait by a pillar.

Eleven o’clock comes and goes, and nothing happens. It’s almost ten past when people begin to spill out of the entryway for that train. It seems strange, but I’m worried that I won’t recognize her. The last time I saw her she was so high, so wasted away from drugs, that she’d faded into someone that I barely recognized. If she’s clean, then she might be the next iteration of her. Another person I don’t recognize.

“Peter!”

There’s a woman waving at me. She’s older, but everything in me sags in relief. It’s her. There’s no doubt about it. That little seed of hope sends beams of light shooting through my body and I can’t keep the smile off my face, or the speed out of my steps as I run over to her. I can’t stop myself, I wrap her in a hug. “Hi, Mom.”

She feels so familiar, and I have to push back tears as she wraps her arms around me.