Chapter 21

Peter had tried calling you, texting you, even calling Ruby, but no one was answering their phones. He called Ned, then MJ, who couldn't offer much advice other than walking around Queens to see if they could spot you, but he knew he could do it ten times faster than they could if he had his suit.

So that's exactly what he did. He got dressed, raced to his, grabbed his suit and swung out the window.

A few hours later, he jumped back into his room filled with frustration.

He ripped the mask off his head, throwing it at the wall, and yelled to himself. Where the hell were you? Why hadn't you answered his twenty text messages? He just wanted to know that you were okay. That you didn't regret last night. That you weren't avoiding him.

Which, now, he definitely thought you were.

He thudded his head against the wall as he leaned against it, thinking about what to do next. Getting out of his suit pocket, he breathed deeply as he sent you one final text.

When you felt your phone buzz, again, for the billionth time that morning, you tensed as you slowed your steps to check. You already knew it would be Peter, but when you saw the start of the message on the notification, your heart thumped, and you instinctively tapped it, stopping in the middle of the street altogether to read it.

Peter: I know that you probably regret last night, but I never will.Ever since I met you, I've been mad that Adam met you first. When I got to know you, I was happy that even though I couldn't tell you how I felt, I at least had you in my life. Luka...I know these last few weeks haven't been easy, but I just wanted to say that last night was amazing, and it killed me waking up without you. I'm sure you felt the same as I did, that it felt fucking right, like we should have been doing this all along, instead of...I just want to let you know that if you decide you can't do this, if you do regret it, I'll still be here for you, as whatever you need me to be. Because ...I fucking love you babygirl. Just let me know that you're okay, please.

You let out a sob, clamping your hand over your mouth when you realised you were out in public, openly crying like a madwoman.

You hastily shoved your phone in your pocket, wiping your tears with shaky fingers, and exhaled loudly, ignoring the strange looks from around you as you looked up at the sky.

If you replied to Peter, he would ask what you were doing. And you didn't want to have that conversation just yet. You needed to do this first.

You got your phone back out of your pocket, exiting his message, and called Ruby.

Ten minutes later, Peter got a text, and he jumped up from where he was sitting against the wall, picking his phone off the floor and hastily opening it.

Ruby: She's okay. She'll call later.

He read the message five times before it sunk in.

You got his text. You read his text. You chose not to reply.

He threw his phone against the wall.

2 hours later, you were sitting across the table from an incredibly polite middle-aged woman. Guilt was eating away at you at what you were about to say to her. It wasn't originally part of the plan to do this part alone, but you wanted it over now, and you changed your mind last minute as you realised that this was going to be the quickest way of doing it without spending too long around him. She handed you a cup of tea.

"Honey, what is it? You look like you're about to throw up?" She asked you as she sat down after you took the cup.

"I'm sorry." You replied, taking a shaky sip of the tea. "I just...I need to talk to you about something. And...it's not particularly nice."

"Oh my, are you pregnant?" Her eyes widened.

"No, no Anne, nothing like that. It's umm..."

"It's okay darling, take your time." She smiled, reaching across the table and placing her hand over yours and patting it gently. Comfortingly. Anne had always been so lovely to you, so welcoming. You almost hated what you were about to do, and almost changed your mind. But you knew that if you did it this way, it would end everything, definitively. She took her hand back to have a sip of tea.

"Anne...I...I think I need to break up with Adam." You muttered, chewing your lip as you watched her cup freeze in mid air, her eyes snapping up to yours.

Then she gently placed her cup back onto the saucer, and you watched her sigh.

"What did my son do this time?"

"I found out that..." You frowned. "Wait, this time?"

She ignored your question. "What happened?"

"I...he's been saying that he was working late, for the last 3 or 4 months. Until like 9 or 10 o'clock each night during the week. I found out recently that he was lying." Anne sucked in a breath. "I also...my friend saw him with another girl."

"Idiot boy." She shook her head.

"I asked him about working, he said the receptionist was lying. I haven't asked him about the girl yet."

"I am so sorry Luka." She said, put her hands over yours again. "I really am. I really hoped...he's never been with someone for this long. I really hoped that he had changed."

"Changed?"

"I love Adam to pieces, but he's never been great in relationships. I have had a lot of girls coming to get their things and explaining that they'd broken it off because...well for the same reasons. I was really hoping that he'd changed for you."

"I..." Your words caught in your throat, and you felt yourself start to cry for the second time that day. Anne immediately stood walking around the table and sat next to you, pulling you in for a hug. You sobbed into your ex-boyfriend's mother's chest, the simple act being enough to break the barrier you were trying to put up for this conversation.

"Oh sweetie." She said as she rubbed your back in an incredibly motherly way. "I'm so sorry that he's done this with you. You know," She said as she pulled back and smiled at you. "You're my favourite girlfriend that he ever had."

You chuckled lightly through your tears.

"I take it that dinner this evening is off the menu." She added with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry that I've ruined tonight. You and him can obviously still go."

"No chance." She snapped. "I need to tell that boy exactly what I think of his antics. Pushing away a beautiful girl like you for absolutely no reason other than him being an ignorant numpty! He can buy his own birthday dinner." She winked at you, and you smiled back. "I can promise you honey, that not all men are like this. And hopefully, after Adam realised exactly what he has let go, he won't be like this anymore either."

You nodded, sharing another hug before she told you to go and find him, and get it off your chest as soon as possible. You thanked her, over and over, for always being so kind to you, and she made you promise that you would still visit, without him of course. You agreed, firmly believing that you would fulfil that promise.

As you left Adam's mum's house, the first breath you took outside felt different. You felt lighter.

Maybe it was the fact that someone else was agreeing that Adam was an asshole (although of course she never used that word exactly). Maybe it was what she told you, that he had done this before. The last few weeks, you'd occasionally been sucked into a thought spiral that you had somehow caused this, caused him to lie, to cheat. Knowing that this was quite normal behaviour for him, it made you feel a little less shit about it all. You still felt like an idiot for not seeing it before, but you always tried to see the good in people, and your love for him had obviously blinded you to some of it.

Love that you actually realised you no longer had for him. Not now that you knew what real love could feel like.

You opened the foil packet of cake that she had shoved into your hands as you left, breaking off a piece and eating it as you headed down the street.

One down, one to go.