she  can  feel  the  woeful  emotions  that  seep  off  him  and  grab  at  her  chest  â  her  heart  pinching  slightly.  the  moment  was  too  heated,  too  strong,  she  couldnât  shut  it  off.  she  didnât  want  to  feel  all  these  things,  but  they  just  sunk  into  her  â  a  cocktail  of  sadness,  love,  anger,  and  even  fear.  she  shook  her  head,  lips  draw  into  a  stiff  pout  while  warm  tears  began  to  spill  over  the  corners  of  narrowed  eyes.  the  salty  liquid  slowly  trailing  down  the  side  of  her  face  and  dripping  of  her  chin.    â  i  get  it  now.  â     she  said,  her  voice  cracking  just  slightly.   her  knees  grew  wobbly,  and  she  dropped  down  to  the  couch  while  arms  crossed  tightly  around  her  chest  as  she  looked  up  at  him.      Â
â  so  you  were  playing  pretend  then,  huh ?  thatâs  all  this  was ?  pretend ?  â  lying  to  yourself  about  how  you  felt  â  lying  to  me  â  â       she  huffs,  a  deep  sigh  forced  from  her  nose. Â
she  pauses  for  a  moment,  brows  knotting  â-  she  thinks  about  all  the  moments  that  may  have  led  to  this,  all  the  times  she  read  him  while  he  was  unwilling,  unaware.  but  sheâs  upset  and  feeling  foolish  for  thinking  she  could  be  close  to  someone  again.  for  thinking  it  wouldnât  end  up  the  way  it  always  does.
                   she  had  hoped  they  were  different. Â
â  you  didnât  have  to  be  something  different  â  you  could  have  been  yourself.  did  you  think  i  wouldnât  accept  you ?  â       she  wipes  a  tear  away  with  the  back  of  her  hand.       â  i  thought  i  knew  you.  the  real  you.  but  you  havenât  been  honest  with  and  now ?  now  youâre  upset ?  â       she  shakes  her  head.       â  youâve  been  leading  me  on  â  thatâs  what  it  feels  like.  peter  â  you  gave  me  hope.  â  Â
itâs a repeating feeling, that peter is suffocating. the thought of it only makes this worse. can she feel this, his emotional collapse? he isnât sure why heâs starting this fight. he isnât sure why this anger isnât subsiding or why, for the first time ever, his love for her isnât enough to quell his rage.
heâs breaking and she has a front row seat to the show. and heâs breaking her too; he can feel it, the destruction heâs causing and all peter wants is to hold her and tell her heâs sorry and he loves her but even he can see theyâre past that. all he can do is embrace the torpedo wrecking his life.
âyouâre right,â he assures, his voice regaining the edge heâd almost lost. âiâve been lying to you. for a long time now.â he doesnât quite believe thatâs the truth of their situation, but heâs already accepted that theyâre past the point of no return. so why bother trying to fix them?
âhere, iâll make this for you now: the man youâre seeing right now is who i am.â this angry man scorching the earth like a child throwing a tantrum? itâs peter at his very core.
who else could he possibly be?
âi didnât mean to lead you on. not exactly, anyway. i didnât mean to hold all this in, keep it secret. not from you. but now itâs out; you know how i feel. if you canât handle this version of me, decide that now and leave. iâll be just fine without you.â