COUNTLESS WORDS SIT ON THE TIP OF PETER’S TONGUE, every single overwhelming thought and emotion causing a whirlwind of activity in his mind, unable to QUIET all the noise no matter how hard he tries. The tense, suffocating feeling burrowing through his chest has refused to go away ever since he first saw his picture displayed upon the gigantic screen, a SINKING feeling tearing through his heart and making its home in the pit of his stomach. One that TWISTS with every reminder— the stares and jeers every time he steps outside of his house, the words MURDERER or CRIMINAL or WORTHLESS louder than anything else. As if the sting of betrayal wasn’t enough, guilt runs rampant, ROTS from the inside out.
“I’m sorry...” is what he ends up saying, his ( tired, so incredibly tired, if the redness and dark circles aren’t enough to go by ) eyes finally flicking forwards to meet her’s. There’s that familiar sinking again. After all, this isn’t ONLY hurting him... it hurts everyone around him, and he doesn’t know if he can forgive himself for dragging Freya into that crossfire. “You... shouldn’t have to be dealing with all this, I— I mean, uh... you know, it’s... it’s my fault you’re in this mess too, you...” Deserve better. “It, um, it wasn’t too bad today, was it?”