Chapter Text
The gun in her hands trembled as she tried to hold it level.
“Just do it…” The kneeled figure in front of her faced away, but she could hear the despair in his voice. She couldn’t do this! …But she had to. Her finger hovered over the trigger.
“Please…”
No… please no…
BANG!
The gun fired. And the bullet hit its target perfectly.
Wait… what?
The figure had somehow moved closer, turned around. She felt nauseous at the sight of the bullet straight through his head. He met her eyes with an uncharacteristic hatred, somehow still alive. Was that even possible?
“I hope you get the life I deserved…”
She tried to stagger back, to drop the gun, but was paralysed. Every fibre of her being told her this was wrong, shouldn’t something else be happening right now?
“Go on… finish it off Stephanie! I know you want to!”
She felt her finger tighten on the trigger again against her will.
God no… she pleaded internally to make it stop, but there was so much blood and she couldn’t do anything and-
BANG!
Steph shot bolt upright with a choking gasp. She struggled to breathe as she comprehended her surroundings. This wasn’t the sports field… this was her house; she was in her bed. She wasn’t alone however. As her room came into focus, so too did the person she had invited to sleep over when the house felt too empty.
Pete was sitting up next to Steph, looking at her concernedly. He had originally planned to go to the guest room to sleep, but they had gotten distracted talking in her room and both fallen asleep there. It felt nice to not be alone. Especially now. Steph desperately looked him over, checking for injury. Nothing new was visible. His arm was still in a cast after it was broken by Max. She found her eyes drawn up to his forehead, where the bullet had pierced through- would have pierced through. She shivered violently at the thought.
“Steph? Are you okay- wait no, obvious answer- is there anything I can do?”
“I… I…” She had trouble getting the words out.
“I shot you…”
Pete’s expression softened with recognition.
“You didn’t.”
“I did! I pulled that trigger, even if the bullet never reached you… You could be DEAD, don’t you get that!?”
Pete held out his good hand to her, and she took it in her own.
“It wasn’t your fault Steph… we both thought it was necessary.”
She saw the logic in the statement. As much as she wanted to blame herself, both of them forgot to stop and think about the third option of Grace’s sacrifice. They had been so caught up in saving everyone, saving the other. She wanted to say she should have known better, but knew that would be putting guilt onto Pete too, and the idea sounded ridiculous when phrased like that. Curse Pete for infecting her with his rational reasoning.
Unable to argue, she just rested her head on his shoulder, squeezing his hand a little bit.
“Nightmare you had the wrong eyes.”
“What?”
“He looked at me with these betrayed eyes, and spoke with such… anger. I would have known it wasn’t you in a second if I was awake.”
“I… good.” He leaned further into her protectively. “I could never hate you Steph. I’m not even sure that’s possible.”
“Not even that time at Beanies?”
“Oh please, I was so deep in denial. It was like the Mariana Trench in there.”
Steph chuckled and shifted so her other hand held Pete’s, the newly free arm wrapping him into a side hug.
“And I was right there with you.” She closed her eyes, drowsiness dragging at her, but quickly opened them again. She didn’t want to go back there.
Pete noticed her reluctance.
“Hey,” He murmured. “You can close your eyes. I will still be here when you open them again.”
She let him gently lay them both down, still curled slightly into and facing each other. She looked him up and down, and then closed her eyes, focusing on the weight of his hand in hers. She eventually drifted off, knowing he was safe and alive.