darker_london | Of Lost Friends (Peter, Thomas)

When Thomas found Peter in his home, Peter was in the middle of nursing one of the worst headaches he had ever had in his life. Thomas found him on the sofa, curled up in a little ball of woe, with a hand on either side of his head. He let out a little moan, and Thomas raised his eyebrows. "Not the nicest reception I've ever gotten, but it's better than vomiting."

"I'm not Deirdre..." Peter said firmly, as she had been the vomiting culprit.

"Did you know I was there?" Thomas asked, advancing further into the room.

"Yes, yes, you feel like me." Peter sighed and he took his hand away from his face, though his eyes were squinting against the light. Bastard light. His face, however, softened. "I'm glad you're there."

Thomas gave Peter a sad smile. "Been hitting the sauce a bit, Peter?"

"Argh." Peter sighed. "I am so bloody stupid." He picked himself up then, but only into a sitting position. "Sure, I'll numb the pain! That'll help me find my wife. Absolutely, who gives a rat's if I can't see straight. William's all brassed off at me and I don't blame him." Peter rubbed his face again, as if that had the slightest chance of rubbing his hangover away. "I thought I was done with that."

Thomas sat himself down next to Peter and he patted his best friend's knee. "You are, Peter. This situation is hardly normal. It's shitty." Thomas looked uncomfortable then. "Look, Peter...I'm not condoning what you did. I'm just saying that slipping doesn't mean you're right back where you started. As long as you don't slip again. Alright? You don't need to drink, you have me now." There was more. Chiara.

Peter took a deep breath and he gave Thomas a grateful look. "I certainly do at that."

"Peter..." Thomas swallowed roughly, but he plowed ahead. "Look, we need you today, okay? So you can't fall apart like that again."

"I won't." Peter shook his head, albeit carefully.

"Peter, it's..."

Peter cocked his head to the side and he reached out for Thomas' hand. "What?! Did you find out something? Oh god, what happened to Aly?"

"It's not Aly, Peter. It's Chiara." Thomas took a deep breath while trying to avoid the sadness in Peter's face as he told him his friend was dead. "She died last night."

"Goddammit." Peter hissed. "God fucking dammit." He put his head right back into his hands and he let out a groan. Chiara had been in an accident doing something for him. Sort of... He'd warned her. He had told her she was going to end up dead but the damn woman hadn't listened. Bloody Italians! Peter let out a little moan of sorrow and he felt Thomas' hand on his back. "She was so insufferable..." Peter mumbled into his hands.

"Yes. She was that." Thomas kissed the side of Peter's head and he leaned his forehead against Peter's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"I told her...I...I thought it would have been the Templar. I didn't think it would be a demon. She was always so hellbent on getting near the Templar that I thought...she just never listened."

"And you loved her for that in the end." Thomas said wisely.

"Yeah. Dammit."

Thomas wrapped his arms around Peter and he pulled his best friend against him. "Peter, we will get the demon who did this to her. We'll stop him. And you know Mary will look after Chiara when she gets back to The Beyond."

"I know. I know all that." Peter looked over to Thomas, and for a moment he was the same young man he had been in the monastery at Downside. "It's just...I prayed. I prayed and God didn't listen."

Thomas, who had spent the last 14 years in The Beyond and no longer believed in God, thought Peter had lost his faith when Peter had lost Thomas. He had had no idea that Peter had been slowly beginning to believe again. It was the one thing he hadn't known about his best friend and considering the way they had met, it was a bloody big thing to miss. Instantly he felt both horrid for not knowing, and terrified because if Peter lost his faith again what the hell would happen this time. "Peter, sometimes things just happen-"

"Don't give me that talk." Peter said, but not unkindly. "I've given that talk. More that enough times to know how it goes. I just...it worked for David. I prayed for David and he lived. I prayed for Deirdre and she lived. I prayed for Adrian and Stephie...and now Chiara, and it didn't work. What if God takes Aly away too?!"

Thomas had never heard Peter talk like this, especially not in the last several years. Not after he died and certainly not before then. "Peter..." He had absolutely no idea how to soothe his best friends fears, and it was then that he realised that maybe...just maybe he had lost something integral when he lost his faith too. He couldn't use that belief to offer comfort and that was a very big something.

Peter said nothing, he just lowered his head to Thomas' chest and he grieved. When the time came, he would continue his search, and he would cry for Chiara's loss. But for now, he was safe to simply cry.