darker_london | Truth (Peter, Deirdre)

Deirdre didn't mean to, but as she crashed through the front door of Peter's house, she opened the door with such force that it slammed into the wall behind it. The doorknob left a dent in the wall and Deirdre groaned, slamming the door home as if it was the door's fault for making such a mess of everything.

The racket drew Peter Kemp from where ever it was he had been lurking in his own home. Usually when Peter appeared he had a child in his arms, but it was clear he was worried, on this occasion, that if he had a child, that child would end up injured. "Deirdre," Peter breathed in relief when he saw her. "I thought it was... God, I don't even know. What's wrong."

This was one of the reasons Deirdre loved Peter so much. No 'is something wrong?'. Just to the point. Though the question of something being wrong probably was answered by her entrance anyway. "Renee!" she said loudly. "She just came over and like...professed her love for me in front of my fiance! It's not my fault she broke up with her Scarlett! Argh!"

"Oh dear..." Peter took gentle hold of Deirdre's arm and she let him lead her into the dining room. That was where most people disappeared to in the Kemp house when something was amiss with them. It was a spacious and homey room which could be closed off to the rest of the house, and it wasn't really used for anything else since the family usually ate meals at the kitchen table since it was less formal. "Alright, tell me what happened," he said, as soon as they were sitting down and there was a glass of water in front of Deirdre so she could fiddle with something.

"I said I was planning the wedding and like...Giles came over right? Because Jude was all blahlala Giles sucks or whatever. So I was sad and he came to calm me down and help me make decisions and I guess Renee read that and decided that NOW was the perfect time to tell me she still loves me. Like...I'll go, oh OKAY since I'm engaged sure I'll just leave the father of my children for you even though I wasn't enough for you to wait around for in the first place. You lost your first choice so it's back to me, is it?" Maybe it wasn't a fair assessment, but Deirdre was pissed off and she was saying what she felt.

"What exactly did Renee say?" Peter asked, still managing to sound impartial. How did he do that!?

"She was like 'ohhh but you can have me now' or like 'but you're only with him because I chose wolf-girl over you because I'm a great big furry-'"

"Deirdre," Peter said, the tone of his voice chastising her. "I hardly doubt she called herself that. And don't call Scarlett 'wolf-girl'."

"Oh pffft fine whatever." Deirdre pushed her red hair behind her ears an she leaned her elbows on the table, resting her head in her hands. "It doesn't even matter because I don't feel like being second best! She made her choice when she didn't wait for me, and now Scarlett broke up with her and I'm sorry for that, but that's just bad luck because I found someone who loves me for me."

To his credit, Peter didn't even flinch at that.

"It's like...goddamn, Renee, you got dumped so you have to come mess up my relationship too?! She said this in front of Giles and she knew he'd be there!"

"Was Giles upset?" Peter asked carefully.

"Well he was pissed at Renee! He wasn't mad at me. She said I would be better off with her. Like...yeah, someone who didn't even choose three years of history the second she was set free is really better than Giles who proposed to me after a few months."

"Deirdre," Peter said quietly. "A few months isn't always-"

"Oh whatever, you know what I mean! You hadn't known Aly all that long and you married her!"

"Yes. There was a child involved there too, though we had been together when the child was conceived. And I can't actually say it's always been easy. We nearly got divorced last year," he gently reminded her. "I do think it would have been better if we had dated for longer. We were just...we were impatient and silly and we made a split-second decision that we have both had to deal with the consequences of. I love her," Peter admitted easily. "I do not regret marrying my wife. I do regret marrying her when I did."

"You...do?!" That was all news to Deirdre. Her jaw was actually hanging open. "For serious?"

"-for...serious," Peter replied, as if he was repeating a foreign phrase.

"Oh fuck. I had no idea." Deirdre chewed on her lip for a second and then she looked up at him. "You like Giles though, right? 'Cause like...Jude said all this shit and I know Flynn doesn't but I just thought that was like jealousy because Giles takes a lot of my time away. Spectre and Thomas change the subject when I talk about Giles. And Jason totally punched him that one time. I don't even get it, Giles is so nice. You see that, right?"

Peter looked momentarily uncomfortable and immediately Deirdre knew all she needed to. It was only because she respected him so much that he was even able to explain how he felt about Giles. "He seems to make you happy," Peter began. "And I am grateful to him for that. He has really stepped up as a father to Gabriel and Eiley which surprised me. Especially since he said at the beginning that he wanted no responsibility. He took very good care of you after your run-in with Jareth. I see...great potential in Giles, Deirdre." Peter crossed his arms across the table and he gave Deirdre a serious look. "I'll be honest, though. I do worry that he isn't...as sure of his affections as you are. I do think your relationship is still young and would benefit with more time to grow-"

Deirdre stood from her chair and she rounded the table slowly. Peter watched her with careful eyes, but he never once looked afraid. She would wonder later if he was just really good at hiding it when he needed to. If he had learned that a calm gaze would calm demons. It did not calm her. She was sick of hearing about Giles and how he wasn't mature or that he didn't love her or that her wedding was a farce. All of that had built up inside and she had adamantly denied it all until now. Until this man, whom she loved as a father and who had never lied to her, sat in front of her and told her the truth she was refusing to see.

Instead of accepting it, her denial took the form of rage. "Goddammit, why can't people actually see how much he loves me!? He proposed, didn't he?!"

Peter backed away somewhat, but he did so in trying to turn and face her. Artful. "Deirdre, I'm only telling you what you asked to hear and it's only my opinion, which could very well be wr-"

Deirdre didn't wait, she just stalked forward and punched him so hard he went flying out of the chair and tumbling to the floor. When he rose to look at her, his nose was bleeding.

"Don't you say another word about him!" Deirdre screamed at Peter and then she turned and ran from the room and his house and the truth, leaving him lying there, bleeding on his dining room floor.