darker_london | "I'm not Coping" (Thomas, Peter, Aly)

Peter and Thomas were bouncing on Peter's most recent purchase in the back yard. It was a gigantic trampoline surrounded by netting to protect Peter's children from catapulting themselves off of it and into a tree or the shed or the ground. Peter liked it because the padding which covered the springs was teal and purple, and when he bounced on it, there was a point where it felt like he might not come back down again. Especially when Thomas did a sneaky double bounce, which meant that when Peter came back down, the trampoline came up to meet his feet, vaulting Peter into the air where he usually let out an unmanly squeal and came back to the trampoline on all fours. "THOMAS!" he hissed when he landed. "Don't send me to the moon!"

Thomas was loving it. He had always wanted a trampoline as a kid, but of course they couldn't afford it. "This is brilliant!" he screamed, his voice amplified to several times it's normal volume in his excitement. "Watch me! Peter! Peter! Peter! Watch! Peter! Watch!"

"I'm watching!" Peter cried, backing up because Thomas was, no doubt, about to attempt something which could result in both of them breaking their necks. Then he watched in amazement as Thomas jumped three times and then executed a perfect somersault in the air and came back down with perfect grace, and his neck still intact.

"Did you see!" Thomas clapped. "Did you see me!"

"Yes. You're a freak." Peter informed him. "Help me up." Peter held out a hand and once Thomas had pulled him up, he started bouncing again. "If I tried that I'd break something!" he cried as they took turns popping up and down, up and down.

"You would not!" Thomas insisted, though the truth was, Peter just might. He was stronger than he looked, but his time under the ground had weakened him. And Thomas has been born with dancer's grace while Peter had had to learn coordination by practicing. "I'm going to double bounce you again!"

"No!" Peter cried out. "No!" He was on his way down again, and when his feet hit the trampoline he was propelled upwards with tummy-tickling speed. "Nnno...WHEEEEEEEEAAAUUGGHHHwhoa." As soon as his feet touched down again he fell down and tried to catch his breath. "Cretin!" he hissed, and he turned his head to the side to catch a deliciously beautiful woman watching the both of them with a slightly terrified look on her face. "Aly!"

"I go visit my mother and when I come back, you've purchased a death trap," Aly said, her hands on her hips.

"Oh poo." Peter rolled onto his hands and knees and he crawled over to the netting so he could let himself out. His bare feet hit the grass and he grinned at her. "It's not a death trap! It's awesome!"

"Did you just hit puberty or something," Aly asked, her eyebrows nearly cresting her forehead.

"Huh?"

"You're acting like a teenage boy." Then Aly's face dissolved into a smile and she stood on her tiptoes to kiss Peter's chin. "Though...Thomas is acting like a nine-year-old..." Aly looked past Peter to where Thomas was giggling like a maniac and performing impressive somersaults and mid-air acrobatics. "A very talented nine-year-old."

"He's just showing off." Peter took hold of Aly's hands and he kissed both of them, one after the other. "You're not mad are you?"

"Peter, you can buy whatever you want. Though I do hope you'll share it with the children," she winked.

"Awww," Peter joked, but he sobered a second later. "Hey, uhm... I'm not very good at this."

"The...trampoline? Thomas could teach you!"

"Wh...no! No, I mean...argh." Peter's insides felt like he was at the crest of a double-jump and he wasn't going to be coming back to Earth any time soon. He hated talking about himself. He was monumentally bad at it. But Jillian was right and he had to say something. "I'm not coping. With what happened to me. I'm pretending I am, but I'm not."

Aly looked up at him and she placed her hands on his chest. "I had an inkling. Which is why I keep asking you how you are, you ninny."

"You...had an inkling?"

"Well, you haven't slept with me since you've been back, which is quite out of character."

Peter turned red and behind him he heard Thomas stop bouncing and the springs of the trampoline creaked more and more slowly until they came to a stop. "Heh. Hey, let's go inside where Bouncy McEavesdropper can't listen."

Thomas joined them a second later and he touched Peter's shoulder. "Peter, is it really eavesdropping if I want to help you?"

"No. I just wish you hadn't heard that last part." Peter sighed. "But nevermind. I uhm...my feet are cold." Peter walked into the house and his wife and best friend followed him all the way into the dining room which, as it wasn't used for anything else, was often the site of private conversations.

Once the doors had been closed and they were sitting down, Peter leaned against the table and he took a deep breath. "What if they're right?"

Thomas blinked and he crossed his ankles under the table. "Peter...what if who is right?"

"The Templar? I mean...obviously I'm not the Antichrist, because that's insanity. But what if I'm nothing? What if I am worth absolutely nothing? None of my visions are helping people right now. I am not helping anyone-"

"Peter...you were gone for three weeks and several demons had conniption fits because you weren't there to hold their hands. Trust me. You're needed." Thomas looked over to Aly, as if silently announcing it was her turn.

"And your family needs you too, Peter. The Templar don't understand that because...well..they're morons."

Peter let out a bitter laugh and he nodded once. "I led all those people into Delford to rescue Tasha. I cost my cousin her wife. My Deirdre her girlfriend. I lost my best friend and cost you...I lost you David..."

Aly shook her head. "Peter, David doesn't blame you. I should know, he's being quite adamant in my head right now. Those people wanted to help. And what happened to them is Magnus' fault."

Peter nodded quietly. "I just...I think I'll take a nap. But I thought I should tell you. Because...Jillian told me to."

Aly blinked several times and then she stood up too fast. "Wh...what? Jillian told you to?!"

"Yes," Peter answered easily. "She was a counsellor, Aly."

"Yeah! And then she killed a whole bunch of people!" Aly protested. "Peter...I have to admit she was right here but...be careful, okay?!"

"Okay," Peter agreed, though it was mostly because he didn't want an argument. "I'll be back later. I love you." He kissed both Aly and Thomas on their heads and then he left the room, leaving Aly and Thomas to try to figure out how to help Peter.