[ and he's off the bench, in front of eleven with one knee bent and the other in the dirt. the movement's accompanied by a quick wince because wow, he'd forgotten about his wrist. he crouches so that he's eye-level with eleven, so that she can see his face. there's an earnestness to his expression, almost as if he's asking eleven to believe what he says. ]
You wanna know how many times MJ's broken up with me? More times than I can count. [ he tells her, in a hurried breath. they'd even tried to get married, and— well, things hadn't worked out. but somehow, they'd always ended up back together again, and peter had thought that maybe this time, they could make it work — really work, without anything getting in the way.
(that'd been a thought, because then he'd ended up here.)
but that doesn't matter, not right this second, because this isn't about him. it's about a heartbroken girl, who's never had to deal with this before. ]
You wanna know something else? I always find her again, or she finds me, and it is okay. Whatever else there is? None of that matters, not really, because when it comes down to it, we've got each other. I'm not going to say it'll be easy, and I'm not going to say things are going to be okay now, 'cause they're not. This — everything here is messed up and none of us are supposed to be here. But d'you know what else that means? Because we're not supposed to be here, we'll be able to go home and make things okay. [ beat. ] Okay?
[ he doesn't know how much of it is the truth — about making it back home, about things being okay, but he's got to believe it because if he doesn't, what else is there? he'd like to think he'll find his way back, too, but if he doesn't, that's — it's not okay, but he can live with it if it means kids like eleven get a fighting chance. ]
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[ and he's off the bench, in front of eleven with one knee bent and the other in the dirt. the movement's accompanied by a quick wince because wow, he'd forgotten about his wrist. he crouches so that he's eye-level with eleven, so that she can see his face. there's an earnestness to his expression, almost as if he's asking eleven to believe what he says. ]
You wanna know how many times MJ's broken up with me? More times than I can count. [ he tells her, in a hurried breath. they'd even tried to get married, and— well, things hadn't worked out. but somehow, they'd always ended up back together again, and peter had thought that maybe this time, they could make it work — really work, without anything getting in the way.
(that'd been a thought, because then he'd ended up here.)
but that doesn't matter, not right this second, because this isn't about him. it's about a heartbroken girl, who's never had to deal with this before. ]
You wanna know something else? I always find her again, or she finds me, and it is okay. Whatever else there is? None of that matters, not really, because when it comes down to it, we've got each other. I'm not going to say it'll be easy, and I'm not going to say things are going to be okay now, 'cause they're not. This — everything here is messed up and none of us are supposed to be here. But d'you know what else that means? Because we're not supposed to be here, we'll be able to go home and make things okay. [ beat. ] Okay?
[ he doesn't know how much of it is the truth — about making it back home, about things being okay, but he's got to believe it because if he doesn't, what else is there? he'd like to think he'll find his way back, too, but if he doesn't, that's — it's not okay, but he can live with it if it means kids like eleven get a fighting chance. ]
You've just gotta hold tight. Mike'll be there.