see the good

How could he say no? His day of work was done with and he had no other plans. “That would be nice. I’d love to join you. Do you need to drop those copies off first?”

“Okay... okay cool. Yeah, I just need to drop them at my desk, it’s on the way out.”

Terence couldn’t help but smile at her. He wanted to ask her if it really was good to see him. Did she still care? She had said she had loved him maybe that still held true. “It’s good to see you too. It always is.”

She smiled, looking away for a moment before she met his gaze again. “Do you- that is, I was about to go grab a cup of coffee, if you want to join?”

@tinkcrbells​

The last few times that Terence had to stop in at Hollow Engineering he hadn’t seen Tink. He wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing. As much as he wanted to see her he didn’t want to feel the overwhelming pain that came with it. He had to pick up some paperwork. He was in his usual work attire: a tucked in button up with a tie and dress pants. He much preferred his ripped skinny jeans and t-shirts to what he wore at work. He was on his way work when he spotted her. He stopped in his tracks and stared for a moment too long. When she began to turn around he quickly began walking and looking down at the papers to seem like he hadn’t been staring. When he walked past her he looked up. “Oh, Tink. Hi,” he said, trying to act casual.

It had been a rather long day at work and his face was honestly the last thing she’d expected to see. Naturally he’d shown up on the day she’d opted for a casual sweater and skirt combo... and there he was in a shirt and tie looking... like that. Tink straightened up, pressing the copies she’d just made against he chest and smiled at him. “Terence, hi. It’s good to see you.” That much was true at least.

Peter didn’t have to think twice about which party he was spending his V-Day at, and the coupley lovey dovey junk sounded so boring that he was pretty sure even if he was seeing somebody he wouldn’t have bothered going to that crappy excuse for a party. No, he was going to check out The Lady and the Tramp for a few minutes, and if it was trash boring like the rest of the sanctioned Valentine’s events he was gonna have to make his own thing happen. Walking inside, he wasn’t immediately disappointed - the decor was inevitable. He found the champagne and tipped back a flute or two, eyes scanning the crowd before settling on someone who might be worth the time. “Alright,” he opened, a little too fast and a tad too loud. “Let’s do this speed dating style, what’s the rundown?”

Tink had probably had more than her fair share of drinks by the time that her best friend appeared at her side. She shifted her body toward him, laughing at a volume to match his. “The rundown, Peter? You’re lame.” She sighed, throwing her head back for a moment before straightening up and looking back at him. “Alright, I’ll play along.” She leaned on the table in front of her, chin resting on her hand, looking up at him. “I’m a twenty three year old engineer and I’m here, on Valentine’s Day, looking for, I don’t know, a rebound, or maybe the love of my life, who knows. And who are you, tonight, Peter Pan?”

“So,” he began with a sigh, taking the bait. “You’ve got me. What happened to you? I’ll throw my sob story your way too.”

“You know, started dating a boy who might like actually like me for me and then someone threatened... someone I care about so I had to break up with him. And I don’t know if that’s reparable. Bt, ya know, story of my life. So, let’s hear yours.”

Terrence frowned. “Can you at least answer me this? Do you love me? Or did you ever?”

“Yeah... I think I so... I mean how could I not?”

Peri sighed, knowing she was already getting herself into a conversation she wasn’t very knowledgeable on. She’d never really dated much, or been able to keep any friendship with the man after. They’d ghosted her and cheated, that kind of always removed any chance of keeping the friendship. ❛ Maybe… Just try not dating for awhile? Just keep them as the important people in your life and if they’re the one, they’ll stick around, you won’t have to worry about losing them. ❜

“Yeah that’s kinda what I’m saying... except it seems like every time I decide that I’m not dating, some guy comes around and at first it’s like, okay cool, we’re friends. But then sooner or later it’s so clear that we’re not and I’m like... maybe this is it, the time that everything doesn’t get fucked up. I bet this is the guy that will be different. But it never is and everything does get fucked up and I fall for it every time.”

“You learn that the hard way too?” Damian inquired with a nod of his head. “Feel like you don’t know not to until you get fucked up the ass by it.”

“The hard way indeed.” She sighed. “Better just to pretend not to care, probably.”

“How complicated can it be? You either feel it or you don’t.”

“It’s just... when there’s someone I actually care about... someone I want to be around, be with... and I tell them that I love them, well it all just seems to kind of go to shit. So... complicated is... it.”

“Well, it sounded pretty damn believable, Tina.”

“Don’t... call me that.” She sighed. “Love is a complicated word for me, Terrence.”

Terrence shook his head. “No. That’s the one thing I actually did mean. But it doesn’t matter at this point. You already told me you didn’t love me back.”

“I said what I needed to to break your heart.”

“Yeah, so do I,” he said. “But they’re not. And I just have to accept that fact.”

“You... you said... that you loved me. Was that true? Or was it just something you said because you were upset.”