![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elrhiarhodanTitle: Too Late
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elrhiarhodan
Fandom: White Collar
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Peter Burke
Spoilers: None
Warnings/Enticements/Triggers: None
Word Count: 300 – Exactly
Prompt: #153 - Bitter
Summary: Sequel to The Taste of Freedom. Peter is devastated.
__________________
The letter comes too late, of course. Neal times it perfectly. Not that there’s anything Peter can do about it. Neal’s gone, in the wind. He’s a ghost, a memory.
He doesn’t need to read the letter more than once; the words are burned into his soul. “I love you. I want you. Please understand why I can’t stay.”
Peter’s furious. Why is Neal so brave when it comes to danger, to those stupid stunts, and such a coward about the things that really matter?
He’s bitter, too. And that bitterness forestalls him. He tells Elizabeth that if Neal doesn’t want to be here, with them, he can go wherever the hell he wants. There’s no tie between them anymore.
The bitterness sits on his tongue, makes it hard to swallow, hard to breathe, hard to think. He walks into the office every day and sees someone else at Neal’s desk. He can’t function; he can’t do a damn thing except keep a hopeless watch for someone who’s never coming back.
Elizabeth wants him to find Neal; to make things right between them. Even if Neal won’t return, they still need closure. Peter tells her he doesn’t care for closure; he doesn’t want to find Neal. But that lie taunts him late at night when he can’t sleep. His brain conjures scenarios both terrible and wonderful: Neal in prison, Neal in school, Neal in his arms.
Peter is obdurate, or so he likes to think. Ten weeks after Neal drives off into the night, Peter files papers for a six month leave of absence. Elizabeth doubts that it will take him six weeks to find Neal. Peter knows it’s only going to take him six hours. He’s always known where Neal is, he’s always known where to find him.
FIN
Author:
elrhiarhodanFandom: White Collar
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Peter Burke
Spoilers: None
Warnings/Enticements/Triggers: None
Word Count: 300 – Exactly
Prompt: #153 - Bitter
Summary: Sequel to The Taste of Freedom. Peter is devastated.
The letter comes too late, of course. Neal times it perfectly. Not that there’s anything Peter can do about it. Neal’s gone, in the wind. He’s a ghost, a memory.
He doesn’t need to read the letter more than once; the words are burned into his soul. “I love you. I want you. Please understand why I can’t stay.”
Peter’s furious. Why is Neal so brave when it comes to danger, to those stupid stunts, and such a coward about the things that really matter?
He’s bitter, too. And that bitterness forestalls him. He tells Elizabeth that if Neal doesn’t want to be here, with them, he can go wherever the hell he wants. There’s no tie between them anymore.
The bitterness sits on his tongue, makes it hard to swallow, hard to breathe, hard to think. He walks into the office every day and sees someone else at Neal’s desk. He can’t function; he can’t do a damn thing except keep a hopeless watch for someone who’s never coming back.
Elizabeth wants him to find Neal; to make things right between them. Even if Neal won’t return, they still need closure. Peter tells her he doesn’t care for closure; he doesn’t want to find Neal. But that lie taunts him late at night when he can’t sleep. His brain conjures scenarios both terrible and wonderful: Neal in prison, Neal in school, Neal in his arms.
Peter is obdurate, or so he likes to think. Ten weeks after Neal drives off into the night, Peter files papers for a six month leave of absence. Elizabeth doubts that it will take him six weeks to find Neal. Peter knows it’s only going to take him six hours. He’s always known where Neal is, he’s always known where to find him.
