Pete's Favorites songlist
Track 11: Queen - Too much love will kill you

Tiana's POV

"What about this... unspoken thing between us?"
"What unspoken thing?"
"This unspoken thing."
"There is no unspoken thing."

"Oh my God, Gamora just stop being so reluctant! You KNOW that FREAKING UNSPOKEN THING!" Emma shouted inside the theater in frustration. Everyone turned their eyes from the screen to our direction to look at what kind of person was bothering their movie. I buried my face in my hands of embarrassment. This was one of the reasons I never came to watch movies with her. As a matter of fact, this was my favorite movie series and Emma was disturbing it.

I peeked out at Charlie. He was purposely looking away, trying to seem distant from Emma.

"Charlie! Say something! What the hell are those two doing! Are they feeding me mashed potatoes without water so I can suffocate?" She demanded. Everyone turned their eyes to Charlie. Some clicked their tongues. Some told their children to look away from the mad girl. Some acted like they'd seen a lot of movies with Emma and just went on to munching their popcorn.

"I don't care what the hell those two are doing. I care about you shutting the f*ck up!" he said through gritted teeth.

I nodded in agreement.

"Fine." She humphed and sunk into her seat. But the silence did not go long. "Oh my GOD. Someone turn the volume down before I chop my ears off and become Vincent Van Gogh!" she yelled at the top of her lungs when a bomb exploded in the movie.

I really wanted to leave her there and escape the place.

The movie ended quite quickly and I power-walked through the crowd and outside the theater. The bright lighting blinded me for a second, but I was not affected much as I quickly recovered and got out of the aisle. I strode out as fast as I could, trying to ignore Emma calling me from behind.

Eventually she caught up with me and hooked her arm into mine. I glared at her. "That was fun, right? I can't wait for the next one!" she chirped.

"I can," Charlie grumbled. "I'm starting to wish it would come out late."

"Shut up, Charlie." She shot him a look. When she turned back to me, her face had masked into a sweet smile. "Now what do you want to do, T? Go out for some Pizza?" She batted her eyelashes.

"Sure." I gave in with a sigh. "I'm starving."

"Well I know a pizza place!" she said, a little over-enthusiastically. "They have the BEST PIZZA EVER." She seemed a little off.

"Oh yeah?"

"Hell yeah! The... pepperoni pizza is voila! Just what you have dreamed! Everyone, follow me to the Pizza Parlor!" She ran around making swishing sounds with her mouth as if she were an airplane. It was hard being her bestfriend and hanging out around the streets with her.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Charlie's lips restraining to keep from a smile. He bit his lip, and calmed his inner laughter down. Why was he laughing?

The answer was clear when we entered the Pizza Parlor. James stood there, in a Pizza Romeo apron with a chef's hat, waiting tables. No wonder Emma had been so hyped to get here. She didn't want delicious pizza, she'd wanted to hungrily watch James in the cute costume.

I understood, for if Parker had been in that in front of me? I would have drooled.

James whisked over to us and asked for our menus. Emma sheepishly told him Pepperoni. And Charlie winked at him to stash us some beer.

The thought of having alcohol since that night was very disturbing. I did not want to get drunk at all any more. I was plenty clumsy without the dizziness.

"Here's your order. Have a nice meal." James waved at us, but Emma gripped his apron.

"Why don't you take a break with us, James? There're lots of workers today. I'm sure they could cover your shift." She batted her eyelashes at him.

Was it the lighting, or did James just blush?

"I'll go ask my manager. He might not-"

"No need, ma boy." A scruff short man shifted his way out of the kitchen and toward us. He was wearing a t-shirt with the same logo of Pizza Romeo on it. "I'll give you the evening off. The customers are coming to a stop anyway. Besides, I owe you for bringing all your friends here to help out with my business."

"No problem, Uncle, but I these are my only friends." James shrugged.

"Then what about those kids over there?" James' Uncle pointed around the room. That's when I noticed all the hawk-eyed girls who had come here to feast on James by just looking at him. I didn't understand why girls liked him so much. Then again, he was the definition of a bad boy.

I glanced at Emma who had her jaw clench tightly. She seemed bothered by all those other girls who were here to scrutinize her crush. Some of them were absolutely gorgeous.

"I don't know them, Uncle. Probably some of the many girls who are in love with me." He winked behind his shoulder and the air was filled with 'ah's. Emma's expression of jealousy never wavered.

"Oh. You should catch one of them someday. One of these may be the lucky girl to date my nephew." The man chuckled deeply, the air coarsing from the bottom of his lungs.

"Well..." I noticed James' eyes momentarily trailing off towards Emma, but he quickly caught himself from giving off any hints. "I guess there could be, yes." James smiled along.

Charlie and I exchanged looks that were something like, You saw that?

Yes, I did.

Do you think...?

Yes, I do.

I let out an inner squeal. Maybe James had mutual feelings toward her too. I would be thrilled to see her with someone again, especially after the ex who ate her pie. That was unacceptable behavior.

James took off the apron and hat revealing a white t-shirt that said I♡MOMMY. Charlie and I burst into laughter while Emma had the expression as if she just wanted to reach out and touch his abs. James smiled and took a seat next to Emma who strained to keep her hands to herself. She looked like she was urgent to go to the bathroom.

I took a bite into the pizza and moaned of the flavor bursting in my mouth. Charlie looked at me with an interested expression. "You make everything look so delicious, T." He stared at me with his chocolate eyes.

"It's delicious, Charlie. Pizza is my everything," I said with my mouth full.

Charlie smiled taking a bite into his slice. Emma nibbled on hers like she was nervous in front of James. James just sat there, watching Charlie and I.

"You know what? You guys actually look cute together," James remarked, and I sputtered out half of what was in my mouth through my nose. I bunched up a handful of tissues and cleaned myself up. I could see James smirking from the top of my view. I wanted the ground to swallow me whole.

"Thanks," Charlie said, as he snaked an arm around my shoulder and pulled me against him. I looked up at him with widened eyes, but Charlie only winked. "Got tomato sauce on your mouth, T." His fingers gently rubbed on the corner of my mouth.

I could not say that I didn't have feelings churning inside my stomach as he flirted with me. They were slow churns, turning into a whirlpool that squeezed my belly in a nervous way. Absolutely different from what Parker did to me. Parker enlighted immediate bursts of crackling fire against my skin, and erupted butterflies in my stomach. But Charlie was different; he was slowly crawling through my skin and inside of me. I could feel the heat rising up my cheeks as I realized that I shouldn't be this close to him. I quickly tore myself away.

Suddenly my phone buzzed a text. I quickly checked it beneath the table.

Meet me at the Mall at 8pm on Friday alone. Don't be late.
-Wendy Storm

My eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Whoever this woman was, she knew Peter. And she wanted to tell me something. It was going to lead me to whatever Peter wanted to show me.

"Who is it?" Charlie asked with a look of concern. I was glad he was always on the lookout for me.

Although I appreciated his thoughtfulness, I didn't want to tell Charlie about this yet. I didn't want to tell him about my brother's message to anymore people. I wanted to keep it a secret.

I smiled back at him to loosen his tension. "Mom. She needs me back home before it gets dark. You know, gorgeous killers out on the loose, eh?"

He ruffled my hair. "Then I'll get you back home right now," he said as he put on his coat. "Let's leave these two lovebirds some time to themselves."

James blushed horribly. So did Emma. None of them denied anything. And it was all so terribly cute.

I skipped to Charlie's silver minivan and hopped on to the passenger seat.

"Do you want to talk about something?" Charlie asked me.

I shook my head. "No."

Charlie sighed as if he knew what I was hiding from him. "When you're ready, I'll always be here for you. Don't you ever forget that."

I nodded and smiled. He intertwined his fingers with mine as he smiled brightly. Again. That pain throbbing slow heartbeat began to thump in my chest. It was painful because I wasn't sure what this was. Of course I loved Charlie as a friend, but I wasn't sure I wanted him as a guy.

He took my hand and placed his lips very carefully, as if his kiss would break my hand. All along his eyes were on mine, never breaking contact. He knew he was making me hold my breath.

For some reason, I pulled away. Ever so slightly, I tugged at my hand and Charlie understood.

He let go of my hand and shifted gear. We turned out of the parking lot and swiftly went down the road to my house. He didn't speak to me along the way.

I was anxious to get back home and ring Parker. I wanted to ask him if he would come with me, but the text had asked me to come alone.

What if the number wasn't Wendy Storm at all?

What if it was Lance the psycho tracking my phone?

Was I safe enough to leave the house after 8 o'clock?

These were just some of the questions that popped into my head, but I wanted to set them all aside and just set my mind on finding out what Peter had left for me.

"Listen," Charlie started when he stopped the car in front of my house. "I have something to tell you."

My heart dropped. I didn't want to lose him, right when I needed him the most to be my anchor. I couldn't hear what he was about to say.

"I should go," I blurted out quickly and fumbled my fingers on the doorknob. They were already locked.

"Please don't run away yet. It isn't anything like that. I wanted to ask you, what do you remember of the day your brother died?" Charlie asked. His face was innocent, but the question made me choke.

I was sure all the color from my face had drained out completely. My eyes converted to the side as I tried to think of something to say. All I could think was What the hell.

"Look, I know this is hard for you and I know this sounds super weird. But could you just think about it for a moment? For me? If you can't you can run away." Charlie pleaded with his eyes as he unlocked the car.

I truly tried to think of something that day. All I could remember was right to the moment I had told Parker, when I started running away. I had abandoned my brother just to save my own life. I was selfish and cruel.

"I don't get what you want from me," I whispered, the tears already flooding down my cheeks. "What you just said has gotten me to hurt all over again. What do you want for an answer? That I got him in an accident? That we were hit by a car? That he was holding me the whole time, protecting me from the shards of glass? That I left my own brother in the streets to die? If that isn't the answer then you should f*ck off. Thanks a lot for reminding me that I'm a murderer." I pulled at the doorknob and ran out of the automobile.

I heard him calling me, but I ignored everything and ran into the house.

In the house, everything was normal. Mom and Dad were at work, Ben was sitting on the couch in the living room drinking a glass of cola. I quickly took it from his hands and chugged it down. It didn't make me feel better at all. Now I felt horrible and my neck felt tingly.

"Get your own cup!" Ben frowned, but his face quickly changed into a look of worry when he looked up at me. "What's wrong?" Ben stood up and studied me closely.

I didn't say anything back to him. I just sobbed in his arms. And he just let me.

I had stopped crying a few hours ago, and Ben had left me alone to have some time to get some sleep. Now that I had cried a bunch, I didn't want to sleep. I was so curious about Wendy Storm.

I sat on my bed, running my fingers along the numbers of the phone laid on my bedside table. I was still pondering about telling him this new event.

Should I just go alone, or should I ask him to come with me?

Should I even tell him at all that I got a text from Wendy Storm?

Would he even care?

He would care, I decided. He was always there for me. I didn't need to hide anything from him anymore. I raised the phone to my ear and dialed his number.

"Hey," he answered right away.

I bit my bottom lip. His voice sounded so sexy and low in the evening. "Hey."

"Do you want to sneak out to the bay tonight?" he asked and I could picture him grinning as he spoke.

"How? It's getting pretty late..." I said sheepishly.

"I'll be there in a moment. Make sure you have your clothes on this time." Then he hung up.

I frowned. Then I ran to the bathroom and checked how I looked. I looked like a skunk that had a shower in a lagoon. I quickly bunched up some tissue and brushed away the smeared mascara. I applied some lip gloss and smoothed my lips.

A sudden thud came from outside of the bathroom. I slowly opened the door with caution.

The form stood up straight, holding his back in pain.

"Tiana! You good up there?" Ben called from downstairs.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry," I shouted. Then I turned to Parker. "How did you-?"

"Tree climber," he smiled painfully.

I laughed. Two hours of crying and now I was back to laughing with one sight of this man. He was magic.

"Do you want to go?" he asked, tilting his head. He sure knew how to cheer me up.

"Always."

The word slipped out of my lips without notice. My eyes widened as I waited for the room to darken, for Peter to come out of my nightmares and haunt me in real life. But no such thing happened.

Instead, Parker took a hold of my hand and laced his fingers through mine.

"Always."

And I knew it was true.

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Hi guys!! Hope you loved this chapter, it's actually been a while since I've updated. If you haven't had the chance to read chapter 17, go ahead and check it out first before you follow on to this one!

So, what do you think Charlie meant by asking Tiana that question?

Will Tiana ask Parker to go with her to meet Wendy Storm?

When will they KISS?!

Oh my gosh I know I just want to find the right moment... just please stay patient with me guys haha

Hope you stay tuned for the next chapter! I am trying hard to catch up with the writing and it is so so so hard to find time these days:) So bear with me if my uploads are a bit late!

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P.S. I am writing a new book with the main character as Nate! If you want to read more of perky and hilarious Nate and his life, please tell me what you'd think of it! Thanks so much for all the support and love you send me guys:)

Love,
Angelina