Chapter Text
“I think you’re overthinking this.”
“I overthink everything!” Pete groaned, hiding his face in his hands. A part of you found his fretting endearing, showcasing how much he cared about every single detail of his plan. But the other part of you felt sourness encroach into the pit of your stomach, unfairly so. It had started happening more and more those days, a bitterness twist uncomfortably where fondness had once sat. If you had been alive, you would have blamed it on a bad meal or a shift in the weather, but your death ruled out both of those options. The root of the issue was unknown, kind of; it was more unacknowledged by you.
And you’d continue to ignore it because it was the right thing to do, you believed. Instead, you shifted all of your focus onto your friend and his ongoing crisis and crush on Alberta.
“Come on, Pete,” you said softly, coaxing him out of his fit. “This’ll work. It’s a long game you’ve got to play, but if she feels the same, she’ll realize it sooner or later.”
“And if she doesn’t?” he asked, a frown pulled on his lips.
You sighed. You hated seeing him like that, down on himself. He certainly didn’t have the most confidence in himself, but you wished he had more. Pete was sweet, sickeningly so. And you knew that wasn’t exactly Alberta’s cup of tea but people changed their minds all of the time, especially in death. Maybe all she needed was to see how much Pete cared about her, then perhaps she’d give him a real chance.
“You’ve gotta have some faith in yourself, okay? Do you want me to talk to her first? I can butter her up and talk you up.”
“You’d do that for me?” he asked like he didn’t know you’d do just about anything for him.
You stood up from your seat with a soft smile as you crossed the room. “Of course, Pete,” you said before you slipped out of the room and set your sights on Alberta during her daily ‘Alexa’ time, listening to music in solitude until Sam or Jay needed to use the odd little robot for their questions or to play music that wasn’t old jazz tunes.
“Knock knock,” you said, peeking your head into the room. Alberta turned around with furrowed brows. She didn’t look as annoyed when she realized it was you, but she still huffed and told Alexa to turn down the music. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she said. “What do ya’ need?”
You hesitated, unsure of how to subtly bring up Pete. Maybe the point was to stop being subtle and dancing around the idea of Alberta and Pete. Maybe they just needed to get things out in the open and it was your job to get the ball rolling, for the sake of your friends.
“Can we talk for a minute?” you asked her, twisting your hands in front of you in a nervous habit. She looked confused but nodded anyway. “It’s about you and Pete.”
Alberta sighed deeply and rolled her eyes out of habit. “Honey, there is no me and Pete.”
“But there could be,” you stressed. “I know you used to date people different than him, but you won’t even give him a chance. How do you know he’s not the one for you if you won’t even hear him out?”
Alberta studied you for a long moment, long enough to make you feel scrutinized under her gaze. Maybe you overstepped, but it was growing tiresome listening to Pete’s longing. You could only handle so much more of it. If he and Alberta just got together, then maybe the sour pit in your stomach would give up trying to poison the rest of you and you’d resort to pouring all of your feelings onto something or someone else inside the mansion.
“Sit,” she instructed, gesturing to the couch. You obliged, taking a seat before she followed suit. “Have you ever been in love before?”
Your eyes widened at the question, unsure of why she’d ask such a thing when you were trying to talk about her love life, not yours. “I don’t know,” you admitted. It had been a while since you were alive. The idea of love used to scare you but you always thought you’d have some understanding of it before you died. Sure, you had crushes in your lifetime and a couple of partners but nothing that ever stuck. Love was a big word with a lot packed into it.
“Well, I have,” she said, a found but sad smile on her lips. “I like Pete. He is sweet but he’s not somethin’ I’m looking for. And you can’t force these things. Like or love, it’s not something you can talk yourself or someone into. Pete is a good guy, one of the best, but he’s not the one for me and I’m not the one for him. Sooner or later he’s gotta realize that.”
You don’t know why you felt relieved at her words. Pete was going to be crushed. You should have been too because all you wanted was to see him happy. But instead, all you felt was a breath of fresh enter your lungs, knocking back the bitter feeling slightly. Did that make you a bad friend?
She must’ve caught the conflicted set of emotions that shined in your eyes because she reached out, holding your hands with a gentle squeeze. “If I did like Pete, I would tell him. That’s all you can do.”
“But you don’t,” you said and she nodded, clarifying once more for you.
“And you?”
You blinked, pulling your hands away with an uncomfortable laugh. “And me what?”
“Come on,” she groaned. “Don’t tell me you’re doing all of this for him because you’re just a good friend? I know when someone’s lovesick. And you’ve got one of the worst cases I’ve ever seen.”
You scoffed, your gut twisted. “I-I do not!” you protested, shooting up from your seat. “I am his friend. This is what friends do-”
“Nuh-uh. Friends tell friends when they’re pursuin’ the wrong person. If you were just his friend you would’ve told him a long time ago that I am not the person for him. But you’re so blind and sick with your feelings for him, that you’d do anything for him. That includes helping him try to woo me when you’re the one crushin’ on him. You’re deflecting, too scared to admit that you like him.”
You felt exposed, open like a wound in front of Alberta. You crossed your arms over your chest, your skin hot and your stomach in knots. “I-I…” You couldn’t fight back because she looked right through you. All it took was a final, knowing gaze from her to make you crumble. You fell back onto the couch and buried your head in your hands.
She placed a hand on your back, rubbing soft circles in an attempt to soothe you, but you weren’t sure you could be soothed. That was not supposed to happen. You were supposed to help Pete with the person he actually liked. How were you supposed to face him and tell him not only did Alberta not return his affection but instead you had a stupid, unrequited crush on him that would probably ruin your friendship? You wanted to cry.
“Hey, look at me,” Alberta instructed and you forced yourself to peer out from behind your hands. She smiled softly at you. “No matter what, you’re going to be just fine. But speak your mind, tell him how you feel. Okay?”
You felt like you were facing down the inevitable. One way or another, while stuck in eternity at Woodstone, you wouldn’t be able to hide your feelings forever. But you didn’t anticipate having to spill them so soon.
Walking about the room, maybe you would have garnered enough confidence to broach the subject if you had till the following day; maybe if you had a chance to sleep on it, the idea would have become less daunting. But you didn’t make it but one step out of the room before you came face to face with Pete who was standing stuck in place right on the other side of the door. To say you were mortified was an understatement.
Your mouth hung open as you two simply stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, you broke through your surprise at his appearance and cleared your throat. “Pete,” you breathed out. “What’re you doing?”
He too shook himself out of his daze and flickered his eyes between the closed door and you. “You were taking a while and I just…” he trailed off.
Your face felt hot as embarrassment crept up your spine. “How much of that did you hear?”
He rolled his lips into his mouth, something he did right before he was going to lie, but he stopped himself and shook his head. “How much did you want me to hear?”
“None of it.”
“Oh, right, well…” He answered your question without actually answering it. You wanted to run away, maybe start a new ghost life with the basement ghosts to avoid a rejection you thought was coming.
“I’m sorry!” you blurted out. “That wasn’t…you weren’t…oh boy.”
“You like me?” Pete said after a beat, his voice soft and quiet in the middle of the hall. You were sure Alberta was listening from the other side of the room, ready to grab you if you tried to make a break for it. Your silence was his answer. “For how long?”
Ducking your head, you blew some air from your cheeks. “A while.” Somewhere along the way, your friendship with Pete had turned into a crush that you thought you would get over. But it stayed, lingering in your mind as you tried to push it out because he so obviously liked Alberta.
A let out a breathy laugh of disbelief. “You’re kiddin’ me?” Regret bubbled up in your stomach. Pete was a nice guy and he’d never say something to outright make you feel bad, but you still feared the worst for a moment.
“But you like Alberta and I didn’t want-” he cut you off before you could fully explain.
“I thought you were pushing me to talk to Alberta because you didn’t like me !”
You sputtered for a response; your mouth failing to find the words within the swirling questions inside your head. “What?” was all you could get out.
“If I would have known you…” Pete trailed off with a heavy sigh.
With a shake of your head, you recalled when you found out Pete liked Alberta. You had overheard him talking to Sass about it. Since then, you thought your chance was completely gone because someone else held his affection, which was why you tried so hard to help him. You thought you’d been doing him a favor, hiding your feelings and helping him try to win over Alberta.
“You told Sass years ago that you had feelings for someone in the house: Alberta. You told me yourself after you caught me eavesdropping.”
Pete’s eyes widened. “I lied! I was worried you overheard me talking to Sass about my feelings for you. So I panicked and said I had been talking about Alberta.”
“So this whole time you liked me and I liked you but we-”
“-thought the other didn’t feel the same.” he finished your thought, rounding off the sentence with a laugh full of disbelief and frustration. How did that even happen? How did two people who spent nearly every moment with each other become completely oblivious to the feelings of the other? It must have been some cruel joke the universe played on two ghosts already dealt not the best deck of cards. Or maybe and more likely, you’d both been so blinded by your want to remain friends that you completely pushed off the idea the other reciprocated feelings.
“Oh.”
“Oh…”
“Oh, my god.” Alberta’s voice appeared as she stuck her head through the door, peering between you and Pete with raised brows. “And now what are you two gonna do about it, huh?”
You and Pete shared a look, both a little unsure but it was overshadowed by a creeping smile that couldn’t stay hidden. Pete cleared his throat and wiped his hands off on his shorts. “Would you want to go on a walk, maybe?”
Your smile shined even brighter as you nodded. “I would love to.”