Hard Situations!

[swfc]

There was a gasp and then silence. Peter Baker had looked his parents in the eye and told them straight to their faces that Drew was his son. He had no idea how they were going to react but he knew that he had to tell them the truth. And once he did, there was no turning back. He debated over telling them about his drug addiction and about Lilly. He resolved to gauge their reaction to Drew before telling them.

It was hard enough for Kevin and Noelene to take in that their son was alive and that he had been in witness protection all this while, but it was even harder for them to take in the fact that Peter had a son. They had a grandson that they never knew of. Both were left stumped by it until Noelene uttered a word.

“Christy…”

“Yes.” was the only answer that Peter could think of to say. He knew he had to tread carefully as his parents were still in shock and had not said anything from the moment he started his story. The only way to proceed now was to tell them everything.

“I didn’t know I had a son until recently. When I found out about Drew, I immediately took my responsibility of being a dad seriously. Things, however, didn’t work out the way I wanted too. But, everything is fine now between us. There was a leak in witness protection. Dennis Gillan knew that I was alive but he had no idea where I was. So, he used Drew as bait to draw me out. And it worked. I came out of hiding to save my son and I did just that. and I’ve been given a chance to get to know my son properly and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

All the while that Peter was telling his story, Leah, Dan, and Drew sat silent, not wanting to interrupt him. They held their breaths the moment that Peter had stated that Drew was his son. Dan was anxious as to how his parents would react. He hoped that his father would not hit the roof because of it. Leah kept looking back and forth at her in-laws whilst Drew sat there with his heart beating fast. He had no idea how his grandparents were going to take the news. A part of him felt that if Peter had taken it well when he first found out about Drew, he was sure that Kevin and Noelene Baker would as well.

Peter looked at his parents with abated breath, hoping that they would take the news calmly. However, he knew from experience, that it wasn’t the case. Thus, he braced himself to fear the worst and hoping that his parents would not disown him once more. He looked at Drew and wondered how he was going to take his grandparents’ reaction. A part of him knew that Drew was just as stubborn as he was and he hoped that Drew would be prepared to face whatever that happens. He knew however that he would stand by Drew no matter what.

Pete looked at his mum and dad as they looked over at Drew then back at Pete.

“Mum, please say something.”

Noelene slowly got up off the chair, ran over to Pete and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. There was a sound of relief as Kevin got up and walked over to Pete and hugged him after Noelene eventually let go of him. Noelene then walked over to Drew, who had a massive grin on his face. For the first time in his life, Drew felt wanted. He was slightly mad at Pete for not telling his mum and dad he was his son. But all that mattered now was he had a strong, loving family to care for.

Hugging his mum and dad made Pete really emotional. All he kept saying was sorry over and over. But Pete knew there was more to tell them.

“Mum, dad, there is something else you need to know. Don’t think that it’s an excuse as to why I didn’t tell you I was alive because it is certainly not. I want you to know everything.” Pete said as he took a deep breath before sitting on the chair in front of them.

“When I was moved from Yabbie Creek hospital by Witness Protection, I was injured. It wasn’t just the usual bad back or cut lip or broken arm. I was severely injured inside. Nothing was helping me through it except morphine. I eventually started to make a recovery but I was still in pain. When I went off the morphine, I couldn’t handle life. The fact of being dead to you was killing me inside. I hated deceiving you, but the only way I could handle this was by taking painkillers which I became addicted to. When Drew was in trouble, I had to rescue him but my addiction became worse. But, the minute I saw Dan, Leah or Drew, the minute I am confronted by life I couldn’t handle it.”

“We could have helped you.”

“Nobody could help me. Well, not family. That’s why I turned to Amanda. She knew how to help me.”

Noelene and Kevin just gave him a stern look but let Pete carry on with his explanation.

“Amanda found out about my addiction when we were both locked up in her pantry when her house was robbed. I was in pain and needed the painkillers and she had none in her pantry. That was when she found out about my addiction. She offered to help me kick the addiction. And I didn’t want Drew or Dan or Leah or anyone finding out about it and I wanted to be a father to my son so I agreed to let her help me. Whilst I was there, we got involved in, what I now call a fling. I blame it on the drugs, really. I fell for Amanda. Hard. But, I realize soon enough that it was because of the drugs and I was very vulnerable at that time. I thought that she could help me. I was wrong. And it took someone else to make me realize the truth. I broke it off with Amanda as soon as possible and went to seek help. On the way there, I was involved in an accident. And it was after that, that I found out that I had a daughter, Lilly, that I didn’t know of. Her mother is Clare Brody. I found out that she was in the UK and went to look for her. I saw them at the airport and we came back here and that’s where you both saw me.” Peter finished.

He had left out the vital point that Lilly might not be his daughter. He looked at Drew, thinking, once again that at least Drew was his own son. He felt lucky, in some ways, even though a part of him felt that he didn’t deserve it, after all that he had done. He blamed himself for putting his family through everything.

“Son, it really doesn’t matter what happen. All that matters now is that you’re alive and well.” Noelene said.

“Your mother is right. We’re just happy that you’re alright.” Kevin said.

“I’m sorry that I put you through so much pain. All of you. I never meant to hurt any of you. I’m so sorry.” Peter said as tears started to well up in his eyes.

It was at that moment that Noelene went to him and hugged him tight. A part of her was happy that he was alive. She had wept and wept for him when he was in a coma and was distraught when he had died. now that he was alive, it felt as though the part of her that was torn from her side when she died, had been replaced back. Life would be good now. She had both her sons back with her.

Kevin Baker sat there as he listened to his son explaining about everything that had happened in his life. He was shocked to hear about Drew and Lilly but he knew that Peter would do the right thing by them. He was, after all, their son. And he had brought up his sons well. He was alarmed about Amanda but a sense of relief had flown through him when he heard that his son had broken it off. He felt ashamed of himself for everything that had happened. Thus, when he found out that Peter was alive, he had never felt this happy as he had been the time that Peter and him had finally made up on Dan and Leah’s wedding day. He sat there, looking on, as Noelene hugged their sobbing son. He looked around at his family. He saw their smiling faces and saw the tears in their eyes. His gaze finally rested on Drew.

As he looked at Drew, he saw in him the qualities that he saw in his eldest son. He could somehow tell that they were very much alike. Not only physically but emotionally, they were the same. Both as stubborn as each other. Yet, there was a part of them both that stood up for family and that was pure Baker. Yes, Kevin Baker sat there, proud of his family.

Meanwhile, at the Diner:

Clare sat at the diner pondering about what had just happened- about Lilly and about Peter. She had been transferred back to the Bay to work on a case. A part of her felt weird. Being back here where she and Peter had their second chance which eventually turned out to be no chance at all. She loved him. Of that she was sure off. She loved him to the point that she had lied in order to stop her from hurting him. Try as she could to erase everything that happened that had led them to this situation it was in vain. She forced herself to think about the good times they had had. But, it all eventually led to recent events.

She sighed as she thought about living arrangements and everything that she had to do to settle back here again. The last time that she was here, it was for a short while. This time she was here for good. Well, at least that was what Clare thought, anyway. She rose from the chair and went to the counter to ask Irene if she knew of a place where she could rent while she was living here. it was at that moment that Brad Armstrong walked past and overheard the conversation.

“Excuse me, I don’t mean to butt in but I couldn’t help but overhear that you needed a place to stay.”

“Yeah, I do. Do you know of a place for me and my baby?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. I live in the flat upstairs and I have a spare room. If you don’t mind, I can make the necessary arrangements.”

“Uhm, thanks very much…” and here there was silence as Clare had no idea who the gentleman was and Irene had not said anything.

“Brad. Brad Armstrong. I’m the headmaster at Summer Bay High.”

“Clare. Clare Brody. I’ve just been transferred to Yabbie Creek police station.”

“Nice to meet you, Clare. I see you’re a cop.”

“Detective, actually. And it’s a pleasure to meet you too. This is Lilly.”

“Hi, Lilly.” Brad said waving at the baby.

It was then that Irene finally opened her mouth to speak.

“Detective Brody isn’t exactly new here. She came to help out Detective Baker during the whole stalker fiasco.”

“ Ah, I see. Well, how about we get you both settled in for now, shall we?” Brad asked.

“Thank you so much, Brad. It’s only temporary until I’ve got myself settled in properly.”

“Stay as long as you like, Detective Brody.”

“Please, call me Clare. It feels weird when people call me Detective. Especially from my roomie.”

“Ok, Clare it is.” Brad said, laughing as he led the way to the apartment that they were going to share.

Peter had gone over to Sally’s place after his talk with his parents. He decided to let them get to know Drew better and said he was going for a walk to clear his head. He arrived at Sally’s and headed to the room that he had been living in before the whole UK fiasco came about. Since his parents were going to stay at Leah and Dan’s for a while, he thought it best to continue living here for now. He would have to ask Sal later on, but for now, he started to browse through the room. He opened a drawer by the cupboard and saw the bottle of pills lying there. Peter thought that he had gotten rid of all of the pills but clearly he was mistaken. It was lying there, still as a fox waiting to pounce on its prey. It felt like the bottle was calling out to him to take them. He was tempted too. Yet he knew he had promised. Just as he was reaching out to them, the door opened and in walked Sally.

“Hey, Ric said that you were here.”

“Yeah.” Peter said as he turned round to face his potential girlfriend to be.

“How did things go at home?” Sally asked whilst looking at Peter suspiciously.

“They went well. Mom and dad will be staying for a while so I thought I should come back here since there’s not enough room. I hope it’s okay with you.”

“Yeah, it’s fine. You know you’re always welcome here.”

“Thanks, Sal. For this and everything.” Peter said as he walked towards her and hugged her tight.

“It’s okay.” It was there that she saw the pills lying in the empty drawer. She felt betrayed. Yet she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. She would wait for him to tell her. She would not push him. ‘There has to be another reason for this,’ she thought to herself.

As he hugged her, he felt her tense up and he knew that she had seen the pills. He wanted, no, needed her to trust him. Thus, he did the only thing that he could think of. He handed them to her, saying,

“I found these in the drawer. Take it and get rid of it for me.”

She looked at him and smiled, knowing in her heart that she could see herself with him.

“I know that you probably think that I can’t be trusted, seeing as that I haven’t had such a great track record but you can definitely trust me on this one,” he said. She nodded, took the pills and walked out the door without saying anything. In her mind, she had every intention to get rid of them. Yet, as she walked out of the door and shut it, a part of her couldn’t help but feel a little betrayed. He had a bottle of pills in the drawer after all. ‘Did he still have any more? Was he lying to her?’ those thoughts kept running through her mind. She wanted so badly to give him the benefit of the doubt. But, it was drugs. And she had experienced this before with Flynn. Was she ready to go through it again? It had nearly ruined her marriage before. Would she let it ruin her relationship? She pondered about this whilst flushing the pills down the toilet.

That night, three people had very little sleep. They tossed and turned all night long. All had important things to think about. As a result, they slept very little and woke up dreadful. Sally was getting ready for school when Peter walked in to the kitchen.

“Morning.” he said and kissed her.

“Morning. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, I did.” He lied. “Yourself?”

“Me too.” She lied. And she knew it. “Anyway, I have to run. I have a meeting before school starts and I don’t want to be late for it. You have a nice day.” she said. She had to get out of there. Out of his presence.

“Bye. I’ll see you later.” He said as he walked towards the fridge and poured himself some milk.

Peter let out the breath that he didn’t know he was holding whilst talking to Sally. She seemed different this morning but he pushed it away due to the fact that she had an important meeting to attend. He sat down on the chair and stared into thin air. He thought about what happened since his return. Everything had happened for a reason. The stalker. If it weren’t for that, his life wouldn’t be as miserable as this. He blamed his failed relationship with Clare on Zoë. He blamed his addiction to the painkillers on Zoë. He blamed Tracey’s death on Zoë. He blamed the lost time with his son on Zoë. Everything was her fault. And that was what angered Peter Baker most of all. The fact that a single person could do that much damage to his life alone, was what made it all the more worst.

How long he sat there for, he didn’t know. He knew however, that he had to get back out. get back to work.

Pete sat back in the chair as he picked up a pen that was placed on the side next to him. As he slowly tapped the pen on the desk, his thoughts started to go back to the night he came out of his coma. The pain was unbearable. He was scared of the thought of never seeing Dan again or Drew. One thing that made his life worth living was his family, but after he realized that there was a possibility of never seeing them again… well it ripped his heart into pieces. Then, when he turned to the pills it soothed his pain, but deep down he knew life would never be the same…

As he kept thinking about Witness Protection he was distracted by a knock at the door. He stood up and walked over to the front door.

“Lara!” Pete said as he greeted Lara at the door.

“Pete, have you got a minute?” she asked as Pete stepped back to let her in.

“So, what can I do for you?” he asked curiously

“I wanted to ask you if you were willing to come back to work?”

Just as Pete was about to answer Lara said,

“Please Pete. I know that you said you had left for good the other week but please. It’s not the same without you.”

“I can’t. I have too much on my plate. Going back to work is just… well, the worst thing for me at the moment.”

“You might find that going back to work will help you handle your problems. I will leave you to think about it.” Lara said as he placed her hand on his shoulder before leaving him to think about what she had just said.

Pete watched as Lara left the house. He closed the door and headed back towards the chair and sat back down, thinking about what she just suggested. He knew that nothing would take his mind of the fact that Lilly might not be his daughter but there was something telling him that it would be best to get stuck into work.

Sally entered the house just as Pete was falling sleep on the sofa. He turned around and walked straight over to her and wrapped his arms around her.

Everything ok?” she asked as she looked up at Pete.

“I’m ok!” he insisted.

Sally took her arms from round Pete as she took his hand and pulled him towards the sofa were she sat down next to him.

“Peter, I know something is wrong. I want to help but you have to help me.”

Pete looked at sally, took a deep breath and said,

“It’s Claire. She told me that Lilly might not be my daughter.”

Sally looked back at him in shock. She knew that he needed comforting thus she moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around him.

“I’m sorry.” Sally whispered in Pete’s ear.

Pete pulled away from her and said,

“Lara has asked me to think about going back to work.”

“You should go.” Sally insisted.

“Do you think so?”

“Pete, you are sitting around doing nothing except beating yourself about the past. It’s doing you no good whatsoever.” she said trying to persuade Pete to go back to work.

Pete smiled as leaned towards Sally, kissing her passionately. He pulled away and he said,

“I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Preview: Pete goes back to work but what happens that could turn his life upside down?

[biggles]

great fic keeps getting better

[Traceve]

fu*k that was long

I am slowly warming to the idea of Sally and Peter..

[swfc]

Thank you biggles.

Lol. A short one now:

Pete slowly awoke as he heard the ringing sound of Sally’s alarm clock that was bleeping on her side. He got up and leaned over Sally and turned the alarm off.

As he turned off the alarm he started to get out of bed when he felt Sally pull him back down.

“Babe, I have to go.” he said as he tried to get dressed.

He kissed her goodbye and said, “I will come home as soon as I finish.” Pete said smiling at her before leaving to room to go work.

Pete pulled into the car park of the police station were it was quiet. Well, he wanted to get to work early and finish early but he knew that going back to work after 5 months was going to be hard, well extremely difficult.

He entered a very quiet station were he felt weird as he slowly opened the door to his office.

Pete stood back in shock as he saw Claire sitting at the desk looking through paperwork.

“What are you doing here?”

Pete didn’t know whether to listen to what she had to say or just flee from the office.

“Pete, I didn’t know you were working today.”

“Will you just leave please?” he said as he watched Claire pick up her belongings.

Just as Pete moved out of the way to let Claire leave she stopped near the door and said,

“Pete, please, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry is a bit too late, isn’t it?” Pete shot back at her

“Pete, I can’t believe you are being like this!” she replied in anger.

Pete looked at her in shock.

“You can’t believe I am being like this? how the hell do you expect me to react? How, Claire?”

“Pete, can we at least talk about this?”

“Claire, there is nothing to talk about. I can’t even bear to look at you! You slept with Rice. You told me that Lilly is mine but then the next minute you are saying she might be Rice’s!”

Meanwhile, Lara is walking into the station when she stops at the entrance and overhears the conversation.

“Pete, Rice was a mistake.” Clare insisted.

“I don’t care if he was a mistake or not. You lied to me!”

“Peter, you don’t know how much I want Lilly to be yours.”

As Pete was about to speak he saw Lara enter the station.

“Claire, just leave me alone!”

Throughout the day Pete was trying his hardest to avoid Claire. He couldn’t bear looking at her…

Jack entered Pete’s office with a drink where he said,

“Pete, are you ok?”

“Yeah, I am mate.” Pete said lying to one of his best mate in the face.

Pete watched as he saw Jack leave his office.

A couple of hours had passed. Pete was still fuming at Claire’s reaction to him. he was ignoring her and was mad at her. He didn’t want to see her, let alone work with her. The station phone was ringing and ringing. Peter got up from his chair and walked out of the door looking for someone to take the phone. But, it seemed it was only he and Claire in the station.

“Yabbie Creek station.” he said as he answered the phone.

“We will be right there.” he said as he placed the phone down.

“Who was that?” Claire asked as she walked towards him.

“There has been a break in at the school.”

“I’m coming,” said Claire as they both raced out of the station. Pete didn’t want her to come but he had no choice.

They both arrived at the school to find the door open. Pete drew his gun as he slowly walked to one of the classrooms. Claire headed in the other direction to look to see if the building was empty. Just as they went their separate ways, there was a loud bang from outside. Pete raced to where he heard the noise. He chased after someone who was running away.

“Stop!” Pete shouted as the person was getting further and further away.

The person was not stopping. Peter chased him round a corner where he suddenly stopped. Peter stopped as he saw them reach into their pocket and they were about to pull out…

Pete suddenly pulled the trigger on his gun as he shot him in the foot. The person fell to the ground as Claire raced around the corner in shock to hear a gun shot.

“What the hell?” Claire said as she ran over to the young lad who was lying on the floor. Pete stood still as he watched Claire reach for the gun that was in his pocket. It was a toy gun. She called 000 whilst glaring at Pete.

Pete arrived back at the station and slammed his office door as he threw his coat on the chair. He was just about to sit down when there was a knock on the door. Superintendent Murphy entered the office with Claire.

“I don’t need to be a psychic to know why you’re here.” Pete said as he watched them both enter the office.

“Pete, I’m sorry.” Claire stated

“Peter Baker, you are being suspended pending further investigation.”

“You what!” Pete said as he stood back in shock.

“Peter you shot an unarmed suspect. He didn’t even pull out the gun, the toy gun!” Claire said.

Pete just looked at both of them before grabbing his coat and stormed out of the office. He drove straight to Noah’s, got down and went in and headed straight towards the bar, where Alf said,

“Good day mate.”

“Vodka double.” Pete said , ignoring Alf’s question.

Alf handed Pete his drink and Pete walked away and sat in the corner drinking.

2 hours had passed and the other barman had served Pete 6 double vodkas and 4 light beers. Alf arrived back from the cash and carry when he saw Pete drowning his sorrows in the corner. He walked over to Pete to tried to talk to him.

“Mate, are you ok?”

“You know what? I came in here to have a peaceful drink and I get you coming over asking me questions!” Pete said.

Alf was shocked by Pete’s reaction but he knew that he couldn’t leave Pete to get more wrecked so he decided to call Sally to try and speak to him. He couldn’t get through to Sally so he tried Dan and Leah. Alf explained to Leah about what was happening. Leah thanked him and told him that she would try and talk to him.

Leah arrived at Noah’s where she saw Pete finishing off his last drink.

“Pete, what are you doing here?”

“Leah!” Pete replied as he finished his last beer.

“You want to go for a walk?” Leah asked.

“Sure.” Pete said as he tried to stand up. He stumbled over a stool next to him but was helped up by Leah who took him outside.

Pete slowly walked outside and Leah walked on to the beach where Pete started to kick the sand and tried to dance with Leah. He then started to walk backwards giggling until he fell over a rock and stumbled to the ground. Leah sat next to Pete as he put his arms on his head and said,

“I can’t live like this anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Leah asked.

“I have been suspended.” Pete told Leah.

“Why?”

“I could have killed someone today. I deserve to lose my job.”

Leah put her arms around Pete as she pulled him into to her chest comforting him while tears begin to fill up in his eyes.

“Nothing ever goes right.”

“What do you mean? You have Drew.” Leah reminded Pete.

“Yes, but he doesn’t get back from the holiday with mum, dad and Dan for another week.”

“He is the reason that you are here and Sally.”

“Yes, but what’s to say I will not mess that up as well!”

Leah turned Pete towards her and looked at him as she said,

“She loves you and you love her.”

“I loved you once remember, and I messed it up.”

“I was with Dan. that was the only problem. we can’t keep going back to the past.” she stated as she tried to keep Pete positive.

Pete looked confused as he said,

“So if you weren’t with my brother, we might have had something?”

“Pete, we can’t think about that. I’m with Dan now and you’re with Sally.”

Pete took his hand and placed it under her chin as he said,

“But you didn’t answer my question.”

Leah just looked at him as she said,

“Pete, I’m with Dan.”

As she tried to look away she felt Pete getting closer. She turned her head and looked into Pete’s eyes as their lips met and they shared a passionate kiss.

“What the hell?” said Sally in shock as she watched Pete and Leah pull away from the kiss and look up at her.

Preview: Will Pete be able to save his relationship with Sally?

Will Dan find out about the kiss?

[Traceve]

Peter what the hell

[swfc]

Lol. Since when have you become Sal?

Poor Peter. First he gets stood down and now he goes and does this.

[Traceve]

Stupid Moron (At Peter not you or lil )

[swfc]

You do know that it's very bad to be calling Peter a moron especially since Lil and I are Peter fans. Very bad move, Shannon.

[Traceve]

Tough! lol. He kissed Leah when he is with Sally..

*repeats* Stupid Moron

[ldscott]

Great chapters, can't wait to see Pete try to get ouyt of that one!