Hard Situations!

[Oxidizer]

I read it awhile ago but forgot to comment

All this Rice/Clare I like... Maybe they should have sex again

Damn! Don't use the words sex and Rice in the same sentence like that again, it exites me.

[*~Abi~*]

just read all the adds so far for this fic. it's great, I feel so sorry for Pete *give him a cuddle* love how you've written this fic i like the idea of a preview at the end of the add

hope you add more soon

[Lilone]

Flashback:

NB: This flashback takes place after a few weeks of them knowing each other and they are extremely good friends now.

“So, why did you and Clare break up anyway?”

They were having Chinese over at Tracey’s that night when she asked him that question. It had become sort of their ritual now. One week it’ll be over at Pete’s and the other at Tracey’s or if they didn’t feel like it, they’d go out for dinner. Peter was, at that moment, trying to pick up a piece of vegetable with his chopsticks when he heard that question and had dropped the piece of celery.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Why did you and Clare break up? You never did tell me. Well, I was sort of waiting for it to come out at the bar, but you managed to not say a word about it.”

“Perhaps if you had asked me then, I would’ve told you.” Peter teased.

He had been taken aback by her question but he knew it was coming. Truth to be told, he had never ever told anyone the reason why he and Clare broke up. He hadn’t really thought about it ever since that day at the bar. Somehow, Tracey had managed to make him forget about it. Until now. He sighed as he said,

“To be honest, I really hadn’t thought about it, Trace.”

“What do you mean, “you hadn’t really thought about it”?”

“I guess, all the time you and I spent together made me forget about how unhappy I was.”

“Oh…. If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s fine. I mean, you don’t have to tell me. I’m not your mother or anything so yeah.”

“But you are a friend. A good friend at that. And you did help me through it. Even though you might not have known.” Peter said, smiling at her.

Her response was the reach out and gave his hand a squeeze. In truth, Tracey felt honoured to be thought of as a good friend. She had never thought that they could be this great a friend to each other. But, she was grateful to have him as a friend.

“Clare and I broke up because we both wanted different things. She went for her career and I, I didn’t know what I wanted. I wanted her and I wanted a good career as well. I asked her to choose and she chose her career over me. So, that was it.”

“I’m so sorry, Pete. I really am.”

He could see that she was genuinely sorry about it and said,

“What’s to be sorry about? Besides, that’s old news anyway. I’ve dealt with it. Besides, I got a new friend in the process, didn’t I?”

All she could do was smile at him.

Jack grinned as he listened to Pete say

“She was special because she made me smile again after the breakup with Clare.”

“Oh…. There’s certainly a lot of things that I didn’t know about Tracey. Did you and her ever?”

“Yeah, Tracey doesn’t really like to talk about her life a lot. Did we what?”

“You know….”

“No, mate. She was a friend. A special friend. That was it.” Peter chuckled.

“Oh, uhm, sorry.”

“There’s no need to be sorry about, mate.”

Peter gave Jack a slap on the back and said,

“Right, I think it’s time you got back to work.”

“Aw shucks. You’re right. People to see and reports to write. What joy.” Jack replied sarcastically.

“Well, you better get on with it then, mate.”

“Uh huh. See ya mate. And don’t go hitting walls again, alright? Else I might have to send your family the bill.”

“I make no promises on that.”

Jack walked out of the cell and gave Peter a thumbs up and disappeared. As soon as he left, however, Peter’s expression turned solemn. Who was he kidding, he thought to himself. He had no idea why he was thinking about Tracey all of a sudden. Yet, she had been a very important part in his life. She knew practically everything about him. More than his family knew. His immediate thoughts turned to his parents and it made him even more ashamed then he already was. He had, once again, embarrassed the family. And this time, his parents paid the price for it- his mother was murdered and his father lost the woman that he loved. All because their eldest son screwed up. His whole family had to pay for his mistakes and that was the last thing that he wanted them to do. After the stint at witness protection, he vowed never to let his family down. Yet, here he was sitting in jail because he had done what he had vowed not to do.

He looked at his hands. The hands that he had used against the wall as punching bags. The hands that had shot and handcuffed many criminals. The same hand that bore the watch that his son had given to him. He undid the strap and read the inscriptions, “World’s Greatest Dad” over and over again. It was as though touching the cold metal gave him reassurance. Made him feel that he was loved.

Flashback:

Peter Baker had return to the office in a foul mood. He had just met up with his first ever girlfriend Christy and she had given him news that he wasn’t exactly happy about. Trust be told, he wasn’t happy with the fact that she had lied to him for 12 years. And the worst part of her deception was that it included a child. A boy. His son, in fact. As soon as Christy had told him, his immediate reaction was to doubt her word. After all, she had lied to him, so, this one could’ve been another. However, he didn’t know just how well she had known him, because she had brought along the birth certificate and a photo of the boy.

He read the certificate. On it was the name of the boy, his son, ‘Andrew Jacob Curtis’ and there was the name, ‘Peter Kevin Baker’ under the heading of father. There was no denying it now. He was the child’s father. If he had any reason to think that the birth certificate was false, the picture was the ultimate proof. He looked at it in shock.

Peter had yelled at Christy for lying to him all these years. He had never been this mad at anyone since his parents. She tried to calm him down but he didn’t want to be calm. In fact, he couldn’t give damn if anyone else heard them. He was angry and he wanted the world to know just what he was angry about. He wanted to be able to justify to them his anger. He felt sick in her presence so he asked her to go. She left, however, but not before mentioning,

“Your son wants to see you.”

That request played itself in his mind over and over again as he headed back towards the station. He was in such a foul mood yet he didn’t care. He wanted, for once, to be the person that was hurt. Clare had indeed hurt him, yet, this hurt was bigger and much worst. He slammed doors, slammed cupboards and said nothing to anyone. He even refused to answer the phone. It was no surprise that Tracey had picked up his foul mood the instant he returned.

“What’s up?”

“None of your business!” he replied back.

“Well, would you mind not slamming things around and throwing hissy fits? It’s driving everyone nuts.”

“Why don’t you just admit that it’s driving you nuts. I don’t see anyone complaining, do I?”

“Look, just because someone pissed you off, don’t take it out on me, Detective Baker!” Tracey hit back.

The reply she got back was a grunt. He couldn’t care less. They ended up working in silence, both boiling with anger. She with him and he with Christy.

When the day ended however, it was a different story. Peter had managed to somehow calm down with all the paperwork that he had been doing. He felt bad at taking his anger out on Tracey as she had nothing to do with it. He made a mental note to apologize to her once work was over. He only hoped that she would forgive him and that they could still carry on with their plans for the evening.

“Tracey, I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to take my anger out on you.” Peter said apologetically.

“Pete, you know that if there’s anything bugging you, you can always tell me. But, seriously, taking it out on me was uncalled for.”

“I know and I’m really, really sorry Trace.”

“Just don’t do it again, alright?”

“You have my word.”

“Great. To make it up, you’re buying dinner tonight.”

“What? Isn’t it your turn?”

“Nope, incidentally, it is your turn tonight, buster.”

“Urrrgh! Fine. Hurry up so we can go. I’m starving.”

“Patience is a virtue-”

“Of which I have none.” Peter replied cheekily.

With that they left the office and headed towards their favourite spot to have dinner.

At dinner:

They ate their dinner in silence until Peter broke the silence.

“I met up with Christy today.”

“Oh…”

“I didn’t tell you about her, did I?” he said, trying to remember.

“I think you mentioned that she was your first girlfriend once. And that she broke your heart.”

“Well, yeah.”

“What happened? She must’ve done something seeing as you were extremely upset.”

“Well, she lied to me.”

“About?”

“You know I told you that she broke my heart when she left without a word 12 years ago?”

“Uh huh.”

“Well, it turns out, her parents made her move.”

“That’s interesting.”

“No, wait, it gets much better.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, it turns out that she left because she was pregnant.”

“With your baby?”

“No, with another bloke’s baby. Yes, it was my baby. Well, that’s what she told me anyway.”

“You don’t believe her?”

“I didn’t. But, she brought a picture of him and a birth certificate to show me.”

“And?”

“And, I have a son that I didn’t know of. He’s 12 years old. And he wants to see me.”

“Do you want to see him?”

“I don’t know.” Peter replied.

“What do you think I should do, Trace?”

There was conflict in his voice that Tracey picked up immediately.

“I don’t know, Pete. I really don’t.”

“Neither do I. what would you do if you were in my situation?”

“To be honest, I’d go see him. After all, he did ask to see you and that’s a good thing.”

“You think?”

“Look, think about it carefully. Don’t force yourself to do something that you don’t want too, okay?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“I hope you know, no matter what decision you make, I’m always here for you.”

“Thanks Trace.” Peter smiled gratefully.

“Just as long as you don’t go all crazy at me again else you’ll have to buy me dinner again.”

“Eat your food, young lady.”

Peter was brought back to reality with the sound of the warden bringing him his dinner. He gratefully took the tray and gobbled it up. Normally, he would complain about the gruel that they served yet somehow; the events of the day had drained him and had made him hungry.

[Drew]

Aww, that was sweet with Peter remembering

How much longer until the next update? It happens rarely these days

[*~Abi~*]

bless pete hes so sweet, I think he'll go and see his son after all curiosty will be enough to make Pete want to meet him

[allibaz91]

Lil and Chrissie, I spent about 3 hours reading this in between doing *cough* other things *cough*

But it's sooo good! Wish I'd read it earlier now

Loves it guys

[swfc]

*under a lot of pressure to write*

Sorry guys... My bad.... I haven't had time to sit and write out a proper chapter. It's coming in bits and pieces. But, thanks very much for your comments and patience.

[swfc]

Teasers:

She watched Pete look down at the table trying not to show his upset face. Tracey suddenly felt her body feel as if it was going to snap in half. She had never felt like that before. She just kept looking at Pete who was still looking down; she unexpectedly placed her hand on Pete’s cheek. She knew that she shouldn’t but she couldn’t control her actions.

“Drew, I’m sorry for the time I left you in boarding school. I am sorry for letting you think I never loved you. I’m sorry for making you think I was dead.”

“Dad, stop saying sorry. This is not your fault.”

“You do believe me though, don’t you?”

Drew stood up as he walked towards his dad.

“Dad, I love you. Forget about the past. Just concentrate on getting out of here.”

[Traceve]

That was when he noticed just how stunning she was. He stared at her for a long time until she noticed him staring.

“Can I help you?†she asked.

“No.â€

“Then why are you staring at me?â€

“I can’t help but stare at a stunning beauty like you.â€

“You’re drunk.â€

“And you’re hot.â€

She was taken aback by his comment to reply.

So damm cute

Poor Pete, still locked away in a cell

Is Lilly ever going to be found?

love the teasers, Drew saying I love you to Pete makes me all warm and fuzzy inside

[swfc]

Lol. I'm glad you loved the flasback scenes. They were meant to make up for killing off Tracey.

Anyway, thanks for the comments and your patience. The next chapter is nearly done.