Something doesn't add up.

First Peter said he'd never date anyone from work. Then he said he didn't feel anything for Willow. It doesn't make sense that he'd suddenly change his tune.

She must have heard him wrong or interpreted what he had said wrong. But then why were all of the fast food bags at Willow's apartment? She would not have lied to me about that. Peter had to have come visit her. But why? Why would he take time off from work to visit her if he didn't care?

I need to get to the bottom of this before she gets hurt again. I need to find out what Peter's real motives are. Or what he really meant. Or just what the fuck is going on, because I'm so God damn confused about this whole situation.

I text Peter to ask if he wants to go out for drinks after work. Then I spend the entire day thinking about what could have happened last night that made him change his mind. He was so vague when he told me that everything is okay now.

We meet up at a little hole in the wall close to his work. When I go inside, Peter is already at the bar sipping on a beverage. I pull up the barstool beside him and immediately order a Jack and Coke before launching straight into the question I've been doubting the answer to all day.

"So, you and Willow?"

Peter smiles, his eyes falling to his drink. "She told you already?"

"It's true then?" I quirk an eyebrow, still skeptical.

"Aye. It's true."

"So you're a couple?" The word sounds foreign when spoken about him and...anyone.

He chuckles before jumping off of his stool to put me in a headlock. "Is that so hard to believe, punk?"

I struggle for a minute, annoyed by his rambunctious behavior, though I know it means he's in a good mood.

When he finally lets me go, I smooth down my hair and shirt before reclaiming my seat. "It is with everything you've said to me thus far," I reply firmly. "You made me seem like a liar."

"Oh?" He plays innocent, which just pisses me off more.

"What happened to not dating anyone from work? Or you not having feelings for Willow?"

"Oh, that." He acts like he had completely forgotten telling me those things.

"Yeah. That." I eye him suspiciously.

"I guess she just grew on me." He picks up his drink, grinning into the distance.

And that's when it hits me. I know that look, and it's not a look I've ever seen on Peter's face before. He's not lying. He genuinely likes Willow.

I want to be relieved, but there's a strange feeling in my chest. Almost like my muscles are wound too tight. I can't force myself to believe that this will have a happy ending for them.

I know Peter well. He's dated girls in the past. Not long or seriously enough to ever call one of them his girlfriend, but he has had some that he's kept around for a few weeks. Those girls always ended up getting hurt when he grew bored of them. What's to say the same won't happen this time around?

"So you're really doing this?" I press.

"Yes." He looks at me. "Why? You don't approve?"

"I'm just worried she's going to get hurt," I mumble.

"What if I get hurt instead?" His eyes flash. "Aren't you worried about me?"

"You have to have a heart to have it broken." I smirk before taking a sip of my drink.

"You're an asshole." He slaps my shoulder with the back of his hand.

"It takes one to know one." I nod at him.

"So childish." He shakes his head before downing his drink and hissing from the afterburn of the liquor.

"Seriously, though, what made you change your mind? It's pretty hard to go from not feeling anything for someone to wanting to be in an exclusive relationship with them. Especially for someone like you."

"Someone like me?" He huffs. "I oughta." Peter raises his arm like he's going to hit me again. When I cower away, he drops his hand, cursing between his teeth at me with a smile on his face all the while. "I think the tides really turned when we were talking last night."

"Ah yes. That. Which neither of you has really told me about. What happened, exactly?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me." He chuckles at the secret memory.

"Tell me anyway."

He twirls his glass in his hand. "She kind of went off on me when I got there. It was...super dramatic."

"I'm not sure if I'm surprised or not," I confess, thinking about Willow's temper.

"She hit me." He glances up at me to see my reaction.

"She hit you?" I parrot.

"More than once."

"Like punched you?" I gesture with my fist.

"Slapped me." His head bobbles.

"She must have been really pissed." My eyes widen for effect.

"Oh, very much so." He laughs before settling. "But she said a lot of things that really made me think. Things that touched my heart. And even after dropping her off, I couldn't stop thinking about her. Hell, I didn't even really sleep last night because I was thinking about her so much.

"She's a funny girl. Smart, caring, athletic."

I huff internally at the athletic part. If he only knew what I had to go through to get her there. I practically built his girlfriend for him.

"So you asked her out," I say.

"Yeah. I figured I might as well give this dating thing a go." He inhales deeply. "While I had thought I wanted to stay single forever, I've come to realize that truly good and compatible people don't come around very often. I enjoy spending time with Willow. And it's not in the shallow way that I enjoy spending time with most girls. Willow makes me laugh. She makes me smile. She makes me happy."

I can hear the sincerity in his voice. He's speaking from his heart. And I can't continue to deny that this may actually be different.

"Well, I'm happy for you guys then." I finish the rest of my drink, trying to process how I really feel about all of this.

If I said I wasn't slightly jealous, I'd be lying. More than that, though, I'm not really looking forward to having to hear all of their relationship details. While Peter is a private guy, Willow will no doubt gush about everything they do together. And I'll be on the receiving end.

* * *

"We need to go shopping again."

It's the first thing Willow says to me when I open the door to her the following day.

"What?" I scratch the back of my head.

She barges right in, pushing past Max to stand in the middle of my living room. "Now that I'm dating Peter, I need to dress appropriately for him."

"Appropriately for him?" What's that supposed to mean?

"Yes." She nods. "I still don't trust myself to pick out the clothes that he'll like, so I'm taking you with me."

"This isn't going to become a normal thing, is it?" my voice is clipped with annoyance.

Willow sulks slightly. "Please, Caleb. I promise this will be the last time. I just want to be perfect for him."

"I'm pretty sure he likes you just the way you are. If he didn't, he wouldn't be dating you." I shift my weight.

She presses her palms together, silently begging. All I can do is roll my eyes and give in, knowing that she'll get mad at me if I say no.

This shopping trip is a lot less fun than the last one. We head to the thrift store, which I have nothing against. I just don't have as much pep in my step as I did the first go round when we were doing whatever we could to make Peter attracted to her.

This time, I simply follow Willow around with a shopping cart. When she pulls something off of the rack, I give it a yes or no answer. Then when we head to the dressing room, I give her my opinion again.

To be honest, I don't even know what Peter likes anymore—what he'd want to see his girlfriend wearing. Because he's never had a girlfriend since I've known him. I haven't gotten to see what his girlfriends typically wear. Having said that, I can only imagine that as long as whatever Willow picks fits her properly, it should be fine.

"You don't seem very into this." She notices on about the sixth outfit. "Are you tired or something?"

"Yeah. That's it." I yawn for effect.

"I hope he likes all of this." She goes back to assessing her haul.

"I think it will be fine." I look at the mix of blouses and skirts, things that she picked out mostly for work as if every day is going to be a date with him.

"I hope so," she sighs. "Now that Peter and I are a couple, I need to look perfect all the time."

No one can look perfect all the time. I think it but don't say it. Far be it from me to disrupt her perfect little fantasy world. Fantasies don't last forever, though.