Two days.
It had been two days since Peter had gone on that fateful walk and left his letters unattended. Two days since he had walked into his room and found a stunned Davy surrounded by those letters. Two days since he hadn't said what he needed to. Two days since Davy had packed up and left to who knows where.
Peter had not been able to function in those two days. He wasn't sleeping, eating, or interacting. Micky had commented that Peter could have been Mr. Schneider's less sociable brother. And the ever astute Mike tried to pry the information out of Peter to no avail. Mike didn't seem to make the connection that the departure of one and the silence another were entwined.
Peter would lie awake at night and look at the empty bed across from him. The emptiness of loneliness was gnawing away at him. He continued his vigil waiting up for Davy but it seemed as if he was never coming. Peter was a patient person and he was willing to wait forever for Davy to return. That patience didn't stop him from wishing that the door would creak open and Davy would make stealthy movements as not to wake Peter just like before.
Some nights Peter would also stop and stare out the window. He would look up at the moon and wonder if Davy was in fact gazing at the moon at the exact same time. He took to focusing on the constellations that stretched out endlessly over the quiet California night. Peter would remember the way Davy had romanticized the rain on the pavement and hoped that Davy was being dazzled by the same constellations. Those moments would provide comfort as Peter would fool himself into thinking that Davy was pining for him in the same way. It was better than considering the harsher reality of the situation.
On this particular night, Peter's eyes were fighting the soreness of staying awake. It felt like a failure not to wait up as well as irresponsible since this was technically his fault. What was the point in fighting sleep though when there was clearly nothing to wait up for. Peter closed his eyes. When he was awake Davy was not there but when Peter was asleep Davy was everywhere.
Peter walked around his land of broken dreams. It was a dark, ominous forest with gnarled trees. The atmosphere vaguely reminded him of Alice in Wonderland. All around hanging from the trees as well as littering the ground were shattered mirrors. The mirrors ranged in various sizes and shapes. Some were shattered completely with glass surrounding it and others looked like someone just tapped the glass and it splintered like a spider web.
Peter crept around the sea of darkness in search of his main objective. He was stepping over the broken glass trying not to make a sound. For some reason he felt as though making noise would scare off Davy, much like a predator sneaking up on his prey. Although Peter was far from a predator and Davy was not prey.
He walked through the shadows searching for light. Peter felt like he had been for some time cold and alone with no feeling of relief in sight. He turned to the side and noticed his reflection in a cracked mirror. It didn't look like Peter at all. The Peter he saw in the reflection appeared as broken as the mirror; eyes bloodshot with dark bags underneath, creases from wrinkles shaping his forehead, and a mouth straight with indifference.
CRASH
The sound of glass being destroyed tore Peter's attention away from the image he was entranced by. He began moving forward again with fast steps, no longer caring about the noise he was making. He walked into a clearing filled with tall; pristine mirrors all reflecting the same beautiful image. Davy. Peter called out to him and all the mirrored Davys turned around slowly. Peter couldn't tell which one of them was real.
"Davy, I've been looking everywhere for you," Peter exclaimed. He reached out to touch the nearest Davy but it turned out to only be a reflection; cold and unfeeling.
Davy stared in silence for a few moments before answering, "I've been here this whole time. Right in front of you. You were just too blind to see what I've really been doing."
"What have you been doing?"
"Breaking these mirrors and any fragment of hope you had left about us."
Davy lifted the hammer and swung vigorously…
Peter woke up in a cold sweat. Usually his dreams were a safe place to visit the alternate realities that were comforting. But now even his safe haven was mocking him. He sat up and pulled his knees to his chest beginning to quietly shed tears. Nothing felt secure anymore. Everything was broken.