A/N: a short chapter, but it had to be separated! Some action and fluffiness are on the way.. until then, enjoy!

"We're taking the bus on the way back."

Thea was bent over, her right hand on the side of the building she had just moved in. Her eyes were shut and she kept swallowing to try not to throw up.

"It'll pass," Peter said without even trying to hide his laugh.

With Peter's abilities, it had only taken them a few seconds to get to Thea's place. But at what cost... He had held her neck to avoid whiplash and before she even had time to be scared, they had arrived here. Peter was eating a hot dog he had picked up on the way. She, on the other hand, was feeling like her stomach had been taken out of her body and put back upside down.

"Did you even pay for that?" she asked, pointing at his food.

Peter shrugged.

"Are we going in or what?"

Thea sucked it up and nodded. They entered the building and took the elevator to the 7th floor.

"Seriously though" Thea said, continuing the conversation they were having while going up. "You could have warned m-"

Peter grabbed her arm and put a finger on his lips. He pointed at her door. It was opened.

"Are you kidding me? You left my door opened when you left?" Thea said, outraged.

"No, we didn't," Peter simply answered, looking worried.

"Oh" Thea said, looking back at her door, just as worried now.

"I'm going to go take a look real quick."

"Wait!" Thea whispered, but he was already gone.

He was back half a second later.

"Well, there is definitely a dude in there but it's not Stryker. And I doubt he's one of his guys cause he's wearing a rad Queen tee-shirt."

Thea closed her eyes. She knew exactly who it was. How did he get here? She sighed and entered her apartment, ignoring Peter's warnings. She found herself face to face with the intruder.

"Alex?" she asked, confused.

The young man stared at her, looking surprised and relieved.

"Thea! I was so worried, where have you be-"

He stopped at the sight of Peter standing behind her.

"Who is this guy?" he asked, suspicious.

Thea felt a rush a panic seize her.

"Hum Alex, this is Peter, my huh… colleague?"

He stared at her looking hurt, definitely not convinced. A heavy silence ensued.

"Well this is awkward." Peter eventually said. "I'm gonna wait outside, let you guys figure out whatever this is."

"It's fine, you can stay." Alex said harshly. "At least now I understand why you were so eager to move in New York," he added on a bitter tone.

"Alex, this isn't what you think."

"What I think?" he asked with a sarcastic chuckle. "What I think is that you've never been honest with me."

"Alex, come on" she said softly. "You know me. I would never do something like that to you."

"That's my point, Thea, I don't know you. I don't know anything about you. For God's Sake I don't even know your parents' name! You're smart, funny, generous and beautiful and for a while I've been fooling myself into thinking all that could make up for honesty. But it doesn't."

There were a million things Thea would have wanted to tell him. But she just stood there, crushed by pain.

"Why are you here?" she whispered.

"Ellie gave me your new address, even though I know you told her not to. I was worried about you two." He glared at Peter. "But I can see you're in good hands."

He angrily walked passed her. She didn't try to stop him. She closed her eyes to try and ease the pain of her breaking heart. She loved this man. Truly. And that's why she had to let him go. Even if it meant letting him think she was a lying, cheating bitch. At least it would help him move on.

"By the way, you door was unlocked. You should be more careful next time. You might end up with unwanted guests in your home." he added, glancing at Peter before slamming the door behind him.

"So we did forget to lock it," the silver-haired young man mumbled. "My bad."

They didn't exchange one word after that. Thea gathered some of her stuff as well as some of Ellie's, her back facing Peter so he wouldn't see her tears, and they left. She didn't ask him to take the bus. She actually wanted to physically hurt. She felt awful for what she had done to Alex and it seemed like a fair retribution.

She found herself in front of her new room in a blink of an eye. She put a hand on the knob, hesitant. She finally turned to face Peter for the first time since Alex had left the apartment.

"Thanks for coming. And sorry you had to see all this… mess."

He had an awkward smile and waved his hand.

"It's ok. I know relationships suck. Why do you think I'm still single?"

She had a sad smile.

"Right. That's why."

He ignored her sarcasm.

"You should come downstairs and meet everyone" he said as he was about to leave. "They can't wait to meet the school's brand new prodigy."

She nodded and closed her door. The room was pretty comfortable. It had beige walls, light wooden furniture, a huge bed, a fireplace and a magnificent view of the impressive estate's gardens. She put her bags down, opened the window and let the cool wind caress her cheeks. The sun was high up in the blue sky. She couldn't believe it hadn't even been a day since Charles and the others showed up at her apartment. It seemed like an eternity ago. She took a deep breath. She had rarely felt this bad, but at least now she could completely focus on her goal. She looked around her room. She was about to get real busy. After all, she had a whole new life to discover.