from me to u... (book three - dalton)

chapter one: comfronting the enemy

"what are you doing in my apartment?!"

mikey, courtney, and doug all turned their eyes to the groggy-looking figure who looked as if he hadn't shaved or bathed in weeks. even from a distance, he reeked of liquor and body odour. his red robe appeared just as unclean as the rest of the apartment.

"that explains where all the money went." mikey shook his head as he approached a wobbly peter. "it sure wasn't being spent on living a decent life."

"i wonder why peter enger feels the need to drink a bottle of gin a night?" courtney remarked as she found several bottles of hendrick's. "guilt catching up to you?"

"our friend broke her nda to finally tell us the depravity she has been under for all those years." doug said sternly as mikey dragged peter to an armchair. "so your ass better tell the truth, and nothing but."

"i don't know what you're even talking about!" peter was clearly disheveled and disoriented, but was firm enough to maintain his denial of involvement of anything. mikey, however, was getting frustrated, and crouched down next to him.

"listen here," mikey's voice was dangerously close to being threatening, making peter flinch in his chair. "we know about the pool party."

the mentioning of the pool party drained the last bit of life peter had left right out of his body. "we know what happened to annabeth, and we know that you helped dan cover it up." the honest truth was that they had no concrete proof for peter's involvement, and were purely acting on the nicholson twins' hunch. however, the hunch proved to be accurate once peter's nerves were on full display, and his heartbeat was audibly louder. "was he paying you off, enger?"

"no... no!" peter was visibly shaken by their interrogation, and the alcohol he had consumed earlier wasn't helping his mental state. doug took a deep breath, and headed over to the equally messy and dishevelled kitchen. a minute later, he came out with a glass of water.

"drink this, and try to breathe." doug said, trying his best to be calm. peter took the glass and chugged the whole glass of water, defeating the intent of trying to be calm, but he seemed a bit more alert.

"you all... you gotta get out before..." peter tried to get the words out of his mouth but felt a weight holding him back.

"before what? before you call the police?" courtney scoffed as she folded her arms. "you know what..." she made her way to a large bookshelf, absentmindedly examining the various books peter kept for himself. among the books were seasons of the shows he had been on during his nickelodeon days - a detail that caused courtney to smirk. "you go right ahead and call them." courtney turned around to face him, smirk intact and her arms crossed. "we can all have a nice long chat about you."

"what... what do you mean?"

"if and when the police get here," mikey took over for courtney, and he was still crouched down next to the shuddering peter. "we're gonna tell them that a 'source' told us all about how you took bribes from dan schneider to cover for him and his... activities... and that he's been threatening our best friend for a decade."

"who just happens to be the world's biggest pop star." doug added on, placing his hands on his hips. "i wouldn't underestimate the power ariana grande generates. they're at least going to look into an allegation like this."

"we may not have any direct proof that you're taking bribes..." courtney began to walk towards the armchair, "but as soon as the authorities look into your bank accounts... it's over."

"dan goes to jail, you get no financial support," mikey uttered under his breath, "and you're just gonna be left here, wallowing in self pity as usual, but this time... you'll be flat goddamn broke."

"NO!" peter screamed before breaking down into a sob loud enough to make the three musketeers back away. brian and scott's theory had been proven to be canon. peter enger not only was aware of what happened during the night annabeth wynters died... but used it as leverage to blackmail dan scheider.

"you need to tell us everything." courtney's voice was far more gentle now, as if he was trying to ease peter's nerves so he would feel more comfortable. "our friend is in trouble and we're going to do whatever it takes to save her."

"however," doug interrupted courtney, "we would rather not see you go to jail." he walked towards the armchair where peter was seated in and gently crouched down next to him. "we can get you the help you deserve - get you clean and sober. help you find your footing."

"no one wants to see you go down for something that happened when you were a kid." mikey carried on with doug and courtney's sympathetic pleas. "help us put dan away. if you come clean, the district attorney will cut you a deal."

peter stayed silent as the three friends pleaded for him to cooperate. mikey, courtney and doug looked at one another, unsure of what his lack of response meant. before any of them could respond, however, peter finally opened his mouth to speak.

"i... i didn't know what they had been doing until after... after she died." peter was trying his best to keep his voice steady as he recounted that horrible night. "i was in a screening room with a man, and... we were having sex. he threatened to ruin my career if i said anything."

a flash of sympathy fell upon the eyes of the three friends, understanding the stigma that was still attached to being a member of the lgbtq community in hollywood. "your career never took off though." doug inquired.

"after i threatened dan..." peter had his head low in shame. "i couldn't live with it. so i just disappeared. i tried living off of what dan paid me every month but... most of it always went to drugs and alcohol."

"and no one heard from you since." mikey concluded. peter nodded his head in response. "you have to tell the authorities, enger."

"i... i can't..." peter ran his hands through his face.

"listen," courtney snapped out of her mellow state and stared at peter intently. "you were a kid when this happened. you have a chance to atone for profiting off of that girl's death. come forward, help the police put a powerful criminal away, give annabeth a chance to find peace and help our friend alleviate her misplaced guilt."

peter's eyes began to well up once again, hearing the desperation of the voices of the three close-knitted friends trying to help one of their own. his whole life was spent alone and guilt-ridden over what he had been hiding for so many years.

he knew that this was his only opportunity to do the right thing, and help himself move past the trauma to finally become a better version of himself.