Unsteady (Sequel to Hold On)

Chapter Twelve: It's Time To Start Over.

Alisha

I arrive at Olivia's apartment and knock on the door, Lucy was watching Aurora so I didn't have to worry about that tonight. The door opens and Olivia smiles, "You came!" she says hugging me, "Yeah Sonny told me about it and I decided to come," Olivia nods and ushers me in.

"Hey!" Everyone greets me, I smile at them and wave. "You look lovely," Amanda says hugging me, I had decided to wear a light blue flowy dress with white heels and I curled my hair.

"Thank you, you do too," Peter was talking to Fin, Sonny comes over to me. "I'm glad you decided to come," He says smiling, I notice a girl I had never seen before, she had light blonde hair and she was beautiful. 

"Who is that?" I ask, "Oh..uh that's Ella," Sonny says rubbing the back of his neck, "She's beautiful," I say and smile at him. He smiles slightly, "I wasn't sure if I should bring her..." he says softly.

I touch his arm, "It's time to start over Sonny, as friends, with other people," he nods and smiles before walking back over to her. 

Peter walks up to me, "You look beautiful," He says smiling, I feel myself blush. "Thank you, you look nice as well," He smiles. 

Olivia serves dinner and we all sit down, we all converse and laugh. "Rafael called me," Olivia says, "He's coming back to the city for a couple months, obviously not as a DA but he wants to know if we all want to have lunch with him," everyone nodded and I just stay silent.

"Is that okay with you, Ali?" Fin asks, dammit Fin. "Uh, yeah sure, you guys can go," I say, "You're invited too," Amanda says, "I-I can't, I'm not ready," I whisper. I stand up, "I need some air," I set my napkin down and walk out of her apartment and outside.

I leaned against the wall and let out a shaky breath, "You told Sonny it was time to start over," I hear Peter say, "Don't you need the same thing with Rafael?" I face him.

"I was in love with him, Peter, I was engaged to him, and he went and killed that damn baby and everything I had with him fell apart, he left me, alone in that apartment for days until you and Sonny finally made me move, he broke my heart..." I whisper.

"Maybe you should let yourself fix it, or let someone else.." he whispers walking towards me, "Who else is going to fix it? I'm damaged goods," "Me." He says softly, his hand cups my cheek and he pulls me into him, our lips touch and I melt into him.

For once in a long time, everything faded, my complicated friendship with Sonny, my thoughts of Rafael. I push my body against him and my hands goes to his stomach. He deepens the kiss and I smile slightly. 

I pull away, "Was that okay?" Peter asks I nod. "It was more than okay Peter," I say smiling. "Let's go finish dinner," I nod and he grabs my hand and we walk back up to Olivia's place.

Everyone was still eating, "I didn't mean to upset you," Liv says, "You didn't, I think I'll be able to have lunch with him," everyone smiles and I glance at Peter. 

We eat and talk, I tell them about how well Aurora is doing and how well she is recovering. "She's almost 2 months right?" Amanda asks, I nod. "Whose Aurora?" Ella asks, Sonny didn't tell her. "She's my daughter," I say. Ella nods, "I have a kid too," she says, "You do?" Sonny and I both ask, "He's 4 but uh, his dad has custody of him," Ella admits. 

We continue to eat and finish up, everyone helps clean up. "Are you ready to leave?" Peter asks, putting his hand on my thigh, "Uh sure, yeah, I took a taxi here," "I drove my car, don't worry." I nod and call Lucy, "Hey Lucy, we're on the way home," "Okay! Rory is sleeping so I think you'll be okay coming in," "Okay thank you," 

Peter and I say bye to everyone and head out, "I had fun tonight," I say, "Me too," Peter says and smiles at me. He opens my door for me and I get in, he shuts it and goes to his side. We drive in a comfortable silence and get home. 

We go to the door and Peter stops me, he leans down and kisses me again, I smile. We go inside and Lucy greets us, "Thank you so much for watching Rory," I say and hug her, "Of course, any time," she returns the hug and leaves.

Peter grabs my hand and pulls me into the living room, I slip off my heels and sit on his lap. He just stares at me, "What?" I ask, "You are so beautiful," I smile and bury my head in his chest. And we just sit like that for a while, and for the first time in a long time, I didn't want to run. I wanted to stay.