Bad Romance

Chapter 2

Once they pull apart her eyes do not open, instead they stay closed, her head tilted up at him. Daniel chuckles and holds her hand, hoping she will look at him.

"Peggy," With a cautious breath she looks away, stepping back from him. 

"We can't," She shakes her head rigorously, biting the tip of her manicured nail while averting her attention elsewhere.

"We can work something out-"

"We can't, Daniel. I am your professor. You are in my class, we can't-" As if she hadn't had enough problems already, her love life seemed to build and collapse in less than 24 hours. It was all too much. "I'm sorry. As much as I enjoyed last night- what we started- it just can't continue."

As a stiff air fills the atmosphere, Daniel hangs his head low, knowing she is right. If anyone knew what has transpired between them the night before, if anyone were to know they had begun to be more than friends... they could both loose everything. 

Peggy needs her job to sustain her livelihood. This could ruin her career and destroy everything she has worked so hard to achieve. Every goal she has fought so hard to conquer could be lost. The ones depending on her could suffer worse than her tarnished reputation.

Along with those depending on Daniel as well. He needs his degree to prosper in his career; being the first from his family to do so. He needs a strong foot hold to ground him in his life. A permanent career and living to rise above the oppression he and his family have been under since he was a young boy.

The room is all but silent as the two shuffle about, not knowing what else to say. Daniel glances up at her and heaves a deep breath. Peggy glances up at him and her heart twinges in shame. She's not one for one night stands, They never happen to her, but if it were to happen she told herself to try and make a relationship work; but they can't do so now. Daniel walks out of the room, leaving the unsaid to linger in the air.

Once in the hall, Jack grabs him from behind and shakes his shoulders, laughing loudly. "Eh, Sousa, what took you so long? Getting a little action there with Madame Carter...? Huh?" He teases, but his roommate is in no mood to listen. 

"Back off, Jack. I've got studying to do. And so do you! Unless you plan on failing already."

"Yeah yeah whatever. You sound like my mother."

Daniel says nothing else in return, instead he walks on his way to prepare for the next class; the day ending much slower than he would have preferred. 

Within the following weeks, Peggy and Daniel avoid one another as much as possible, when they aren't forced to be around each other in the class room that is. The tension between them is stiff and uncomfortable. The air filled with unsaid words and connecting feelings. Something between them they can't explain and yet have no control over the situation at hand. They can't be together and yet they feel something- a longing or love perhaps- and it makes the lectures and lessons that much harder to get through.

Luckily with such tension, the week ends and the weekend begins. Normally the students go into town, throw parties, or lounge around their dorms. The professors spend time with their own families or indulge themselves in alcohol while attempting to grade and work on assignments and lessons from the week. And in Peggy's own situation, a special night for drinking was in order, one in which she did not plan or expect until an old friend made an unexpected appearance. 

As Peggy sat in her apartment, pen in hand and papers on her desk, everything was silent until a knock sounded from her door. Once she opened it, she was greeted happily with none other than her sister in law, Isabel.