Just Out of Reach

Ch. 3: You're Good for Me

"You do two wrongs for every right. You put salt in my coffee just for spite. You're no good for yourself. You're no good for nobody else. But you're good for me. Oh, you're good for me. Oh, sugar dumpling don't you see, you're good for me." - Solomon Burke

* * *

You hadn't expected to see Peter for a little while, considering hanging out too soon would be showing your weakness for him, and yet two days later you went for coffee together.

It was casual, and you both brought homework, and you found out Peter doesn't drink caffeine, but he really loves non-caffeinated green tea. He was still a little quiet and a little reserved, but he would talk and talk if you provided him with questions to answer.

He also wanted to know more about you, asking about your sister's wedding and what your mom did for a living and what had made you interested in Empire University.

Slowly, and as naturally as the flow of the conversation went, you learned more about each other. It was a comfort, and so comforting in fact, that when you realized the library was equal distance from your dorms, it became your meeting place.

This went on for about a month, and suddenly you were the center of Peter's orbit. You both knew each other's schedules, and Peter was constantly texting you asking if you were free. You loved hanging out with him, and you loved listening to him talk. He'd explain certain things about what he was working on, and he would almost get back to his excitable and happy self.

But there was always a sadness there that ate away at you, because you felt you weren't helping the way you could be.

Peter loved listening to you talk too. When you weren't together, he was thinking about you. And when you weren't talking to him, just working on your homework, he struggled to not just stare at you.

He'd been in love before, and he wouldn't say he was in love with you, but he was captivated by everything you did and how you held yourself.

He'd never met anyone as good as you, and that made him feel guilty for taking up so much of your time. But he couldn't stop himself.

Your weekends at FEAST were becoming your favorite part of your weeks, as you were simply doing little handy work like creating labels for things and prepping for a food drives that would be happening on Mondays. You were meeting amazing people and getting to learn more about the organization. A lot of the people who worked there had once been interns themselves, and that gave you hope that one day you could find yourself working in one of these offices and assisting people every single day of the week.

You were halfway through your afternoon when Peter had texted, asking if you were available, and you reminded him of your internship.

He didn't text you back after that, and you figured you'd struck a chord with him considering you were literally elbow to elbow with his aunt. You could tell there was still tension there, and you could see that May was much like you, where she would bury herself in her work to avoid all her other problems.

"You know," Carson, May's personal assistant leaned over and smiled at you, "May doesn't usually find the time to have coffee in the break room with just all her interns."

You scoffed as he handed you your jacket. It was late, and the day was finally over. You and Carson had spent all day stacking boxes and boxes of canned goods and your arms and back ached. Carson was a super nice kid. He was short, around your height, and he had wild caramel curls and skin the color of a rich molasses.

His eyes sparkled as you tried to not blush, and you pushed him playfully as the two of you made your way towards the front door. You were the only two left in the building, other than the caregivers who worked at night to attend to the homeless, and May, who was in her office eating Chinese takeaway with her boyfriend.