For Love of Evil - [Roman Godfrey/Hemlock Grove]

-22-

After a hot shower, Lyra lied in bed, going through her homework. She finished it all rather quickly, stuffing it back into her bag.

She paused.

The crumpled paper Roman had thrown at Lyra during class, still rested in the bottom of her bag. She had told herself to forget about it, but the memory was still fresh in her mind as she reluctantly reached for it.

She pulled it out of the bag, holding it in her hands, staring at it for a moment. Lyra swallowed hard, slowly unwrapping the withered notebook paper as her face flushed. It read:
"But I Love You"

Lyra's face burned; her emotions overwhelmed by the words written on the page. She was overcome with anger. Her father had caused this - the pain; the loss of something that never really existed.

There was a knock at the door, causing Lyra to wad up the paper and toss it onto the nearby desk. Nervous, she cautiously approached the door, terrified of what might be on the other side.

Another set of knocks pounded against the door before Lyra mustered the courage to take a look through the peephole.

Peter stood on the other side, pounding away with rash irritability set in his eyes. She had been at the motel for nearly two hours; long enough to eat, shower and finish her homework. The only way Peter could have known where Lyra was, is if he had followed her.

Lyra slid the chain lock over, unlocking the deadbolt before opening the door. Before she could ask what he was doing there, Peter spoke. "We need to talk." He barged in, brushing against Lyra's shoulder as he stormed past.

Lyra closed the door, turning to face Peter with a look of skepticism. "Did you follow me here?"

"Yeah, I knew you were gonna pull this kind of shit on Roman, so I borrowed my mom's car to find out where you've been hiding."

"Well, you figured it out, so now what?" Lyra crossed her arms, jutting her hip out as she placed her weight to one foot.

"You said you were gonna tell him." Peter stated, placing his hands on his hips. He wasn't sure what she was waiting for; Roman deserved to know the truth.

"I will! I just need time... space. He's better off without me, this gives him a chance for his feelings to die down a little-"

"Don't give me that shit! You know damn well Roman's feelings for you aren't gonna die down. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Lyra walked past Peter, sitting on the edge of the bed. She sighed, holding her head in her hands. "I'm gonna tell him. It's his kid, too! He deserves to have a say in this."

"That's not why I can't tell him. Once he knows what Ares did... he'll hate me." Lyra groaned.

"Why-why on earth would Roman hate you?"

"The way we feel about each other- it's not real. Once Roman finds that out, he'll never look at me the same way again." Lyra admitted.

Peter sat next to Lyra, draping his arm across her shoulders with a grimace. He was never good at comforting people, particularly females, but knew he needed to get his point across.

"When you found out that your feelings for Roman weren't real... did that change the way you looked at him?"

His question caused Lyra's head to raise from her hands, looking at Peter as the sudden realization began to sink in.

She shook her head.

"The way you and Roman feel about each other... it started off as something not real, but now-" Peter sighed, removing his arm from Lyra's shoulders. "It's real now. Whatever sick plan your father had in mind for the two of you, it's done now. So the way you feel about each other now, is all you. Your dad has nothing to do with the way you two feel about each other now. You get it?"

Peter stood from the bed, scratching the nape of his neck before moving his hand to the dark patchy hair on his chin.

Lyra knew what she had to do now - she had to tell Roman the truth. As if Peter could read her mind, he took a step back toward the door, "You're gonna tell Roman. If not, the next time I see him, he's gonna know... because I'm gonna tell him. Trust me, you don't want that." Peter winked, leaving on that note.

Lyra sighed as menacing butterflies began to swarm in the pit of her stomach. The anxiety she felt was causing thick bile to rise to the back of her throat as her trembling palms became sweaty.

She tried picturing the look on Roman's face when she finally admitted to him the truth - about her father - about the baby.

She stood from the bed, pushing her hair up in an elastic band; loose strands of her jet black hair lay in wisps around her heart shaped face. She grabbed the nearest clothes she could find; light wash jeans and a red v-neck sweater.

She thought of where Roman lived, she had passed it many times on her way home. It was a beautifully large, gothic mansion. She often wondered how three people managed to take up such a large quantity of space, but never found an opportunity to ask.

Lyra grabbed the keys setting on the nightstand and made a beeline for the door. Even if she wasn't ready to tell Roman the truth, she was going to have to be - Peter had put her on the spot. She would rather Roman hear the news from her as apposed to Peter. This time, she knew Peter wasn't bluffing.