Dear Peter,

You know I'm a sucker for fate. There are some things, Peter, that are simply out of our control. And I know that you always thought I was crazy for believing in it, but you always thought I was crazy anyway. So it's alright.

   It was as if fate wanted us to be together, because believe it or not, I was not stalking you. And although you never really believed in fate or destiny, it couldn't possibly have been just chance that we met again nearly a week later. 

        I was running a wedding errand for Zoya since she was busy at some dinner with her in-laws. My job was to pick up her wedding dress. Simple enough, right? It was my only duty for the day, but it turned out to be a disaster. 

        Even though it was completely unnecessary, Zoya decided to go on a diet and dropped fifteen pounds prior to her big day. Inevitably, the dress had to be tailored to fit her slimmer body. Because I really had nothing better to do and it was evident that she could use all the help she could get, I offered to pick up her dress.

      I know I've told you how Zoya and I met, but I never do get tired of telling this story, so let me refresh the memory.

     I was new to New York. After having moved from my small, rural town in Maryland to a city so full of life, I was kind of lost. Figuratively and literally. 

    I had been told that having a car in the city was pointless, so I'd brought my old, reliable bike with me from home. It was a trusty means of transportation, until I met Zoya.

    The tears kept falling from my eyes, rolling down my cheeks and then being dried almost instantly by the wind. It had been my first week in the city, and it wasn't anything like I'd imagined it to be. 

    I was late for class almost every day because I wasn't adjusted to life here, I missed my parents, and I had never felt more unsure about anything in my life. Truth be told, I wasn't sure why I was crying so much. I just couldn't stop it. So when my vision blurred a little too much and I brought a hand up to quickly wipe the tears away, I lost control of the bike.

   I tried to regain my balance, but there was nothing that I could do. It wobbled underneath my body, its pedals refusing to remain steady.

It carried me right into a busy street, where cars did not care to stop. People just wanted to get to where they needed to be.

I braced for impact as a car slammed on its brakes, but not soon enough. The headlights, blaring horn, and wide brown eyes were the last thing I remembered before waking up in the hospital.

   The same worried eyes were also what I woke up to. They were a little too close to my face for comfort. I shook my head slightly, my eyes having a hard time adjusting to the light, and tried to recall how I'd ended up in a hospital bed with a stranger looming over me, studying my face with such curiosity.

   Once she saw I'd waken up, she jumped back, her olive skin turning red at her cheeks. 

   "Um, hi." 

Without responding, I tried to sit up straight, but winced when pain shot through my back.

"No, no, just relax. The doctor will be here any second."

She took a step towards me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I blinked several times.

"What... what happened?"

She shifted uneasily, her eyes riddled with guilt and her fingers constantly fidgeting.

"I sorta hit you. With my car. Listen, I'm so sorry. I'll pay for your bike and your medical expenses, and..."

The events of that morning flooded my mind. I'd  been crying and was distracted while riding my bike home, so much so that I'd gotten myself into an accident. Mom was gonna love hearing about this.

Without warning, a giggle bubbled out of my mouth.

She looked confused, not sure if I hit my head too hard or what. She opened her lips to speak, but didn't seem to find the words she was looking for. She finally raised her thick eyebrows, tilting her head slightly in thought.

"Wait, I hit you with my car. And you're laughing?"

I shrugged. "It's the most interesting thing to have happened to me in a while."

She looked at me like I was crazy.

"So you're not mad?"

I laughed, 

"Why would I be mad? At least now I have an excuse to get out of class."

She sighed in relief, taking the seat that was beside the bed.

"Tell me about it," she huffed, bringing her manicured hands to her chin, "New York University was my dream. But I'm just as lost as I was before. The only difference is that now I'm lost and broke."

I laughed, and a thought occurred to me. My eyes lit up and I tried to sit up, but winced from the pain surging through my head.

"NYU? That's where I go, too!"

With that, the tension in the room dissolved almost instantly. We talked and talked, and one conversation led to another, and another. I'd made a friend in the most unlikely way, and in the most intimidating city.

Her lips widened into a smile. 

"I'm Zoya, and is it bad that I'm kind of glad I hit you with my car?"

"Lucy. And no, because I am, too."

        I'd expected to just walk into the bridal shop, collect Zoya's dress, and walk right out, but it seemed that the universe had other ideas. The amount of ivory fabric surrounding me in the boutique was almost enough to temporarily blind me, but that was no excuse for my clumsiness. 

On the way into the shop, whilst I was fishing through my purse for the dress receipt, I found myself bumping into something hard and falling back onto my bottom, my purse and its contents flying into the air in the process. With a loud grunt, I pushed my hair out of my face to see who the perpetrator was. But when my eyes met your familiar dark ones and I recognized your familiar annoyed expression, all intentions of apologizing were lost. I was instead overcome with a strange type of happiness. 

I guess our stars were meant to cross one way or another, huh?

I was almost giddy. Almost. Although I tried not to think it at the time, you were still a tad bit intimidating.

        Turned out that you weren't happy at all to see me. Actually, if possible, your scowl seemed to deepen and your eyebrows met in an irritated manner. 

        "You again? What are you, following me around now?" You said while hurriedly gathering your wallet and few pieces of papers off the ground.

Still shocked that I had bumped into you in a wedding dress boutique of all places, I shook my head and rushed to pick up my own belongings. I wasn't in any way paying attention to the task at hand; it was rather difficult to not keep glancing up at you.

        It suddenly struck me that what you had implied with your question, so I couldn't help but feel a little bit offended. Swiping my purse off the ground and shaking off the shock, I stood back up, but this time, right in your path so you wouldn't be able to leave. Once again, I felt small, and I could tell you were a little humored as you stared down at me.

        "Excuse me, but that's a little bit uncalled for, don't you think? A simply apology would suffice." 

        It was obvious to anyone who had seen that it was completely my fault for being so consumed in my gigantic purse, but I had to stall somehow to buy time with you. Pushing your ego seemed to be the perfect method. 

        Your jaw dropped the tiniest bit and you took a step closer, attempting to scare me off I suppose. I was small, but I was never that easy to scare.

 "You're asking me to apologize?" 

I nodded firmly, my feet stubbornly planted into the ground.

"It's okay. I don't need an apology, but I do have a question for you."

Honestly, I didn't know what I was saying. Words were just flying out of my mouth without warning as I tried to buy time with you.

You raised your eyebrows, growing impatient.

"What are you doing in a wedding dress boutique?"

Maybe you decided that I wasn't worth it. Or maybe you just had somewhere to go, but whatever it was, you went from agitated to dismissive in a split second, which wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. 

"I don't have time for this," you mumbled, just loud enough for me to hear. You rolled your eyes and brushed past my shoulder and to the back of the boutique. 

        I was left staring in the spot you once stood. Why, I wondered, were you so angry all the time? I knew that it was possible that you just didn't like speaking with me, but why? I'd never done anything to hurt you. Whatever it was and whatever had made you strong in such a way that every positive emotion had been drained out of your body, I intended to find out. Not only that, I intended to change it. 

        When? I'd no idea. I could show up at one of your matches and stay after hours like last time, but I had a feeling you wouldn't like that. And it felt intrusive. I decided that I needed time to think, but even before I could figure out some sort of plan to see you again, fate beat me to it. 

(A/N)

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