Ok so say Peter didn't die and by some miracle he got released from Oz early, do you have any post release head canons for Peter Schibetta?
Oooooooh interesting! I have no problem undoing anything from season 666 lol. Like I love parts of it, but the other part of the time I’m like… Tom, buddy, you ok?
Post Oz Peter Schibetta
When he gets out, the sun hurts his eyes. He finds he didn’t miss the sun at all.
He missed the moon though, and his first night out is staring at it, watching the light break through the darkness in the sky. 🌖
He waits a few days before going anywhere or doing anything.
His family (not that “family”) throws a party for his release but it’s bittersweet. His mom and dad aren’t there. Dino isn’t there. Lenny is there but only because he feels obligated. Several cousins twice removed. The only person he’s happy to see is Joey, who woke up from his coma and got released. Without someone he grew up with to talk to, I think he would have self destructed.
He doesn’t open up at first. It’s almost like he wants to pretend Oz was a bad dream. But it wasn’t. He has the scars to prove it.
He stays awake at night. He’s afraid of the dark now. Even though what happened happened in the light of day, he still fears what he can’t see. Nightmares and terrors.
He can never be who he was again. Ever. That man died in Oz. Peter pours one out for the old him every time he goes out. Think he uses drinking a little too much in the beginning.
“I’m fine, OK?” -he lied
When he does go out, he finds the world has changed too. He doesn’t know any popular songs or artists. He barely recognizes the architecture. Even the clothes are different.
He catches his face in a window. He looks so much more gaunt than he was, cheekbones more pronounced now, stomach thin, hair wild and five o’clock shadow showing. He does shave, but it makes him look like a person, and lord knows he doesn’t feel like a person right now.
He throws a pity party for himself for a week, intermittently crying and sometimes just disassociating and staring at a wall. The person who pulls him out of that pity party is Joey.
He finds Peter drinking in a bar they used to sneak into as kids. He comes up to Peter and lays down some harsh truths.
“You got out. Dino didn’t. You owe it to him.”
Peter figures he’s right. He’d live for all the guys in Oz who didn’t. ❤️🩹
Peter gets up the next day and actually dresses himself. He combs his hair and shaves his face. It makes him feel better to be clean.
It takes him a while to get a therapist, but he does. He remembers sister Pete and Dr. Nathan, remembering how gentle they were. His new shrink is Cheryl, a kind Bostonian Italian lady who understands his childhood.
She’s kind but firm with him, which is everything he needs.
One day she tells him the story of the cow and the buffalo.
The cow runs away when a storm is coming, and since they can’t outrun the storm, it takes twice as long for it to end. The buffalo, upon seeing a storm coming, runs directly at it, and it’s harder, but it ends quicker.
“Be the buffalo, Peter.”🥺
He gets a job. He’s an interior decorator. He knows it’s a “fag job”, but he likes rearranging spaces and making them aesthetically pleasing. It’s what he would have done if his father didn’t insist he become a “business man”.
He cuts ties with the “family”, which is okay because they didn’t want him anyway, but Peter starts cutting everyone from his life that makes it worse. The only person from the old life he keeps is Dino’s parents and Joey. He even writes to Zanghi in prison. Not Chucky though. Not after the scar on his eye.
He makes friends at work, people who all make small talk with him and don’t think he’s a disappointment.
He starts actually going out and doing everything. He’s a regular at a niche coffee shop/bookstore. The barista knows him by name, and knows his order before he asks.
“Espresso affogato and chocolate cornetto for Peter!”
He even coaches a little league soccer team. The kids love him. Look up to him. He’s a leader again.
“Coach Peter!”
He keeps his therapist and visits her every week. He even goes off his anti-depressants slowly. He accepts what happened to him; evil men hurt him, but that doesn’t define who he is. It says everything about them and nothing about him.
It doesn’t make him weak. He’s not a rape victim, he’s a rape survivor
He survived, now he has to live
He smiles now. He’s got a bright smile.
And he laughs, loudly
He gains a little weight back, which makes him extremely happy
He even goes out on a few dates, nothing special yet, but people who make him laugh and smile.
Joey and he still hand out. Joey is still in the “family”, but he never drags Peter into his shit. He’s just the only one who understands and sympathizes.
He even has sex for the first time in years. It’s an… experience. He unpacks it in therapy, but it felt nice to be touched again, and not violently. He realizes there’s a difference between sex and what happened to him. He feels safe in his own body again.
He feels more like himself now.
Peter Schibetta is okay. He’s finally okay.
Bonus: Peter digs charcuterie boards and is VERY good at making them. He makes boards that look absolutely delicious and knows how to pair everything together. It’s a talent he gets to explore now.
Author’s Note: I’ve always written Peter as a bisexual who doesn’t accept his partially gay identity. But the person I always see him doing well with is Diego from Umbrella Academy. I think Diego would protect him without judging him, and I just want my Petey baby to be happy.
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