LOUD MOUTH → PETER PARKER ✓

Chapter Eleven: Swinging Through New York

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍: SWINGING THROUGH NEW YORK

For a record breaking fourth time that day, Callie felt wind rushing in her ears as she fell towards the harbor. With no other choices to stay alive, she once again wrapped her arms around Peter―who she currently wanted to slap in the face―and shut her eyes tight, screaming as loudly as she could just to spite him.

The falling stopped as Peter shot a web that connected with the bottom of the bridge and they swung forward. Just like she had seen him do in the video, he let go of that one and shot another further away, pulling them closer to the actual street.

"I hate this!" Callie shrieked. "I hate this so much!"

When she said, that she could've sworn she heard Peter laugh at her, which only made her want to slap him more.

They made it to the street and Peter started using buildings as jump-off points. She finally opened her eyes. They started to water almost immediately from the intense wind blowing into her face.

"Wait, wait," she said over the noise. "this is kinda cool."

The people on the ground had started to look up at them and point―she guessed Spider-Man was becoming a bit of a thing.

"Holy shit, this is really cool!" she exclaimed. After a moment she added, "but if you do the fake pretend-to-drop-me thing, I'll kill you, just so you know!"

"Wouldn't dream of it!" Peter replied, but in a way that made her feel like he was thinking about it.

"I mean it, Parker!" she yelled. "I swear to god, if you even―"

Of course, he dropped her, sending her back into a screaming fit. He dove back down and caught her before she could get very far and she clung to him like her life depended on it―which it did.

"I can't believe you just did that!" she screamed. "You know what? Let me fall. Let me splatter on the pavement at this point. Make it count."

THEY FINALLY CAME TO A STOP ON PETER'S ROOF, where Callie felt her heart start to slow down. She wasn't so angry anymore, though she still wanted to punch him in the face―but first she needed about a million answers.

"How did this start? How long has it been? Did you make this suit yourself? How does the web thingie work? Is it a device attached to your suit, or do they actually come out of your wrist? I need an explanation!"

"Maybe don't announce it to the whole neighborhood?" Peter asked with a grin. "I'll tell you everything, come on." He quietly slid his bedroom door open and climbed inside. Callie followed after him, just about bouncing on her toes from the adrenaline rush. Almost dying, swinging through New York, finding out her best friend is a superhero―she felt like she could either fly or throw up from the excitement of it all.

"How hard did you hit the windshield?" Peter asked, looking at her bruised and cut face with worry.

"Not hard enough to forget the giant lizard that put me there in the first place." she said, quietly climbing into the room.. "What was that thing?"

"I don't know," he admitted.

Callie paused a second, waiting for him to go on. When he didn't, she gave him a wide-eyed look. "That's it? You just . . don't know?"

"Well, no one's ever really seen this thing before―"

"Yeah, but what about the superhuman smarts? And the superhuman strength, not to mention. If you had superhuman good looks, you'd be the entire superhero package."

Peter stopped, giving her a look.

"It was a joke. Complete and total sarcasm."

He walked over to her. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Okay, I see what you're doing―"

"Answer the question."

Callie sighed, rolling her eyes. "I do not have a concussion. And you're holding up four."

"Good."

Callie walked over to the mirror as Peter disappeared into his closet. "Mirror, Mirror, on the wall," she murmured upon seeing her face. "please fix the fact that I look like I got hit in the face with a giant baseball."

A large purple bruise had formed on her cheekbone with a straight slash across it. Crusted blood formed a trail down the right half of her face. The cut in her lip had already turned black. She couldn't help but realize it wasn't that long ago that she had blood on her face―only this time, it was hers.

That thought killed whatever buzz she was riding on. All at once she felt the adrenaline that had been coursing through her veins dissipate. Now she just felt achy and slightly nauseous. She trudged over and laid down on Peter's bed on her side, being careful to not get any blood on his pillow. She started to think that maybe she should call her mom.

Peter came out of the closet in a sweatshirt and pajama pants and saw her lying there, staring blankly at the wall, and guessed that what had happened finally caught up to her. Her hazel eyes were glazed over and her arms wrapped around her waist, like she was trying to protect herself. He sat down beside her and brushed a piece of hair out of her face. "You okay?" he asked.

"Mhm," she said quietly. "Just processing."

Her voice came out choked so she cleared her throat. Peter laid down beside her, his face parallel to hers. Her gaze was headed straight over his shoulder, just barely missing him. Her lips parted for a moment like she was going to say something, but they shut again moments later. Callie was still compiling her thoughts and trying to sum them up. What does someone say to their best friend in this situation? She wasn't even sure this type of this had ever happened before, to anyone.

"You know you're my favorite person in the world, right?" she said suddenly, her gaze unbroken.

Peter opened his mouth to say something, but realized that he didn't really know what he could say.

She shifted her eyes to his and felt like they were on the verge of filling with tears. "And I'd hate to see you get ripped apart by a giant lizard thing."

As soon as she said it, she clenched her eyes shut. "Sorry. I-I know that I should probably be taking this seriously, but I really don't want to because taking things seriously means they're serious and I don't really want to deal with man-eating monsters and you being a superhero." she spoke quickly, trying to get the words out before she thought too much about them. "I'm just . . a little panicked, so I'm sorry if I seem like I'm not―"

"Hey, hey, hey," Peter said. "You think I didn't feel like that when I saw you in that car?"

"Yeah, but . . saving people is your thing now, right? You would have done that for anyone."

"You're not just anyone, Cal." Peter said. "You're my favorite person in the world."

The corners of Callie's lips turned up in a sad smile, tears finally starting to gather in her eyes.

"Come here," Peter murmured, wrapping and arm around her and puller her closer. Callie nuzzled her head into his chest as his chin rested on the top of her head.

And though she had yet to call her mom, there was a giant lizard monster running around New York, and she had a Spanish quiz tomorrow she had forgotten to study for, Callie felt safe.