MAGIC TRICKS [PETER PARKER]

FOURTY-NINE

THE GENTLE BREEZE tossed a strand of Nadia's hair around her face until she couldn't stand the tickling on her cheek anymore. Sighing, she tucked it behind her ear harshly.

She walked down the surprisingly quiet streets of Venice with Peter at her side. They didn't talk until he stopped them at a magnificent bridge overlooking sparkling water. He took a deep breath, and Nadia watched him, trying to get rid of the tingling in her hands. His cheeks were flushed, and he looked nervous.

"Peter, what is it?" she asked, as gentle as her shaking voice could manage. She couldn't help but feel as if this was... an ending, of some sorts. And she guesses that she really should have seen it coming earlier. 

Nothing was the same between them after Tony's death. It was stupid for her to think it ever could be. 

This was the end of them- after all they'd been through, after all they'd done- this was how it ended. Her stomach lurched. She wanted to throw up.

"Um... Okay, uh, I don't really know how to say this." Peter looked down at his hands, before placing one into his pocket. He avoided her eyes. "Nadia... Things have been... different lately, and... Well, we've had a hard time lately and... and I think-"

"We should break up." The words flew from Nadia's mouth before she could stop them, finishing what she thought was the end of his sentence. "We should break up, you're right."

"W-what?" Peter's eyes widened terribly. She wanted to break up? He didn't want to break up, not at all. Where had this come from?

"You're breaking up with me. I- that's why you brought me out here, right? I mean, I appreciate you not doing it in front of everyone, even if it is while we're on vacation-" Nadia was rambling, unable to stop herself. 

At first, Peter was going to interrupt and tell her why he really brought her out, to tell her he loved her, but now he hesitated, his hand clenched around the little tin box the necklace came in. He did love her, but did she love him still? He'd never doubted her love for him, until now.... She thought he wanted to break up with her and she was so... unbothered by it. He wasn't going to break up with her, but if he did, she wouldn't even care? Was he about to make a fool out of himself when he told her he loved her still, when they were on such different pages?

Nadia had continued to ramble, trying to scrounge up and save any last bit of dignity she had. She had always been very prideful and closed off, especially when it came to her feelings, so this was not easy for her. She was actually destroyed on the inside, because she loved him so much- but she had to hide it away. Her pride wouldn't allow her to capitulate and beg for him to stay with her, even though that's all she really wanted to do. "It's fine, Peter, really... I'll get over it."

Those words struck him like a knife in the heart. "You'll get over it?"

Nadia paused for a moment, thinking she saw a hint of hurt flash across his face. It was a lie, of course- she'd never get over it. She'd never get over him. Nadia turned away from him, placing her hands on the railing and looking out over the water, as she felt tears sting her eyes. "I'm sorry, I know... it's my fault, but I just wanted things to be normal again. But I'm starting to realize that things probably won't ever be normal again. We... We've changed." A tear escaped, despite her best efforts, and rolled down her cheek.

Peter's fist unclenched from around the necklace tin. "What do you mean?" He could only see the side of her face. He knew things were different, but he never thought they were different. If there was one thing he thought hadn't changed, one thing he could always rely on, it was that they were still... them. Nadia had been there with him through everything, especially when Tony died. She'd saved the freaking universe for him. And now they were breaking up?