Legacy | Peter Parker

6 | somebody that i used to know

                                                                           now you're just somebody 

                                                                                  that I used to know

I have learned a few things about Heather after living with her for four months. 

Number one: her dog hates me.

 I swear whenever I try to get close to her, he starts growling or baring his teeth at me. She thinks it's hilarious, so does Aunt May, I do not think it's funny. I've tried to get this dog to like me so many times, but still nothing. He is just to protective of Heather, and I don't think he realizes that I am trying to keep her safe as well.

The first few days that Leo was at my apartment, he tried to attack me on multiple occasions. I tried to tap her shoulder to get her attention and he almost bit my fingers off.  It's not that I don't like her dog, it's just that's it's a bit inconvenient to live with a thing that hates your guts.

 I let him stay though, Leo makes Heather really happy. 

Number two: she has powers. 

Heather doesn't really like her powers, she told me they remind her of bad times, I didn't make her elaborate. She can control all the elements. I also think she is scared of them because she doesn't know how to control them. 

One day while she was making breakfast she said, "Look Peter, I can make toast," she put her hands of either side of the toaster. She closed her eyes, concentrating. The toaster blew up. Heather jumped away and gulped, "That wasn't supposed to happen."

She must have either been feeling really good or very off that day because it's the only time I've ever seen her try to think about her powers as good, or or them at all. 

Number three: Heather has anxiety. 

She likes to say it's nothing, that she's just too stressed, or upset. But it's very easy to tell when she's getting anxious because she starts to swear a lot, and she doesn't curse in her everyday word choice that much. I can also tell because I can hear her heart beating faster and her breathing increasing.

I've seen her get anxious plenty of times. When she is reminded of her powers or Mr. Stark she'll say something like, "Shit, shit keep it together," and then breath deeply. She thinks I can't hear her. Or when we walk in the street with big crowds, all of them bumping in to her and traffic making lots of noise over people talking  "These bitches better keep their shit together because I can't," she'll say. When that happens, I take her hand and let her know I'm there, and that I will help her 'keep her shit together,' as she'd say. 

But I have only ever witnessed her having a panic attack once. She was trying to put on a movie, and couldn't get the right time she'd stopped it at the night before. Every time she rewound it and it landed a few minutes off, her hands twitched. I offered her help but she told me she could do it on her own. She stood up and clicked the button over and over again. "Just-just work!" she yelled at it. She fell to her knees and started to cry. 

"Hey it's okay," I comforted her. 

"It's a TV remote, I should be able to do this!" 

But I helped her and so did Leo. I think he knows when she gets anxious too, because he usually comes to lay on top of her when she is. She doesn't have nightmares anymore either, but that's because she sleeps in a twin bed with a giant husky with her, so at least she's happy. 

Number three: she likes to have a schedule. 

Heather has both of our schedule for each day worked out to a tee. We both wake up at six on weekdays, we do whatever we need to to get ready for the day and head out at six forty-five. We then walk down to the café she likes for breakfast. She likes it because they have the sour cherry scones she likes, also because they allow dogs. So she gets a scone or two and a latte. After breakfast I go to school for the day and she finishes her walk with Leo. She then goes home, does her online school program and waits for me to get home.