Broken

chapter three

TW - sexual assault and homophobic bitches

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Clint led him to the elevator and down onto the Avenger's floor. Everyone, including Bruce who was working all the time, was there. They had some TV show going, but no one was paying attention to it. They were all talking instead.

Everyone said hi to them and waved them over to join. Peter pretended not to notice how everyone was sending uneasy glances his way when they thought he wasn't looking. When he did look, they wore a smile instead. Except for Natasha, Bucky, and Loki who all looked suspicious of him and didn't bother hiding it.

For a while, he was distracted hanging out with them. They played a few stupid games that succeeded in making everyone laugh, even Peter. They also argued a bit, but that was normal. It was fun.

They actually managed to cheer him up a bit too. As long as he wasn't spaced out or thinking for too long, his thoughts didn't drift back to Skip.

They had dinner and started a movie afterward, but only got about twenty minutes in before everyone started talking again and it became background noise.

Peter thought about going out as Spider-Man but figured it wasn't a good idea if he was so distracted. The only thing keeping his thoughts off Skip was the Avengers, and if he left to go off by himself, he had no chance.

Eventually though, his mind focused on Skip once again and this time it wouldn't budge. It was ten p.m., so it wouldn't be all that suspicious if he went to bed now. It had been a long, draining day though, and all he wanted to do was sleep.

With that in mind, he told everyone that he was gonna go to his room. No one seemed to suspect anything was off, except maybe Nat, Tony, and Harley.

So he went to his room, got into his pajamas, and laid down. When he closed his eyes, he expected sleep to come easily since he'd been so tired. But instead, he found sleep evading him and he stared at the wall.

He wasn't sure how long it had been since he laid down, but Harley came in. Peter pretended to be asleep, not wanting his boyfriend to be more worried than he already was.

There was some shuffling around, followed by his bed dipping down as Harley sat on it. Then, he spoke softly as if not to wake Peter and brushed Peter's hair out of his face.

"I'm worried about you, darlin'. I know there's something wrong, even if you don't say so. I wish you would just tell me so I could help. I love you."

Despite both, having already said "I love you" to each other multiple times, his heart still fluttered whenever Harley said it.

Harley laid down beside him, still unaware that Peter was awake, and fell asleep. What Harley said made Peter feel unbelievably guilty. They were his family that cared so much about him just like Harley and Clint said, and he was lying straight to their faces.

Just like Harley, he was worried too.

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Nightmares made his sleep restless. He couldn't remember most of them, but there was a general sense of fear.

Bags hung under his eyes again, he was still jumpy, and he wore a comfortable outfit, rather than his normal jeans and graphic tee. Today, he didn't really care what he looked like. He was focused on other things. Like how he had to go see Skip after school.

School passed by all too quickly. Not that he actually paid attention to any of it. Luckily, Flash wasn't there to bug him about how he looked like shit. But Ned and MJ were.