Broken

chapter ten

TW - sexual assault

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Peter stayed in his room the rest of the day, not really doing much. Ned sent him the schoolwork he'd missed since Wednesday, so he worked on that a bit. For about half an hour, he would do it before he'd become unmotivated and do something else. There wasn't a lot, but he had to take frequent breaks to stay focused.

Eventually, Wanda brought him dinner. Before, he might've pretended that he hadn't been crying or was in a good mood, but now it was pointless. He wasn't very good at lying and it was kind of obvious.

After eating his dinner, he just set the plate aside and laid down. It was almost nine. It was still a bit early, but he decided to go to bed anyway, not having anything else to do.

The next day, they made him stay home again to recover. They wanted to make sure his ribs and wrist healed. It didn't make much of a difference; he probably wouldn't have paid attention in class anyway.

Today, he left his room. He took his old plate from last night to the sink and got breakfast. Normally, Steve would make breakfast, but Peter woke up early today. He couldn't sleep much.

As he sat down to eat his cereal, Loki came in. Loki got his own breakfast and sat next to Peter at the table.

He was one of the few people Loki actually liked, so he found it easy to start a conversation with Peter. Even after they finished their food, they sat at the table talking.

Once more people started coming in, Loki and Peter went to sit in the living room. Loki turned into a snake and showed Peter his magic, and Peter watched in amusement. Loki didn't bring up anything about where he'd been or what happened, which was nice for a change.

After a bit, everyone had joined them in the living room. Harley pulled him off to the side and asked him the question Peter had suspected was coming but dreaded.

"So, what happened yesterday? I thought about it and I... I don't know. I just wanted to make sure you're okay, I guess," Harley said shyly, which was pretty out of character for him. It made it obvious that he was being serious.

"I'm okay. Sorry for worrying you," Peter tells him, avoiding the first part of the question.

"Don't be sorry. But come on, Peter. You're not okay, and I just wanna help you. Is... is someone hurting you?" Harley looked like he already had his mind made up about the answer, so Peter wasn't sure why he asked.

Peter knew he wouldn't be able to lie though. Harley could tell when he was lying most of the time, and even if he didn't, it would be pointless to lie. Harley had seen the bruises on his neck and wrists, and usually, excuses like being clumsy didn't work with handprints.

"It's nothing, Harls. You're helping by just being here and being with me. I'm okay."

Harley didn't seem to buy it, but trying to get Peter to talk would be fruitless. If anything, it would make the situation worse, so he just sighed and went back to the living room with Peter.

"Everything okay?" Clint tried to ask lightly as they walked in, but there was still a tone of worry behind the facade.

"Yeah," Peter assured. Harley nodded to confirm, even if he wasn't so sure.

Peter hung out in the living room for most of the day. He took turns playing video games with Bucky, Thor, and Clint for a while. It was actually kind of fun and it distracted him. He won most of the games, only losing a few against Clint. Clint wouldn't let him live it down either.

The rest of the day, Clint playful taunted him about beating him at Mario Kart once or twice, even though Peter beat him every other time. He said that those were the only times he was trying. Peter just laughed.