NOWHERE LEFT • Peter Parker

ten •

"I should have listened."

March 2025

Peter was dizzy, bleeding, and most likely had head trauma, but this couldn't wait. Not after the night each of them had.

He knew Vanessa sent someone after him, and this someone happened to be pretty skilled with knives, so his chest was torn up and his Spider symbol slashed, but he was in tact and that would have to do.

The icy rain made slinging through the city much harder than necessary, the edges of buildings becoming slippery which caused his webs to fail a few times but he'd manage to catch himself before he slammed into anything.

He cursed himself silently as he landed on a fire escape, it felt as if he was tearing his scratches as they were trying to heal themselves.

Peter let out a soft sigh of relief as he collapsed against the window pane, his masked forehead against the glass as he tapped on it with one hand and held his side with the other. He could hear slight pattering about before the blinds were opened and Cecilia's extremely drained and shocked face stared back at him.

He watched as she hesitated for a moment but then her nose twitched and her eyes landed on the gashes in his suit and the blood coating his skin, with a soft huff she pushed her window open and stepped back.

"What—what are you doing here?" She asked in slight shock. Although she was certain that Spider-Man knew who she was at this point, there was no possible explanation for him showing up otherwise.

Peter went to respond as he stepped through her window but stumbled slightly before catching himself and standing up straighter.

"I—I need to talk to you," He began nervously. Peter watched as she raised her eyebrows in confusion and held her hands out waiting for him to continue, her eyes continually drifting to his bleeding body.

"Am I supposed to know about what? And here, could you not bleed all over my carpet," Cecilia muttered as she grabbed a towel from the clean clothes basket on her chair and held it out to the hero. Peter grabbed it with his gloved hand and pressed it into his side while muttering apologies and curse words all in one.

"I know who you are Cecilia."

She simply gave him a blank stare and a confused blink before she gestured towards her window that he just climbed through.

"I would say so yeah," She replied, he knew that she was being defensive to try and prevent him from telling the truth.

"And I know that you're going to hate me when I tell you the truth," Peter continued, he watched as her gaze softened and she tilted her head as she listened to his heartbeat. It was fast paced, but she could blame that on the injury.

Peter didn't waste another second before he reached up and pulled the mask from his head.

Cecilia's eyes widened, all the air leaving her lungs as she stumbled back slightly. It was like the last piece of the puzzle fit together as they stared at one another.

How could she have been so blind? What could have prevented her from figuring out that it was Peter Parker behind the Spider-Man mask.