NOWHERE LEFT • Peter Parker

eleven •

"Yel almost killed him."

April 2025

Cecilia let out a disgruntled groan, her mouth dry and head throbbing. She could hear faint talking and three heartbeats other than her own. She could feel soft fur under her fingertips as her hand slowly rose and fell.

She cracked her eyes open but instantly regretted it as the sunlight shining through the windows blinded her causing her to let out another groan as she lifted her hand to cover them.

"Hey, hey go slow." Cecilia nearly jumped when she felt a hand rest on her arm, followed by a cold wet nose and a soft whine.

"Dad?" She cracked out peaking an eye open to see her father's worried face as he kneeled next to her bed. Her two roommates standing in the doorway behind him while Lucky laid next to her.

"How are you feeling honey?" He asked as he gently pushed some hair from her face and traced his thumb down her nose in an attempt to keep her calm.

"Like someone hit me in the head with with a crowbar," She mumbled as she rubbed at her temple. The girls behind Matt shared a look waiting for her to come to enough to recount the night before.

Cecilia's nose twitched slightly as her senses were filled with the coppery scent of blood, her eyes dropped down to her carpet where a white bloody washcloth rested. The sight of it was enough to cause the night before to flash through her mind.

"Peter," She whispered. The image of Spider-Man crawling through her window right before her eyes. The worried face he made as he pulled the mask down and showed her who he really was. It made sense, but it didn't change how angry she was at herself for not seeing it sooner.

She had spent so much time with him, and yet she had never pictured him as who was under that mask. Not with his embarrassed smiles and his dorky jokes, his kind eyes and even kinder heart. A boy who she had met when he was all alone.

Yet the more she thought about it the more it actually did make sense.

A photographer who 'wasn't afraid of heights' as Karen had said, and Cecilia had seen some of his work, a lot of those pictures were at nearly impossible angles, ones that only someone like Spider-Man could get. The lying about having to leave randomly while they were hanging out, which was something she did also and should have caught.

The part that bothered her the most, was that she had met them both. And she still couldn't tell.

Cecilia could always tell who was in front of her whether she could see their face or not, simply by their smell, tone of voice, their heartbeat even. And despite spending so much time with Peter she didn't see it.

"What do you remember?" Her father asked snapping her from her thoughts. She turned her eyes to scan his features, he had removed his glasses and his hair was askew as if he had run his hands through it numerous times. The worried hazel gaze was directed just right of her face not quite meeting her darker one.

"That—that Peter was here, and he was injured...that's his blood," Cecilia began as she motioned to the bloody rag.

Kate and Yelena shared another look, they weren't sure if she remembered the truth and was covering for him, or if she simply didn't remember.