Nothing Without You - Peter Parker [2]

10: projector

CHAPTER 10
Projector

THE uneasy feeling that Kassidy had gained after the fight still hadn't left. Her hands were jittery and shaky, and small purple sparks kept expelling themselves from her fingertips. Her leg bounced up and down in an attempt to rid herself of the stress that had taken over her body, but nothing seemed to work.

Peter was sat next to her, drinking a Pepsi through a straw. He was hunched over, taking the drink in large gulps. On the way to the pub, he had informed Kassidy of what Fury had told him. It had taken a lot of convincing from Peter for the girl not to turn right around and give Fury a piece of her mind.

"Hey." Beck spoke up, slapping Peter on the shoulder. "You gotta celebrate. We did something good tonight."

Peter squeaked out a small "yeah," and Beck gave him a pat on the back and a tight-lipped smile. Kassidy's eyes lingered on Beck for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Fury was right." Peter said, his eyes focused on the bar in front of him. "Tony did a lot for us... so I owe it to him, to everybody."

Kassidy frowned at the boy. She hated how Fury could manipulate him and make him feel so... inferior. She reached her hand onto the bar and enveloped Peter's in her own, resulting in the boy sending her a grateful smile.

"Do you?" Beck asked the boy.

"Yeah. I mean... Mr. Stark gave me the chance to be more. He wanted me to be better than him. And Fury just wants me to live up to that." Peter replied, fiddling with Kassidy's hand.

"Peter, you don't have to live up to anyone's expectations." Kassidy interjected, a hand landing on Peter's arm. "I sure as shit don't care what Fury thinks."

Beck let out a small chuckle at the girls forwardness, and he nodded in agreement. "She's right, Peter." he told the boy. "You know, I'm glad the two of you have each other."

Both teens cheeks went red, and Kassidy dropped the hand that had been resting on Peters arm. Their interlocked hands, however, stayed that way beneath the bar.

"What do you mean?" Kassidy asked, gulping.

"I mean, If I had the support system you two have set up for each other... I don't know. Things would have been different back in my world." Beck explained, shaking his head.

Kassidy sent the man a sympathetic smile. She supposed he was right. If she had to do the things she had done over the past few years on her own, well, she wouldn't have.

"Why don't the two of you have some man-to-man talk?" Kassidy suggested, patting Peter on the back. "I should probably go back to the hotel. MJ's already suspicious enough."

"Yeah, yeah, that's fine, Kass." Peter nodded, letting go of her hand. "Be safe."

"I will."

And with her hand feeling empty, Kassidy bid the two men goodbye and left the pub, missing the way the tables shimmered with blue as she walked by.