Silent Tears

Chapter Four

Nikki's POV

Over the next couple weeks, Peter invited me over to hang out repeatedly. Somehow, he had managed to get my number, which I had no idea of how, since I could have sworn that I made sure it wasn't included in the school directory, but he did.

He kept texting, and I just kept on accepting and going over to Stark Towers, where we'd usually pass time playing video games or kickboxing or something. Surprisingly, I actually found myself mildly enjoying the time we spent hanging out, and I was reminded of how good it felt to have an actual friend.

Don't get used to it.

I was jarred from my thoughts when Peter gave a triumphant shout. We had spent hours playing Mario Kart, and, thanks to my moment of distraction, he had finally beaten me.

He gave me a smug smile. "Told you I'd win eventually!"

I offered back a look of my own. "Don't get used to it, Petey boy."

Peter glared at the nickname, in the same way he did every time I used it. I don't know when it had happened, but the two of us had grown pretty close the last couple of weeks. I was so glad to have a friend again, after all I had left behind before.

A notification came up on my phone, causing a vibration on the couch it was sitting on.

"I've got to go."

Peter stood to show me out, like the absolute gentleman he was. "You good?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine, I just have to buy some things."

"Oh. Cool."

I walked to go down the stairs, since this level, for whatever reason, didn't have access to the elevator. I put my hand on the banister and made my way down, with Peter walking behind, ranting about how he had finally won me in our favorite game.

We had almost reached the elevator door on the lower floor, when my knees gave out and I fell to the ground. My foot brace bent at the ankle, and I tried to get up as quickly as I could. My wrist had gotten healed well enough, so I was able to have full access to my upper body to stand up.

"What happened?? Are you okay? Do you need me to get someone?" Peter had appeared right next to me in an instant, offering me his arm to pull myself completely upright.

"I'm fine." I looked at the ground, as far away from his eyes as I could. "Yes, I'm sure, I promise it wasn't anything huge."

"But that was the third time you've fallen."

"Exactly. It happens all the time, it's nothing to go into a fuss about."

"Fine. But if you fall again, I'm going to ask Bruce to look at it. Deal?"

"Sure."

"You at least want something to eat?"

"No."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

Peter ran his hands over his hair like he did whenever I was difficult like this, then allowed me to continue walking into the elevator.

When we were just about to step out of the building doors a few moments later, he turned to me once again.

"You sure you don't need anything?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I can take care of myself, remember?" Sometimes, when he cared like this it was sweet. But when he overdid it like he was doing now, it began to exasperate me. Say it's because of past experiences or whatever if you want, but really, him asking the same stupid caring questions over and over again would be enough to annoy anybody.

"Okay, I'll just...I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, sure."

When I had taken only a few steps out the door, my knees weakened again. I only sank a couple inches before they regained their strength this time, but Peter noticed. I tried to keep walking, but he was next to me faster than I could get away.

"Nikki. Come on, you promised."

"I'm fine, Peter."

Liar.

He looked slightly hurt by my tone, but I just wanted the worrying to stop. I'd been living this way for my entire life - it wasn't as if it would suddenly become a big deal.

"Do you at least want me to get you something to eat? Maybe you just need food?"

"No, thanks. I'm just going to go back to my apartment and get some things done. I'll see you another time."

"Come on, it's getting dark. At the very least let me walk you home."

I looked around, surprised that the sun was indeed already setting. I hadn't been there for too long, had I?

"Fine. But no begging on the way."

"I shall be absolutely silent. You won't even know I'm there."

The weird thing was, while we walked, I actually couldn't tell that he was there. Either my ears were playing tricks on me, or he was the quietest person to ever live in New York. A couple of times I checked to make sure he was still next to me, and he was just walking normally. Had I just never noticed how silently Peter moved?

My apartment was relatively close to the tower, so it wasn't a long walk, but I could feel all of the tension of things Peter wanted to say and ask, even though I couldn't hear him moving, which made it feel miles long.

Word Count: 853