LoveBite [2]

91

After dropping Anya off at the compound for another sleepover, Peter takes Satine on a ride into the city. The sun has set and the windows are down, the wind cooling them from the summers heat, until they pull to a stop. He puts the car in park and unbuckles her seatbelt with his while she looks at the random dark building beside them.

"What're we doing here?" She steps out as he comes around.

"Come on." He takes her hand.

"Where are we?..is a better question." She mumbles and he shrugs.

"Nowhere important."

He opens the door for her and leads her all the up to the roof. She's the first to step out onto the gravel and turns to him with a slow smile.

"What's going on?" She cautiously smirks and he takes a deep breath.

"I know..." He heads for the ledge. "You said you may be done with LoveBite." He sits down and she nods as she follows. "And I know what that means for me." He takes her hand as she sits across from him, moving her leg over him to leave it hanging over. "I'm gonna lose my partner in crime. And as much as I don't want that to happen, I know it isn't my choice." He shakes his head, his hand beneath her to pull her closer. "It isn't my body, I can't feel what you're going through, but I can understand that it is bad enough to make you feel like you need to stop, because I know that nothing would stop you, unless it was as bad as this. I know I can't do anything to change what you're going through, but I know I can do this." He holds her hips while she holds his. "I can still take you to all kinds of heights and I can fly you wherever you want to go and we can scope out the area, just as normal." His brows wrinkle, rubbing up and down her thighs. "I can't change what happened, but I can change your hurt. I won't let you be in pain anymore than you already are. I won't watch you cry everyday anymore, I don't wanna see it ever again." He states without a doubt and she tilts her head with a sigh. "It kills me to see you this way. Just to say that would be a poor choice of words --" He hangs his head.

"Hey." She places her hand on his cheek. "It's okay. It's not."

He sighs against her palm, resting his lips on her soft skin for a moment.

"This doesn't make up for what you've lost, but it's the least I can do to help, if not even for a little bit." He mumbles solemly and she shakes her head in denial, cupping his other cheek as well.

"No, Pavúk. Do not undermine what you've done for me. You haven't left my side since I got sick. You have taken care of me for weeks, years, and you think taking me here doesn't compete with what I've lost. You're wrong." She nods without an ounce of doubt. "You're wrong."

He nods slightly in compliance and she sighs. She pulls him in to lay his forehead against hers, temple to temple, and he closes his eyes, taking in the scent of her strawberry shampoo.

"I love you so much." She whispers, nuzzling softly against him. "I can't thank you enough, Peter."

"You don't need to."

"I want to." She slides her arms around his neck, reaching to hug him. "I want to find a real way to thank you the way you've thanked me for whatever the hell I did to deserve it."

"You do a lot to deserve it." He grabs her thighs to lay them over his, pulling her into his front.

"Like what?"

"Anya." He raises his brows.

"It's not like I birthed her, finding her was just pure luck." She shakes her head.

"Finding her was you being nosey." He nods and she grins a bit. "You being nosey and curious is what brought Anya into our lives. I mean, you're always nosey." He shrugs, making her chuckle. "If you weren't, you wouldn't have looked at my notebook Junior year, you wouldn't have asked me if the stuff on my wrists was my webshooters, you, uh..." He pauses to think while she grins into his shoulder.

"Take your time." She teases and he chuckles.

"Well, how 'bout this...Sam and Bucky wouldn't have gotten together if you hadn't stuck your nose in their love lives." He states and she laughs. "Natasha and Steve. Pietro and Ruby would've happened anyway, but I'm pretty sure you and Wanda pushed it even quicker. You're a matchmaker because you're nosey." He nods and she can't help but agree. "It's a pretty good thing sometimes. And I get to hear all the gossip, so it's a win-win for everybody."

"It is."

"Exactly." He gently pushes her back to look into her eyes. "I have to thank you for all the lives you have brought together over the years and for the way you changed. After fifteen years of a living hell, you were able to become your own person and --"

She grabs the wall to brace herself as she leans back and a weak part of the wet stone causes her to slip. She yelps as she starts quickly grabs onto the other side, going down only slightly before she feels his gripping hands on her arms.

"Fuck that." He lifts her off the ledge and she looks down as she smiles. "Hell no."

"No, no, wait." She stumbles as he places her on her feet and stands too. "I just slipped a little bit, I --"

"You don't need to slip at all." He widens his eyes in surity, brows risen to the high heavens, and she laughs.

"The stone was chipped, that's all --"

"How much of it do you think is chipped?" He nods and she hangs her head. "You've fallen off a roof before --"

"I know, you keep reminding me." She chuckles.

"And for good reason." He smiles. "You're clumsy."

"I'm a ballerina." She states in correction.

"You haven't been a ballerina in eighteen years." He nods and she rolls her eyes. "And, yes, I know, you were shot down the first time you fell, but you still fell and that's good enough for me." He shakes his head and she crosses her arms, left hand folded out. "Anyway...you broke the cycle. And I just wanted to say I'm proud of you and I thank you." He nods before he looks down at her hanging hand. "Are you hurt?" He gently takes it and she shrugs.

"It stings a little bit, but it's okay."

"It stings because it is now a slight open wound that needs to be washed because there's dirt in there." He turns her a bit. "Time to go back home."

"Is it really that urgent?" She hopes not and he chuckles.

"You wait too long and touch a bunch of things with that, it's going to get infected."

"What if I don't touch a bunch of things?" She looks behind him.

"We'll come back." He speaks softly and she sighs. "I promise, we will come back and I'm going to find a roof that is not broken and it has an awning beneath it, or maybe a trampoline."

"A trampoline." She chuckles and he nods.

"I'll find one. Test me, I'll do it."