𝙎𝙋𝙄𝘿𝙀𝙍-𝙈𝘼𝙉 ¹ | 𝙈𝘾𝙐 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙩

9.04 - 𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙧𝙚𝙮

TWO DAYS. Two days of pondering. Pondering thoughts of grief, guilt, and dismay.

Y/N hadn't talked to anyone in the last couple of days. Not even to Harry, who was his roommate and had seen him every day since returning from his trip.

The same went for MJ. Although she returned from the track meet the day before, Y/N hadn't visited or called to see how she was doing.

He just kept to himself for the last 48-plus hours. Whether that was in his room alone, walking by himself through town, or swinging across the city. Y/N just wanted to keep himself preoccupied and not think about what he had lost.

Y/N was in the process of accepting what happened to Indira. He was close to moving on. But...he had just been given the revelation of what else he had taken away from him...

His child.

Now, the journey of acceptance, the steps he took to get over his guilt and the death of his girlfriend, all of that...it went down the drain. The structure crumbled. Those steps reset.

He tried to deny it all. Maybe the coroners got it wrong? Her mother probably heard mistakenly. There was even the question that crossed Y/N's mind of whether it was even possible for him to have a kid. Would his powers even allow that? If not, then it had to be untrue. Then it'd make it all better...right?

In reality, those were dumb questions. But that is what it came to. Y/N would rather believe he was infertile and debunk what he was told...than know that Indira died while pregnant. Again, he had fallen back to the first stage...

Denial.

• • •

THE CAFE WAS busy as usual. Randy and Harry were at their usual spot having a chat. The former told his friend about an acting opportunity he was presented with recently.

"Really? That's dope, bro." Harry said.

"Yeah. I was called back." Randy replied. "I think this could be my big break, man. If I get it."

"Not if...when," Harry emphasized and patted his shoulder. "Shit, imagine that. Maybe next, you can get cast into a show as big as Stranger Things or...Game of Thrones."

Randy chuckled. Soon, MJ came into the cafe...but she wasn't alone. The two young men remembered MJ telling them she would bring over a friend of hers from the tennis team.

"Hey, guys." MJ greeted with a smile.

"MJ." Randy greeted her back and stood up from his seat. "Who's this?"

She introduced the man beside her, who beamed at the two boys.

"This is Paul." MJ answered as she gestured to him.

He held out his hand. "Paul Rabin."

Randy shook it. "Randy. Randy Robertson."

Harry also shook the man's hand and smiled. "Osborn. Harry Osborn."

"Osborn?" Paul arched a brow as he let go. "You Norman's kid? NYC's Public Advocate?"

"Huh. Not many people know he holds that position."

"Well, my...uh...dad and I voted for him in the election earlier this year. We like his plans...his structure. We think he'd make a great mayor if he were to run."

Harry chuckled. "If only he were here to hear all that. He might've taken you to dinner or something."

Paul laughed as well. "Hey, I'd have taken it."