Free Fall [PETER PARKER]

ELEVEN: WELCOME TO REALITY

chapter eleven

Ana was exhausted; in fact, she could probably sleep for the whole month and the next. The whole rest of the plane ride to New York and the car ride home was spent with her just looking out the window watching the world fly by. It was all so sound. It was like the whole fight and everything going on in this world she had been thrown in didn't even exist. She envied that oblivious world a little bit. They had no clue about the things going on outside from their lives.

As the driver pulled up to front of her building at an ungodly hour and retrieved her suitcase for her from the trunk, Ana smiled tiredly and thanked him before bidding him a good night. Holding the suitcase with her suit stashed inside, she grasped the handle tightly and grimaced. She was no doubt happy that Tony was even allowing her to keep it, but she was also a little guilty because she felt so undeserving of it. The words he had spoken to her once the plane had landed and she was just about to step into the gangway, wracked her brain with an overload of thoughts. This is a privilege, not a right. I'm trusting you with this, kid. Don't do anything I wouldn't do, but don't do anything I would. There's a fine line between the two that you fit in so don't screw it up.

Once the car drove off down the street, Ana looked up at her apartment building for the first time in a long time. She missed it and everything it came with; her parents and home most of all, along with Echo, but other things, too. She also missed the creaky front entrance door that was so light she almost shattered the glass when she first swung it open, she missed the shaky elevator that she and Peter would joke about collapsing one day, and she missed Peter in general and walks home from the train stop with him all the way to their apartments.

She couldn't wait to see him again. As she stood there, wearing his hoodie, she wondered what his reaction would be once he saw her waiting for him outside his door the next morning in the hallway like she used to so they could walk to the train together. She was already conjuring up in her mind how the event would play out.

"Ana! You're back!" He'd exclaim, then walk over to her and hug her tightly. It'd be a bone crushing hug, because he didn't want to let go. He'd missed her so much, but once he did finally release her from his embrace, he'd smile at her and ask her as a formality, "How was your uncle's?" He wasn't exactly all that interested. There were a million other things he would rather talk about. He'd want to tell her how much he missed her and how her time away had made him realize how much he needed her in his life.

But playing along, Ana would lie to his face again to keep her secret. She'd spin some fake story and he'd believe it like everyone else she told it to. She'd grin back at him and say, "It was great there, but I really missed it here." Then out of bravery and regret for not expressing her feelings for him enough when she had left, she'd add, "I missed you."