Lovebug ── PETER PARKER¹

10. Depths of the Night

— • —

TRIGGER WARNING: SEXUAL ASSAULT

          Luna adored her neighborhood. It was a predominantly latino area, always filled with lively music and large, mostly happy, families. She never felt unsafe throughout the day, but the night was a different story. It was a weekday, leaving the streets empty of people, everyone tucked away in their beds.

           She decided against telling one of her siblings to pick her up from school after the final performance, not wanting to be a bother, instead opting to text them throughout her journey from school to home at such a late time. It wasn't the safest option, especially being a young woman only wielding an algebra textbook for a weapon. Her neighborhood wasn't unsafe, but it wasn't the suburbs safe either. There were shady alleys every few blocks, and drunk men lingering outside of every bar that stayed open past 11pm on a weekday.

           That fact seemed to slip her mind when she texted Andrew that she didn't need a ride, and now she was stuck with walking past with her head low, and steps fast. "Hey." She ignored the raspy voice that spoke, continuing to walk. This led to a whistle, followed by multiple laughs as she quickened her pace. She inhaled deeply, trying to calm her racing heart, her fingers clenching into fists. "Baby, don't ignore me."

           She choked up when a hand grabbed her elbow, tugging her back. Her eyes were wide as she was forced to look up at the man, his two fingers holding her chin. Her fear filled eyes met those of the man, his eyes darkening as he looked over her face. "She looks a bit young," one of the other men pointed out, before raising a bottle to his lips. "Don't wanna catch a case."

          Luna swallowed harshly when the man broke their eye contact to glare at the other. "Nobody is catching a case," He scoffed, his hand dropping from Luna's face, making her let out a sigh of relief. She was prepared to turn away and run to her house, but he grabbed onto her hips instead. "She won't spill, right baby?"

           "Please no," she pleaded, taking a step away only to be pulled back. Tears were beginning to well in her eyes as his grip on her tightened, and she looked hopelessly over to the other man. All he did was shrug, bringing the bottle to his lips and looking the other way. "Please. I'm only fourteen." Her hands were sprawled across his chest, pushing as much as she could, but he was much stronger than her. As a last resort, she let out a scream, just to have a hand slapped over her mouth.

          The scent of alcohol smacked her in the face as he leaned in close to her, her eyes squeezing close in fear. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be," he grumbled. She released a shaky breathe as she began feeling the greedy hands gripping at her as she fought back tears. Suddenly she was being pulled away from his hold, her eyes snapping open in shock. The man's eyes were filled with fire, and he quickly reached for her once more, but a 'woosh' sounded through the air as he was shot back.

           Her hands flew up to her mouth as she stepped away, looking from the man stuck on the wall, to the red and blue cladded man who caused it. "That's no way to treat a woman." The man growled, swinging a fist at the hero, just to have that stuck to the wall as well.

           "Mario, do something!" He turned to his friend, who was staring blankly as the whole ordeal went down. "Mario" shook his head, dropping his bottle before taking off. "Useless bastard."

           Luna could barely see through her teary eyes, but she instinctively took a step back when the blur of red and blue approached her. "Are you alright, miss?" Tears were freely streaming down her cheeks, her nose and cheeks wearing the same shade of red. She was not okay. Spider-Man took notice of her shaking hands and inability to speak, and that was enough to answer his question. He turned to the man responsible, his body stuck to the bricks of the building. "Apologize," He demanded. The man rose an amused eyebrow, only making the masked hero more frustrated. "Apologize, and I'll consider not calling the police for your sexual harassment of a minor."

           Any sign of amusement disappeared from the man's face, and his eyes flitted over to Luna, who couldn't dare to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry," he huffed, and the shaking girl lifted her head. She stared for a moment, before stepping towards him. She looked over the webs holding him hostage, before releasing a shaky sigh and delivering a punch right to his nose.

           Spider-Man winced at the sound of a crunch, watching cautiously as Luna stepped away from the man groaning in pain. "Thank you," she whispered to the hero, her tears still streaming freely. "Can I ask you for something?" He nodded with no hesitation. "Can you walk me home?"

          In the depths of the night, Luna and Spider-Man walked side-by-side, completely silent. He constantly looked over to her, her eyes focused on the sidewalk below her. She could still feel the rough hands of the man gripping at her hips, and a shiver ran down her spine as she thought of what would have happened had Spider-Man not shown up. She stopped in front of her home, saying nothing as she walked up the pathway to her house.

           He watched her silently as she dragged her feet up the steps, turning back once. She barely waved before stepping into her house, and the boy inside the suit could feel his heart clench in sadness.

          "Luna, why the hell didn't you–" Andrew stopped mid-sentence once he took in the appearance of his younger sister. Tears had welled in her eyes once more, and she held her shaky hands up, reaching out for her brother. He wasted no time, wrapping his arms around the girl as she let out a sob.

— • —

I want to write an author's note, but I don't know where to begin. This was so hard for me to write, I can't even begin to imagine how victims of sexual assault feel.

I've read a lot of books where a character is sexually assaulted in one chapter, then it's never mentioned again, which I feel is extremely unrealistic. This isn't going to be swept under the rug for Luna, as it's a very traumatic thing she experienced. So you'll see how her character develops while dealing with what happened to her.