1 | Almost Happy ▷ Sam Wilson | ✓

6 - NOT YOUR FAULT

"GOD, I'M PATHETIC."

Rhett didn't even bother looking up from where he was going over his students' schoolwork on the couch, raising an eyebrow as he peered over his non-prescription glasses, asking in a deadpan tone, "Oh no, Nicky. What is it this time?"

The younger man turned to look at his roommate from where he was sprawled out on the couch, face buried in the cushions. "I'm a twenty-six year old virgin who's never dated anyone and is gonna die alone. This isn't a 'this time' crisis, Rhett, this is a life crisis."

"Nicky, if you tried, you'd find a whole line of people willing to sleep with you," Rhett said, still not looking up, "Hell, I'll sleep with you. So would Steve."

He wrinkled his nose at the thought, though it did pique his interest. "Mmm...no, I'm okay. Don't get me wrong, a few years back, I definitely would, but now...I don't know."

"I'll pretend I wasn't hurt by that," Rhett continued to deadpan, "Though I have to ask, why haven't you slept with anyone. I mean, you've certainly had the opportunity, didn't Reed Richards try sleeping with you once? When he got super drunk. Again."

Nicky smiled at the memory, if not more than a bit uncomfortable. "I just didn't want to. Like, Steve is hot, but I don't feel any desire to sleep with him. Or anyone I know for that matter."

"You could just sleep with them for the hell of it," Rhett pointed out, "Though, I guess that requires some desire. Why don't you want to, I mean, he's attractive enough."

Nicky didn't know how he was going to explain to his roommate that, unless he had strong emotional ties to a person, there wasn't any real feasible way he was going to feel any desire to sleep with them. Of course, he had a strong connection with Rhett, but like he said, the desire to be with him had left him long ago.

"Do you want me to sleep with him?" Nicky asked, trying to divert the focus ever so slightly, "I mean, he is with you."

Rhett shrugged. "Sharing is caring."

Before Nicky could even try to find a response, there was the sound of the door opening, shocking the two into action, unsure of who to expect on the other side. To their surprise, they found Peter walking in, his jacket hood pulled over his head and his eyes downcast.

"I'm here for my appointment?" he said, almost sounding unsure like usual if not for his downtrodden tone.

Nicky was immediately worried, standing up and leading him to the room off to the side where he held his sessions with Diana and Harry, whenever the boy decided he wanted to talk. He nodded over to Rhett who had looked up, giving Peter a small smile, the boy trying and failing to return it.

The room was small and insignificant at best, but had a cozy feel to it, if not a more sterilized one, what with the completely white room and small window to the far side, the only furniture inside being a couch and a chair that Nicky had to shift around every so often, a small table towards the other wall, closer to the door and an empty bookshelf pressed up into the corner.

"What's wrong?" Nicky asked, taking a seat across from the boy who flopped onto the couch, hands shoved in his jacket pockets.

Peter Parker, sophomore at Midtown High and Spider-Man, Nicky worried about the boy constantly, not only because of his own knowledge of what he did, but because of what he heard from Diana and the boy's aunt, whom he also saw as a patient. Carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, Nicky sometimes wished he could shove him onto a plane and force him to take a vacation.

The boy sniffed, wiping at his eyes. "I don't know, I just—I went to visit Ben's grave because Diana visits her parents all the time and I felt bad that I don't visit him, but there's a reason I don't. It hurts too much."