Some Things Never Sleep

Chapter Thirty Four

Emma followed Peter and Ned back to Peter's apartment after the two had finished running tests on the power source. All through that time Emma felt like there was a different sort of atmosphere than there had been before. There was definitely tension between her and Peter but Emma couldn't really figure out why. She had a feeling like he might be angry with her but she wasn't sure. When Steve was angry at her he would yell at her and get all red faced while her father never got mad at her...she didn't think she had ever seen him mad despite being one of the world's most feared assassins. When Rumlow or Colonel Karpov had been mad at her they'd beat her to a bloody pulp. That was Emma's experience with people being mad at her but Peter did none of those things. He was just unusually silent for an otherwise chatty teenage boy.

The obvious tension between herself and Peter was setting her on edge because she didn't understand what his deal was. Peter was usually an easy person to read but right now he couldn't be more complicated. His deafening silence was really starting to frustrate Emma. She just couldn't seem to figure him out. No one told her that teenage boys were this confusing. If someone had then Emma might've reconsidered asking him for a truce. It was only when Ned left Peter's bedroom, to get some snacks from the kitchen, did she finally choose to ask Peter what his problem was. If they were going to be working together in close proximity then she needed to get this settled now.

"Okay, what's your problem, Parker?" Emma asked suddenly, cutting to the chase. She was sitting on the edge of his bed, watching him cautiously as he sat at his desk. Peter just shrugged as he turned around to look at her.

"I don't have a problem. I'm fine." Peter replied and Emma groaned.

"Can we not do the thing were you say you're fine but you're really not." Emma told him. "I've seen Stark and Pepper do the same exact thing more times than I wished I'd seen." Peter just sighed as he ran a hand over his face. He was at a tipping point with the frustrating blonde.

"Fine. The truth is that I don't understand you." Peter finally told her and Emma gave him a confused look.

"What?" Peter just shook his head.

"You're the single most confusing human that I've ever met." Peter said. "You can be nice to me one second and then just completely insult me the next. You tease and taunt me then you kiss me of all things but you tell me that it's for a mission. I can't understand you." Emma just stared at him with an unreadable expression before answering.

"Maybe I don't want you to understand me." Emma retorted and Peter shook his head in frustration.

"See! It's exactly that." Peter stared at her as he gave her an incredulous look. "That whole thing you did in the stairwell? You never even told me what you were planning. You don't tell me anything."

"Why would I have told you anything?" Emma questioned. "You would've only asked a hundred questions and we didn't have time for that."

"You should've told me because we're partners in this." Peter told her, his features softening. Emma didn't know how to feel as he stared at her with those warm brown eyes. Kind eyes. "Look, Emma, I guess I sort of get your point in showing me how far I have to be willing to go in a mission but we really need to communicate better if we're going to do this. Communication is just as important as the stuff you showed me." Emma processed what he said thoughtfully and she realized that he was right. Maybe she had been so used to the silent communication between her father and her that she just expected the same thing to happen between her and Peter. Emma sighed.

"I guess you're right." She admitted. Peter gave her a slightly surprised look because he didn't take Emma as a person to admit when they were wrong. "I haven't had a partner in a long time so I'm still a bit foggy on teamwork."