Heartbeat (A Beautiful Thing - SpideyChelle book 2)

So close yet so far

Pepper POV

The time was 2:14 am. I hadn't been able to sleep, just cry that was it. It was like I was numb, I couldn't think about anything else and it hurt. It hurts worse than anything in the world. The world is going insane to the point where I'm not sure the human race will survive but I can do nothing. My body is physically incapable. 

I had known her a little less than a year but I couldn't help but feel like I had been her mother for the whole of her life.  

I am nearly asleep at my desk from pure emotional exhaustion, when I heard a faint scream from the distance. It was Peter. 

I ran to his spare room, it had practically become his at this point. When I entered he was obviously in the midst of a nightmare and a pretty hellish one at that. 

His right hand was filled with an angry, pulsing liquid that did not look healthy, but what did I know? Anything was possible with these kids. 

The screaming had stopped but he was still dreaming it seemed. Tears fled from his eyes and his bottom lip quivered uncontrollably as he blabbered slightly. 

"MJ, is it really you?" he breathes in his sleep. 

A bittersweet smile forms on his face for a short moment until his breath quickened once more and became sort, raspy 

"No, no, no no no" he pants hurriedly 

"Peter wake up, buddy" I whisper, caressing his cheek. "You're dreaming" he doesn't awake at the first time

"No, no, no, no" he stutters "Please no" 

"Peter wake up," I say this time shaking him this time 

"Ms- ms Pots" he rubs his eyes 

"You just had a nightmare honey," I tell him, my voice cracking in the process from the tears. I think it hurt me more to see him crying them to cry myself. I didn't need to imagine what they had because I had seen it blossom before my eyes. They were different people when they had each other but even worse when they were apart. 

"I-I saw her" he breathes. I gulp, I wish he had seen her, but dreams were deceptive they weren't real, an augmented reality if you will.

"Peter it was just a dream" I reply "you were having a nightmare

"No, no," he says, he says perking up instantly "She was real, I could feel her"

"Peter you're very tired, get some sleep and we can talk about this in the morning" I suggest hopefully as I go to leave, unable to talk about her much more before I completely broke down - he didn't want that. 

"Don't leave" he insists against my will "She was calling for you, shouting for you"

"What" I stop dead in my tracks

"In my dream, she seemed so real, too real, she was running and stumbling as she gasped for air. She was shouting for you and then she fell and she was clutching her chest. S- sobbing. She was sobbing uncontrollably and screaming for you and Tony and Ned-"

"What was she running from," I ask

"I don't know, there was nothing there. I think she wanted to get away from- from herself. But I called for her and she looked directly at me and I couldn't take it long enough to hold on she just looked so distraught but she ran to me; she was almost wheezing and fell and- and scrambled to her feet. She reached for my hand and then I was gone"

"But Peter, it was just a dream, you've been through a lot of trauma, its ok" I respond tentatively 

"But I just felt so real, more like a vision, you know" he replies "don't you want it to be true"

Michelle POV

I tried to talk to this old woman but she responded in some disjointed Hebrew and wouldn't respond to any attempt at signing I tried . It was useless and now I was back to square one. I was quickly tiring, emotionally and mentally, when I crumpled to the floor only to hear a faint voice. 

I knew that voice

"MJ" it whispers to me "I-Is that you"

No, it couldn't be. 

I scramble to my feet in a hurry and turn to see both what I had dreamed and feared ever since coming here

"Peter" I gasp running towards him, all I want to do is hug him but fate does not want the same because I trip and when I look up, he's gone. Dissolved into the thin air.

 But he was so real... too real. 

I yell in pure anger and frustration, tearing at the debris below. 

"COME BACK TO ME PETE COME ON"

Peter POV

Pepper left after a while, she kept telling me it was just a dream but I could see it in her eyes she didn't fully believe what she was saying. She wanted her back just as much as me. I saw her though, it was definitely her - or so I told myself. 

One thing was for certain though, I was in great pain before and after it. That, like most of my problems, I didn't have an answer to. I just wanted her back, any amount of pain would be worth it. 

They could rip my body apart cell by cell and put it back together and it would still be worth it. I didn't want her, it was a necessity. Spiderman can't fight without his partner. 

I am just about to lament myself to sleep when I look to my right. The heartbeat bracelet. A red pulse for me and a blue for MJ. A blue for MJ was still beating, fast but steadily. It was still beating! She was still alive

-------------------- A WEEK LATER

Peter POV

My hand wasn't getting any better, no one could figure out what it was. Neither were the nightmares though. If you could call them that. Tony was coming back home today from being in DC sorting out legal stuff against his will and I was looking forward to seeing him

"Hey Peter, can I come in?" he asks from outside

"Yeah Mr Stark, I have something to show you" I reply referring to the forever flashing bracelet that I had faith in.

"Hey Kid, good to see your ok-"

"Yes Mr Stark, so I was in bed last night-"

"Wait, me first" he interjects "I'd rather get the sad stuff out the way first. Pepper told me about your constant nightmares and I think it would be best if you had some conclusion to your story. Some way to let out your grief and maybe be rid of these horrid things. Sometimes finality is good you know"

"These nightmares aren't bad things, like yeah they're painful but I get to see her, even if it is for a few seconds at a time" I reply hesitantly "but what do you mean about a conclusion?

"Well" he stutters "we are gonna have a funeral and then we'll pack up her room and make a little memorial to remember her. What do you think about that?"

OOH PETER'S NOT GONNA LIKE THAT

Keira x