STEPPING UP [BOYXBOY]✔️

CHAPTER 9: HOMOPHOBIA AND ACCEPTANCE

QUENTIN BECK
Flashback

I trudged back to our office, trying to come up with some excuse for why I didn't fire the missiles. My hair and clothes were wet and sticky from the lemonade Peter poured over my head. The liquid trickled down the back of my neck, sending shivers down my spine. I felt like I was at the lowest of lows.

It was just the look on his face, no words even had to be said. Just gazing into his deep brown hues could've had me crumbling to my knees before him. I'd never seen a person look so utterly hopeless, so betrayed, so hurt. It was like I felt every single emotion he was displaying. If he hurt, I hurt.

"And thank you for breaking my damn heart, Quentin Beck."

The reminder of what he had told me sent a pang of hurt to my swollen heart. I was heartbroken, too. But I brought that upon myself.

The thing about Peter was that he blamed himself for everything, even when it wasn't his fault. He worked so hard and still felt like a disappointment anyway. I wanted him to know he wasn't, but I think I just convinced him even more.

I wanted to cry. But I didn't let myself.

"Beck!" Jack yelled, "what the hell happened?"

I stood in front of the door, a small puddle of lemonade underneath me. "Spiderman found out." Everyone in the room had angry looks on their face before gasping. "Is everyone who went in okay?"

Amber shook her head violently. "No, the guards caught all of them. They're probably going to jail for a lifetime!"

I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose.

I just find a way to disappoint everyone, don't I?

"What did Spiderman do?" Jack asked curiously and looked me up and down.

"He broke EDITH." I exhaled, "and poured a glass of lemonade over my head."

He blinked at me in confusion. "That's it?" He said, dumbfounded. "He didn't do anything to hurt you?"

My words caught in my throat... he was right. Why didn't he do anything worse?

"I um, I don't know," I said in realization.

Amber let out a bitter laugh. "I guess that gullible idiot really did fall in love with you."

I gulped down the knot in my throat and tried to hold myself together, as much as I could. At this point I couldn't even be angry anymore. All I felt was hurt.

Anger is a secondary emotion. So whenever we feel it, it's because underneath that, we're hurt. And Peter stripped down all the walls I had built up and all I could do was lay in the same pain I bet he was feeling right now.

"What are we going to do now?" Jack murmured after a moment of silence.

I shrugged and everyone else in our office gathered around us. Now, it was just the five of us. Me, Jack, Amber, Azaria and Marcus.

"I don't think there's any other way to escape this one," Azaria admitted. "But we could still aim for revenge, just in a different way."

I cocked an eyebrow. "What kind of way?"

She pondered over the thought for a second. "We could come up with something. Spiderman is gullible enough to fall in love with a stranger he barely knows. So he obviously isn't the smartest. It'll be easy to trick him."

I deadpanned defensively, "Peter isn't stupid."

Everyone looked at me in shock. "That's it!" Marcus cheered, "I can't believe we didn't even realize!"