One Dance 3: Illusions

1.

The school hallways were full of people talking, staring, laughing, slamming lockers, and basically just being loud.

It was driving you insane.

You were trying to stay calm; look normal. But everyone around you felt so close even though they were so far away.

Each passerby was another feeling of panic going through you. Was Hydra still a threat? Another one of their agents lurking in the halls?

"You okay?" asked Peter, and you jumped at the sound of his voice.

You had become even more paranoid than before; the slightest movement in the corner of your eye and you would turn to look. Nothing went past you without you noticing.

On top of that, you felt like the world was going to explode around you.

It was exhausting.

"God, can't any of these people just shut up!" you said, putting your face in your hands.

Peter's eyebrows creased towards the middle of his face and his eyes widened. That stupid, adorable, but concerning face made you stop and realize what you had said.

"No, not you Peter...I'm so sorry. There's just so much noise and so many people I don't know what to do, and it's just a lot—"

"Hey, hey, calm down. Why don't we go somewhere quieter?" he asked, touching your arm gently.

You really could have just melted right there. He was just that comforting.

"Library?"

He chuckled. "I was thinking outside...you could get some fresh air too. But library it is."

"No, no...outside is fine."

Peter shrugged his shoulders and walked with you to the outside courtyard. A few people still milled about, but the volume was immensely lower and you were much calmer.

You noticed Peter was still limping; the muscle/bone you'd hit when you stabbed him in the back wasn't healing quickly like it should have, and his leg was suffering from it.

"Don't even ask about it," Peter muttered. "It's doing fine."

"You're still limping," you said, staring into his soft eyes. "I'm just worried. You should be healed by now." It wasn't like Peter's body to heal so slowly.

"Y/n, you know I'm not a machine, right? I'm not like you, I don't just get hurt and then go back to being normal the next day. I'm still human and I'm still injured. It's going to take more than a day."

You put your hands up in defense. "I know, I know, I don't need the talk again."

He laid his head on the table and looked up at you. He looked so tired, beaten and exhausted. "Why are we fighting?"

You put your head down on the table next to him and focused on his hair blowing calmly in the wind. Some of his curls overlapped each other in spirals.

"I don't know," you said, reaching out to mess with a few tangles.

"I don't like it," said Peter, watching you. "I hate fighting with you."

You sat up and rested your cheek on your hand. "Then let's not fight."

He cracked a quick smile. "I think we've fought enough to last a lifetime."

You stared at him, eyes cut.

"What, too soon?"

You began laughing and he soon followed. "I still think it may be a little too early to be joking about Hydra," you said. "But the only thing I can handle doing is laughing it off."