Gone // Spider-Man: Far From Home [Book 4]

eighteen {Third Person POV}

"Peter! Oh, my God!" Ned Leeds exclaimed as soon as Peter reached the top of the stairs of the hotel. He tightly hugged his friend. "We almost died!" he said.

"Hey, it's fine, you're fine! Ned, where is Arya?" Peter asked, stepping back. 

"I don't know, I haven't seen her," Ned answered, making Peter sigh. "Why? What's wrong?" 

"Something went wrong with the fire monster and she found out that I went behind her back. I think she's really mad at me so I have to find her. Where's Skye?" Peter said. 

"Packing, probably," Ned said, shrugging. 

"Packing?" Peter asked, utterly confused.

"Peter, we're going home. The trip's over," Ned said. 

"What?!" 

"There's monsters coming out of the floor everywhere we go. Of course, our parents would want us home," Ned explained.

Peter groaned. "Thanks, I'm gonna find Arya," he said. 

As he turned around, his face was pulled into Mr Harrington's chest, who exclaimed, "Oh, Peter, you're not dead! Oh, my God, yes, good." He patted Peter's shoulder. "Okay, stay here, don't die and put on some clothes," he told Ned, motioning to the white bathrobe he was wearing. "We're booking flights." 

Mr Dell walked by. "We're leaving because of witches. Welcome to the new dark ages," he told the two boys.

Peter shortly shook his head. "Okay, I'm gonna try to find Arya. I'll see you later," he said to Ned, who replied by nodding. 

"Good luck!" he called and Peter smiled thinly, feeling his stomach churn at the thought of facing Arya, a feeling that was completely new to him. He'd usually get butterflies whenever he saw her, but now, those butterflies had turned into a herd of elephants that trampled around the pit of his stomach. 

Peter walked up to Arya's hotel room and knocked on the door. "Arya, you in here?" he called but received no response. He pressed down the handle and discovered the door was unlocked. He pushed it open and stepped inside a dark room, the only light coming from the moon outside the window. Peter's eyes instantly fell on the figure sitting on the windowsill. "There you are. I was worried," he said, flicking on the lights. 

Arya didn't respond. She just kept her eyes trained on the outside world, refusing to look at her boyfriend. 

"Ry?" Peter asked softly, stopping himself from walking toward her. 

She turned around, facing him with the coldest stare she could muster up. He stepped back, visibly shocked by the expression on her face. "Ry, whatever you're thinking, please let me explain," he said. 

"Explain?" Arya asked, lowering her feet to the floor and standing up. "Explain?! Explain what, Peter?" she snapped angrily. "You lied to me. You chose to keep me out of all of this. I thought we were partners." 

"We are! But, Ry-" 

"Don't call me that," she cut him off.

"Sorry," Peter muttered, lowering his eyes. "I just... I need to explain myself. Please." 

Arya crossed her arms. "I thought you were one of the few people I could still trust after Dad died. But all of that is gone. You went behind my back without even thinking of including me or telling me about it. I could've helped, Peter," she said, her voice shaking and tears threatening to spill. Peter's heart ached. "You know, Dad once told me that the worst thing you can do to someone is keep a secret from them." 

"Arya, I'm so sorry, I know I should've told you about this the minute I found out in Venice-" 

"Venice?!" she exclaimed. "You knew about this when we were in Venice?!" 

"Nick Fury came to my hotel room, I didn't ask him to be there and I actually wanted him to leave us alone," Peter quickly defended himself. "I didn't want you to be involved because I'm worried about you!" he said rather loudly. 

"You don't get to decide that for me! I'm an adult, I can make choices for myself!" Arya shouted back. 

"I know that!" Peter yelled. "But I feel like I'm walking on eggshells around you! I don't know what I can say or do without upsetting you and it's really hard!" 

"Hard?! Do you know what's hard, Peter?! Seeing your father die in front of you!" she exclaimed, tears spilling from her eyes. 

"You don't think I know that?!" he shouted angrily, stepping forward. "I was there too, remember?!" 

Arya lowered her voice, and said, "I think you should go." 

"What?" 

"You need to leave before either of us says something we'll regret," she told him, her voice cracking several times. 

"No, I'm not leaving before we've fixed this-" 

"Get out!" Arya shouted suddenly, her eyes glowing with lightning and sparks jumping around her hands. "Liar," she seethed and Peter stumbled backwards. 

He opened the door, fled from the room and shut the door rather harshly. He could hear his blood rushing in his ears and his heart pounded in his chest. He had trouble breathing as he rested his back against the closed door. He heard soft sobs on the other side and he wanted nothing more than to go back in there and make sure she was okay, but he was probably the last person she wanted to see right now. 

He closed his eyes, a single tear escaping his eye that he stubbornly wiped away. 

"Peter?" a voice said and Peter opened his eyes again, seeing MJ standing across from him. "You okay?" 

"Oh, hey, MJ. Y-Yeah, I'm fine," he muttered. 

"You don't look fine," she noticed. 

Peter let out a sigh. "No, you're right. I'm not." He lowered his gaze to hide his teary eyes from her. 

"What happened?" she asked. 

After a second of silence, Peter said, "Arya and I got into a fight. She's really upset with me," he told her softly, biting on his cheek to keep himself calm. 

"What did you do?" MJ questioned, tilting her head. 

"I lied to her about something, because I thought that I was protecting her," he told her, shamefully looking down. 

"You know, when people lie to someone, they're not protecting the other person, they're protecting themselves," MJ said, shrugging lightly. 

Peter chuckled darkly. "Yeah, you're right," he muttered. "I'm such an idiot." 

"Maybe," MJ agreed and he looked up. "Do you want to go for a walk? Clear your mind?" 

Attempting a smile, he said, "Yeah, sure. I'll meet you downstairs in five minutes." 

She nodded. "It's gonna be okay, you know? Every couple fights." 

He scoffed gloomily. "Yeah, but not like this. I think I really screwed things up this time."