Pressure // MARVEL // PETER PARKER

CHAPTER 10: let's hurt morgan a little more, shall we?

'DO YOU WANT something to drink?' Morgan asked her friend.

Morgan was on her office chair, twirling a little like she always did. She wore her cheesy blue socks with on her left foot a polar bear saying "I love you" while the right one said "snow much." Ellie sat on Morgan's bed. The bed sheets were a little childish, given they were from the show Totally Spies, but honestly, who didn't have sheets from their childhood?

'No, thanks,' Ellie denied the offer.

There was an awkward silence again.

'So,' Morgan began. 'What happened that you fled from Shuri and Peter in the café?'

Ellie looked at one of Morgan's posters on the wall. 'Well, it's not like it's really their fault.'

'Just explain, I can't help you if I don't know with what,' Morgan told her friend with a smile.

'It's just- Look, I really really like Shuri,' Ellie began.

Morgan smirked. 'That I know.'

'No, you don't,' Ellie said with venom in her voice. Her eyes softened immediately. 'Sorry, I didn't mean for that to be so mean. I'm just scared, I guess.'

Now, Ellie wasn't one to be mean. Some people who didn't know her might think she could be a bitch, but truth is, she really was the sweetest person. And neither was Ellie often scared. She was really, really brave. And of course, she had a fear of heights, but she always got over it. So yes, Morgan was alarmed the second she heard this.

'Scared of what?' Morgan asked her friend.

Ellie sighed. 'Hurting her. I don't want to get too close to her, because I know she doesn't deserve me.'

'Of course she does!' Morgan exclaimed. 'Ellie, you're wonderful. Please, please, don't think less of yourself.'

'Thanks, Morgan. But that's just not true,' Ellie told Morgan with tears in her gray eyes.

'Are you nuts? You're the one who helped me find my way in this school, right? And weren't you the person who cheered me up when I told you about my last school?'

Ellie looked at one of the posters on the walls again. 'But that's just not everything.'

Morgan eyed her friend. 'Then what else? I promise I'll do my best to help you, but you have to tell me what's going on,' she told her.

'It's something you don't notice, I mean, you're busy with Peter. Not that I blame you,' Ellie told her friend while a tear rolled down her cheek. 'I just really miss our little group, you know? I like Peter and Shuri, but the second the four of us hang out, they're there too.'

'I'm so sorry, El, I didn't know,' Morgan apologized softly.

Ellie ignored the brunette. 'I don't want to be a bother, because you should have your chance on liking someone too, but it's just a little too much for me. I'm sorry, Morgan, but I can't do this and just stand from a distance, accepting everything. I'm just...'

It was silent again.

'I'm gonna go.'

Morgan just looked sadly at the blue-haired girl who stood up from the bed and left the bedroom. She walked down the stairs and opened the front door, feeling the cold wind already on her face. However, a blond man, Morgan's dad, stood behind Ellie and looked at her with a questioning expression on his face.

'Already leaving, Ellie? Should I call Morgan to let you out?' Steve asked with a kind smile.

'No, thanks, sir. My mom called me to say I should be home before 8, which it already is, so I'm just going home,' Ellie sighed.

Steve didn't move. 'Do you want Friday to drive you home? Maybe Tony or me?'

'No, really, it's fine,' Ellie assured the man. 'I'm just going to take the bus home.'

'All right then. We'll see you around,' Steve said.

The moment the door closed behind Ellie, Steve walked up the stairs, because something about how Ellie told him that there was something wrong. He knocked on Morgan's bedroom door, but didn't get a response, so he just slowly opened it. There Morgan was, crying silent tears. Steve's heart broke a little at the sight.

'Hey, honey,' Steve began. 'I'm going to make you hot chocolate. Wanna come downstairs?'

Morgan looked up and she ran to her dad, hugging him tightly. Every emotion she felt came out. While her tears fell down, so did every single drop of feelings. The stress about being blackmailed, the guilt she felt, crushing on Peter and now this whole friends-situation. Just everything for once.

'Morgan, just go sit on the couch, I'll call Tony too, then you can just tell us what's going on. Or just cry, that's fine too,' Steve proposed to the girl in his arms.

'O-Okay,' Morgan just said, scared that if she would say more, her voice would break. The two walked downstairs.

Steve went to the kitchen to grab some milk from the fridge and poured it into a little pan. He then grabbed some cacao and sugar from one of the cupboards to make the hot chocolate. As soon as it was done, he told Friday to call Tony upstairs and went to the living room, where Morgan sat on the couch. He gave her the hot beverage.

'All right,' Tony started who had just walked into the room. 'What is the emergency?' His glance fell on a still soundless crying Morgan. 'Tell me who I have to kill, I'll make it look like an accident.'

Steve sat next to the brunette. His right arm around her middle. His husband sat down on the other side, placing his left arm on Morgan's shoulders. It felt so safe and incredibly warm, but Morgan knew she couldn't tell them everything, which was another thing to tear up about. It was a long, long day which was about to get even longer.

'I think I messed up,' Morgan said softly, voice trembling. As soon as those words came out of her mouth, she realized how real it was and even more tears rolled down her cheeks.

'Messed up what, honey?' Steve asked.

That nickname made it feel a little more like usual.

Like home.

Morgan inhaled deeply. 'I-I started hanging out with Shuri and Peter, right? And they slowly became a part of "the gang" you know? Oliver, Miles, Ellie and me. But then apparently Ellie didn't like that and I really hurt her, dad. I hurt my best friend.'

'Seems like she hurt you, too,' Tony cleverly told his daughter. 'That's just how life works. You hurt others, others hurt you... You just have to stop caring about it.'

'How?' Morgan asked the brunet.

'Listen here, Maguna,' Tony began, unknowingly warming her heart a bit. 'In life, there are only two kinds of problems. Those you can fix and those you can't. If it's fixable, then that's good and you won't have to worry about it. If you can't, too bad. But it'll come anyway, so you don't have to worry about that one either. Can you fix this?'

Morgan sighed. 'I could try.'

'Then you don't have to worry about it. What else is going on that hat head of yours?' Tony asked with a smile.

'I may or may not kind of like Peter Parker,' Morgan said, slowly calming down.

'Peter Parker? The one you went on a date with?' Steve asked.

'The one I've been left alone with in a café while I went outside for one minute, yes,' Morgan responded wittily.

'That's nice, right?' Steve continued. 'What bad could there be about liking someone? I'm sure he's a great guy. There's nothing to worry about here. If you should end up together, you will someday. If you end up eventually not liking each other after all, that's fine, too. You're young, honey. Live a little now you can still make mistakes.'

They were silent again.

'I'll put on WALL-E. You like that movie, right?' Tony proposed. 'Maybe Steve can get one of the blankets.'

Later that night, even though it was just a Tuesday, meaning it was a school night, Morgan fell asleep on the couch during the end credits of the movie.