Silence Speaks (Book Two to Silence Series)

Nine

Two weeks later
I woke up to someone playing with my hair. I couldn't hear anything and I assumed that Loki had taken out my hearing aids. I hummed and turned, pressing my face into his chest. He tapped my chin and I looked up, seeing Loki fully awake and smiling softly. "Class starts in three hours." I nodded in response and pulled away from him. I grabbed my hearing aids and popped them into my ears. I heard my phone ringing from somewhere downstairs and I sighed. "I'm going to take a shower." Loki pressed a kiss to my shoulder before going to his token room. He hasn't spent any time in there, he normally sleeps in my room and we're not at the house long enough for us to be spending a whole lot of time in our rooms.

I scooped up my phone and answered it. The three-D video call popped into view and I saw Dad with Pietro on the couch, a boy no older than four wedged between them. "Did we wake you?" I shook my head, turning to start a pot of coffee for Loki and I. "Who's the kid?" I questioned, turning to face the couple. "We adopted him." I furrowed my eyebrows. "Oh. Why wasn't I notified about this? I would've wanted to be there." Dad shook his head. "We didn't think it was necessary. You're moved out." "But that doesn't make me not his older brother and me any less of your so-" I cut myself off, remembering the conversation where he wanted to disown me. "Oh." I mumbled, my shoulders slumping. "You adopted him to replace me." The realization struck me like a box of bricks and for the first time since I met Loki, I felt sad. "Peter you've grown up. You're not going to be around anymore." I scoffed and turned away from them. "I visit every week! I'm not opposed to the kid, I really am not. But I would've liked a little heads up when I'm being replaced. I figured that after you met Loki, you'd rethink disowning me." I looked to the stairs when I heard creaking. Loki walked into the kitchen, wearing only sweats and his hair wet.

"Disowning is a such a strong word." Dad protested. "Right, my bad. 'I just want him to grow up'. You're the whole reason I moved out in the first place! I felt like ever since the whole Wilson situation, you were waiting to get rid of me, if you couldn't successfully care for me, how could you care for a kid? That has no logic behind it." I snapped and Loki wrapped his arms around my waist. "This isn't debatable Peter." I rolled my eyes. "It was nice meeting the kid. I hope you and Pietro have a good life. And Piet, I hope Clint treats you better than he treated his own son." I hung up and my breath hitched. Loki turned me in his arms and I pressed my face against his neck. "Its not fair." I whimpered. "How about we skip classes today? Spend a day in bed?" I lifted my head and Loki gently wiped away the gathered tears. "I would like that." He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the kitchen and back up to our room.

I stared at the designs on the blanket while Loki traced little shapes into my shoulder. "What're thinking?" I tilted my head and sniffed. "He made me believe that I had someone to hold on to when my world was going to shit. I lost my aunt and immediately got sick. Everything went wrong so quickly and it wasn't until I started to heal after what happened with Wilson that he finally decided to give up on me. Bucky was the one who helped Bruce when I almost bled out in my bathroom. Tony was the one who helped when I was shot three times and Clint made a poor excuse of a joke. I thought everything was going to be okay when he left for a three week mission. He never called, never visited and never once thought to make sure that I was truly okay when I moved out. He criticized me after the Mysterio incident and wholehearted believed I committed murder, although the evidence proved to be tampered with. He believed me to be a walking timebomb." I shook my head and wiped the tears away. "I thought that after he met you, he would see that I was going to be okay. I didn't know that he was really going through with disowning me." I put my head against Loki's chest and he hugged me. "How about this, we have dinner at our house? Anyone who wants to come can and that way you won't have to interact with Clint." I hummed, already feeling tired from the breakdown. "Get some sleep love."

Loki
"Mr. Loki, there are visitors coming to the house." I huffed and pulled myself away from my sleeping boyfriend. He snuggled into the blankets and I kissed his forehead before leaving the room. I walked downstairs and pulled open the front door, just in time to see Sam, Steve and Tony walking up. "Shouldn't you be in class?" Tony questioned and I sighed, letting them in the house. "Is it just you?" I shook my head. "Pete had a breakdown this morning." Sam immediately began to worry. "What happened? Is he okay?" I nodded and rubbed my shoulder. "From what I heard, this breakdown was just a walk in the park. Clint adopted another kid." Steve's face fell and I knew he understood what happened. "Peter had hopes that when Clint saw his relationship with me, how well he had been doing, that Clint would change his mind and not disown him. Clint called this morning and Peter had a mild anxiety attack, I just got him to sleep." I explained and leaned into the kitchen counter, the marble cool against my back. "Man, out of everything that has happened to that kid, one more person walked out on him. Father of the year." Sam sighed and shook his head. "You need to keep an eye on him. I don't know if he'll resort back to his reckless habits, but it's better we keep an eye just in case." I nodded, my eyes shifting to look at Tony.

"Why don't you be the father figure he wants?" Tony shook his head. "I tried. He only wanted Clint. Besides I've got a baby and as much as I love Pete, I can't treat him like he's ten. He turns eighteen in just short of six months. He needs you Loki, he's had so much pain in his life and you're the one thing that has got him smiling and looking happy. Try as much as you possibly can to keep that a reality and he'll be okay." Steve huffed. "I think we're giving Peter less credit than he deserves. Deep down he knew this was coming. That's why he kept apologizing for stuff before he moved out, he didn't want the rest of us to leave him. He's grieved the loss of his father figure and he's been angry. I think he's going to be upset for a few days and then he'll be okay again." I heard a shuffle and shifted to look at the stairs. Peter's light snores filled my head and I relaxed. "I suggested this to Peter, but he was mostly asleep, why don't we host a dinner here every two weeks? That way Pete doesn't have to see the father he was supposed to trust abandon ship. He can be surrounded by the people who love and support him and keep away the ones that don't. I worry that if he sees Clint, he'll hit him. Which I don't blame him, but I think that'll only cause problems."