Hang In There// Peter Parker (2)

Chapter 19: Normality.

"Right now, I don't know if I want to kiss you or shove you off a bridge."

I threatened, Peter's arm around my waist securely as we swung through the streets of New York.

"Can I pick?"

I furrowed my brows at the boy as my head snapped to face him, almost a look of disbelief written across it.

"Wha- NO! Absolutely not! You use me as bait and get me chained to a bloody chair like some damsel for two hours and you want to pick?!"

His masked face turned to look at me, his 'eyes' squinted questioningly.

"Imma take that as a no."

It sounded more like a question rather than a statement. All the while he never took his eyes off me, not paying attention to the direction we were swinging in. That was until we hit the side of the Daily Bugle building.

"Peter, watch out!"

We were like bugs stuck to a window, squashed and flattened against the transparent structure. After what felt like minutes I felt my body starting to slide down the glass, having no grip on the smooth surface, unlike Spider-Man, who still stuck to the place of impact.
My body continued to slide down the side of the building. Spider-Man had abandoned his place above and was swinging towards me. I tucked my feet up under me and used the force to push myself off the side of the Daily Bugle, the familiar build of Peter's body wrapping around mine as he shot another web. And another. And another; until suddenly there was no more webs. A scream escaped my lips as we crashed into many lines of laundry, taking them with us as we tumbled across the rooftop. I lay where I was for a few minutes, groaning as I sat up, untangling myself from the many sheets I took with me.

Stiffly, I pushed myself off of the ground and made my way over to the red and blue hero, who lay defeated amongst the white drapery. He sat up just as I had reached him, rubbing the back of his head as if to soothe the throbbing pain from his fall. I got down on my honkers in front of him. Gently, my fingers gripped the top of his mask and pulled it off to reveal his face. He let out an inaudible sigh before looking at me through his lashes sheepishly.

"Sorry."

He smiled worryingly at me, not knowing how I was going to respond.

"Well, Peter, if I didn't know better I would think you're trying to get rid of me."

Immediately his eyes widened as obvious panic took over his body, his posture straightening.

"No! Sof, I wasn't- I wouldn't- I-"

Peter continued to stumble over his words, terror showing in his widened eyes as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair, a sigh of defeat leaving his lips followed by a near silent 'I'm sorry'. I placed my hand upon his forearm, that lay limply on his knees.

"Pete, I was only messing, I-"

"I know."

Silence.

"Although, I do know one thing."

I manoeuvred myself so that I was sitting beside the boy in red and blue, our arms touching as he kept his eyes focused on his shoes.

"I certainly don't wanna to throw you off a bridge."

Peter chuckled softly, still keeping his head down.

"I think that means you owe me something then, doesn't it?"

His head turned so that he could face me as he spoke.

"I think you've gotta earn that, darlin'."

Peter's brows raised as he sat up straight, his height towering over mine.

"I have saved your ass twice already today, how much more do I gotta do in order to 'earn' it 'cause I think I've-"

I cut him off as I connected my lips with his, the suddenness taking him by surprise.

"-earned....it."

I laughed softly at is dumbfounded expression, laying back on the cold surface. From the corner of my eye I could see Peter following suit, a comfortable silence falling over us.

"Our lives are anything but normal." Peter stated, still looking at the setting sun.

"Nothing about us is normal, Pete. I mean, like, we can do things that no teenager should be able to do."

He mumbled a small 'yeah' before falling into a momentary silence.

"You know, sometimes I wish all the responsibility didn't have to come with the power, that I didn't have to feel responsible for everything that goes wrong just because I got bitten by a radioactive spider."

"But would you be able to live with yourself knowing you have the power to make a difference, but didn't?"

"Probably not."

Pause.

"Life isn't easy, Pete. For anyone. Everyone has to fight their own battles everyday, some more than others. We gain and we lose, that's just how it works-"

"Its always those who don't deserve it."

I sighed, knowing that he was referring to Tony.

"I don't know how you did it, to be honest. I don't know how any of ye did it."

"Did what?"

I could feel his eyes turn to look at me.

"Lose that many people and still be able to move on; to survive."

"Well I thought I was gonna die in space so when we had actually made it back to Earth, I knew that even in the darkest and hopeless of times, there is always hope-"

I paused for a second, Peter's silence telling me that he wanted to know more.

"The first few weeks were the toughest to get through, simply because we had no idea what we were gonna do. The Stones had been destroyed and half the population were still gone. Soon enough days rolled into weeks, weeks to months, months to years. We worked every day trying to find a way to bring everyone back, to gain what we had lost and after five years we did it."

"How?"

A small smile crept onto my lips as I remembered that night at the Stark's, the many hours Tony and I had spent trying to figure out time travel.

"It was actually you who saved us all."

Peter's brows furrowed as confusion took over his face.

"You were the reason that Mr. Stark even agreed to help in the first place. He wanted you back as much as I did. We spent hours running different trials, all off which failed. We were about to give up when I remembered the photo of the three of us the day you got your Stark Internship cert-"

"I held it upside-down."

I smiled at him.

"Exactly. It sparked the idea to use the structure of a Mobius Strip, it obviously worked since you're here."

The sun had set completely, leaving the two of us lying in the darkness, numerous stars illuminating the sky above.

"Mr. Stark loved you, Pete, he really did."

Peter kept looking up at the stars as he closed his eyes, a single tear rolling down the side of his face. My hand found it's way to his, my thumb making small circles in attempt to comfort him.

"Do you know why we close our eyes when we cry, when we kiss, when we dream-"

I looked over at him as his gaze met mine, Peter shook his head, not knowing the answer.

"-Because the most beautiful things in our life are not seen, but felt only by the heart."