Whatever It Takes

Chapter Twenty

May creaked the door of her nieces room open just enough to see her sleeping form on her bed. She had barely slept that night herself, and had to ponder at how long Emma had even been asleep. The thoughts of the conversation with Tony, Emma's attack, Peter losing his internship - all in one night - swirled in her head until she felt as though she were liquid being swirled in a glass. She could only imagine th whirlpool the sleeping girl was in.

May crossed the room, careful not to wake Emma, and thought for another second as she gently swept a rogue wave of hair from Emma's eyelashes. She couldn't send her to school like this. Not with the night she had. The aunt then plucked Emma's phone from her nightstand, finding her alarm clock and turning it off, then placing it back and making her great escape out of the bedroom. Not before turning to look at her niece one last time, and wishing she could take all of the weight off of her like she always did at least once before the girl would wake up, and once before she would fall asleep. Only last night, it was a fit of prayers. Peter caught her shutting Emma's bedroom door, creasing an eyebrow at her, "is Em going to school today?" he asked, scratching the back of his head. His curls were still a mess. May shook her head slightly, "I'm sure she'll talk me down to just the morning, but... she had a really long night. I just want her to get a bit of extra sleep if anything." Peter's eyes flicked to the floor, the back up, nodding, "yeah, agreed. Good luck keeping her here longer than lunch though." May chuckled as her nephew headed for the kitchen, "I'll need it," she told him. After breakfast, swearing Peter to secrecy, and a few hours after that, a loud thud could be heard from Emma's room. Then scrambling, more thuds, and a string of curses May could only barely make out in between. She wasn't even sure if most of them were English. "Language!" May called, sipping her tea. As she did, the bedroom door swung open, Emma practically falling out of it. Bag half slung over her shoulder and sweater barely on, Emma's eyes widened, "I'm so sorry, May, my alarm didn't go off and I'm so late and-"

"I shut your alarm off." Emma froze, head stuck up like an ostrich, and a look of what May decided was probably a bit of betrayal crossed the girl's face. "What? Why?"

"You had a long night and I know for a fact you barely slept. I'm not letting you walk around like a zombie at school to get the good grades you already have and will still have tomorrow," May explained, sipping her tea again. Emma's bag fell from her shoulder like a sack of bricks and thudded on the floor, "you do it!" Emma countered. As May was about to say something, her mouth snapped shut. The girl wasn't wrong. She held a hand up to surrender, "fair game, but I'm an adult who has to work. You are my teen niece whose perfect scores will still be there if she gets a few more hours of sleep."

Emma bit her lip, fixed her sweater, "I get it..." she thought aloud, "and thank you... but could you at least wake me up next time and tell me you're shutting my alarm off so I don't almost break everything in my room thinking I overslept?" May thought for a second purposefully, smiled, and nodded, "deal." Emma sat down at the table, brushing her hair behind her ear. Her fingers tapped together for a few seconds, "I gave up the Stark Internship." Mid sip, May's eyes widened. Emma looked up from her hands to her aunt, who swallowed her tea in a gulp. "Why?" she asked quickly.

"Cause I don't do these things without Peter. If I start something with him, we finish it together."

"Em, you can't just throw away an opportunity like this because it didn't work out for Peter," May said, and set her cup down on the table. Emma nodded, eyebrows scrunching, "I know, I just... You said it yourself. It had us in our heads, I ended up having an attack and passing out, I just don't think I'm ready for that much responsibility yet." Emma felt as though she were throwing every card she had on the table, hoping that one of them would convince her aunt. May pursed her lips, tapping a finger on her mug. "I understand... I just wish there were an easier way to take some of the stress off you."