To Be Loved By Peter Parker

Fear

A gun shot went off, and the streets of New York City went quiet. 

Fear.

Fear filled the people walking around. Fear crept into every inch of Nat and Peter's body, but mostly Peter. The fear of losing Nat became more real than ever. 

Nat let out a shaky gasp for air not realizing she had been holding it. She felt all around her to see if she had been shot, but nothing. Then the fear of Peter being shot overcame her thoughts. She looked at Peter grabbing him searching if had been shot. He was in shock. She shook him as he stared where Harry had been in the limousine. 

She shook Peter's shoulder standing in front of him, "Peter. Peter. PETER!"

He shook his head and looked down at her. They had quite of a height difference, and he hadn't noticed until that moment. Her being 5'2 and him being 5'10. 

He looked around them, and back at Nat. 

He said as he cupped her face, "Are you okay?"

She nodded and said, "Yes, yes... I'm fine, but..."

He kept looking around them in fear of something happening to her. He looked back at her and said, "We have to go... right now!"

She nodded as they ran off not looking back at the spot they had stood at. Was it a warning shot Harry gave? A warning that'd he'd be coming after Peter? Or worse... after Nat?

They ran up the stairs to their apartment as Peter paced the room franticly speaking to himself. 

He mumbled to himself, "He's out of jail.. We have to go somewhere safe... somewhere away. He won't hurt her, he won't hurt her. Peter, you won't lose her too."

Nat perked up hearing the word too.

She tried to follow him and ask, "Peter?"

She pulled him to sit on the couch, and just hugged him. His breath caught for a second as he began to cry into her shoulder. 

Shaken by the feeling of seeing Peter cry, she gently lifted his face to look at him. 

She whispered, "Peter, you're not going to lose me... I promise."

He shook his head and said, "It's more than that..."

She looked at him confused and waited. 

He looked at her with eyes filled with fear and love for her. 

She repeated, "Peter Parker, I promise you will never lose me, okay?"

He nodded and kissed her softly. He pulled away and asked, "How do you feel about meeting my Aunt May?"

"Oh!", she exclaimed. 

He shook his head, "Sorry, I mean you can stay with Kristine... Maybe that would be better."

She shook her head at him and said, "I would love to meet Aunt May."

He smiled as they both got up to pack up their things. 

***

Nat texted Kristine that she'd be off the map for a few days. Peter told her it'd be best if they both left their phones at their apartment, just in case Harry tried tracking them. She still hadn't known the full background story of what happened between Harry and Peter, but she knew it had something to do with another girl. 

Their cab stopped by the woods, and she looked at Peter confused. 

He laughed and said, "I promise I'm not taking you to get murdered or anything. Aunt May lives in the middle of no where."

She nodded a bit unsettled with the location, but she trusted him. Peter took both of their luggages as they stepped through the trees. She followed quickly behind him a bit freaked out by the woods. It also didn't help it was starting to get dark out. 

They approached a small cabin with a large field with a fence around the field. The door swung open with a sheep dog running out towards Nat and Peter. Nat opened the gate helping Peter through as the dog jumped up on Nat trying to greet her with kisses. 

Peter smiled and said, "Alright, Benny get down."

She waived Peter off as she knelt down to pet Benny. She got up as she saw an older lady with a warm smile waiting by the door. 

The older lady embraced Peter, and said, "Oh, my sweet boy! Look at you so grown."

Peter shyly smiled and said, "Come on, Aunt May. I was just here last week."

She laughed and said, "Oh, I know, but still it feels like you grow up every time I see you."

Aunt May's eyes stared passed Peter towards Nat as her smile grew. She looked back at Peter and said, "You brought a girl?"

Peter looked back at Nat as he motioned her to join them. She smiled and said, "Lovely to meet you I'm--"

Before she could finish, Aunt May squealed, "Peter's girlfriend!!"

Peter cheeks began to flush, he wanted to interrupt and explain the whole story between them and that he didn't know what they were yet, but Nat jumped in and said, "Yes, yes I am."

She smiled as Aunt May embraced her in a warm hug. She glanced back at Peter noticing his child-in-love smile. She couldn't help, but take all this feeling of be loved in. It made her electric. 

Aunt May brought them inside to a rustic designed home. It was warm, and fitting for her aesthetic. Benny ran passed them as he jumped up on the couch wagging his tail waiting for someone to pet him. Nat smiled as she sat on the same couch as Benny giving him head scratches and belly rubs as how she used to with Rudey. A wave of reminiscing filled her gut as it has been a while since she had encountered the company of a dog. 

Peter looked at them happy for the first time in a long while, feeling as his life is falling back into place for once even with the current circumstances. 

He looked at Nat and Aunt May and said, "I'll be right back, I'm going to bring our stuff to the room."

They both nodded towards him as he walked down the hall. 

Aunt May sat next to Nat as she brought her hands into hers. 

She said with a slight sad face, "Do you love him?"

The word love was a scary thing, especially for Nat who hadn't known anything about love not even the love of a mother or father. She's only known love what was she could pick up from the world around her, but thinking about the love Peter has shown her made her feel giddy and smiley. She didn't know it before, but for some reason it was clearer as day sitting with his Aunt in this room right now. 

She looked past Aunt May wondering if Peter would be listening, but there was no sign of him anywhere. 

She whispered to her, "I do."

Peter, from the other side of the cabin, smiled to himself as he could hear the exchange of words between the two women he loved most in the world. 

He whispered to himself, "I do, too"