Unbroken

Chapter Four

Gracee's POV

My head is laying on my pillow, instead of on Peter's chest. I reach around the bed trying to find him without having to open my eyes, but all I feel is my Spider-Man stuffed animal that Peter got for me as a joke on my birthday.

I open my eyes and see that I am in my room. The blinds are closed, and it is still pretty dark. Peter must have put me in here when he woke up. I sit up and get out from under the covers, stepping onto the carpeted floor.

I am wearing an oversized Taylor Swift reputation t-shirt, and pink sleeping shorts that I put on right before falling asleep. I look in the mirror and see that the dark circles under my eyes are more prominent, and my hair is a mess. I throw it up in a messy bun before walking out of my room.

Last night was the first time I've cried in front of Peter in a while. It seems like I'm always crying, but he doesn't know that. When I overhear someone at school whisper to their friends how sorry they are for me, I go to the bathroom and cry. I cry in the shower because I know Peter won't be able to hear me over the sound of the water. I cry every night when I can't get my dad's death out of my head. He thinks I'm doing better, but I'm not.

Last nights breakdown was a mistake, and it won't happen again. He can't know how much I'm hurting. How much it kills me just to hear my dad's name. He wouldn't understand why I feel like I can't tell him these things, which is exactly why I'm not telling him.

I knock on Peter's door, and then open it to see that he is shoving clothes into his suitcase. I stand in the doorway watching him, until he notices me.

"Oh, hey Gracee!" He hugs me and I can't help but smile.

"Hey Pete." I yawn.

He kisses me, but it is interrupted when his phone rings. He glances at his phone and then declines the call, not paying much attention to it.

"Let me guess, that was Nick?" I ask, sitting on his bed.

"Yeah."

Peter slides out a plastic container from under his bed and smells a pair of socks, before throwing them in his suitcase.

"I'm so tired." I say, yawning again.

"Me too."

"Last night was fun." I say, unsure of myself, and not as confident as I was last night.

Peter smiles at the ground before looking up at me. "It was."

I feel my face heat up and clear my throat, looking at my hands and twisting the ring Peter got for me on our anniversary. It's a silver promise ring with my birthstone, aquamarine. The underside of the ring says, together. "Well I should probably go take a... shower."

"Let me know if the water is warm or not. I took one like half an hour ago but the temperature should be good by now."

"Okay, I'll be back."

"Hungry?" I hear May's voice and turn her way, ducking as a banana goes flying past me and hits Peter in the face.

May is standing in the doorway, covering her mouth and laughing. "Oh, so sorry. I thought that you could sense that with your... Peter tingle."

I stifle a laugh as I look at Peter's reaction.

"Please do not call it my Peter tingle." He says, clearly over it.

"So what's up, you can dodge bullets but not bananas?"

"No, I just really need this vacation. I need a break."