Sharp Edges / Peter Parker

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄

over 1,000+ reads?! holy shit i love u guys!!!! longer
a/n at the end
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     FOR AS LONG AS SHE COULD REMEMBER, TILLIE HATED THERAPY. But when she thought about it, it was probably because she'd only started going when she was forced to. In total, she'd gone more times than she would've liked.

The first time was right after her grandpa died. She was only 8, but they were extremely close, had been since the day Tillie was born. After spending weeks crying and crying in her room, refusing to go to school unless she was practically dragged there, her parents forced her into therapy.

But her therapist was some old man and looking back at it, Tillie was pretty sure he'd hardly ever dealt with kids because he just let her sit and draw in his office. They didn't really talk, and her parents withdrew her after only a couple of sessions.

Then they found someone a lot younger, and she guessed that they thought if it was a woman who was young enough to be a big sister if there had been quite an age gap, that maybe she'd open up more. But this woman talked down to Tillie, like her patients were all beneath her. She convinced her parents that she didn't need therapy anymore after that.

Then about a month after her parents died, she was forced into it again. Only this time, she liked her therapist. He was a kind old man with white / grey hair, glasses, and what she thought was a cool mustache. Tillie liked him because he didn't speak down to her like she was a child, even though technically she still was.

The first thing he said to her was call me Stan. Something about him allowed her to open up almost right away. He let her express herself, didn't roll her eyes like she'd seen the last therapist do. He was easy to talk to, and reminded Tillie of her grandpa. She had sessions with him the longest, twice a week for about six months.

But then she'd gotten a call letting her know all appointments were cancelled, because he'd passed away. It was another big loss that Tillie was dealt, and she didn't know if she could take any more.

After that, Tillie refused to go. She knew what people wanted to see, so she pretended she was fine. The reality was she didn't want to have to go through another lists of therapists, session after session until she found someone she liked. Especially not after what happened with Stan.

Her act worked, because she was told that as long as she kept up her grades and didn't get into trouble, then she was free to do as she pleased.

Things got really bad again about a year before the Avengers brought everyone back, and those months Tillie never wanted to look back on. She was traumatized, and still had nightmares about being tortured.

It took a long time for things to feel slightly normal. Tillie realized that things would never actually be fully normal ever again, especially now given exactly what she could do.

She liked that she could help people, but hated the fact that she felt like she'd been robbed of something, some unknown part of her life. Not even 18 yet, and Tillie had already been through more than anyone should have to endure in an entire lifetime.

"Tillie?"

She snapped out of it, feeling like she was going to have a heart attack when she saw who was sitting next to her. Once she got on the subway, she pretty much zoned out, and didn't notice the people coming and going.