(AG)Spiderman x Reader | Whole Again

Chapter 18: Double-Edged Sword

"I knew it. Nothing. No name, no pictures. Even my name is still on the members list," Peter mumbled to himself. "Not being able to find her online is one thing, but lying about charity work? No one does that unless they're covering something up," he said to himself. "How to get Y/n to believe me is a different story." Peter pondered on the situation. Maybe he could go to Elise. Go straight to the problem and figure out what was going on.

He'd have to go at a time when she was working but you weren't, which meant finding the work roster, which meant...snooping through your emails. He sighed, telling himself he had no choice. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Luckily for him you had signed in with your email on to his computer a while ago so he didnt need to bring out his hacking skills just yet.

He shifted through your emails searching for the employee timetable, and luckily enough he was able to find it. Good thing you used the same email for everything. He was able to find what days Elise worked and you didn't, and now had the perfect oppurtunity to confront her. "Next Tuesday between 9 to 5 pm," he mumbled to himself. The next opportunity he'd get wouldn't be until 4 weeks later. You had a strangely large amount of shifts together.

So he waited. Peter waited for three of what felt like the longest days of his life. Finally, Tuesday morning had arrived, and he could confront Elise about her lack of basic information available on the internet, which seemed like a perfectly rational question to ask someone to Peter for some reason.

As he approached the coffee shop, he had no doubt in his mind that he was doing the right thing. He was only stopping you from getting hurt, right? The door opened, triggering the jingle of the bell installed above. He saw Elise serving drinks to a small group of people. It was now or never. Peter walked up to her before she could retreat to the counter.

When she noticed him, a happy smile formed on her face. "Oh, hi Peter! Shall I get you the usual?" she asked, folding the tray she held under her arms. "Cut the bullshit," he yelled in as hushed a tone as possible. "What?" she replied, confused and shocked at his unprecedented outrage. Peter wasn't quite sure where the aggression came from either. He didn't want to think about it right now, and instead chose to lean into it.

"I know you're up to something. I don't know what, but I'm gonna figure it out. And if you do anything to hurt Y/n, you'll wish you never met me," he threatened. "Are you kidding me right, now?" She whispered back. "Who the hell are you Elise? Why are there no records of you?" He asked, finally asking the question he wanted to ask in the first place.

"Records?"

"You don't exist! Not a picture, not a name, no family,"

"You googled me?!"

"Oh please I'm sure you've done worse."

"Oh I have? Did you find that out when you stalked me?"

"I found it out when Y/n was telling me how much of a good person you were. When they told me you do charity work and volunteer at the local park. You lied to them," he accused. Momentarily, Elise was at a loss for words. "What, no more questions? Cat got your tongue?" he whispered. She grabbed his arm and started pulling him out of the cafe through the backdoor.

When they were outside she used Peter's body to slam the door closed, pinning him against it. "Alright, pretty boy. I guess you aren't as dumb as the rest of the people in this city," she began, her grip on his shirt tight. The shift in personality, although Peter expected it, still was disorienting for him. "But I have worked too long and too hard for you to blow this up for me. If you say a word of this to Y/n, you'll wish you never met me. Got it?"

Peter slapped Elise's hands away, fixing his shirt. She backed off slowly, sending him a wicked smile. "Don't forget. I know everything about Y/n. And since you two are living together, I know everything about you. As I think we've both now discovered, they aren't very good at keeping information to themselves," she finished.

"I don't understand. What do you want with them? They're just a normal person, they haven't done anything wrong!" She giggled at his sentence. "Oh well that simply isn't true, pretty boy," before she continued she paused to think, gasping when an idea popped into her mind. "You know what? Why don't you do a background check on them," she suggested as her shoulders came up in a shrug. "What?" he mumbled, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Yeah. The same way you did to me. Research them. You may be surprised by what you find. Or don't find. And remember, a word of this to them, and you'll regret it. Bye, pretty boy!" She said menacingly then spoke in a sing-song type voice before re-entering the cafe. Peter stood there dumbfounded. Well, he supposed he got his answer. Sort of.

But he couldn't sit and do nothing. Even if it meant he was risking his safety. He had to tell you that Elise was no good.

His walk home was brash and hasty. Nervous about Elise's newfound malignancy, he wanted to make sure that he could get you and Aunt May, - his family - to safety. When he approached home, he burst in through the door, seeing you at the kitchen table and Aunt May at the stove making some food. "Peter. Where have you been? I'm making lunch for us, take a seat," May insisted, waving her hand towards the chair.

He let out a heavy breath. Slowly he walked over to you, pulled out a chair and sat down. "Shit man. What's got you so down in the dumps?"

"Language Y/n," May muttered. You apologised, and then Peter began telling you that every thing was fine. "Are you sure?" you asked placing your hand on the back of his. He rose his head up and turned to you. When he looked at you, "What pretty eyes" were the only words he kept repeating in his mind. Full of happiness and warmth. And love. Love for Elise.

Love...for Elise.

Was he OK with ruining your relationship? Was he OK with being the one to end it? Could he be happy being known as the one who ruined your relationship? And most importantly, taking away what made you happiest right now? What got you out of bed? Or couch. Was it better to break your heart, or let you continue living in ignorant bliss?

"Really. I'm good. So what's cooking May?"