Beastiful || Completed||

Thirty six

Damage Control.

Jeremy felt like Peter Parker must have felt in -was it Spider-Man 1, 2 or 3? - Spider-Man 2 when he was trying to stop the train from careening off the tracks. He'd sent off his webs and attached them to the sides of buildings and Jeremy had seen the suit rip and his arm muscles tense up as he strained to avoid the death of the hundred people or so on the train.

Jeremy felt exactly like that as he tried to undo the damage that just occurred. In a way, it felt unreal. But at the same time, he had a perfect recollection of the situation falling to pieces really fast.

One minute all was manageable, the next his parents were freaked out and Sasha was probably contemplating how to hang herself from his ceiling or stab herself with a paintbrush.

He had seen the tortured look on her face. It was the look of a person that was undergoing too much pain to even bear. It was the look he believed suicidal people had before they took the plunge.

Which was why he tactlessly scolded his parents about their behavior.

"What. Was. That? Why is she here?" His mom said. Her face was still pale and and her hand fluttered near her heart once or twice.

"Are these kind of folks you hang out with now? What about Tony?" His dad said at the same time.

"Oh my God are you guys so heartless that you can't freaking behave when you see a deformed person? Can you not be so dramatic?" Jeremy exploded.

"She's deformed? Oh dear, I hope it's not contagious." His mother made a puking noise that made him even angrier.

"For fuck's sake, she's still a human being! And she has feelings too, you know! How could you stand there and act so disgusted?" He was so angry that he swore again.

"You will not swear at your mom or me ever again, let's get that clear." His father's voice reined in his anger a little.

"Sorry. But what you guys did wasn't fair!"

"What wasn't fair was the fact that you didn't warn us in advance. That was immature and irresponsible of you." Jeremy winced at his Dad's words.

"I don't like her. It's not good for you to be seen hanging out with someone like that." Lisa said, firmly.

"I don't care how it looks. She's my friend, not yours and not anyone else's. Mine. And I won't have you saying crap like that about her. So she will hang with me and you will either like it or make yourself scarce." In his head he had said or go to hell but he held his tongue.

His voice and eyes carried that cold fury that made people scared of him. He'd gotten it from his mother surprisingly. Underneath the supermodel exterior, she had a layer of titanium that he had seen countless times while growing up.

Harley Cox looked at his son with worry and concern. He wasn't acting normal. The Jeremy he knew would never act this way about someone that was just a friend. With horror, he asked the question he dreaded most: Jeremy, Do you have feelings for this girl?

Lisa clutched at his arm with horror but he didn't look at her, he was looking at Jeremy. Already the pause was too long; whatever words that came out of his lips except YES would be a lie.

"No. She's just my friend and I feel she's my responsibility. I'm going to protect her."

Harley shook his head in despair. As much as Jeremy believed what he was saying, he knew better.
His son did like her that way.

"Fine. I'm sorry for acting so badly. Invite her for dinner or something later on so we can get to know your new 'friend'."