Little Spy | Peter Parker ✓

[23]

"EMILY?" EXCLAIMED PETER, STARING AT ME from just inside his house, a mixture of confusion and doubt shining in his eyes. "I - I didn't think you'd be here so soon?"

"Well, it's two, isn't it? Unless I'm off, but I'm pretty sure you said two, right?"

Gesturing me in with a small shrug, he nodded, but the edge in his eyes didn't fade away - if anything, it just got worse, making his look of a deer caught in the headlights only appear to be more petrified. "Yeah, yes, it's two. Sorry, I just got...carried away."

I just kept my mouth shut, not eager to make a dumb remark and ruin our fragile friendship, observing the living room and realising that his stuffy aunt wasn't in there - she wasn't anywhere in the apartment, with the smell of cheap perfume and rotting grief seemingly dissipated into thin air. "Your aunt...?"

"She's not here," he forced out, hands fidgeting in his pockets. "She, um, had to run some errands. But she wanted to ask if you would, um, stay for dinner?"

"Sure, yeah, I can do that."

While my voice was calm, inside, I was in a strong relief of his offer- I didn't want to return to Inga and her lair, not after recent events and her undeniable anger. Something had upset her, and of course, she took that out of me, sending blow after blow my body was on fire, crumbling within like an ancient temple. It wasn't best for anyone to be around her, not in a mood like that, and at least with new plans I could wait longer, see if she calmed down in my absence. An unlikely wish, but one I was willing to make.

I followed the boy back to his room, a now-familiar path, and set my bag down carefully as I watched him carefully. "Are you alright, Peter? You seem a little...upset."

He didn't look at me, instead focusing his attention on pulling out any bits and pieces we had stored away from the previous project. Still, though he kept it together, it was obvious in the way his frown grew and how his hands shook ever-so-slightly that he wasn't truly okay. "I'm okay, really I am."

"I've heard that enough times to know when someone's lying to me or telling the truth," I mumbled, eyes not straying from the boy's face, "and you're not a great liar, Peter. There's obviously something bothering you."

"I'm fine."

People were not my forte - the Red Room had made sure of that - and his reluctance to speak with me made it difficult to actually carry on and get close to the boy, manipulate him for the information Inga - and then I - needed. It was obvious that something was troubling him, and that he needed to speak about it else it would just get worse, but I had no clue who or what exactly that was. If only I had made the decision to watch him instead of staying with Inga, then maybe things could have been different, but things couldn't change from a naive wish; here I was, and there he was, and the wall of stone and bitter sadness stood between it all.

I sighed, brushing a loose hair out of my face, and scooted just a little bit to the side so that I was closer to the boy, who immediately tensed at the motion. I wasn't sure really what I was doing, but I tried to smile and look supportive somehow - however one did that. "Look, Peter, I know we're not...close, but I know that something's wrong and I want to help somehow. Isn't that what friends are supposed to do?"

"Are we friends?"

His words caused a falter, confusing me for a second. "Well, if not, I'd like to be, I guess."

It was deathly silent for a few, agonizingly long moments, as he debated my words and I mentally urged him to take the bait and start opening up. I wasn't sure what was making the boy hesitate; by this point, I had imagined we'd be having a long heart-to-heart moment, where he'd spill all of his secrets and I could finally begin to work on something. However, he was much more closed off than I had anticipated, a frustrating quality that seemed impossible to look over.