Us Against The World ｡ Peter Parker [2]

17 - School's Out

Somehow, my parents had calmed me down enough and while the sky was turning dark, I asked my parents to drop me off in Queens on the drive home, promising them I would be home in a little while. They didn't ask questions, they knew where I needed to be right now.

There was a nervous tick in my bones and it felt strange standing outside the Parkers' apartment door once again. Over the course of a few short weeks, it had been Peter coming to me, always waiting for me, and right now, the tables were turned. After knocking twice, I waited lonely in the hallway, listening to some off beats from a drum kit from down the hall. I wasn't very sure if he would even be home with his after school activities involving a tailored suit from Tony Stark himself, but I just hoped he was. 

After a short while, the door swung open and Peter appeared, quite surprised to see me here at all. I saw the look in his eyes and it hurt a little bit. "Florence, hi." For weeks I had kept away from him because I needed time to process and to heal with the drama that had been brought down on our shoulders. But with my parents telling me I couldn't be fixed, he was the only person I wanted to see. I gave him a weak smile, shifting on my feet. "Uh, why not come in?"

With a heavy heart, I wandered into the tiny apartment. Most of the lights were switched off, the kitchen dark and clean. Usually, May was busy watching a cooking channel and trying to cook a meal, but it usually failed quite terribly. There had been more than one occasion where the smoke detector had blared while I was hanging out with Peter in his room. But tonight, the apartment was quiet and lonely, suggesting May was indeed out. A little shyly, I followed Peter down the tight hallway and stepped into his room, my gaze settling on everything that had changed since I had last been here. The bunkbed was finally assembled and his desk area quite clean nowadays. Odd posters and books still littered the space, but it definitely had changed a little. I couldn't help but bitterly note that we had changed too. 

"Sorry, it's kinda' late but..." my breath dried up in my throat, my thoughts cloudy. Slowly, Peter eased himself down onto his bed, his lips twisting into a sad expression. I hadn't even opened my mouth and he knew something was wrong. "I know I said I would call, but I really needed to see you tonight." I went on softly. 

Peter nodded, "What happened with your parents?"

"Um, they said they couldn't reverse the effects of the serum." There was a dull pain thudding in my chest with my confession and besides my parents trying to comfort me and telling me that everything would be fine, absolutely nothing would be fine again. "The damage has been done."

He remained quite for a moment and I moved towards his desk, my fingertips passing over his keyboard and admiring the pictures stuck to the wall. He had dropped out of the school newspaper months ago but hadn't given up on his photography just yet. I noticed the photo of us nested in the middle among others. We were smiling brightly, caught in a moment of pure happiness. It had been taken months ago. Actually, it had been the day we spent exploring the Metropolitan Museum of Art, our first offical date. I couldn't help but wonder if I would ever be that happy and carefree again.

Slowly, I turned back to him, knowing he wanted to tell me how sorry he was, knowing he would give anything for me not to feel so angry and powerless of my future and these powers running through my body. Peter Parker might have been a hero, but deep down he was still a kid, and he couldn't take away my haunted thoughts anymore than I could. 

"They think there's a way to subside the pain though," I went on. "They think by injecting me with the correct dosage, it will ease the visions and help them become clearer. I wouldn't be in pain anymore. I suppose that's a good thing."

"What do you think though?" Peter asked looking up at me. For so long these visions had haunted my dreams and my daily life. They had caused so much pain and worry and now, with the realisation that they couldn't leave me, it left me quite numb. I was thankful he was asking though, always wanting my actual opinion.