Every Day ── PETER PARKER²

13. Broken Home

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After the fiasco of the alley, all Luna wanted was to get home and scream into a pillow. She had an issue with bottling things up, now especially that she had nobody she could disclose information to since the topic was a secret between herself and Peter. She could feel herself losing the grip of her emotions the moment she threw Mia onto the mat, not even taking a second to consider the pain her best friend would feel from the violent act. In fact, she didn't even care how Mia would be feeling. All she cared about was the aggression in the act, and just how much it would ease her frustration. Though all she got was a bruised friend and an unwanted rush of adrenaline.

Dropping her bag on the floor, Luna let out a heavy sigh as she stepped into the foyer of her home. It was oddly quiet, especially seeing as both her siblings were supposedly home at this time. She thought nothing of it at first, making her way to the kitchen in search of a much needed snack.

She paused at the doorway, both her siblings hunched over the counter, shoulder to shoulder as they examined the same thing. Luna cleared her throat, making the two turn to her in a hurry, revealing a stack of papers behind them. Luna's face fell as the numerous yellow envelopes rested beside the papers. "How did you find that?" She asked quietly, eyes darting between the two young adults. Her hunger was long gone now, a sick feeling settling in the pit of her stomach now.

"Were you not gonna tell us?" Andrew questioned, ignoring the girl's previous question. He held up a letter, and by the length of it, Luna could tell it was one she hadn't gotten the chance to read yet. "Don't you think it's a good idea to tell your siblings that our dad is sending you letters? Our dad we haven't seen in years?"

"How did you find them?" She repeated her question, fingers curling into fists at her side now. This was the last thing she needed after such an eventful day; her brother and sister trying to confront her about something she herself has been avoiding.

Diana and Andrew shared a look before Diana sighed, "I went to your room looking for a book you borrowed, and I found these instead."

Luna's eyes squeezed shut as she let out a shaky breathe. "So you invaded my privacy rather than asking me where the damn book was?"

"Hey, don't turn this on us," Andrew scoffed, dropping the letter to point a finger at the girl. "This is about you hiding this from us, you should have told us after he sent the first letter, Luna."

"No, Andrew, I shouldn't have to tell you. They were addressed to me, so unless you changed your name to Luna, I don't have to tell you shit."

"It's our dad–"

"I don't give a shit!" Luna snapped, her voice raising to the point where Diana's eyes widened in shock. "You had years with dad, your entire childhood was with him. Mine wasn't! Just once, once, I wanted to have something with him that was just for me." Andrew's features softened. "Yeah, I've had those letters for a while. But I haven't even read all of them. I read three of them, and had to stop myself because I was crying too hard to finish reading the damn things. So give me a break, Andrew, because yeah he's our dad, but he was yours much longer than he was mine."

Luna didn't give the two a chance to speak, quickly collecting the letters and their envelopes before running to her room. She let out a breathe as the lock clicked on her door, her eyes fluttering shut. She realized when her eyes began to burn with tears that this was it, she'd reached her breaking point.

Luna settled on her bed as the first tear slipped, a whimper quickly following as more began to stream down her cheeks. She didn't even know what she was crying about at this point, so much has happened that it could be anything.

She could be crying over Peter, and how no matter how hard she tried to deny it, her relationship wasn't as perfect as she'd dreamt it would be.

      All of freshman year, when she'd pictured dating Peter, she imagined it'd be the two of them going on dates to random museums and mockingly critiquing the art, or Peter reading through her script with a goofy voice in an attempt to ease her nerves. Instead, it was her waiting at home every night for him to swing by and reassure her that he didn't get himself killed while being a hero. She didn't plan to be dating both Peter and Spider-Man, but she was in too deep now. He'd managed to reel her in with his cute smile and boyish charm, and she'd fallen completely in love with the boy.

Love. Now what the hell did fifteen year olds know about love? The only people Luna had ever associated love with was family and friends that may as well be family. But as her drunk self said, Peter made her feel things. Sure, he was her first boyfriend so she had nothing else to go off of, but she read enough sappy romance novels to know that the feeling in her stomach wasn't to be shaken off.

Lately they may have been falling apart, but that didn't rid them of all the good memories. Like when he gifted her a ring, one that she wears everyday and relies on to bring her back to reality. Or the nights he'd sneak into her bedroom after she texted him she couldn't sleep, just so he could lay there and watch Friends reruns until she could sleep. Or when she'd sit with his aunt and look through old photos until Peter got home, just to become a blushing mess the second he stepped in. She could feel her lips twitching into the smallest smile, those memories were just adding to the list of why she loved him.

Though if she had more pleasant memories with Peter than negative, why the hell was she still crying?

Her eyes darted over to the discarded letters, yellow envelopes beside it. Her tears spilled over once more, a choked sob leaving her lips before she could help it. He was the cause of her tears, the reason she was pushed over the edge. He's been gone for almost ten years, and yet he still held this much over her.

She hated it.

She hated that her father was now associated with negative things in her mind, rather than the positive guy he'd always been around her. He was no longer the guy who let her cling onto him as they danced to Elvis, but instead, he was the guy who packed up all his stuff and left after tucking his daughter in at night. He wasn't the same person she saw him as when she was six, and there's nothing that hurt her more than that.

With shaky hands, she reached out for the letters discarded at the foot of her bed. Resting them on her lap, she stared down at the paper, frowning when a teardrop landed on one. Hastily, she wiped at her eyes, begging herself to keep it together. She found herself reaching for her phone, but quickly stopped herself, remembering calling Peter to come over for some comfort wasn't an option at this point. Her eyes darted over to the window, heart sinking as the lights were off in the house next door, meaning Mia wasn't an option either.

She was going to have to do this on her own. She inhaled heavily as she picked up the first paper, releasing a shaky exhale as her eyes trailed over the first two words.

Dear Luna....