Walking the Wire | PETER PARKER [1]

| 8 |

Eloise is out the front door in a flash, not caring if she wakes up her parents or not. She slips on her sneakers as she's rushing out into the hallway. The door shuts loudly behind her and she fumbles with the keys to lock it.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Eloise says into her phone that's between against her face and her shoulder. Once the door is successfully locked, she pockets her keys and holds her phone with her hand.

Alev's sniffles and sobs coming from Eloise's phone make her hurry down the hall to the elevators. She presses the button and waits impatiently.

"It's going to be okay," She coaxes, trying to keep her voice soft and comforting. "The doctors know what they're doing. Don't worry."

Alev lets out another choked sob on the other end. "I'm so scared," she whimpers.

"I know," Eloise says. "I know. Just-" She doesn't know what else to say. "I'm on my way right now. Call me or text me if something happens, okay?"

"Okay." Her voice cracks.

She hangs up.

Eloise clutches her phone tightly in her hand and bounce on her toes. "Come on," She mutters.

A door opens behind her. She turns.

Peter's brow furrows when he lays his eyes on the girl anxiously waiting by the Levantine. "Eloise? What's going on?" His hair is ruffled and his eyes are tired. He must've just woken up.

"My friend is having a crisis," She replies shortly.

Peter glances at the clock mounted above the elevator. "At 2 in the morning?"

"Yes." The elevator finally dings and opens its doors. She steps inside. "I've got to go, bye," Eloise tells him as she pushes the button for the ground floor. Peter, still in his doorway, watches as the doors slide shut.

As soon as Eloise reaches the bottom floor she's flying out the lobby front doors and out into the street. Her keys are clenched tightly in her palm, the sharp end poking out from in between her fingers just in case Eloise needs to protect herself.

As the girl rushes through the dark, empty streets, she can't help but feel like she's being watched. She peers over her shoulder a few times, but no one is ever there. Goosebumps rise on the back of her neck.

Eloise jumps and almost loses her balance when a flower pot falls in front of her. The pot shatters and the dirt spills over.

Catching her breath, Eloise cranes her neck and looks above. There's a flash of movement on the side of the building, but nothing follows. A cat must've knocked it off the edge of someone's window or something.

She still feels like there are eyes trained on her figure as she quickly makes her way to the local hospital. As soon as she enters the lobby, Eloise looks around and spots Alev curled up in a chair in the waiting area. She rushes over to her.

Alev looks up at the sound of footsteps and flings herself into Eloise's open arms. Alev's fingers desperately grasp the back of her shirt as she buries her face in Eloise's shoulder, shaking. Eloise holds onto her tight.

"I'm sorry for waking you up," she cries into Eloise's brown hair. "I know we aren't really c-close, but I d-didn't know who else to c-call and I didn't know, I didn't know what to do-"

"Hey," Eloise cuts her off, rubbing her back comfortingly. "It's okay. I'm glad you called; it's not good to go through this kind of stuff alone."

She sniffs and nods. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."