Walking the Wire | PETER PARKER [1]

| 25 |

Homework is spread out in front of Eloise on her bed; it has been for at least two hours now. As soon as she arrived home she got it out, planning to get it done early so she wasn't staying up past midnight doing it that night. However, these last couple hours she's just been procrastinating and distracting herself with random songs on the radio. Some are flat, so she switches to other stations for songs that are more enjoyable.

It's already evening and she doesn't even have half of her homework done. Some things never change.

Eloise shuts off her music and decides that she's actually going to finish her homework. But then there's a knock on the front door.

Internally glad for the interruption, Eloise jumps up from her bed and makes her way to the entrance of the apartment. She stands up on her tiptoes to peer into the peephole. When she sees a certain brown-headed, brown-eyed boy, she opens the door with a smile.

Peter smiles at Eloise too, but as his eyes quickly scan her up and down a blush reddens his cheeks.

Confused, Eloise looks down at herself. She's wearing her pajamas: a big t-shirt with faded letters and cotton shorts. She realizes that it looks like she's not wearing any pants because of how long her shirt is. Eloise pulls up her shirt so her shorts are visible.

"I'm wearing pants, I swear."

A laugh slips through Peter's lips and Eloise lets her shirt fall back to its original length. Peter scratches the back of his neck. "Oh, okay. I thought this was going to be very awkward." His arm falls to his side and he studies the girl before him. The feeling of his eyes on every inch of Eloise's face makes her lips turn up in a small smile as she looks back at him. "Look," he finally breathes. "I just wanted to say hi and ... and that I was sorry—"

"Oh my gosh, Peter." Eloise rolls her eyes in exasperation. "I told you, it's fine. What you said wasn't very nice, but ..." She gives him a reassuring smile. "I know that you feel bad. So I forgive you."

He crosses his arms, his brow raising in surprise. "You sure?"

"Don't worry about it." Eloise opens the door wider and steps back. "Want to come in?"

Peter smiles at her and steps inside, his converses squeaking against the tile of the kitchen floor. Once Eloise shuts the door and turns, he slips out of his shoes and waits for Eloise to lead him to her bedroom, both of their sock-clad feet padding across the wooden floor. Eloise closes the door behind them when they reach her room.

Eloise sweeps her homework on the bed into her backpack so Peter can have a seat. Once he does, she jumps onto the sheets next to him. The mattress bounces slightly.

"So," Eloise starts, facing Peter with her legs folded. He folds his legs under him as well and faces Eloise, too. "How are you?"

"Swell," he replies merrily.

Eloise raises her brow. "No, really," She says, lightly punching his shoulder. "How are you?"

Peter's eyes level with her serious gaze and he clears his throat and looks down. Rolling the hem of his jacket sleeve in between his fingers, he shrugs. "Yeah. Um ... I'm okay. Just a little tired."

Eloise would say that 'a little tired' is an understatement. Although Peter always looks cute and could never look anything less, his eyes are still lined with dark bags that have been prominent lately. Plus, his smile that usually brightens her mood doesn't reach his eyes or cause his smiles lines to crease his cheeks. Along with the physical evidence of exhaustion, Peter hasn't been his regular cheeky self.