Every Day ── PETER PARKER²

32. The Size of Texas

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Liz was an amazing friend.

She was the kind of friend to go to four different stores just to find your favorite flavor of gum, or drop everything to comfort you while you cried, even if that meant taking the 7 train in the middle of the night, a train that was already bad during the day and only progressively gets worse with time. She was the best friend a person could ask for, and her agreeing to keep Peter's secret only further proved that statement.

Of course, like Ned, she had questions of her own before agreeing.

"How the hell did it happen?"

"Do the webs come out of you? Because that's kinda gross."

"What does Black Widow smell like?"

"You haven't met Black Widow properly? What the hell does that mean, Parker?"

"No, Luna, you don't get it. What's the point of being friends with an Avenger if he doesn't even have connections to Black Widow?"

That started a whole other conversation, which eventually ended with Liz promising to keep the secret. Then came the conversation Luna and Peter had just started before Liz bursted into the room.

Ernie Lakewood.

Now with Liz in on the secret, Peter decided it was okay to incorporate her into the plan.

It was not okay.

Luna had failed to inform her friend but the other encounter she had in an alley with Ernie's right hand man, something Liz wasn't too happy about. It resulted in Liz ranting while Luna glared at Peter, who wore a sheepish smile throughout the entire thing. She did plan on telling her friends, only after she got closure and decided she was stable enough to do so. But, not like anything ever went to plan in her life.

They eventually got around to constructing a plan, sort of.

As of now, all they knew was Ernie was still in Rikers, waiting to be transferred to a prison, making their plan a little easier. Their only obstacle seemed to be the fact that they were underage, meaning they'd need an adult to accompany them to the jail. Luna was quick to suggest her siblings, though that was met with uncertainty, seeing as both her siblings harbored an anger for the man that'd only be sparked by seeing him. On top of that, none of the three were sure if Luna was even allowed to visit the man, seeing as she was his victim. There were too many flaws to their "plan" and by the time Liz left, Luna had been close to giving up on it all together.

"Hey." Luna looked up from her locker, not surprised to see a very tired Liz Barns resting on the locker beside hers. "Did you and Peter come up with anything after I left?"

"No," Luna sighed, shutting her locker to lean against it. "We gave up after you left. The only option we have is to talk to my siblings about it, and it needs to be soon since we don't know when he's being transferred."

"You're sure he's being transferred?"

"Positive. Rikers only keeps people with sentences smaller than a year, he got five." Liz nodded in understanding. "On top of all this, my mom told me they set a date for the trial with Danielle for next month, which is stupid because the worst she could get is three months in jail or a year of probation." Luna frowned at the concerned look Liz wore. "I've been researching, okay?"

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Liz spoke softly, hand reaching out to grab Luna's arm. "It's okay if you're uncomfortable and want to back out, Peter and I will support you no matter what."

"I have to do this," Luna whisper-shouted, eyes cautiously darting around the room. "Peter's right. I have to face my fears, and one of my fears is Ernie Lakewood and what he could do to me. Seeing and talking to him while he's in jail... it'll help me feel more at ease."

"What are we whispering about?" Both girls jumped at the new voice, Mia looking between the two with raised eyebrows. "Geez, you two are jumpy. Was it that big of a secret?"

Luna looked to Liz for help, fingers nervously fiddling with each other. She thought having one friend in on the secret would make it easier, but if anything, it made it harder. She hated having to leave Mia out of the loop, but it wasn't her secret to tell. If Peter wanted Mia to know, he'd tell her, and Luna couldn't do anything about that.

"Uh..." Liz trailed off, looking to Luna to share a panicked look. "I was just asking Moonie about her night with Peter."

Luna's eyes widened as Mia's face morphed into a suggestive one, Liz playing along, a smirk tugging at her lips. "Oh, I get it. Share the details, Luna."

Luna's cheeks flushed. "There are no details, you know me and Peter."

Noticing how clearly flustered the girl, Liz was prepared to shift the topic to something less invasive, but Mia's sharp gasp stopped her. "Are you wearing makeup?" Luna's lips parted in surprise when Mia turned her head to the side, a sound of excitement following. "You are! On your neck."

Before Luna got to the chance to move out of Mia's grip, Liz was wiping at the spot Mia pointed out, a gasp of her own following. "Are you serious?"

"It's nothing," Luna muttered, pushing away both girls' hands, cheeks heating more by the second.

"You have a hickey the size of Texas on your neck," Mia deadpanned. "It's clearly something."

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Luna placed her hand on her neck, covering the massive mark on her neck. She couldn't dare to meet the eyes of her friends, knowing the truth of her night had already been exposed. She was a teenager, he was a teenager, both of them had yet to explore being rebellious and they were left alone. It was only natural that things went in... that direction. Or at least they saw it that way.

"You broke Peter," Mia breathed out, Luna's head shooting up. "Sweet, little, innocent Peter did that. I can't believe it."

Luna frowned. "How do you know it wasn't him that broke me? He did this to me, not the other way around."

Liz let out a sound of disgust. "Is he sporting a matching one? God, that's gross."

"Our Paraldo babies have grown up," Mia sighed dreamily. "Look. There's the other half now."

At that, Luna whirled around, seeing Peter walking through the crowded hallway, headphones in. Eventually he noticed all three girls staring at him, all wearing different expressions, only aiding to his confusion.

"Hi..." He greeted hesitantly, tugging both headphones out to address the girls. "Why is Mia looking at me like that?" He shared a look with both Liz and Luna, worry evident in his eyes, clearly having made the assumption that Mia was informed of his secret.

"Because I'm a proud mother," Mia sighed, and before Peter could question what she meant, she was skipping away. Liz followed with a grumble, shooting the two one last look of disgust before turning away.

Peter looked to Luna for an explanation, to which the girl shifted her hair, revealing the large mark on her neck. A blush instantly spread across his cheeks. "Oh."

"Yeah," Luna muttered. "Moving on from your assault on my neck, I decided I'm going to ask my siblings tonight."

"So we're doing this?"

Luna nodded. "We're doing this."