golden | peter parker

thirty

Penny had been on her fire escape for ten minutes before anyone came to check up on her, and it was probably the worst person to do the job. Noah.

He climbed through the window, and sat with her on the railing. He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again. He was choosing his words carefully. When he finally spoke, it was not what Penny had been expecting. "So, Peter huh? Does he at least kiss good?"

"What?" Penny spluttered out in surprise.

"Well obviously you guys were dating, and had a nasty break up. I'm just wondering if he was at least a good kisser. That way, he'll have one redeeming quality before I go over and beat the crap out of him for hurting you," Noah explained, while trying to crack his knuckles.

Penny let out a laugh and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Unfortunately Noah, we were not dating. He managed to hurt me as a friend."

"Unfortunately?" He raised an eyebrow at his sister.

Penny nodded, "Yeah, actually. I really liked him, No. He was really nice and funny, and we just clicked so well together. Then he left for Germany and came back a different person. He started lying to me. And saying some really mean things to me. And every time I tried to forgive him after ignoring him, he would just hurt me all over again. The worst part is I still care about him. It's so hard to stop. I really tried, too. I said I hated him, but I don't think I ever could. I want to hate him, but I care too much. And I don't know what to do." Her voice started to wobble. She hated that Peter was still causing her heartache, after all that he's done to her.

Noah stayed quiet. He was thinking the situation over, absorbing all the information. He wanted to give her the most objective answer he possibly could. But of course as he was 10, all thoughtfulness and eloquent words were just not available in his vocabulary.

All he replied was, "Stop being stupid."

Penny raised her head, "What?"

Noah only nodded his head. "I said stop being stupid. You're acting childish. You like him, he likes you. Both of you are doing stupid things because you're letting your heart make all your choices. Think for two seconds. You said you ignored him? And when he tried to apologize he messed up? Well what if there were certain circumstances that made him mess up. If it was any other night, or time, you guys would be friends again. Stop letting your emotions get the better of you."

Penny furrowed her eyebrows. This was not the pep talk she had in mind. "Noah, I don't think that-"

"No way. I'm not done," Penny raised her eyebrow, but let him continue, "I'm no idiot, no matter how much you want to disagree. Whenever Peter came over to work on your dumb project, you two would be having the time of your lives. All because you were in each other's company. No trip to Germany can change a person. I say it's circumstantial, and the Peter you remember is still there, just buried by unknown context."

"But-But what about all the times he's lied to me? Do you know how many cuts and bruises he gets? It's insane! It's not normal. And he lies about how he gets them too," Penny countered, not wanting to believe what her little brother was saying.

"What if he's embarrassed by how he got them? I'm sure he has a reason. Self defense class? What if he's standing up to bullies? Or he's just really clumsy? I'm just saying Penny, you don't know the entire situation. Give him a chance to explain, on his terms, so he can't accidentally mess it up," Noah explained.

"Why are you defending him?" She asked, still avoiding his points, not wanting to come to terms that he may be right.

"I'm not. I'm gonna beat the crap out of him. But, if you want to be mad at him, be mad with all the details. Let him talk, let him apologize. Because who knows, maybe you were the one who was wrong all along. Maybe not. But you'll never know unless you talk to him."

Penny looked at her brother in awe, "You're the smartest 10 year old I've ever met. And I hate that in five minutes you've given me better advice than I've ever given myself over the two month period that this has been going on."

"Yeah, well, I try," Noah laughed, happy to finally have his sister back.

"But it'll have to wait a few days. He's going to DC for nationals for decathlon. At least that gives me a few days to prepare what I want to say," Penny thought out loud.

Noah got down, but not before Penny pulled him into a massive hug. "Thank you No, I love you."

"I love you too, Pen," Noah smiled as he climbed back through her window. When he left her room, William entered.

He stuck his head out the window and laughed, "Come in Pen, I'm too old to climb out of windows."

Penny giggled, but complied. She swiftly climbed through, and closed the window behind her.

"I'm not going to ask for context, but I need to know. Is Peter why you ditched today?" Her father asked, looking at her with concern. Penny nodded her head, looking down.

"It's just, I don't know. Me and Peter were such good friends. He really made me happy, you know? And then, he just changed. Noah says that I'm not being fair and that I haven't given him an actual chance. And maybe he's right. But, it's just so hard. I'm only 15, and I feel like life is just beating me down right now," Penny sighed, playing with her fingers.

"Look, Pen. Life is hard, get used to it. You just need the right people to help make it easier. And even though you're in a fight, and I want to bash his teeth in," Penny gave her father a look, "maybe Peter is apart of the people to make it easier. It may seem difficult with him now, but I genuinely saw your friendship grow and develop. I think you both need each other," William said, taking Penny's hand in his own. He offered her a warm smile, but she remained silent.

He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her forehead, before standing up and exiting, leaving Penny to nothing but her thoughts.

Noah and her father seemed to think that she should forgive Peter to make herself happier, but why didn't they realize that he was the one who upset her in the first place? Penny was being torn in two. Her heart wanted Peter back so badly it hurt, she missed their inside jokes and when they would make fun of each other. She had lost a best friend and it really hurt her.

But it also hurt that he had been willingly lying to her, and that was why her mind was so reluctant to forgive Peter. He lied in the past, who's to say he won't lie in the future?

Penny sighed, and swung her legs onto her bed. She closed her eyes, hoping to relax a bit. But she didn't realize that she was drifting off into a deep sleep, still in her clothes with the lights on.