secret saviour ▹ peter parker

13] 'she's got you'

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Peter's eyes lingered on Noah's form as she entered through the tall crystal doors of the building, they remained there until the girl was out of sight. The boy couldn't help but let an immense feeling of guilt swarm over him in a response to the week's events, though he knew deep down he shouldn't. After all, he couldn't have been the catalyst in the 'goings on' that would have changed the outcome. He pondered how his friend was able to cope with all of this. Noah has never really been the 'open book' kind of person who would happily share her feelings with anyone, though Peter was an exception. Yet, since waking up in the hospital, she hadn't shed a tear for the passing of her mother. This is what confused Peter the most.

"Kid, I'm proud of you. I hope you know that."

Peter's train of thought was interrupted by his superior.

"Proud of me?" He questioned Tony's wording, as if he believed it to be somewhat of a joke.

"You saved that girl in there. If you didn't show up when you did, we can only imagine what would've happened. And for that, I'm proud of you."

Peter's brows furrowed to the statement. He didn't want to accept it.

"But her mom, she-, Mr Stark, Noah has no one left. I could've saved Jackie, if i stopped them from leaving. If I said something that could have kept them there, made them realise that they had a reason for staying. If i told Noah that I-..." Peter trailed off, realising what he would have followed those words with and sharing them with Tony.

"I could've stopped this. I could've stopped all of it before it even had a chance to start, but I didn't. And now Noah has no one."

What followed was a brief moment of silence between the two. Tony adjusted his glasses on his nose before focussing his attention on Peter.

"She's got you."

The words were hard for the boy to comprehend at first, but surely enough, they did. Peter glanced up at Tony, who gave him a reassuring smile.

"Listen, just be gentle with Noah. Of course, we both know the reasons why and the ways in which we should go about this, but just don't ask too many questions. The poor girl's had enough to deal with. Now, I know all of this seems strange and new but everything will come into place soon. Until then, wash your face, you have toothpaste on your chin."

Peter's expression of understanding quickly fell into a scowl as he attempted to rub off the dried up toothpaste stain that clung to his chin.

Noah perched herself on a coffee-coloured leather couch positioned by one of the large windows that held a magnificent view of the city. She lounged about the couch, lying on her side with her head rested upon the arm rest. Her gaze was fixated on the outside world. The sky was painted so elegantly, a blend of soft blue tinged ever so slightly rose as the curtain began to fall on the day, the sun had begun to fade. Silence. Not a single sound was formed in that moment. Usually, in moments of tranquility like these, Noah's thoughts would come into play, most of the time thinking about the day and all of it's little activities. But no, not this time.

Silence.

Noah's mind had been pushed to it's limits and now, there was nothing to think about anymore. She couldn't bring herself to think about everything that had happened. She was broken. But she was also Noah. She didn't want to bring anyone else down around her, so she masked it. Crying in front of people was not something she enjoyed doing for a second, she was known for her strength and ability to keep everything life threw at her under control.

But this, this took Noah's rule book and propelled it as far from her as possible.

Her eyes began to gloss over, her vision tainted. The tear that slipped cautiously down her discoloured and scarred cheeks was swept away as quickly as it formed by her equally as scarred hand.

"Miss McKenna?"

Noah shuffled around until she was laying on her back, looking up at the source of the voice.

"Hi, I'm Pepper. Pepper Potts. It's Noah, right? I wasn't too sure if I'd gotten that right, just wanted to reassure myself." Pepper offered out a hand to accompany her introduction, along with sympathetic smile.

"Oh, hi. Nice to meet you." Noah took the handshake and returned a weak smile, rising from the couch to face Pepper.

"Did Tony mention where you'd be staying?"

Noah shook her head.

"Right, well, we've cleared out a room here for you. I know it's not ideal and it's an unusual concept but it's one that still stands. I can take you to it if you'd like and we can get you settled in." Pepper rested one hand on Noah's shoulder, sweeping a strand of hair out of the girl's face with the other. 

Noah walked reluctantly alongside Pepper as she guided her towards the entrance to the building where they were met by Tony and Peter.

"Ah, I see you've met our new recruit." Tony grinned as he strutted through the doors, Peter trailing not too far behind him.

"I was just showing her to the room." Pepper informed. 

Peter made his way over to his friend, standing beside her.

"Are you okay?" He muttered as to not interrupt Tony and Pepper's newly conducted conversation with each other.

"About as okay as I can be considering the circumstances." Her response was rather flat and monotone.

"Sorry, erm, stupid question." Peter cursed at himself mentally, shaking his head. Noah chuckled quietly at Peter's inability to cope in situations like these, she found it somewhat cute.

"You two should date." Tony stated abruptly, halting his own conversation just to state what he was thinking.

"What?" The pair in question replied in unison, glancing back and forth at each other and over to Tony.

"I'm just saying what we're all thinking. I'm no matchmaker but anyone, literally anyone can see that this should happen. Anyway, as I was saying-"

Pepper rolled her eyes at Tony's comment as he resumed their conversation, leaving Peter and Noah stood awkwardly beside each other.

"Well, I mean we could-"

"No, Peter, we're not dating"

"I hear 'ya."

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hey folks. well this is long overdue isn't it, but hey, i'm back. sorry this took so long to get out. i've been super busy these past few months but here we are, im back for now! woo! i'll try to get new chapters posted as frequently as possible from now on.

thank you for your patience.

also i apologise if there are any undetected spelling errors in this chapter, i've started writing on my mac rather than my phone that instantly autocorrects things.

-laura :)