From The Dark | Peter Parker x OC ✔️

Chapter Forty-Seven

A/N: Surprise update because why not? :)

Y'all are gonna love this chapter tho...

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"Do you know how many

little things had to happen

just for you to exist?"
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"Tony," Adelaide whispered, leaning over him in the dark.

"Tony, wake up," she urged, shaking his shoulder. He mumbled something in his sleep, clearly in the middle of a nightmare. Adelaide hadn't been able to sleep as usual so she was awake when she heard him shouting in his sleep.

"Wake up," she said, shaking him again.

Suddenly, he jolted awake and scrambled away from her. She flinched, jumping back.

"It's me," she said quietly, "Adie."

The billionaire looked around his room, seeming to finally realize where he was. He let out a shaky breath, rubbing his face which was dotted in sweat. He pulled his legs over the edge of the bed and hid his face in his hands, keeping his back to her.

He had changed after MIT. Adelaide couldn't place her finger on it but he was different. He got more nightmares, he screamed in his sleep. He seemed more on edge.

Adelaide stood there, unsure of what to say or do. She felt like she had crossed a line and invaded his privacy but she knew that she had to wake him up. She knew how terrifying it felt to get lost in your nightmares and feel trapped in your own head.

"Go," he finally said without looking at her, "I'm fine."

Instead of listening to him, she sat down at the other side of the bed, her back to him as well. It was easier to talk when people weren't looking at you in pity.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, staring at the carpet. The glow from the city lights coming through the window allowed her to see the black patterns on the carpet beneath her feet.

"No."

Adelaide stayed quiet and began tracing the black patterns on the carpet with her toe. She didn't want to be alone in her room with her thoughts. She should probably leave, though and give the billionaire some space. But she was selfish and she couldn't find it in herself to leave.

"She fell into the fire again," Tony said after the silence had stretched on, "It was the end of the world. Everyone was dead, you were dead...because of me. I was the only one still alive."

Adelaide winced. That nightmare sounded familiar.

"I'm sorry," she said, not knowing what else to say. She really should leave. Adelaide stood up, taking a deep breath.

"Stay," he sighed just as she was about to walk out of the room. She caught his bloodshot eyes, considering it. Should she try to sleep? Would she dream of it again? Her sleep deprived state got the better of her and she turned around. She wanted to sleep, needed to sleep.

Taking her slippers off, she got on the other side of the bed and slid under the covers. A moment later, Tony did the same and they both fell asleep with their backs to each other.

Why did this always happen to them? Why were they so...broken? Would they ever be able to put themselves back together again? Did they even deserve to?

Somehow, in the midst of these questions, Adelaide found sleep.

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