I Can't Make You Love Me || Peter Parker x OC

Chapter 26: Knight In Tarnished Armor

Anneliesa's perspective

I never thought that 2 days could possibly go by quite this sluggishly. Boy was I proven wrong. But on the topic of boys, I was supposed to be meeting my favorite one here any minute. Margot brought me a hot chocolate, her smile just as warm as the drink in my hands. It was the most comforting thing that's happened to me since I first talked to Peter.

He should be here soon. He texted to say he might be a bit late, I thought, trying to reassure myself more than anything else.

Peter had said that he was 'doing work' when he texted me about his tardiness. That left me to assume that he was out being a super-human right now, and every second that ticked by without him here lead me to think up a new version of something awful that could have happened to him. Blood and death was all that my mind could form for him, but then the bell chimed above the door and the man of the hour stepped through the door of the little local diner.

Swivelling around in my seat at a booth table, I waved him over to me, a huge and genuine smile on my face for the first time in over a week. It's because of him. He's the only one that makes me this happy.

"Sorry I'm late. Stuff was..." Peter trailed off, and I couldn't help but that he was short of breath. I smiled to dismiss him from having to finish.

"No, no, you're fine. I just got here like 10 minutes ago, so it's all good. Everything's alright with you?" I asked.

Rather than answering me, he merely took a sip of the water that I had ordered for him ahead of time. I wasn't quite sure what to make of his reply, or lack thereof, so I went with another question in a fleeting attempt to keep the conversation alive.

"Are you sure that it's safe to be out there doing what you do?" I kept my tone soft, but my eyes were harsh. As soon as I realized this, I cast them downwards and out of his sight. There's a lot to be done while I have him here, no point in ruining it 30 seconds into the conversation.

"Yeah...? Am I not picking up on something?" He kinked an eyebrow upwards, apparently confused about why I asked.

My first reaction was to be slightly irritated. How could he now see how dangerous it is? Especially after what happened with me, someone he cares about very much, I'd think that he would be a bit more cautious with his safety. Evidently he thought otherwise, and that notion hurts me in a way I can't quite place.

Several different variations of the same set of words flashed through me, each begging to be asked aloud. Some wanted to be mad at him, and I saw the reasoning behind it. Others requested pity for him, and I was compelled by that argument as well. Margot, being my guardian angel that she is, then dropped in to save the day and the awkward conversation.

"Hey Peter, glad you made it." Each of them smiled at the other, his noticeably tighter and almost forced compared to hers. But he was being polite as always, and it was yet another thing that I absolutely adored about him. "So, what can I get for you?"

Irrationally afraid of change, as juxtaposed as that is in the context of my life, I haven't changed my order here since like, 2009. Margot already had it written down on the order ticket before she even came to our table, and now she was scribbling Peter's cinnamon pancakes into the remaining space. She whisked our menus away and pinned the order card to the currently blank kitchen window board.

Blessings can only last for so long, and evidence of that is found in the deafening silence that befell the both of us in the absence of Margot. I cleared my throat just before taking a sip of water, acting as though I had some long speech to give, but in reality trying to formulate exactly what those words would be.