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

Chapter 29: Cheers!

⚠️Content Warning⚠️

Minor language. Implied themes of Stockholm Syndrome. Fluffy Christmas-time feels.

Peter's perspective

The weekend could not have come sooner if it tried. Biology on Monday felt like it was just an hour ago, but now I'm sitting shotgun next to Happy as he drives me up to the compound to stay for the weekend. It's been nearly 3 weeks since I've last spoken to Anneliesa, and it's the best I've felt in far too long. I make it an active point to not think about her, which might be a bit antithetical, but it works for the most part. Of course, every great plan has flaws, and on the off chance that she does traipse her way onto my train of thought, it basically ruins my whole day.

All those days ago, May had said it as a joke, and a way to console me, but Dr. Banner thinks that my inexplicable fixation might actually be a form of Stockholm Syndrome. It makes a lot of sense, I guess, but it's pretty hard to wrap my head around when I think about it seriously. Like, I hate her; that's the conclusion I've come to. I hate Anneliesa Malcolm, and I haven't had contact with her in ages, but she can still control me. She makes me feel emotions that aren't my own, and has planted seeds in my head that warp my mind like some sort of funhouse mirror. I can't stand to even think about her ninety-nine percent of the time, but that other one percent is unbridled longing for everything about her.

"Alright kid, nap time's over." Happy said gently, rubbing my shoulder to wake me up quicker.

I'm not sure if sleep is what I'd call the state I was just in, but coming out of it made me feel stoned to all hell. I lumbered my way through the front doors, glass shined to perfection that showed me just how tired I was through my reflection. My feet dragged sluggishly on the ground as they carried me to my designated room. Throwing my bag down haphazardly on the carpet, I sighed loudly as I sat just as heavily on the edge of my bed, making my mattress jump.

Tearing my itchy sweater off as fast as humanly possible, I tossed it in my hamper and grabbed a hoodie from inside of my closet. It was a heathered gray one, and had the Stark Industrieslogo plastered right in the center in bright red ink. Call it free branding, but it's comfortable and I really don't have the mental capacity to care about anything today.

No matter how hard I've tried, how frustrating my chemistry partner was, or how crappy the school food was, or literally anything that happened to me today, none of that was able to distract me from her. There's not even a good reason to explain why Anneliesa's on my mind so much right now, she just is.

After taking a bit of time to myself, I forced myself off of my bed and out to the kitchen area. Dad was standing in front of the stove, his back turned to me, as he made food for Pepper, who was currently napping on the couch a room over. At the sound of the glass door opening and then sealing shut in the wake of my arrival, his attention was grabbed and he looked over to where I was, offering a tired smile.

"Hey kid, how you doing?"

I didn't answer him until I was over by him, and my head was pressed lazily into his shoulder. I usually wasn't this affectionate with anyone but May, but I had one hell of a day, and I needed this sort of parental satisfaction from anyone I could get it from.

"Woah, what's this?" Tony asked, a little surprised by what I was doing. I just grunted lowly, still upset by everything and not caring how out-of-character it was for me. He must have realized that something really was wrong, because his air of laughter quickly faded and he turned to face me full on, forcing me to leave the comfort of his shoulder. "Kid, is something wrong?"