Silence

Thirty-Four

I got home and went straight to bed. I had to be up before ten to meet Rick at the house.

I jolted awake, the vibrations from my phone and the mix of a bad dream causing me to flop onto the floor. I groaned when I landed on a box cutter. "God dammit. Just my morning." I grumbled, though I couldn't exactly hear myself. I got up, pulling the box cutter from my back, where it had stuck itself a few centimeters in. I grabbed my hearing aids and left the room, needing a roll of gauze. I got into the kitchen, ignoring the looks I got from the patrons. I reached for the gauze and got it after a few excruciating seconds. I put it over the injury in my back and wrapped around my stomach until I felt that it was sturdy. I checked the time and sighed when I realized it was only seven.

I made myself breakfast, not caring how much noise I made. I hadn't put my hearing aids in and I didn't really care to. I sat at the table eating, that was until Sam came in and pointed at his ears. I grabbed my aids and stuffed them in. "What's up?" I questioned and continued eating my cereal. "We need to talk about last night." I checked my watch, it was only eight fifteen. "Go on." He sat at the table and played with the rim of the handle on my coffee cup. "I shouldn't have told you that we all were sick of you. We're not, we're worried and it's way too early for someone with your heart and mind to be devolving. We've all had our hard times, but we have to rely on each other." I hummed and played with the string on my sweats. "I love you guys, I really do. At one point, we all have to look at each and evaluate whether or not we deserve to be surrounded by the team. At this point, I do not. I don't want to spend the rest of my life regretting my choices because I stuck around and buried myself straight in the ground. Wanda lost Vis and she still hasn't recovered. I can't be that. I won't." I stood up, grabbing my bowl. "I am buying a house today." Sam looked at me incredulously. "Where did you get the money for that?" I chuckled slightly. "I got to college on a full ride. Stark transferred my college funds into my savings and I'm using some of it to buy a house. My point is, if you would like to have a key, or even just know where it is, I'll be willing to do that for you. On the condition that you don't randomly show up at my place with the entire team." He grinned and I knew that we were going to be okay.

I pulled up to the house and slid off my bike. "Peter!" Rick yelled happily and I smiled. "Hey Rick." I followed him into the house and he set us up on the table. "Okay, you have the money?" I nodded and pulled out a check. I slid it towards him and he signed the back before stuffing it into a folder. "Bank statement?" I slid him that and he put it in the folder. I handed him the signed paper from Dad and he put that with the paperwork. "Okay, go through here, sign the highlighted areas and I'll go take the sign out of the yard." He left me in the house, the door staying open. I flipped through the paperwork, signing and filling out the appropriate places. 

It was twenty minutes when I went outside, folder and paperwork in hand. Rick was struggling to pull the For Sale out of the ground. I chuckled and walked over, handing him the paperwork. I gripped the base of the sign and pulled it up, loosening all the dirt from the bottom of the sign. "You must lift a lot, that thing was stuck in there." I smiled and he took the sign from me. "Here is your key." He handed me the key and then stuck out his hand. I shook it and he thanked me for doing business with him. "Make sure you call for utilities and such." He reminded me and I nodded, smiling. I went back to the front door and locked it, figuring that I'd bring Sam and maybe Bucky with me when I start to move in.

I got home and walked inside. "Where were you?" Dad questioned, Pietro next to him. "Business." I stuffed the key in my back pocket and grabbed a Monster before going to my room. I was only in there for five minutes before Sam knocked on my open door. "Did it go well?" I nodded and pulled out the key, tossing it to him. He examined it before tossing it back to me. "Utilities will be there tomorrow and I'm ordering furniture tonight, if you wanted to go with me to be there while they set stuff up. I'm gonna pack up some stuff tonight and bring it over there." I muttered absentmindedly, tossing some shirts into a box. I had gone through all my clothes and I had laid out two weeks worth of clothes. "I think that'd be great. Does your old man know?" I shook my head and looked up at him. "I'll tell him when I tell everyone else that I'm moving out. I want to have the majority of my stuff there first. I'm not in a big rush to get out before Christmas, but I would like to be."

I grabbed a box and headed down to Tony's lab, ready to pack up some projects. I'm planning to turn that basement into a lab of my own, complete with Karen and everything. I found Tony working on repairs to his newest suit. "Hey Underoos. What's the box for?" I set it on my work table and turned to face my mentor. "I'm moving out soon." He stood up and his face dropped. "Why?" I smiled softly. "I need some time away. Heal, get through college." He walked forward and pulled me into a tight hug. "I'll miss you around here." I chuckled and hugged him back. "I'll miss you too. I expect to know about your child when they're born." Tony nodded and released me. "Of course." I looked at my projects and picked up a hand held web grenade. "Here." I pressed it into his hand and he looked at me for a second. "Your web grenade? I thought you were still developing this?" I shook my head. "I finished it about a month ago, I still have the schematics. I just want you to have the prototype." He teared up and I chuckled. "I'm not dying Tony. I'm just growing up. When the house is finished, I'll bring you over." I promised and he gave me a surprised look. "You bought a house?" I nodded proudly. "You helped. I got to college on a full ride and with those funds, I was able to pay off a house in the country side. Three acres of forest land, two stories and a basement." He smiled and shook his head. "You're still full of surprises Pete."