Sliding Doors ⧨ Peter Parker

19 | Swinging in the Rain

Y/N

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Is Tony Stark my dad?

Hell no, my dad's dead. My mom said he died a few days after I was born.

But I don't remember there being a funeral....

I'm dumb, of course I wouldn't remember one, since I was fresh out of the womb. But still, I can't shake the memory of Tony acting so strange. Even if he wasn't my dad, he still knew something about it. Then again, he might not. I had heard rumors of his broken relationship with his father, and knowing I didn't have one, it might have brought up some painful memories.

That seemed more likely.

"Ready to swing?"

I spun around, my wrench clattering against the table in front of me. Peter stood hovering by the doorway, his cheeks flushed and his smile bright. My defensive stance softened when I saw him, and I went to grab Peter's jacket.

"Yeah," I nodded, "how long have you been waiting?"

"Not long. I just got here."

Pushing the sweater towards him, the blue fabric lay limp in my hand. He seemed surprised for a second, as if he hadn't expected me to return it, before pushing it back towards me.

"You keep it," he said, "you need it more than I do."

"And how would you know?"

"Because you still have goosebumps on your arms."

I stuck out my bottom lip, swatting him away. I hated that he could notice such simple things, because it made me feel like I was overexposed. But some part of me still likes it, because didn't that mean he was paying attention to me? As we made our way to the elevators, we were consumed with a talkative excitement.

"You'll love it!" the boy exclaimed, "the wind feels good against your skin."

"But what if you drop me?"

"I won't, promise."

"Does it feel like flying?"

"Better than that."

We walked out of the tower doors, entering the nighttime sky. The skyscrapers looked purple against the clouds, a reflection of the hidden sun. When I'm with Peter, everything seems better than it really is. As we crossed the street, my heart dropped when I heard the phone ring.

Not my phone, Peter's. He bit his lip, pulling it out to see who was calling.

Daisy ⚘

I held all my thoughts back as I watched him pick it up. Pressing the phone against his ear, I couldn't make out the words from the other end.

"No, don't worry about it," he said into the mic, "really?"

I frowned, tugging at the zipper of his sweater. We had stopped walking, and he seemed more invested in the phone call than in me. I couldn't blame him, it was rude to ignore someone's call. But it was disappointing that it also meant ignoring me.

"Got it," he continued, "I'll be there soon."

Hanging up the phone, he turned back to face me, a sympathetic look on his face. I didn't need him to tell me what was going on, it was pretty obvious.

"I've got to go," Peter apologized, "can we do this tomorrow?"

I shook my head. What was the point? If he couldn't make it now, I doubted he'd be able to tomorrow. It was late anyways...

"It's fine," I sighed, "I'm exhausted, now that I think about it."

I lied. My body was itching to be able to swing through the sky. I wanted it so badly. But, I can't have everything, and I understand that.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow," he offered, "to make up for it."

"Don't bother. We leave for Germany in two days."

"We do?"

"Have you not been listening to Tony?"

I didn't wait for him to respond, before turning on my heels and heading towards the bus stop. It unnerved me that he hadn't been paying attention to the lessons. Did he even care about this opportunity? I had to fight my way to get that job, and what did he have to do? Get bitten by a radioactive spider?

"Bye Peter," I said, waving a hand, "see you tomorrow."

I felt bad for my harsh goodbye, but I was already annoyed to the brim. No matter what, it was a jerk move to ditch your friend for another girl. Especially if that friend asked you to hang out that very morning.

I turned the corner, officially out of Peter's sight. Pulling out my own phone, I decided to put my hunch to the test. Something wasn't right, and I knew it. Tapping on Daisy's contact, I waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hey," I said, trying to cover up my distasteful tone, "what's up?"

"Not much, why are you calling?"

"Can't I call my friend?"

"Of course you can, but it's pretty late, don't you think?"

"Oh. I see," I frowned, "I just wanted to know if you wanted to hang out."

"Can't," she said, letting out a fake pout. I've known her long enough to know when she was lying, "I was about to head to sleep."

"You were?"

"Yeah. lights out, ya' know?"

"Yeah," I muttered, "light's out."

I didn't bother saying a goodbye, before shutting off my phone. If she was 'going to sleep', why did she tell Peter to come over? I wasn't stupid, but it didn't make it any better that she lied to me.

Screw Daisy.

But considering the fact that I was ditched on the side of the road, in the middle of the night, there was something else.

Screw Peter.