Hang In There// P.P.

Chapter 8: Breaking Point.

*sensitive content*

After the Osborn fire, things got tough real quick. We ended up living in a hotel, with nothing to our name. We had no clothes, no food, no nothing. Dad was in hospital being treated for that broken leg of his, meaning Harry and I were left to fend for ourselves, not that it was anything new. The Osborn children were the talk of the school for weeks after. Walking down the hallway even caused a lot of unwanted attention. At the moment, my friends were my best escape.

That evening after school I was invited to the Parker's for dinner, since hotel food wasn't the nicest thing on the menu.

"Thanks again, Aunt May, for having me over."

The woman smiled, giving a 'pfftt' as she did.

"It's no problem at all! We love having you over."

Dinner at the Parker's was always an enjoyable few hours, regardless of anything else going on in my life, Aunt May and Peter always seemed to make it better. Turns out that over the few weeks that have passed Peter got wind of the fact I hadn't actually watched Star Wars. His expression showed it  when he marched up to me that day in school. To make it up to him I promised I would watch them.......all of them. So there we were, sitting on the sofa, the street lights illuminating the busy streets of Queens, watching Star Wars. We had gotten through about three movies by the time I realised I should be getting back to Harry.

"Pete, I really gotta be getting back to Haz."

To be honest, I didn't want to leave. I was happy enough sitting on the sofa with a fluffy blanket, wrapped up in a warm cocoon.

"There's only an hour left, Sof."

I could see the plead in his eyes, begging me to stay that little bit longer.

"Okay, fine."

He smiled to himself as we returned our attention to the movie. There was only an hour left, surely Harry would survive a little bit longer, I'd be home in under two. However, it turns out that an hour was enough for me to fall asleep.

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I woke up the next morning in a bed that wasn't mine and and a room that wasn't the hotel room. I tried to remember where I was, then reality hit.

"Shit."

I sprang out of the bed, collecting my bag and books and making a beeline for kitchen. I seen Peter peacefully eating his breakfast, the sofa had turned into a bed and his attention turning to me as I whizzed around the apartment, gathering my stuff, but I couldn't find my phone. Peter seemed to notice my panic and came over to take hold of my arms, steadying me.

"Hey, Sof, calm down. What's wrong?"

"I'm not meant to be here, Pete. I was supposed to go back to the hotel. Harry's probably worried sick-"

Peter just smiled at me.

"Why are you smiling?! This isn't funny, Pete."

"Sof, don't worry. I texted Harry last night letting him know you'd be staying here. He's fine, he knew."

A wave of relief washed over me as the words left Peter's mouth.

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"And make you walk back to the hotel alone at one in the morning?"

He scoffed.

"Not a chance I was willing to take."

I sighed in defeat and joined him and May at the table, drinking a glass of apple juice as I did. I could see Peter and May exchanging looks, almost as if they were communicating in their own sign language.

"Is everything okay?"

They both turned to look at me.

"Of course."

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Later that day I met up with MJ. Considering I had absolutely no clothes to wear, we decided to go shopping, not that we were big fans of it but it was an excuse to hang out with each other. We got the train into the city centre, the raining cursing us for the day. We went to various shops, just picking out anything that was half decent and cheap, while dad was in hospital we had to be careful about the amount of money we spent. After we were shopped out, there was certainly a need for food. We walked around for ages trying to find a suitable candidate before we just settled for some Mc Donalds, knowing we were going to be eating some amount of popcorn in the cinema.

Other than the weather our day was lovely; until it got dark.

You're always told to be on high alert when in Queens at night, never knowing who or what was lurking in the shadows. Unfortunately that night, MJ and I had completely abandoned that rule. The consequences being unimaginable.

MJ and I engaged in simple conversation on our way back to the train station when I sensed the presence of someone following us. I turned to MJ discreetly.

"We've got company. Don't look back, pretend you don't know and continue on as normal."

She nodded at me, slight fear in her eyes. And that's what she did, she played along, not paying any attention to the two men following us. That was until their footsteps got louder and frequency of their shoes touching the pavement increased leading us to believe they were running and by that stage, so were we.

We ran.

But it was no good. Two more men appeared from the shadows, grabbing a hold of us as we tried to run off. They were stronger than us. Their laughing sent eerie shivers down my spine. The feel of his breath against my skin made the hairs stand on the back of my neck. We were in trouble. They pinned MJ against the wall, holding her face forcefully up as she struggled to get loose.

"Leave her alone!"

But they didn't listen. I lifted my knee up, connecting it right where the sun don't shine, the guy with the blue shirt falling in pain. I ran over to MJ as quick as I could, jumping onto the back of her attacker, digging my knees into his ribs making him lose power over his hold on her, giving her enough time to escape. If I could get MJ to leave I could possibly fight these goons off.

"MJ, GO!"

"But-"

"GO GET HELP! NOW!"

Hesitantly she left, not because she wanted to, but because she had to. I had lost my focus, leaving enough time for the him to throw me down to the ground, the impact winding me.

"Looks like we've got ourselves a fighter, fellas."

He chuckled evilly as he walked closer to me, leaving me senseless to the guy coming up behind me, delivering a blow to the back of my head, grabbing me by under my arms and dragging me further into the darkness of the alley way.

I was fading in and out of consciousness but still fully aware of what was going on. I felt the weight of blue shirted guys body ontop of mine as I felt him push up against me, the others laughter of evil adding to my fear as I lay there helplessly. I knew what was going to happen, there was no stopping it. I was too weak. Too vulnerable. The whole time all I could think was:

Where was Spider-Man?