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Passing by the different numbered doors in the long hallway, Zoee rushes to get back to The Stacy's apartment. She slows down as she sees the numbers on the door approaching the door marked 2016. Right before she reaches the door, there is a wide mirror hung on the creamed colored walls of the apartment building. She stands in front of the mirror, staring at her form.
Red-rimmed eyes stare back at Zoee, dry streaks of tears run down her face along with fresh tears. She tries to tuck some loose strands of hair from her now chaotic bun but they keep springing back out of place. She wipes her blotchy cheeks with the palms of her hands before she stares at her face which is washed with a dull red, along with the very end of her nose.
She shakes her head and moves along to Gwen's door before she realizes that she has nothing to pick up from there. She only brought her phone and keys which is in her pocket so there is no need to go back in. Zoee knows she has to at least thank them for their hospitality when she wasn't invited but she can't form the words.
Zoee wants to text Peter to send forward her thanks to Gwen and her family but she decides against it, knowing that he's probably too busy making out with the blonde to see her message. The Atkins girl ends up deciding to take the elevator to go back down to the lobby and exit the building.
As soon as she steps out she rubs at her arms at the cool atmosphere, scolding herself mentally for not bringing a jacket. She looks around at the dark buildings being dimly lit by streetlights and looks up at the tall building Gwen and her family live in. She gets lost looking at all the windows, watching shadows move around and live their lives inside their apartments. She gets snapped back into reality when she can see red and blue lights flashing along with hearing the loud police sirens.
From afar she can hear screams and commotion coming from the bridge to her right. For her safety, she goes the other way and figures she can find another way home. She unlocks her phone and clicks on the maps app, punching in her address to go back home as soon as possible. She taps on the start button and follows the directions the app on her small phone instructs.
Not even ten minutes into the walk back to her tiny apartment is when Zoee starts to feel scared and not so alone anymore. She looks back and sees a dark shadow of a figure walking the same direction as her. She quickens her step and takes sharp turns to lose the person but to no avail. That's when she knows she's being followed. She glances back again before starting to run, the sound of her shoes hitting the pavement loudly filling her ears. She can also hear the heavy footsteps of the person running after her.
Her breath quickens, her body growing tired already of sprinting and her muscles screaming in pain but Zoee knows she can not stop or she will be caught and most likely get killed. All of a sudden, hands grab at her hips and arms wrap around her waist. A scream bubbles in her throat as she struggles against the tight grasp.
"Calm down, it's okay!" A deep yet familiar voice yells through the wind. Zoee stops wriggling around as she feels that her feet aren't touching the ground anymore.
She looks down and sees the blurriness of the buildings and light posts as she flies by them at a fast speed. She then looks up to see her savior since she wasn't running away from the person following her. She gasps loudly as she comes face to face with Spider-Man's mask.
Spider-Man is holding Zoee close to his body with one arm as she shoots webs and swings with the other. She immediately wraps her arms around his neck tightly, closing her eyes and leaning her head on his to avoid looking down and feeling sick. His body warmth seeps through the spandex suit and warms Zoee's shivering form. The wind hits her bare skin and makes her hair fly out of her bun, the scrunchie falling down to the ground.
The hero looks over to her face and Zoee feeling watched opens her eyes to look back at his bug goggles sewn into his mask. She wants to desperately be able to look through the goggles to see her hero's eyes and figure out who he is. A part of her wants him to be Peter Parker but the other part doesn't want him to go towards danger every day as the masked vigilante.
Zoee opens her mouth to ask him something or at least thank him when they slow down and she is placed down. She looks around to see that he placed her in front of the door to her apartment building. When she turns back to him, he's swinging away again.
Without thinking, she blurts out, in a whisper, "Wait!"
She didn't think her first word in years would be to a masked man who saved her life. She was really hoping it to be with her mother or Peter Parker but she can't change it now.
She won't stop now, so she races inside to her apartment. Her hands shake as she unlocks the door, making the keys rattle.
As soon as she is inside and sees her mother's form on the couch, she goes over to stand in front of her.
"Spider-Man saved me, mom." She says softly with wide eyes, making her mother gasp.
♡
The next afternoon at school, Zoee walks out the back doors of the school, heading to the lunch area to find Peter. She looks around a couple of times, not finding Peter anywhere. She's almost about to give up when an idea of where Peter might be pops up in her head.
Zoee speed-walks towards the football field where the football team is doing a scrimmage. She stops when she sees the back of Peter's familiar head. She smiles as she is about to run after him, finally being able to talk to him when she sees that he's heading towards Gwen Stacy sitting on the bleachers.
Her smile immediately disappears as she faces down to blink back tears before she looks to the side. She sees a shaded spot under a tree and decides to go and sit. There, she spends her lunchtime fantasizing about her hero, the Spider-Man.
the ending is really sucky but mY BABY ZOEE FINALLY TALKED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER *insert anna from frozen's voice*
