The Weight of Us ｡ Peter Parker [3]

20 - Mysterio

Rouge waves had destroyed more than the canals of  Venice; it had crumbled my carefree afternoon on the cobbled streets with gelato on my lips and my head filled with cracked memories with a boy, who itched to take my hand and venture through crowds and laugh about nonsense together and end the day with a blooming flower of hope inside my ribcage. Apparently, even on vacation, monsters could still find you, and shake your life around like a snow globe.

With my elbows on my kneecaps, my hands propped under my chin, my ear was filled with Mary Jane's worries, her voice thick through my phone. A few steps below on the staircase, Michelle was busy watching the news segment about Italy's new hero, coining him Mysterio, which was a play on words since nobody seemed to have any idea where he had come from or who he was. The others were crowded in the common area, soaking up the news. Flash was mumbling something about Spider-Man and Doreen was patting the stray cat, making eyes at Ned, who was busy searching the internet for new information. 

"—have you spoken to your parents? I bet they're worried sick," Mary Jane's voiced was almost lost over the television. "Maybe it's best if you come home. Say the word, and I'll have Harry fly over and get you. What? Yes, Harry, I'm talking to her now. She's fine! Are you fine, Flo?"

I had spent most of my evening on the phone, first with my parents and now with Mary Jane and Harry yelling out questions in the background, my second parents. Despite my skin still being chilled from the rising waters of the canals, Hotel DeMatteis bathed with cold water only, and my limbs screaming for sleep, her worries left a slight smile on my lips. "Yes, I'm fine." I poked my head through the banister gap, which was broken in two places and found Peter below, talking quietly with his aunt. "Peter's fine too. Mr. Harrington isn't worried and we leave for Paris tomorrow."

Mary Jane sucked in a breath. "So, do you want Harry to meet you there?"

"No," I sighed quietly, rubbing the crease in my forehead away. "Everything's fine. Well, not everything since Peter now hates me, so I've managed to screw that up, but everything else seems to be fine."

Rustling echoed through the speaker, and suddenly Harry's voice was in my ear. "What did you do now?" His question made my heart sink a little lower in my chest and my eyes found Peter again, who stood with Michelle, arms crossed as he watched the news. "Stop breaking his heart. He's fragile!" 

My own guilt was eating at my insides already, and I did not need Harry's burdened on my shoulders tonight. Quickly, I was faking a static sound, pulling my phone away from face. "Harry? Hey, can you hear me? I think my signal's failing...oh no, Harry?" I could briefly hear his voice on the other end, loud and clear. I ended the call abruptly, dropping my phone into my lap. 

With my mood sour, I fumbled back upstairs to brush my teeth and fall into bed. Doreen followed behind me. As we settled into bed, she rolled over, giving me a sad pout. "Do you think that monster will come back?" My insides stilled with the question. "You don't think...it's like what happened before, do you?"

Sometimes it was hard to think about the past five years, and all the lives that had been ruined, then forced back together, cracked down the middle like china. I shook my head, slipping under the itchy blanket. "No," My lips told a different lie. "We're fine. Nothing will ever be like that."

Michelle eased into the room, toothbrush hanging from her lips and her hair piled high on the crown of her head. She pointed her tube of toothpaste at each of us. "No sulking, you hear me?" She flung herself onto her own bed, the springs crying out. "Tomorrow we're getting Leeds to fall in love with you, D. Paris is the best place for that."

"Oh, I thought you may have forgotten about all that stuff—" Doreen mumbled against her pillow.  

I pushed myself to my elbow. "We could never forgot the Parent Trap mission."