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"F.R.I, activate Nightcap Protocol." I instructed the AI with my arms crossed as I made my way to the couch.
The windows glazed over, so no one could see in. Some privacy and security shields, if you will, to prevent the past from repeating itself. Like my true self, I was invisible to the outside world. Inside I didn't have to hide or pretend; I was safe.
"You need to ice those..." Peter spoke, breaking the silence.
"What?" I asked gently, scrunching my brows together.
"Your knuckles, you need to ice them. They're bleeding and they're going to swell if you don't ice them..." Peter navigates through the new kitchen, wrapping some ice in a cloth before approaching me. He gently lays the makeshift ice pack onto them.
I look up to him with guilty eyes when I realize he's still holding onto my hands.
"I don't know what to say Peter, I thought I'd figure it out on the walk from the balcony to here, but I still don't know what to say." I hung my head again, my voice faltering.
"You don't have to say anything." Peter reassured me, taking a seat next to me.
I didn't understand why he was being so kind to me, especially considering our last conversation with him. My head had pushed him away, but my heart was grasping for anything left to hold onto.
"You deserve an explanation." I admitted.
"I know why you did it, all of it. You don't have to put yourself through this for me." Peter tried to convince me, but I shook my head.
How could he be so understanding? How could I hurt him, and he still looks for a reason to redeem me? To excuse my actions? To find some greater meaning to all of it... the only conclusion I could think of was that he really didn't want to let you go.
"I do Peter! Because if you get hurt or your identity is compromised, that's on me!" I yelled, pushing the ice off my hands as I motioned between the two of us.
"Can't you see? I never had a normal childhood and I can't change that. But you still have that luxury. When you're not swinging around Queens in a multi-million dollar suit, you can be normal. You can go out with friends, you can see a movie. Whatever normal people do; you can do that. Just because I'll never get that chance doesn't mean I'm gonna sit by and watch while it's stolen from you." I tried to explain.
"What if I don't want to be normal?" Peter asked, but that wasn't exactly what he meant.
What he wanted to say was how he would never truly be normal again after me. I had accepted him into my crazy life, and ruined him for the 'normal world'. It was as if he'd experienced a touch of the heavens when he was with me, and he knew if he went back nothing could ever compare to the way I had made him feel.
"Trust me, you don't want this." I scoffed, motioning around me, implying the shit storm that has now become my life.
I was like a bad omen. Chaos followed behind me everywhere I went, and I was worried that I was going to be the reason someone got hurt. Seriously hurt.
And I was not going to let that person be Peter Benjamin Parker.
"Keep that ice on, Adelaide." Peter said calmly.
"Fuck my knuckles, Peter!" I shouted, standing up off the couch.
"No! Alright because you are so worried about everyone around you that you won't even take care of yourself!" Peter yelled back, standing to match me. His words shocked me, because deep down I knew he was right.
"This is bigger than me, Peter! This is bigger than both of us!" I raised my voice again.
"What are you talking about?" Peter shook his head in confusion, his tone was still argumentative. I realized I had dug yourself into a hole, and he wouldn't rest, understandably, until he had answers.
I took a deep breath and a pause, sitting back down onto the arm of my couch.
"I was warned before the gala." I confessed.
"What? Why didn't you say anything?" Peter asked worriedly, moving to stand in front of me.
"I was still trying to figure it out. The mayor, he's in deep. Some sort of illegal weapons dealings. I don't know. But I know that the people he's tangled up with aren't afraid of collateral damage. What if they come for you, because of me? More people are going to get hurt if I don't get to the bottom of this." I tried to make him understand.
"What if it's not your job to stop them?"
"What if I'm the only one who can? I can figure out what they're doing from the inside." I spoke, though I wasn't sure how convincing I sounded.
"From the inside? Oh, Thomas." Peter took a step back and looked away from me.
"Yeah, Thomas."
"So y'all are...?" Peter began to ask, but couldn't bring himself to put it into words.
"No, no. It's just- we have this agreement. Some outings for publicity, that kinda stuff. He gets to impress his dad and boost his poll numbers, and we move the public attention away from you... well that was my intention at least." I explained, shaking my head at how tonight had gone.
"Yeah I saw the interview, it was-" Peter stopped, not knowing what word to best describe what he had witnessed.
"Brutal?" I offered.
"Yeah, something like that." Peter gave me a sad smile, something to show me that he was sorry for the way it turned out. To a blind viewer, it really wasn't that bad. Sure the questions were grilling, but I didn't throw myself under the bus or anything. I behaved and answered just as I was supposed to.
"I don't know what was worse, the questions about you or the questions from Twitter." I sighed, sliding off the edge of the couch into the plush cushions below.
"I liked the question about Thor, did he really say that?" Peter laughed, moving next to me once more. He was trying to get my mind off of what had happened.
"Clint convinced him that once a girl turns 15, and when they address you, it's polite to reply with 'Yas Queen'." I laughed, a genuine laugh. It had been a while since I'd done that.
"So on my birthday, we had this huge party upstate. It was before Sokovia and everyone was still living in the compound. I came downstairs and Thor was the first one I ran into. I asked him if my dress looked okay, and you can imagine my shock when he replied. Everyone burst out laughing, Clint was in tears. I didn't have the heart to tell him, he looked so pleased with himself."
I smiled as I told Peter the story, lost in the memory. It was a simpler time, a more peaceful time. There was no fighting, no government intervention. What you would give to go back to those days.
"I still can't believe you're friends with all the Avengers." Peter shook his head with a smile.
"Is that why you came here tonight, to talk to me about Thor?" I teased him with a raised brow, but I really was curious.
"Well no, I just... I saw you and you looked- wow I mean, wow. Then the questions and the, I mean you answered them perfectly but I could tell you were... I mean-" Peter began to shift around nervously in his seat. It was like when the two of us first met, he was shy and nervous. Not the Peter I'd grown to know- I knew that meant something was up.
