secrets - peter parker

t w e n t y t h r e e

"Me and May will be back late. The movie doesn't start until eleven." Mom said as she grabbed her purse and went across the hall to wait for May.

So I had the entire evening to relax and do nothing which I was completely happy about. I started off by putting on some comfy clothes and laying across the couch with a tub of ice cream.

As I began to flick through the channels on the tv, I came across the news. Usually I wouldn't stop on it but the familiar red suit caught my eye.

"Our city superhero may be in severe danger. Reporters claim he was attempting to catch a man with illegal weapons in his possession. Gunshots were heard and now police are on the search for both."

As soon as the reporter spoke the words, I could hear a helicopter fly over the building, it's rumbling noise in the darkness making my stomach drop. All I heard were the words danger and gunshots. It was enough to almost make me panic.

I dropped my spoon into the tub and got up to get my phone. I pressed Peter's name and waited...waited... until, it went to voice mail.

Then I began to panic. What if he had been shot? What if I never got the chance to forgive him or even apologise to him?

Then a thought came to mind. I rushed to the plant pot next to the front door. Mom kept the spare keys in there including an emergency key to the Parker's apartment.

My fingers fumbled in the soil and quickly pulled out the single key.

With my phone in my pocket I went across the hall and tried the key in their lock, my fingers shaking as I did so. I sighed releif when the door clicked and opened for me. But I deflated once more once I saw that the apartment lights were all off. He wasn't in. He wasn't back.

I thought about calling my mom or aunt May, but it would only worry the hell out of them, and the secret wasn't mine to share.

Closing the apartment door, I opened Peter's bedroom only to confirm my suspicions. It was empty. I could go out looking for him but what better job could I do than the police? I wouldn't even know where to start.

So I sat on the bed, holding my head in my hands as I closed my eyes. I guess I was praying, hoping that Peter wasn't lying dead on the ground somewhere. Wishing more than anything that he would come back without a scratch, and I tried not to think how unlikely that was.

I tried my best to block out the noise of police sirens and helicopters outside. I paced around. Sat. Paced. Sat. Rang two more times only to hear the voicemail two more times. Even glanced out the window to see if I could see him swinging about. But nothing.

Then, a web was shot on the window.

It lifted up, and he swung inside, his masked eyes barely looking in my direction before I practically pounced on him.

"Thank god." I mumbled into his shoulder, squeezing my arms tightly around his torso. To my surprise, after a moments hesitation he held me with even greater force. His arms engulfed my small form after a few seconds of realisation.

Part of me thought it would feel weird, being this close when we hadn't done so for weeks. But it felt satisfyingly normal. His arms felt like home.

Nevertheless, I pulled back, resting my hands on his shoulders. "Are you hurt?" I tried to blink away the tears in my eyes.

"Violet," he pulled off his mask then placed his gloved hands on either side of my face. "I'm fine." He reassured, pushing a few strands of hair out of my face. As I nodded, I got my breathing back to normal, a sudden wave a relief washing over me. "How did you even know I was in trouble?"

"It was all over the news... I thought you...you didn't answer your phone," His eyes watched me with immense focus, his expression softened - like he was mirroring my emotions.

"It was a close one." His thumb lightly caressed my cheek. "I got away in time - but so did he." His jaw clenched as he looked to the side, as if frustrated at the missed opportunity.

"I don't care. As long as you're okay." Out of instinct, my glanced at his lips for a brief second, before pulling back away from his reach.

"Don't scare me like that again." I started towards the door." He sighed, his chest heaving up as he did so. Who was I kidding? We both well knew that he wasn't going to stop doing this reckless crap every night.

"Are sure you don't want to stay, until your mom gets back." He stepped forward, as if he wanted to stop me from leaving, like I was going to slip from his fingers forever.

"I'll be fine now. I just needed to see if you were okay." I opened the door, avoiding his face. Even if it was hand carved by the gods themselves, I couldn't fall for it again.

But before I was out the door, I turned to say one last thing.

"Do me a favour," I said.

"Anything." He stated.

"Don't go after that guy. He's not your problem now, let the police handle it." I could tell that it wasn't what he wanted to hear, and I also knew he had no obligation to listen to what I told him; but I'd regret it if I didn't say something.

"But, Vi-"

"It's not your job, Peter."

And with that, I gave him a sorrowful look. The last thing I wanted to do was leave. In fact, I could have stayed by his side all night.

But like everything between me and Peter, it was complicated.