𝐒𝐖𝐈𝐅𝐓 (X-Men ~ Peter Maximoff)

Bruises

It seemed like everything was telling her to stay, yet why would she sacrifice her dreams of seeing her mother again, of apologising and explaining to her mother just because of ties she had made in the past six months? Surely her mother was worth her friends and relationships, right?

Once sucked into this dilemma Jennifer couldn't think about anything else, and it pained her because she could no longer fondly look over the events of last night, couldn't focus on the way she had caught Peter looking at her over the past few weeks. It was a loss, one of many yet to come because now she had to question if she'd rather be a good daughter or a good friend.

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Peter and Jennifer sat side by side on a wooden bench, both indulging in burgers, shakes and fries from the diner around the corner. Four days had passed since the day of the fair but after Peter's revelation everything seemed to go by so slowly. It seemed impossible to forget anything about the girl infront of him, and yet every time they met it was like it was the first time and he would spend the next few moments remembering how to function again – luckily Jennifer hadn't picked up on this yet.

The two teens were basking in the receding summer sun, Jennifer sporting a pair of shorts and a loose t-shirt while Peter refused to change his normal look, resulting in him being incredibly hot, but he wasn't going to give up his style just for comfort. Jennifer had also made a poor choice in his opinion though, her hair hanging loose, covering one side of her face, even though it seemed more sensible to have it tied back.

"What are you doing next week?," Peter asked, taking a large slurp of his milkshake in attempts to cool down.

"Back at work I'm afraid, important stuff to do."

"I'd hardly call stacking shelves important."

"It is when you get paid to do it," she countered with a small laugh. "Why? What did you want to do?"

Peter shrugged. "Dunno. Heard a new music shop was opening downtown."

Jennifer stared at him with wide eyes. "Did you seriously just say that?"

Peter nodded mischievously.

"You're just gonna abandon us then? Ditch us for your new shop? How dare you, after I gave you a ten percent discount!" She tried to keep her face serious, but as soon as she finished her dramatic lines laughter started trickling from both teens.

"Well, when you put it like that... I suppose the discount is worth going to the edge of town."

Laughter filled with playful disbelief filled the air. "Oh no mister, I'm not going to give you the discount anymore, not if you're just going to leave me for a newer shop."

Peter raised his hands in mock surrender but was unable to stop grinning. "It's not like that. That other shop means nothing to me, you're all I want."

"Then prove it."

Time slowed down, almost to a halt. Peters words had been true, maybe not to the situation, but perhaps truer than anything he'd ever said. Did Jennifer know that or was she just going along with the teasing? Should it make a difference? It was the perfect opportunity to show the girl before him how he felt, but there was so much that could go wrong. There was always the possibility that she didn't feel the same and that their relationship would break if he overstepped.

A fraction of a second passed, and Peter made up his mind, deciding that he couldn't live in fear of what if's. Leaning forward he went to take the risk, but before he could go through with the action something caught his eye.

From his new line of sight on the bench he could see the previously hidden side of Jennifer's face, her hair a bit further away from it, and suffice to say, the sight sent Peter's heart rate through the roof. Patches of blue and black stood out against her lightly tanned skin, from the crown of her head all the way down her neck – it looked like she had gone ten rounds with a brick.

As the natural order decreed, time sped back up and Jennifer leaned forward, snatching a fry from Peter's stash, having already eaten her own, and the injury on her side was hidden once again. It didn't take her long to recast her gaze to him and it took even less time for her to notice Peter's worried expression upon his whitening face. "Pete? Are you - "

" – How did you get those bruises?" He feared the answer, but he feared not knowing even more, and that resulted in the question coming out rushed and panicked.

Jennifer froze for a brief moment, and Peter could see in her eyes that the words she was about to say were going to be a lie. "I fell off my bed."

"How high is your bed?," he joked, hoping that if he put a light-hearted spin on the question she would answer truthfully, but she didn't, and neither of them laughed.

"It's the top bunk, so, a good few feet I suppose."

Peter nodded devoid of any emotion, her lies eating at him. Still, his voice softened. "It looks bad. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just hurts a bit if you poke it," Jennifer laughed but Peter remained silent and Jennifer soon joined him, creating a tense and awkward atmosphere between the two. He knew that she knew that he knew she was lying, and in attempt to get away from any more questions, Jennifer stood up. "It's getting dark." It wasn't. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Peter nodded once again, forcing a smile onto his face. "At the park?"

"Sure. See you there then."

With those final words Jennifer walked off, leaving Peter in the company of his thoughts. Something was off about the situation. Those bruises looked bad, like, being beaten up by ten guys bad – in other words, there was no way she had gotten them by falling off a bed. And a bunk bed? As far as Peter was concerned Jennifer was an only child, and it seemed a bit weird to buy a bunk bed just for the sake of it, or on the off chance that a friend came over.

Thinking more upon the matter, Peter realised that he knew hardly anything about Jennifer's family. He had a vague suspicion that her mum was dead, or at least no longer around based upon the purchase of the cassette many months ago, but her dad had never been mentioned once. True, if it weren't for her being over at his house so much Jennifer probably wouldn't know much about his family, but whenever he asked her about her relatives she managed to change the subject.

Maybe he was paranoid. Or maybe something was going on at home. It wasn't his place to shove his nose into her business, but what if she was in trouble? As sensible and wise as Jennifer was, she would never ask other people to help her, or even burden them by telling them what was going on – and that hurt Peter more than he cared to admit. He thought he was different, and yet she just spilled multiple lies like it was nothing to her. That worried him, as those actions were not normal for Jennifer.

Every fibre of his being, everything he had ever been taught told him to trust Jennifer to come clean when she was ready, and yet his mind was screaming to figure things out, to help her. So, blocking out his common sense, Peter did something he was bound to regret. 

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Ooooooooo. What had Peter gotten himself into?

I was thinking about redesigning this book, like, changing the aesthetic around a bit in the act dividers and putting the relevant songs in them rather than an actual dedicated chapter, but what with continuous assessments at school I'm going to put it off until the holidays. 

On that note, I am so confused about there's only a month and a half left of school (for me at least). Like, where did the last five months go?

If there are any mistakes please tell me and don't forget to vote and comment!

~elizabeth