❝Just because you hate everybody doesn't mean everybody hates you. You have people that still need you around, and I'm not afraid to admit I'm one of them.❞
. . .in which she must find a way to navigate through a changed world and a changed heart.
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☼ ☼ ☼
The next morning, Andi stood outside against the hotel wall with her luggage at her side. Her classmates surrounded her, all of them waiting on their transportation to arrive. Andi wasn't sure how long they'd been waiting, but it felt like a lifetime. She was exhausted due to her ventures with Peter and Gwen the previous night, and she wanted nothing more than to take a well-deserved nap on the bus. She couldn't exactly do that standing up against a wall, however.
"Hey, Andi!" Ned greeted her excitedly, though his excitement faltered when he noticed the expression on her face. "Wow, you look kinda horrible."
Andi let out a breath. "Thank you, Ned. That is exactly what every girl wants to hear in the morning."
"I take it yesterday wore you out?" Ned said with a chuckle.
"You could say that," Andi said. "You seemed to have gotten a good nap out of it, though."
"It's not every day one can say they've been tranquilized by Nick Fury," Ned replied. He seemed thrilled almost, and Andi couldn't understand why, at least not for herself. Nick Fury was just another person to her.
"And it's certainly not every day one can say they've been thoroughly annoyed by the presence of Nick Fury," Andi muttered in response.
"What's new, Andi?" Ned chuckled. "Everyone annoys you."
"That's not true!"
Ned raised a brow at her. He certainly didn't believe her. He'd known her for years and considered her to be one of his best friends. He saw right through her fib. "You're in love with Peter, yet he annoys you more than anyone else on the planet. If he annoys you, everyone annoys you."
"I'm not in love with Peter," Andi said to him, though she knew he likely wouldn't believe her. The expression on his face spoke louder than his words ever could.
"You've been trying to convince yourself that's the truth for about six months now," Ned replied matter-of-factly. "I know you broke up with him, but I also know it wasn't because you didn't love him anymore."
"Your point?"
"Tell me something, Andi."
"What, Ned?"
"You love him, right?" Ned asked with hopeful brown eyes.
Andi's expression softened when she heard the question, and she couldn't help but smile. There was one very obvious answer to the question. Since Andi had met Peter, he'd been her very best friend. She never anticipated the two of them becoming anything more than that, but the world clearly had other plans for the two of them. Her feelings for him had completely taken her by surprise, and even to this day she still wasn't sure how to handle them. Peter was the one person who knew Andi better than anyone, even her Aunt Pepper. He was always there for her without question, simply because he cared so much. He made her feel as if she truly mattered. He was the one person she could think of when she was feeling down, and suddenly she wouldn't feel so down anymore. He showed her what it truly meant to feel, and it was because of that she felt so much torment inside her.
