𝐝𝐞𝐣𝐚 𝐯𝐮, peter parker

lxi. promises he can't keep ii

chapter sixty-one
promises he can't keep, part two

MEANWHILE, in another universe, the skies of New York City hung over in dreary grey clouds on a dreary day, surrounding a dreary graveyard. The weather stopped many who may have come to visit their loved ones, but it didn't stop the lonesome young man that stood there in the shadow of the storm clouds. A lonely man in his dark jacket and a dark, sunken look in his eyes. He did not move. He did not stir. He stood at that grave every single day, and he stood there for a long time▬he stood there until he may as well join the ghosts, becoming one himself.

The ghost of the person he used to be.

He crouched down and placed a small bouquet of flowers in front of the grave of the ghost who haunted him daily. Every waking moment, every breath he took, every time he closed his eyes▬he saw her. Her smile, or her tears, or he heard her laughter or her voice; she heard him say his name as if she was still there, hovering in the corner of his room ... Like she never left.

Until he came to this grave and he remembered all that happened with a heart-shattering shock he could never be rid of.

The young man, Peter Parker, fixed the flowers for a second, a lump forming in his throat as he stared at the name of Nina Hart etched onto the gravestone▬a grave he dug.

He took a sharp breath through his nose and rubbed his eyes▬his tired, exhausted eyes, and sat down on the wet grass near Nina's grave. Peter Parker hung his head and rubbed his forehead, taking another shuddering breath as he tried not to cry. He pulled out his phone and he opened it up, staring at pictures he had taken two years ago, now. But they felt like yesterday. Her smile was alive in every photo, her eyes shining and her laughter ringing out in his ears ... and he heard her once again in the wind, calling out to him▬and he had been too late.

But these days, he was starting to forget the sound of her voice. Forget the feeling of her kisses and her hugs. He could never forget the sight of her smile or the way her eyes lit up in a picture ... but Peter Parker was starting to forget what it had been like to see them in real life.

And he felt as though he was losing her all over again. And no matter the number of times he sat here and tried to remember▬visited her grave and talked with her, asked her advice ... tried to think of her voice that would respond ... His memories were turning into imagination▬and he couldn't remember how to tell the difference between what had been real, and what hadn't been.

But the one thing he will never forget, that he wished he could▬was the sound of her hitting the ground.

He will live with that sound forever.

Peter Parker took another deep breath and looked up at her gravestone. He tried to speak with her, but his voice fell short. He furrowed his brows and chewed the inside of his cheek. At last, he managed: "I▬uh▬You wouldn't believe ... um ... You wouldn't believe what happened today, Nina. I stopped▬I stopped this wheel from destroying the city ..." Peter let out a painful chuckle. "You would have ... You would have found it funny, I think... You would have said what you always said: Are you playing with me..." Peter's voice cracked and he sighed out, his fingers pressing down on the bottom of his eyes and moving to pinch the bridge of his nose.

He took a long, deep breath and slumped it out, letting his hand fall and hoping the cool New York air would dry out his tears. Peter Parker cleared his throat. In the end, he shook his head and couldn't keep them in. A tear fell down his cheek and he looked back down at the photo of Nina, asleep and snuggled up beside him.