𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑, PETER PARKER ¹

viii.

THE NIGHT I CAME HOME AFTER THE BATTLE is a night I'll never forget. The lights in my apartment complex were hazy and they gave an eerie feel to the building. I stood outside my apartment longer than I probably should have. I was nervous to knock because I couldn't help but to wonder how much has changed since I've been gone. Does my family even live here anymore? What if they don't want to see me?

    I swallowed down my fear and raised my hand to knock on my front door. After what felt like forever because of the anticipation and nerves, a much older version of my mom opened the door. Her dark hair was pulled into a messy ponytail and the lines on her face looked much more prominent than they did the last time I saw her. Her brown eyes looked hollow and exhausted, she had tear streaks on her cheeks.

    Before I could get a word out, her face instantly lightened up. Her sad brown eyes began to fill with warmth and a comforting smile. She pulled me into a tight hug, cradling my head in her hand. She held me tight to her, almost as if she was afraid she was going to lose me again. When she pulled away, she held my face in her hands and she smiled warmly at me.

    "Oh, my beautiful daughter." She smiled with tears streaming down her face. "I'm so glad you're okay."

    In the midst of our reunion, my sister made her way outside to us. She didn't look any older or different than the last time I saw her. That's when it hit me that she blipped too. My mom was all on her own for five years.

    "I'm so sorry." I sob into my mom's shoulder. "I'm so sorry I left!"

    She hushed me and assured me it was okay. "You're here now, that's all that matters."

.•¤۞¤•.

    GOING BACK TO SCHOOL AFTER THE BLIP WAS WEIRD TO SAY THE LEAST. How was I supposed to pick up right where I left off when all of my classmates were different and my teachers had pretty much forgotten about me anyway? There are so many bigger problems everyone should be focusing their energy on instead of learning the quadratic formula.

    Lucía and I walked to Midtown High with a comfortable silence between us. We both were nervous and didn't know what to expect. What felt like a day of us being gone was actually five years.

    Midtown High School of Science and Technology was more of Lucía's territory than it was mine. She's insanely smart like my dad was. My parents wanted to give us as many opportunities as possible so they enrolled us at Midtown. Lucía passes with flying colors, but me not so much. Sure I'm smart, but math and science isn't where I do well at. Numbers aren't my thing like they are for Lucía.

    If there was one thing I was excited for, it was to reunite with my best friend, Gwen Stacy. We met our freshman year and have been attached ever since. We make a great pair; we know how to have fun together and how to help each other through a rough time.

    The two of us have been texting each other the past two days to make sure the other was okay. As it turned out, Gwen was blipped too. She informed me about how weird it was that her younger brother was now older than her.

    I, of course, kept all the details about fighting Thanos to myself.

    As I walked through the halls of Midtown Highs, the crowded halls began to feel suffocating. Shrieks of excitement and a few sobs wracked through the hallway as fellow peers reunited with one another. I looked around in the sea of people hoping to find a familiar face.

    I saw Peter Parker reuniting with his best friend Ned Leeds. I stopped for a moment, watching the solemn expression on Peter's face. He looked shaken up, still, which surprised me because he was always happy and positive. Peter caught my eye and gave me a quick nod before turning his attention back onto Ned.

    "Emmie!" I heard my name in the sea of people. I turned around to see my best friend smiling with open arms. We hugged and laughed with each other when Gwen made a joke about how someone was occupying her old locker.

    In the sea of utter non-normalness, somehow Gwen brought back a sense of normal for me.

.•¤۞¤•.

    THE WORST PART ABOUT THE BLIP, was all the trauma it came with. For the first few weeks of being back, I couldn't get a good night of sleep. I couldn't dream peacefully without being plagued by flashbacks of the battles I fought in. The worst nights I had dreams that Strange or Peter died and I awoke in cold sweats, unable to control the shakiness of my hands.

    I also began to feel extremely guilty that if I had done something different, the snap would never have happened. I could be in a normal, happy mood, and all of the sudden the tiniest thing could set me off. I felt like I was right there back in battle in front of Thanos.

    I felt so alone. I couldn't talk to anyone about this in fear of revealing where exactly I was when the snap happened.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This is more of a filler chapter to set you guys up with some background knowledge. I promise that the next chapters will be actioned packed, and the plot with emmie and peter will progress

thank you guys for all of the support!

CJ